2014-2015 George Washington University Application Thread

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Hi everybody,

I interviewed here last Tuesday and thought I would give you an idea of what to expect (I always liked these posts so I thought I would do the same for everybody else). Please forgive odd grammar or spelling. I am at work and writing bits and pieces in between reaction steps.

The interview day began at 9:15 am. I took the metro to GW and arrived quite early but did not check in until 9:00am. Most people arrived about this time. There were 16 of us interviewing that day. At Around 9:15, they took the group of us to a small-ish room in the library. First, we all went around the table and introduced ourselves. I was really surprised to see that only one person was still working on a Bachelor's degree. Most were done with school or working on PhD or Master's degrees. People were there from all over the country. Everybody was very nice and we had quite a bit of time to talk to each other in between presentations.

We had people come in and talk about financial aid, student opportunities, and student life. After the presentations, we had a tour of the school, followed by lunch. During lunch, current medical students came in to talk to us. They were all pretty awesome and easy/fun to talk to. They all seemed very happy to be there.

After lunch, interviews started. I believe most people had the student interview first, followed by the faculty interview. The interviews were very relaxed and conversational. We talked very little about my "accomplishments" and they seemed more interested in getting to know me as a person. I heard a rumor while I was there that GW tries to match up interviewers and interviewees with common interests and backgrounds but I am not sure if this is true. I had a ton in common with both of my interviewers regardless. We were free to leave once we were done with both of our interviews. I was done by one (both of my interviews were immediately after lunch) but I believe some people had interviews as late as 3:00pm. Overall, it was a nice, stress-free day.

Thanks so much for all of the info! Around how long was each interview?
 
Thanks so much for all of the info! Around how long was each interview?

Each interview lasted 25 minutes. They basically interviewed back to back so they were careful to make sure they didn't last any longer than that.
 
Hi everybody,

I interviewed here last week and thought I would give you an idea of what to expect (I always liked these posts so I thought I would do the same for everybody else). Please forgive odd grammar or spelling. I am at work and writing bits and pieces in between reaction steps.

The interview day began at 9:15 am. I took the metro to GW and arrived quite early but did not check in until 9:00am. Most people arrived about this time. There were 16 of us interviewing that day. At Around 9:15, they took the group of us to a small-ish room in the library. First, we all went around the table and introduced ourselves. I was really surprised to see that only one person was still working on a Bachelor's degree. Most were done with school or working on PhD or Master's degrees. People were there from all over the country. Everybody was very nice and we had quite a bit of time to talk to each other in between presentations.

We had people come in and talk about financial aid, student opportunities, and student life. After the presentations, we had a tour of the school, followed by lunch. During lunch, current medical students came in to talk to us. They were all pretty awesome and easy/fun to talk to. They all seemed very happy to be there.

After lunch, interviews started. I believe most people had the student interview first, followed by the faculty interview. The interviews were very relaxed and conversational. We talked very little about my "accomplishments" and they seemed more interested in getting to know me as a person. I heard a rumor while I was there that GW tries to match up interviewers and interviewees with common interests and backgrounds but I am not sure if this is true. I had a ton in common with both of my interviewers regardless. We were free to leave once we were done with both of our interviews. I was done by one (both of my interviews were immediately after lunch) but I believe some people had interviews as late as 3:00pm. Overall, it was a nice, stress-free day.
Thank you for your post!! Do you know what parts of our application the interviewers know beforehand? (MCAT, GPA, personal statement, etc.) Sorry if this has been asked before.

Edit: Nevermind! I just saw from the e-mail that they're blind.
 
Has anybody received any news (hold, II, rejection, etc) that was complete mid-to-late august (around 8/20)?
 
I'm afraid that by the time they get to us (they seem to be moving really slowly), it's going to be harder to secure an interview spot. Ugh ;( The perils of applying late.
I think you're going to be okay, since they're still giving out interview spots before December. Would seem to indicate they have around half of them left in my hopeful opinion.
 
Did anyone else get this as an update on the site?

Your application to The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences is complete and has been reviewed by the Admissions Committee. To date, no final decision has been made and the Admissions Committee has placed your application on hold for re-review at a later date. Files are re-reviewed by the committee periodically and there is no set schedule for decisions. We do interview from September through March. Please feel free to update your file during this time using the GW Admissions Portal. If we require any further documentation or if your status changes, we will contact you immediately. We do sincerely appreciate your interest in our program. Thank you for your patience.

Feeling bummed...
 
Did anyone else get this as an update on the site?

Your application to The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences is complete and has been reviewed by the Admissions Committee. To date, no final decision has been made and the Admissions Committee has placed your application on hold for re-review at a later date. Files are re-reviewed by the committee periodically and there is no set schedule for decisions. We do interview from September through March. Please feel free to update your file during this time using the GW Admissions Portal. If we require any further documentation or if your status changes, we will contact you immediately. We do sincerely appreciate your interest in our program. Thank you for your patience.

Feeling bummed...
Yeah I got put on hold too, keep your head high though!! A few people here were on hold and got a II a month later, hang in there and send updates! 🙂
 
Did anyone else get this as an update on the site?

Your application to The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences is complete and has been reviewed by the Admissions Committee. To date, no final decision has been made and the Admissions Committee has placed your application on hold for re-review at a later date. Files are re-reviewed by the committee periodically and there is no set schedule for decisions. We do interview from September through March. Please feel free to update your file during this time using the GW Admissions Portal. If we require any further documentation or if your status changes, we will contact you immediately. We do sincerely appreciate your interest in our program. Thank you for your patience.

Feeling bummed...
I never received an email, but I randomly decided to check my status today; I have the same status. LizzyM >72
 
I just checked my status and I had the same update. Maybe they did that for everyone today?
 
i don't have that status but i haven't received any updates or holds. complete since 7/28
 
At this point, I just hope there is a method to this madness. It seems random.
 
Complete 8/14, on hold 9/23.

Seeing as no one has posted any true rejections on here, this hold seems pretty ominous.
 
I am 64-67 as well!
+1! have had the complete status for about a month now... (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.)
 
+1! have had the complete status for about a month now... (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.)

+1 to being complete for more than a month
 
Does anyone know what month of interviewing they are currently scheduling? And submitting the secondary right now, would it even be worth it?
 
WHO IS REVIEWING MY FILE?! Thanks for thoughtfully reviewing my application with care lol
complete mid August -- also heard nothing :/
 
complete early september with no change since, this is my top choice
 
If I was complete 7/10, OOS LizzyM < 68, with a hold status for about 1.5-2 months now, does it look pretty grim for me?
 
oh man. I was just goin through my apps and checkin in on them and realized that I never received a complete email from when I submitted my secondary on June 29th....Turns out one of my professors never submitted their letter, and I overlooked the portion of the email stating that they would wait until all assigned letters on AMCAS were submitted... :/
 
Can someone clarify what exactly it means to be on "hold?" It seems like majority of people on here have been on hold... and I mean I'm sure that most of those on hold are strong candidates for GW. So then what does hold mean?

Like could it be the cause that the review status is just a marker of completion, and the hold status is that the application is actually finally being looked at? This is clearly just speculation...but it seems very vague.
 
Can someone clarify what exactly it means to be on "hold?" It seems like majority of people on here have been on hold... and I mean I'm sure that most of those on hold are strong candidates for GW. So then what does hold mean?

Like could it be the cause that the review status is just a marker of completion, and the hold status is that the application is actually finally being looked at? This is clearly just speculation...but it seems very vague.

They will re-review those on hold for interviews throughout the cycle, so it's definitely not a type of rejection. Just from what I've seen on this thread, there have been people that have been post-secondary rejected already, but not very many. It seems like the majority of us have been put on hold, but my opinion is that the group of people who use SDN isn't always indicative of the overall applicant pool. The only thing you can do now is wait and stay positive!
 
Just found out that I've been placed on a hold in the last 4 days :/ I really loved this school!!

I was complete on 8/20
 
Just found out that I've been placed on a hold in the last 4 days :/ I really loved this school!!

I was complete on 8/20

Do you think you were put on hold today or before today? I'm asking because I was complete on the same day and still only have the "your file is complete"
 
Complete some time in mid august, just placed on hold. LizzyM ~69-70

With so many applicants, I would imagine it's hard for them to make a decision. Everyone placed on hold that has posted seems like a competitive applicant for GW so it makes sense they want to keep them up for consideration later. Fingers crossed those of us on hold get an II!
 
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Complete some time in mid august, just placed on hold. LizzyM ~69-70

With so many applicants, I would imagine it's hard for them to make a decision. Everyone placed on hold that has posted seems like a competitive applicant for GW so it makes sense they want to keep them up for consideration later. Fingers crossed those of us on hold get an II!
Love the attitude! I needed this shift in perspective.
 
Do you think you were put on hold today or before today? I'm asking because I was complete on the same day and still only have the "your file is complete"

The last time I checked the status page was on 9/22 and it was still "complete." After reading this thread a few hrs ago and becoming slighty neurotic, I checked the page. I'm sure my status changed in those 4 days, but because they don't email you... I can't know.
 
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