2015-2016 Washington University in St. Louis Application Thread

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Does it have to be a work supervisor? My fourth letter is from a physician I shadowed

That should be fine! If you're really worried, I would contact the admissions committee to ask.
 
That should be fine! If you're really worried, I would contact the admissions committee to ask.

So to clarify, 3 of the letters have to be from people who taught you in a class (and thus only 1 research mentor letter is allowed).
 
So to clarify, 3 of the letters have to be from people who taught you in a class (and thus only 1 research mentor letter is allowed).

Eh, I didn't follow those "rules" to the T, given that the instructions wrote about the types of recommendations you "should" send, not ones you must send. 😳

"The letters should come from three teachers at a college or university you attended who know you well enough to write on your behalf. These teachers should be asked to provide in-depth evaluations of your accomplishments, skills, talents and character rather than mere recapitulations of your academic achievement or grades in their course(s). At least one of these individuals should teach in the sciences. If you have had a particularly significant extracurricular experience, you may also invite someone who is aware of your accomplishment(s) to submit an additional letter of evaluation."

I ended up using:

1. Writing Professor
2. Psych Research Prof/PI. She's actually from a different university (whoops) but visits every week to collaborate with the PI at the university I attend.
3. Clinical Research PI at a med school affiliated hospital. She has a university email address...? (I'm hoping medicine counts as "science.")
4. Work supervisor

So, no, I didn't follow instructions all the way, but I figured these individuals wrote much stronger letters than my science professors. WELL, HERE'S TO HOPING. :luck:

EDIT: Should've have mentioned that on actual supplemental app, it says that LORS can be from teachers, research PIs, work supervisors, etc.
 
Last edited:
is anyone else not able to check their status after submitting the secondary?
 
Submitted, yaaaay! Happy Fourth, y'all, and good luck with the secondary for those who haven't yet submitted! 🙂

is anyone else not able to check their status after submitting the secondary?
Hm I was able to. Try logging out and logging back in, because that's what I did.

A question for everyone else that I don't believe has been addressed in this thread yet: do the admissions staff have to manually enter that they've gotten the committee packet and your MCAT score from AMCAS? On the application status page it says they've gotten my secondary and my verified AMCAS, but they don't have my committee packet or MCAT score even though both of those were marked as processed by AMCAS on 6/9 and 6/30, respectively. Just curious if that is a manual entry process, in which case I completely understand why they wouldn't be marked yet because of the massive volume they receive!

EDIT: Okay cool they said letters will not be marked until July 20. Still curious about the MCAT thing, though! Any other May test takers who have the same status?
 
Last edited:
Submitted, yaaaay! Happy Fourth, y'all, and good luck with the secondary for those who haven't yet submitted! 🙂


Hm I was able to. Try logging out and logging back in, because that's what I did.

A question for everyone else that I don't believe has been addressed in this thread yet: do the admissions staff have to manually enter that they've gotten the committee packet and your MCAT score from AMCAS? On the application status page it says they've gotten my secondary and my verified AMCAS, but they don't have my committee packet or MCAT score even though both of those were marked as processed by AMCAS on 6/9 and 6/30, respectively. Just curious if that is a manual entry process, in which case I completely understand why they wouldn't be marked yet because of the massive volume they receive!

EDIT: Okay cool they said letters will not be marked until July 20. Still curious about the MCAT thing, though! Any other May test takers who have the same status?
oh it says we can't log back in after submitting! maybe that's why. also, if I forgot to print that dean's certificate thing and can't log back in...how would I get it?
 
Are apps only reviewed (for II decisions) after the Dean's certification is received?
 
Are apps only reviewed (for II decisions) after the Dean's certification is received?

The Dean's certification is only required for final decisions, i.e. accept, waitlist, reject. You don't need it to receive an invitation to interview.
 
oh it says we can't log back in after submitting! maybe that's why. also, if I forgot to print that dean's certificate thing and can't log back in...how would I get it?

Hm so I was using Safari and was having trouble logging in but then I switched browser to Chrome and it worked. Maybe switch?
 
Hm so I was using Safari and was having trouble logging in but then I switched browser to Chrome and it worked. Maybe switch?
ahhh doesn't work
I'll just email them
 
Last edited:
I tried all 4 browsers 🙁 I'll see what they say. Sure it's not a big deal since I already submitted
 
I tried all 4 browsers 🙁 I'll see what they say. Sure it's not a big deal since I already submitted
Yup me too, I signed in and out multiple times in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and nothing. I submitted without it anyway
 
EDIT: I figured it out
 
Last edited:
A question for current students: Should I include a letter (from Amnesty International) talking about how I can bridge the worlds of human rights advocacy and medicine? Don't get me wrong, I know WashU is a research-heavy school and I have the background for that. But I was just wondering if it would be good to send the letter in as something extra, considering that the school has a Physicians for Human Rights chapter.
 
A question for current students: Should I include a letter (from Amnesty International) talking about how I can bridge the worlds of human rights advocacy and medicine? Don't get me wrong, I know WashU is a research-heavy school and I have the background for that. But I was just wondering if it would be good to send the letter in as something extra, considering that the school has a Physicians for Human Rights chapter.

If you're not breaching the max number of letters, then it couldn't hurt!
 
Anyone else having issues with the photo submission? I uploaded a photo yesterday, but decided to take a better one today. After re-uploading and logging out, the old photo remains when I log back in.

This exact problem happened to me just now. Did your second photo ever go up successfully? Hoping it'll be fixed by the time I submit...
 
This exact problem happened to me just now. Did your second photo ever go up successfully? Hoping it'll be fixed by the time I submit...
I ended up emailing IT and they thought they had it fixed. If it didn't work for you, email IT and they can look at your specific account.
 
For the question about Calculus:
I used AP Calculus AB to satisfy one semester of calculus, but this is listed on my transcript with the title Calculus I. Which title should I put in the secondary?
 
For the question about Calculus:
I used AP Calculus AB to satisfy one semester of calculus, but this is listed on my transcript with the title Calculus I. Which title should I put in the secondary?
I would do whatever you have in your transcript.
 
I wouldn't sweat it if I were you, though...I mean the point is that you had that year of Calc/Stat/whatever.
Yeah, you're right.
The way I entered it in, I feel like it was pretty self explanatory.
 
I ended up emailing IT and they thought they had it fixed. If it didn't work for you, email IT and they can look at your specific account.

I just went back in and checked, and it updated to the newer photo! Thanks for the help
 
Did anyone here take the May MCAT and have their MCAT scores marked as "received" on the supplemental application?
 
Well the only reason my secondary has been sitting in my inbox for 6 days is because I don't have a professional looking picture of myself.... -_-
 
For address of residence, did you all put your home address, or the address you will be living at during the next semester at school?
 
For address of residence, did you all put your home address, or the address you will be living at during the next semester at school?
You mean the question: "Indicate below the address where you will be residing during the current academic year."?

I put my school address.
 
You mean the question: "Indicate below the address where you will be residing during the current academic year."?

I put my school address.
I know its fairly self-explantory, but I move in to my new address late and the last thing I wanted was for that to get messed up with medical school info.
 
Last edited:
I know its fairly self-explantory, but I move in to my new address late and the last thing I wanted was for that go get messed up with medical school info.
Hm. I understand your concern. how "late" are you moving into that new address?
 
Hm. I understand your concern. how "late" are you moving into that new address?
Woops! I had been thinking of a different date and I actually move in late August, which I would guess wouldn't be a problem. These darn secondaries are getting to me haha. Thanks for the help, though!
 
anyone else currently having difficulty logging in to the app portal? It was down earlier today and now I can't log in with my AMCAS ID/password
 
That happened to me before, try a different browser. it worked when I switched from chrome to safari
 
Fuhh...so "What college-level calculus courses that included integral and differential equations will you complete prior to starting Medical School? AP credits are accepted."

Does a 5 in BC calculus satisfy this requirement? I'm guessing not since it I don't recall doing diff. eqs?? The math class I took at my university was a basic, introductory calculus course that the pre-med advisors said would satisfy most/all medical school math requirements.
 
Fuhh...so "What college-level calculus courses that included integral and differential equations will you complete prior to starting Medical School? AP credits are accepted."

Does a 5 in BC calculus satisfy this requirement? I'm guessing not since it I don't recall doing diff. eqs?? The math class I took at my university was a basic, introductory calculus course that the pre-med advisors said would satisfy most/all medical school math requirements.

I think it does. It's simply saying all calculus courses, as well as integral & diff. eqs. It's not saying that course had to cover those topics in order for it to count, since those are usually stand alone courses on their own. Someone can correct me if I am interpreting this wrong.
 
Fuhh...so "What college-level calculus courses that included integral and differential equations will you complete prior to starting Medical School? AP credits are accepted."

Does a 5 in BC calculus satisfy this requirement? I'm guessing not since it I don't recall doing diff. eqs?? The math class I took at my university was a basic, introductory calculus course that the pre-med advisors said would satisfy most/all medical school math requirements.

Imho you probably covered very very basic diff eqs. that could be solved with separation of variables. Do you have transfer credit for Calc I + II?
 
Isn't there an option to substitute a semester of statistics to cover a diff eq calc class?
 
For the calculus class with integral and differential equations, I have only taken a Calc I class. Would I list that along with a statistics class that could take the place of a full semester of calculus solely focused on differential equations? Or would the first semester Calc cover it?
 
I listed both just to be safe.
 
For the calculus class with integral and differential equations, I have only taken a Calc I class. Would I list that along with a statistics class that could take the place of a full semester of calculus solely focused on differential equations? Or would the first semester Calc cover it?

You mean based on derivatives? ODEs aren't touched upon in Calc I.
 
You mean based on derivatives? ODEs aren't touched upon in Calc I.
In the official course description it lists "introduction to differential and integral calculus", but by the looks of it Wash U wants through differential and integral calculus
 
In the official course description it lists "introduction to differential and integral calculus", but by the looks of it Wash U wants through differential and integral calculus

Which is Calc I + II. Only HST requires Differential Equations.

Hope that helps 🙂
 
Which is Calc I + II. Only HST requires Differential Equations.

Hope that helps 🙂
In that case I'll just list both my intro calc class and my stats class. Thanks for the help! Also, what does HST stand for?
 
Top