2016-2017 West Virginia University Application Thread

Started by WedgeDawg
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butterflyflower94 said:
I've been reading threads to see things I should not say but there's so much contradicting information out there that I decided to just be honest. I'm planning on saying something along the lines of "I do not know what happened with CARS. Although I knew it was my weakest section when studying, I do not think it as weak as I made it out to be on the MCAT. For a better understanding of where I stand in reading comprehension, please look over my grades from my English courses. As for critical analysis, the new MCAT is designed to be this for all sections. Since I did well on the other sections, I believe my CARS score should not reflect on either my reading comprehension or critical analysis. I am ready and eager to take on the course load given to students by medical schools"

If you have a better idea of what to include or not include, any help is greatly appreciated. Time was also a problem for me but others were like don't mention that you ran out of time.
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Not too sure I would draw that much attention. I have a low CARS score too and I gave it a concise one sentence explanation. I think regardless of how you explain it, it's going to factor into whether or not you get an interview, and if you do, then that will be the time to make your defense. Just my opinion, and that's what I have decided to do.
 
Funny_Current said:
Not too sure I would draw that much attention. I have a low CARS score too and I gave it a concise one sentence explanation. I think regardless of how you explain it, it's going to factor into whether or not you get an interview, and if you do, then that will be the time to make your defense. Just my opinion, and that's what I have decided to do.
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I'm definitely going to work on the writing. I feel like if I acknowledge my weakness, it would look better. My top schools have interviews where they don't see my MCAT score so they won't ask about it so I feel like I have to acknowledge it in my secondaries. I understand they will take it into consideration regardless which is why I'm not trying to make an excuse, just letting them know I understand and will work on it.
 
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I'm really impressed with how efficient WVU SOM is with applications and with the openness of communication their applicants. That's incredibly encouraging.

A day after I submitted my secondary, I had an email notification that they were actively looking at my app and were going to give me an interview decision within a 2-3 week window of time. That's awesome, WVU. Mountaineers doin' it right!
 
Did anyone receive a complete email? I submitted over a week ago and I have all my LORs in, but never received any email other than verifying my secondary submission.
 
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I was looking at the 2015-2016 thread and apparently getting a secondary meant you would also get an II, I'm guessing this is no longer valid?
 
Huggy said:
It seems as if WVU changes their secondary prompts every year. @pfaction Do you mind giving some information regarding your personal experience with the regional preference of the school, secondary screening process, and why you choose the school?
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  1. I'm from an urban/suburban environment. This place is comparatively straight up rural. I had an interesting hangup regarding my application so I applied where bachelor degrees weren't required, WVU was one of them.
  2. Secondary screening as far as I remember was no different than others I applied to. Be sure you can
  3. I found a great fit with a research mentor and chose this school over two others. I will expand on this later, but if you do choose WVU you will not have any regrets or handicaps when it comes time to match in your desired specialty. The only regret you may have if you are OOS is your debt.
Darth Doc said:
My classmates from New York and other large cities are looking forward to going back. The educators genuinely care and are good people. Research isn't a big priority here, but if you have interest it means there are more opportunities for you to pick a mentor and pursue what you want to do.
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Confirmed, I just went back and it was like day and night compared to Morgantown. My tires appreciated not going through fifty hills within a one mile span.
As for research, it depends on if you're talking basic or clinical science, and which field.

jjbodean said:
i'm non-traditional with several interesting life experiences and pretty good real world extracurriculars. also my post-bacc gpa was a 4.0, so with the large time gap between undergrad gpa and post-bacc gpa i guess they figured i got my stuff straight

i did apply as is as well, which i am sure did not hurt my cause any
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I find that non-traditionals are less uptight and communicate better than traditional medical school applicants. Plus you are a great seller with your car salesman background.

---

As I spend more time at WVU and see how things progress, the more I wonder why we're not ranked higher in the medical community. When considering medical schools, here is how I generally ranked things from the MD perspective:
  1. Are lectures recorded?
  2. Is the curriculum PBL-based?
  3. How/when are tests administered?
  4. Step 1 pass-rate?
  5. Debt accrued--both OOS/IS?
  6. Proximity to a major city?
  7. Residency matching difficulties?
    1. Research available?
    2. Match rates for past two/three years?
  8. Cost of living?
  9. Student and administrative support?
  10. Big negatives?
I should note that I am a huge introvert and could not care for attractions in the place that I live, so someone else will have to answer those questions.

Let's break this down.
  1. Almost all lectures are recorded. Why is this important? If you're me, you're not that functional in the morning. 3 to 4 hours of lectures starting at 8 AM is a surefire way to sleep in class. Zone out for 10 minutes in a lecture and you probably shouldn't have tried paying attention in the first place because you'll be lost either way. Recorded lectures played back at 1.5-2x speed is a godsend to learn at your own pace. You will inevitably have to re-listen or re-watch lectures, especially in second year when going to class is not a priority anymore, and WVU does not disappoint. Exceptions include lectures with patient information and the Ethics course (n=10 probably, negligible).
  2. PBL-based curriculums are, in my opinion, one of the most backward ways to learn in medical school. If a medical school can justify having students learn all the material themselves that is not one school you would want to attend. Our school is more traditional lectures with PBL/CLG (clinical learning group) dispersed inbetween. I enjoyed this, as our cases were generally based on things we were learning that block. While mandatory, they are one hour a week.
  3. All tests except for anatomy/histology practicals are electronic. All tests except for anatomy and histology are on the third Friday of every block. Why is this such a selling point for WVU? Because after the exam on Friday at noon, your entire weekend is free (except at the end of second year). This is fantastic for scheduling vacations and going out to relax. Test questions are reviewed by faculty pre-and post-test with some being thrown out if unfair, which rarely occurs but has happened. Test questions starting second year are board-like, with sprinkles of primary questioning.
  4. Another selling point is our Step 1 pass rate, which is in large part due to the gauntlet of NBME exams taken at the end of second year. Not a lot of schools put students through this, but without doubt it prepares us better than anything else. We're given about six weeks of Step 1 time though most people take it in four-five weeks and enjoy a vacation before moving on to MS3/PhD. I felt our school taught us pretty well for Step 1, no major complaints. Maybe Mountaineer12 and jjbodean can chime in for third year shelfs/Step 2.
  5. This is not a cheap school, though comparatively no schools are anymore. RIP, OOS, you're looking at a minimum of 200k.
  6. Pittsburgh is an hour and a half away (or less, depending on how fast you drive). There are some buses that will take you to the airport, I can't speak much on this since I don't go anywhere.
  7. Ah, residencies, the major endpoint for enduring four years of medical school. I regret not looking at this more, though the results are heavily biased on how motivated individual students are.
    1. For clinical research, I can only speak for surgery and another competitive specialty. There is a lot of research going on at our school. In the span of three months, I got involved in two projects and took the lead on one of them. Clinicians are generally open and willing to do research and if they don't have ideas of their own, are receptive to hearing ideas you bring up. You will unfortunately tear out your hair at the IRB process, though that occurs everywhere.
      For basic research, I get notifications of our faculty getting grants all the time. My PI has gotten two large-ish grants in the past year, I'm submitting my own grant which got good reviews, and we publish five-six papers per year. Many PIs have R01 (NIH-supported) grants for several years, making summer basic science projects easily doable.
    2. Take a look at our match data for the past couple of years, especially at the competitive specialties. Keep in mind that these rates are dependent on applicants, if no one applies there will be no match. First of all, a n=7 for orthopedic surgery is beyond insane. Second, dermatology, ophthamology, ENT, neurosurgery, plastics, everything is accounted for. We match, even if it is in our own school. For less-competitive specialties, we match consistently as well. A lot of people stay at WVU.
  8. COL: Apparently housing is relatively expensive in Morgantown, but apartments are not too bad. You should be able to live comfortably at $800/month in a shared complex. People always post listings for apartments and townhouse rentals.
  9. I think students support each other in our school. I don't remember any real cut-throat students (wait, was that me?) or those who acted maliciously in our class. I asked upperclassmen for help several times and got great responses. Material and resources were shared freely for the most part, along with helpful information as relevant to our block. I will never forget Mountaineer12's guides for Ethics without which I would have failed considering I fell asleep in class every single lecture. Administrative support is also fantastic here. I have always been able to meet with Dr. Cottrell and Dr. Ferrari even if it's just for the 10-minute session they carve out in their week for me. They listen, take concerns seriously, and follow up. Most memorable moment was when a snow day cancelled our test thus jeopardizing our spring break, administration came up with a fantastic deal by making the exam optional. After reading horror stories of how administration actively act against their own students, this attitude is refreshing.
Negatives about
  1. the school academically:
    1. No dedicated embryology course, which doesn't matter past Step 1 for the most part.
  2. the school location-wise:
    1. Outside of a select few students, no one wants to leave Morgantown. The three-campus system is the worst downside to coming to WVU. Match rates remain similar for the campuses as Charleston and Eastern campus students routinely match into competitive specialties, but who wants to move after establishing relationships with mentors for two years?
  3. Morgantown:
    1. Roads are TERRIBLE, and sidewalks are rare.
    2. You cannot get away without having a car. It is almost impossible.
    3. Town is abysmal during football games.
    4. I don't know if anyone has fantastic internet here for a decent price.
And with these long paragraphs I feel I have successfully procrastinated from my responsibilities for the night. If you have any other questions feel free to post them here.
 
pfaction said:
I felt our school taught us pretty well for Step 1, no major complaints. Maybe Mountaineer12 and jjbodean can chime in for third year shelfs/Step 2.
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without having my step 2 score i will say that based on the 3rd year shelf exams the prep was comparable for 3rd year to the 1st 2 years
 
After getting my Step 2 CK score today, I can say that third year preps you just as well as first and second year do for Step 1! There's more self study in third year, but everyone I've talked to so far has done really well on step 2!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app
 
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Reapplicant, interviewed last year.

complete mid july this year

Rejected

🙁

I made significant improvements but I guess their first impression of me last year was not good.
 
Last edited:
Levrone said:
Reapplicant, interviewed last year.

complete mid july this year

Rejected

🙁

I made significant improvements but I guess their first impression of me last year was not good.
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How soon after submitting secondary did they contact you? I'm really sorry 🙁 Best of luck at the other schools where you're applying!
 
Mountaineer12 said:
After getting my Step 2 CK score today, I can say that third year preps you just as well as first and second year do for Step 1! There's more self study in third year, but everyone I've talked to so far has done really well on step 2!
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after getting my step 2 ck score today i second this post. huge improvement over step 1 here.
 
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