2010-2011 Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Application Thread

BU Medical Sciences
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oh dear, seems like I sparked a small debate, but it was helpful to me nonetheless. Thanks everyone. Also thanks for the congrats! It really is a great feeling.

Right now, I'm really torn. I'm not really sure how I can be sure this is the right path for me, because it definitely is a lifestyle change and a big commitment. I have two civilian acceptances, and right now, I am leaning towards military because it just feels right. I dont know how to explain it. I've done a lot of research, and tried to understand the pros and cons to the best of my ability, but because I have no prior military experience, I dont think the data Ive researched really gives me an accurate picture of what it will be like. I have to actually experience to know? I think I'm most worried, because everyone I told, was so proud and thought it was cool, but was surprised because they couldnt imagine it and thought I wouldnt cut it. I'm 5"5' and 105 lbs, so not the strongest girl. But the admissions is aware and they accepted me regardless?

I dont know. I'm going to keep researching and talking to the people in the field. Hopefully, I'll form a clearer decision soon.
 
babytillnow said:
oh dear, seems like I sparked a small debate, but it was helpful to me nonetheless. Thanks everyone. Also thanks for the congrats! It really is a great feeling.

...

I dont know. I'm going to keep researching and talking to the people in the field. Hopefully, I'll form a clearer decision soon.
Click to expand...

Don't worry about the debate, this is your decision. In my experience here is what it boils down to: Do you want to live a life with the potential for adventure that most people never even dream of? If you do, and are willing to put with with the sometimes negative aspects compared to civilian life then you take USUHS. If the idea of the unknown and rapid change freak you out, go civilian.
 
Cooperd0g said:
With 17 years in uniform as a midshipman, active duty, and the last few in the reserves I agree with surfernuke with one minor exception.

There are "right" and "wrong" reasons to join the military. "Right" reasons are any ones that stem from your desires - YOU want to be in the military. "Wrong" reasons are ones because it is what someone else wants you to do - daddy was a general and wants me to join, etc.

There was a kid at plebe summer with me who was only at the Naval Academy because, according to him, more CEOs of Fortune 500 companies were from the Naval Academy than any other school. He lasted two weeks because that is a "wrong" reason to join the military.

You have a little less freedom in the military - theoretically. I say theoretically because I did two years of civilian office work while hanging out in the reserves and taking prerequisites. People have a tendency to enslave themselves in the civilian world out of fear and materialism. They fear striking out on their own. They fear not being able to pay the mortgage on the house they bought that is way more than they need. They take no risks and limit their own freedom. I have worked at a highly specialized doctors office this past year finishing up prereqs. They make insane amounts of money, but two of them are completely miserable because they have trapped themselves in their current life and are afraid to make a change.

This isn't meant to be pro or anti military. It is meant to say that you determine your own happiness almost regardless of the situation. If you are looking at USUHS solely as a way to pay for med school, but have no desire to actually be in the military, that is probably a "wrong" reason.
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FANTASTIC POINTS! i've only got 13 years as midshipmen, active, then reserves, seems like we come from the same boat.

This is a great conversation topic, not a debate, have no worries. This is a conversation that is good for everyone.
 
babytillnow said:
oh dear, seems like I sparked a small debate, but it was helpful to me nonetheless. Thanks everyone. Also thanks for the congrats! It really is a great feeling.

Right now, I'm really torn. I'm not really sure how I can be sure this is the right path for me, because it definitely is a lifestyle change and a big commitment. I have two civilian acceptances, and right now, I am leaning towards military because it just feels right. I dont know how to explain it. I've done a lot of research, and tried to understand the pros and cons to the best of my ability, but because I have no prior military experience, I dont think the data Ive researched really gives me an accurate picture of what it will be like. I have to actually experience to know? I think I'm most worried, because everyone I told, was so proud and thought it was cool, but was surprised because they couldnt imagine it and thought I wouldnt cut it. I'm 5"5' and 105 lbs, so not the strongest girl. But the admissions is aware and they accepted me regardless?

I dont know. I'm going to keep researching and talking to the people in the field. Hopefully, I'll form a clearer decision soon.
Click to expand...

I really like the previous post about a "life of adventure." The military truly gives that life of adventure, and some absolutely amazing people to work with. If you want to got to school, do a residency, and set up a private practice in the same community for the next 40 years, then don't go military. If you want to experience all the world has to offer by just doing your job, then go to USUHS.
 
You guys need to stop making such convincing arguments, some of us want to get off the wait list!😀
 
I'm on the waitlist myself bro! But I'm only interested in Navy so her spot doesn't really effect me.
 
True, true... I am on the Navy wait list too... here is some good luck for both of us :luck:
 
I wish they would make a decision about my medical waivers so I could even be applicable to be pulled off the waitlist. I am pretty sure I am going to go civilian though since the waitlist hope is dwindling for me 🙁 Maybe I will see ya'll on the flip side.
 
@baby - Hey girl, You should PM me. I am a female in the military (well kind of - the USUHS environment is really not like a traditional military environment). Although I may not be so tiny as you I had the same worries. And I was the girl that everyone in ROTC knew as "the Princess", but hey I'm still here. Make the decision because you want to be there. You have to have passion for anything to be truly happy. And no you can not miss AF training, that's not really an option, so Europe may have to be put on hold. Whatever you decide, please be happy.
 
I got my unconditional today. They only way you can take this spot is if you pry it out from my dead 6ft 8 265 lb body. Good luck everybody else.
 
Looking for a current Med student or someone that is knowledgable about a few questions involving USU.

1) Does residency count towards the 7 years owed? I've already put in 6 to Uncle Sam so finishing up my 20 is a priority anyway.

2) Any questions from the interview that stick out or are they all pretty much general?

3) Where do the students live? Does being married change where I would live. Bethesda looks helluva expensive, is that where everyone is?

4) Did anyone gear thier personal statement towards this school?

5) Any important information to add for me to get into the school I think about everyday?

Thanks Josh

P.S- Im not looking forward to Calculus by the way, Pre-calc wasn't fun...
 
1) Does residency count towards the 7 years owed? I've already put in 6 to Uncle Sam so finishing up my 20 is a priority anyway.

Each year of residency counts towards a year of payback, but you also owe 1 more year for every year of residency. So if you do a 5 year residency, you only owe 2 from your USUHS commitment, but you owe 5 more for residency so you still owe 7. Residency does count towards retirement though, and USUHS does as well once you reach 20 (so it would bump you up to 24 if you got to 20 years not counting time at USUHS).

2) Any questions from the interview that stick out or are they all pretty much general?

Why military medicine? And why USUHS instead of HPSP or just going military after med school and residency, etc? will definitely be asked in some form. Most every other question I was asked could have come at any other med school except for one. I was asked how I felt about shooting someone to protect a patient, but I think that was more just to try and fluster me than for an answer.

3) Where do the students live? Does being married change where I would live. Bethesda looks helluva expensive, is that where everyone is?

It seems like most married people live a little further from campus than the single students, from what I have heard. But there are definitely places to live within biking/ public transit distance to the school that are within the BAH.

4) Did anyone gear thier personal statement towards this school?

My personal statement this year and last were not geared at all towards USUHS and I got an interview both times (and I am by no means an exceptional candidate). They have you do a personal statement geared toward the school as part of the secondary, you can find last years (which should be pretty close to, if not identical to, next years) here:

http://www.usuhs.mil/adm/suppinstr.html

5) Any important information to add for me to get into the school I think about everyday?

I would just think about a good answer to why military medicine that shows a strong motivation to do a career as a military physician. Make sure that your answer could not just as easily be said about being a civilian physician. If you can convey this idea in your personal statement and your interviews than they will like you for sure (with my gpa and clinical experience, im pretty convinced that conveying this properly is the only reason they accepted me).

Thanks Josh

P.S- Im not looking forward to Calculus by the way, Pre-calc wasn't fun...

I wouldn't worry about calc too much; I hated pre-calc worse than probably any other class I have taken but Calc was a breeze.

Goodluck :xf:

Chase
 
Looks like avg acceptance for USU is 10's with a 3.5 avg gpa? Anybody else want to contribute thier stats for my viewing to see what I have to measure up to. Where's the bar set at?
 
My personal statement was not geared toward USUHS, I don't think it made a difference. My interview was on the first day they interviewed and I was accepted October 16th. Also, as stated above I actually thought Calc was easier than pre-calc.
Stats:
4.0, 32
 
Armywife06 said:
My personal statement was not geared toward USUHS, I don't think it made a difference. My interview was on the first day they interviewed and I was accepted October 16th. Also, as stated above I actually thought Calc was easier than pre-calc.
Stats:
4.0, 32
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Why is everyone talking about Calc? I took it 14 years ago, doesn't seem relevant.

Stats= not relevant, just apply, worst they can say is "No"
Interviewed 12/9, accepted 4/1 Navy.
 
jordanlyons89 said:
Branch and date of interview would be helpful Quiznos Oven.
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On the post click on my tag quiznos oven and click on view more posts by quiznos oven. I interviewed 9/27 for PHS but got conditional for army 1/3 from Calloway though. Had to switch my branch pref. You can tell it was me during the interview because I was the giant oven making everyone delicious sandwiches. I got in a fist fight with the subway oven over who could toast better subs. I beat him into a pulp of melted cheese and tore the five dollar footlong sticker from his side.
 
I'm just trying to plan my next two years with the B.S. degree finished up and all my pre reqs and MCAT test done by April of 2013. Just to be sure, my pre reqs need to be done but If I have a couple bachelors classes and calc to wrap up I'll still be good to interview as long as it's completed by the start date of the following year?
 
Spurg said:
I'm just trying to plan my next two years with the B.S. degree finished up and all my pre reqs and MCAT test done by April of 2013. Just to be sure, my pre reqs need to be done but If I have a couple bachelors classes and calc to wrap up I'll still be good to interview as long as it's completed by the start date of the following year?
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Correct.
 
Anybody researched or know about the three branches having any sort of Specials Operations MD's. I know that the Army uses PA's on the SOF side, anything like that for Doc's?


P.S.- Do any of the military Doc's get special duty pay or a stipend?
 
Last edited:
Spurg said:
Anybody researched or know about the three branches having any sort of Specials Operations MD's. I know that the Army uses PA's on the SOF side, anything like that for Doc's?


P.S.- Do any of the military Doc's get special duty pay or a stipend?
Click to expand...

Navy has UMOs, which can be docs at EOD and SEAL teams, but they don't deploy with them. Navy Corpsman typically are with the Marine and Navy specops units = enlisted rating, and are embedded.

As a Navy GMO, you can be with marine recon units, and most likely will deploy with the unit or as an IA.
 
Got the call today! I have a conditional acceptance for Navy.

If anyone knows how this works let me know, I have an acceptance at another school. Do I have to let one go before May 15? Or is the USUHS acceptance not considered a true acceptance until its unconditional?

I am going to call tomorrow, I just was wondering if anyone knew.
 
Quick question about uniforms:
I see that lots of people are buying their uniforms ahead of time. Am I the only one that is clueless about this? Did I miss an email or letter or something about it? Does everyone do it? Is there a website or place where there is a list of the uniforms/items we will need to bring to BOLC? And on such a website, is it possible to make sure that the things you buy will actually fit or is it best to buy the items in person at some sort of military uniform store (which i'm also not sure if they exist).

Sorry for the newb questions, but I'm getting a bit nervous because everyone else seems to have all their stuff together. I, on the other hand, was thinking more detailed directions would come to me from somewhere... 😳 Thanks all!
 
RecklessKel said:
Got the call today! I have a conditional acceptance for Navy.

If anyone knows how this works let me know, I have an acceptance at another school. Do I have to let one go before May 15? Or is the USUHS acceptance not considered a true acceptance until its unconditional?

I am going to call tomorrow, I just was wondering if anyone knew.
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If anyone else is wondering, I just called admissions and they said that the conditional acceptance does not count as a real acceptance so you can hold it and another acceptance past the May 15th deadline.
 
RecklessKel said:
Got the call today! I have a conditional acceptance for Navy.

If anyone knows how this works let me know, I have an acceptance at another school. Do I have to let one go before May 15? Or is the USUHS acceptance not considered a true acceptance until its unconditional?

I am going to call tomorrow, I just was wondering if anyone knew.
Click to expand...


Congrats, but I thought they weren't handing out conditional acceptances past some time in April?
 
RecklessKel said:
Got the call today! I have a conditional acceptance for Navy.

If anyone knows how this works let me know, I have an acceptance at another school. Do I have to let one go before May 15? Or is the USUHS acceptance not considered a true acceptance until its unconditional?

I am going to call tomorrow, I just was wondering if anyone knew.
Click to expand...

congrats. Come join us in the facebook USUHS class of 2015 page
 
harroarmy said:
Quick question about uniforms:
I see that lots of people are buying their uniforms ahead of time. Am I the only one that is clueless about this? Did I miss an email or letter or something about it? Does everyone do it? Is there a website or place where there is a list of the uniforms/items we will need to bring to BOLC? And on such a website, is it possible to make sure that the things you buy will actually fit or is it best to buy the items in person at some sort of military uniform store (which i'm also not sure if they exist).

Sorry for the newb questions, but I'm getting a bit nervous because everyone else seems to have all their stuff together. I, on the other hand, was thinking more detailed directions would come to me from somewhere... 😳 Thanks all!
Click to expand...

There was an Army BOLC "welcome letter" a few days ago that had a packing list for uniforms and things we needed to do to get ready (like direct deposit forms, birth certificate, etc) the USUHS c/o 2015 facebook page and the USUHS c/o 2015 Army facebook have posts answering a lot of questions.

To answer your question though, there's a couple army surplus websites that you can order everything from, don't worry. It's recommended to show up with as much as you can because the uniform shop in San Antonio might run out of common sizes if everyone waited until then to get stuff.
 
So with the May 15th deadline on Sunday (today), do people who are not going to attend have to inform the school that they will not be attending USUHS today or tomorrow (May 16th)? I am just wondering how long it might take before there is more wait list movement here.

Nathan
 
silvrainment said:
So with the May 15th deadline on Sunday (today), do people who are not going to attend have to inform the school that they will not be attending USUHS today or tomorrow (May 16th)? I am just wondering how long it might take before there is more wait list movement here.

Nathan
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As far as I know, there isn't a formalized process with all medical schools. I'd guess it either happened on Friday, over the weekend, or will be occurring today en mass. I notified my other schools on Friday. Good luck.
 
Just received the call from Dr. Calloway...conditionally accepted, Navy! I am SOOOO excited!!!! Good luck to everyone still waiting!
 
UCD15 said:
Just received the call from Dr. Calloway...conditionally accepted, Navy! I am SOOOO excited!!!! Good luck to everyone still waiting!
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Congratulations! Hoping/waiting to receive a similar call for AF.
 
I just got my conditional acceptance into USUHS! (Air Force branch!) I am soooo excited!!
 
Just got the call today... I'll officially accept tomorrow for conditional acceptance tomorrow. I was on the waitlist, and interviewed Feb. 17th. Took me 12 hours to debate it since I had to pull myself from a civilian school that I had settled on...but I'm super excited and know this is the right school for me!

Navy 🙂

if anyone is curious 3.75 biochemistry major with 34R.

yay!!! im just so happy.

congrats to all and cant wait to meet my future fellow classmates!
 
Hey all, talked to Dr. Calloway this morning, just got accepted off the Army waitlist. Interview 1/20, no prior service. This was only my 2nd time applying...keep the faith
 
govburns said:
Hey all, talked to Dr. Calloway this morning, just got accepted off the Army waitlist. Interview 1/20, no prior service. This was only my 2nd time applying...keep the faith
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I'm army as well. Come Join us on the USUHS class of 2015 fb page.
 
Have like 50 questions.
Do we need to buy the old army green uniforms also or just the new blues before OBLC?
I have most of the ACUs and PT uniforms. Will they give us the patches we need?
Also is there a sort of pack we should bring, like are there certain "regulation" bags for our clothes and stuff?
Are we going to be staying in mass barracks or will we have smaller quarters?

How did ya'll set up to have your stuff moved? I was able to get into a base shipping office as a visitor. A counselor helped set the whole thing up. Also, I was able to get most of my uniforms through the local exchange/commissary on the base by just showing them my orders.
 
Hey everyone,

first congrats to all those who got in, and good luck to those still waiting. I got in last year at the beginning of May and remember having tons of questions and trying to get ready for COT, etc.

for those heading AF and going to COT this summer a couple notes: one, here's a helpful list of advice from someone who went a couple years ago. take it with a grain of salt, but it was a good reference for me to at least get an idea of what's going on: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=177203942320335&topic=317

There are other sites too, I just couldn't find the other one I really liked...

Also, please remember you will have a very short time between graduation from COT and beginning of orientation at USUHS, so try to get some things done beforehand so you aren't too stressed during COT.

For everyone, if you are looking to buy a house or would like the name of a great realtor, I have one that a couple of us have used this year, and my family has used for years (I'm from the area...). She's certified to sell in DC, MD, or VA, in case you want the options. PM me for that contact info.

Finally, enjoy your summers. Congrats to those who recently graduated, and I look forward to meeting you all at orientation.
 
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