2009-2010 University of Wisconsin Application Thread

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shemarty

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PROMPT

Optional essay: Keeping in mind the Admissions Committee's goal that the supplemental information is to gain additional insight into the applicant as an individual and as a whole person, what additional information, if any, do you wish to provide the Admissions Committee that may be important in the evaluation of your candidacy? You may include anything in this essay that you feel is relevant.

For example, many applicants have encountered various challenges in their backgrounds (e.g., coming from a low-income family, having to work a large number of hours per week while going to college, experiencing educational disadvantages in their pre-college years, following an unusually difficult course of study, changes in schools, time away from school, having a privileged background and providing extensive service, etc.). The Admissions Committee takes many factors into consideration when assessing performance. If your path to medicine has not been direct, please elaborate. If you feel that you have encountered significant disadvantages and would like the Admissions Committee to take them into consideration, you are invited (not required) to provide this additional information. (Limit response to 500 words.)

Reapplicant essay: Individuals who are reapplying [to UW MD program]are required to submit a statement indicating what has changed since the previous application to the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health MD program (e.g., additional academic work, new letters of recommendation, work and volunteer experience, life changes, etc.). Please limit your response to 500 words.

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Are you going to UW Madison this year? Your MDapps doesn't say which school you picked.
 
Oh ya, I suppose I never fixed that...

Yes I will be attending Madison this year, for me it was a fairly easy choice, I knew after the interview this was the school for me.
 
I'm applying too. I know nothing about this school but keeping fingers crossed.
 
EricL are you gonna do the Mom's thing? I thought that was one of the coolest EC's I had heard of from a medical school.
 
I got an email a little while ago that they received my application, they will be screening before sending secondaries.
 
I got an email a little while ago that they received my application, they will be screening before sending secondaries.
Same though their screen is pretty low. you need a 2.8 GPA and for the mcat higher then a 7 verbal, 7 physical, and 8 bio. Id assume everyone on sdn meets that lol. Honestly I cant imagine near everyone applying not meeting that...though SDN probably has greatly skewed my idea of the "Average" applicant.
 
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Got an email that I met the requirements of minimum MCAT score and GPA and will get another email with instructions regarding the secondary application. I'm surprised because my verbal's below 7 (6). :confused:
 
Got an email that I met the requirements of minimum MCAT score and GPA and will get another email with instructions regarding the secondary application. I'm surprised because my verbal's below 7 (6). :confused:

The email I received did not say they had been screened yet, but rather that the applications will be screened. It was kind of confusing the way it was worded. This is what it said:

"Dear Applicant,

The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) has recently received your AMCAS application. At the point of receipt of the AMCAS application, each medical school has a unique system of processing the applications. At SMPH our Admissions staff verifies that minimum MCAT scores of 7 in verbal reasoning, 7 in physical sciences, 8 in biological sciences and GPA of 2.8 are met. Those meeting minimum scores are invited to submit our secondary application. This invitation will come via email accompanied by instructions on how to proceed."
 
"Mom's Thing"? I don't follow.

Here's a description from the student website:


"Mothers and Maternity Support / Dando a Luz (MoMS)
Mission:
MoMS (Mothers and Maternal Support) and Dando a Luz (for Spanish speaking patients) is an extracurricular medical student initiative organized in 1997 which matches 1st and 2nd year medical students with expectant mothers in the community. Students in the program provide support, education, and health advocacy for their patient, who is a socially, economically or physically disadvantaged single mother or teen mother. The student attends prenatal health checks with their patient and has the opportunity to be present as a support person at the labor and delivery. There is also a significant component of the program which focuses on how to be a resource and friend to the patient. Through the MoMS/Dando a Luz program, students will develop a greater understanding of the needs of single, teen, and Spanish speaking OB patients. Students will also learn and practice patient advocacy, support, and communication skills with a challenging, non-standard patient population."

This sounds like a wonderful program. I remember hearing about it on the tour, and reading about it for interview prep. I'd definitely like to participate either this year or the next!
 
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Hi everyone!

Good luck on your apps! A lot of people did the Moms program this past year from our class (I'm a rising M2) and found it really rewarding! Just so you guys know the timeline, our first interview day here at UW is usually around the first of October and we interview every Friday except for the week of Thanksgiving for the most part until the season is over! If you have any questions for me, feel free to post them here or PM!
 
Hi everyone!

Good luck on your apps! A lot of people did the Moms program this past year from our class (I'm a rising M2) and found it really rewarding! Just so you guys know the timeline, our first interview day here at UW is usually around the first of October and we interview every Friday except for the week of Thanksgiving for the most part until the season is over! If you have any questions for me, feel free to post them here or PM!
they only interview on friday?
 
they only interview on friday?

Yep, we only interview once a week normally for straight MD people, there are different things going on for MD-PhD and other programs. Interview groups tend to be ~20-25 on average. UW interviews in October, November, December (prolly 2 weeks), January, February, and part of March. On average I would say that UW interviews relatively few people compared to the number of applicants and relative to other schools but those that interview have a very good chance of getting in.
 
EricL are you gonna do the Mom's thing? I thought that was one of the coolest EC's I had heard of from a medical school.

EricL- that is the one exception they discussed about missing a scheduled exam. ;)

I will be attending this fall as well- compared to the other places I interviewed, UWSMPH offers more clinical exposures in M1 and M2. Besides loving UW, this was a final factor in the decision to attend.

Good luck to everyone applying! :luck:
 
Got this one today...but I can't think of anything for the optional essay! I haven't lived a disadvantaged life in any way...and I think my PS covers why I want to be a doctor/why I'll be good. Is optional really optional?
 
Got this one today...but I can't think of anything for the optional essay! I haven't lived a disadvantaged life in any way...and I think my PS covers why I want to be a doctor/why I'll be good. Is optional really optional?

You got what one today? The secondary for Wisconsin? I just checked my email, and I don't have one. You must be special.
 
I want this secondary :(...according to the email it was just a straight low gpa and mcat screen...im above them i hope i get it. Do any current students have more info on the moms thing besdies whats above? That program sounds so awesome...its exactly the thing ive been wanting to get involved in but had trouble finding it in my area...:).
 
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You got what one today? The secondary for Wisconsin? I just checked my email, and I don't have one. You must be special.

yeah, I got the email with a link to the secondary. It's really not too involved, and there's no required essay (except re-applicants). Name stuff/addresses/schools attended/Residency stuff/"Life Activities" (basically all the stuff you've done since HS graduation. Much like activities/work/EC's on the primary)/and an optional essay.

Optional essay: Keeping in mind the Admissions Committee's goal that the supplemental information is to gain additional insight into the applicant as an individual and as a whole person, what additional information, if any, do you wish to provide the Admissions Committee that may be important in the evaluation of your candidacy? You may include anything in this essay that you feel is relevant.

For example, many applicants have encountered various challenges in their backgrounds (e.g., coming from a low-income family, having to work a large number of hours per week while going to college, experiencing educational disadvantages in their pre-college years, following an unusually difficult course of study, changes in schools, time away from school, having a privileged background and providing extensive service, etc.). The Admissions Committee takes many factors into consideration when assessing performance. If your path to medicine has not been direct, please elaborate. If you feel that you have encountered significant disadvantages and would like the Admissions Committee to take them into consideration, you are invited (not required) to provide this additional information. (Limit response to 500 words.)

Reapplicant essay (only if you've applied to UW MD program): Individuals who are reapplying are required to submit a statement indicating what has changed since the previous application to the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health MD program (e.g., additional academic work, new letters of recommendation, work and volunteer experience, life changes, etc.). Please limit your response to 500 words.

I did PM these to shemarty but just in case anybody is really itching to get started.

For what it's worth, I'm in-state and early in the alphabet, so maybe they're doing it that way?
 
I just got the secondary too!
 
Got this one today...but I can't think of anything for the optional essay! I haven't lived a disadvantaged life in any way...and I think my PS covers why I want to be a doctor/why I'll be good. Is optional really optional?
Yea, same question...

I mean, should I use this space to try and make excuses for my low GPA or something? I dont want to seem lazy and not do it but I am doing the reapplicant essay so I don't really know if I need to do this one. Its not like my mom died or my house exploded during finals week, lol.
 
also, is anyone just going to copy-paste the life experiences and activities from amcas?
 
also, is anyone just going to copy-paste the life experiences and activities from amcas?

yeah i'm not really sure about this. I added some extra things that I left out on AMCAS because I didn't think they were as important, and I left out awards. For the same things as AMCAS, I just wrote something slightly different and tried not to repeat myself, but didn't give a full explanation like I did on AMCAS
 
I said I wasn't claiming Wisconsin residency (I'm from CA) and so the form skipped me to the next part of the app. After I certified it, I saw the print preview and saw that my parents' names had been filled in with Wisconsin addresses. It also said "yes" for the question that asked if I had previously filed taxes in Wisconsin but the year was blank.

Anyone know what's going on here?
 
yeah i'm not really sure about this. I added some extra things that I left out on AMCAS because I didn't think they were as important, and I left out awards. For the same things as AMCAS, I just wrote something slightly different and tried not to repeat myself, but didn't give a full explanation like I did on AMCAS

I think for this essay I used it to describe something about myself, or my life that was unique-whether this was a struggle, a particular experience, or a special talent. I really don't think you need to limit this to how one might be disadvantaged.
 
I said I wasn't claiming Wisconsin residency (I'm from CA) and so the form skipped me to the next part of the app. After I certified it, I saw the print preview and saw that my parents' names had been filled in with Wisconsin addresses. It also said "yes" for the question that asked if I had previously filed taxes in Wisconsin but the year was blank.

Anyone know what's going on here?
so I called them and they said its some sorta bog they are trying to fix, mine said my dad was dead and that my mom lived in MO...im trying to get ahold of them one more time to see what we do...ill let u know if u havnt already called yourself.
 
so I called them and they said its some sorta bog they are trying to fix, mine said my dad was dead and that my mom lived in MO...im trying to get ahold of them one more time to see what we do...ill let u know if u havnt already called yourself.
You're like a phone ninja. I e-mailed and Beth Menzer told me to log back in. I got a second confirmation e-mail after her's and when I logged back in, everything was fine.

I'm guessing they manually changed it and resubmitted it for me. From the sound of her email, this was an error with the first batch and the rest should be fine.
 
You're like a phone ninja. I e-mailed and Beth Menzer told me to log back in. I got a second confirmation e-mail after her's and when I logged back in, everything was fine.

I'm guessing they manually changed it and resubmitted it for me. From the sound of her email, this was an error with the first batch and the rest should be fine.
Mines still messed up even after she let me resubmit:(...and yes i am the phone ninja:ninja:
 
yeah i'm not really sure about this. I added some extra things that I left out on AMCAS because I didn't think they were as important, and I left out awards. For the same things as AMCAS, I just wrote something slightly different and tried not to repeat myself, but didn't give a full explanation like I did on AMCAS

I was pretty through on my AMCAS, i wonder if it is frowned upon by them if i copy my activities verbatim.
 
i just got the secondary, even though I'm mstp and don't have my mcat scores yet.

anyway... did they give everyone two random words for the password? mine made a really unpleasant combination. ick.
 
i just got the secondary, even though I'm mstp and don't have my mcat scores yet.

anyway... did they give everyone two random words for the password? mine made a really unpleasant combination. ick.
Yes. And mine was AWESOME!
 
since we had to change them there should be no reason why we can't share them... mine I think was a play on words. ire-rang... earing???
 
lumpy-moist.

'nuf said.


eeew. that's just gross. 2 of the worst words in the English language. Especially moist.

I had flood-taped. what? better than a random mix of capital and lowercase letters and numbers. I hate those.
 
:( Sorry to be the opinion of extra work, but it is best to complete the optional essay and to enter your activities in different words.

Really try and think about what about you is not reflected in the application- bring that forward in the essay and activities. UW has cut down on the number of interviews it grants in the past few years (see 08-09 application thread for stats), so you want to spark interest beyond GPA/MCAT.

Good luck to everyone :luck:
 
Hey guys, how do I just assign the LORs to them. Do I have to do additional things appart from designating them on AMCAS. I submitted my secondary and paid.
 
In the activities section, do I include regular jobs (e.g. working in a restaurant), or are they looking only for "volunteer work, service work, research, participation in music, sports, etc., parenting, et al?"
 
In the activities section, do I include regular jobs (e.g. working in a restaurant), or are they looking only for "volunteer work, service work, research, participation in music, sports, etc., parenting, et al?"

I'm thinking include it. They said more is better, right? Embarrassed as I am about having to put a summer at Subway instead of doing research, etc, I'm doing it anyway......
 
since we had to change them there should be no reason why we can't share them... mine I think was a play on words. ire-rang... earing???

mine was vote-men :laugh:

i was like... is this some subtle hint that i shouldn't be applying because i'm female??
 
In the activities section, do I include regular jobs (e.g. working in a restaurant), or are they looking only for "volunteer work, service work, research, participation in music, sports, etc., parenting, et al?"
I included it, they say they want a timeline of all activities, i included all jobs etc etc...even some sstuff i didnt put on amcas...
 
I was under the impression that you list the exact same things you put on the AMCAS. When you finish the app it converts all your dates into this very nice looking chart that shows when everything happened in your life. With that in mind I assume they wanted us do redo the AMCAS section to save their admissions workers the time and trouble as to go through the applications and do it all themselves.

You know, kinda like how for the AMCAS we had to enter all of our own transcript grades? What was the point of that besides the fact that the AMCAS people wanted to save on their labor costs. :laugh:

I think the activities section on this app is the same idea.
 
I was under the impression that you list the exact same things you put on the AMCAS. When you finish the app it converts all your dates into this very nice looking chart that shows when everything happened in your life. With that in mind I assume they wanted us do redo the AMCAS section to save their admissions workers the time and trouble as to go through the applications and do it all themselves.

You know, kinda like how for the AMCAS we had to enter all of our own transcript grades? What was the point of that besides the fact that the AMCAS people wanted to save on their labor costs. :laugh:

I think the activities section on this app is the same idea.

Probably true, but the secondary gives you more space to include things that may not have been on your AMCAS app.
 
A: Information about life activities is requested on our secondary application. It does parallel that on the AMCAS application. However, this information on our secondary is designed to provide a chronological listing of your life activities and experiences when it is viewed by reviewers. It provides a bar graph listing activities over time. Therefore, be sure to give a full accounting of life experiences since completing high school. In addition, the secondary allows you the opportunity to expand or add dimension to the accounting in the AMCAS application. We are aware that there will be repetition.

hmm so i'm just gonna base it very much off AMCAS then.
 
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