awesome. congratulations! just trying to figure out if they started pulling people off their "hold" pile for interviews yet...
2009-2010 Washington University in St. Louis Application Thread
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awesome. congratulations! just trying to figure out if they started pulling people off their "hold" pile for interviews yet...
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Hey all,
I was wondering if anyone knew the stats regarding how many of the applicants are invited to interview, accepted etc.
Sorry if it has already been answered, I couldn't find it in the thread.
I was wondering if anyone knew the stats regarding how many of the applicants are invited to interview, accepted etc.
Sorry if it has already been answered, I couldn't find it in the thread.
I sent thank you cards to my interviewers (snail mail). The admissions office said that was fine (some schools, like UCSF, tell you not to send anything).
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Almost done with my Olin Fellowship application. How is it going for all the other accepted girlies?
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Hey, I just received an invite to interview on February 2nd 🙂! I completed my secondary on December 30th.
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how do you know? It was said that the previous meeting was on dec 15 but none of the November interviewees heard back.
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same-interviewed one of the first days...hope for me too!
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The MSTP interviewees were gifted/burdened with an extraneous amount of info, including when the MD-meetings were to be held. There absolutely was a meeting on the week of Dec. 15th. Otherwise I would still be sitting in the dark. Perhaps they dealt more with deciding whom else to interview, etc, which is why not as many heard back. There may be more meetings, but there were four they gave to us as "for sure" ADCOM meetings.
A couple November or later interviewees heard back on around Dec. 18, including myself. Keep in mind that they don't send out rejections until later. Not hearing is not a bad thing. Everyone could have easily been not-gotten-to or put on hold until the next meeting. Folks who interviewed in October or earlier just heard back following the December meeting. You just can't make sense of everything the WUSTL ADCOM, like any other med school, does.
Same. I sent a thank you to my interviewer via snail mail. I interviewed on the 5th. Hopefully it'll make it to the meeting on the 22nd.... the waiting part is really horrible..🙁
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Yep, you should get an email about it sometime but its April 9th - 11th.
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Does anyone know when the general scholarships offers are typically sent out? Is it just the 16 full tuition scholarships? They said this at the interview day, but I don't recall or didn't right it down🙄
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Anybody else conflicted about going to Weill Vs. Washu's revisit? They are scheduled during the same weekend :/
I have no clue which one to chose, but considering Washu gives more financial aid I might be leaning towards them.
This sucks because you can't know if a school is right for you until revisit!
I have no clue which one to chose, but considering Washu gives more financial aid I might be leaning towards them.
This sucks because you can't know if a school is right for you until revisit!
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Anyone know how long the interview typically lasts? I have one scheduled at 9 AM and the tour at 10:30 AM. Is it supposed to be 1.5 hours?
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Last year it seems the scholarships went out in April. I'm not sure if there are other scholarships.
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if i remember correctly, the interviews are about 45 minutes to an hour. you probably have down time in your schedule before the tour.
I have this same problem. Conflicted about wash u (higher ranked) vs cornell (in new york), need to find out more about both, especially clinical year details, and can't go to both weekends obviously.
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mine went for the full 1.5 hours, but then again my interviewer also wanted to show me what he did and kind of let me shadow him for a bit lol
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What do you want to know?
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You certainly had an interesting app cycle!
I guess I have two questions in particular, since you are asking:
1. Why did you decide on Wash U? (or Why did you turn down so much money from Chicago?) I'm not questioning the merits of the decision at all, I just wondered what your reasons were.
2. When were you notified of the scholarships for Chicago and Wash U? Were those the initial offers, or were they increased from some other offer?
3. Did you find that most students live in CWE for the 4 years, or did they spread out?
Much appreciated!
What is the 3rd year like and how is it structured? How are the rotations structured? What is your role on the wards? Do you have a clear role? Do you get your "hands dirty" a lot, or is it alot of shadowing? Do you have autonomy and some longitudinal "ownership" of patients? Where do 3rd year evaluations come from? How are medical students protected from scut, how much scut work did you end up doing? Since Barnes Jewish is such a major hospital, do you see only rare, esoteric diseases and procedures, or does the school do a good job of focusing on basics like reading EKGs and managing childhood asthma?
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Hey...in the discussion section of his apps, it says, "Financial aid is better at U Chicago and the same at Wash U (when it's all said and done). So it didn't make sense for me to stay here when I can go to a comparably ranked school for cheaper or a higher ranked school for the same price."
Pretty much what I was thinking it would be...
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1. As someone above has read, it came down to "bang for my buck." After all the scholarship money at UofC, they only gave me unsubsidized Staffords; looking at the interest burden to meet cost of attendance, it was roughly (within a few thousand dollars) the same price as Wash U, where I felt as though my opportunities (clinically and research wise) would be exponentially increased.
2. Wash U scholarships were solely financial aid, so those came in April. I was first notified of the Chicago scholarships in December, with my acceptance (IIRC), and when I didn't accept immediately, they were increased. I think they were increased four times overall before May 1, when I had to decide.
3. Most stay in the CWE for all four years, as being able to walk to and from class is invaluable. It's a great area to live.
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None. Absolutely none. My study schedules were exactly the same as they were during first year. There was no change in "competitiveness" or "gunnerism," as there were no curves - everyone can get honors and that's fine. And most people were doing well enough first year to have had "honors" in those basic science classes as well. I really think the second year at WUSTL is almost perfect.
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Third year is structured into four, twelve week blocks. You have twelve weeks of medicine and surgery, a block of peds/ob-gyn (both 6 weeks), and a block of psych/neuro/elective (all 4 weeks). You do have a clear role on the wards, but it really varies by which rotation you're on, and which "experience" you choose for each rotation (i.e. for peds, there are 7 different wards/floors/clinics you can choose 2 week stints on, and each is very different as far as experiences). There was almost no shadowing... I always saw patients before the resident/attending in clinic, I assisted with every surgery (even took the lead on two), and did the initial H&P on every consult and inpatient that I admitted on medicine, psych, and neuro. You have ownership of a patient as long as they're in the hospital and you're on service; you have as much autonomy as a third year medical student should have (you won't be putting in lines by yourself, but you won't have a resident standing over your shoulder when you take a sexual history, either... unless you need that). Third year evals come from different places, depending on rotation; well, actually, every rotation has evaluations from your supervising attendings except gyn, which allows the chief resident to evaluate you. Ancillary evaluations are submitted to the attending on a service by residents as warranted by good/bad behavior. You do as much scut as you want... there's a procedure list of things that you have to do (i.e. draw blood 3 times) to make sure that you're competent at things. You'll only do paperwork (well, it's all computerized... keyboard work?) on patients that you're following UNLESS you ask the interns if they need help (which they appreciate). For all intents and purposes, you do all of the scut in relation to one of your patients that a resident would do on that patient... and they just cosign it. You'll never have to transport patients, never have to draw your own blood because nurses won't do it (unless you're at the VA, which is rarely done anyway), and never be handed things by others who want to $hit on you because you're the med student. If you're scutted out, a word to the coursemaster and that'll be fixed. I'm going into IM, and I feel more than prepared to handle bread-and-butter cases. On an average admitting day on medicine, for example, when 10 patients were admitted to the team. MAYBE 1 would have a zebra; the rest were horses. BJH takes care of the community primarily, so most of the patients aren't tertiary referrals - they're people from St. Louis, with normal problems. I'm great at ECGs, and managing adult asthma exacerbations (but I also know a lot about HHT, because it's a tertiary referral center).
I've had a great 3.5 years. If you have further questions, or if I wasn't clear, continue to ask; specific questions are appreciated, as there is quite a breadth of clinical experience in the third year. You get a book written by students before you with guidance for the third year, specifically (in addition to the dis-o for first year). If your concerns are about the third (clinical) year, maybe ask the admissions office for the "survival guide" for third year - I'm sure they'll send it along.
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^^I completely agree.
I hate to beleaguer the "Why not Pritzker" point, but I am curious as to what in particular about the clinical and research aspects that you felt were better at Wash U. The research opportunites at Chicago seemed great, but I don't know about clinical. Of course, they seemed great at Wash U too... I am always really unclear on what the 3rd and 4th years are like, about as much as I feel like I know the first two! It always seems pre-clinical is what gets air-time at interviews. I guess in short, what about 3rd and 4th years between the two places made you choose Wash U?
Thanks again! I am really in a bind here between schools, and since I have someone on the hook who made this decision, I am going to have to pester a bit more!
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Not pestering at all - I definitely don't mind answering any questions about anything at this point and promise (scout's honor) to do so honestly, as I've nothing to lose by doing so. When it came down to it, I knew that I wanted to do something with the heart (cardiac surgery at that time, but I've since realized that interventional cards is for me). After realizing that there was a non significant difference in cost between the two, and going back to notes on how robust research and clinical training was in cardiac surgery/cardiology, that made the decision for me. Had there been a larger difference in cost of attendance or a smaller difference in the clinical/research available in my field, then yea, I may have chosen otherwise. It was made difficult by the fact that my now-fiancee was from Chicago and her family was still there; it was (and is) her dream to get back to the Second City. But, I remember not liking Chicago's "test every week," if i recall that correctly, as well. Even after all that, with thought and prayer, Wash U "felt" right - and I haven't regretted it for a day.
As for third year, it was the opportunities to work alongside the better doctors in my desired fields. If you know what you want to do, scroll down to the residency forums and see how programs are regarded in your desired field. Even if you don't want to stay in St. Louis/Chicago for residency, the caliber of the training program at your home institution influences the quality of your letters, and, subsequently, how you do in your residency match. For surgery and IM, Wash U was better than Chicago; that gap has increased greatly for IM, but I'm not sure about surgery (as I quit following that last year).
Also, look at the match list for the med schools and see which places more people into programs that you'd be interested in... neither are what I would call regional schools, but recent developments at Chicago would make me weary of attending if I were interested in internal medicine or one of its sub specialties (I don't know about any other fields there).
Fourth year shouldn't shape your views, as it's basically a completely open year - for me, it's going to be 2 vacation months, 3 "joke" rotations, and 6 "real" rotations (ranging from consult months to sub-internship). You can do as much or as little as you want most places (and if you're considering a place with requirements for your fourth year courses, I'd recommend against it, as you should be free to do what's best for your career and your mental health, instead of filling check boxes).
What else?
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I have absolutely nothing to add, but Keg's posts just got me even more excited about WashU! 😎 Anyone else get the e-mail about "shadowing" a first year? Seems like a cool opportunity, and I appreciate them putting the effort in, but not really worth an expensive plane ticket.
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Yeah, agree on all parts. WashU seems pretty nice. I'm thinking about trying to do the shadowing thing the day before or after second look so I can make it one trip.
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As an added bonus for you, ksmi, as a Vandy fan, I organize SEC Football viewing parties on fall Saturdays at Tom's, right across from campus. May be harder during internship, but I'm gonna make every effort (and I can plug you in with some Bayou Bengal and Saints fans in StL should you choose Wash U).
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Let's see. On OB/Gyn, I didn't like the subject matter... as far as actual changes to the rotation, I can't think of any. There was no call on L&D or on the inpatient Gyn service I was on. I wasn't prepared for the shelf (it was my first), so that sucked. On Peds, there was Q4 overnight call when you were on inpatient months (2 of the 6 weeks; the only overnight "call" of third year) which wasn't fun as, again, I wasn't as interested in the material. This one had the possibility of rotations that required use of a car. For medicine, the month of ambulatory medicine almost requires a car (if you don't have one, you're in resident clinic 5 days a week). 3/4 of people are on ACES, which you live at home and commute up to half an hour to a preceptor's office, 1/4 are on Family Medicine where you get a hotel and work further than 30 mins from home. Kinda randomly assigned. Inpatient months were great. For surgery, They could have given less time to specialty and ortho and more to general surgery, since that's what's on the shelf. I had a month of adult cardiac, a month of general, and a month of ortho... some people's general surgery month consisted not of true general surgery but on general surgery specalties (i.e. GI, or HPB). There are 3 overnight trauma calls which are generally useless for students. Neuro's a crapshoot - on the floor, there's traditional call and all that, but consults are 9-5 (I did consults); it's all dependent on how quickly you answer the email asking for your preferences. Psych is divided into two sites; the easier of the two requires a drive, but you're there 8 - 11 (if you're on call, you may be there til 2). The one on campus has people there more traditional hours. Electives are variable, including radiology, rad onc, and geriatrics - those are generally lax, and since I only did geriatrics, I can't speak to anything else.
Those are all the negatives I could think of...
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Last year in the alumni center's newsletter I saw a short notice about 4 additional full scholarships being provided (20 total). On top of that, some partials are given as well.
To add to Keg's thorough commentary (which I almost compeletely agree with), the ambulatory month on Medicine actually allows for students to make placement requests. One friend wanted to be in the most rural place possible, and ended up in the middle of Missouri somewhere. In cases like that, some preceptors have basically adopted the student for the month, housing and feeding them (one girl would walk the dog with the mother, and play and do homework with the kids). In my case, I wanted an experience in an urban, underserved community and was given that.
And re: horses versus zebras, I think it was a great balance. Of course part of this is having the chance to take care of a full range of patients, but my residents consciously helped assign me to patients that would be beneficial to my education (and my grade). For instance, every student should have a chance to take care of the bread-and-butter (e.g., diabetic ketoacidosis, etc.). But once you've taken care of several children with an asthma exacerbation, the resident will pair you with a kid with a sickle cell crisis rather than with another asthmatic. And when the rare stuff comes in, they'll tend to assign students to these cases. It's a great chance to actually teach the rest of the team (including the attending) based on the reading you're already doing. (For the residents, I think this gives them some back up to make sure they don't miss anything since it might be new for them, too.)
I'll check in sporadically whenever I need a break from work, but I think Keg's doing a great job giving a fair account. I have to say I've also been very happy with my time there. Pre-clinical years are set up better than they are at other instituions (based on chatting with friends elsewhere), and I think it's a better clinical experience, too. Best of luck with the rest of the process, all.
Keg, I'll see you at Match Day.
Oh, and I can't undersell the value of the sense of community and camraderie. It helps a lot when you not only have people in your own class who share notes/study guides/old tests online, but to also have a repository of years of materials from past students. It's now obsolete, but I remember my 'big sib' from the year above lugging a couple of milk carton crates full of old notes and tests that had been passed down year-to-year for 10-15 years.
A deciding factor for me was how welcoming and approachable the staff are in Room 100 as compared with at other schools. Added a lot to that 'gut feeling', and in hindsight was representative of how helpful all the professors, nurses, and staff, ended up being.
Plus all the extracurricular stuff -- diversity retreat, float trip, sports watching, intramural teams, a multitude of interest clubs, graduate school mixers, general hanging out and celebrating birthdays, switch weekend get-togethers, class shows, random events/speakers/symposiums, etc. Really, that stuff made up just as much of the awesome experience at WashU as the excellent academic and clinical benefits.
A deciding factor for me was how welcoming and approachable the staff are in Room 100 as compared with at other schools. Added a lot to that 'gut feeling', and in hindsight was representative of how helpful all the professors, nurses, and staff, ended up being.
Plus all the extracurricular stuff -- diversity retreat, float trip, sports watching, intramural teams, a multitude of interest clubs, graduate school mixers, general hanging out and celebrating birthdays, switch weekend get-togethers, class shows, random events/speakers/symposiums, etc. Really, that stuff made up just as much of the awesome experience at WashU as the excellent academic and clinical benefits.
Can you be more specific on that point?
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