2013-2014 Medical College of Wisconsin

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Think I got small pooled?

"Dear Applicant: Thank you for your continuing interest in the Medical College of Wisconsin.



The committee has completed its initial review of your application. It has been moved to a pool of applicants who potentially will be invited to interview with us. That pool is still much larger than our interview schedule can accommodate. Candidates are selected from this pool to receive an interview invitation on the basis of strength of credentials and completion date of application. If and when we get to your application in this process we will be happy to email you an invitation. Any further review of your application will occur only if you are interviewed."
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StLouisCards said:
Think I got small pooled?

"Dear Applicant: Thank you for your continuing interest in the Medical College of Wisconsin.



The committee has completed its initial review of your application. It has been moved to a pool of applicants who potentially will be invited to interview with us. That pool is still much larger than our interview schedule can accommodate. Candidates are selected from this pool to receive an interview invitation on the basis of strength of credentials and completion date of application. If and when we get to your application in this process we will be happy to email you an invitation. Any further review of your application will occur only if you are interviewed."
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That is certainly a small pool message according to past application threads. So, good news for you! :) Please let us all know:

a) was this an email or a message on your application page?'
b) date submitted
c) date complete
d) stats you are comfortable sharing
e) EDP or regular applicant?

Thanks for anything you can help us hopeful applicants out with!
 
Sphenoid927 said:
That is certainly a small pool message according to past application threads. So, good news for you! :) Please let us all know:

a) was this an email or a message on your application page?'
b) date submitted
c) date complete
d) stats you are comfortable sharing
e) EDP or regular applicant?

Thanks for anything you can help us hopeful applicants out with!
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a) email sent this afternoon
b) 7/1
c) 7/1
d) 3.75 and MCAT 30 to 33 (want to keep some anonymity)
e) regular applicant

Thanks for the confirmation I definitely wasn't sure if that was the small pool message.
 
StLouisCards said:
a) email sent this afternoon
b) 7/1
c) 7/1
d) 3.75 and MCAT 30 to 33 (want to keep some anonymity)
e) regular applicant

Thanks for the confirmation I definitely wasn't sure if that was the small pool message.
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Oh sorry for date submitted for my AMCAS primary it was 6/10
 
StLouisCards said:
a) email sent this afternoon
b) 7/1
c) 7/1
d) 3.75 and MCAT 30 to 33 (want to keep some anonymity)
e) regular applicant

Thanks for the confirmation I definitely wasn't sure if that was the small pool message.
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Thanks for sharing! :)

That's awesome you got small pooled. Congrats!!! Getting small pooled is the first step. You've passed one hurdle. Best of luck!
 
I also got the email this afternoon and turned to here to see if it was a small pool thing. Glad to hear that it is. Good luck to everyone!
 
Has anyone heard any bad news? Is it basically a small pool email or a silent rejection? Or do they not reject this early?
 
I really hope I get small pooled!
 
My final letter was uploaded to AMCAS last week. How long should I expect before MCW marks it as received? How long should I wait before contacting them if I don't see it marked as received? A week? I don't want to seem too anxious or annoying, but I also really want to see the application marked complete. ;)
 
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Sphenoid927 said:
My final letter was uploaded to AMCAS last week. How long should I expect before MCW marks it as received? How long should I wait before contacting them if I don't see it marked as received? A week? I don't want to seem too anxious or annoying, but I also really want to see the application marked complete. ;)
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My letters came through last week as well and Wisconsin is one of the only schools I'm not complete at yet so don't worry, you're not alone!
 
Sphenoid927 said:
My final letter was uploaded to AMCAS last week. How long should I expect before MCW marks it as received? How long should I wait before contacting them if I don't see it marked as received? A week? I don't want to seem too anxious or annoying, but I also really want to see the application marked complete. ;)
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My last one was available starting Monday morning and I think MCW marked me complete by late Wednesday.
 
Sphenoid927 said:
My final letter was uploaded to AMCAS last week. How long should I expect before MCW marks it as received? How long should I wait before contacting them if I don't see it marked as received? A week? I don't want to seem too anxious or annoying, but I also really want to see the application marked complete. ;)
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Honestly, wait for ~3 weeks. It shouldn't take that long but calling before that is unnecessary. (That time delay won't hurt your chances and will give the admissions staff some breathing room.)
 
CopaceticOne said:
Honestly, wait for ~3 weeks. It shouldn't take that long but calling before that is unnecessary. (That time delay won't hurt your chances and will give the admissions staff some breathing room.)
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Well, no need to worry. They marked my last letter as received yesterday. They are on the ball over there! I like the way MCW rolls! :)

Hoping for some good news now!
 
I got the small pool email today. I applied 7/2. Hopefully it leads to an interview invite.
 
I also saw on the last thread ~1/3 gets put in the small pool and from there ~40% get interviewed.
 
biol101 said:
+1

Came here to ask this very question! I'm a Mech E major, and I don't really know my science professors. I called admissions and the lady said "you should be fine, though might be at a slight disadvantage depending on the admissions committee."
I guess its still worth spending the $70 and submitting.
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I'd be surprised if biomedical engineering was frowned on, or even mechanical (although it seems like a slightly larger stretch). If it is, a strong letter from a prof who knows you well is still most likely better than a form letter from someone who had you years ago.

However, the admissions people know far more than I do, so ^ is best taken with salt.
 
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DH410 said:
I'd be surprised if biomedical engineering was frowned on, or even mechanical (although it seems like a slightly larger stretch). If it is, a strong letter from a prof who knows you well is still most likely better than a form letter from someone who had you years ago.

However, the admissions people know far more than I do, so ^ is best taken with salt.
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They are pretty strict about letters. They were not cool with my letters last year because I only had one letter from a "classroom professor". They were from PIs I actually worked for, but that was not good enough. As far as the department they come from, I'm not too sure. Email them. They respond really quickly.
 
DH410 said:
I'd be surprised if biomedical engineering was frowned on, or even mechanical (although it seems like a slightly larger stretch). If it is, a strong letter from a prof who knows you well is still most likely better than a form letter from someone who had you years ago.

However, the admissions people know far more than I do, so ^ is best taken with salt.
Click to expand...


The only thing I can think of as to why an engineering prof's lor would be less than ideal is that one may wonder why major in engineering if you are applying to medical school? Now, I know very well that the crossover of engineering/medicine, especially in certain medical specialties is obvious and certainly for biomedical engineering. However, an intention to apply to medical school for an MD (not MD/PhD) whilst majoring in engineering may warrant an adcomm to desire that lor's come from bio/chem/physics prof's who know of your intention to apply MD; who know of you not as a potential engineer, but as of a potential physician. Many engineering majors, to my knowledge, want to work as engineers so there may be a push from adcomm's to get some solid knowledge of the applicant from a non-engineering prof who understands your desire to major in engineering and yet also apply to an MD program. Not to say that an engineering prof would not have insight into your plan, either, but I can somewhat see where an adcomm is coming from on this. Just my two cents. I am not an expert by any means so also take what I say with a grain of salt. As a career changer applicant I by no means frown upon those whose majors aren't one of the typical premed ones. That being said, career changers with non-typical majors who have worked in another field and realized it's not for them, etc. may make more sense to an adcomm than a traditional student in their junior or senior year or just graduated with a major that may indicate a far different career path and yet who does not have the experience in that field yet. Again, just saying. Motivations to apply to medical school, motivations to major in X, etc are highly personal and often addressed as such in a personal statement. No judgement here by any means! Just speculating on the mysterious thoughts and whims and demands of a medical school admissions committee! ;)
 
jlescher said:
They are pretty strict about letters. They were not cool with my letters last year because I only had one letter from a "classroom professor". They were from PIs I actually worked for, but that was not good enough. As far as the department they come from, I'm not too sure. Email them. They respond really quickly.
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I'm not speaking from personal experience, and the best way to find out is definitely to call the admissions office. I was just saying I doubt they toss your application out the window if they see biomedical engineering rather than bio (even mech is still STEM, so I figure it has a chance of working). I wouldn't want someone to abandon hope because they don't have the perfect professor for the letter requirement.

My own letters were all from bio. professors: I worked for two, was advised by a third, and all of them taught me at some point. If they'd asked for an arts/humanities person I would have been sol.

Also, for all the people anxiously waiting for interview invites........mine came at the end of November, and I was small pooled in late August after turning in my app in July. MCW was the second to last interview I did (in January) and most of the incoming M1's I've talked to got interviews as late or later than mine. They did huge batches (I think around 60-80?) for us and only a few interview days a month. We got accepted, waitlisted or rejected exactly one week later (interview day is Month/Day X, decision day is Month/Day X+7). You've probably already been told a few dozen times to be patient, so I'll settle for saying try not to rip your hair out while you wait.
 
DH410 said:
I'm not speaking from personal experience, and the best way to find out is definitely to call the admissions office. I was just saying I doubt they toss your application out the window if they see biomedical engineering rather than bio (even mech is still STEM, so I figure it has a chance of working). I wouldn't want someone to abandon hope because they don't have the perfect professor for the letter requirement.

My own letters were all from bio. professors: I worked for two, was advised by a third, and all of them taught me at some point. If they'd asked for an arts/humanities person I would have been sol.

Also, for all the people anxiously waiting for interview invites........mine came at the end of November, and I was small pooled in late August after turning in my app in July. MCW was the second to last interview I did (in January) and most of the incoming M1's I've talked to got interviews as late or later than mine. They did huge batches (I think around 60-80?) for us and only a few interview days a month. We got accepted, waitlisted or rejected exactly one week later (interview day is Month/Day X, decision day is Month/Day X+7). You've probably already been told a few dozen times to be patient, so I'll settle for saying try not to rip your hair out while you wait.
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I agree. Just quoted you for context. I was also told, as another person mentioned, that my letters would suffice but might put me at a slight disadvantage. I think the people answering phones and emails in the office may underestimate how much of a disadvantage this is. In my case I think it completely screwed me. I was interviewed and wait listed at schools that are far more competitive than MCW and I wasn't even small pooled. I think they may pass on applicants that don't follow the directions. They get plenty of highly qualified applicants that have the letters they request, why bend the rules for those that don't?
 
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Can anyone please tell me if, when you selected letter packet or committee letter, you had to input the name of the INSTITUTION from which it was arriving or the the LETTER WRITER NAME? In preview/status it says letter writer name, but when I filled it out I could have sworn that it said that we're supposed to fill out institution name for the letter packet. Thanks.
 
sportsfan101 said:
Can anyone please tell me if, when you selected letter packet or committee letter, you had to input the name of the INSTITUTION from which it was arriving or the the LETTER WRITER NAME? In preview/status it says letter writer name, but when I filled it out I could have sworn that it said that we're supposed to fill out institution name for the letter packet. Thanks.
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i think i did that too. but im complete now so im sure its no big deal
 
jlescher said:
I agree. Just quoted you for context. I was also told, as another person mentioned, that my letters would suffice but might put me at a slight disadvantage. I think the people answering phones and emails in the office may underestimate how much of a disadvantage this is. In my case I think it completely screwed me. I was interviewed and wait listed at schools that are far more competitive than MCW and I wasn't even small pooled. I think they may pass on applicants that don't follow the directions. They get plenty of highly qualified applicants that have the letters they request, why bend the rules for those that don't?
Click to expand...

I think this is a somewhat myopic view. The people answering the phones are the admissions staff not just random people - they know what is going on. If people aren't small pooled it is generally because there is some other warning sign in the application (grades, mcat subsection, criminal, institutional action, unclear motivation for MD, negative LORs). And in some cases the warning sign may just be that a particular applicant has stats/background/etc which indicate that there is a low likelihood they would matriculate.
 
Complete on the 15th but no small pool email.
 
CopaceticOne said:
I think this is a somewhat myopic view. The people answering the phones are the admissions staff not just random people - they know what is going on. If people aren't small pooled it is generally because there is some other warning sign in the application (grades, mcat subsection, criminal, institutional action, unclear motivation for MD, negative LORs). And in some cases the warning sign may just be that a particular applicant has stats/background/etc which indicate that there is a low likelihood they would matriculate.
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I can't really argue against that because you listed every other possibility. All of which could be the answer. I received an email saying my letters would not suffice. I argued why they should, and got a response saying, "the admissions committee will accept the letters but will question why they do not meet the specifications requested." That coupled with the fact that I got interviews at 3 schools that are "better" leads me to believe the letter issue did me in. The three other schools all wait listed me because I "lacked clinical experience". Totally understandable, and by no means do I think I'm entitled to interviews, but to not even be small pooled at one of my state schools is a little fishy. I know, I know, they are private, but half the class is still from WI.

"The people answering the phones are the admissions staff not just random people." They are the admissions staff, not the admissions committee. So they have no idea how the letters will be viewed when they are reviewed by the committee or the person deciding who will get an interview. Interestingly enough the girl that emailed be about the letter popped up on linked in and it suggested that I connect with here because of our emails. Turns out she looked about 20 and I'm assuming she has a basic understanding of what the admissions committee does. I would venture to guess she was trained to answer and deal with common questions and issues. The people making the decisions and calling the shots are not the ones answering the phone, but I know you know that. I didn't really want to go into all that, but that's why I believe the letters were the cause. It's not that myopic.

EDIT: "stats/background/etc which indicate that there is a low likelihood they would matriculate." I'm also curious about this. Have you actually heard a committee member or any credible person say this? This idea is thrown around a lot by people on SDN but I doubt it's very true. This in no way applies to me. I'm very average in every aspect besides research and I would happily matriculate at any school I applied to.
 
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Cambover said:
Complete on the 15th but no small pool email.
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I was complete last week and am anxiously awaiting some love from MCW! I have no idea how long it may take for someone who is looked at favorably by MCW to be small pooled after being complete. It appears the earliest SDN posters here to receive the small pool email got them about 3 weeks post complete date. Is that right, folks? Anyhoo, I'm IS and feel I am competitive, but this whole process is so darn mysterious that who knows? I have been complete less than a week so I know I should simmer down, but it's hard not to constantly check emails during this application process. Anyone know if MCW sends out small pool emails only on certain days? I know that previous years' threads indicate that II's were typically sent out on Wednesdays and Fridays. I wonder if small pool emails are sent out in a similar fashion and if they are sent in batches on specific days or if they pick and choose and send them out individually as approved. If anyone has input, let us know! :)
 
Does this school pre-screen before sending out a secondary? In addition, I'm an OOS resident. A fellow poster ITT suggested I do apply to MCW, but upon seeing the entering class profile, I'm reluctant. I have a 3.67, 3.51, 29S. What do some other people think?
 
icevermin said:
Does this school pre-screen before sending out a secondary? In addition, I'm an OOS resident. A fellow poster ITT suggested I do apply to MCW, but upon seeing the entering class profile, I'm reluctant. I have a 3.67, 3.51, 29S. What do some other people think?
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They do not screen; however, there is no secondary essay so your primary stands on its own. Those essays can be to your advantage if your stats are on the low side. MCW is a pretty standard, all be it great, private school so you should apply. If MCW is out of your league, then I would say most other MD schools are as well. The MCAT range is also 27-35. That's right in your wheel house.
 
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Question: I submitted secondary today. However it says my letters are not received and thus the application is still incomplete? Any idea why? Thank you.
 
icevermin said:
Question: I submitted secondary today. However it says my letters are not received and thus the application is still incomplete? Any idea why? Thank you.
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They have to download the letters themselves. It takes 3-5 business days for them to download the letters from AMCAS. I believe they wait for secondary submission to do so. Just be patient.
 
Gene Parmesan said:
They have to download the letters themselves. It takes 3-5 business days for them to download the letters from AMCAS. I believe they wait for secondary submission to do so. Just be patient.
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Agree, be patient. However, MCW is very quick so I would not be surprised if you were marked complete this week! They don't mess around over there (just another reason I love this school) That being said, DO NOT get anxious and call them on Friday at 3:30 either. At this time of the application season I would give it at least a week since submission to contact them if you are not yet complete. Best of luck! :)
 
Just to be sure... the only way to check you are complete is via the status tab online correct? There is no formal "your application is now complete, etc." email right?
 
het het said:
Just to be sure... the only way to check you are complete is via the status tab online correct? There is no formal "your application is now complete, etc." email right?
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Yes
 
Complete since 7/22. Nothing so far...
 
Hi all, just wanted to say good luck. We're all in this brutal process together. I've been complete since 7/5 and still haven't heard anything since.
 
sustinamith said:
Hi all, just wanted to say good luck. We're all in this brutal process together. I've been complete since 7/5 and still haven't heard anything since.
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That's pretty awesome of you : ) good luck back! Perhaps we'll meet at orientation? Keepin it upbeat ; )
 
Complete last week so I am not too impatient yet, but I, of course, was hoping that maybe just maybe I'd get small pooled before this weekend. Guess not! Now to get through the weekend and start obsessively checking emails again Monday. lol. Best of luck to us all!
 
Sphenoid927 said:
Complete last week so I am not too impatient yet, but I, of course, was hoping that maybe just maybe I'd get small pooled before this weekend. Guess not! Now to get through the weekend and start obsessively checking emails again Monday. lol. Best of luck to us all!
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Chill bro! :p I was complete 7/15 and still no small pool.

(OOS)
 
Sphenoid927 said:
Complete last week so I am not too impatient yet, but I, of course, was hoping that maybe just maybe I'd get small pooled before this weekend. Guess not! Now to get through the weekend and start obsessively checking emails again Monday. lol. Best of luck to us all!
Click to expand...

Agree with Entadus. Relax!! haha I've been complete since 7/2 and no small pool yet.
 
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