2011-2012 Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Application Thread

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Cooperd0g said:
I'm also on the wait list. I applied late the previous cycle and interviewed in January 2011. All spots were fill by that time, I was wait listed Navy and never was pulled from the wait list. This cycle I applied early, but a paperwork error caused a delay and I interviewed on 6 Oct, the fourth interview day available. That was the first interview day anyone was wait listed and I was one of them (Navy). I am a prior officer, drilling in the reserves, and a USNA grad.

Wait list movement at all schools really starts to pick up approaching the May 15th deadline. All we can do is sit and wait. Anything else is speculation.
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Best of luck to you, sir. I feel terrible for only waiting a year!
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Congratulations to everyone that has been accepted thus far and I'm crossing my fingers and sending my zen to everyone on the wait list. I had a question about the wait list that I don't believe anyone has touched on or has been answered in other threads.

Let's assume this scenario...

You interviewed and were wait listed sometime earlier on in the cycle or are wait listed at this point. At the point of being wait listed you can remain on the service of your preference or change to "no preference". At this time, and historically, it seems that Navy, Air Force, and PHS move the least with Army having the most movement. I understand that overall it is more advantageous at this point to have "no preference", but for someone lets say on the Navy wait list ranked 12...if someone ahead of the person ranked 12 on the Navy wait list changes to "no preference" and gets pulled off the wait list then the person ranked 12 on the Navy wait list moves up to 11. Therefore it may be advantageous to stay on the Navy wait list assuming people are switching to "no preference".

Furthermore if you are that person ranked 12 on the Navy wait list and you decide to change to "no preference" where do you go in terms of the Army, Air Force of PHS wait lists? If someone has been waiting on Army's wait list as their #1 preference, but are "ranked" lower than you, do you jump this person in line? Or do you just lose your spot on the Navy wait list and just go to the back of the pack for the other services?

The selection off the wait list process is unclear therefore depending upon if you think people are switching branch preference or not, it may be better to just hold tight on Navy/Air Force/PHS while other switch and get pulled off thus moving you up in line....it's like playing chicken for getting into medical school.

If anyone has any insight on this process and how maneuvering between your 1st preference and switching to "no preference" changes your rank/position on the wait list, it would be much appreciated.
 
frankwarren said:
Congratulations to everyone that has been accepted thus far and I'm crossing my fingers and sending my zen to everyone on the wait list. I had a question about the wait list that I don't believe anyone has touched on or has been answered in other threads.

Let's assume this scenario...

You interviewed and were wait listed sometime earlier on in the cycle or are wait listed at this point. At the point of being wait listed you can remain on the service of your preference or change to "no preference". At this time, and historically, it seems that Navy, Air Force, and PHS move the least with Army having the most movement. I understand that overall it is more advantageous at this point to have "no preference", but for someone lets say on the Navy wait list ranked 12...if someone ahead of the person ranked 12 on the Navy wait list changes to "no preference" and gets pulled off the wait list then the person ranked 12 on the Navy wait list moves up to 11. Therefore it may be advantageous to stay on the Navy wait list assuming people are switching to "no preference".

Furthermore if you are that person ranked 12 on the Navy wait list and you decide to change to "no preference" where do you go in terms of the Army, Air Force of PHS wait lists? If someone has been waiting on Army's wait list as their #1 preference, but are "ranked" lower than you, do you jump this person in line? Or do you just lose your spot on the Navy wait list and just go to the back of the pack for the other services?

The selection off the wait list process is unclear therefore depending upon if you think people are switching branch preference or not, it may be better to just hold tight on Navy/Air Force/PHS while other switch and get pulled off thus moving you up in line....it's like playing chicken for getting into medical school.

If anyone has any insight on this process and how maneuvering between your 1st preference and switching to "no preference" changes your rank/position on the wait list, it would be much appreciated.
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hmm...This seems like an weird variation of the Monty Hall Problem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem.

Saving myself the trouble of trying to explain it in terms of the waitlist, the Monty Hall problem shows that switching choices (going no pref) has the best probability of winning.

With that in mind, USUHS treats the waitlist as one big pool of applicants who are ranked based on performance criteria and interview dates. In my opinion, the admissions committee offers the open acceptance slots to the highest ranked waitlisters unless that waitlistee is locked into a particular branch of service or has a strong preference. So no preference is in your best interest if you don't have one.

I think that we have been treating the service preferences of the waitlist pool as different waitlists because a large numbers of applicants are locked into or strongly prefer one branch over the others. It doesn't really reflect the reality of the system.
 
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i havent heard anything and i interviewed back in early feb, is this bad?
 
gatorade848 said:
i havent heard anything and i interviewed back in early feb, is this bad?
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I wouldn't read too much into the speculation that we have been posting on this forum. Whether having not heard anything is good or bad simply depends on how the admissions committee review applications and in which order they are processed. I think no news is neither good or bad. There are many applicants on this forum who waited months to get a waitlist spot after being placed on hold. No one knows for certain.
Best of luck to you!
 
swtbrnpelican04 said:
I wouldn't read too much into the speculation that we have been posting on this forum. Whether having not heard anything is good or bad simply depends on how the admissions committee review applications and in which order they are processed. I think no news is neither good or bad. There are many applicants on this forum who waited months to get a waitlist spot after being placed on hold. No one knows for certain.
Best of luck to you!
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x2. I was an applicant that was on hold. I waited from Sept until March to get a waitlist spot so I don't know how they're doing it this year.
 
Same here, I was put on "hold" before being placed on the waitlist. At least we are not on the alternate list or rejected hehehe I really hope that they exhaust the whole waitlist this time around.
 
Aliko said:
Same here, I was put on "hold" before being placed on the waitlist. At least we are not on the alternate list or rejected hehehe I really hope that they exhaust the whole waitlist this time around.
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x2. I am hoping so hard! Do not want to apply again.
 
evanbaines said:
Got the call today! (Army)

Best of luck to those of you who are still waiting! Hopefully this is the start of a bunch of movement!
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Congrats!!! Hope the deal on the house goes well for your fam and you!!! Finally some sign of movement... :)
 
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swtbrnpelican04 said:
I wouldn't read too much into the speculation that we have been posting on this forum. Whether having not heard anything is good or bad simply depends on how the admissions committee review applications and in which order they are processed. I think no news is neither good or bad. There are many applicants on this forum who waited months to get a waitlist spot after being placed on hold. No one knows for certain.
Best of luck to you!
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I agree, we do not know all of the intricacies of the waitlist process. And since no applicant actually has first hand knowledge of the admissions committee's activities, any side of this debate cannot be fully supported. The only thing we can pretty much do is wait.

Hope to see you all in the fall!
 
evanbaines said:
Got the call today! (Army)

Best of luck to those of you who are still waiting! Hopefully this is the start of a bunch of movement!
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CONGRATS!!! Lets keep the good times rolling!!
 
evanbaines said:
Got the call today! (Army)

Best of luck to those of you who are still waiting! Hopefully this is the start of a bunch of movement!
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Congrats! Good luck with the house! Come on USUHS and call a few more Army guys up!
 
evanbaines said:
Got the call today! (Army)

Best of luck to those of you who are still waiting! Hopefully this is the start of a bunch of movement!
Click to expand...

Congrats!

It seems like it's about time to fire off my update letter.
 
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evanbaines said:
Got the call today! (Army)

Best of luck to those of you who are still waiting! Hopefully this is the start of a bunch of movement!
Click to expand...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Ive been on the Navy waitlist since Nov (Oct interview) and its exciting to see at least some movement. Now lets hope that a bunch of calls go out in the next few weeks!!!
 
Did any of you waitlisted folks apply for the HPSP scholarship? I'm a current Navy officer (submarine force) that is on the waitlist and figured if you REALLY want to serve, there are other options in the unfortunate event that you/we do not get off of the waitlist. PM me if you need any details. Congrats to all who have unconditional acceptances and good luck to those on the waitlist. Thank you all for your possible or current dedication to serving our armed forces!
 
I just wanted to thank everyone for keeping us updated on their status. I have been following the thread off and on for the past two months, and I especially appreciate those updates regarding information from the admissions office. In case anyone is wondering, here is a little about my own situation:


  • I finished my secondary application right around the deadline (was it Nov. 15th?).
  • I received an interview invitation in the first week of January 2012.
  • I interviewed February 9th; it went amazingly.
  • My first interview was with a first year surgeon, fresh out of USUHS. She said she also interviewed in mid-February, and obviously was accepted.
  • I received my Waitlist letter (regular mail) April 19th (Wisconsin) and it was dated April 13th. Yes, they send notifications on a biweekely schedule, around the 1st and 15th.
  • I emailed admissions about my Change of Service request that day, and never received a reply. I emailed them a couple of days later to verify they received it, and I received a response that was literally, "Yes, we received your letter."
I think they are just swamped with applicants right now. When I interviewed they told us there is a huge pool of applicants and the past few years the waitlist hasn't moved as much as previous years (commented on 9/11 and the bad economy)...

For those of you who have been accepted, what method of communication did admissions use to contact you?

~~Kimberly

Class of 2016 hopeful.
Air Force Waitlist. :xf:
 
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KimahSti0810 said:
I just wanted to thank everyone for keeping us updated on their status. I have been following the thread off and on for the past two months, and I especially appreciate those updates regarding information from the admissions office. In case anyone is wondering, here is a little about my own situation:


  • I finished my secondary application right around the deadline (was it Nov. 15th?).
  • I received an interview invitation in the first week of January 2012.
  • I interviewed February 9th; it went amazingly.
  • My first interview was with a first year surgeon, fresh out of USUHS. She said she also interviewed in mid-February, and obviously was accepted.
  • I received my Waitlist letter (regular mail) April 19th (Wisconsin) and it was dated April 13th. Yes, they send notifications on a biweekely schedule, around the 1st and 15th.
  • I emailed admissions about my Change of Service request that day, and never received a reply. I emailed them a couple of days later to verify they received it, and I received a response that was literally, "Yes, we received your letter."
I think they are just swamped with applicants right now. When I interviewed they told us there is a huge pool of applicants and the past few years the waitlist hasn't moved as much as previous years (commented on 9/11 and the bad economy)...

For those of you who have been accepted, what method of communication did admissions use to contact you?

~~Kimberly

Class of 2016 hopeful.
Air Force Waitlist. :xf:
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Since no one has chimed in, I was contacted from a 301 area code by phone. To my knowledge, this is how all notifications are done.
 
Did anyone else receive an email from Ms. Raven Smith about the DoDMERB Body Fat Qualification today?

I had sent in this paperwork in mid-March and confirmed with Mrs. Rebecca Patterson on April 10th that I was qualified. Mrs. Patterson supposedly sent a memo to the admissions committee saying I was qualified to commission.

I was just wondering if anyone else was in similar circumstances.

Edit: I'm planning on calling and sending an email to verify my status.
 
just withdrew my spot from the Navy! hopefully one of you gets it!

to people who have withdrawn - are we supposed to get some sort of confirmation?
 
swtbrnpelican04 said:
Did anyone else receive an email from Ms. Raven Smith about the DoDMERB Body Fat Qualification today?

I had sent in this paperwork in mid-March and confirmed with Mrs. Rebecca Patterson on April 10th that I was qualified. Mrs. Patterson supposedly sent a memo to the admissions committee saying I was qualified to commission.

I was just wondering if anyone else was in similar circumstances.

Edit: I'm planning on calling and sending an email to verify my status.
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I received the same email and attempted to contact her via phone throughout the day. No one picked up. I also submitted my body fat form over a month ago and confirmed that it was received by Mrs. Patterson. The waitlist letter I received specifically stated that I was physically qualified for DoDMERB, so I'm just going to email (and try calling tomorrow) to confirm.


citrusguy2010 said:
just withdrew my spot from the Navy! hopefully one of you gets it!

to people who have withdrawn - are we supposed to get some sort of confirmation?
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Thanks for the notification! Very much appreciated, and good luck with your med school of choice!
 
digitalgradedoc said:
I received the same email and attempted to contact her via phone throughout the day. No one picked up. I also submitted my body fat form over a month ago and confirmed that it was received by Mrs. Patterson. The waitlist letter I received specifically stated that I was physically qualified for DoDMERB, so I'm just going to email (and try calling tomorrow) to confirm.
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I'm fairly certain that it is a reminder email for everyone who was notified originally. Saturday is about 60 days from the original email. I was just apprehensive when that message appeared in my inbox.
 
Thanks so much for the response, Evan. It seemed to be the case with everyone... I was just curious so I can stop stalking my mail lady.

~~Kimberly
 
Just received the call...I'm in.

Interviewed Dec.
Waitlisted Feb.
Service = Navy
Prior service.
 
Just out of curiosity, any interested PHS candidates here on the forums? I've been using this forum as my source of updates but it's mainly been the other service academies since PHS is so small.
 
Man the 2013 AMCAS just opened up.. Hope calls start rolling out soon or else some of us are gonna have to hustle! Anyone know if we need new LOR's?.. Someone on this forum mentioned we did.
 
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I live in Cali. I'm excited every morning until 2 pm. lol
 
EARG said:
I live in Cali. I'm excited every morning until 2 pm. lol
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Lol. I stalked my mail lady every day until I got waitlisted. Now I keep my phone within reach at all times. My mom called me three times today, which is highly unusual. For once people want to talk and I just want everyone to quit calling so I won't get my hopes up every time the phone rings! I am going crazy wth all this waiting. :scared:
 
Who's gonna get a birthday acceptance call tomorrow? This guy!....pretty please? :xf:
 
KimahSti0810 said:
Lol. I stalked my mail lady every day until I got waitlisted. Now I keep my phone within reach at all times. My mom called me three times today, which is highly unusual. For once people want to talk and I just want everyone to quit calling so I won't get my hopes up every time the phone rings! I am going crazy wth all this waiting. :scared:
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LOL
I totally feel you.
I got a "do you have credit card debt?" phone call from an unknown area code. I died a little.

But! Here's to us all getting accepted sometime real soon!!
 
EARG said:
LOL
I totally feel you.
I got a "do you have credit card debt?" phone call from an unknown area code. I died a little.

But! Here's to us all getting accepted sometime real soon!!
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Most definitely! I make sure to check the area code before I get too far gone. 301 is the school's...
 
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To all the incoming Navy students: I'm going to be attending an earlier ODS than most others, so I'll try to make periodic updates about what we are doing there, daily schedules, things you'll need (as I find out what I wish I had brought), etc. So by the time you get there, you'll have a better idea of what to expect. I start May 13th. I'll try to do posts every 2 or 3 days so I don't forget things.
 
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