2014-2015 Western Michigan University Application Thread

BU Medical Sciences
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Did anyone fly into GRR airport? How did you get to WMed? Rent a car? Shuttle? Any advice would help! I'm kinda worried to drive in Michigan 'cause it may snow..

I already booked my tickets to GRR instead of AZO because it's way cheaper for me and only 1 layover instead of 2..
 
Had my phone interview today. Although I don't think that it went poorly, I also don't think it went perfectly. I'm sure everyone has a few questions that they wish that they could go back and answer differently, as is the nature of most interviews. Did any of you that felt that their phone interviews went less than ideal end up receiving on campus II invites? I feel like I was so repetitive.
 
felixbyu said:
Did anyone fly into GRR airport? How did you get to WMed? Rent a car? Shuttle? Any advice would help! I'm kinda worried to drive in Michigan 'cause it may snow..

I already booked my tickets to GRR instead of AZO because it's way cheaper for me and only 1 layover instead of 2..
Click to expand...

I'm going to be staying at the Radisson and they have a shuttle service to and from the airport.
 
Dr.Wink said:
Had my phone interview today. Although I don't think that it went poorly, I also don't think it went perfectly. I'm sure everyone has a few questions that they wish that they could go back and answer differently, as is the nature of most interviews. Did any of you that felt that their phone interviews went less than ideal end up receiving on campus II invites? I feel like I was so repetitive.
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Yeah, I thought I was super rambling in my interview, but the lady told me they're really only looking for what you said not necessarily how you said it as long as it wasn't super weird.
 
hoihaie said:
Yeah, I thought I was super rambling in my interview, but the lady told me they're really only looking for what you said not necessarily how you said it as long as it wasn't super weird.
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Same here. I felt like I rambled more than normal and repeated a lot of my answers. At the end I wasn't really expecting and on site ii. But I have an on-site interview this coming Monday so I guess I didn't do as bad as I thought. Just relax!
 
I just got wait-listed here. I hope I get in, it's a beautiful facility. They have a virtual hospital in the basement, and it's state of the art, and amazing. If I do end up getting pulled off the list, it will very very likely be where I attend medical school. To answer previous questions, their first class was 54 students, their second class, (2015) the one I applied for, will be 60 students.

I'm a Hispanic male
In-state applicant
3.6 GPA
29 MCAT

Hope this helps anyone.
 
Motown_Monster_ said:
I just got wait-listed here. I hope I get in, it's a beautiful facility. They have a virtual hospital in the basement, and it's state of the art, and amazing. If I do end up getting pulled off the list, it will very very likely be where I attend medical school. To answer previous questions, their first class was 54 students, their second class, (2015) the one I applied for, will be 60 students.

I'm a Hispanic male
In-state applicant
3.6 GPA
29 MCAT

Hope this helps anyone.
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Good luck. We pulled a fair number from the waitlist last year. I'd say you've got a pretty good chance. If you have any *significant* updates (papers published, relevant new job, earned a new degree, etc) remember you can always share that with the admissions folks! (just make sure it's relevant and significant)

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!
 
FriendOfTheCupcake said:
IMO, you've got a good chance of getting off the waitlist being in an earlier interview group - I hope you get news like Ecologyman! May I ask what day you interviewed on?
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You do, sort of.

The waitlist at WMed isn't like a normal waitlist. Normally you have an accepted list (a "we like you, we want you" list), a waitlist ("we like you, but we only want you after we want these other folks" list), and a rejection list.

At WMed, if you go on the waitlist it's because admissions wants you. At every single admissions committee meeting, every applicant that's not rejected is re-evaluated. This means that if you're on the waitlist right now, you can get accepted at the next admissions committee meeting. In other words, unlike at other schools the waitlist is *not* a list used to fill seats that open up at the end of the year. Being on the waitlist is a good thing - it means they want you enough to consider you at every single admissions committee meeting from now until the end of the cycle.

So yes, being waitlisted at the start of the year could increase your chances of getting in because you get evaluated by the AdCom more often.

Does that make sense?
 
I also wanted to post to say good luck to today's applicants! I met a few of you over lunch, and you all seemed pretty amazing! The first class is really excited about the second class coming in!
 
tellme_areyoufree said:
You do, sort of.

The waitlist at WMed isn't like a normal waitlist. Normally you have an accepted list (a "we like you, we want you" list), a waitlist ("we like you, but we only want you after we want these other folks" list), and a rejection list.

At WMed, if you go on the waitlist it's because admissions wants you. At every single admissions committee meeting, every applicant that's not rejected is re-evaluated. This means that if you're on the waitlist right now, you can get accepted at the next admissions committee meeting. In other words, unlike at other schools the waitlist is *not* a list used to fill seats that open up at the end of the year. Being on the waitlist is a good thing - it means they want you enough to consider you at every single admissions committee meeting from now until the end of the cycle.

So yes, being waitlisted at the start of the year could increase your chances of getting in because you get evaluated by the AdCom more often.

Does that make sense?
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It does!! Thank you so much. I feel better about it now, knowing that. Still, fingers crossed.
 
tellme_areyoufree said:
You do, sort of.

The waitlist at WMed isn't like a normal waitlist. Normally you have an accepted list (a "we like you, we want you" list), a waitlist ("we like you, but we only want you after we want these other folks" list), and a rejection list.

At WMed, if you go on the waitlist it's because admissions wants you. At every single admissions committee meeting, every applicant that's not rejected is re-evaluated. This means that if you're on the waitlist right now, you can get accepted at the next admissions committee meeting. In other words, unlike at other schools the waitlist is *not* a list used to fill seats that open up at the end of the year. Being on the waitlist is a good thing - it means they want you enough to consider you at every single admissions committee meeting from now until the end of the cycle.

So yes, being waitlisted at the start of the year could increase your chances of getting in because you get evaluated by the AdCom more often.

Does that make sense?
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Wait listed recently and this makes me feel better. I honestly can't get WMed out of my head, so hopefully they make a new decision!
 
Does anyone have any tips for the interview and the MMI's? I know it's been stated that we should have a good answer for 'why us' but are there any other tips?
Thanks
 
Manny's Mangoes said:
Does anyone have any tips for the interview and the MMI's? I know it's been stated that we should have a good answer for 'why us' but are there any other tips?
Thanks
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1) Know your own application inside out, and be prepared to talk about yourself a lot.

2) Know the school. Look up some of the news stories, read the website, learn about us. We are incredibly excited about the second class coming in. Show us that you're excited too (about WMed specifically 😛)

3) Be comfortable with yourself, with other people, and with the whole process.

4) Professionalism all the way. Dress, presentation, speech. Professionalism.
 
Can anyone provide insight on what the phone interview is like? Is the interviewer affiliated with WMed? Does it focus on you/your personal attributes only, or are there school-specific questions?
 
wh2k13 said:
Can anyone provide insight on what the phone interview is like? Is the interviewer affiliated with WMed? Does it focus on you/your personal attributes only, or are there school-specific questions?
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This has been brought up several times; scroll through the history of this post.

Briefly, the phone interview focuses on you and your personality traits. It is not school specific at all, as the interviewer is not affiliated with the university.
 
Seems like no phone interviews have been going out recently...I wonder what that means.

Perhaps they'll be sending more out before or after Winter break. Who knows.
 
How long after the phone interview does it take to hear back about a (potential) II?
 
Completed my phone interview this morning. It went well. My call dropped once, but she said that would not affect my score.
 
Heard back, on the waitlist!! I'm so excited to be under continued consideration, especially because I'll be able to send a substantive update really soon that addresses the weaker part of my application. Was just praying not to be rejected. Now I can take my exam tomorrow in peace. THANK YOU WMED!! 😀
 
FriendOfTheCupcake said:
CONGRATS!!!! Everyone in our group was so fantastic, I know you deserve it! 😀
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Thanks! I loved our group as well. Not sure who you and @shoobie are but I'd be happy to go to school with anyone from our group. I'm sure you two will get off that wait list soon!

Motown_Monster_ said:
U just heard today? And are you Spanish? Don quijote is a folk tale from Spain.
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I'm not Spanish, but I lived in Chile for a couple of years and I'm majoring in Spanish right now. I'm taking a class on Don Quijote and it's now one of my favorite books.
 
shoobie said:
Waitlist also!

dc2fd6da2c741a3b2f6ae5fcf700e06fafe43267ea271579118ef4292ffb25c6.jpg


Has anyone been taken off waitlist yet this year?
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Ecologyman was taken off last week, after being placed Oct. 15th (if I remember correctly).
 
FriendOfTheCupcake said:
Heard back, on the waitlist!! I'm so excited to be under continued consideration, especially because I'll be able to send a substantive update really soon that addresses the weaker part of my application. Was just praying not to be rejected. Now I can take my exam tomorrow in peace. THANK YOU WMED!! 😀
Click to expand...

Good luck, Cupcake. I love your positivity and enthusiasm, it's exactly what we (the first class) are hoping to see in the second class. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. And awesome re: the substantive update!
 
tellme_areyoufree said:
Good luck, Cupcake. I love your positivity and enthusiasm, it's exactly what we (the first class) are hoping to see in the second class. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. And awesome re: the substantive update!
Click to expand...

🙈 I have no idea if that's the right emoticon, but basically trying to say that I really appreciate it haha. By design most schools just wait to interview people in my program, or interview but waitlist for grade/letter updates if earlier, and so waitlist for me right now is *awesome* and just where I hoped to be. My transcript and letter should be there in a couple of weeks, and hopefully that will tip the scale. Just so honored to be under good consideration by a school I feel I'd be really happy at already, no sense being negative when there's so much that can happen. 🙂 Thank you for the support you give on here to us all!
 
(Also, in case you were there and have figured out who I am, I apologize if I was a bit tired during lunch - normally much more bubbly, but combo didn't-sleep-well and don't-freak-them-out-with-your-super-weird-extrovertedness didn't really show that 😛 )
 
Bin Rushd said:
Seems like no phone interviews have been going out recently...I wonder what that means.

Perhaps they'll be sending more out before or after Winter break. Who knows.
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I asked the Director of Admissions about this (Jean - hope some of you met her, hope some of you get to meet her! She's wonderful).

We're only 1/2 way through our interview season. There's still a long way to go before we're done! 🙂

I think that any slowdown/gaps just may reflect the upcoming holiday season. Many people are traveling, so you can't really schedule interviews on the week of thanksgiving or christmas. So if you think about it, recent interview invitations would have accordingly slowed down to allow for that. (Just my thought, anyway)

---

As always - any questions you have about WMed, ask away! A few of the current students (myself included) read the forums and will offer help if we can.
 
ricecakeMD said:
Are post-interview updates allowed?
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Yup! Just make sure they're significant, meaningful updates. If you send in a trivial update (like "hey, I got 5 more hours of shadowing!") that probably wouldn't be so great.

If you just published a paper... or earned a new degree... or something similar, that's a great update to send!
 
My apologies if this has been covered before. Does anyone know how often the admissions committee meets?
 
tellme_areyoufree said:
Yup! Just make sure they're significant, meaningful updates. If you send in a trivial update (like "hey, I got 5 more hours of shadowing!") that probably wouldn't be so great.

If you just published a paper... or earned a new degree... or something similar, that's a great update to send!
Click to expand...
Its a lot of volunteering that I started in May (but did not add to my primary application, too soon) and I talked about in my interview but realized they didn't actually have on hand. Would they need it or should I just hold off?
 
I just got an II today - completed the phone screen a few weeks ago.

Can any current students/ others who have interviewed briefly comment on what sets WMed apart in your opinion?
 
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