2014-2015 George Washington University Application Thread

[ABC2014]

1) it asks if we attended any other institutions under any other names? What does that even mean? Schools other than GW? Schools that have recently changed their name?

I think they want to know if you've ever enrolled using a different first and last name.

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[HeLaDeala]

I have a long-term SO who lives in DC. The location of her family is definitely a factor for me in choosing where I want to go to school. Would it be wrong to include that info in my essay on why GWU?

 

[kjj17]

I have a long-term SO who lives in DC. The location of her family is definitely a factor for me in choosing where I want to go to school. Would it be wrong to include that info in my essay on why GWU?

^ have a similar question, but for another school

 

[CroatoanVaccine]

I have a long-term SO who lives in DC. The location of her family is definitely a factor for me in choosing where I want to go to school. Would it be wrong to include that info in my essay on why GWU?

I've asked this question of numerous people and they all come back with different answers. I've heard that many residency programs try and keep couples together (usually married) so I would hope that medical schools look on it favorably or at the very least with indifference. Its definitely a huge factor for me as well and I DID write about it in other schools. However, I didn't lead with it and I spent more time on other aspects that I liked about the school. I also took some time to stress the importance of having a good "support structure" in place to rely on during medical school before adding that I had "...friends and family in the area which contributes to my interest in your school..." blah blah blah. You get the idea. Using more pretty words I suppose.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

 

[Skull Pell]

Really considering GW. I'm considered as one of the "varied ethnic backgrounds" they listed on their admission website. But the sheer number of applicants just scare me off

 

[lavacake]

Is anyone else having trouble accessing the secondary website? Or the school website even? I've tried chrome and firefox and they can't seem to find it :/

 

[chromealt]

Is anyone else having trouble accessing the secondary website? Or the school website even? I've tried chrome and firefox and they can't seem to find it :/

Site and secondary are both working for me. Using chrome.

 

[bko0608]

For the "Please provide the Admissions Committee with a brief summary of your activities, academics, employment or other occupations to account for full-time activity (approx. 30-40 hours/week) for the 2014-2015 application cycle, or from the point of application through matriculation in 2015. (750 characters)" question, are we only listing our full-time commitments that take up minimum 30 hours/week? I'll be attending school and my extracurriculars will all be part-time. Should I just say I'm finishing up my degree then?

 

[EMLove]

For "Most significant achievement outside the classroom" would it be bad to talk about something I did back in high school? It had a really lasting impact on me. I could talk about something I did during college, but I feel like I have already talked about my experiences during college in other essays I have written. Advice?

 

[rhythmisadancer]

For "Most significant achievement outside the classroom" would it be bad to talk about something I did back in high school? It had a really lasting impact on me. I could talk about something I did during college, but I feel like I have already talked about my experiences during college in other essays I have written. Advice?

I have heard others post about not talking about high school in secondaries... but I did when relevant. I had an experience in high school that changed my life, and it affects how I live today. I wrote about it because this was the most significant achievement outside the classroom for me; anything else would be a lie. Also, if you speak redundantly about something already in your app, it really becomes excessive.

If a school doesn't want to accept me because I wrote on an everlasting experience that happened in high school, then with all due respect, that school is not a fit for me. JMHO.

 

[chromealt]

For "Most significant achievement outside the classroom" would it be bad to talk about something I did back in high school? It had a really lasting impact on me. I could talk about something I did during college, but I feel like I have already talked about my experiences during college in other essays I have written. Advice?

If it really is your most significant achievement outside of the classroom, I think it should be okay. If something else is in your primary that is a lot more significant though, perhaps you could talk more about it differently, provide more details, use a different perspective, other things you haven't mentioned etc.

 

[toostressful]

I have heard others post about not talking about high school in secondaries... but I did when relevant. I had an experience in high school that changed my life, and it affects how I live today. I wrote about it because this was the most significant achievement outside the classroom for me; anything else would be a lie. Also, if you speak redundantly about something already in your app, it really becomes excessive.

If a school doesn't want to accept me because I wrote on an everlasting experience that happened in high school, then with all due respect, that school is not a fit for me. JMHO.

If there is one thing I entirely disagree with on this site, it's the idea that you shouldn't talk about pre-college experiences. I can understand it for stuff such as GPA, honors, etc. but I think people over-extended it to include... everything. And since then the idea has spread like wildfire that all pre-college events are meaningless. When in reality, they are every bit as important to who you are (and I would argue, probably even more so) than college events. I've talked plenty about pre-college experiences even though I have numerous collegiate EC's. It's too early to tell if it's been successful, but damn, I hate that opinion.....

/rant

 

[rhythmisadancer]

If there is one thing I entirely disagree with on this site, it's the idea that you shouldn't talk about pre-college experiences. I can understand it for stuff such as GPA, honors, etc. but I think people over-extended it to include... everything. And since then the idea has spread like wildfire that all pre-college events are meaningless. When in reality, they are every bit as important to who you are (and I would argue, probably even more so) than college events. I've talked plenty about pre-college experiences even though I have numerous collegiate EC's. It's too early to tell if it's been successful, but damn, I hate that opinion.....

/rant

Amen to that. Suppose someone was competing for something at an international level in high school...are you seriously going to leave this out of your application? I understand the line of reasoning for some things, but to say that we should (completely) omit high school experiences is ludicrous to me.

/rant x2

 

[EMLove]

I have heard others post about not talking about high school in secondaries... but I did when relevant. I had an experience in high school that changed my life, and it affects how I live today. I wrote about it because this was the most significant achievement outside the classroom for me; anything else would be a lie. Also, if you speak redundantly about something already in your app, it really becomes excessive.

If a school doesn't want to accept me because I wrote on an everlasting experience that happened in high school, then with all due respect, that school is not a fit for me. JMHO.

Thanks for your opinion! I get what you are saying, and I agree!

 

[sunflower18]

Status changed to on hold.

 

[silentshadow59]

Ditto

 

[chromealt]

I'm on hold too

 

[rhythmisadancer]

Haha... most people are i think. I don't think it means much at this early stage, other than 'you guys are way too keen...and we aren't ready for you yet', lol

 

[slopes23]

I have no status change...

 

[death prophet]

how early did you submit your secondaries to get a status change? So fast..

 

[slopes23]

I submitted the same day and have nothing so fear not.

 

[MedicalSchoolHopeful2015]

I'm also on hold.

 

[kirtip]

What is the proper way of referring to the school without using its full name? Is just calling it "George Washington" alright?

 

[death prophet]

What is the proper way of referring to the school without using its full name? Is just calling it "George Washington" alright?

"The George Washington"

 

[kirtip]

"The George Washington"

So... are you saying I need to say "The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences" every time I mention it? It certainly wouldn't make sense to say "The George Washington offers blah, blah, and blah".

 

[Laurenxxxx]

What is the proper way of referring to the school without using its full name? Is just calling it "George Washington" alright?

I personally used "George Washington University" every time. Not sure if that is correct but too late- secondary is sent!

 

[death prophet]

So... are you saying I need to say "The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences" every time I mention it? It certainly wouldn't make sense to say "The George Washington offers blah, blah, and blah".

It was a joke. Anyway, I think I remember they abbreviated it as GW in one of their prompts in the secondary, so I also abbreviated with GW.

 

[talinnlove]

Thank you for that extremely well thought out and eloquent response. Your dedication to this school shows through this post.

How do you like the area? And what have you done to work around the high cost of living?

General sentiments about your experience in the school thus far?

Awesome, I'm glad the info helped!

As for high cost of living - I know GWU has a reputation for not giving much financial aid, but thus far many of my classmates have said that GWU gave them more aid than any of their other school options; there has been at least one merit-based full ride in my class, and GWU gave me the most "free money" aid of the schools I was accepted at by far. So, COA may not end up being as high as what you would guess from looking at tuition and rent costs alone. There are other things you can do to save as well, from splitting a 1 bedroom apartment with a roommate (it seems like lots of med students do this) to not buying hard copies of textbooks (Himmelfarb has reference hard copies available 24/7).

What is the proper way of referring to the school without using its full name? Is just calling it "George Washington" alright?

George Washington, GWU, or GW are all fine to use in secondaries and update letters. GWU SMHS or GW SMHS are both a bit clunky but would be fine as well. I personally used "GW" in my secondary last year since it had the fewest characers

 

[geeyouknit]

"The George Washington"

Dear General Washington

 

[Osteoth]

Status changed to on hold.

+1

Is this a good thing or no?

 

[NTheo91]

.

 

[blackkrim]

Hey everyone,

Two questions:
1. Regarding the question in which we account for a full time activity: I'm taking a gap year and I'm currently looking for a job. So far no luck but I'm applying for a variety of clinical and natural science museum jobs. I will also be hospital volunteering and tutoring the entire time as well. Would you all recommend I just mention that I'm looking for a job and generally list the job duty of these types of jobs (teaching based and clinical support) as well as my volunteer/tutoring? Does the committee only care about whats set in stone full-time and not any volunteer/part-time tutoring? Kind of unfair of a question in this job market

I'm wondering about this as well, since I'm in a similar situation. I was planning on adding that I'm searching for new activities just to have something more to say, but I'm interested to hear if anyone thinks its a bad idea.

 

[talinnlove]

Hey everyone,

Two questions:
1. Regarding the question in which we account for a full time activity: I'm taking a gap year and I'm currently looking for a job. So far no luck but I'm applying for a variety of clinical and natural science museum jobs. I will also be hospital volunteering and tutoring the entire time as well. Would you all recommend I just mention that I'm looking for a job and generally list the job duty of these types of jobs (teaching based and clinical support) as well as my volunteer/tutoring? Does the committee only care about whats set in stone full-time and not any volunteer/part-time tutoring? Kind of unfair of a question in this job market

2. Regarding the most significant achievement outside the classroom question: I may be over-thinking this, but would I be able to write about an experience that made me realize something instead? Basically I already included my most significant achievement as a one of my most memorable on my activity list on my primary app and I'm afraid to rehash the same things.

Thanks and good luck to all! This is my top choice, hopefully the odds are on our side!

I'm wondering about this as well, since I'm in a similar situation. I was planning on adding that I'm searching for new activities just to have something more to say, but I'm interested to hear if anyone thinks its a bad idea.

I previously answered this question in reply 63#, which I'll repost here:

This question is just asking you what you'll be doing for the next 9+ months. If you're in school, just say that you'll be finishing your degree in XYZ while doing ABC planned extracurriculars, or whatnot. You don't have to go into week-by-week details. It also doesn't have to be something that's a concrete plan, as long as you have reasonable cause to think it might become a big part of your schedule - my answer to this essay was just to say that I'd applied for jobs and AmeriCorps positions and was waiting to hear back, along with a description of some ECs I was continuing.

Let me know if you need more info! Good luck on the secondary!

 

[NTheo91]

.

 

[talinnlove]

Thank you for the reply. Do you have an opinion regarding my second question? In other words, would it be wise to repeat something from my primary as my most significant out of class achievement? I spent 2+ years building an honor society from years of abuse and I'm really proud of my work. Idk if i should dwell on it since I already spoke about it in my primary. I could probably elaborate more and synthesize it well to fit the question. Sorry if this is a stupid question, but this is my 1st secondary and I don't want to screw it up.

Thanks again!

Personally, I wrote something similar to what you're thinking about: I took an activity from my primary and then elaborated on what the activity demonstrated about me using the secondary prompt. So, based on that, I think that writing about something that makes an appearance on your primary is perfectly acceptable. Just one thing to note, though, is that if your honor society happens to be one of your "most significant" on your AMCAS primary, make sure that you're not repeating things you've already said - pick related but different strengths to focus on so you make the most of the space you have. Other than that, your topic sounds great.

 

[Osteoth]

I talked about my MCAT, I self studied....

 

[houston9]

I talked about my MCAT, I self studied....

Lol

 

[On a Mission]

Yes !!! please I am with 308629. I want to know if it is worth my 125, I am short in money already, need to apply smart. (Essay questions ???)

 

[On a Mission]

Here it is !! Typical premeds, all care about stats and competing. This career is not a race but a marathon (Remember). I found these everyone enjoy ! and good luck.

George Washington University Sch of Med & Hlth Sci (All get App 125$)

For the 2013-2014 application cycle (Summer 2013 through Summer 2014), please indicate activities,
academics, employment, or other occupations to account for full-time activity (approx. 30-40 hours per
week) (750 characters)

What is your most significant achievement outside the classroom? (750 characters)

What makes you a unique individual? What challenges have you faced? How will these factors help you
contribute to the diversity of the student body at GW? (1000 characters)

What is your specific interest in the MD Program at GW? What opportunities would you take advantage
of as a student here? Why? (2000 characters)

 

[christinehiki]

Applying here OOS. Secondary received 6/28, submitted 7/6.

 

[ScentOfPeace]

What is everyone's status? Mine is:

"Your file is now complete. At this point we have received all the necessary credentials including your secondary application and your letters of recommendation in order for your application to be reviewed. While the committee does its best to review applications in a timely manner, please be aware that in order to do a thorough review of your file it may be several weeks until you hear from us again. We greatly appreciate your patience during the application process. Please feel free to update your file during this time using the GW Admissions Portal."

 

[yankees527]

What is everyone's status? Mine is:

"Your file is now complete. At this point we have received all the necessary credentials including your secondary application and your letters of recommendation in order for your application to be reviewed. While the committee does its best to review applications in a timely manner, please be aware that in order to do a thorough review of your file it may be several weeks until you hear from us again. We greatly appreciate your patience during the application process. Please feel free to update your file during this time using the GW Admissions Portal."

same..

 

[qszwdxefc]

What is everyone's status? Mine is:

"Your file is now complete. At this point we have received all the necessary credentials including your secondary application and your letters of recommendation in order for your application to be reviewed. While the committee does its best to review applications in a timely manner, please be aware that in order to do a thorough review of your file it may be several weeks until you hear from us again. We greatly appreciate your patience during the application process. Please feel free to update your file during this time using the GW Admissions Portal."

Yep same here

 

[MysteryF]

Where on the secondary do you indicate that you are interested on a dual degree such as MD/MPH?

 

[yorkielover2014]

Can outside of the classroom be in our lab? If our lab work was unrelated to our classes and also our job?

 

[talinnlove]

Where on the secondary do you indicate that you are interested on a dual degree such as MD/MPH?

IIRC, you do not indicate an interest in MD/PHD or MD/MPH on the MD secondary, though I can't check for sure since my application year's secondary site has been replaced with the current one. At GWU, you apply for entrance to the MD program and either the PHD or MPH program separately, and must be accepted to both MD and your other program in order to pursue a dual degree.

 

[HeLaDeala]

Just got an email with a new and fixed PIN, but I haven't checked if the name thing works yet. GU claims the problems are all fixed

 

[Osteoth]

II for August!

 

[death prophet]

II for August, 3.65/3.6, 33, URM

Congrats!

 

[virginiayankee]

@Osteoth congrats! did you get taken off hold?