I completely agree with the interview day description above. It's all a bunch of lip service. No one who's went to school here needs to hear how great this place is. We've got it, thanks.
I haven't seen this kind of disgust over a school's admissions on any other forum, and I have a hard time believing Wisconsinites are a more ungrateful bunch than most. UW has their admissions backwards and they're losing a lot of WI's best crop. These uber strong applicants actually want to stay in Madison, so welcome them and build a powerhouse instead of selecting lesser qualified applicants. I also don't buy that UW is selecting almost solely on application strength because we wouldn't be having this conversation right now if they were. There's no way there was 130+ IS applicants with a stronger application than me. I'm sorry, there just wasn't. To quote my family physician, "Wisconsin's admissions is who you know and who you blow."
Hiya, OOS accepted applicant here, who almost withdrew but ultimately decided to sleep on it. I have a similar background to yours, but took time off in the middle of undergrad, making me 23-24 when I was applying to med school.
First of all, I attended 10 interviews and it seems like EVERY school I've been to tried ridiculously hard to sell itself to the applicants on interview day. This is not just a Wisconsin problem. If you ask me, Michigan is the worst offender of the lot, and I felt nothing if not chafed when they wined, dined and then waitlisted me.
However, while the whole thing is very disappointing to people who get slapped with a rejection letter a few weeks after the interview, when it comes to the people who *are* accepted an interview day that focuses on the positives does go a long way in helping admitted students make a decision. For instance, the lovely time I had at my interview day is making me consider Wisconsin over two other top-tier schools.
Secondly - and I hope you'll forgive me - but you keep posting here to rant about how unfair the favoritism shown to "more experienced" candidates is, and this tells me that your maturity level leaves something to be desired. Maturity is not just about having diverse experiences - it's about trying your hardest, still not getting what you want, and dealing with it with grace. Maybe this is the reason Wisconsin favors people who are less than perfect - because there's no better opportunity to grow and become a better person than rejection and failure. And don't you want your doctor to be not only intellectually strong but a good person?
I think you wrote that you got in elsewhere? Be grateful for that - many people didn't get in anywhere, or else there would not be so many reapplicants.
I must also say that I'm patently offended that Wisconsin admissions are about who you know and who you blow. I knew NOBODY when I showed up for my interview, except for my sister-in-law to be, who's a very much non-premed undergrad and who's also from out of state. That's not much help, is it?
