2009-2010 Washington University in St. Louis Application Thread

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eyepop said:
Anybody knows what time the interview day ends? Would it be possible to catch a 4:43 p.m. flight out of st. louis?
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Should be fine. I took a 4:40 flight. I think the latest anyone's day ended was 3, with most people done by 2. I was finished technically at 11, although I stayed for lunch, which starts at noon.
 
i ended at 240. -.-
my interview was at 2. i made my 5pm flight tho.

its not too far away. check your personal itinery
 
I got an invite.
 
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there is no wireless but you can ask the front desk for a ethernet cord to connect to the internet
 
Atlantis07 said:
For those who have already interviewed, was there open wifi access in Olin? I bought the cheapest flight available, but that means that I get in really early the day before and leave late on the evening of the interview. I'd love to get work done in my free time, but don't know if it's worth it to bring a laptop if there is no internet.

Also, what specifically was provided in Olin and would you have brought anything in addition? (towel?) I'm really nervous. It's my first interview!
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In terms of anything else you might need, they have you covered really well. A whole set of towels, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, alarm clock, soap, deodorant, ethernet cord, bed w/ sheets, pillows, blanket. Just don't forget your suit and you're set.
 
lemainar said:
What makes washu unique? It seems like a pretty traditional place.
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I interviewed recently...it definitely seemed the most traditional of the schools I've seen. Get in with your high MCAT scores (their average mcat is the highest of any school), sit through lecture (no small groups, no problem-based learning), get good grades (2nd year is graded), get a good residency match and open a dermatology practice in the suburbs. Eventually vote Republican.
 
SwineSue said:
I interviewed recently...it definitely seemed the most traditional of the schools I've seen. Get in with your high MCAT scores (their average mcat is the highest of any school), sit through lecture (no small groups, no problem-based learning), get good grades (2nd year is graded), get a good residency match and open a dermatology practice in the suburbs. Eventually vote Republican.
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haha seems like a pretty accurate characterization...could not have been more impressed with the school, though.

what's funny is that my student tour guide was applying to dermatology residency programs...
 
I agree washU is traditional, but they do traditional very very well. I got the same feeling at my interview. But probably one of the friendliest atmospheres I've encountered.

My tour guide was gunning for radiology oncology, and my lunch host wanted to be a dermatology.

You cant really blame them.

Hope I hear a decision come mid-november.
 
GodisGood12 said:
I agree washU is traditional, but they do traditional very very well. I got the same feeling at my interview. But probably one of the friendliest atmospheres I've encountered.

My tour guide was gunning for radiology oncology, and my lunch host wanted to be a dermatology.

You cant really blame them.

Hope I hear a decision come mid-november.
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why can't you blame them? everyone has a choice. primary care ($140,000/year, more than 95% of American wage earners) is not such a sacrifice.
 
Because people always want more, and working in a radiology lab, from my experience, is less stressful than working in primary care. So you make more money, work less hours (9-5) and are less stressed at work.

It isn't for me -- if I wanted to make money I'd have gone into business -- but I understand the draw, at least.
 
SwineSue said:
why can't you blame them? everyone has a choice. primary care ($140,000/year, more than 95% of American wage earners) is not such a sacrifice.
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Desaad said:
Because people always want more, and working in a radiology lab, from my experience, is less stressful than working in primary care. So you make more money, work less hours (9-5) and are less stressed at work.

It isn't for me -- if I wanted to make money I'd have gone into business -- but I understand the draw, at least.
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Just because "X isn't so bad" doesn't imply everyone should pick X - especially if Y happens to be "better". Having a half tuition scholarship is way better than average - what do you mean you would pick the school that gave you a full ride?

Medicine isn't really about trying to work as much as possible and make as little as possible. Rather, it's about picking a field you would be happy/successful/do most good in. I think the reason why some people find it off-putting that others are drawn to "lifestyle" specialties is because they are ostensibly choosing to have more free time and more money over doing the kind of medicine they supposedly really liked, and hence violated the idea that medicine is everything and should come first.

Many people forgo primary care because they have monstrous amounts of debt, but others choose something else simply because they won't be happy doing primary care. Personally, I would not want to do primary care since I find academic medicine a lot more appealing.

For others who don't have a strong preference or have different priorities, why are you so surprised to see them respond in kind to the incentives our system has in place? How can you reasonably expect anyone to choose to do primary care and hence work longer hours, be more stressed, be squeezed harder by insurance companies and make less money unless they really loved it?
 
FluffyRabbit said:
Just because "X isn't so bad" doesn't imply everyone should pick X - especially if Y happens to be "better". Having a half tuition scholarship is way better than average - what do you mean you would pick the school that gave you a full ride?

Medicine isn't really about trying to work as much as possible and make as little as possible. Rather, it's about picking a field you would be happy/successful/do most good in. I think the reason why some people find it off-putting that others are drawn to "lifestyle" specialties is because they are ostensibly choosing to have more free time and more money over doing the kind of medicine they supposedly really liked, and hence violated the idea that medicine is everything and should come first.

Many people forgo primary care because they have monstrous amounts of debt, but others choose something else simply because they won't be happy doing primary care. Personally, I would not want to do primary care since I find academic medicine a lot more appealing.

For others who don't have a strong preference or have different priorities, why are you so surprised to see them respond in kind to the incentives our system has in place? How can you reasonably expect anyone to choose to do primary care and hence work longer hours, be more stressed, be squeezed harder by insurance companies and make less money unless they really loved it?
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how can you expect anyone to choose primary care? because primary care doctors are most needed. Of course it's not a sin for people to make lots of money, it's just sad that in our system the most successful and talented applicants are drawn to schools where the culture they will internalize is one that values striving for prestige and hyper-specialization. Especially since, again, what the US really needs, particularly in underserved areas, is talented and dedicated primary care doctors. So this attitude of, let the state school kids take care of all those poor people, I'm smart and I got a high MCAT score so I deserve to do whatever makes me happy and lets me live a comfortable lifestyle, regardless of what the country needs... I was just expecting more of a sense of duty from med students. An attitude of "I've been blessed with the capability, it's my responsibility to use it where it's most needed"...

But then, I went to liberal arts school, so I'm just a naive, idealistic Obama voter.
 
SwineSue said:
how can you expect anyone to choose primary care? because primary care doctors are most needed. Of course it's not a sin for people to make lots of money, it's just sad that in our system the most successful and talented applicants are drawn to schools where the culture they will internalize is one that values striving for prestige and hyper-specialization. Especially since, again, what the US really needs, particularly in underserved areas, is talented and dedicated primary care doctors. So this attitude of, let the state school kids take care of all those poor people, I'm smart and I got a high MCAT score so I deserve to do whatever makes me happy and lets me live a comfortable lifestyle, regardless of what the country needs... I was just expecting more of a sense of duty from med students. An attitude of "I've been blessed with the capability, it's my responsibility to use it where it's most needed"...

But then, I went to liberal arts school, so I'm just a naive, idealistic Obama voter.
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While that argument makes sense to some degree, to expect everyone to have that amount of altruism is just not realistic. Doctors are not cogs in the huge health care machine that reshuffle themselves for maximal benefit to American society. They are human, and have families, mortgages, educational loans, and interests outside medicine. It's a huge sacrifice to do primary care, especially if your passion lies somewhere else. If we want more primary care doctors, we need to change the system - simply telling medical students to do it and dismissing them as "greedy" and "selfish" when they don't is not a legitimate solution.

And for the record, I also voted for Obama and I am in full support of health care reform.
 
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FluffyRabbit said:
While that argument makes sense to some degree, to expect everyone to have that amount of altruism is just not realistic. Doctors are not cogs in the huge health care machine that reshuffle themselves for maximal benefit to American society. They are human, and have families, mortgages, educational loans, and interests outside medicine. It's a huge sacrifice to do primary care, especially if your passion lies somewhere else. If we want more primary care doctors, we need to change the system - simply telling medical students to do it and dismissing them as "greedy" and "selfish" when they don't is not a legitimate solution.

And for the record, I also voted for Obama and I am in full support of health care reform.
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I agree with you that it is much better to change the incentive structure than to try to persuade individuals to act against their self-interest. But I think, and this is more or less what I was originally driving at, I think that given the incentive structure that exists and is unlikely to be changed in the near future (the half-assed reform package floating through Congress doesn't even address it), top-tier schools like Wash U ought to do more to attract and encourage top-tier students who will make difficult choices such as a career in primary care. I don't think "doing traditional very well," as an above commenter put it, is enough for these schools, given the context in which they currently exist. Complacency is complicity.
 
I just don't put much weight in lofty ideals regarding compensation from other pre-meds. We will be making these decisions far in the future, most likely after having accumulated a few dependents and with six figure indebtnedness. Just so I don't further contribute to thread derailment, anyone remember when we can expect to hear back about admissions decisions? Mid nov?
 
washu rolls, but when i was there on oct. 12 they just said they aimed to have everyone's decisions out by april 15th. vaguest answer ever!
 
bigman225 said:
anyone remember when we can expect to hear back about admissions decisions? Mid nov?
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I could be remembering incorrectly, but I think they said that they start giving out a few acceptances (very few, like a handful) in mid November and then more in Januaryish
 
So have you actually interviewed/matriculated/etc at WashU, or do you just like complaining about upper tier schools, Sue?

While words alone certainly don't trump actions, at orientation they openly admitted that WashU's family medicine and primary care programs were lacking in comparison to, say, University of Washington, and that they eventually hoped to remedy this disparity. They also discussed, at some length the health disparities in St. Louis, and the availability of courses, student groups, etc to provide students a deeper understanding of these disparities and to provide service opportunities.

Yes, primary care isn't directly incentivized. Yes, WashU attracts many competitive students with strong interests in subspecialities, but it's unfair to act as if they intentionally insulate themselves from these needs.
 
I know that looks aren't everything, but the facilities here are super-shiny and awesome, haha.
 
The person I interviewed with here may have been the nicest human being on Earth. He offered me a cola.
 
Uhh I have a late interview, so I was wondering about Olin Hall accommodations:

Does the room have its own private bath? Haha. I'm not really sure about the rooms they are offering us and their website suggested they have basically every kind of room there. xD

Great to hear that all of you had such a good experience at the interview!! 🙂
*Less panicky*
 
CrimsonMirage said:
Uhh I have a late interview, so I was wondering about Olin Hall accommodations:

Does the room have its own private bath? Haha. I'm not really sure about the rooms they are offering us and their website suggested they have basically every kind of room there. xD

Great to hear that all of you had such a good experience at the interview!! 🙂
*Less panicky*
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Hall baths. Sorry. 🙁
 
NotSur said:
So, as long as your submitted an accommodations request you're fine? They don't contact you with a confirmation for a room in Olin Hall?
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yup, as long as you checked the box, you can just show up and everything should be all set.
 
Anyone who interviewed here: I assume the pizza party the night before the interview is casual dress? I'd rather not be the only one to show up not in a suit if it is more formal.

For anyone else interviewing: the Central West End (just north of the med school campus) has a great variety of restaurants and bars within a walking distance. I recommend eating there if you have a late flight out after your interview, or get in early the day before.
 
hammer328 said:
Anyone who interviewed here: I assume the pizza party the night before the interview is casual dress? I'd rather not be the only one to show up not in a suit if it is more formal.

For anyone else interviewing: the Central West End (just north of the med school campus) has a great variety of restaurants and bars within a walking distance. I recommend eating there if you have a late flight out after your interview, or get in early the day before.
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Totally casual. Have fun!
 
adele87 said:
yup, as long as you checked the box, you can just show up and everything should be all set.
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if they don't have room in olin, they contact you about 3-4 days prior to your interview telling you so. like on my interview day they had about 30 interviewees, so they took 5 of us and put us up at the parkway hotel - so nice! so if you check the olin box, they will have you covered in some fashion.
 
I just got my interview invite! I'm so excited/shocked omgg 😀😀😀
Complete mid-late September
 
I met a current student who actually had 43 on MCAT. "The Verbal section was hard," he said, but apparently he only missed one. I didn't know these people really existed.

But if he didn't tell me this (someone else had asked him for his score "out of curiosity"), i would not have guessed. He was normal, just like everyone else I met there. Amazing people.
 
What is STL?

From what a lot of you are saying it sounds like WashU has a kinda conservative student body/ atmosphere. Is that true?

Also, no PBL?? How many hours of lecture per week?
 
mabelene said:
What is STL?

From what a lot of you are saying it sounds like WashU has a kinda conservative student body/ atmosphere. Is that true?

Also, no PBL?? How many hours of lecture per week?
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nah i didn't get that conservative feeling from the students. but their curriculum *is* very traditional - not sure on the hours per week, but they basically are done in 3 years (4th year is entirely elective).
 
SwineSue said:
I interviewed recently...it definitely seemed the most traditional of the schools I've seen. Get in with your high MCAT scores (their average mcat is the highest of any school), sit through lecture (no small groups, no problem-based learning), get good grades (2nd year is graded), get a good residency match and open a dermatology practice in the suburbs. Eventually vote Republican.
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In fact, we do have small groups, usually once or twice a week. These small groups range from Biochemistry small groups where we "diagnose" and "treat" patients to Ethics small groups where we discuss the nuances of physician-patient interactions. Every course here with the exception of Anatomy (Biochemistry, Physiology, Histology, Scientific Methods, Ethics, Clinical Skills) has a small group component. Yes, we do have a good amount of lecture, but attendance is optional and they are recorded for later viewing.

Also, while 2nd year is graded, there is no curve. This means that students remain very collaborative and not cut-throat at all. I'm not going to lie, 2nd year is really hard. But it's not unnecessarily so.

As for the political leanings of the student body, I have not noticed a particularly strong Democrat or Republican presence. However, seeing as most of us are still young idealists, there's probably an enrichment of - if anything - progressives.

Good luck to everyone applying. WashU and STL have been great.
 
mabelene said:
From what a lot of you are saying it sounds like WashU has a kinda conservative student body/ atmosphere. Is that true?
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As was said above, I think if you changed the word "conservative" to "traditional" you'd be fairly correct.
 
Anybody get an invite recently? I've been complete since July, so I'm considering marking this one a silent rejection. I would have liked to have interviewed here, it seems nice.
 
Any ideas for a fun, cheap way to spend two hours and see some of St Louis between my interview and flight on Tues? Recommend any art museums or anything within walking distance from the med school or metrolink stop?
 
Anyone complete around 9/30 receive an interview invite?
 
Did any one of you receive a letter from Washu Committe on Admission asking you to apply because of your good MCAT score? My kid got one yesterday. They congratulated her on her strong showing on the MCAT. Based on her terrific performance,invited her to apply for admissions. Is it norm for some med schools to send letters like this just like in undergrad colleges send letters to kids with good SAT scores? We were surprised and excited. 🙂
 
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