2009-2010 Medical College of Wisconsin Application Thread

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shemarty

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PROMPT

No essay

LOR REQUIREMENT

All letters of recommendation must be signed, printed on institutional letterhead and received by the Office of Admissions directly from the author, university advising office or approved electronic provider. Letters from independent study, lab, and/or research courses do not meet our requirement for the MD program.

Required Undergraduate Letter(s):

You will select one of the following options:

One Premedical Advisory Committee Letter
A packet of letters sent from your undergraduate institution (must include two letters from classroom professors, one of which must be from a Biology, Chemistry or Physics professor)
Two separate letters from classroom professors (one of which must come from the Biology, Chemistry or Physics department).
Required Graduate Letter(s): (in addition to undergraduate letters):

You will select one of the following options:

Recently Accepted - 1 letter

One letter from the dean or department chairman - this letter must include a statement indicating that they are aware of your medical school application.
Currently Enrolled – 2 letters

One letter from a major professor or thesis advisor
One letter from the dean or department chairman - this letter must include a statement indicating that they are aware of your medical school application.
Previously Enrolled – 1 letter

One letter from a major professor or thesis advisor
Never Enrolled

Optional Letters (Not Required)

You may add up to three optional letters of recommendation to your file. These are generally personal or professional in nature, such as research, clinical or work supervisor or a physician. If these are in a "packet" they need NOT be listed individually.

Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP)-3 letters

Three letters to support your career as a physician-scientist.

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Whos excited about moving to WI to the middle of nowhere!!!!?!?!?:smuggrin:. Seriously though the school sounds interesting :). Hope I can get an interview.
 
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=] I did their SPUR program and loved the Wauwatosa/Milwaukee area. It's fairly close to Chicago and has a ton of great festivals during the summer. I'd be happy to return!
 
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Yea, I've been to Milwaukee... seemed pretty cool to me. Don't know too much about the school but does look good from what I do know! Would love to get an interview!
 
For those of you applying to MCW this cycle: be sure to apply early. They rank applications based on date of secondary completion and like to interview very early. By January they are interviewing solely for waitlist spots.

Best of luck all! It is a great school with a very nice and organized admissions office.
 
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Thanks DeMan! Where did you get your info from? Current students?
 
MCW seems really great. One crazy thing is that they do credit checks. The dean told us this many times during the interview last year. Your acceptance will be pending an acceptable credit score.
 
MCW seems really great. One crazy thing is that they do credit checks. The dean told us this many times during the interview last year. Your acceptance will be pending an acceptable credit score.

serious......wow. Guess ill never be admitted??? I dont think mines all that great :(
 
serious......wow. Guess ill never be admitted??? I dont think mines all that great :(

Don't let the credit report thing dissuade you. I'm pretty sure this is just something they do for their records. As long as you're not kiting checks or defaulting on mortgages; you'll be fine.

As someone with significant student loans (and insignificant lifetime income :)), my credit report would look ridiculous in just about any other context. But it wasn't a problem.
 
THe dean made it seem more like they were worried about defaulting on loans or not paying other bills. He even mentioned people accidentally forgetting to pay a last electricity bill at an old apartment. I am sure student loans are fine.
 
I am gonna send in my state residency thing tomorrow so that it gets there on the 24th. Is that too crazy???
 
MCW seems really great. One crazy thing is that they do credit checks. The dean told us this many times during the interview last year. Your acceptance will be pending an acceptable credit score.

What's an 'acceptable' credit score? I mean, a good portion of people applying to medical school are straight out of undergrad and probably have a huge debt-to-income ratio. That's not exactly good for a credit score...
 
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MCW seems really great. One crazy thing is that they do credit checks. The dean told us this many times during the interview last year. Your acceptance will be pending an acceptable credit score.

i guess i should forget about not paying this month's bill with all the application fees!
 
I am gonna send in my state residency thing tomorrow so that it gets there on the 24th. Is that too crazy???

They'll wait for it, but it's nice to have it out of the way (for Madison too, if you're applying there).

On the credit thing, I don't think they're really cutting off based on score. I believe that having the report is necessary for a gradplus loan, so the financial aid folk just want to be ready so they have what's necessary to finance your education. Again, I've got five figures of lifetime debt and very little lifetime income, and it wasn't an issue for me.
 
I got accepted this past cycle and I didn't even send in my credit report until after I had already been accepted. So I don't think that they factor in credit into their decision for acceptance. Good luck to all this cycle to all applying! PM if you have any questions about applying to MCW. I don't know much about the school experience firsthand though because school hasn't started yet, but maybe I can answer some questions about applying and interviewing at MCW.
 
Just got mine today as well. Don't worry Elijah, yours will be there soon!

Unless I'm missing something, there doesn't seem to be an essay on this application. SWEET!
 
Just got mine today as well. Don't worry Elijah, yours will be there soon!

Unless I'm missing something, there doesn't seem to be an essay on this application. SWEET!
good!!! same as least year. Love these schools.
 
Woot! just submitted, feels goood :)
 
Yup, I included a photo.

What did you guys and gals write for the titles of the optional LOR's? Do we write the letter writer's position there (professor, MD, etc)?
 
So our letters should just start showing up then in the next few days right? We don't have to do anything to get them to send?
 
So our letters should just start showing up then in the next few days right? We don't have to do anything to get them to send?
as long as the school is participating in amcas lor then yes you do nothing. The schools will get them and can d/l them as long as you checked the box on the primary app for that school.
 
Yup, I included a photo.

What did you guys and gals write for the titles of the optional LOR's? Do we write the letter writer's position there (professor, MD, etc)?
I didn't include a photo, whatever they said optional

and I have a committee letter so I just wrote the name of my school
 
I didn't get my secondary from MCWisc today either....dang it!
 
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So on second thought, I have no good picture to use... Think I should wait to submit? Not really concerned about pic vs. no pic, but my LOR's wont even be to AMCAS until Early July at the soonest. Will they even look at me until those are in anyway?
 
So this school participates in AMCAS letters right? I mean it seems like I should be doing something to get my letters sent. I would have thought they could automatically upload them from AMCAS while I submitted my secondary!
 
So this school participates in AMCAS letters right? I mean it seems like I should be doing something to get my letters sent. I would have thought they could automatically upload them from AMCAS while I submitted my secondary!
yes they participate so dont worry about anything, you dont have to do anything except check the box on the primary app for mcw.
 
I thought schools usually only asked about misdemeanors and felonies, but their secondary asks about anything besides speeding violations. I didn't know background checks even picked up anything less than misdemeanors and felonies.
 
ok wait... so if i only have 1 letter from a classroom professor (who i also did research for) then that's the only one that will be accepted?!
 
on the preview screen it says that the letters aren't received. that just means that they haven't retrieved it from AMCAS yet, right?
 
Yeah I certified mine yesterday and mine letters still say that they are not received...
 
Getting a little concerned, its now the 29th and they still list my letters as not being received. Am I missing something on the AMCAS side? On the 25th after I read what letters they wanted I went to "medical schools" part of the AMCAS primary and added 4 letters to MCW, and it resubmitted my app. I finished the MCW application a few minutes later and now its been 4 days and they still dont have my letters :confused:

Just a little concerned because last year I had a delay on sending one of my letters (arrived in August) and that pretty much screwed me over for this school since their entire interview system is based on when you finish the secondary. Like a 45/4.0 who applies in october will almost certainly get waitlisted over a 30/3.6 that applied in june.
 
Getting a little concerned, its now the 29th and they still list my letters as not being received. Am I missing something on the AMCAS side? On the 25th after I read what letters they wanted I went to "medical schools" part of the AMCAS primary and added 4 letters to MCW, and it resubmitted my app. I finished the MCW application a few minutes later and now its been 4 days and they still dont have my letters :confused:

Just a little concerned because last year I had a delay on sending one of my letters (arrived in August) and that pretty much screwed me over for this school since their entire interview system is based on when you finish the secondary. Like a 45/4.0 who applies in october will almost certainly get waitlisted over a 30/3.6 that applied in june.

Hmm, for most schools the letters are required for your application to be considered "complete." Are you sure that the score is based upon the application being complete, or is it just completing the secondary (i.e. paying the fee, answering the questions)?

If it's based upon being complete I'd be screwed, as our committee doesn't send letters til late July.
 
Hmm, for most schools the letters are required for your application to be considered "complete." Are you sure that the score is based upon the application being complete, or is it just completing the secondary (i.e. paying the fee, answering the questions)?

If it's based upon being complete I'd be screwed, as our committee doesn't send letters til late July.
I'm fairly certain they need the letters first.

MCW has a very odd admissions program. They look at all your academics (mcat, gpa, academic letters, etc) and only your academics to determine if you get an interview. Once you get the interview they throw everything academic out the window and look at only your extra curriculars, volunteering, etc to decide if you are admitted.

They do this so no one with a 45 mcat gets in if thats all they have, you need both acedemic merit and good "everything else" to get in.
 
Has anyone had their LOR's marked received or their residency status marked completed? I really want my application to be complete...
 
EDIT: FYI, their secondary says MCAT scores from before 4/2007 are invalid, but the admissions office says any from 2007 are fine.
 
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I feel gipped! Their website says any MCAT from the last 3 years is acceptable and that agrees with the MSAR.

Now as I'm reading the secondary, the MCAT cannot be from before 4/2007. Mine is from 1/2007. ARGH!

Won't that be a problem with lots of med schools?

Just asking, don't know myself.

I would apply and hope for the best, I guess...
 
Won't that be a problem with lots of med schools?

Just asking, don't know myself.

I would apply and hope for the best, I guess...
Well the problem is now resolved. Your advice to apply anyway was a good one since MCW made a mistake, I guess.

For most med schools, they don't care about the month--just the year. Only one that I wanted to apply to (NYMC) measures from month of matriculation (e.g. 8/2007 is the oldest for this cycle)
 
Okay, seriously. I am verified and everything (and have been since the beginning of June), but still haven't gotten MCW's secondary, and there's nothing in my spam folder. Am I just being paranoid here?
 
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