2010-2011 University of Wisconsin Application Thread

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Those #s don't seem accurate. I would expect 2/3 of in state and about 1/3 of OOS to be accepted post-interview this cycle. Dr. Bertics and Hansen will discuss this in detail during the interview day.

I'm not working on the adcom this year so I am not sure if they've made changes but this is how we typically operate.
 
drizzt3117 said:
Those #s don't seem accurate. I would expect 2/3 of in state and about 1/3 of OOS to be accepted post-interview this cycle. Dr. Bertics and Hansen will discuss this in detail during the interview day.

I'm not working on the adcom this year so I am not sure if they've made changes but this is how we typically operate.
Click to expand...


SFGuy2011, where did you find the numbers?
And maybe it's because since it's rolling admissions, it's not a straight percentage all the way through. They might end up accepting a lot of OOS because many that were accepted decline the offer, so they keep accepting to make it 75% WI and 25% IS.
And also at many public schools, the OOS/IS preference is only pre-interview. So it's much harder for OOS people to get an interview, but once they do, everyone is looked at equally.
 
Tippyboat said:
And also at many public schools, the OOS/IS preference is only pre-interview. So it's much harder for OOS people to get an interview, but once they do, everyone is looked at equally.
Click to expand...

I would assume whatever handicap the OOS people have in obtaining interviews carries equally into the final decision.
There are a lot more OOS applicants then IS applicants, so since there is a huge pool to choose from, OOS interviews would only go to the really good OOS people. So then we would be at this situation:

500 interviews granted to average IS people
300 interviews granted to (super-awesome stats) OOS people

(I choose 500 and 300 randomly, just stick with me for a second.)
Now you have 800 people that were interviewed, if the adcom now needs to pick 300 people to accept and OOS/IS is no longer an issue, then they would pick a very high percentage of OOS people since they must have much higher stats to have gotten the interview in the first place. Do you follow me? Since only the best of the best of OOS get interviews it seems that the adcom would have to consider OOS status in the final review or else the scales would be stacked against the IS applicants in a way.
 
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drizzt3117 said:
Those #s don't seem accurate. I would expect 2/3 of in state and about 1/3 of OOS to be accepted post-interview this cycle. Dr. Bertics and Hansen will discuss this in detail during the interview day.

I'm not working on the adcom this year so I am not sure if they've made changes but this is how we typically operate.
Click to expand...

Those are the statistics from Fall 2009 as reported by the University of Wisconsin-Madison to US News and World Report.

The MSAR doesn't get as detailed with its statistics, but for the same 2009 matriculating class MSAR reported 366 residents interviewed out of 624 applicants versus 130 nonresidents interviewed out of 2504 applicants. MSAR doesn't report the number of acceptances.
 
Amahs said:
I would assume whatever handicap the OOS people have in obtaining interviews carries equally into the final decision.
There are a lot more OOS applicants then IS applicants, so since there is a huge pool to choose from, OOS interviews would only go to the really good OOS people. So then we would be at this situation:

500 interviews granted to average IS people
300 interviews granted to (super-awesome stats) OOS people

(I choose 500 and 300 randomly, just stick with me for a second.)
Now you have 800 people that were interviewed, if the adcom now needs to pick 300 people to accept and OOS/IS is no longer an issue, then they would pick a very high percentage of OOS people since they must have much higher stats to have gotten the interview in the first place. Do you follow me? Since only the best of the best of OOS get interviews it seems that the adcom would have to consider OOS status in the final review or else the scales would be stacked against the IS applicants in a way.
Click to expand...


I totally get your point, and it makes sense. I think there may be a few more things to consider.

It's possible that since they accept 300 ish people and need to make that about 100 OOS, they just severely limit the number of OOS interview slots. If they interviewed 300 OOS and 500 IS like in your example, they would have a problem as you stated. But if they interview only 130 OOS and know they can accept about 100, then they don't have to worry about residency status as much because they probably won't exceed the quota. Schools usually know how many OOS people to accept based on past matriculation yields, so if they end up accepting almost 80% of OOS people, I think it's because they limited the interview slots to make it that way instead of an accident.

That sounds SO confusing even to myself, hope it's somewhat comprehendable.
 
Tippyboat said:
I totally get your point, and it makes sense. I think there may be a few more things to consider.

It's possible that since they accept 300 ish people and need to make that about 100 OOS, they just severely limit the number of OOS interview slots. If they interviewed 300 OOS and 500 IS like in your example, they would have a problem as you stated. But if they interview only 130 OOS and know they can accept about 100, then they don't have to worry about residency status as much because they probably won't exceed the quota. Schools usually know how many OOS people to accept based on past matriculation yields, so if they end up accepting almost 80% of OOS people, I think it's because they limited the interview slots to make it that way instead of an accident.

That sounds SO confusing even to myself, hope it's somewhat comprehendable.
Click to expand...
Ah, yea, I see what you mean. So while it seems that when reviewing applicants after the interview, the OOS group would be the bulk of the acceptances... but they quickly run out of OOS applicants because the interview screen only allowed in so few. Makes sense to me, and greatly simplifies the adcom's process of selecting acceptances, there is one less thing for them to worry about.
 
SFGuy2011 said:
Those are the statistics from Fall 2009 as reported by the University of Wisconsin-Madison to US News and World Report.

The MSAR doesn't get as detailed with its statistics, but for the same 2009 matriculating class MSAR reported 366 residents interviewed out of 624 applicants versus 130 nonresidents interviewed out of 2504 applicants. MSAR doesn't report the number of acceptances.
Click to expand...

The other thing is that the reason the acceptances seem artificially high for the OOS is because many ppl withdraw after acceptance. Also, the #s from both include the waitlist.

I would still assume about 2/3 IS, 1/3 OOS.
 
Amahs said:
Ah, yea, I see what you mean. So while it seems that when reviewing applicants after the interview, the OOS group would be the bulk of the acceptances... but they quickly run out of OOS applicants because the interview screen only allowed in so few. Makes sense to me, and greatly simplifies the adcom's process of selecting acceptances, there is one less thing for them to worry about.
Click to expand...

Remember that the max OOS for a class including md/phd is about 20%...
 
drizzt3117 said:
Remember that the max OOS for a class including md/phd is about 20%...
Click to expand...

Yep, and this is purely wishful thinking, but maybe since they know that OOS people withdraw a lot, they accept a lot of the people they interview. There were far fewer than 20% at my interview date, which was one of the first (and the dean said most OOS people interview in the beginning). Meaning there are probably no more than 20% of people in the post-interview pool anyway so they don't have to really consider the state issue that much?

ahha hope so.
 
Tippyboat said:
Yep, and this is purely wishful thinking, but maybe since they know that OOS people withdraw a lot, they accept a lot of the people they interview. There were far fewer than 20% at my interview date, which was one of the first (and the dean said most OOS people interview in the beginning). Meaning there are probably no more than 20% of people in the post-interview pool anyway so they don't have to really consider the state issue that much?

ahha hope so.
Click to expand...

All I can tell you is that about 1/3 of the OOS ppl postinterview that Ive been involved with assessing ultimately got accepted and that's pretty normal from year to year.

Last year 0 OOS got in off the WL, fwiw.

In the end none of this matters. Each applicant is n=1. I know premeds love to analyze their chances but this process is almost completely qualitative.
 
the reply I got was super vague. I was complete August 17. I was told I would likely hear more before the end of the year...
 
OOS and IS people are evaluated by the same adcom but handled separately regarding decisions.

Amahs said:
I would assume whatever handicap the OOS people have in obtaining interviews carries equally into the final decision.
There are a lot more OOS applicants then IS applicants, so since there is a huge pool to choose from, OOS interviews would only go to the really good OOS people. So then we would be at this situation:

500 interviews granted to average IS people
300 interviews granted to (super-awesome stats) OOS people

(I choose 500 and 300 randomly, just stick with me for a second.)
Now you have 800 people that were interviewed, if the adcom now needs to pick 300 people to accept and OOS/IS is no longer an issue, then they would pick a very high percentage of OOS people since they must have much higher stats to have gotten the interview in the first place. Do you follow me? Since only the best of the best of OOS get interviews it seems that the adcom would have to consider OOS status in the final review or else the scales would be stacked against the IS applicants in a way.
Click to expand...
 
One more thing, if anyone has any questions about their competitiveness, the application process, life as a med student here, etc... feel free to PM me. As I'm a third year med student and pretty busy, I can't guarantee I'll reply immediately but I will write back when I have time.
 
drizzt3117 said:
All I can tell you is that about 1/3 of the OOS ppl postinterview that Ive been involved with assessing ultimately got accepted and that's pretty normal from year to year.

Last year 0 OOS got in off the WL, fwiw.

In the end none of this matters. Each applicant is n=1. I know premeds love to analyze their chances but this process is almost completely qualitative.
Click to expand...

Exactly right. In the end statistics will have nothing to do with whether I'm accepted or not. I'll just continue to keep my fingers crossed.
 
Does anyone know if they have started looking at secondaries which were complete in September...just wondering how much longer I have to wait??
 
I just completed about 2 weeks ago and I got an email saying I was favorably reviewed and moved to a pile of applicants being considered for interview. Did anyone get an email stating this before the actual invite?
 
Just got rejected pre-interview. Kind of confused by this one, they must be really intense about GPA here. I'm in state with over 200hrs volunteering in the ER, lots of research (including abstracts and a pub), Eagle Scout, lots of ECs, GPA 3.5, MCAT 32M. I'd like to know what they do accept...
 
lifespan said:
I just completed about 2 weeks ago and I got an email saying I was favorably reviewed and moved to a pile of applicants being considered for interview. Did anyone get an email stating this before the actual invite?
Click to expand...

Are you sure you're not talking about mcw?
 
DeltaT said:
Just got rejected pre-interview. Kind of confused by this one, they must be really intense about GPA here. I'm in state with over 200hrs volunteering in the ER, lots of research (including abstracts and a pub), Eagle Scout, lots of ECs, GPA 3.5, MCAT 32M. I'd like to know what they do accept...
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that. Your stats don't seem uncompetitive but are a lil below average, it's getting harder to get into med school each year though, gl with the rest of your apps.
 
So I've been complete since mid-July but haven't heard anything from Wisconsin until I emailed them today. This was the reply: "You were reviewed 9/12, the committee is holding your application for a "possible" interview," and I won't hear back until January.

What in the world does that mean as far as statuses go? Just reject me already or invite me for an interview...jeez.
 
They're taking their time with my application... complete 8/17, I emailed and they said I'd be reviewed sometime before new years.
 
Is it common for UW to send interview invitations to applicants whose files aren't complete? I'm missing a non-faculty letter, but I got an invite anyway... I don't think I'll be able to get a non-faculty letter, since all four of my rec writers are technically faculty and I don't know of anyone else I'd be comfortable getting a letter from. Should I just withdraw, or does the fact that they gave me an interview mean they're willing to overlook this??
 
Whew, just got home from the 10/22 interview day. Man, that was a long day. Pretty good impression of the place, they seemed honest yet bragged about the school's stats when applicable.

They also explained the entire admission process post interview. Holy man, is that complicated. Let me see if I remember what they said.

1) You interview

2) Your interviewer writes you an 'LOR' and this gets placed next your other LORS, only this one is slightly more heavily weighed, but not terrible so.

3) Five people on the adcom get your files and review your entire application in detail over the course of a week

4) The 20 person adcom committee meets the following week and the 5 people that know your application are brought forward.

5) They talk amongst themselves for a moment and find out which one of them likes your application the best. Then they find out which one of the 5 members dislikes your application the most

6) The person that likes you the most turns to the adcom talks about your application in detail for several minutes. They will advocate for your acceptance and talk about why you are awesome.

7) The person that thinks your application is bad will talk negatively about your application for a few minutes. They will say why you should not be accepted or why you are not qualified.

8) Other members of the adcom now talk about you and ask questions to other members of the adcom. There is much debate and discussion out loud.

9) There is a massive vote, all 20 members of the committee will vote on their final decision. They all rate you on a 0-100 scale.

10) All scores are tallied. Your cumulative average score out of one hundred is calculated and this number will either get you accepted, denied, or determine your position on the waitlist. 😱


Yea, that's pretty intense. Now I know why it takes 6 weeks to hear back.


cyanide said:
Is it common for UW to send interview invitations to applicants whose files aren't complete? I'm missing a non-faculty letter, but I got an invite anyway... I don't think I'll be able to get a non-faculty letter, since all four of my rec writers are technically faculty and I don't know of anyone else I'd be comfortable getting a letter from. Should I just withdraw, or does the fact that they gave me an interview mean they're willing to overlook this??
Click to expand...
I don't think UW uses LORs in deciding interview spots. I think they only require/look at LORS at the post-interview adcom review
 
^ my goodness!

Very insightful, useful post. Thank you!

A thorough and egalitarian process indeed.

Did your host indicate his/her feelings on the process? Are they putting together the class they want? Is there an executive, veto power ?

again, thanks
sp
 
Okone said:
Whew, just got home from the 10/22 interview day. Man, that was a long day. Pretty good impression of the place, they seemed honest yet bragged about the school's stats when applicable.

They also explained the entire admission process post interview. Holy man, is that complicated. Let me see if I remember what they said.

1) You interview

2) Your interviewer writes you an 'LOR' and this gets placed next your other LORS, only this one is slightly more heavily weighed, but not terrible so.

3) Five people on the adcom get your files and review your entire application in detail over the course of a week

4) The 20 person adcom committee meets the following week and the 5 people that know your application are brought forward.

5) They talk amongst themselves for a moment and find out which one of them likes your application the best. Then they find out which one of the 5 members dislikes your application the most

6) The person that likes you the most turns to the adcom talks about your application in detail for several minutes. They will advocate for your acceptance and talk about why you are awesome.

7) The person that thinks your application is bad will talk negatively about your application for a few minutes. They will say why you should not be accepted or why you are not qualified.

8) Other members of the adcom now talk about you and ask questions to other members of the adcom. There is much debate and discussion out loud.

9) There is a massive vote, all 20 members of the committee will vote on their final decision. They all rate you on a 0-100 scale.

10) All scores are tallied. Your cumulative average score out of one hundred is calculated and this number will either get you accepted, denied, or determine your position on the waitlist. 😱


Yea, that's pretty intense. Now I know why it takes 6 weeks to hear back.



I don't think UW uses LORs in deciding interview spots. I think they only require/look at LORS at the post-interview adcom review
Click to expand...


I think you made it a little more complicated than it is. I was there and heard the same info you did, but I had a slightly different interpretation.

The interviewer writes up a review of the interview that gets added to your file. I'm pretty sure thats just like every other school, at least the ones I've interviewed at. It not another LOR, just a review of the interview.

The five people who get your file are simply asked their level of enthusiasm and the most enthusiastic presents your file. Then they go in progression from least to second most enthusiastic making comments. The least enthusiastic doesn't necessarily say why they dislike you or make a pitch against you, they just make comments on areas of the app that they might not have read favorably or perhaps why they were less excited about the applicant overall. If all of the 5 had a positive impression then that is that, no required negative review.

As far as letters of rec for interviews, they most certainly do use them. There is a very thorough review of every application before an invite is extended.
 
I had a strange interview, the interviewer asked me zero questions (except for the mandatory 'do you want to update your application, now is your last chance' question).

The full 45 minutes the interviewer had put aside for me asking question to the interviewer. The interviewer said my app looked interesting, which is a promising sign, but I just wish I would have been asked even the most basic question like "why medicine" so I would of had the opportunity to really express myself and say why I loved Madison so much. But alas, I was never given the chance.

Well, its out of my hands now. I just wish there was more I could do, this is my dream school :xf: :luck:
 
Amahs said:
I had a strange interview, the interviewer asked me zero questions (except for the mandatory 'do you want to update your application, now is your last chance' question).

The full 45 minutes the interviewer had put aside for me asking question to the interviewer. The interviewer said my app looked interesting, which is a promising sign, but I just wish I would have been asked even the most basic question like "why medicine" so I would of had the opportunity to really express myself and say why I loved Madison so much. But alas, I was never given the chance.

Well, its out of my hands now. I just wish there was more I could do, this is my dream school :xf: :luck:
Click to expand...


oh Amahs, what did you do? what were some of the questions that you asked? sorry to hear that your interview wasnt what you were expecting. however, i know some people that felt they had bad interviews and were eventually accepted, while others who felt they had great interviews were rejected, so dont loose hope yet!

solidarity, y'all.
 
Does anyone know how long the social the night before the interview lasts? The email mentions light snack and casual dress code. Just wondering if I should have my dinner before hand or if the light snack means dinner? Super excited about the interview!
 
pullupthepeople said:
oh Amahs, what did you do? what were some of the questions that you asked? sorry to hear that your interview wasnt what you were expecting. however, i know some people that felt they had bad interviews and were eventually accepted, while others who felt they had great interviews were rejected, so dont loose hope yet!

solidarity, y'all.
Click to expand...

It was pretty hard to think of questions on the spot, I had 1 or 2 questions prepared (are there any plans for expansion, how are is school incorporating new tech, is the area safe at night, etc). But while I was sort of prepared, I wasn't ready for 45 minutes of me asking questions :laugh:
 
Engineer2med said:
Does anyone know how long the social the night before the interview lasts? The email mentions light snack and casual dress code. Just wondering if I should have my dinner before hand or if the light snack means dinner? Super excited about the interview!
Click to expand...

(Ah, sorry for double post)
In any case the snacks are very light, we had a small serving bowl of popcorn in the corner and a dozen cans of soda on a table. Nothing substantial, but it was actually nice to get a handful of popcorn to eat slowly and enjoy over the hour or so that the social was. The social ended at about 8pm, maybe 8:30pm, and it started right on time at seven.

Oh and it really is casual. Like jeans and a t-shirt casual. We had some people show in in suit and tie but everyone was in everyday clothes 👍
 
Rejected (pre-interview) from UW as well. Ordinarily I might tell myself "no love lost there" but I'll admit this one stings a bit.

Good luck to everyone still in the running here!
 
anyone else interviewing on the 5th of november? im so excited! trying to decide which hotel to book... any suggestions?
 
pullupthepeople said:
anyone else interviewing on the 5th of november? im so excited! trying to decide which hotel to book... any suggestions?
Click to expand...

The Best Western inntowner is within walking distance... I would suggest a student host if one is available though.
 
My application has been put on hold and will be reviewed again in January 🙁. I'd really like to go here, does anyone know how many of the put on hold people interviewed last year/if any got in?
 
Interview Invite for early January! super excited. However, I might be out of the country during this time. They said if it is essential to reschedule then email them, but then I don't want it to hinder my app. what do you guys think? I know I could be over analyzing, but did they ask anywhere on their secondary if there are any block out dates. I know did not write anything if there were.
 
in regards to the number of oos acceptances, it appears that last year 2132 oos people applied, 130 were interviewed, 108 were accepted and 42 actually decided to matriculate (source: 2010-2011 MSAR and UW website), which would make the class about 25% oos. does this sound right drizzt?

......

i have heard that UW is trying to make its student body more diverse and include more minority/disadvantaged students. from my own experiences at UW, and from what i have heard about the school from others, the student body is mostly made up of white, rural/suburban students.... makes sense considering the demographics of wisconsin. has anyone heard how they plan to increase the diversity of the school? coming from chicago, i am bathed in diversity whenever i step outside my door, and i have to admit that is one thing that i might miss.
 
That includes MSTP students, most of whom were OOS. I believe the max OOS for non-mstp students is 20%. We might be slightly over that depending on how acceptances shake out but that's the guideline.


pullupthepeople said:
in regards to the number of oos acceptances, it appears that last year 2132 oos people applied, 130 were interviewed, 108 were accepted and 42 actually decided to matriculate (source: 2010-2011 MSAR and UW website), which would make the class about 25% oos. does this sound right drizzt?

......

i have heard that UW is trying to make its student body more diverse and include more minority/disadvantaged students. from my own experiences at UW, and from what i have heard about the school from others, the student body is mostly made up of white, rural/suburban students.... makes sense considering the demographics of wisconsin. has anyone heard how they plan to increase the diversity of the school? coming from chicago, i am bathed in diversity whenever i step outside my door, and i have to admit that is one thing that i might miss.
Click to expand...
 
I completed my application on 9/11 and I haven't received heads or tails of anything since then. Am I done for? What was the length of time it took from submission to hear back from them? And do they send out a rejection notice?
 
Nafis64 said:
Interview Invite for early January! super excited. However, I might be out of the country during this time. They said if it is essential to reschedule then email them, but then I don't want it to hinder my app. what do you guys think? I know I could be over analyzing, but did they ask anywhere on their secondary if there are any block out dates. I know did not write anything if there were.
Click to expand...


Do you mind sharing when you were complete?

According to their "received your application email," UW chronologically reviews applications based on submission date of the secondary, so I am wondering how far along they are. Did anyone who submitted the secondary mid September get an invite yet? Thanks!
 
nerdyandproud said:
I'll see you there! I'll be staying with a student host though.
Click to expand...

awesome! good luck! staying with a student sounds fun, but my bf is coming to check out the school too... wherever I end up, he will get his masters at the same school, so he wants to see whats up at uw. let me know how that goes!
 
SFGuy2011 said:
When they said 4-6 weeks post-interview for a decision they weren't kidding. Feels more like 4-6 months. :laugh:
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. I'll hear back between the 12th and 26th of November. What's your range? Good luck!
 
Got my acceptance letter in the mail today! Dated October 29th. Interviewed Oct. 15th.
 
MDMDJDJD said:
Got my acceptance letter in the mail today! Dated October 29th. Interviewed Oct. 15th.
Click to expand...


Congrats!!! But this makes me so nervous because I interviewed before you! I hope they're not going in order 😱
 
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