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I interviewed in mid-January and haven't heard anything.
Well then just Stanford. Apart from getting into Stanford, isn't WashU a better option for me, if I'm worried about clinical year grades being a crapshoot?
so can anyone confirm whether the next decision date is definitely WL/rejections?
I don't know how unusual it is, but it seems to be affecting this application cycle. Expect the unexpected 🙂kind of unusual to switch admissions deans half-way through the cycle, no?
I don't know how unusual it is, but it seems to be affecting this application cycle. Expect the unexpected 🙂
Dermviser,
This is my first post. And while I admire and applaud the politeness of the other SDNers like Amygdarya, evidently it's not making any impact on you.
Clearly you dislike WashU, fine. But don't rationalize your combative and extremely pretentious posts by suggesting that they are solely for the 'good' of the pre-med students interested in potentially attending WashU. Rather than inflating your ego, I suggest you spend your time on more important things. Perhaps focus on instigating change at your own medical institution or instead, maybe get laid. Regardless, please either leave this thread or help foster a sense of community and excitement about medical school (I would say answer questions too but you don't seem to be able to do so without a despicable sense of disdain and self-righteousness).
Yes, and your ad hominems clearly aren't "combative" or "pretentious" at all and in your first and only SDN post to date, no less. Congrats!
Hypothetically speaking, if we were to criticize the residency program you are currently training in (which I am not, I'm genuinely sure it is a good program), the message and intent of your previous posts indicate that you would respond with great support and enthusiasm to defend it, just like many are doing right now for WashU.
Everyone on this thread: please be respectful of each other and different programs. These are not just schools but also institutions where people work, train, and learn with great pride.
The major huge difference is that you are PAYING money (whether it be yours or your parents) to the medical school for your education, unlike residency, where they pay me. When you match into residency, the game is then over. When you enter medical school, you're essentially trying to rack up a certain number of points to be able to match into the specialty of your choice.
I would not at all take a personal affront if someone were to criticize my residency program, bc when it comes to residency programs the characteristics that people choose at that this point in their careers is so much more variable - it's pretty much quibbling at that point, bc regardless you will be a board-certified dermatologist. Also, where one matches is based on a computer algorithm and is not under your control.
You've made a lot of insightful posts in this thread, but your tone is coming across as a little vitriolic, and detracts a little from the wisdom you're trying to impart. This is not meant to be a personal attack, mind you. But while most of the kids in this thread are junior compared to you, there is no need to treat them with seeming disdain. 🙂
"That's funny bc on your MDApps you got into schools that some might argue are better than WashU. I had to laugh though: "aggressive---but in the best kind of way. Aggressive toward helping others." 😆
my theory (that I just pulled out of my a**) is that s/he is a resident at WashU and probably dislikes the students for some reason.@DermViser I guess I'm just curious why you are spending so much time on this thread, especially seeing as you are now a resident. I know you seem to want pre-meds to know about the drawbacks of non-P/F preclinical years, but many schools have this system still in place, so why not make a general thread in pre-allo or pre-osteo warning about this? I guess I don't understand why the specific hate for WashU.
my theory (that I just pulled out of my a**) is that s/he is a resident at WashU and probably dislikes the students for some reason.
Anyway, decided to throw my hat in the ring here. I'm MS4 (MSTP 8) now and if I were to go back knowing what I know now, I will doubtless choose WashU again. Everybody else had covered most of the preclinical issues so I'll share the stuff relevant to people thinking ahead to residency.
1.) Mentoring: I think this was the one aspect of my clinical experience that totally floored me. I changed my mind about what specialty to go into several times, and in each department (ranging from IM, neurology, radiology, Peds and gen surg) I found faculty who supported and advised me. Had no trouble getting glowing letters of recommendation (and I wasn't exactly the most spectacular clinical student bc I'm terribly shy), had guidance when it came to residency applications, got an interviewing coach and even had an attending edit my personal statement. Plus, we have clinical advisors who are well-known to PDs all over the country (mine even called my #1 residency choice for me, to pump up my application). If any other school can offer that much support to get you into the residency you want, then by all means, go there.
2.) Culture: I never felt like I was in competition with anyone in my class even though we are ranked and we're not P/F past MS1. My classmates readily shared their notes and we've had courses where nearly everyone got honors (dermatology comes to mind-- one of my classmates made a ppt review with pictures that we all studied from, and we all collectively rocked that course).
3.) Curriculum: I've been around 8 years and I can assure you that it is evolving. There is resistance to scrapping the current structure entirely, yes, but the changes that took hold are fantastic additions. For example, our practice of medicine course used to be really inane (well, kinda irrelevant to the job of learning to take care of your patient) but Polites revamped it, and it made the transition from preclinical to clinical smoother.
Part of me thinks that it kinda sucks that I could not spend copious amounts of time just memorizing FA for Step 1 during MS2, but the way we were taught gave me the tools to think mechanistically about diseases and drugs. So if I get pimped, I can easily reason my way to the answer without relying heavily on my flawed memory. Even the PD for Peds at SLCH emphasized that this was a wonderful aspect of our education, and he preferred getting residents from other schools who were trained to think this way.
In conclusion, there are positives and negatives to choosing WashU Med. It probably doesn't matter where you go to among the Top 10 or 20 med schools in the country because what matters most would be your Step1 (and/or 2) scores and how you do on your clerkships. But I can assure you that WashU admin and faculty work hard to prepare you for and if possible, get you the best residency spot for you.
To be fair, you're an MSTP (MD/PhD) student, so hence you're evaluated on a very different plane than most MD-only applicants. The number of publications an MD/PhD student has, far outstrips, that of the typical MD applicant in quantity and quality.
For example, in Dermatology, there are many MD/PhD applicants who may not have the board scores or be high in class rank/AOA, and match into Derm all the time, because faculty recognize their ability to contribute and intellectually push our specialty forward in a meaningful way, that the typical MD-only candidate wouldn't be able to. There are certain Dermatology programs that aggressively court MD/PhDs if you look at their residents. You have a clear advantage by being an MSTP student, that your typical MD-only student does not.
I agree, that tends to be true for dermatology. But you might be surprised to hear that there are some fields where the PhD doesn't count for much.
There's another thread elsewhere discussing the woes of the MuD-PhuD trap. I might be in error when I generalize this phenomenon to surgical fields (maybe except neurosurg), but if we don't have good enough numbers, we don't get interviews at the top residencies, and the back-up community programs tend to ignore us bc they assume we all want to do research and therefore will not deign to go there. The end result? Not matching at all!
Attention everyone:
If we want DermViser to stop replying to this thread, the best strategy may just be to just ignore him/her. My advice is that if anyone wants his/her advice, directly message him/her. Even if we do ignore DermViser, this individual may continue to post and attempt to rattle us and get reactions. The ball is in our court.
Let's get this thread back on track.
I second that motion. I'll drop it. 😉
Part of me thinks that it kinda sucks that I could not spend copious amounts of time just memorizing FA for Step 1 during MS2, but the way we were taught gave me the tools to think mechanistically about diseases and drugs. So if I get pimped, I can easily reason my way to the answer without relying heavily on my flawed memory. Even the PD for Peds at SLCH emphasized that this was a wonderful aspect of our education, and he preferred getting residents from other schools who were trained to think this way.
Today or last week? I assumed they were done with acceptances with WL/rejection Friday in March.In other news, I missed 2 calls from my interviewer congratulating me. That's what happens when you get distracted by work 😛
I missed the phone calls today. But I got status change and received my acceptance letter by mail on Saturday, so the decision was made/finalized last week.Today or last week? I assumed they were done with acceptances with WL/rejection Friday in March.
Just a quick question.. what time did people with morning interviews complete their day? I need to check out of my hotel by 2 pm and the last thing on my itinerary is lunch at 12. I'm trying to decide if i just need to check out before the interview.... Thanks!
You're welcome! 🙂Asperphys, thank you for your post!
Just a quick question.. what time did people with morning interviews complete their day? I need to check out of my hotel by 2 pm and the last thing on my itinerary is lunch at 12. I'm trying to decide if i just need to check out before the interview.... Thanks!
Random question: hows parking like? Heard from several ms3/4's that a car is pretty much required for rotations.
Random question: hows parking like? Heard from several ms3/4's that a car is pretty much required for rotations.
Why would that be? 😵 I thought everything is on the same campus (unlike Boston, for example).
Congrats!!!🙂accepted yesterday!
interviewed 1/29
A car is pretty necessary for Saint Louis in general. It's all one city, but the metro doesn't connect all of it and you wouldn't have access to groceries or Target or the mall. Rotations are not all at the central Barnes Jewish or Children's - there could be a few in county hospitals, like Barnes Jewish West County. You'll want a car regardless.
+1I didn't know about the county hospitals, so that's good to know 😀.
Can you elaborate on this point? What aspects of the WashU preclinical curriculum would you say taught you to "think mechanistically," compared to curricula at other schools? (And did you feel that this helped you on Step 1?)
+1
I was under impression that pretty much all rotations (except for possibly FM) are on BJH-SL Children's campus.
I understand that there is an advantage to rotating at different kinds of hospitals, including county hospitals, but this sure makes me think twice about my transportation options.
On the other hand, I've heard that BJH serves as a county hospital as well.
Could someone of the current or past WashU students comment on rotation sites/transportation issue? (I do trust DChef's and YamNMangos' opinions, but I would appreciate a WashU student's take as well.)
Basically, how hard/impossible it is to live without a car while studying at WashU?
Yeah...I would highly suggest a car. Central West End (the neighborhood where the medschool is located in) is a really cool place with a lot of great restaurants and bars, but not a ton of grocery stores. The closest grocery stores are near slu or the undergrad campus, and target is a good 15 min drive. Also, the metro is not really super expansive, so it may be hard to get to certain places, and St. Louis is a city where one block may be super nice, but the next block is really rough (near the med school, this is not the case at all...Central West End is one of the nicest areas in St. Louis). Also for anyone choosing to go here, an Ikea is being built so rejoiceWell the metro does connect directly to Galleria (the mall) and Target (though I do agree a 7 min walkish from the metro can be a pain). I didn't know about the county hospitals, so that's good to know 😀.
There is no clear pattern with WashU decision releases, so I don't think you should assume anything until you receive your decision. Even based on reports in this thread, some acceptances took longer after their corresponding interviews than others. (For what it's worth, I interviewed around mid-November and was accepted a week ago.)So I'm assuming that the fact that I haven't gotten a status change yet even though I interviewed in late October means I'm either waitlisted or rejected, right?
I haven't received anything regarding Second look; there was nothing Second look-related in the acceptance packet I received by mail (so it's likely that you haven't misplaced anything). They may be sending that information separately.For anyone accepted already, did they already send out information regarding Second-look? I'm wondering if I may have misplaced a paper about it that came in the acceptance packet.