2016-2017 Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Application Thread

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Space reserved for prompt.
Please post the essays or lack thereof (in addition to word or character counts) in this thread and tag me and/or @Ismet and we'll update the OP.
  • If your name is often mispronounced, how do you pronounce it? What is your preferred name? (25 chars)
  • If your last name is often mispronounced, how do you pronounce it? (25 chars)
  • If you took time off from your undergraduate studies, please briefly summarize your reasons for doing so. (250 words)
  • From which languages can you translate scholarly material into English? (no apparent limit)
  • In what collegiate extracurriculars did you engage? (400 chars)
  • If you have graduated from college, please briefly summarize what you have done in the interim. (300 words)
  • What challenges do you expect to arise from living and working in a complex urban environment? How will you meet them? (300 words)
  • Is there anything else you would like us to know? (300 words)
  • Please describe your parents' occupations. (100 chars)

Good luck to everyone applying!:pigeon:
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Hey Everyone,
I'll be an incoming MS2 student, so although I haven't been on the wards yet, I have a lot to say about the preclinical education here. I fell in love with Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (affectionately *and inaccurately* referred to as college of surgeons and surgeons around SDN) when I was far younger, and my affection only increased during my application cycle, interview trail, and second look weekend. I'm thrilled to become a part of P&S, and I'd love to answer any questions that anyone has (or at the least refer you to someone who knows more than I do).

I've created an "information sheet" below, to try to summarize some key points about P&S (as you'll find on a few other threads, I'm sure). Good luck to everyone applying!

Stats [Source]
~7,800 applicants
~7,450 "applications considered"
~1,100 interviews (no in-state bias)
As per Columbia P&S Graduate, about 200 are accepted immediately, 700 waitlisted, and 100 rejected
~325 total acceptances (including off WL)
170 matriculated

Matriculating Class Statistics (2014-2015):
Median Undergraduate GPA: 3.82
Median MCAT Score: 36 (12/12/12 median section breakdowns)

2015-2016 Secondary Application (there is no screen)
  1. If you took time off from your undergraduate studies, please briefly summarize your reasons for doing so. - 250 words
  2. From which languages can you translate scholarly material into English? - 1oo characters
  3. In what collegiate extracurriculars did you engage? - 400 characters
  4. Did you work for compensation during college during the year or the summer? If so, what did you do? How many hours a week did you work? - 300 words
  5. If you have graduated from college, please briefly summarize what you have done in the interim. - 300 words
  6. What challenges do you expect to arise from living and working in a complex urban environment? How will you meet them? - 300 words
  7. Is there anything else you would like us to know? - 300 words
*Note: prompt 7 is completely optional. Prompts 1, 2, 4, and 5 were also optional, although N/A was an acceptable response.

2015-2016 Secondary Application (there is no screen)

2015-2016 Important Dates*
First secondary: July 2nd, 2015
First interview invites: August 28th-31st, 2015
First acceptance: February 11th, 2016 via phone call (portals updated within a couple days with email alert)
First waitlist: February 12th, 2016 via portal update (with email alert)

As per recent (4/30/15) phone calls to the admissions office, waitlist movement should occur by mid-to-late May.
*All dates have been obtained through SDN archives, though there is complete agreement with these dates and those published by P&S admissions online.

Update Letter Policy
Updates are accepted pre- and post-interview. All updates should be uploaded through the application portal. You should receive an email within a few days confirming that your update has been received. In addition, "Thank You Letters," should you choose to send them, should also be uploaded through this portal. [Source: interview day]

Curriculum
1.5 year condensed preclinical curriculum.
  • Preclinical grading is Pass/Fail [Source]
  • Clinicals are graded using a 4-tiered system: honors/high pass/pass/fail.
  • Lectures are non-mandatory and recorded; labs and small group activities are incorporated throughout the fundamental courses (and foundation selectives)
Interview
One faculty interview. Faculty interview is open-file.
They may be adding a student interview this year. Still TBD.
Student housing during interviews is definitely offered, although you might have to be persistent if you don't hear back immediately.

Of Note
  • Columbia graduates are below the national mean with respect to post-graduate debt, although merit scholarships are reputed to be somewhat uncommon. That being said, the tuition is ~55,500 a year, and COL in NYC is no laughing matter. Check here for more details. Fortunately, the financial aid office is generous with need-based aid and, like I said, the average indebtedness for P&S grads is still below the national mean. Not bad when you consider everything else Columbia has to offer (utterly shameless comment from infatuated MS1)
  • Extensive on-campus student housing is offered to P&S students to help mitigate the cost of living in NYC
  • Columbia admissions and students extoll the P&S club as being the largest and most comprehensive student activities organization "in American medical education"
  • Student research opportunities at Columbia are virtually limitless, both with respect to mentors and to financial support. At second look weekend, we were told that every single person who applied for summer research funding the previous year (so summer of 2014) managed to receive a grant.
  • Official match list
  • Columbia P&S Facebook Page

Finally, I will probably periodically update this throughout the coming months, although if anyone has any details that they would specifically like me to add, feel free to comment.

As I said before, I'd be willing to answer as many questions as I can. Thankfully, there are several older P&S students who frequent SDN, and I'm sure they'll be along to help everyone out along the way. Once again, good luck to all applying!
 
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Just curious what this means:

~7,800 applicants
~7,450 "applications considered"

Did 350 apply too late or something?
 
Also, what are people thinking of writing for the "urban environment" question if they already live in a city? I've lived in an urban area for nearly 10 years now, I don't really anticipate any challenges haha. Maybe I'm naive?
 
onceawolverine said:
Hey Everyone,
I'll be an incoming MS2 student, so although I haven't been on the wards yet, I have a lot to say about the preclinical education here. I fell in love with Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (affectionately *and inaccurately* referred to as college of surgeons and surgeons around SDN) when I was far younger, and my affection only increased during my application cycle, interview trail, and second look weekend. I'm thrilled to become a part of P&S, and I'd love to answer any questions that anyone has (or at the least refer you to someone who knows more than I do).

I've created an "information sheet" below, to try to summarize some key points about P&S (as you'll find on a few other threads, I'm sure). Good luck to everyone applying!

Stats [Source]
~7,800 applicants
~7,450 "applications considered"
~1,100 interviews (no in-state bias)
As per Columbia P&S Graduate, about 200 are accepted immediately, 700 waitlisted, and 100 rejected
~325 total acceptances (including off WL)
170 matriculated

Matriculating Class Statistics (2014-2015):
Median Undergraduate GPA: 3.82
Median MCAT Score: 36 (12/12/12 median section breakdowns)

2015-2016 Secondary Application (there is no screen)
  1. If you took time off from your undergraduate studies, please briefly summarize your reasons for doing so. - 250 words
  2. From which languages can you translate scholarly material into English? - 1oo characters
  3. In what collegiate extracurriculars did you engage? - 400 characters
  4. Did you work for compensation during college during the year or the summer? If so, what did you do? How many hours a week did you work? - 300 words
  5. If you have graduated from college, please briefly summarize what you have done in the interim. - 300 words
  6. What challenges do you expect to arise from living and working in a complex urban environment? How will you meet them? - 300 words
  7. Is there anything else you would like us to know? - 300 words
*Note: prompt 7 is completely optional. Prompts 1, 2, 4, and 5 were also optional, although N/A was an acceptable response.

2015-2016 Secondary Application (there is no screen)

2015-2016 Important Dates*
First secondary: July 2nd, 2015
First interview invites: August 28th-31st, 2015
First acceptance: February 11th, 2016 via phone call (portals updated within a couple days with email alert)
First waitlist: February 12th, 2016 via portal update (with email alert)

As per recent (4/30/15) phone calls to the admissions office, waitlist movement should occur by mid-to-late May.
*All dates have been obtained through SDN archives, though there is complete agreement with these dates and those published by P&S admissions online.

Update Letter Policy
Updates are accepted pre- and post-interview. All updates should be uploaded through the application portal. You should receive an email within a few days confirming that your update has been received. In addition, "Thank You Letters," should you choose to send them, should also be uploaded through this portal. [Source: interview day]

Curriculum
1.5 year condensed preclinical curriculum.
  • Preclinical grading is Pass/Fail [Source]
  • Clinicals are graded using a 4-tiered system: honors/high pass/pass/fail.
  • Lectures are non-mandatory and recorded; labs and small group activities are incorporated throughout the fundamental courses (and foundation selectives)
Interview
One faculty interview. Faculty interview is open-file.
They may be adding a student interview this year. Still TBD.
Student housing during interviews is definitely offered, although you might have to be persistent if you don't hear back immediately.

Of Note
  • Columbia graduates are below the national mean with respect to post-graduate debt, although merit scholarships are reputed to be somewhat uncommon. That being said, the tuition is ~55,500 a year, and COL in NYC is no laughing matter. Check here for more details. Fortunately, the financial aid office is generous with need-based aid and, like I said, the average indebtedness for P&S grads is still below the national mean. Not bad when you consider everything else Columbia has to offer (utterly shameless comment from infatuated MS1)
  • Extensive on-campus student housing is offered to P&S students to help mitigate the cost of living in NYC
  • Columbia admissions and students extoll the P&S club as being the largest and most comprehensive student activities organization "in American medical education"
  • Student research opportunities at Columbia are virtually limitless, both with respect to mentors and to financial support. At second look weekend, we were told that every single person who applied for summer research funding the previous year (so summer of 2014) managed to receive a grant.
  • Official match list
  • Columbia P&S Facebook Page

Finally, I will probably periodically update this throughout the coming months, although if anyone has any details that they would specifically like me to add, feel free to comment.

As I said before, I'd be willing to answer as many questions as I can. Thankfully, there are several older P&S students who frequent SDN, and I'm sure they'll be along to help everyone out along the way. Once again, good luck to all applying!
Click to expand...
Is it a true pass/fail, and is there an internal ranking system?

Also, since the preclinical curriculum is condensed to 1.5 years, is the clinical curriculum extended to 2.5 years? If not, what is done with that extra half year?

Thanks!
 
walloobi said:
Is it a true pass/fail, and is there an internal ranking system?

Also, since the preclinical curriculum is condensed to 1.5 years, is the clinical curriculum extended to 2.5 years? If not, what is done with that extra half year?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Preclinical (first 1.5 years) is 110% true pass/fail with absolutely no internal ranking at all.

There are three major sections to the curriculum. The first is preclinical (1.5 years) termed "foundations". The second is your clinical year termed your "major clinical year" and referred to universally as "MCY". The last year and a half is called "Differentiation and Integration" or "D&I" and is composed of studying for and taking step 1 (your first 2 months after MCY), a scholarly project, research, electives, away rotations, and whatever else you want to do.
 
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WedgeDawg said:
Preclinical (first 1.5 years) is 110% true pass/fail with absolutely no internal ranking at all.

There are three major sections to the curriculum. The first is preclinical (1.5 years) termed "foundations". The second is your clinical year termed your "major clinical year" and referred to universally as "MCY". The last year and a half is called "Differentiation and Integration" or "D&I" and is composed of studying for and taking step 1 (your first 2 months after MCY), a scholarly project, research, electives, away rotations, and whatever else you want to do.
Click to expand...
That sounds awesome. Definitely applying :)
 
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ChrisMack390 said:
Also, what are people thinking of writing for the "urban environment" question if they already live in a city? I've lived in an urban area for nearly 10 years now, I don't really anticipate any challenges haha. Maybe I'm naive?
Click to expand...
This means you should know exactly what the challenges are.
 
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For current medical students...

How many clinical hours did you guys have as applicants?
 
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I'm curious what to do for the extracurriculars question. Does this mean strictly "collegiate extracurriculars" like campus clubs and activities, or all activities we were involved in like clinical volunteering, etc. ?
 
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@onceawolverine @WedgeDawg
Any idea on how to tackle the complex urban environment question? The only thing I can think of is language barriers between patients and doctors. Is that sufficient?

Other stuff seems kind of not what they want (e.g. traffic, cost of living, crime).
 
FootballFoot said:
@onceawolverine @WedgeDawg
Any idea on how to tackle the complex urban environment question? The only thing I can think of is language barriers between patients and doctors. Is that sufficient?

Other stuff seems kind of not what they want (e.g. traffic, cost of living, crime).
Click to expand...

I mean there's no right answer to the question. What do you think the challenges for you will be (whatever they might be) and how do you think you will meet them?
 
I more or less wrote about the enormous population of NYC compared to other cities and how that feeds into things like poverty, crime and patient volume.
 
do you have to be verified to complete and submit the secondary or is the requirement simply that you have to have submitted amcas? also, can anyone go and fill out the secondary or is it that columbia has to send you an invite first? thank you!
 
FootballFoot said:
@onceawolverine @WedgeDawg
Any idea on how to tackle the complex urban environment question? The only thing I can think of is language barriers between patients and doctors. Is that sufficient?

Other stuff seems kind of not what they want (e.g. traffic, cost of living, crime).
Click to expand...
I legit wrote about how I'd never been to NYC, how I was aware that it's easy to feel overstimulated, lost and confused, and some concrete ways in which I would become more familiar with the city. Re-reading the "essay" now makes me laugh out loud - I think you can pretty much say whatever you want as long as a personality shines through.
 
mdhopeful545 said:
do you have to be verified to complete and submit the secondary or is the requirement simply that you have to have submitted amcas? also, can anyone go and fill out the secondary or is it that columbia has to send you an invite first? thank you!
Click to expand...
From their website: "Once you have submitted your AMCAS application, you will be invited to complete the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (P&S) secondary application" seems to be invite.
 
Secondary Received (pre-verification)! Looks the same as in previous years.

Among several checkboxes there are these short answer questions:
  • If your name is often mispronounced, how do you pronounce it? What is your preferred name? (25 chars)
  • If your last name is often mispronounced, how do you pronounce it? (25 chars)
  • If you took time off from your undergraduate studies, please briefly summarize your reasons for doing so. (250 words)
  • From which languages can you translate scholarly material into English? (no apparent limit)
  • In what collegiate extracurriculars did you engage? (400 chars)
  • If you have graduated from college, please briefly summarize what you have done in the interim. (300 words)
  • What challenges do you expect to arise from living and working in a complex urban environment? How will you meet them? (300 words)
  • Is there anything else you would like us to know? (300 words)
  • Please describe your parents' occupations. (100 chars)
A passport-style photo (smiles ok) is required and a CV may be optionally uploaded.

@WedgeDawg
 
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For the translation are they talking about translating in the written form or just spoken form? I can speak a foreign language but don't know how to read or write it...

This may sound silly but how seriously would that affect my application...
 
clippers50fan said:
400 words or characters? last year it was characters! That's an insane increase haha
Click to expand...

Whoops, good catch - still 400 chars, not words. Updated the post to reflect the correction. Thanks!
 
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@Divine Comedy Did you receive a notification saying it's locked? I'm experiencing the same problem - all fields are grayed out and uneditable - but haven't heard anything official.

Notably the hyperlink in the invitation didn't work if you clicked on it (as opposed to copying/pasting in the browser) so they may have some issues on the back end as well.
 
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(Content redacted to preserve anonymity)
 
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UNMedGa said:
Is this a school where everyone gets a secondary? Haven't gotten one yet
Click to expand...

Everyone gets one - I think it's totally automated but the queue might be backed up or something. I would just wait it out and start working on the application essays.
 
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I am extremely interested in the Bassett program and just received their secondary. With a LizzyM of 70, do you think my chances would be improved in the Bassett?

I know that technically the Bassett program is more selective on the basis of numbers alone, but I have a friend in the program and she said that (anecdotally) Bassett might be more forgiving with the MCAT than the main program!

Also, anyone else applying to Bassett? :)
 
TheOneAndOnlyJamesFranco said:
I am extremely interested in the Bassett program and just received their secondary. With a LizzyM of 70, do you think my chances would be improved in the Bassett?

I know that technically the Bassett program is more selective on the basis of numbers alone, but I have a friend in the program and she said that (anecdotally) Bassett might be more forgiving with the MCAT than the main program!

Also, anyone else applying to Bassett? :)
Click to expand...

I don't think that applying Bassett will increase your chances unless you show a demonstrated interest in their mission.
 
WedgeDawg said:
I don't think that applying Bassett will increase your chances unless you show a demonstrated interest in their mission.
Click to expand...

I am very interested in their mission, as I have spent the past year working in rural China and have studied health policy both abroad and in the US.

I was just wondering if they were more lax with their numbers in their admissions process, as I know that P&S traditionally stresses high numbers...
 
What in the world is the point of the question "In what collegiate extracurriculars did you engage?"

What was the point of the primary app if we just need to repeat the same info, in less characters, on the secondary?
 
Columbia has always been one of my dream schools, but I have not gotten a secondary yet. Verified 6/9. Anyone know at what point it is ok to reach out to admissions asking? I know it might be how their applicants show up in their system so I don't want to rush it or anything
 
BippityBoppity said:
Columbia has always been one of my dream schools, but I have not gotten a secondary yet. Verified 6/9. Anyone know at what point it is ok to reach out to admissions asking? I know it might be how their applicants show up in their system so I don't want to rush it or anything
Click to expand...

I wonder if it's alphabetical? My last name is near the bottom, no secondary here.
 
edit: ignore this :)
 
Last edited:
UNMedGa said:
Hm... Wonder what's going on. Maybe a New York thing? Both Columbia and NYU have sent theirs out and I have gotten neither. And neither of these schools screen.
Click to expand...
Same. I still haven't received BU's and their's has been out for like a week now hahah
 
UNMedGa said:
Hm... Wonder what's going on. Maybe a New York thing? Both Columbia and NYU have sent theirs out and I have gotten neither. And neither of these schools screen.
Click to expand...

Hey UNMedGa. Not sure if it's a NYC thing. I've gotten Cornell's, NYU's, and Icahn's in that order but haven't received Columbia's yet. I'm thinking I have bad karma...Columbia's is one of the few secondaries I pre-wrote.
 
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Anybody else's secondaries giving them trouble? The link keeps redirecting to me an error....
 
BourgeoisGanglia said:
Hey UNMedGa. Not sure if it's a NYC thing. I've gotten Cornell's, NYU's, and Icahn's in that order but haven't received Columbia's yet. I'm thinking I have bad karma...Columbia's is one of the few secondaries I pre-wrote.
Click to expand...

I'm in the exact same boat, with the same secondaries and in that order. I have a few others I need to finish up on though, so it's not as if it's really a problem, but...
 
ausernamegoeshere said:
I'm in the exact same boat, with the same secondaries and in that order. I have a few others I need to finish up on though, so it's not as if it's really a problem, but...
Click to expand...
Also have not gotten Columbia's and BU's yet, but got NYU though.. Last name in the beginning of the alphabet also
 
BourgeoisGanglia said:
Hey UNMedGa. Not sure if it's a NYC thing. I've gotten Cornell's, NYU's, and Icahn's in that order but haven't received Columbia's yet. I'm thinking I have bad karma...Columbia's is one of the few secondaries I pre-wrote.
Click to expand...

So odd, I just can't understand why they're staggering sending them out haha. Especially when everyone gets one, I don't see the utility in sending it to some people before others especially when there's no correlation between time of submission/verification. Maybe they're overloading their own bandwidth sending these out so they can only do a few at a time? I dunno.

Obviously not the end of the world but it is perplexing
 
According to the secondary application, applying to the Columbia-Basset Program will allow you to be considered for the regular MD program as well. Does anyone know if applicants will be considered for both programs right away? or if you are not accepted to the Columbia-Basset Program, then your application will be considered for the regular MD program? I would hate to be waiting for a decision for months from the Columbia-Basset program before having my application considered (much later in the cycle) for the regular MD program...
 
Anyone else also not receive a secondary yet?
 
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