2016-2017 West Virginia University Application Thread

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Any ideas how to get off the waitlist this school is my top choice? Letter of intent? Sending copies of publications?


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I would think about sending one to two update letters later on in the season with any significant updates (new grades, new pubs, etc). I would mention your intent in those letters. Don't send too many letters.


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OOS, waitlisted yesterday as well. I wasn't completely surprised but still very disappointed. No ties to WV, but ties to Appalachia and strong desire to practice rural medicine in the mountains. WVU seems like the perfect school for me. Hoping for good news in the spring!
 
Any ideas how to get off the waitlist this school is my top choice? Letter of intent? Sending copies of publications?


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I'm pretty sure they said you are allowed 4 updates throughout the cycle, and they appreciate (like all schools) updates that show progress. Final grades are always good as are publications, but I'd group some service in there as well and send one big update with a letter of intent written in between the lines. Looking at past threads, the WL starts moving in Dec and stays in motion almost until August, but slows in March so I would target Dec/Jan for updates. This is my plan as well.
 
do all admissions decisions come via email?
 
I was looking at last year's thread and I don't think there was wait list movement until April. The Dec-March acceptances looked like applicants who interviewed late in the cycle. I think I will send one or two updates but I don't expect to hear much before Spring.
 
Just wanted to double check. Are interviews done 2 on 1 (like previous years) or two separate interviews?
 
I got waitlisted after my II and really liked WVU. I'm OOS and thought the hospital and the school were exceptional. As a PA resident do I have a shot at all? I've been waitlisted at three other schools with no acceptances, aka its been a rough cycle.
 
I got waitlisted after my II and really liked WVU. I'm OOS and thought the hospital and the school were exceptional. As a PA resident do I have a shot at all? I've been waitlisted at three other schools with no acceptances, aka its been a rough cycle.
Might have to throw us some stats there
 
3.7 GPA, 511 MCAT. My freshman year GPA was a 3.45 and really had to work my way up
I'd say you're right in there in terms of OOS averages, you being from PA gives you a decent chance hopefully. The upwards trend from freshman year is a good thing
 
Kinda of an urgent question: What are the differences between the three campuses? Does a M1 have the option of starting at any of the three campuses or do M1 and M2 start at the Morgantown campus and go elsewhere for their last two years? I couldn't find a ton information on the website (maybe I was looking at the wrong places), so if anyone can give me some links that would also be appreciated. Thank you.
 
Thanks for the answer. Know of any differences between the Eastern and Charleston campuses?
Thanks for the answer. Know of any differences between the Eastern and Charleston campuses?
I don't know too much as I am a waitlisted OOS student, but Charleston is the largest city in WV with the largest hospital. Eastern Campus is more focused on rural medicine. Hopefully a current student can provide us with more info.
 
Thanks for the answer. Know of any differences between the Eastern and Charleston campuses?

From speaking with students on my interview day it seems Morgantown and Charleston are most desirable. The school is adamant that you get the same education at all campuses. I think it really depends on the kind of city you want to spend a couple years at. I really liked Morgantown and would probably want to stay there.
 
Morgangown is by far the most desirable because you don't have to move lol. You often have to move during Step 1 studying so it's not optimal. You also already know a lot of people in the area and the school/hospital because if MS1/2.

Charleston is a bigger "city" and less of a college town. There's more things like free live music, pub crawls that aren't infested with frat bros, etc. A good percentage of the people that go there every year don't want to, but they usually end up loving it. There are multiple hospitals around the city, including a small women's and children's hospital. I believe it's the same level trauma as Morgantown. There are residents in a few fields, but fewer than Morgantown. That can be good and bad. There are fewer subspecialists. I know they definitely have better surgery schedules than we do haha.

Eastern is rural, like someone said. It's in Martinsburg, which isn't a terribly rural area, but the hospital is small and there are only FM residents. There's more one on one with the attending, but no teaching time with residents and you don't really get to see what an academic center is like. The area is great though, about an hour from DC and very close to super cute Winchester, Va. Everyone that goes there really wants to be there.

About 2/3 of the class with stay at Morgantown, 1/3 to Charleston, and 10 to Eastern. Whatever you choose or get assigned now can be changed. People will want to go where their friends are so there will be movement! Hope that helps!


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Thanks for the answer. Know of any differences between the Eastern and Charleston campuses?
They have videos that accompany each of the campuses on YouTube. Search WVU Morgantown/Charleston/East Campus. The videos include how the living conditions are as well as the student/resident population.
 
While everything mentioned regarding campuses is correct, it is important to note that the Eastern method of third year clerkships is not the same as Morgantown or Charleston. Rather than rotating through one block at a time, you rotate through a combined two or three per semester, each weekly. So one week would be Surgery, the next week would be Pediatrics, the next would be OB/GYN, then back to Surgery, etc. Then you take all three subject exams at the end of the semester. (I am not sure of the actual clerkship schedule but it is an example.)

Ask yourself if this type of fragmentation is logical.

Additionally, switching campuses is not easy. It happens, but it is rarely straightforward.

EDIT: I felt a little guilty about injecting my opinion into the Eastern campus. My roommate's girlfriend went to Eastern and I asked her about what I said and how Eastern really is.

"Fragmentation", while technically correct, is not the true Eastern spirit. It's more about the "continuity of care". Eastern is best for people who learn more hands-on and who are, above all else, flexible. I am more of a rigid textbook person, where if I haven't seen it in a textbook or I don't know my day-to-day schedule, it's not going to work out for me. Morgantown and Charleston by virtue of their block system are more of the textbook approach: read about it in the book, apply it to real life week after week, until you are done with the block. She loved Eastern because she is not a textbook person like me, she wants hands on and is unafraid to say "I don't know".

An anecdote she told me was that she was rotating through OBGYN, Pediatrics, and FM. She saw a patient deliver a baby, two weeks later she saw them at a checkup, and a few weeks later at a FM visit. It is possible, though highly unlikely this would occur at Morgantown or Charleston. This exemplifies the continuity of care. Sure, she may not have known what she was doing at any of those time points as they were early in the year, but she saw a patient from three different services.

Perhaps I was hasty and too judgmental in my opinion of the Eastern campus.
 
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Anyone on the waitlist planning to send update letters? I'm trying to determine what the best timeline would be. I know waitlist movement doesn't start until April-ish, so I was thinking Jan/Feb would be a good time.
 
Anyone on the waitlist planning to send update letters? I'm trying to determine what the best timeline would be. I know waitlist movement doesn't start until April-ish, so I was thinking Jan/Feb would be a good time.
I was wondering the same thing
 
Interviewed 11/28, wait listed just now. Good luck to everyone else that interviewed on Monday and will be hearing back.
OOS (Virginia) LizzyM ~67
Reapplicant (wait listed last year as well)
 
Has anyone actually had any luck moving their date closer?
I was on the waitlist and didn't get an earlier interview, but I have heard of others who got earlier dates. I think someone earlier in this thread was able to rearrange his interview by calling the office.
 
Interviewed 11/28, wait listed just now. Good luck to everyone else that interviewed on Monday and will be hearing back.
OOS (Virginia) LizzyM ~67
Reapplicant (wait listed last year as well)

.
 
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Has anyone else that's been accepted receive the $100 tuition invoice?
 
Current WVU student. Feel free to ask anything; I think a bunch of current students visit SDN too so you can get a lot of opinions one whatever you're curious about.
Hey! So I just got offered my interview for WVUSOM and it will be my first medical school interview ever (just finished all of my secondaries last week due to some unfortunate events) any advice you wish you would have had going in? I am an Ohio resident but so far this is one of my top choices for schools so I want to be as prepared as possible. Thanks!!
 
Hey! So I just got offered my interview for WVUSOM and it will be my first medical school interview ever (just finished all of my secondaries last week due to some unfortunate events) any advice you wish you would have had going in? I am an Ohio resident but so far this is one of my top choices for schools so I want to be as prepared as possible. Thanks!!

Congrats!! I am an OH resident who got accepted at WVU... I would say my advice is to (obviously) be yourself, and to make a connection with your interviewers about why you would be a good fit for this school... Especially for a school that has a low OOS acceptance rate, you want to make sure that you emphasize either connections to the area or experience you have in similar areas that will allow you to excel in medical school in the state of WV. You need to sell yourself to them! It is a wonderful school and the interview day is very relaxing... Good luck and feel free to PM if if you want to talk any more
 
Hey! So I just got offered my interview for WVUSOM and it will be my first medical school interview ever (just finished all of my secondaries last week due to some unfortunate events) any advice you wish you would have had going in? I am an Ohio resident but so far this is one of my top choices for schools so I want to be as prepared as possible. Thanks!!
Just to double check, is your interview at the MD school WVU? Or at the DO school WVUSOM?
 
Just to double check, is your interview at the MD school WVU? Or at the DO school WVUSOM?

The DO school is WVSOM (West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine). It's not affiliated with WVU in anyway. I just wanted to set the record straight because a lot of people have been confused about that on the residency interview trail. WVUSOM is the WVU School of Medicine, the MD school you all are applying for!


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The DO school is WVSOM (West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine). It's not affiliated with WVU in anyway. I just wanted to set the record straight because a lot of people have been confused about that on the residency interview trail. WVUSOM is the WVU School of Medicine, the MD school you all are applying for!


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Yes I know. I have been accepted to WVU. I just wanted to make sure the other poster was in the correct thread since they used the acronym WVUSOM in their post, and looking at their profile they sent many secondaries to DO schools.

Hey! So I just got offered my interview for WVUSOM and it will be my first medical school interview ever (just finished all of my secondaries last week due to some unfortunate events) any advice you wish you would have had going in? I am an Ohio resident but so far this is one of my top choices for schools so I want to be as prepared as possible. Thanks!!
 
Yes I know. I have been accepted to WVU. I just wanted to make sure the other poster was in the correct thread since they used the acronym WVUSOM in their post, and looking at their profile they sent many secondaries to DO schools.

No problem, I'm just making sure everyone knows WVUSOM = MD, Morgantown and WVSOM = DO, Lewisburg.


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Yes I know. I have been accepted to WVU. I just wanted to make sure the other poster was in the correct thread since they used the acronym WVUSOM in their post, and looking at their profile they sent many secondaries to DO schools.
It was the MD program! And yeah I applied mostly DO because it was so late so I totally understand why you double checked haha
 
Congrats!! I am an OH resident who got accepted at WVU... I would say my advice is to (obviously) be yourself, and to make a connection with your interviewers about why you would be a good fit for this school... Especially for a school that has a low OOS acceptance rate, you want to make sure that you emphasize either connections to the area or experience you have in similar areas that will allow you to excel in medical school in the state of WV. You need to sell yourself to them! It is a wonderful school and the interview day is very relaxing... Good luck and feel free to PM if if you want to talk any more
Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it! Congrats on your acceptance!
 
Congrats!! I am an OH resident who got accepted at WVU... I would say my advice is to (obviously) be yourself, and to make a connection with your interviewers about why you would be a good fit for this school... Especially for a school that has a low OOS acceptance rate, you want to make sure that you emphasize either connections to the area or experience you have in similar areas that will allow you to excel in medical school in the state of WV. You need to sell yourself to them! It is a wonderful school and the interview day is very relaxing... Good luck and feel free to PM if if you want to talk any more
So I don't use this site very often and have never pm'd but had a few questions for you. When I click on your profile it says I'm unable to view, how would I go about sending you a pm? Haha sorry!
 
So I don't use this site very often and have never pm'd but had a few questions for you. When I click on your profile it says I'm unable to view, how would I go about sending you a pm? Haha sorry!

Should be able to click on his name and it will bring up a smaller black window.
Then click 'Start a conversation'.
Good luck on your interview!
 
batatata- I haven't heard anything, yet. I've heard some postulation about more movement in Jan/Feb, so planning on sending an update letter closer to then. Anyone else out there heard anything about waitlisted movement?


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batatata- I haven't heard anything, yet. I've heard some postulation about more movement in Jan/Feb, so planning on sending an update letter closer to then. Anyone else out there heard anything about waitlisted movement?


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There IS movement before the spring? For some reason I was under the impression that there wasn't anything until like March or April
 
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In years past there had been a small amount of movement prior to late April/early May. I wouldn't get too excited about it, but it does happen.


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