2015-2016 West Virginia University Application Thread

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If I want click on the link for information about the waitlist feature, will I still keep my current slot? I'm a little paranoid I will lose my spot by clicking it so just wanted to get some advice from someone who has already put themselves on a waitlist date.
 
Also, how do you know when your secondary is actually all complete? Do you get confirmation? I have submitted all sections except for the payment section which I can't submit since I don't have FAP but I already paid on their web sight.. I got confirmations for each page submitted and a receipt for payment but that's it.
 
partypantss said:
Also, how do you know when your secondary is actually all complete? Do you get confirmation? I have submitted all sections except for the payment section which I can't submit since I don't have FAP but I already paid on their web sight.. I got confirmations for each page submitted and a receipt for payment but that's it.
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They are traditionally very quick about processing the individual pieces of your secondary. You will not receive an official "complete" email, just the individual confirmations. They are also traditionally quick with their review of your total application, don't be surprised if you hear from them in a few business days, but don't be discouraged if you don't.
 
M12B said:
They are traditionally very quick about processing the individual pieces of your secondary. You will not receive an official "complete" email, just the individual confirmations. They are also traditionally quick with their review of your total application, don't be surprised if you hear from them in a few business days, but don't be discouraged if you don't.
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That's exactly what I needed to know, thanks!
 
Do we still need to hit submit on the app fee page even if we don't have the FAP? I never got a confirmation that the fee section was complete after I paid yesterday. My order status for my secondary says captured.
 
Lost_In_Transcription said:
Do we still need to hit submit on the app fee page even if we don't have the FAP? I never got a confirmation that the fee section was complete after I paid yesterday. My order status for my secondary says captured.
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I'm in the same boat. Just to check, I tried submitting without having anything attached where they want you attach the FAP document and it didn't let me submit without it. So, I think you're good. It says "captured" under payment info on my receipt too.
 
Rejected pre-secondary 🙁 OOS, LizzyM 70, & AMCAS verified 7/29. Really loved this school. I am pretty bummed.
 
piii said:
1) Is it better to reserve an earlier or later interview? Probably early for chance of acceptance because more slots are available. But that leads me to my second question..
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1. Earlier is better. The choice of Morgantown, Charlestown, or Eastern for 3rd and 4th years is first come first served. I am OOS and was NOT wait listed. I got my first choice (Morgantown) because I had an earlier interview (December).
 
DNC127 said:
Does anybody have any info to as what to expect out of the interview? I know it is just you and 2 adcoms but was wondering how it was structured and such. Thanks .
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As you know, it's you and 2 adcoms. They ask you about yourself and ask questions based off of your application. It's your chance to shine. Make sure that when you walk out of that room they know all the reasons why you will be a great fit for their school and their mission. So, be friendly and be yourself. It's probably the most relaxed interview you will have.
 
Darth Doc said:
1. Earlier is better. The choice of Morgantown, Charlestown, or Eastern for 3rd and 4th years is first come first served. I am OOS and was NOT wait listed. I got my first choice (Morgantown) because I had an earlier interview (December).
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Awesome thanks. Got an early one. If you don't mind, can you comment on your stats and why you think you were straight accepted? Did you have ties? Did you have a great interview?

Thanks!
 
@Darth Doc just curious about the sites for 3rd and 4th year and your opinions/reason you picked morgantown. When are you supposed to rank the choices?

Thanks!
 
MedBlue515 said:
@Darth Doc just curious about the sites for 3rd and 4th year and your opinions/reason you picked morgantown. When are you supposed to rank the choices?

Thanks!
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You rank the choices on interview day. Morgantown has the most people (usually around 60) and obviously you don't have to move so it's pretty sought after. Charlestown is one of the (if not the) biggest cities in WV. I went there last week to visit a friend down there for 3rd year and it was really nice! It feels much more grown up than Morgantown (ugh undergrads! Haha) but you have to move and housing is a bit iffy. They take 30-40 students. Eastern only takes about 10-15 students. It's in Martinsburg, WV, which is in the eastern panhandle. It's close to some cool places like Hagerstown, MD, Winchester, VA, and DC. A lot of the people that go there are in the rural track, but I don't think you have to be. Again, you have to move and it's a really small group so some people don't like that. If you don't care or don't know what to do, I would suggest putting Morgantown first. In my class there were lots of people trying to switch to Morgantown for friend groups, significant others, etc. and very few got to switch. It's way easier to switch to Charlestown and probably eastern, but very hard to switch to Morgantown. Hope that helps!
 
MedBlue515 said:
@Darth Doc just curious about the sites for 3rd and 4th year and your opinions/reason you picked morgantown. When are you supposed to rank the choices?

Thanks!
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My main reason for choosing Morgantown is that I have kids and didn't want them to switch schools after only 2 years. As Mountaineer12 says, most people who want to switch want to switch to Morgantown. Some people chose other locations because of rural track, it was closer to family, or they enjoy training in different environments. When in doubt, it's easiest to choose Morgantown as your number 1 and then trading later.
 
When it says 'due 2 weeks from receipt of secondary', do you count the day you received it as '1' or the day after you received it as '1'?
 
piii said:
Awesome thanks. Got an early one. If you don't mind, can you comment on your stats and why you think you were straight accepted? Did you have ties? Did you have a great interview?
Thanks!
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My stats aren't amazing, but I'm unique with WV ties. GPA (science and total) 3.65 MCAT 29 (not bad with no college classes in 15 years). I've been a physician assistant for 15 years. My husband lived in West Virginia for the first 20 years of his life. He's working on his NP now and our goal is/was to open a family practice office together. I did have a great interview.
 
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djtanner said:
When it says 'due 2 weeks from receipt of secondary', do you count the day you received it as '1' or the day after you received it as '1'?
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Don't stress about it being an exact deadline on this. 15 days instead of 14 won't hurt you.
 
Darth Doc said:
My stats aren't amazing, but I'm unique with WV ties. GPA (science and total) 3.65 MCAT 39 (not bad with no college classes in 15 years). I've been a physician assistant for 15 years. My husband lived in West Virginia for the first 20 years of his life. He's working on his NP now and our goal is/was to open a family practice office together. I did have a great interview.
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that MCAT is an amazing stat!
 
Darth Doc said:
My stats aren't amazing, but I'm unique with WV ties. GPA (science and total) 3.65 MCAT 39 (not bad with no college classes in 15 years). I've been a physician assistant for 15 years. My husband lived in West Virginia for the first 20 years of his life. He's working on his NP now and our goal is/was to open a family practice office together. I did have a great interview.
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Mcat 39 + 15 years of clinical job are not amazing.
Troll confirmed
 
Darth Doc said:
As you know, it's you and 2 adcoms. They ask you about yourself and ask questions based off of your application. It's your chance to shine. Make sure that when you walk out of that room they know all the reasons why you will be a great fit for their school and their mission. So, be friendly and be yourself. It's probably the most relaxed interview you will have.
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Thank you so much!!! I really appreciate your insight!
 
Submitted Friday 8/7, II as well ..OOS and no ties
 
Secondary submitted Sunday night ---> Interview invitation Monday around 1pm. omg I love this school!
 
Got an interview invite this morning!! Submitted yesterday at around noon. Primary processed on 7/17/15, most schools (including WVU) added on 7/22/15 (after confirming MCAT score from June 20th exam), WVU Secondary invite 7/30/15. Still have not sent in my recommendations (waiting for 1 recommender to update a rec with official letterhead).

Stats,etc:
new MCAT score: 513 (11,10,14,10)-->base score = 35, two older '30' MCATs, amcas ugpa = 3.05, Master's degree GPA = 3.97 (completed MS degree), 4 research publications (1 2nd author) + masters research project, 4 yrs leadership experience, solid shadowing and volunteering, great recs (but they haven't received them yet).

OOS, no ties to West Virginia
 
Darth Doc said:
1. Earlier is better. The choice of Morgantown, Charlestown, or Eastern for 3rd and 4th years is first come first served. I am OOS and was NOT wait listed. I got my first choice (Morgantown) because I had an earlier interview (December).
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Did you have any ties to the school? Or state
 
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Hildace said:
new MCAT score: 513 (11,10,14,10)-->base score = 35
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Congrats!
By "base score" I assume you are converting P/V/B sections to old scores and adding them up? Why are you using this approximation, because an 89th% overall percentile ~ 32. Maybe its safer to average the two. I got a 514 and I've been equating it to a 33 even though my break down would be 14 P / 9 V / 13 B ~36. Better to be conservative.
 
piii said:
Congrats!
By "base score" I assume you are converting P/V/B sections to old scores and adding them up? Why are you using this approximation, because an 89th% overall percentile ~ 32. Maybe its safer to average the two. I got a 514 and I've been equating it to a 33 even though my break down would be 14 P / 9 V / 13 B ~36. Better to be conservative.
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I disagree, piii. Admissions committees are most likely not going to use a straight overall percentile comparison. Doing so denies the obvious similarities between the first three sections. Medical schools do not yet know quite how to use the new section; therefore, the base 3 sections, which are indeed comparable to the old exam, are most important. I honestly would use your score as a 36. Unless you have inside knowledge as to how an admissions committees are going to compare your score to older scores, I would not use the simplified overall percentile comparison. Committees have access to individual section percentiles, and they can easily compare the first three sections across. If all MCAT scores in the pool were "new" MCAT scores, then the overall percentile ranking comparison would make sense. The reality is that for the next few cycles, that will not be the case. Even shear difficulty alone, I would think admissions committees would weight a 508 as better than a 30 from an old test. A 10,10,10,10 > 10,10,10. My score is equivalent to 11,10,14,10, and I am indeed using it as a 35 + 10. Looking at it another way, the percentile rankings for each section are still relevant. 87th percentile physical sciences doesn't get diminished because there is a 4th section to the exam. A 99th percentile bio/biochem section is still 99th percentile.
 
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Hildace said:
I disagree, piii. Admissions committees are most likely not going to use a straight overall percentile comparison. Doing so denies the obvious similarities between the first three sections. Medical schools do not yet know quite how to use the new section; therefore, the base 3 sections, which are indeed comparable to the old exam, are most important. I honestly would use your score as a 36. Unless you have inside knowledge as to how an admissions committees are going to compare your score to older scores, I would not use the simplified overall percentile comparison. Committees have access to individual section percentiles, and they can easily compare the first three sections across. If all MCAT scores in the pool were "new" MCAT scores, then the overall percentile ranking comparison would make sense. The reality is that for the next few cycles, that will not be the case. Even shear difficulty alone, I would think admissions committees would weight a 508 as better than a 30 from an old test. A 10,10,10,10 > 10,10,10. My score is equivalent to 11,10,14,10, and I am indeed using it as a 35 + 10. Looking at it another way, the percentile rankings for each section are still relevant. 87th percentile physical sciences doesn't get diminished because there is a 4th section to the exam. A 99th percentile bio/biochem section is still 99th percentile.
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Well, if you are correct then I'm obviously ecstatic haha. Thanks for your reasoning!
 
Rejected pre-secondary on 7/10.
OOS, extensive experience with diversity, desire to be in primary care
29 MCAT (retake; raised exam from 25 MCAT)
3.79CGPA
 
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Hildace said:
I disagree, piii. Admissions committees are most likely not going to use a straight overall percentile comparison. Doing so denies the obvious similarities between the first three sections. Medical schools do not yet know quite how to use the new section; therefore, the base 3 sections, which are indeed comparable to the old exam, are most important. I honestly would use your score as a 36. Unless you have inside knowledge as to how an admissions committees are going to compare your score to older scores, I would not use the simplified overall percentile comparison. Committees have access to individual section percentiles, and they can easily compare the first three sections across. If all MCAT scores in the pool were "new" MCAT scores, then the overall percentile ranking comparison would make sense. The reality is that for the next few cycles, that will not be the case. Even shear difficulty alone, I would think admissions committees would weight a 508 as better than a 30 from an old test. A 10,10,10,10 > 10,10,10. My score is equivalent to 11,10,14,10, and I am indeed using it as a 35 + 10. Looking at it another way, the percentile rankings for each section are still relevant. 87th percentile physical sciences doesn't get diminished because there is a 4th section to the exam. A 99th percentile bio/biochem section is still 99th percentile.
Click to expand...

I don't think this is right, maybe I'm wrong but I believe a few of the adcoms on SDN have said they are most likely going to be using percentiles, think about looking at thousands of applications, what's easier for them to do?
 
membername24 said:
I don't think this is right, maybe I'm wrong but I believe a few of the adcoms on SDN have said they are most likely going to be using percentiles, think about looking at thousands of applications, what's easier for them to do?
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I disagree. They are both easy to do; the individual section scores/percentile rankings are clearly listed on each AMCAS application to the right of the overall percentile ranking. Furthermore, an SDN adcom or two on here saying they do it one way doesn't mean the majority of medical schools will do it that way. I highly doubt a simple overall percentile ranking will be used in the majority of cases, especially once the applications are looked at in more depth later on (for interview selection, etc). Medical schools still do not know exactly what to do with the new 4th section, PSBB, which lessens its significance. The physical sciences, CARS/verbal, and biological sciences, however, are still very similar between the old and new MCAT exams. As admissions committees will have to compare applicants with the old MCAT to applicants with the new MCAT for the next few application cycles, the individual scores and percentile rankings on those three comparable sections are most important.
 
gyngyn said:
We'll just use percentiles. No preference for new v old. Realistically, there is very little chance for folks with our posted MCAT 10th percentile, you'd have to be amazing in every other way.
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Goro said:
Irrational pre-med fear of the unknown. The some people are carrying on about the new test, you'd think it was going to be written in Korean. We're not idiots and neither is AAMC. When someone scores in the 90th %, on either the old or the new test, we can figure out that this is a smart canddiate.


Do you expect something like this to happen?
In fact, my largest worry is that med schools will not know how to properly interpret the new scores. I bet the AAMC spent all this time and money making the new MCAT valid, and then the validity will fly out the window because med schools don't have the same level of expertise. I strongly suspect that when the application pool contains a mix of old-style scores and new-style scores, at least some med schools (but not all med schools) will screw up in a way that systematically favors either the old-style or new-style. This will probably be more or less random. This happens every time the scale on a standardized test changes.
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Just food for thought...
 
Wishful thinking, alas.

Hildace said:
I disagree. They are both easy to do; the individual section scores/percentile rankings are clearly listed on each AMCAS application to the right of the overall percentile ranking. Furthermore, an SDN adcom or two on here saying they do it one way doesn't mean the majority of medical schools will do it that way. I highly doubt a simple overall percentile ranking will be used in the majority of cases, especially once the applications are looked at in more depth later on (for interview selection, etc). Medical schools still do not know exactly what to do with the new 4th section, PSBB, which lessens its significance. The physical sciences, CARS/verbal, and biological sciences, however, are still very similar between the old and new MCAT exams. As admissions committees will have to compare applicants with the old MCAT to applicants with the new MCAT for the next few application cycles, the individual scores and percentile rankings on those three comparable sections are most important.
Click to expand...
 
Goro said:
Wishful thinking, alas.
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"In fact, my largest worry is that med schools will not know how to properly interpret the new scores." You said it yourself; you have no idea how they will interpret the scores. At least my reasoning is logical. I've taken (and done well on) both the old and new MCAT. There is significant overlap on the first three sections.

What's the logic in doing a straight overall percentile ranking comparison? It completely ignores any similarities between the exams, and neglects the fact that the new exam covers MORE material (biochemistry, psychology, sociology, etc) than the old exam. I'd argue a 508 on the new test should be weighted more heavily than a 30 on the old test, even if the overall percentile ranking is similar.

Also, do you believe admissions committees will look at individual section scores/percentile rankings? If you believe they will look at them, wouldn't it make logical sense that an admissions officer could compare an old Bio section score to a new Bio section score? Or would they just throw their hands up in the air in confusion (as the new Bio section also has biochemistry) and go with the overall percentile ranking?

Edit: Regardless of how they interpret it, I'm still 99th percentile on the Bio/Biochem section and 99th percentile on my graduate GPA. My overall MCAT percentile ranking could fluctuate from 89 to 96 depending on how they interpret it, but I suppose either way, when coupled with my grad GPA, I should be in good shape.
 
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Hildace said:
I'd argue a 508 on the new test should be weighted more heavily than a 30 on the old test, even if the overall percentile ranking is similar.
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What?! They're different tests. Someone who scores a 30 didn't compete with same testers as someone who scored a 508. They are different tests so the best you can do is to account for the overall percentiles. Someone who scored a 30 scored better than X% of testers on their test, and someone who scored a 508 scored better than X% of testers on theirs, which allows adcoms to "compare" tests without being skewed by the differences between them.

I think you're contradicting yourself by arguing that overall percentile ignores both the similarities and the differences...?
 
Hildace said:
"In fact, my largest worry is that med schools will not know how to properly interpret the new scores." You said it yourself; you have no idea how they will interpret the scores. At least my reasoning is logical. I've taken (and done well on) both the old and new MCAT. There is significant overlap on the first three sections.

What's the logic in doing a straight overall percentile ranking comparison? It completely ignores any similarities between the exams, and neglects the fact that the new exam covers MORE material (biochemistry, psychology, sociology, etc) than the old exam. I'd argue a 508 on the new test should be weighted more heavily than a 30 on the old test, even if the overall percentile ranking is similar.

Also, do you believe admissions committees will look at individual section scores/percentile rankings? If you believe they will look at them, wouldn't it make logical sense that an admissions officer could compare an old Bio section score to a new Bio section score? Or would they just throw their hands up in the air in confusion (as the new Bio section also has biochemistry) and go with the overall percentile ranking?

Edit: Regardless of how they interpret it, I'm still 99th percentile on the Bio/Biochem section and 99th percentile on my graduate GPA. My overall MCAT percentile ranking could fluctuate from 89 to 96 depending on how they interpret it, but I suppose either way, when coupled with my grad GPA, I should be in good shape.
Click to expand...

Part of me is wondering if you're biased because you said you have a 35 but you have the percentile for a 32? In any case I have yet to see your argument made outside of this thread so I don't see it holding that much merit
 
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