2015-2016 Washington University in St. Louis Application Thread

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Pastamahn said:
Have you tried calling them?
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called them twice, and both times the person said that theyre inputting "thousands of letters a day". still, my letters are the only thing w/o a checkmark but i sent them to washu (and other schools) aug 6th. every other school has received them
 
I called the office last week and they said they are not doing dean's certification forms for now because they don't have time. You need your letters and app fee marked received so you can be reviewed. My letters are in but still waiting on that fee :/

I wonder why there are so many more apps this year, could it be related to the MCAT change? It seems to be a common problem at all schools.
 
What time does the interview schedule end? Would I be able to make a flight scheduled to depart at 4:30?
 
What is the guest room in Olin Hall like?
 
panda16 said:
+ the pizza was v v good
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So what kinds of pizza do they have lol??

Also if you've interviewed there before, I just wanted to know what the itinerary means when it says "Group?" Is that a group interview or what?
 
meme12 said:
So what kinds of pizza do they have lol??

Also if you've interviewed there before, I just wanted to know what the itinerary means when it says "Group?" Is that a group interview or what?
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They had a local chain and it was just like normal pizza but with amazing ingredients!

And "group" means you're doing it as a group, i.e. you're doing the tours with the MS4's as a group.
 
panda16 said:
They had a local chain and it was just like normal pizza but with amazing ingredients!

And "group" means you're doing it as a group, i.e. you're doing the tours with the MS4's as a group.
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No that's not the tour; the tour is at 1 pm with a MS4 Med Student it says. Group at 12 PM is something else
 
meme12 said:
So only 1 interview? I read something about random ppl getting selected for a 2nd interview??
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We used to do 1 long interview, with ~1/3 of people randomly selected for a second, shorter interview (I think for quality control?). I believe last year we switched to everyone having 2 interviews.
 
Any current WashU students here? How's your experience been? Any particular likes/dislikes, and why did you choose the school, if you don't mind me asking?
 
bararaboi said:
What time does the interview schedule end? Would I be able to make a flight scheduled to depart at 4:30?
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If you know exactly where you're going, you'd be able to make it, but it'd be cutting it close. The day ends at around 3:15pm. If you take a taxi there, security is like at most 10 minutes long (maybe 15 if you're leaving on a Friday). Again, it's risky and I wouldn't recommend it if you're not familiar with the area/airport.
 
Just to clarify, are the Olin Hall rooms singles? And are you informally expected to hang around with the interviewees while you're there, or does everyone kind of keep to themselves besides the pizza dinner? I'm excited to meet everyone, I just don't want to wear myself out too much (sometimes it's really inconvenient to be introverted).
 
anonymoosepremed said:
Just to clarify, are the Olin Hall rooms singles? And are you informally expected to hang around with the interviewees while you're there, or does everyone kind of keep to themselves besides the pizza dinner? I'm excited to meet everyone, I just don't want to wear myself out too much (sometimes it's really inconvenient to be introverted).
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They are all singles! And other than the pizza dinner, the evening is yours!
 
wintersrain said:
Any current WashU students here? How's your experience been? Any particular likes/dislikes, and why did you choose the school, if you don't mind me asking?
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Current M1/MSTP. I'm very happy in the 3 months I've been here. I think the admin is very receptive to student input. The entirety of wash u--med students, faculty, clinicians at BJC--are always trying to help you succeed. You can send an email to pretty much any clinician in the hospital and they will be happy for you to shadow. The med school supports tons of student programs--it's almost overwhelming how many opportunities there are to be involved in student groups. Students are constantly sharing notes/study tips/resources, so it's a very supportive environment.

These things have only confirmed the reason I chose wash u in the first place-the people were awesome every step of the way. The administration was great through the application process, the research fit was great, and I really liked the current students and those revisiting during revisit. I also am fond of St. Louis-there's a lot to do, it's relatively low cost of living to many places, and it's close to so many parks/other cities/things to do. Hope that helps, but feel free to ask any other questions 🙂
 
thought i'd share for future people reading this thread...i got a complete email a few days ago after having everything in aug 6th.
 
bobmccorweg said:
thought i'd share for future people reading this thread...i got a complete email a few days ago after having everything in aug 6th.
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Does that include the Dean's Certification being checked off?
 
Haha I finally got a complete email last week after having everything in 7/4.
 
Also does anyone remember if they gave A specific day that acceptances start being sent out? I remember them addressing it in someway during the day of the interview, but I don't remember what was said.
 
panda16 said:
Also does anyone remember if they gave A specific day that acceptances start being sent out? I remember them addressing it in someway during the day of the interview, but I don't remember what was said.
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I'm pretty sure all they said was that the first acceptances would come out late November, but only a small number, and then after that they would slowly trickle out. At least that's what I recall.
 
Pastamahn said:
I'm pretty sure all they said was that the first acceptances would come out late November, but only a small number, and then after that they would slowly trickle out. At least that's what I recall.
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Ehrmagerd
 
panda16 said:
Are you kidding me???!?!?? That's absolutely incredible.
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Haha I really don't know quite what to think about it. I got the complete email and thought it was a reject! Guess I'm still in the running though.
 
wintersrain said:
Any particular likes/dislikes, and why did you choose the school, if you don't mind me asking?
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  • Reputation: consistently ranked in top 10 medical schools for decades
  • Financial resources:
    • merit scholarships (up to four-year full-tuition) and cap on need-based borrowing ($27k/yr) → average graduating MD student debt $91k.
    • virtually guaranteed $5k+ stipend for summer research and travel to conference to present research
    • student organization funding up to an order of magnitude greater than other schools I am familiar with = many lunch talks, community service programs, professional conference travel, celebrations / parties / advising functions, a robust four-year student government, student-run gym, medical engineering design incubator (IDEA Labs)
    • grants for international experiences during M1/M2 summer, or during M4
  • Facilities: study at your own carrel (desk / drawer / cabinet)
  • Students: strong going in, strong going out
    • WashU is one of only three schools that has top 10 averages for MCAT, Step 1, and Step 2.
    • The match list is pretty good in terms of competitive programs, locations, etc.
  • Clinical quality: train with the best
    • Barnes-Jewish has been on the short list of best hospitals (USNews Honor Roll) for many years.
    • Of the 22 residency specialties ranked on Doximity, WashU has 12 in the top 10, 18 in the top 20, of the respective specialties. Special strengths include radiology and orthopedics.
  • Research opportunities:
    • Ranks in the top 5 medical schools in NIH funding
    • Nearly all students do summer research between M1/M2, with funding as noted above
    • Largest MSTP in the country
    • Up to 3 months of optional research time during M4 (plus 2 months vacation)
    • Multiple master's degree options: MA, MSCI, MPHS, MPH
  • Curriculum
    • Quality: In a national survey, graduating seniors rate the vast majority of parts of the curriculum around or above national average. Special strengths include anatomy (frequent clinical correlation, dissection-based, integrated radiology), pathology and pathophysiology (ie all of M2), and the clerkships in medicine > surgery (a full 12 weeks), and (more recently) ob/gyn.
    • Flexibility: first-year selectives, elective months during M3 (allows early exposure to your specialty of choice), no required sub-internships, no research requirement, up to 3 months away rotations and 2 months vacation during M4
    • Student involvement: each preclinical course has student liaisons who work with the coursemaster to improve the course, each class has a president and medical education representative who serve on administrative committees and work with the associate deans, each class has a student liaison with the IT department to work on educational technology issues, each first year course and some second year courses have student TAs
Dislikes: four-tiered second year grading, full two academic year preclinical curriculum, inability of students to enter electronic patient notes, poor brand recognition of the university outside of medicine (including confusion with University of Washington), St Louis would not make a top cities list for vibrancy
 
chronicidal said:
  • Reputation: consistently ranked in top 10 medical schools for decades
  • Financial resources:
    • merit scholarships (up to four-year full-tuition) and cap on need-based borrowing ($27k/yr) → average graduating MD student debt $91k.
    • virtually guaranteed $5k+ stipend for summer research and travel to conference to present research
    • student organization funding up to an order of magnitude greater than other schools I am familiar with = many lunch talks, community service programs, professional conference travel, celebrations / parties / advising functions, a robust four-year student government, student-run gym, medical engineering design incubator (IDEA Labs)
    • grants for international experiences during M1/M2 summer, or during M4
  • Facilities: study at your own carrel (desk / drawer / cabinet)
  • Students: strong going in, strong going out
    • WashU is one of only three schools that has top 10 averages for MCAT, Step 1, and Step 2.
    • The match list is pretty good in terms of competitive programs, locations, etc.
  • Clinical quality: train with the best
    • Barnes-Jewish has been on the short list of best hospitals (USNews Honor Roll) for many years.
    • Of the 22 residency specialties ranked on Doximity, WashU has 12 in the top 10, 18 in the top 20, of the respective specialties. Special strengths include radiology and orthopedics.
  • Research opportunities:
    • Ranks in the top 5 medical schools in NIH funding
    • Nearly all students do summer research between M1/M2, with funding as noted above
    • Largest MSTP in the country
    • Up to 3 months of optional research time during M4 (plus 2 months vacation)
    • Multiple master's degree options: MA, MSCI, MPHS, MPH
  • Curriculum
    • Quality: In a national survey, graduating seniors rate the vast majority of parts of the curriculum around or above national average. Special strengths include anatomy (frequent clinical correlation, dissection-based, integrated radiology), pathology and pathophysiology (ie all of M2), and the clerkships in medicine > surgery (a full 12 weeks), and (more recently) ob/gyn.
    • Flexibility: first-year selectives, elective months during M3 (allows early exposure to your specialty of choice), no required sub-internships, no research requirement, up to 3 months away rotations and 2 months vacation during M4
    • Student involvement: each preclinical course has student liaisons who work with the coursemaster to improve the course, each class has a president and medical education representative who serve on administrative committees and work with the associate deans, each class has a student liaison with the IT department to work on educational technology issues, each first year course and some second year courses have student TAs
Dislikes: four-tiered second year grading, full two academic year preclinical curriculum, inability of students to enter electronic patient notes, poor brand recognition of the university outside of medicine (including confusion with University of Washington), St Louis would not make a top cities list for vibrancy
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Thanks for this thorough break down! Are you able to shed some more light on the merit-based scholarships (e.g criteria, how many are awarded, etc)
 
anyone know when first acceptances will be sent out?
 
7 posts up this was answered.
 
Last edited:
My LORs were finally marked as received today! I guess that's something... Submitted secondary on 9/22.
 
II yesterday. Submitted everything in mid July. Trying to decide if I want to attend. It's not that cheap flying to St. Louis.
 
MPL45560 said:
II yesterday. Submitted everything in mid July. Trying to decide if I want to attend. It's not that cheap flying to St. Louis.
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Fantastic school supposedly, only downside I can think of is the city. Why not?
 
bearintraining said:
Fantastic school supposedly, only downside I can think of is the city. Why not?
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It does seem like a great school. I've gotten 15 II's and I really don't think it will above the other places I've been, but I could be wrong.
 
rudyin78 said:
II last night! Officially complete 9/22 despite having sent everything in by mid-august. Almost went here for undergrad, so I'm excited to head back!
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still waiting after being marked complete on 8/21
tumblr_n2cyxhK0st1sn5h8so1_500.gif
 
MPL45560 said:
It does seem like a great school. I've gotten 15 II's and I really don't think it will above the other places I've been, but I could be wrong.
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Ignoring the humble brag about your number of IIs, it's hard to say how much you're going to like/dislike a school ahead of time. If you can afford it, I would say go to the interview because it is a great school, and I personally had an amazing time at my interview. With that being said, it should be your decision in the end about whether you go or not.
 
Pastamahn said:
Ignoring the humble brag about your number of IIs, it's hard to say how much you're going to like/dislike a school ahead of time. If you can afford it, I would say go to the interview because it is a great school, and I personally had an amazing time at my interview. With that being said, it should be your decision in the end about whether you go or not.
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+1 here WashU is great and it was an incredibly user-friendly interview day.
 
MPL45560 said:
It does seem like a great school. I've gotten 15 II's and I really don't think it will above the other places I've been, but I could be wrong.
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Retweeted by @HumbleBrag
 
Almighty Saguaro said:
Thanks for this thorough break down! Are you able to shed some more light on the merit-based scholarships (e.g criteria, how many are awarded, etc)
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There are somewhere between 10 and 20 full-tuition scholarships, sometimes divided up. "Now known collectively as the Distinguished Scholars Program, its aim is to attract and enroll the most outstanding students in the School of Medicine, thus enriching the scholarly environment and broadening the scope of learning for all students. Scholarship recipients are selected on intelligence, character, personal accomplishments and goals, motivation for medicine, aptitude for science, leadership potential, communication skills and diversity of life experience." http://bulletinoftheschoolofmedicine.wustl.edu/Admission/mdprogram/Pages/Financial-Assistance.aspx
The thing you need to know about merit scholarships is that they are not awarded with the offer of admission. If there you are accepted, are thinking of going somewhere else, but would be swayed to matriculate by a partial or full tuition scholarship, hold onto your offer until the last day you can. Same goes for waitlisters; I have heard of waitlisted applicants get partial merit scholarships.
 
chronicidal said:
There are somewhere between 10 and 20 full-tuition scholarships, sometimes divided up. "Now known collectively as the Distinguished Scholars Program, its aim is to attract and enroll the most outstanding students in the School of Medicine, thus enriching the scholarly environment and broadening the scope of learning for all students. Scholarship recipients are selected on intelligence, character, personal accomplishments and goals, motivation for medicine, aptitude for science, leadership potential, communication skills and diversity of life experience." http://bulletinoftheschoolofmedicine.wustl.edu/Admission/mdprogram/Pages/Financial-Assistance.aspx
The thing you need to know about merit scholarships is that they are not awarded with the offer of admission. If there you are accepted, are thinking of going somewhere else, but would be swayed to matriculate by a partial or full tuition scholarship, hold onto your offer until the last day you can. Same goes for waitlisters; I have heard of waitlisted applicants get partial merit scholarships.
Click to expand...


Are you saying that the merit scholarships are never awarded to you unless you explicitly try to "bargain" with the school yourself?

If so, why wait until the last day you can? Why not try to bargain earlier (so instead of say bargaining on April 29, why not bargain on April 1)?
 
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