Condition, reliability, schedules. I am sure you will beable to get from point a to point b, but the headache and hassle is such that it is worth the extra money to avoid the bus.
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2012-2013 Wayne State University Application Thread
Started by gettheleadout
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Condition, reliability, schedules. I am sure you will beable to get from point a to point b, but the headache and hassle is such that it is worth the extra money to avoid the bus.
Interview invite today!! I was complete on 8/22. They scheduled me for 10/22. Stoked! 
OOS, 3.6sgpa, 3.5cpa, 33Q
OOS, 3.6sgpa, 3.5cpa, 33Q
Being from OOS, expect to be grilled about why you want to go to Wayne State. They are looking for people who want to be doctors and remain in the Detroit area, or at least in Michigan, so have a reason or ties to the area to discuss. Depending on your interviewer, you also may be grilled about why you want to work with disadvantaged populations.
Other than that, the interviews tend to be very laid back and conversational. You will be more likely to be asked "tell me more about X in your activities" than you will be asked challenging interview questions. Relax and be friendly, and know something about the school, and you should be fine.
For transportation, you will probably want to rent a car since public transportation sucks in Detroit. You could probably manage without it, but the busses are not something I would rely on, and a cab would be about as much as a rental car. You will be flying into Detroit metro, and it is a straight drive down I-94 from there to get to the city and the med school campus.
Thanks for the info! 🙂 I'll keep all of this in mind as I prepare. As for transport, someone else mentioned that it was ~10$ each way from the airport so I'll take my chances with the cabs. I'd rather not deal with the rental and the driving. Thanks again!
The quote above says 10 bucks from DOWNTOWN to the med school (a distance of a couple miles) not from the airport. Plan on it costing a lot more than 10 bucks to get to and from the airport by cab.
The Inn on Ferry Street is not far from campus. If you have a car, you could stay anywhere near Detroit and drive in.
I would say a cab ride to campus from the airport is more in the $50-$75 range.
Do you know if it can be slightly less than 1500 characters? I feel like I dont want to put unnecessary stuff in it just to expand it.😕
1500 is the lower limit. They probably won't actually do a word count on the essay to see if you have met the guidelines (though they might), but you have to ask, have you really expanded enough to thoroughly answer the prompt? The word limits they provide are pretty small, I would be sure you really developed the essay as much as you could if you are below the minimum. If they read an essay below the minimum character count, even without checking what the count is they could say "this person could have put a bit more time into this and given a more thorough explanation.
Sorry if I missed this earlier in the thread, but did the interview invites arrive via email or snail mail? Thanks in advance!
Mine came in email, but they said in the email that they'd send a snail mail invite with more detailed info on it too in 7-10 business days which includes a confirmation form.
I wanted to also add that I *highly* recommend getting in touch with a current student to either stay over or to meet up with them before your interview. I did that last year and found it extremely helpful. I unfortunately cannot host overnight right now but I'd be willing to meet with anyone for coffee before or shots after your interview (jk, or not). Just PM me. The student stayover program is listed here:
http://admissions.med.wayne.edu/pdfs/studentstayoverhosts.pdf
It's not that fleshed out right now cus all the first years kind of just got here. Please be mindful of the exam schedule before you email! I also notice that there aren't that many females on the list. I would venture to guess that there are more females who can host, they just haven't made it here yet. If you need somewhere to stay let me know and I'll put feelers out as well. Could maybe save some of you some hotel costs.
ALSO: I wanted to write a thing about interviews. In getting to know my classmates, I have noticed that every single one of our interview experiences was completely different. Last year I interviewed at one other school and it was one of these big 7 am - 3 pm interview days where everyone basically had the same experience. NOT SO AT WAYNE. I interviewed in November for about 45 minutes. Was shown around for about 10 minutes, went on an optional (and somewhat half-assed, although I did appreciate them taking their time, etc etc) tour given by some current students (I believe M2s at the time). I was surprised that my interviewer basically went through a paper check list and asked me things about my application he should have already known. "Any volunteer experience?" was one question he asked very late in the interview. Some other students said they only chatted with their interviewer about pokemon or whatever. Maybe not pokemon, but something not related to medicine. Something I gleaned from my interviewer about my application specifically was that (1) my essays were extremely strong (do not blow off the essays!!) and (2) my volunteer experience was what stood out. So I would be a representative of those people with a lot of volunteer experience. We are certainly NOT the bulk of the class, so diversity is valued here -- if you are more of a research person don't sweat it. Just be you, basically. And be you hard.
http://admissions.med.wayne.edu/pdfs/studentstayoverhosts.pdf
It's not that fleshed out right now cus all the first years kind of just got here. Please be mindful of the exam schedule before you email! I also notice that there aren't that many females on the list. I would venture to guess that there are more females who can host, they just haven't made it here yet. If you need somewhere to stay let me know and I'll put feelers out as well. Could maybe save some of you some hotel costs.
ALSO: I wanted to write a thing about interviews. In getting to know my classmates, I have noticed that every single one of our interview experiences was completely different. Last year I interviewed at one other school and it was one of these big 7 am - 3 pm interview days where everyone basically had the same experience. NOT SO AT WAYNE. I interviewed in November for about 45 minutes. Was shown around for about 10 minutes, went on an optional (and somewhat half-assed, although I did appreciate them taking their time, etc etc) tour given by some current students (I believe M2s at the time). I was surprised that my interviewer basically went through a paper check list and asked me things about my application he should have already known. "Any volunteer experience?" was one question he asked very late in the interview. Some other students said they only chatted with their interviewer about pokemon or whatever. Maybe not pokemon, but something not related to medicine. Something I gleaned from my interviewer about my application specifically was that (1) my essays were extremely strong (do not blow off the essays!!) and (2) my volunteer experience was what stood out. So I would be a representative of those people with a lot of volunteer experience. We are certainly NOT the bulk of the class, so diversity is valued here -- if you are more of a research person don't sweat it. Just be you, basically. And be you hard.
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Just got the complete email today. Went down there and dropped it off myself since it was pretty nearby. The email says review for invites can take "several months." Is just a full blown waiting game from now on?
Has anyone gotten an interview w/o getting a complete e-mail? I called the office today because I sent all of my materials in 2 1/2 weeks ago and never received one. The lady told me very nicely that they have all the materials but no action has been taken on my application. I was wondering if sometimes they forget to send the e-mail out but still marks the application complete.
Oops! That could have been bad. 🙂 Well I guess there's a shuttle service to/from the airport and school which should be less costly than a taxi, so that's probably a good option then.
@togaedere
Thanks for the advice, that's very helpful. 🙂
Thanks!
Could any current medical students talk a bit about day-to-day life at Wayne? (i.e. structure of classes, availability of recorded lectures/class notes, time spent in class vs time available to study, afternoon labs, etc.) I know they have a more traditional curriculum, and I think I heard the lectures are recorded, but that's about all I know.
Thanks!
Thanks!
I am a first year, so only a month and a half in, but I can give you information from my point of view.
Most lectures are optional attendance, and all are available online afterward to stream from home. Anatomy lab is in the afternoons, with mandatory lab 3-4 days a week and an optional "open" lab on off days, plus the lab is open pretty much any non-class time (weekends, week nights, until 8 or 10 or so at night, not sure the exact time). Histology "labs" are also mandatory, but most of them are essentially review/discussion sessions in smaller groups. These are in the mornings, but not as frequent as the anatomy labs.
Each course has a course pack printed out and available for pickup, plus digital versions available online on Blackboard (perfect for tablet note-taking on the PDFs). Everything that is fair game for the exam will be in the course pack, and/or possibly in lecture, so none of the "required" texts are actually necessary (with the exception of the anatomy dissection guide).
Once anatomy is over (ends before Thanksgiving), there are fewer days each week with mandatory events, I have heard around 2 as the estimate from M2's.
Exams are computer based, other than anatomy practicals, and are taken in two shifts due to the class size. First year has a set of exams approximately every month, meaning next week is our next set of exams.
Curriculum is traditional, no PBL or other group learning other than the labs for the core basic science courses. Clinical medicine begins teaching basic history and physical skills in first year (I have only had the "intro" session so far) though there are additional opportunities for early training in clinical skills and practice of those skills via the student run and other clinics. There are also ultrasound sessions coordinated with the anatomy units that provide basic hands-on ultrasound experience to everyone.
Time to study is going to be nights and weekends primarily if you go to every lecture. If you stream the lectures, you can study all day during class time (other than the lab time of course), come home and stream that day's lectures at 1.8 speed and spend less than half the time watching lectures as you would have spent in class. I am a "streamer" and have almost as much free time as I had when I was simply working a full time job five days a week, other than the week of an exam.
There are a ton of interest groups and other student organizations that you can join if you are interested, plus the co-curricular program which essentially consists of volunteer time and seminars attended first and second year that counts as a 1-month elective fourth year, giving you another month off. I am not doing that myself, but many students do and it seems to be pretty easy to get the hours needed in.
If you have any other specific questions, let me know. I am a commuting student, though, and have a family, so I am not as involved in the extra curriculars as most students.
Lectures yes, the lecture schedule varies day to day and week to week, but pretty much any time during working hours is fair game for lectures to be scheduled. After anatomy, I don't have any first hand knowledge of how frequent required labs or other required sessions will be. According to our schedule, they won't be nearly as frequent as they are during Anatomy/Histology.
I received my first email from Wayne State 08/22, I haven't heard anything since then... am I screened?
Is there still hope? Do we receive an email to say that they are not offering a secondary?
-Septimus
Is there still hope? Do we receive an email to say that they are not offering a secondary?
-Septimus
does anyone know if you are an IS student and are interviewed what are your chances of acceptance? GPA 3.9 MCAT 34Q
Thanks, helping a friend's son navigate the gauntlet!
Thanks, helping a friend's son navigate the gauntlet!
should change my name as I am mom of MS2 (Also staff doc)
With those stats and in state, will only be rejected if extremely unlucky, poor ECs, poor essays, poor interviewing skills, etc. No guarantees about admission, but that applicant will not be rejected due to their academic performance, that is a certainty.
My primary was verified on 8/15 and I still haven't received a secondary from this school. Any thoughts? Maybe they are waiting for my second set of scores that just came in today?
Congrats to all who have interviewed and who have interviews coming up! Maybe you guys can answer a question for me!
Does Wayne prioritize applicants based on GPA/MCAT/LORs/ECs or do they just send out decisions based on when we were complete? I ask because I've been complete since 8/16 and have not received an II or rejection (yay, no rejection!) and it seems that some people on here who were complete after me have already heard back.
Does Wayne prioritize applicants based on GPA/MCAT/LORs/ECs or do they just send out decisions based on when we were complete? I ask because I've been complete since 8/16 and have not received an II or rejection (yay, no rejection!) and it seems that some people on here who were complete after me have already heard back.
You should probably just give em a call (1-313-577-1466), super nice people. I called the other day about whether my secondary was complete or not because I hadn't received a confirmation email about it. Apparently they had it marked that I was sent an email, but turns out the secretary had just forgotten to press send or something like that. So who knows, check with them.
sorry if this has been said before, but I got an email from them saying they received my primary app late august, and I have still not heard anything...no rejection....or seconday....is this normal?
Just call them... they are really helpful!
My primary was verified at the end of August and I heard within the week about the secondary.
My primary was verified at the end of August and I heard within the week about the secondary.
... Yeah, they are definitely not going to take action on your application before they review your full application, including all MCAT scores. Start counting with the day your scores were released as the submission date of your primary, because that is essentially the case as far as they are concerned.
I got that too (same-ish complete time) and am mulling it over. It went to the email address I have on file with their program and not the AMCAS/MCAT email address that usually receives school-related spam, which I thought was at least somewhat encouraging. I still don't know whether that means they actually read my application or if it was just auto-generated from stats. I do like to think that if they think you're competitive for MD/PhD that hopefully you are also competitive for plain old MD, but I could be wrong.The other thing it made me wonder was whether we should even expect to hear soon for a regular interview if they are hoping we will apply MD/PhD, or if they will give us some time to read and respond to the email.
I received the MD/PhD email as well. I am thinking about it, but I have an interview scheduled for next week. I'm guessing it might be an auto email based on stats, because I don't think it's possible for me to submit the MD/PhD application before my interview.
I was also complete the first week of September.
I was also complete the first week of September.
3.9, 34, OOS
Really hoping for an interview here. Their secondary was one of the more intriguing, the program looks great, and I really like some of the feedback that I see.
is 3.9 33q
3.9, 38O, In state.
I've been debating whether to post this because I will probably sound like a neurotic premed...here goes! I called in a few days back and they told me no decision has been made up until this point. Is this bad news for me? I'm IS and have friends with similar or better stats who have already interviewed. With only one interview invite and my stats (3.67, 30P) I'm starting to doubt whether I'll get in anywhere this cycle.
I've been debating whether to post this because I will probably sound like a neurotic premed...here goes! I called in a few days back and they told me no decision has been made up until this point. Is this bad news for me? I'm IS and have friends with similar or better stats who have already interviewed. With only one interview invite and my stats (3.67, 30P) I'm starting to doubt whether I'll get in anywhere this cycle.
If it makes you feel better, I was complete at about the same time, am also IS, and have a 34/3.9, still no word. I think we just have to be patient. Following this and the threads for the other schools I am applying to there is certainly to strict rhyme or reason to complete date corresponding to interview invites. They don't necessarily review / give invites in order of completion. I am in this boat at many schools I've applied to, as are many friends of mine who are also applying. It's nerve-wracking for sure, but I say relax! If they haven't gotten to us yet it's not good or bad, we will find out soon enough!
Interview coming up soon! Does anyone have any tips or pointers for interview day at WSU? I've looked at the interview feedback page and it seems like a lot of the questions are just about your app, nothing ethical or too weird. I am little concerned tho with medical policy questions (because of the upcoming elections). Do you think those show up? Anyone wanna show their experience for this cycle?
Thank you and best of luck!
Thank you and best of luck!
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