2016-2017 University of Wisconsin Application Thread

[3rdPrizeYoureFired]

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OOS here. Completed my II on August 1, was notified I will not be interviewing via email this morning. Kinda sad about it but oh well, goes with the OOS territory. To all you other OOS-ers: good luck! Avenge meeeee!!!

 

[Orthosurg1]

OOS here. Completed my II on August 1, was notified I will not be interviewing via email this morning. Kinda sad about it but oh well, goes with the OOS territory. To all you other OOS-ers: good luck! Avenge meeeee!!!

Do you mean completed your secondary on 8/1? Sorry to hear about the rejection, I hope you have better luck elsewhere!

 

[BBQ7]

Rejected as well! LizzyM ~79ish, OOS, but public health background. Thankful for their quick decision. Best of luck to those who receive interviews 🙂

 

[amber80]

Rejected as well! LizzyM ~79ish, OOS, but public health background. Thankful for their quick decision. Best of luck to those who receive interviews 🙂

+1. OOS. Also thankful for the quick decision and a very kindly worded rejection email.


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[RightTwix]

+1. OOS. Also thankful for the quick decision and a very kindly worded rejection email.


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Same here. Rejected this morning OOS, post-secondary. I kind of wish the email clearly said rejection on the subject line so I couldn't get my hopes up.

 

[crathnam]

+1. OOS. Also thankful for the quick decision and a very kindly worded rejection email.


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Same here. OOS but Midwest, LizzyM ~75. Good luck to those with interviews!

 

[KoolKeith]

+1. OOS. Also thankful for the quick decision and a very kindly worded rejection email.


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Same, rejected post-secondary. OOS now, but lived in Northern Wisconsin for two years working at critical access hospital.

 

[TRPMinus]

OOS and rejected today. At least they're straightforward and honest about what they're looking for. LizzyM 74

 

[PHgeek123]

OOS and rejected today. At least they're straightforward and honest about what they're looking for. LizzyM 74

I'm sorry 🙁 do you mind sharing if they said they're looking for certain types of people in the rejection letter?

 

[RightTwix]

I'm sorry 🙁 do you mind sharing if they said they're looking for certain types of people in the rejection letter?

This is the email.

"Dear Applicant:

The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UW SMPH) has received your 2017 application from the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) and your complete secondary application. The MD Admissions Committee has reviewed your application as a nonresident applicant, and we regret to inform you that you have not been selected for an interview and your application will not be further considered.

The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, the only public medical school in Wisconsin, commits most of the places in each MD class to resident applicants. Many well-qualified non-resident candidates apply for admission. We are able to interview and select only a limited number from this pool.

Thank you for applying to the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. It is a privilege to review your application. We wish you well in your pursuit of a career in medicine."

Pretty nice rejection actually.

 

[purplegold201635]

Any of you guys that got a status update today complete on or after Aug 6th?

 

[PHgeek123]

See below...........I just meant that they are pretty picky about which OOS applicants they interview. I was expecting a little love as a midwest resident with a 521 MCAT but I was wrong. Just goes to show you that the app cycle is unpredictable.

Ah thanks for sharing..Sorry about that :/ But I'm sure with your MCAT you will have more interviews coming up soon!

 

[Mandalore]

Are they very biased towards IS applicants? It seems strange that there seems to be universal rejections for what appear to be otherwise good applicants. I realize it's a crapshoot though.

 

[Orthosurg1]

Are they very biased towards IS applicants? It seems strange that there seems to be universal rejections for what appear to be otherwise good applicants. I realize it's a crapshoot though.

Yes, there is a strong in-state preference, which is probably why we've seen a lot of strong candidates get rejected (likely) just because they're OOS

 

[Jennyfishy]

Are they very biased towards IS applicants? It seems strange that there seems to be universal rejections for what appear to be otherwise good applicants. I realize it's a crapshoot though.

This question gets asked every year in the thread. If we wanted to fill the OOS part of the class with 4.0/35 (515+) mcat applicants, there would be no problem doing it for sure! We get over 5000+ oos applicants alone and there are only about 200 IIS available for that pool, so they have to look for different reasons to offer a spot, which you all can read more about on the website:

http://www.med.wisc.edu/education/md/admissions/selection-criteria/111

Overall, the committee takes a lot of pride in its holistic approach, and you can bet that there are folks with lower mcats/gpas landing interviews too. What folks disclose or share on SDN is never the full picture, so always take it with a grain of salt 😉.

Either way, Good luck to everyone applying with your cycles!

Also, I am an M3 from OOS here, so more than happy to entertain other questions you guys might have about the application process or our school!

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[justanotherjoe]

For everyone that has completed the secondary, did y'all just copy and paste from your AMCAS descriptions or did you write new descriptions for the work experience section?

 

[Schaf_10]

Hey everybody,

I am an IS student applying. I submitted my secondary yesterday, which was the first state that residents could submit their application. My application is complete and my residency has been confirmed; however, the status of my letters of recommendation are not received. I submitted my AMCAS application in early June and it was verified in late June. I received the invitation from the University of Wisconsin to complete their secondary in mid July, so I find it strange that my LORs have not been received. Has anybody else had this problem?

 

[MichiganSports3]

For everyone that has completed the secondary, did y'all just copy and paste from your AMCAS descriptions or did you write new descriptions for the work experience section?

I copied and pasted. For some activities, however, I added 1-2 sentences to make them more "complete" since there is no character limit unlike on AMCAS. UW's instructions stated that they ask for our activities again so their system can format them more efficiently. If I recall correctly, the secondary application portal organizes our activities as a graph (based on dates). By all means, you can write completely new descriptions but it might be better to use that time to work on other secondary essays.

 

[Eye on MD]

@Schaf_10 You got the email after you submitted, right? The one below, emphasis theirs:

The following items are checked for completion when we review your secondary application:

1. Application fee of $75
2. Letters of recommendation

DUE TO THE LARGE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS, PLEASE ALLOW 7-10 BUSINESS DAYS FOR OUR STAFF TO CHECK THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED THESE ITEMS AND TO MARK YOUR SECONDARY APPLICATION COMPLETE.

 

[mischief managed]

I copied and pasted. For some activities, however, I added 1-2 sentences to make them more "complete" since there is no character limit unlike on AMCAS. UW's instructions stated that they ask for our activities again so their system can format them more efficiently. If I recall correctly, the secondary application portal organizes our activities as a graph (based on dates). By all means, you can write completely new descriptions but it might be better to use that time to work on other secondary essays.

Same....also super impressed with how fast I was complete. Submitted on 8/21 and had letters and residency verified by mid afternoon 8/22

 

[Mandalore]

Edit: Posted in wrong Wisconsin school, sorry.

 

[rogerjohnson1]

so i am an IS applicant so i just submitted my secondary on the 21st and it says that they havent received my letters of recommendation yet.. i submitted my AMCAS and was verified on 6/7. are any other IS applicants having this problem?

 

[rogerjohnson1]

so i am an IS applicant so i just submitted my secondary on the 21st and it says that they havent received my letters of recommendation yet.. i submitted my AMCAS and was verified on 6/7. are any other IS applicants having this problem?

all of my letters were into AMCAS by july 1st

 

[justanotherjoe]

I copied and pasted. For some activities, however, I added 1-2 sentences to make them more "complete" since there is no character limit unlike on AMCAS. UW's instructions stated that they ask for our activities again so their system can format them more efficiently. If I recall correctly, the secondary application portal organizes our activities as a graph (based on dates). By all means, you can write completely new descriptions but it might be better to use that time to work on other secondary essays.

Okay thanks, thats probably what I am going to do as well!

 

[787593]

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[Glandzburg]

What is a competitive score for an in-state applicant at the UWSMPH?

There are obviously many factors besides MCAT score that determine one's competitiveness. But the average MCAT for last year's entering class (current M2's) was 33.4 (~514). Note that this does not distinguish between in-state and out-of-state; the in-state average I'm sure was a bit less.

Source: http://www.med.wisc.edu/education/m...uw-school-of-medicine-and-public-health/43523

 

[Jennyfishy]

There are obviously many factors besides MCAT score that determine one's competitiveness. But the average MCAT for last year's entering class (current M2's) was 33.4 (~514). Note that this does not distinguish between in-state and out-of-state; the in-state average I'm sure was a bit less.

Source: http://www.med.wisc.edu/education/m...uw-school-of-medicine-and-public-health/43523

Actually the opposite - IS average is generally/historically slightly higher and OOS average slightly lower , but not a huge margin of a difference

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[787593]

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[SutterMcButter]

Rejected post-secondary just now, OOS, complete 8/15. Best of luck to the rest of you!

 

[Hildace]

Rejected post-secondary

513 MCAT, 3.97 masters gpa, lower ugpa, OOS, application complete 7/25

 

[james11]

Rejected. 80+ Lizzy M, OOS Midwest. Not too bummed about this school in particular but it's a little frustrating to have 2 rejections and 0 II at this point with a 526 / 3.9

 

[787593]

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[787593]

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[Gurby]

Rejected 🙁 ~76 LizzyM, OOS, complete 7/25. Knew I should have written about my love for the Packers in the secondary!

 

[miaprgase0512]

Same here same stats also OOS (but I hate the packers)


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[miaprgase0512]

Woah idk why it put that emoji there but out of state lol


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[james11]

@Healer@1994 thank you you too

 

[alcoholdehydrogenase69]

So I'm OOS complete 7/26 and I haven't been rejected yet....I'll take it as a good sign? Probably will get rejection tomorrow


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[Captain Awesome]

After receiving that email some of you may have gotten about the Residency Verification link being put up, I'm wondering how the admissions committee will deal with processing applications. Have all of the in-state applications been without residency verification, so the order will remain the same? Or will the applications of those who submitted on the 21st, while there wasn't a link up, be reviewed after people that may have submitted their application later when the link was up? I asked the Higher Educational Aids Board to send residency verification to Madison, but apparently that's not how they verify.

Any information would be appreciated!

 

[tistheseason]

So I'm OOS complete 7/26 and I haven't been rejected yet....I'll take it as a good sign? Probably will get rejection tomorrow


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I'm nervous too!!

 

[benegesserit4]

After receiving that email some of you may have gotten about the Residency Verification link being put up, I'm wondering how the admissions committee will deal with processing applications. Have all of the in-state applications been without residency verification, so the order will remain the same? Or will the applications of those who submitted on the 21st, while there wasn't a link up, be reviewed after people that may have submitted their application later when the link was up? I asked the Higher Educational Aids Board to send residency verification to Madison, but apparently that's not how they verify.

Any information would be appreciated!

Also wondering about this. How long does it take to process the residency verification after we submit it? will our application not be looked at until this is verified?

 

[787593]

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[SymphonyNo9]

II yesterday!! OOS applicant

 

[HalfManHalfBirdman]

II yesterday!! OOS applicant

Congrats! UWSMPH was my top choice, but I was rejected because OOS. Avenge me!

 

[Dr. Cheddar]

Also wondering about this. How long does it take to process the residency verification after we submit it? will our application not be looked at until this is verified?

As a reapplicant, I can tell you that it took me somewhere between one to two weeks for residency verification and they do not mark your file as under review until this is done. I have quite the horror story about that. Last year, I submitted my secondary quite close to the deadline (about a week). As a result, the residency verification was not complete by the deadline. Once the deadline passed, I got an email saying that I was invited to complete the secondary and did not have a complete file at the time of the deadline due to the incomplete residency verification. Totally freaked me out when I read that email. Then a couple hours later, I received an email saying the previous email was a mistake. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster. And then three days after that, I got the email for an II.

 

[787593]

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[Dr. Cheddar]

How did the interview go? Best of luck applying!!

I applied for WARM last year since I do come from a very rural background in WI so the interview was open file unlike the regular MD applicants. I felt like the guy who interviewed me kind of picked apart my application as I sat there and listened. Some of the things he said made me feel like I was quite lucky to get an interview. For example, he said that my MCAT didn't match my GPA which I can agree with (I had 503/3.95 at the time, up to a 512 this time around) and that my experiences were pretty minimal (I had done research and been a scribe for a little while but didn't have very many hours). I thought there would be a bit of understanding since I was 20 at the time and was completing undergrad in 3 years so I only had two to get in experiences and important classes for the MCAT. I can certainly understand why I was rejected but I felt like I knew the answer as soon as I walked out of my interview.

That being said, the others that I talked to on interview day who were applying for regular MD said that their interviews were all pretty stress free. They all had to answer a couple basic questions (why Madison? Why medicine?) and then had a pretty casual conversation with their interviewers for the rest of the interview.

 

[Orthosurg1]

I applied for WARM last year since I do come from a very rural background in WI so the interview was open file unlike the regular MD applicants. I felt like the guy who interviewed me kind of picked apart my application as I sat there and listened. Some of the things he said made me feel like I was quite lucky to get an interview. For example, he said that my MCAT didn't match my GPA which I can agree with (I had 503/3.95 at the time, up to a 512 this time around) and that my experiences were pretty minimal (I had done research and been a scribe for a little while but didn't have very many hours). I thought there would be a bit of understanding since I was 20 at the time and was completing undergrad in 3 years so I only had two to get in experiences and important classes for the MCAT. I can certainly understand why I was rejected but I felt like I knew the answer as soon as I walked out of my interview.

That being said, the others that I talked to on interview day who were applying for regular MD said that their interviews were all pretty stress free. They all had to answer a couple basic questions (why Madison? Why medicine?) and then had a pretty casual conversation with their interviewers for the rest of the interview.

I'm applying for WARM this year! Are you again?

 

[Dr. Cheddar]

No, I'm going regular MD this time for a couple reasons. First, I felt that my two community letters for WARM weren't very good. I'm not sure who an ideal community letter would come from but I felt like mine didn't quite fit the category (I had a high school teacher and someone from my church). Also, in speaking with some current students during the interview day last year, some in the regular MD program who had done a couple of the rotations outside of Madison that the WARM students do didn't feel like they were the same quality and provided as good of a learning experience as the rotations in Madison. And of course, there's no reason I can't go into rural medicine without being in WARM.

However, I am working in public health in a rural setting (Wisconsin Health Corps) during my year off which would really help my WARM application if I chose to apply that route.

 

[787593]

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