2011-2012 Washington University in St. Louis Application Thread

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Sammich117

Sammich117

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Please PM the essays or lack thereof to me when the secondary is available and I will update this.

Best of luck with your application :luck::luck::luck:!
 
I might add this school after taking the MCAT, the numbers for this school are so intimidating :scared:
 
Ksmi I have a question, I plan on submitting my AMCAS app on August 1st and will receive my MCAT scores back towards the end of August.....will this put me at a disadvantage at WashU? I know WashU is a little slower with the interview process so I'm hoping being a little late won't kill my chances here...thanks!
 
YouNeverKnow22 said:
Ksmi I have a question, I plan on submitting my AMCAS app on August 1st and will receive my MCAT scores back towards the end of August.....will this put me at a disadvantage at WashU? I know WashU is a little slower with the interview process so I'm hoping being a little late won't kill my chances here...thanks!
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Nope, you should be totally fine. They do start interviews a bit later than other schools. being complete in August won't be a disadvantage at all. :luck:
 
ksmi117 said:
Nope, you should be totally fine. They do start interviews a bit later than other schools. being complete in August won't be a disadvantage at all. :luck:
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ok thanks, that's a relief! Also I had some basic questions:

-How is the student life at WashU? Uptight or is it relaxed?


-Is it possible to do clinical research during the year or do you think it would be too stressful with classes?
 
YouNeverKnow22 said:
ok thanks, that's a relief! Also I had some basic questions:

-How is the student life at WashU? Uptight or is it relaxed?


-Is it possible to do clinical research during the year or do you think it would be too stressful with classes?
Click to expand...

I love the student life at WashU. My class is super relaxed, maybe to a fault. Pass/fail is a glorious thing first year and it let us spend time making friendships, adjusting to St. Louis, and just having fun. Second and third year aren't as relaxed, but I wouldn't classify it as uptight. The second years have plenty of time to do student organizations, but do have to spend more time studying since they have grades and more information to learn. The third years are super busy, but all of the third years I've interacted with love their rotations and are learning a lot. Fourth year is the most relaxed of all off them. It's purely elective so they get to spend time doing what they love. They have a month off to do nothing and most travel during that time, and they can take an additional month or so just to TA the first year anatomy class. The flexibility there is crucial because of residency interviews, and I never heard of a 4th year having issues taking off to go interview or worrying about missing anything.

Compared to friends I have at other schools, it seems like WashU is more relaxed than most at least in first year due to the grading system and the leniency they give us. I can't speak from experience for the other years, but it doesn't appear to me that it gets much more uptight.

As far as research, it's definitely possible. They videotape all our lectures, so you can skip those and go to lab if you want. If not, you can go to lab on our off afternoons, which we have quite a bit of. I have plenty of friends who did research throughout the year and did just fine. The research opportunities at WashU are simple stellar! The PIs love the med students, and the school works really hard to get us funding for whatever research we do.
 
Thanks I'm definitely excited about applying here.


Is there a particular reason 1st year is P/F and 2nd year is grades?
 
YouNeverKnow22 said:
Is there a particular reason 1st year is P/F and 2nd year is grades?
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My understanding is that the school thinks grades are important, but they realize that first year takes adjusting. Plus they want us to bond as a class and not be all gunner-ific from the get go. If we have a year to just be chill, chances are no one's gonna turn into super gunner once grades are added into the equation.
 
So no chance WashU's going to go P/F for the second year any time soon then?
 
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Long Way to Go said:
So no chance WashU's going to go P/F for the second year any time soon then?
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The administrators are always willing to hear our comments, and when we asked them about it, they said that they would revisit the idea and create a committee/survey the students/etc., but I'm not holding my breath.
 
This school is pretty much above my reach numbers wise (i'm right below 10th percentile MCAT but GPA is OK). Why are its numbers so high when compared with other top 10 institutions like Harvard? Also, why would someone with such high numbers pick WUSTL instead of say Harvard?

Thanks!
 
JSU said:
This school is pretty much above my reach numbers wise (i'm right below 10th percentile MCAT but GPA is OK). Why are its numbers so high when compared with other top 10 institutions like Harvard? Also, why would someone with such high numbers pick WUSTL instead of say Harvard?

Thanks!
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It's just the way things work out. WashU does have a reputation of putting more emphasis on the numbers than anything else. I'm not going to lie and say that it's not true, but it is. That's not to say they don't care about anything else, because they do. They tend to interview the students with high numbers and then from there pick the well-rounded students. If you look at my class, you'd never think that we were all chosen for our numbers because we weren't, it just helped us along the way.

That's not to say that they won't accept people with lower numbers, I think it just tends to be harder here because I believe they use it as a screening tool of sorts. They don't complete rule out people for lower numbers, but they'll need to have something extra special to boost the application up.

As far as picking WashU over other top schools, there are plenty of reasons - money, location (weird, I know, but some people like the Midwest), research, fit, etc. There are plenty of people in my class who turned down offers from school ranked higher (Harvard, Penn, and Hopkins), myself included. I personally fell in love with the people at WashU and couldn't imagine going anywhere else. Those three schools aren't the end all be all of good medical education, and while WashU is trapped in the middle of the country, it's still a great place to go to school.
 
are most of the students from washu from ivy league and top 20 schools?
 
MilkIsGood said:
are most of the students from washu from ivy league and top 20 schools?
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Nope. I was actually really surprised by how many students are from state schools. Maybe like half or a little more of the people are from top 20 schools and WashU undergrad.

Edit: It might actually be more or less, but if so, it's not really noticeable. Everyone's pretty much on the same level, and no one really makes a big deal of saying they went to an Ivy or whatever.
 
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ksmi117 said:
It's just the way things work out. WashU does have a reputation of putting more emphasis on the numbers than anything else. I'm not going to lie and say that it's not true, but it is. That's not to say they don't care about anything else, because they do. They tend to interview the students with high numbers and then from there pick the well-rounded students. If you look at my class, you'd never think that we were all chosen for our numbers because we weren't, it just helped us along the way.

That's not to say that they won't accept people with lower numbers, I think it just tends to be harder here because I believe they use it as a screening tool of sorts. They don't complete rule out people for lower numbers, but they'll need to have something extra special to boost the application up.

As far as picking WashU over other top schools, there are plenty of reasons - money, location (weird, I know, but some people like the Midwest), research, fit, etc. There are plenty of people in my class who turned down offers from school ranked higher (Harvard, Penn, and Hopkins), myself included. I personally fell in love with the people at WashU and couldn't imagine going anywhere else. Those three schools aren't the end all be all of good medical education, and while WashU is trapped in the middle of the country, it's still a great place to go to school.
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Thanks for the info. I need to check my piggy bank to see if I can afford to add another school to my list. I am applying to 28~ schools now and it's starting to hurt. If I had a better chance at getting accepted it would be a non-issue but drop $130+ for a shot in the dark probably isn't going to happen.
 
ksmi, do you know if they screen before secondaries?

Also, which one do you think (just your opinion) matters to WUSTL more - volunteerism or research? I know WUSTL is big on research, but I wasn't sure about volunteerism...I know some schools are heavy on volunteerism - I have frankly done just average volunteer work, nothing extraordinary..
 
Silverfalcon said:
ksmi, do you know if they screen before secondaries?

Also, which one do you think (just your opinion) matters to WUSTL more - volunteerism or research? I know WUSTL is big on research, but I wasn't sure about volunteerism...I know some schools are heavy on volunteerism - I have frankly done just average volunteer work, nothing extraordinary..
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They do not screen.

As far as research v. volunteering, I would venture to say that they would expect their applicants to have some volunteering, they tend to put more emphasis on research. That's not to say you *have* to have research, but I'd say that most of the students here have done some.

Also, I wouldn't try to get away with no volunteering at all. They do like to see that stuff as well.
 
Looking at what this school has to offer makes me wish I studied just a little harder for the MCAT 😳
 
ksmi117 said:
They do not screen.

As far as research v. volunteering, I would venture to say that they would expect their applicants to have some volunteering, they tend to put more emphasis on research. That's not to say you *have* to have research, but I'd say that most of the students here have done some.

Also, I wouldn't try to get away with no volunteering at all. They do like to see that stuff as well.
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Thank you. Yes, I do have volunteering, but it's just hospital volunteering (nothing like going down on mission trips or working as EMT for several years). I have other work experiences though, so hopefully that'll be good enough. All won't matter until I get my MCAT score... 🙄
 
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This program would be awesome, I hear they have some good scholarships
 
Thanks for all of your input, ksmi. I'm getting really excited about WashU; it sounds like a great environment. My numerical stats are closest to WashU's averages out of all the schools, and I'm really hoping for an interview!
 
Cinclus said:
Thanks for all of your input, ksmi. I'm getting really excited about WashU; it sounds like a great environment. My numerical stats are closest to WashU's averages out of all the schools, and I'm really hoping for an interview!
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😕 WashU's numerical stats are probably the one of the highest, if not the highest
 
Shakespeare37 said:
I'm thinking either ignor.... nevermind. Straight up bragging. Or trolling. Whatevs.
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Sorry, I didn't mean to come off as a jerk. The feel I was aiming for was, "I think I have a reasonable chance based on my stats, so I'm hopeful about this school." I guess I don't express myself well in writing; explains my score of N.....(which I'm hoping they'll ignore, btw). But I've seen people in these school-specific threads self-assessing their chances based on stats, so I went for it, too.
 
I just received an email from WUSTL with a link to where the secondary can be found. That page says that the secondary will open on June 20th, and indeed I don't think it can be accessed yet.

Best of luck to all!
 
Nomdeplume said:
I just received an email from WUSTL with a link to where the secondary can be found. That page says that the secondary will open on June 20th, and indeed I don't think it can be accessed yet.

Best of luck to all!
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I got the same e-mail. Good luck!
 
Nomdeplume said:
I just received an email from WUSTL with a link to where the secondary can be found. That page says that the secondary will open on June 20th, and indeed I don't think it can be accessed yet.

Best of luck to all!
Click to expand...

i got the email too. if anyone's wondering, my amcas hasnt been verified yet.
 
MilkIsGood said:
i got the email too. if anyone's wondering, my amcas hasnt been verified yet.
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I haven't been verified yet, either. As of Friday afternoon, my AMCAS was under review. I guess they'll finish it Monday...But I also got the email. These guys act fast!
 
Cinclus said:
Sorry, I didn't mean to come off as a jerk. The feel I was aiming for was, "I think I have a reasonable chance based on my stats, so I'm hopeful about this school." I guess I don't express myself well in writing; explains my score of N.....(which I'm hoping they'll ignore, btw). But I've seen people in these school-specific threads self-assessing their chances based on stats, so I went for it, too.
Click to expand...

Sorry. It's just that saying your stats match up against a median of 38/3.9 (which also happens to be the highest in the country) sounds like bragging no matter how you say it. No harm, no foul. 🙂
 
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I got the email too. I have a question about the letters of recommendation. Does anyone know if the 3 letters for WashU have to be strictly from 3 professors who have taught you in courses or could they be from, say, 2 course professors and a research mentor?
 
soccerboy90 said:
I got the email too. I have a question about the letters of recommendation. Does anyone know if the 3 letters for WashU have to be strictly from 3 professors who have taught you in courses or could they be from, say, 2 course professors and a research mentor?
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I emailed them, has to be professors =(
"Thank you for your interest in Washington University School of Medicine. We require three letters from professors that have taught you, but we gladly accept letters from anyone who wishes to write a letter on your behalf. We say we require three, but that doesn't mean you are limited to three."
I responded to clarify that they meant a research PI would not count, and they specified that that was correct.
 
LJ1000F said:
I emailed them, has to be professors =(
"Thank you for your interest in Washington University School of Medicine. We require three letters from professors that have taught you, but we gladly accept letters from anyone who wishes to write a letter on your behalf. We say we require three, but that doesn't mean you are limited to three."
I responded to clarify that they meant a research PI would not count, and they specified that that was correct.
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did they say anything about science vs. non-science?
 
In their instructions, they say at least one science.
 
Working on the supplemental, and it's asking about a Dean's certification. I haven't heard of this before. Could anyone fill me in on what that is and if I have to specifically request it?
 
Chiv Keeb said:
Working on the supplemental, and it's asking about a Dean's certification. I haven't heard of this before. Could anyone fill me in on what that is and if I have to specifically request it?
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Yeah, it is an odd request. Can we just mail the form to the registrar's office for them to fill out? How do we know which Dean to send it to?
 
for the "work" during academic years/summer....should we indicate research position as work?
 
rxnfiend said:
Yeah, it is an odd request. Can we just mail the form to the registrar's office for them to fill out? How do we know which Dean to send it to?
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I just called WashU and they said mailing it to the registrar's office is fine.
 
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Just emailed admissions, and they said they require the form from any institution from which you received/ are planning on receiving a degree, unless there were any disciplinary problems at any other institutions attended.
 
Is there anyone who doesn't have anything to write for the supplemental essays. If I've never taken time off or had a hardship I think would matter at all, should I even be filling those out?
 
lazy said:
Is there anyone who doesn't have anything to write for the supplemental essays. If I've never taken time off or had a hardship I think would matter at all, should I even be filling those out?
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The way I read the prompt, you can also write about "unique experiences" that you didn't mention elsewhere in your primary.
 
lazy said:
Is there anyone who doesn't have anything to write for the supplemental essays. If I've never taken time off or had a hardship I think would matter at all, should I even be filling those out?
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You don't have to force yourself to come up with something for the optional essay. It really is optional. I left it blank when I applied - interview invite in September and accepted in November.
 
do they need this dean certification thing in order for the app to be complete and be in line for review?
 
sexycani said:
do they need this dean certification thing in order for the app to be complete and be in line for review?
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I think so. On the form it says: "Please note that no action can be taken on this person's application until this form is returned."
 
so whom exactly do we have to get this signed off by??? anyone at the office of the registrar???
 
LJ1000F said:
I emailed them, has to be professors =(
"Thank you for your interest in Washington University School of Medicine. We require three letters from professors that have taught you, but we gladly accept letters from anyone who wishes to write a letter on your behalf. We say we require three, but that doesn't mean you are limited to three."
I responded to clarify that they meant a research PI would not count, and they specified that that was correct.
Click to expand...

I just called the admissions office and specifically asked if my two letters from professors, and one from a research mentor would satisfy the requirement and she said yes.
 
cyanide said:
You don't have to force yourself to come up with something for the optional essay. It really is optional. I left it blank when I applied - interview invite in September and accepted in November.
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This. I didn't answer it either.
 
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