2014-2015 University of Washington Application Thread

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I called the office and they said they need to manually enter the letters for each application, so it takes the longest. I had a letter submitted early July still not complete, and one "Previous" letter from last application still says not complete.
 
Received the initial letter on July 11th. Haven't heard a word since. Surely they'd send me a rejection letter by now if they weren't interested...right? Do they send rejection letters? Or is lack of a secondary their clue? Any other OOS waiting to hear back?
 
A friend of mine told me that the rejection letter he got from UW last year was very swift and sickeningly polite.
 
A friend of mine told me that the rejection letter he got from UW last year was very swift and sickeningly polite.

At this point i'm really ready to just call. I don't want to seem pushy but seriously...if they aren't interested in me just let me know. Maybe they forgot to send it (whatever it may be).
 
At this point i'm really ready to just call. I don't want to seem pushy but seriously...if they aren't interested in me just let me know. Maybe they forgot to send it (whatever it may be).

I guess applying to med school is a lot like dating, haha.

Patience is a virtue here.
 
Received the initial letter on July 11th. Haven't heard a word since. Surely they'd send me a rejection letter by now if they weren't interested...right? Do they send rejection letters? Or is lack of a secondary their clue? Any other OOS waiting to hear back?
They send rejection letters if they are not interested. However, it takes time for them to go through each primary application. They look at everything before deciding if you are worthy of a secondary and they go roughly in order of when the application was received. So when you get a secondary, it means they are actually interested and think you have potential. It isn't like other schools that give secondaries to everyone to get more money and then as soon as you pay them, you get an auto rejection the following day despite spending $100.

Just wait. UWSOM knows what they want. They do this every year to select a class they want. The process must work since they have one of the highest matriculation rates and are in the top 10 rank of all medical schools. If they end up not liking what they see (meaning you don't match their mission) you will get a rejection letter just like others have posted about here. Otherwise just wait it out. Hopefully something positive comes of it soon.
 
I was verified in mid-June, so my app was sent right away to them. I got an email about a week ago saying they received my app and it was under initial review, rejected today (OOR, 35, 3.9+). Good luck to everyone applying! I had no idea OOR screenings were this competitive, I'd be curious to hear the stats/ECs/etc. of those OORers who did get secondaries.

OOS also received a secondary last month I think it was the 15th? I don't know off the top of my head but it was around there. LizzyM 80 - cGPA 3.9 sGPA 4.O (also a double major). MCAT 41. 3 publications. 3 summers in a research lab. 500 hours shadowing Dr's and Nurses. Volunteer work at a local children's hospital.
 
OOS also received a secondary last month I think it was the 15th? I don't know off the top of my head but it was around there. LizzyM 80 - cGPA 3.9 sGPA 4.O (also a double major). MCAT 41. 3 publications. 3 summers in a research lab. 500 hours shadowing Dr's and Nurses. Volunteer work at a local children's hospital.

When did you receive the initial contact email/when were you verified?
 
I e-mailed Ms. Yee a couple days ago to ask about the TRUST program. In our correspondence she mentioned that they were still deciding on who to interview and that it takes quite a bit of time for them to complete the selection process (up to 6 weeks). I also met with a member of the admissions committee and he stated that he thought the time of interview (early or later) didn't really matter much. I was concerned because Spokane TRUST applicants don't interview until February and I thought the later interview date would decrease chances of admittance. Both Ms. Yee and the person I met with today assured me that the later interview date didn't affect the chances of getting into the school. My pre-med advisers told me that the earlier was better... either way there is nothing I can do about it now 🙂
 
Submitted my secondary and turned in my $35.00 check today!
 
Anyone know how long it took for their letter(s) to get in? I had my committee letter received by AMCAS two weeks ago and they still say they haven't received it...it's the only thing preventing me from being complete.

It took about 4 weeks before they marked my letters as received and I got an email saying I was complete.
 
OOR, LizzyM between 75-80, rejected pre-secondary. No hard feelings though; I got an interview at Cincinnati just a few hours later. Good luck to those of you still in the running! 🙂
 
OOR, LizzyM between 75-80, rejected pre-secondary. No hard feelings though; I got an interview at Cincinnati just a few hours later. Good luck to those of you still in the running! 🙂

That's unfortunate but at least you have a II to look forward to! Would you please share when your AMCAS app was verified?
 
Given what I've heard about the number of OOR pre-secondary rejections, I'm not even going to write my secondary essays for UW until I receive a secondary invitation from them.
 
Were the rejection letters email or snail mail?
 
OOS - Just received secondary. Refugee background with the following stats, MCAT: 33, cGPA: 3.3, sGPA: 3.6, pbGPA: 4.0. EC's include research and volunteering with refugees.

Congrats! When was your primary verified?
 
wow. thanks for the info. I thought I'd never get one. However, I'm OOS verified 10 days after you, so I guess there is still hope.
 
They send rejection letters if they are not interested. However, it takes time for them to go through each primary application. They look at everything before deciding if you are worthy of a secondary and they go roughly in order of when the application was received. So when you get a secondary, it means they are actually interested and think you have potential. It isn't like other schools that give secondaries to everyone to get more money and then as soon as you pay them, you get an auto rejection the following day despite spending $100.

Just wait. UWSOM knows what they want. They do this every year to select a class they want. The process must work since they have one of the highest matriculation rates and are in the top 10 rank of all medical schools. If they end up not liking what they see (meaning you don't match their mission) you will get a rejection letter just like others have posted about here. Otherwise just wait it out. Hopefully something positive comes of it soon.

I appreciate your insights so thank you for taking the time to respond. Hard to be patient when many who were verified after me have secondaries. Kind of suggests they don't really go in the order received.
 
Rejected today pre-secondary. OOR, 38 MCAT, 3.92 sGPA and cGPA. It's a bummer because UW was one of my top choices.
 
Rejected today pre-secondary. OOR, 38 MCAT, 3.92 sGPA and cGPA. It's a bummer because UW was one of my top choices.
When were you complete? Would you mind speak about your relative strength between your research and your clinical experience? I have the same stats as you do and OOS as well.
 
Status change today after they received and entered my letters!

"Thank you for your application to UW School of Medicine. Your application is complete and will now be reviewed to determine your relative competitiveness for an interview."

Here's to hoping I'm relatively competitive :scared:

OOR LizzyM ~69, Secondary Received: 7/30, Submitted: 8/2, Status Change: 8/14 (that was quick!)
 
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Status change today after they received and entered my letters!

"Thank you for your application to UW School of Medicine. Your application is complete and will now be reviewed to determine your relative competitiveness for an interview."

Here's to hoping I'm relatively competitive :scared:

OOR LizzyM ~69, Secondary Received: 7/30, Submitted: 8/2, Status Change: 8/14 (that was quick!)

Hoping to hear back from them soon! Secondaries and everything were in 7/15 but letters weren't received by AMCAS until 8/5. Good luck!!!!
 
When were you complete? Would you mind speak about your relative strength between your research and your clinical experience? I have the same stats as you do and OOS as well.
I was complete on 7/12. I have > 2,000 hours of research with a first-author publication in a mid-tier journal, ~75 hrs of shadowing, and ~250 hrs clinical volunteering (including leadership in a student-run volunteering organization).
 
I was complete on 7/12. I have > 2,000 hours of research with a first-author publication in a mid-tier journal, ~75 hrs of shadowing, and ~250 hrs clinical volunteering (including leadership in a student-run volunteering organization).
Hm. the reason that I asked was because I wonder if high research/clinical ratio applications might be rejected because of the schools' protective mechanism. Since they are super strong in primary care and relatively weak in research, they might want to give up the OOS applicants who are strong in research and who are good candidate for other schools, and instead give a chance to applicants with high clinical/research backgrounds. I'm in the same boat with you >10k hours of research and >5 pubs. but only a few hundred hours of shadowing and clinical volunteering. So I might suffer the same fate.
 
Hm. the reason that I asked was because I wonder if high research/clinical ratio applications might be rejected because of the schools' protective mechanism. Since they are super strong in primary care and relatively weak in research, they might want to give up the OOS applicants who are strong in research and who are good candidate for other schools, and instead give a chance to applicants with high clinical/research backgrounds. I'm in the same boat with you >10k hours of research and >5 pubs. but only a few hundred hours of shadowing and clinical volunteering. So I might suffer the same fate.

UW has been ~10th best in research for a while, so I'm not sure how you are basing your conjecture.
 
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Hm. the reason that I asked was because I wonder if high research/clinical ratio applications might be rejected because of the schools' protective mechanism. Since they are super strong in primary care and relatively weak in research, they might want to give up the OOS applicants who are strong in research and who are good candidate for other schools, and instead give a chance to applicants with high clinical/research backgrounds. I'm in the same boat with you >10k hours of research and >5 pubs. but only a few hundred hours of shadowing and clinical volunteering. So I might suffer the same fate.

If that were the case i'd have been rejected july 9th. I seriously doubt anyone applying has more research hours than me including you... And samsunimomo is correct...they are very strong in research
 
UW has been ~10th in best research for a while, so I'm not sure how you are basing your conjecture.
You are right!! Haha. I just saw it being the No1 in primary care and I thought I didn't see it on top 20 research schools, but on more careful observation, the US news blocked the 8-10 schools on the ranking with a bar saying "want full ranking? Pay!" And UW happen to be blocked while I did the search.
Then what I said makes no sense.
 
If that were the case i'd have been rejected july 9th. I seriously doubt anyone applying has more research hours than me including you... And samsunimomo is correct...they are very strong in research
Good to know. As I said I was only make a guess and try to explain why someone with a good stats might be rejected. I certainly did not word it as a fact. Theory proven wrong and I am happy to be wrong. Thanks for saying something.
 
Good to know. As I said I was only make a guess and try to explain why someone with a good stats might be rejected. I certainly did not word it as a fact. Theory proven wrong and I am happy to be wrong. Thanks for saying something.

Oh...not being saucy here i was just saying. On another note I think we all know good stats can't be the only thing you bring to the table and clearly that person had other fine qualities. As for me i've heard nothing...verified july 9th. So i'm guessing they are REALLY on the fence about my app.
 
Oh...not being saucy here i was just saying. On another note I think we all know good stats can't be the only thing you bring to the table and clearly that person had other fine qualities. As for me i've heard nothing...verified july 9th. So i'm guessing they are REALLY on the fence about my app.
Yeah. Same boat. verified a lot later than you by about 2 weeks. Nothing as well. Good luck!
 
Hm. the reason that I asked was because I wonder if high research/clinical ratio applications might be rejected because of the schools' protective mechanism. Since they are super strong in primary care and relatively weak in research, they might want to give up the OOS applicants who are strong in research and who are good candidate for other schools, and instead give a chance to applicants with high clinical/research backgrounds. I'm in the same boat with you >10k hours of research and >5 pubs. but only a few hundred hours of shadowing and clinical volunteering. So I might suffer the same fate.


Service takes precedence over research for OOS application here. MD/PhD seems like your program with all that time in research.

They want their OOS MD's to enforce their mission of serving underrepresented patient populations. It seems to be more of an applicant's aspirations for his/her future career than a set list of activities he/she have accomplished.
 
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Service takes precedence over research for OOS application here. MD/PhD seems like your program with all that time in research.

They want their OOS MD's to enforce their mission of serving underrepresented patient populations. It seems to be more of an applicant's aspirations for his/her future career than a set list of activities he/she have accomplished.
Totally agree on your last sentence.
I do have a really high research to clinical ratio. (7yr/1.5yr) However my clinical experience isn't weak. I forgot to count my last year of research which was in clinical setting working with patients. Just hope they like what they see and give me a secondary to further explain my desire to work on the bedside
 
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To address questions regarding recommendations:
I submitted my secondary 7/28, and my app was marked complete today, according to the application portal. I received no notification from UW.
 
Totally agree on your last sentence.
I do have a really high research to clinical ratio. (7yr/1.5yr) However my clinical experience isn't weak. I forgot to count my last year of research which was in clinical setting working with patients. Just hope they like what they see and give me a secondary to further explain my desire to work on the bedside

I envy your research experiences and publications. Good work! Keep us posted if you get the secondary. That will be the time to express how their mission of service and your goals align. I love the people from the region of the WWAMI but some outside diversity is always a good thing.
 
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To address questions regarding recommendations:
I submitted my secondary 7/28, and my app was marked complete today, according to the application portal. I received no notification from UW.

When were your letters in?
 
When were your letters in?
My letters were submitted via AMCAS before the secondaries became available. The letters were the only component of the secondary keeping it from being complete, and they were still marked absent yesterday, so I imagine that the office entered it in today.
 
Anyone know how friendly they are with helping OOR with tuition?

I read that you could potentially request Washington residency after a year, but it's still just a lot of money :/
 
Anyone know how friendly they are with helping OOR with tuition?

I read that you could potentially request Washington residency after a year, but it's still just a lot of money :/
If I have heard correctly from my classmates, it's a grant now that you are given after the cycle is over and they have the class selected. They only give like 8 out and it covers the difference in tuition cost. There is no more getting Washington residency after a year.
 
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