Pacific Northwest University (PNWU-COM) Discussion Thread 2014 - 2015

Getting into Med School is Hard? Not with BeMo.
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DrLefty said:
I've been curious as to the though process that someone with multiple acceptances would have to go through. You mention pros and cons, what are some of the comparisons you are making between schools?
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I tried to facilitate some of this discussion in last year's thread and I remember it not being well received for some strange reason.

This is a tough choice and one with potential ramifications for the rest of your life. One would think getting as much input as possible is a good thing.

DrLefty and jsmith: although I'm 10 years removed from the process, I'm happy to provide what input I can over PM.
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Has anyone been successful at moving their interview to a closer date? I put myself on the wait list, but should I give a call?
 
Harvey Harvardson said:
Has anyone been successful at moving their interview to a closer date? I put myself on the wait list, but should I give a call?
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I called and emailed Hope but she replied and said that she did not currently have anything open as of yesterday.
 
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I was rejected from here today, which is kind of a shock, but is ok. Thought I interviewed well. Hopefully I will have some good feedback to post on here for interview tips.
 
aspdr said:
see you there!
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Are you flying into Seattle or directly into Yakima? I'm flying into Seattle, if the weather is bad around that time i'll probably rent an SUV or crossover to make the drive through the pass a bit easier.
 
Higherprimate said:
Are you flying into Seattle or directly into Yakima? I'm flying into Seattle, if the weather is bad around that time i'll probably rent an SUV or crossover to make the drive through the pass a bit easier.
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Hey I am flying to Seattle as well. I had a sedan rented out but I just rented a SUV just to be safe. I am hoping the weather doesnt get that bad during Novemeber. Atleast better than December till Feb. I come from the snowy East so I am hoping no bad weather happens!
 
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aspdr said:
Hey I am flying to Seattle as well. I had a sedan rented out but I just rented a SUV just to be safe. I am hoping the weather doesnt get that bad during Novemeber. Atleast better than December till Feb. I come from the snowy East so I am hoping no bad weather happens!
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The weather shouldn't be too bad. I have driven through Yakima to western WA for the last 4 years to visit my family for Thanksgiving. I drive through the passes in my Honda Civic and haven't had any problems. Unless some crazy weather happens you should be fine.
 
DrLefty said:
The weather shouldn't be too bad. I have driven through Yakima to western WA for the last 4 years to visit my family for Thanksgiving. I drive through the passes in my Honda Civic and haven't had any problems. Unless some crazy weather happens you should be fine.
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Good to know. I'm from Utah so snow doesn't bother me and I'm used to driving in it, I just want to be prepared in case a storm comes through. Thanks for the info though. Might save me a few bucks on the rental.
 
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Clinicall said:
Does anyone know how PNWU sends rejections or holds? I've been complete and sent to the committee since mid September and haven't heard a peep. I emailed them about two weeks ago and they said hold tight that they were busy and I should be hearing back soon... still nothing.
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From what they told me, if you get accepted they call you then get a hard letter in the mail. If you get rejected or wait listed they don't call you but only send you a snail mail letter explaining your status.
 
Man would really love to go here, only been a few days since I was complete but the wait is already killing me!
 
II for February 2015 today. I asked to be put on the waitlist for sooner interviews as well. Is there any hope to getting my interview date moved up?
 
pglo said:
II for February 2015 today. I asked to be put on the waitlist for sooner interviews as well. Is there any hope to getting my interview date moved up?
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I had my II moved up. As people get acceptances elsewhere more II spots will open up.
 
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pglo said:
II for February 2015 today. I asked to be put on the waitlist for sooner interviews as well. Is there any hope to getting my interview date moved up?
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May I ask when you were complete?
 
To all of those who have already interviewed, if you could share what you believe to be some of the most important preparation tools/resources for the interview, what to expect, how you prepared... etc. that would be marvelous and oh so appreciated! :bow::biglove:First interview and this is my numero uno school, so I'm bound and determined to give this my all. Thank you!
 
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Clinicall said:
I havent had an II yet...I've been on committee since mid September...just wondering if this can be normal in some instances or if this could be a slow rejection. Does their portal ever update to rejected/defered if that is the case?
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I am pretty sure that it took me almost 6 weeks to hear anything about my status, and that was earlier in the cycle. Also, PNWU just started interviewing in October, and will continue to interview into next year based on what they told me. It doesn't hurt to call and ask though, Hope in enrollment services has been incredibly helpful throughout the process and I'm sure she would be happy to answer your questions!
 
What is the advantage of flying to the Seattle airport... and not directly to the Yakima one? Also, anyone know if there are shuttle services from the Yakima airport to the hotels and even to the school? Any recommendations? Thanks! And congratulations to those who have been accepted! And Good Luck to everyone who is interviewing soon :)
 
mushroomt0p said:
What is the advantage of flying to the Seattle airport... and not directly to the Yakima one? Also, anyone know if there are shuttle services from the Yakima airport to the hotels and even to the school? Any recommendations? Thanks! And congratulations to those who have been accepted! And Good Luck to everyone who is interviewing soon :)
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I would guess maybe the Yakima Airport may be smaller (see http://www.yakimaairterminal.com/) and you may have to transfer to a smaller plane in order to land there. Although the Seattle airport is around a 2 hour drive away, I would still choose Yakima Airport because of its proximity to PNWU.

I guess its up to you how much you want to spend and where you are flying in from.
 
pterop said:
I thought my interviews went well, but can't be sure since none of us from the Oct.11th group know if we got in. There were 25 of us at the interview and we were split into three groups, that took turns doing a school tour, the 4 mini interviews with individual faculty members, and a group activity that was more like a group interview. I wasn't prepared for the last part.

For the group activity, the 8 of us were given a topic to talk about for 5 minutes, then we took 20 minutes taking turns talking about the topic as a group. Three or four faculty evaluated our answers. I didn't know about this portion of the interview from reading threads. That might help you feel more prepared on Sat.

The MMI's were just like people explained in previous posts. We rotated between faculty in different rooms. We had one minute to read the question and five minutes to answer them. All but one of my interviewers were friendly.

Everyone else on campus was super friendly and made me even more excited about the school. Mike Riggin, the recruiter, told me to just be myself at the interview and have fun! I think they just want to see that you, as a candidate, would fit into the school ie. be friendly and collaborative, and you would be happy to be there.

The advice I can give is chat up your fellow interviewees and enjoy yourself. I also did practice MMIs with a couple people beforehand and that made me less nervous.

Good luck! I hope you have a good experience!
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For those interviewing, I dug this up from this same thread.

Also, can any recent interviewees shed some light on the 5 min talk? How did it go for you? How did others do?
 
I just wanna make sure...for those accepted, we have until Dec 14 to put down a deposit, correct? Thanks!

mushroomt0p said:
What is the advantage of flying to the Seattle airport... and not directly to the Yakima one? Also, anyone know if there are shuttle services from the Yakima airport to the hotels and even to the school? Any recommendations? Thanks! And congratulations to those who have been accepted! And Good Luck to everyone who is interviewing soon :)
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I chose Yakima airport when I interviewed. Oxford suite has shuttles to/from the airport and school, decent complimentary breakfast, and complimentary soup and salad for dinner - all for a good price. Make sure you mention PNWU discount.
 
pglo said:
For those interviewing, I dug this up from this same thread.

Also, can any recent interviewees shed some light on the 5 min talk? How did it go for you? How did others do?
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the 5-min talk wasn't bad at all. They really tried to get to know you. They asked me about things I put down on AACOMAS, including bad grades..relax, make sure you know your application, be prepared to explain things like bad grades, and you will be fine.
 
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I got some feedback on my interview, and why they rejected me a spot.

I came across that I was trying to hard to show them that I have a good work ethic. This felt strange bc I held back considerably, but it's something to keep in mind. The five minute talk wasn't bad,but I underestimated it's importance and was probably too laid back and conversational. Be yourself but don't blab on and on about something that they ask you about. Be to the point and no more.

They also said that I was trying too hard to make known that I'm trying to move up in this world out of the low income bracket. This was a fair criticism and is an easy fix for my next interviews.

Last, for the ethical MMI interview questions, here are a few things to know about.

Know about what you do when you know a colleague is cheating, know what you should do if you find out cheating is the norm, know what to do when you get a patient who speaks zero english and you still need to help treat them, and know what to do in when it's a patient's word against yours.

For preparing, I should have done harder mock interview questions, for this was definitely my hardest so far, and probably will be my hardest interview.

For the group activity, try to make sure you are heard but also don't be that jerk pre-med kid whose arm is breaking off in the air half the time. No body likes that guy, he's a dick.

Last, reading a small book on medical ethics would be very helpful. I wish you guys the best of luck, and I hope you all do better than I did. Be calm and collected, I'm pretty sure that's what they are looking for. I could be wrong though, so take that with a grain of salt. If you guys have any more questions feel free to message me.

Cheers,
 
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Mat the coolcat said:
I got some feedback on my interview, and why they rejected me a spot.

I came across that I was trying to hard to show them that I have a good work ethic. This felt strange bc I held back considerably, but it's something to keep in mind. The five minute talk wasn't bad,but I underestimated it's importance and was probably too laid back and conversational. Be yourself but don't blab on and on about something that they ask you about. Be to the point and no more.

They also said that I was trying too hard to make known that I'm trying to move up in this world out of the low income bracket. This was a fair criticism and is an easy fix for my next interviews.

Last, for the ethical MMI interview questions, here are a few things to know about.

Know about what you do when you know a colleague is cheating, know what you should do if you find out cheating is the norm, know what to do when you get a patient who speaks zero english and you still need to help treat them, and know what to do in when it's a patient's word against yours.

For preparing, I should have done harder mock interview questions, for this was definitely my hardest so far, and probably will be my hardest interview.

For the group activity, try to make sure you are heard but also don't be that jerk pre-med kid whose arm is breaking off in the air half the time. No body likes that guy, he's a dick.

Last, reading a small book on medical ethics would be very helpful. I wish you guys the best of luck, and I hope you all do better than I did. Be calm and collected, I'm pretty sure that's what they are looking for. I could be wrong though, so take that with a grain of salt. If you guys have any more questions feel free to message me.

Cheers,
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Wow this is very insightful, thanks! Do you mind if I ask what your stats were? Also are you an OOS/out of PNW applicant?
 
Harvey Harvardson said:
Wow this is very insightful, thanks! Do you mind if I ask what your stats were? Also are you an OOS/out of PNW applicant?
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Hi there, sure:

In state applicant, UW grad, 3.2 overall 3.1 science, 29 mcat. I have four other DO interviews and one MD. Let me know if you have more questions.

Dont worry about stats once you get interviews though...
 
Got my II! Placed in the final March 28th group. I'm tremendously excited to visit campus. Turnaround after receiving my secondary was fast.
 
rikudo said:
Primary: 10/16/14
Secondary: 10/30/14
II: 11/4/14
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Damn, I submitted my secondary same day as you but didn't send in my LOR until today cause I was waiting or one letter. Did they send you a complete email or this is all purely on the portal? How long after submission were you complete?
 
:biglove::banana::soexcited:OH HAPPY DAY! :claps::highfive: Was originally scheduled for the February interview, got moved to the January date, and just today... was placed in the November 15th group! So beyond excited for this school and looking forward to an amazing experience. If anyone interviewing on the 15th will be there early and is interested in getting together for dinner on the 14th (...or 15th maybe), please let me know! See you soon!!
 
yocharlie said:
Damn, I submitted my secondary same day as you but didn't send in my LOR until today cause I was waiting or one letter. Did they send you a complete email or this is all purely on the portal? How long after submission were you complete?
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Sorry I should clarify, I was marked complete on 10/30. I submitted my secondary on 10/24 but my application was put on hold until my MCAT scores posted. After my scores posted (10/28) it took two days for completion email (10/30) then five more for an invite (11/4).
 
II! My first one and I couldn't be any more excited! Unfortunately it's for March 28th but hopefully that gets moved forward!
 
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Zabooni said:
II! My first one and I couldn't be any more excited! Unfortunately it's for March 28th but hopefully that gets moved forward!
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congrats! when were you complete? I was complete yesterday so hoping I get a call soon.
 
Giving up my interview spot set for nov 15. Im calling tomorrow to let Ennis Hope know, so If you want to move up call her tomorrow. I'm sure this is a great school but I can't pass up an acceptance to KCUMB.
 
Higherprimate said:
Giving up my interview spot set for nov 15. Im calling tomorrow to let Ennis Hope know, so If you want to move up call her tomorrow. I'm sure this is a great school but I can't pass up an acceptance to KCUMB.
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So say someone from the January 2015 interview date gets moved up to November, will they then move up someone in the February 2015 date to January? I may be overthinking it, but I feel like my February 2015 interview is late and I really love the school.
 
For those of you who got II, what does it say for the Decision/date section under application status on the portal?,,,
I was complete 10/29 but didn't here anything:( ....
 
CINDIEE said:
For those of you who got II, what does it say for the Decision/date section under application status on the portal?,,,
I was complete 10/29 but didn't here anything:( ....
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It will say "Interview" plus the interview date. Best of luck!
 
Accepted two weeks ago from Oct. 18th interview.
Stats: cGPA 3.46 sGPA 3.29 Post-bac 3.93 mcat(p,v,b) 10,11,10
Anyone from Spokane, Eastern Washington, or Pullman? PM me. Looking to get a head start on networking and making new friends.
 
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