2008-2009 WashU (Washington University, St. Louis) Secondary Application Thread

BU Medical Sciences
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shemarty

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(Optional) Do you have unique experiences or obstacles that you have overcome that were not covered in your application about which you would like to inform our Admissions Committee? (3000 chars) [I think this truly is optional. If you have nothing meaningful to add, leave it blank]


If you have already completed you education, if your college or graduate education was interrupted, or if you do not plan to be a full-time student during the current year, describe in chronological order your activities during the time(s) when you were not enrolled as a full-time student. (1800 chars)
 
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Wash U LOR Requirements:

3 from teachers/research mentors. There is space to list 4, but only 3 are required.

If you're letters are arriving as a committee packet, there is no limit on how many letters can be in the packet. Use good judgment and don't over-do it, though.
 
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That's how WashU rolls, my friend.
 
serikk85 said:
I know! It's nuts! What if we don't know our high school class rank?
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Well, it says: "Rank in Class (if known)," so I'm hoping that if we don't know our rank it's fine - I don't really want to go pull that up (nor was my rank very high 😳)
 
last year i did not do the optional essay. for the essay regarding time off, i was for the past spring semester doing research so i wrote about that in a few sentences. i did not know or report a class rank for high school.
as you can see it worked out just fine for me. good luck guys.
 
"Have you, a family member, or a research mentor had any personal experience or relationship with Washington University School of Medicine." then you have 1800 characters to explain... Ugh
 
Well i just said that my sister went there for a certain school and graduated in 2005.... like 20 words max.
 
Are any of you guys actually answering the optional question about an obstacle or unique experience? I have a feeling that this answer would require something serious that could have hindered our undergraduate years, not just some situation that we had to overcome.
 
dr drummer said:
Well i just said that my sister went there for a certain school and graduated in 2005.... like 20 words max.
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Yeah well it's sort of hard when you have a lot associated with Wash U Med... It's very closely associated with my undergrad.
 
dr drummer said:
Are any of you guys actually answering the optional question about an obstacle or unique experience? I have a feeling that this answer would require something serious that could have hindered our undergraduate years, not just some situation that we had to overcome.
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I'm not answering it, I agree w/ your assessment of the question.
 
I once read that if you had to think about an obstacle that you had to overcome, then you probably don't have one worth writing about. 99.9% of medical school applicants leave that part blank.
 
bump, in case anyone has more questions and couldn't find this thread.
 
WashU rules and you should all come here, if accepted! Good luck guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
shemarty said:
Wash U LOR Requirements:

3 from teachers/research mentors. There is space to list 4, but only 3 are required.

According to the Wash U office, I can submit a packet with more than 4 letters which I already have assembled at my school's career center. I explained that they were all meaningful and unique, so it would be a shame to omit one. Their reply was "yes, you can submit the entire packet." I'm sorry I don't have more specific details than this, but at least it seems that their maximum number is flexible.
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Yeah, I got this from them: "You may send as many letters as you like."

Do you guys think 6 is too many?
 
Knowing WashU, they will read everything you send them carefully, but I wouldn't go over 5 letters, especially if they are 1 page single spaced each..
 
seraph524 said:
Knowing WashU, they will read everything you send them carefully, but I wouldn't go over 5 letters, especially if they are 1 page single spaced each..
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Sounds good, thanks!
 
I'm sending 7 to every school that will let me. I can't bear to omit any of the ones I have besides my 8th one which is from a non-science teacher.

Most schools said they'd accept my letter from an advisor from the medical school who I worked with to coordinate the pre-med physician shadowing program. It was non-scientific in nature and more about leadership, ECs, etc.

I'm going to have a talk w/ my school's premed advisors about this.

I know 7 is excessive, but... they already wrote them, they all talk about different things, and I think they're all going to be strong. Do I really want to *not* send any of them?

🙁
 
shemarty said:
I'm sending 7 to every school that will let me. I can't bear to omit any of the ones I have besides my 8th one which is from a non-science teacher.

Most schools said they'd accept my letter from an advisor from the medical school who I worked with to coordinate the pre-med physician shadowing program. It was non-scientific in nature and more about leadership, ECs, etc.

I'm going to have a talk w/ my school's premed advisors about this.

I know 7 is excessive, but... they already wrote them, they all talk about different things, and I think they're all going to be strong. Do I really want to *not* send any of them?

🙁
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Yea, I feel your pain - I have 8 letters, and it's tough to choose! I think once you cross a certain point it's just too many for them to read, hence many schools having a maximum # of LORs...I'm probably going to send 6 to those schools that don't have a maximum.
 
i sent 6, and it worked for me. I would send any letters that you think are strong.
 
I applied this past year and made it to their waitlist. That may not seem like such a big deal, but I do have an 8 in VR. Anyways, I did write the essay on obstacles and I'm a white girl in a nice neighborhood. I studied abroad in an unnamed African country one summer and dealt with a lot of really horrible things - nasty car crashes in the middle of nowhere, students coming down with malaria and no one to turn to, being arrested and beaten by the police, daily harrassment from Muslim men who thought I wasn't dressing as conservatively as I could... it wasn't about growing up the projects and I made sure to emphasize that this took place over a two month period of time. I talked about overcoming fear as an obstacle to my ability to learn and function in a hostile environment. I think it was a good move to have written this essay. You might just have to think creatively about the topic if there is more of yourself that you want the admissions committee to know.
 
I just submitted my secondary and paid the fee. Do we want to start a running list of submission date, completion date, interview invite, etc?

Or, should we wait a bit?
 
shemarty said:
I just submitted my secondary and paid the fee. Do we want to start a running list of submission date, completion date, interview invite, etc?

Or, should we wait a bit?
Click to expand...

I'd say go for it.

Secondaries
Myuuchan: Submitted: 6/17, Letters rec'd: ??, School form: not sent, Complete: ??
 
Alright here we go!!

Secondaries
Myuuchan: Submitted: 6/17, Letters rec'd: ??, School form: not sent, Complete: ??
Shemarty: Submitted: 6/18, Letters rec'd: ??, School form: not sent, Complete: ??
 
If I am using my school's reference file service for letters (not a premedical comitte), then do I fill out Part A (packet of recommendations) or Part B and manually fill in the names of my LOR writers? Also, if I fill in Part B, what do I do if I have more than four LORs? Pick my favorite four? Thanks.
 
If you're sending a packet, then you only fill out part A. Don't list the individual names unless the letters are arriving individually. That's the impression I got, but you can ask them to be sure.
 
for the "Dean's Certification" forms... do I need to get signatures from Deans at the community colleges I attended?

i only took ONE class at each community college... 🙄
 
disorder said:
for the "Dean's Certification" forms... do I need to get signatures from Deans at the community colleges I attended?

i only took ONE class at each community college... 🙄
Click to expand...

I think it's only needed if you graduated/intend to graduate from the institution in question. I had no issues last year (no problems up to the interview) with just the alma mater. Call them to be sure, though.
 
I'm a little confused. Is the Dean's certification form needed if you were never involved in any disciplinary action? Or is it required from every school that you're getting a degree from?
 
with regards to the optional essay.... idk if this goes for washu but the dean at hopkins says that for their optional one a big majority leave it blank and she kinda made a face suggesting that she didn't look highly upon it.... so maybe try to write something if you can... but no bs obv.
 
costadelsol said:
I'm a little confused. Is the Dean's certification form needed if you were never involved in any disciplinary action? Or is it required from every school that you're getting a degree from?
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It's needed from every school that you're getting a degree from!
 
Wash U said it was okay to send the Dean's form in the same packet as the LORs. So, once I get it signed, I'm going to see if I can give my Dean's form to my school's career office.

Saves $.42 on postage 😳
 
shemarty said:
Wash U said it was okay to send the Dean's form in the same packet as the LORs. So, once I get it signed, I'm going to see if I can give my Dean's form to my school's career office.

Saves $.42 on postage 😳
Click to expand...

It'll take an extra 10 mins of walking for me to find the Admissions Office and drop it off. 😀
 
applied! super pumped!
 
Secondaries
Myuuchan: Submitted: 6/17, Letters rec'd: ??, School form: not sent, Complete: ??
Shemarty: Submitted: 6/18, Letters rec'd: ??, School form: sent, Complete: ??
Slipstream99: Submitted: 6/25, Letters rec'd: ??, School form: not sent, Complete: ??
 
Myuuchan: Submitted: 6/17, Letters rec'd: ??, School form: sent, Complete: ??
Shemarty: Submitted: 6/18, Letters rec'd: ??, School form: sent, Complete: ??
Slipstream99: Submitted: 6/25, Letters rec'd: ??, School form: not sent, Complete: ??
 
Has anyone gotten the "Thank you for applying to WashU SoM" email saying that they received our app from AMCAS? I got mine today but I haven't been verified yet. I have however started my WashU secondary. Do you guys think that the email is sent whether WashU received my info from their secondary site or the primary and the email just says its from AMCAS regardless, or do you think that they actually have my AMCAS app and AMCAS just hasn't told me yet? I hope my question makes sense!

Thanks!
 
nbandy13 said:
Has anyone gotten the "Thank you for applying to WashU SoM" email saying that they received our app from AMCAS? I got mine today but I haven't been verified yet. I have however started my WashU secondary. Do you guys think that the email is sent whether WashU received my info from their secondary site or the primary and the email just says its from AMCAS regardless, or do you think that they actually have my AMCAS app and AMCAS just hasn't told me yet? I hope my question makes sense!

Thanks!
Click to expand...

It means they got at least some of your info from AMCAS... I started the secondary before, but only today did I get that email.
 
Myuuchan: Submitted: 6/17, Letters rec'd: ??, School form: sent, Complete: ??
Shemarty: Submitted: 6/18, Letters rec'd: ??, School form: sent, Complete: ??
Slipstream99: Submitted: 6/25, Letters rec'd: ??, School form: not sent, Complete: ??
copingmethods: Submitted: 6/26, Letters rec'd: ??, School form: not sent, Complete: ??
 
Calculus courses... hmm

I've done Calc 2 and 3 and Intro to Stats in college. Would these count? I honestly don't remember which ones had diff eqs. at all.
 
bozz said:
Calculus courses... hmm

I've done Calc 2 and 3 and Intro to Stats in college. Would these count? I honestly don't remember which ones had diff eqs. at all.
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It'll be one of your calc classes. You would probably remember. They teach whole classes on it. :O

Actually, if you still have your course catalog handy/accessible, the course description should mention differential equations specifically.
 
Myuuchan said:
It'll be one of your calc classes. You would probably remember. They teach whole classes on it. :O
Click to expand...

I never took a whole class on Diff Eqs. That was only required for engineering majors at our school. I did remember working ON diff eqs. in both Calc II and III though.
 
bozz said:
I never took a whole class on Diff Eqs. That was only required for engineering majors at our school. I did remember working ON diff eqs. in both Calc II and III though.
Click to expand...

Wow, nice. Maybe your course catalog will mention it?
 
You don't need to take a differential equations class. Calc 1 and 2 will cover it.
 
Thanks, after further digging around, only Calc I seems needed.

Anyone know what a Dean's Certification form is o_0
 
It's on the website and just basically makes your undergrad attest that you haven't done any think like academic dishonesty, etc...

I was told that they have been burned in the past and had to revoke admissions offers, etc...
 
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