2014-2015 University of Washington Application Thread

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WA resident, 30 MCAT, 3.8 GPA. Got the "complete" email on August 12th (although I had my stuff in long before that). On the portal, it still says that they are reviewing my application to determine if I'm eligible for an interview.
 
totally feel ya. Please let me know if u hear anything back from the residency office. As of today, I have not..I check my emails frantically hoping to hear something but nope :/
I just got the email yesterday 9/5 saying that my residency had been verified, but as if tonight 9/6 my UW application still does not have my residency update as received. I'm going to call on Monday if it isn't updated by then. Hopefully after that they could make a pretty quick decision about an interview. All my other stuff has been in for months so hopefully they can still keep me towards the front of the queue instead of putting me at the end. 🙁
 
WA resident, 30 MCAT, 3.8 GPA. Got the "complete" email on August 12th (although I had my stuff in long before that). On the portal, it still says that they are reviewing my application to determine if I'm eligible for an interview.

Hopefully hear back in a week or two!

And congrats 🙂)
 
I just got the email yesterday 9/5 saying that my residency had been verified, but as if tonight 9/6 my UW application still does not have my residency update as received. I'm going to call on Monday if it isn't updated by then. Hopefully after that they could make a pretty quick decision about an interview. All my other stuff has been in for months so hopefully they can still keep me towards the front of the queue instead of putting me at the end. 🙁

ahhh my residency just got approved as well! Hopefully we will be complete soon! And i totally know what u mean, its frustrating having submitted everything else wayyyyy back in time 🙁.
 
i received the initial letter on 7/25 from washington, but haven't heard anything back yet, not even secondary invite. my friend, however, heard back within 2 weeks with no secondary invite/rejection. and we submitted at the same time. THE WAITING GAME IS KILLING ME.
 
i received the initial letter on 7/25 from washington, but haven't heard anything back yet, not even secondary invite. my friend, however, heard back within 2 weeks with no secondary invite/rejection. and we submitted at the same time. THE WAITING GAME IS KILLING ME.

I received the initial letter on 7/11. Haven't heard anything yet. Called them a while back and what they had to say basically boiled down to "they haven't yet made a decision on whether or not to extend me a secondary". Clearly, I am not a great applicant for them or don't fit their mission and that's okay. Had I been a great applicant for their school they would have extended me a secondary in a timely manner. We all applied broadly to many schools so we could eventually find one that likes us and one where we fit! My 2 cents...don't focus your efforts on one school, that's a recipe for disappointment.
 
Sorry to hear about you guys not receiving the secondary yet. Are you both OOS?

Has anyone received their interview date yet? I am just curious roughly how long I will have to continue preparing for my interview.
 
Sorry to hear about you guys not receiving the secondary yet. Are you both OOS?

Has anyone received their interview date yet? I am just curious roughly how long I will have to continue preparing for my interview.

I am OOS, those state schools...so hard 😛! But no complaints or hard feelings (anymore). I have 8 II's and am pleased with the overall turnout of the cycle thus far. :hardy: Moved on from panic about receiving secondaries and II's and on to panic over attending the interview. Prepare...prepare...and then prepare some more. Talked to myself for about 5 hours yesterday while driving back from seeing my family. I felt it really helped to hear myself answer the questions and try to distill down to a concise answer (i tend to ramble).

Congratulations on your interview and good luck! :clap:
 
I am OOS, those state schools...so hard 😛! But no complaints or hard feelings (anymore). I have 8 II's and am pleased with the overall turnout of the cycle thus far. :hardy: Moved on from panic about receiving secondaries and II's and on to panic over attending the interview. Prepare...prepare...and then prepare some more. Talked to myself for about 5 hours yesterday while driving back from seeing my family. I felt it really helped to hear myself answer the questions and try to distill down to a concise answer (i tend to ramble).

Congratulations on your interview and good luck! :clap:
Wow 8 II's, that is awesome! Congratulations on that! Yeah those state schools are so difficult to get into when you are not a resident. I have been rejected by a couple already. Thanks for the advice and good look with interviews!
 
Got the ax on Monday...my first one. OOR, LizzyM>71, no secondary, verified early July. I'm just happy they didn't leave me hanging for an eternity.
 
Got the ax on Monday...my first one. OOR, LizzyM>71, no secondary, verified early July. I'm just happy they didn't leave me hanging for an eternity.

Sorry to hear that 🙁 ! I got my first rejection today as well (at another school). When did you get the receipt email if you don't mind sharing? I received mine around 7/15 and still crickets
 
Sorry to hear that 🙁 ! I got my first rejection today as well (at another school). When did you get the receipt email if you don't mind sharing? I received mine around 7/15 and still crickets

I got the initial letter 7/11.
 
Just an FYI for mstp applicants, completed my secondary on 7/11 and rejected on 9/2. Disappointed but, moving on slowly lol
 
Hello, I applied for 2013 and then the 2014 cycle. I was accepted last year but had to defer. I have received all of my acceptance paperwork for the 2015 class. I have to say that the chance to have the new curriculum is very exciting.
Anyway, I have noticed some familiar names from the last few years on this message board and wanted to offer myself for opinions and advice for re-applicants (not sure how helpful I will be). But I know that 2nd time was really important for me and that UW seems to really like dedicated IS re-applicants. I took good notes from meetings with the recruitment team. Message me if I can help at all. Also - happy to answer 1st time applicant questions if I can.
I'm so excited to meet my future classmates. All the best to everyone.
 
I was just flipping through the Overview of Admissions slides offered on UWSOM's website, and it says that it can take as long as six weeks for an application to be reviewed to determine competitiveness for interviewing. If I was complete on July 25th and haven't received an II, does this mean that I am probably out of consideration?
 
just go the pre-secondary rejection today after being complete early july. I'm not sure if that means anything along the lines of my application being deliberated on moreso than others. I'm out of region, but I have extensive experience with the underserved in developing countries. Does someone know if by rural/underserved areas UW had a preference for underserved in the US? I was thinking of appealing, if possible, because I feel like I'm a good fit for or this program. If anybody has experience with this I'd love your help! Thanks!
 
just go the pre-secondary rejection today after being complete early july. I'm not sure if that means anything along the lines of my application being deliberated on moreso than others. I'm out of region, but I have extensive experience with the underserved in developing countries. Does someone know if by rural/underserved areas UW had a preference for underserved in the US? I was thinking of appealing, if possible, because I feel like I'm a good fit for or this program. If anybody has experience with this I'd love your help! Thanks!

It's my understanding that they are looking for applicants who come from these backgrounds rather than simply spend time working with underserved individuals.
 
It's my dream school and I'm so excited to be applying!!!
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Anyone know when the interview dates for those who are already invited will be rolling out? @BABSstudent ?
Very soon. The first interview date is October 1st and they tend to give you at least two weeks heads up before the date at the start of the interview season. So I would imagine dates for interviews will start coming out next week or early the week after.

And don't worry if your date isn't right away. UW doesn't fill their class until March. That very different from other schools. I have been told there is no difference between interviewing early or late here. I don't know how much of that is true, but the first students to be placed on the waitlist will happen in March.
 
Very soon. The first interview date is October 1st and they tend to give you at least two weeks heads up before the date at the start of the interview season. So I would imagine dates for interviews will start coming out next week or early the week after.

And don't worry if your date isn't right away. UW doesn't fill their class until March. That very different from other schools. I have been told there is no difference between interviewing early or late here. I don't know how much of that is true, but the first students to be placed on the waitlist will happen in March.
Thank you! And is UW receptive to requests to switch dates because of other medical school interviews?
 
Thank you! And is UW receptive to requests to switch dates because of other medical school interviews?
You can always ask, but they say in the email that only major life events will be considered.

Edit: I talked with some first years and the wording changed in our interview invites with dates. It appears they might be slightly more easy to change, but it depends on where you interview (WWAMI sites and dates). Seattle may be easier, but if you really have an issue you should email them to request it.
 
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It's my understanding that they are looking for applicants who come from these backgrounds rather than simply spend time working with underserved individuals.

Ah I was not aware of this. Is this something you heard directly from the school? I thought it was a professed interest in working with underserved.
 
Ah I was not aware of this. Is this something you heard directly from the school? I thought it was a professed interest in working with underserved.

It's not true. Yes, experiencing it could be seen as better just because it gives a reason why you chose to do something. From a personal example, I did a lot of food bank work as a premed because my family used them off and on throughout my childhood. It makes sense for me to talk about how I made it a goal to do food drives and have a commitment to continue working with families in poverty. In fact, I have even continued this work in medical school and want to continue it into being a physician because it is rewarding to help them.

However, if you did some volunteering with the underserved, you could come to some realization of the health disparities they have and make it your goal to working against those problems. Just because you didn't experience it growing up doesn't make your desire any less real. I think you just have to work a little bit more on articulating your reasons so it makes sense why you did something other than because you think it will look good to UW or any other medical school.
 
I'm out of region, but I have extensive experience with the underserved in developing countries.

I guess something to take with a grain of salt is, you may be OOR and have a good tie to under-served medicine, but you're applying against many people who are IS and have good ties to under-served medicine. Also, this is the only medical school for 5 states. Being from one of those 5 states, I won't get much love from any other public schools, so I can understand why they're so hard on OOR folks :/

Also, to my understanding, they not only want people from those states, but this school is very intent picking students who will eventually practice in those states, as far as I can tell. Here's why: take for instance, Idaho (for no particular reason 😉 ). The state of Idaho pays UW a part of tuition for 20 (or 25?) students, given that those students are Idahoan. Since the state of Idaho is literally paying for these students, its implied that this investment will result in these UW students coming back to Idaho to practice. Also, much of the 3rd and 4th year clinical rotations are spent in your home state, and the reason for that is obvious: they want you in your home state. While this may not really address students strictly from the state of Washington, I feel like it gives a little insight into how this school's admissions works.

Feel free to chime in if I said something inaccurate, but this is how it works, to the best of my knowledge.
 
I got my initial letter on 7/11... the letter says the preliminary review "typically takes a month to six weeks." As of today, it has been 6.6 weeks. I will probably e-mail them if I don't hear from them by week 7.6.

9/9: After 8+ weeks of waiting, I emailed them for an update.
9/12: They responded with this...
"Thank you for your email to the University of Washington School of Medicine. Your application is currently being reviewed to determine if a secondary application will be extended. Once your application has completed the preliminary review, you will receive an email with the decision. Please feel free to contact our office if you have any additional questions. More information is also available on our website athttp://www.uwmedicine.org/admissions"​

I guess they are just running behind.
 
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9/9: After 8+ weeks of waiting, I emailed them for an update.
9/12: They responded with this...
"Thank you for your email to the University of Washington School of Medicine. Your application is currently being reviewed to determine if a secondary application will be extended. Once your application has completed the preliminary review, you will receive an email with the decision. Please feel free to contact our office if you have any additional questions. More information is also available on our website athttp://www.uwmedicine.org/admissions"​

I guess they are just running behind. @Member373737
Thank you for the update! Still no word here, either.
 
Very soon. The first interview date is October 1st and they tend to give you at least two weeks heads up before the date at the start of the interview season. So I would imagine dates for interviews will start coming out next week or early the week after.

And don't worry if your date isn't right away. UW doesn't fill their class until March. That very different from other schools. I have been told there is no difference between interviewing early or late here. I don't know how much of that is true, but the first students to be placed on the waitlist will happen in March.

I think the waitlist is created in March. According to the website, the Executive Committee meets once a month and decides to either accept, reject, or place students under further consideration. It says that if you are OOR/Seattle applicant and placed under further consideration, then your decision will be made in March. Otherwise, you hear back from them that evening after their monthly meeting. Hope this helps!
 
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I think the waitlist is created in March. According to the website, the Executive Committee meets once a month and decides to either accept, reject, or place students under further consideration. It says that if you are OOR/Seattle applicant and placed under further consideration, then your decision will be made in March. Otherwise, you hear back from them that evening after their monthly meeting. Hope this helps!

Yes, the waitlist is created in March. But that means they are still accepting students until March and space out acceptances. It isn't front loaded like other schools where the class is filled by December and then people are interviewing for waitlist spots.

And if you end up as under consideration, you can still be voted on the next month for acceptance or rejection. Or you could end up being under consideration until the waitlist is created. Both have happened to my classmates and myself.
 
Idaho WWAMI: After you've submitted documentation, how long does it take to have your residency verified?

Edit: A previous post stated 7 days.
 
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Idaho WWAMI: After you've submitted documentation, how long does it take to have your residency verified?

Edit: A previous post stated 7 days.

Pro Tip: Call her. She'll get to your material possibly sooner. Mine took 24 hours because I had been emailing her about residency starting in April during tax season.
 
Yes, the waitlist is created in March. But that means they are still accepting students until March and space out acceptances. It isn't front loaded like other schools where the class is filled by December and then people are interviewing for waitlist spots.

And if you end up as under consideration, you can still be voted on the next month for acceptance or rejection. Or you could end up being under consideration until the waitlist is created. Both have happened to my classmates and myself.

Thanks for the clarification! I like this process much better, especially because it is just so costly to interview.
 
OOS Rejected just now. Lizzy ~71. Best of lucks to everyone else who is waiting and congrats to the ones who got interviews!! 🙂
 
II just now! IS complete 8/22. Really looking forward to an excuse to come back to Seattle! LizzyM 75~
 
As I read the email whose title was marked UW School of Medicine, my heart sank and I knew that the inevitable pre-interview rejection had finally arrived. With sweaty hands I opened up the email only to read, "Your application has passed through this screening and the Committee on Admissions would like to invite you to interview." Never let it be said God doesn't have a sense of humor!
Complete 7/30. 3.7 cGPA, 36 MCAT. non-traditional reapplicant
 
Any IS rejections, post-secondary? I haven't heard anything in a while and am getting nervous...
 
As I read the email whose title was marked UW School of Medicine, my heart sank and I knew that the inevitable pre-interview rejection had finally arrived. With sweaty hands I opened up the email only to read, "Your application has passed through this screening and the Committee on Admissions would like to invite you to interview." Never let it be said God doesn't have a sense of humor!
Complete 7/30. 3.7 cGPA, 36 MCAT. non-traditional reapplicant

Just curious, why would you be expecting a pre-interview rejection with those stats? They are more than competitive for UW. Are you OOS?
 
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