2016-2017 Western Michigan University (Stryker) Application Thread

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Each question has a 2000 character limit. The preferred abbreviation of Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine is 'WMed'.
Essay #1: Describe why you wish to enroll at WMed. You should describe any connection you have to southwest Michigan.

Essay #2: Describe what you bring to the practice of medicine - your values, skills, talents, and life experiences - and how you add to the cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of the medical profession.

Essay #3: WMed Re-Applicants Only: Describe changes to your application from previous cycles - include academics, experiences, and/or personal attributes.
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@WedgeDawg

Each question has a 2000 character limit. The preferred abbreviation of Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine is 'WMed'.
Essay #1: Describe why you wish to enroll at WMed. You should describe any connection you have to southwest Michigan.

Essay #2: Describe what you bring to the practice of medicine - your values, skills, talents, and life experiences - and how you add to the cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of the medical profession.

Essay #3: WMed Re-Applicants Only: Describe changes to your application from previous cycles - include academics, experiences, and/or personal attributes.
 
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Good luck! MS3 here. Happy to answer any questions since we're currently in the boring rotation prep week.
 
WMed UpToDate said:
Good luck! MS3 here. Happy to answer any questions since we're currently in the boring rotation prep week.
Click to expand...

What is the the online assessment?

"3. Online Assessment: Upon completion of the supplemental essays, you will receive a separate email with instructions and a link to complete this assessment. Your application cannot move through our admissions process until this assessment is completed."
 
Dr. McPanda said:
What is the the online assessment?

"3. Online Assessment: Upon completion of the supplemental essays, you will receive a separate email with instructions and a link to complete this assessment. Your application cannot move through our admissions process until this assessment is completed."
Click to expand...

A personality test sort of thing, IIRC. You don't need to prep for it.
 
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Well I believe I answered 46 of the 48 questions anyway. I don't recall seeing a timer on the screen for each question, so I just tried to complete them as quickly as I could.
 
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Hildace said:
Well I believe I answered 46 of the 48 questions anyway. I don't recall seeing a timer on the screen for each question, so I just tried to complete them as quickly as I could.
Click to expand...
Was it tough? What did it test? Am guessing there's no need to prepare for it..
 
ishiningstar said:
Was it tough? What did it test? Am guessing there's no need to prepare for it..
Click to expand...

It was fairly easy compared to NYMC's CASPer test, which isn't hard either. You don't need to prepare for it. It looks at personality, motivation and behavior in various situations. Not that different NYMC's CASPer test, but at least it's multiple choice instead of open response.
 
Hildace said:
Well I believe I answered 46 of the 48 questions anyway. I don't recall seeing a timer on the screen for each question, so I just tried to complete them as quickly as I could.
Click to expand...
How do you know how many you answered? Did it feel like it randomly skipped around for you?
 
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iris11 said:
How do you know how many you answered? Did it feel like it randomly skipped around for you?
Click to expand...

I know because at least twice it went on to the next question while I was thinking about which response I was going to pick. Yes, it did seem like the questions were not in any particular order.
 
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T
Hildace said:
It was fairly easy compared to NYMC's CASPer test, which isn't hard either. You don't need to prepare for it. It looks at personality, motivation and behavior in various situations. Not that different NYMC's CASPer test, but at least it's multiple choice instead of open response.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info !
 
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No secondary yet. Should I be worried?
 
WMed UpToDate said:
Good luck! MS3 here. Happy to answer any questions since we're currently in the boring rotation prep week.
Click to expand...

What do you like about your school? Is there anything you think sets it apart from others?
 
If I have family that are alumni do I mark "Kalamazoo Affiliation," or is this section solely looking at the applicant's education?

Edit: Figured it out
 
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Just to clarify concerning the assessment: It is timed and you get 30 seconds per question. That's why it skipped around for those of you who have already taken it. Hope this helps, good luck to everyone who is still working on this app! :claps: @Hildace @iris11
 
It's not that bad at all! Its like a personality and situation assessment test :) but I also felt like it skipped questions .....
 
As an OOS person with 3.5 cGPA, 3.3 sGPA, 3.1 and no ties to the region, should I bother finishing the secondary?
 
ChrisMack390 said:
What do you like about your school? Is there anything you think sets it apart from others?
Click to expand...

Among many things, I like that school is usually responsive to feedback and clinical faculties are generally excited to see med students, especially as we started our clerkships this year. I don't know enough about other schools to give you a good answer to your second question. Small class size, perhaps?

MedArtist said:
As an OOS person with 3.5 cGPA, 3.3 sGPA, 3.1 and no ties to the region, should I bother finishing the secondary?
Click to expand...
Having no ties to region will not hurt you. We don't have a regional preference, except for students from WMU or K college. You should still finish the secondary
 
MedArtist said:
As an OOS person with 3.5 cGPA, 3.3 sGPA, 3.1 and no ties to the region, should I bother finishing the secondary?
Click to expand...
What's your rationale behind asking this question? Do you want someone to tell you not to apply?

It's that simple: if you would go here, apply. If you would not go here, don't apply.
 
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ChrisMack390 said:
What do you like about your school? Is there anything you think sets it apart from others?
Click to expand...

I like many things about WMed, including:
  1. Proximity to my support network of friends and family (I'm a native Michigander).
  2. Small, tight-knit atmosphere. We all know each other and faculty/admin knows you, too. It's likely that someone will notice if you haven't been around in a while.
  3. Spending the first month or so getting MFR certified. Capstone day is a ton of fun!
  4. Faculty will bend over backwards to help you in any way that they can, from getting you in touch with a specific clinician to help guide your specialty decision, or spending time with you to help you really understand something. This has 100% been my experience and it's been great. I once had two professors to myself during an exam week for nearly 2 hours to walk me through a bunch of subjects I had questions on, which was something I had never experienced at my large undergrad institution.
  5. Being able to enact change by vocalizing and writing constructive feedback. It's actually mandated that you submit feedback on regular intervals, and there's always a way to submit optional feedback. At other schools, you just have to grin and bear it and accept that it will never change. Here, you grin and bear it to an extent, but at least you're expected to submit constructive criticism to change things!
  6. Very forgiving remediation process in the event that you do not pass a final exam.
  7. Starting clinical experiences early, including working in the Sim Lab, with standardized patients, and getting out in the clinics.
  8. Having dedicated faculty contacts you can reach out to for any reason 24 hours a day without fear of being reprimanded. This includes things like seeking counseling services, struggling with a situation you encountered during a clinical rotation, or just dealing with general life roadbumps (such as a death in the family).
  9. Taking regular NBME exams throughout our curriculum. At the time, it feels like a major burden and eats away at a lot of free time, but these exams are a great way to monitor your progress toward USMLE Step 1 success.
  10. I personally like that we will take Step 1 after 3rd year, since I'm a hands-on learner and think I will benefit a ton from having the practical experience in clerkships, particularly with pharm.
  11. It's a small world. You'll run into a lecturer out in the clinics.
  12. We have a pretty awesome facility situated in a great spot in downtown Kalamazoo. We have modern lecture halls, awesome study and conference rooms to use, and the Sim Lab. There's an Alamo Drafthouse movie theater just across the street, the Kalamazoo Mall is a few minute walk away and has a ton of shops and restaurants, there are a handful of awesome craft breweries super close to the school, and there's an awesome climbing gym that's maybe a 4 minute walk from campus.
  13. Kalamazoo is, overall, a cheap place to live. Groceries and living accommodations are very affordable.
  14. Plenty of nature nearby - Lake Michigan is under an hour away (do a quick google image search for South Haven or St. Joseph, MI), lots of inland lakes are closer (<15 min: Spring Valley Park, Gull Lake, Long Lake), and the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail is a nice, quite, somewhat hilly trail for walking/running/biking. In the wintertime, we're close to two places to downhill ski (warning: they're dinky little hills as far as skiing goes, but still fun!).
  15. Kalamazoo is halfway between Detroit and Chicago along I-94, and one hour south of Grand Rapids. There's a LOT to do within a day trip!
 
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BertMacklin said:
I like many things about WMed, including:
  1. Proximity to my support network of friends and family (I'm a native Michigander).
  2. Small, tight-knit atmosphere. We all know each other and faculty/admin knows you, too. It's likely that someone will notice if you haven't been around in a while.
  3. Spending the first month or so getting MFR certified. Capstone day is a ton of fun!
  4. Faculty will bend over backwards to help you in any way that they can, from getting you in touch with a specific clinician to help guide your specialty decision, or spending time with you to help you really understand something. This has 100% been my experience and it's been great. I once had two professors to myself during an exam week for nearly 2 hours to walk me through a bunch of subjects I had questions on, which was something I had never experienced at my large undergrad institution.
  5. Being able to enact change by vocalizing and writing constructive feedback. It's actually mandated that you submit feedback on regular intervals, and there's always a way to submit optional feedback. At other schools, you just have to grin and bear it and accept that it will never change. Here, you grin and bear it to an extent, but at least you're expected to submit constructive criticism to change things!
  6. Very forgiving remediation process in the event that you do not pass a final exam.
  7. Starting clinical experiences early, including working in the Sim Lab, with standardized patients, and getting out in the clinics.
  8. Having dedicated faculty contacts you can reach out to for any reason 24 hours a day without fear of being reprimanded. This includes things like seeking counseling services, struggling with a situation you encountered during a clinical rotation, or just dealing with general life roadbumps (such as a death in the family).
  9. Taking regular NBME exams throughout our curriculum. At the time, it feels like a major burden and eats away at a lot of free time, but these exams are a great way to monitor your progress toward USMLE Step 1 success.
  10. I personally like that we will take Step 1 after 3rd year, since I'm a hands-on learner and think I will benefit a ton from having the practical experience in clerkships, particularly with pharm.
  11. It's a small world. You'll run into a lecturer out in the clinics.
  12. We have a pretty awesome facility situated in a great spot in downtown Kalamazoo. We have modern lecture halls, awesome study and conference rooms to use, and the Sim Lab. There's an Alamo Drafthouse movie theater just across the street, the Kalamazoo Mall is a few minute walk away and has a ton of shops and restaurants, there are a handful of awesome craft breweries super close to the school, and there's an awesome climbing gym that's maybe a 4 minute walk from campus.
  13. Kalamazoo is, overall, a cheap place to live. Groceries and living accommodations are very affordable.
  14. Plenty of nature nearby - Lake Michigan is under an hour away (do a quick google image search for South Haven or St. Joseph, MI), lots of inland lakes are closer (<15 min: Spring Valley Park, Gull Lake, Long Lake), and the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail is a nice, quite, somewhat hilly trail for walking/running/biking. In the wintertime, we're close to two places to downhill ski (warning: they're dinky little hills as far as skiing goes, but still fun!).
  15. Kalamazoo is halfway between Detroit and Chicago along I-94, and one hour south of Grand Rapids. There's a LOT to do within a day trip!
Click to expand...

Thank you this is very helpful.
 
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For people who have completed the secondary, how long after you submitted did you receive an email to fill out the online questions?
 
There is also apparently a Pokemon stop and gym thing at our school. So for all you crazy fans, this is the school to be at.
 
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BertMacklin said:
I like many things about WMed, including:
  1. Proximity to my support network of friends and family (I'm a native Michigander).
  2. Small, tight-knit atmosphere. We all know each other and faculty/admin knows you, too. It's likely that someone will notice if you haven't been around in a while.
  3. Spending the first month or so getting MFR certified. Capstone day is a ton of fun!
  4. Faculty will bend over backwards to help you in any way that they can, from getting you in touch with a specific clinician to help guide your specialty decision, or spending time with you to help you really understand something. This has 100% been my experience and it's been great. I once had two professors to myself during an exam week for nearly 2 hours to walk me through a bunch of subjects I had questions on, which was something I had never experienced at my large undergrad institution.
  5. Being able to enact change by vocalizing and writing constructive feedback. It's actually mandated that you submit feedback on regular intervals, and there's always a way to submit optional feedback. At other schools, you just have to grin and bear it and accept that it will never change. Here, you grin and bear it to an extent, but at least you're expected to submit constructive criticism to change things!
  6. Very forgiving remediation process in the event that you do not pass a final exam.
  7. Starting clinical experiences early, including working in the Sim Lab, with standardized patients, and getting out in the clinics.
  8. Having dedicated faculty contacts you can reach out to for any reason 24 hours a day without fear of being reprimanded. This includes things like seeking counseling services, struggling with a situation you encountered during a clinical rotation, or just dealing with general life roadbumps (such as a death in the family).
  9. Taking regular NBME exams throughout our curriculum. At the time, it feels like a major burden and eats away at a lot of free time, but these exams are a great way to monitor your progress toward USMLE Step 1 success.
  10. I personally like that we will take Step 1 after 3rd year, since I'm a hands-on learner and think I will benefit a ton from having the practical experience in clerkships, particularly with pharm.
  11. It's a small world. You'll run into a lecturer out in the clinics.
  12. We have a pretty awesome facility situated in a great spot in downtown Kalamazoo. We have modern lecture halls, awesome study and conference rooms to use, and the Sim Lab. There's an Alamo Drafthouse movie theater just across the street, the Kalamazoo Mall is a few minute walk away and has a ton of shops and restaurants, there are a handful of awesome craft breweries super close to the school, and there's an awesome climbing gym that's maybe a 4 minute walk from campus.
  13. Kalamazoo is, overall, a cheap place to live. Groceries and living accommodations are very affordable.
  14. Plenty of nature nearby - Lake Michigan is under an hour away (do a quick google image search for South Haven or St. Joseph, MI), lots of inland lakes are closer (<15 min: Spring Valley Park, Gull Lake, Long Lake), and the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail is a nice, quite, somewhat hilly trail for walking/running/biking. In the wintertime, we're close to two places to downhill ski (warning: they're dinky little hills as far as skiing goes, but still fun!).
  15. Kalamazoo is halfway between Detroit and Chicago along I-94, and one hour south of Grand Rapids. There's a LOT to do within a day trip!
Click to expand...
Bert hit the nail on the head. M2 here. If anyone has any other questions let me know!
 
Submitted. What a fun little test.
 
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BertMacklin said:
I like many things about WMed, including:
  1. I personally like that we will take Step 1 after 3rd year, since I'm a hands-on learner and think I will benefit a ton from having the practical experience in clerkships, particularly with pharm.
Click to expand...

M3 here. As a fellow hands-on learner, I can't tell you how immense a difference this has made for me. At first I questioned the "after 3rd year" decision quite a bit, but I'm convinced there will be a significant value to me as an individual, and probably to our class as a whole. I have learned so much in clerkships - when I go back to "relearn" everything for Step1, I think it will be much, much, much more productive than if I had just tried to do that after the first two in-class years.

Good luck everybody.
 
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tellme_areyoufree said:
M3 here. As a fellow hands-on learner, I can't tell you how immense a difference this has made for me. At first I questioned the "after 3rd year" decision quite a bit, but I'm convinced there will be a significant value to me as an individual, and probably to our class as a whole. I have learned so much in clerkships - when I go back to "relearn" everything for Step1, I think it will be much, much, much more productive than if I had just tried to do that after the first two in-class years.

Good luck everybody.
Click to expand...

Seconded. I abhor memorization without application. Clerkship has made stuff much more relevant. Sure, there are some details (Krebs cycle intermediates?!) that most likely won't come up during rotations, but I would've had to study them on my own anyways. Plus, we get more dedicated time for Step 1 now. That's a big plus.
 
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Darn, I just noticed that the secondary says they prefer submission within 10 days. Hopefully they don't hold my 13 day turnaround against me :(
 
ChrisMack390 said:
Darn, I just noticed that the secondary says they prefer submission within 10 days. Hopefully they don't hold my 13 day turnaround against me :(
Click to expand...
I submitted mine within 12 days --- I think we are close enough to the preferred turnaround that it shouldn't hurt us. Hopefully
 
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Ugh I just got an email from someone's first name with the subject "WMed...." and had a heart attack thinking it was someone to schedule an interview with. It wasn't.
 
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I had no idea WMed did a pre-interview phone interview. I sound like such a nub over the phone, but that really is a neat part of the process!
 
apple16 said:
I had no idea WMed did a pre-interview phone interview. I sound like such a nub over the phone, but that really is a neat part of the process!
Click to expand...

Did you just get one today or did someone who has applied before tell you that?
 
My application is now in "experiences review" which I suppose is WMed's way of saying its complete.
 
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I also got the experience review status, but there was a link on the email to the application process you can read over. For some reason, in all of my WMed research for the secondary, I missed it!
 
Is that something we schedule with them? Or do we just answer the phone one day and it's them
 
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Based on me stalking last year's application thread, I believe they will send you an invite for the phone interview and you get to schedule it. Then they'll send an II for a campus interview.
 
apple16 said:
I also got the experience review status, but there was a link on the email to the application process you can read over. For some reason, in all of my WMed research for the secondary, I missed it!
Click to expand...

Found it:


  • AMCAS Application - Submit a primary application to the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS).
  • Experiences Review - Select candidates move next to the experiences review where we review your pre-medical experiences, essays and application materials.
  • Phone Interview - We have designed a telephone interview to help us learn more about your personal attributes. This is not an interview you can study for and isn’t designed to test your medical or scientific knowledge. This step is unique to WMed and is designed to help us learn more about your personal attributes.
  • Campus Interview - Approximately 420 applicants will be invited to Kalamazoo to visit campus, meet with faculty and students for a campus interview. The interview day includes both a traditional interview and a structured interview.


I wonder how "select" the "select" candidates are.
 
Got the experiences review email today as well. I wonder how selective they are for this?
 
Yeah, that confuses me a little too. I know the supplemental applications are screened, but I'm not sure if the same "select candidates" that got the secondary are the ones getting the review.. or if they screened it more (if that makes sense). I just need some way to gauge my level of excitement, haha
 
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There is an additional screening post secondary before the phone interview. They narrow down the pool at each step.
 
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