2018-2019 Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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runner12345 said:
I'm looking to rent and would love to live close enough to bike to campus (within 7 miles). Do you know if most unmarried students have roommates?
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Pike and Rose is really nice. Its close but also on the metro line
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Hello all!

First time poster. USUHS II on 9/27. AD Navy HM from this area so if you guys have any questions about location/base, let me know. We live in a Germantown townhouse and the commute isn't bad in the morning at 25 mins at 0500, coming home depends but ranges from 30-50+ mins after 1600. Rent would hover around $1700-$2000 for a two story 1500 sqft townhouse. Good luck to everyone this year and congrats to those who were recently picked up!
 
HM8483_94 said:
Hello all!

First time poster. USUHS II on 9/27. AD Navy HM from this area so if you guys have any questions about location/base, let me know. We live in a Germantown townhouse and the commute isn't bad in the morning at 25 mins at 0500, coming home depends but ranges from 30-50+ mins after 1600. Rent would hover around $1700-$2000 for a two story 1500 sqft townhouse. Good luck to everyone this year and congrats to those who were recently picked up!
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Tried to send you a PM, but we interviewed on the same day. How's it going?
 
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Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
Tried to send you a PM, but we interviewed on the same day. How's it going?
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Hey! Congrats on your acceptance. Going well, patiently awaiting any verdict still but it sounds like they don't review all applicants from the same interview date together. Ill be good for another few weeks before the nail biting begins.
 
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HM8483_94 said:
Hey! Congrats on your acceptance. Going well, patiently awaiting any verdict still but it sounds like they don't review all applicants from the same interview date together. Ill be good for another few weeks before the nail biting begins.
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Yeah, they do it in batches. Be patient! You applying anywhere else?
 
Plenty of apartments up and down the red line metro. Would advise living north of the medical center metro since the stops south of medical center start later in the morning than the ones north. Pissed off my walter reed intern (at the time) friend off to no end.

Had a few roommates during first year, common theme for the bachelor and bachelorettes classmates. Kept rent costs down. Then I married my classmate and moved in with her...so I guess I still have a roommate.

I also concur with your financial advisers about not buying. Once didactics end in year 1.5 your rotation location will become utterly chaotic. You might be able to stay in Walter Reed for a while but also...most likely not. In the last 23 months I have probably spent 10 weeks back at USUHS. Though a good portion of that was because I tried to exile myself away from USUHS. Your individual mileage may vary though.

- MS4
 
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Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
Yeah, they do it in batches. Be patient! You applying anywhere else?
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Wasn't allowed to under my 1306 letter of release. I had to fight hard for them to end my contract this cycle but finally got approval. I am a re-applicant for this reason as I was denied last time. Just got lucky this time I guess. Where else are you applying?
 
HM8483_94 said:
Wasn't allowed to under my 1306 letter of release. I had to fight hard for them to end my contract this cycle but finally got approval. I am a re-applicant for this reason as I was denied last time. Just got lucky this time I guess. Where else are you applying?
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A few MDs and a few DOs. Not super interested in going elsewhere though. Although I do have an interview coming up at a school I think I will really like.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
A few MDs and a few DOs. Not super interested in going elsewhere though. Although I do have an interview coming up at a school I think I will really like.
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Well good luck to you. USUHS would be my top pick as well regardless.
 
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Interviewed Oct 4, still waiting. Anyone else?
 
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Long time lurker here. Just got the “on hold for re-review” email. Totally what I was expecting since I have 0 military experience/ connections. I will say that was the nicest on hold message I’ve gotten so far. Complete 9/24. Best of luck to the other applicants and congrats to those accepted!
 
Question for anyone who has previously interviewed. Is the admissions committee cool with us storing our luggage in their office while we interview. I got a flight later that evening.
 
Ford5 said:
Question for anyone who has previously interviewed. Is the admissions committee cool with us storing our luggage in their office while we interview. I got a flight later that evening.
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Yes! There's a place to leave your luggage in the admissions office.
 
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Did anyone else have a rough time with DoDMERB?
 
Msimas said:
Did anyone else have a rough time with DoDMERB?
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Still having a issues with DoDMERB. They sent me a remedial letter with the wrong injury on it. I do know that they are way behind though. They did a server switch earlier in the cycle and had to hand-jam a lot of information in.
 
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Msimas said:
Did anyone else have a rough time with DoDMERB?
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They are backed up because they had major site issues. It took a while for me to wind my way through the process, but you’ll get through it. It doesn’t start to hurt you not being qualified until you hit Feb/March and beyond.
 
BunsenBeaker said:
Can you help me find resources to understand the military match? I am mil-to-mil and my primary concern with USUHS is that I'll match with a specialty/base assignment that sends me far away from my family.
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So Matthew9Tthirtyfive beat me to it, but yes - JSGME is the office responsible for coordinating the military equivalent of the civilian residency match process. Each service does it a little bit different, it's not exactly transparent, but from what they tell us it's a combination of looking at our pre-clerkship pass/fail scores and clerkship grades, an arbitrary number of "points" awarded for things like honors/leadership positions/research, and a bunch of residency program directors from each service passing the applications of MS-4s across a big table in a dark room with one lightbulb.

One thing is for sure though, you will get PCS (permanent change of station) orders wherever you get matched to wherever that residency is. With those PCS orders will come the means to transport you and your entire family with you. From my understanding, SOME residencies have optional research or travel months that COULD take you away from your base for some amount of time, but none that I'm aware of would keep you away from your family any more than the physicians in civilian residencies would. We've been told multiple times that residents will NOT be deployed before completing residency, with the exception of folks in GMOs who technically have completed an intern year and can practice unsupervised as a full physician.

That being said, there will be a few weeks every few years that you will probably be separated from your family (Bushmaster Exercise in years 1 & 4, your initial direct commissioning course - unless you are currently an active duty officer, and clerkships - though many students with families often bring their families along or opt to stay in the local area, except for air force med students, who I believe will have to do at least a few clerkships away from the NCR during med school).

Overall, military residencies are in places with large military treatment facilities and large populations of active duty folks to keep them busy enough to support their programs (think Oahu, DC, San Antonio, San Diego, & Seattle areas, not Montana). Almost all of these have suburbs that are great to raise families nearby, and some even have on-base housing if you really want your kids raised in a safe, tight-knit, military community (ex. where I grew up).

TL,DR; I don't have kids yet, but I have enough classmates with young kids who would share similar concerns if it were an issue - and I haven't heard of it from any of them yet. Residency PCS locations tend to be nice and fam-friendly.
 
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TybeeRagnar said:
Still having a issues with DoDMERB. They sent me a remedial letter with the wrong injury on it. I do know that they are way behind though. They did a server switch earlier in the cycle and had to hand-jam a lot of information in.
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I HAD THE SAME THING... So now I am scrambling trying to fix their mistake...
 
BunsenBeaker said:
I'm not worried about being away from "family" generically. I'm worried about being stationed apart from my spouse as mil-to-mil.
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Ahhh, so as for being at USUHS, there's only one place and that's in Bethesda. If your spouse is in a unit/billet that doesn't have any positions in the NCR, you could be looking at being apart from awhile (like one of my classmates who has a partner still stationed in another state a thousand miles away right now). When we match, they do factor in military spouses and do their best to match couples accordingly, kind of like a couple's match except one member isn't going for residency. There are no guarantees of course, but take solace in being part of one of the largest organizations in the world and consistently demonstrates has a strong commitment to keeping families together when possible.
 
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Conditionally Accepted 11/09 for Navy commission!! I got a call and a letter yesterday. I'm beyond thrilled!!

I'm a reapplicant, former service in the Peace Corps, no military background, interviewed 10/17. Last year's three interviews and crickets broke me. But stick with it folks. Dedication pays off!
 
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Cavalry said:
Ahhh, so as for being at USUHS, there's only one place and that's in Bethesda. If your spouse is in a unit/billet that doesn't have any positions in the NCR, you could be looking at being apart from awhile (like one of my classmates who has a partner still stationed in another state a thousand miles away right now). When we match, they do factor in military spouses and do their best to match couples accordingly, kind of like a couple's match except one member isn't going for residency.
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Yes my partner will be NCR-based for a long time, which is why I'd be eyeing up Bethesda for residency. Do a lot of people try to stay for residency?

Cavalry said:
There are no guarantees of course, but take solace in being part of one of the largest organizations in the world and consistently demonstrates has a strong commitment to keeping families together when possible.
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I agree... I've just seen mil-to-mil with a mismatched set of PCS orders end up in divorce too many times. Deployments and extended training TDYs are one thing, but not having an expiration date for being apart makes it hard to raise kiddos. I definitely appreciate your thoughts and your optimism though... Something that is of great value to folks like me going through the process, so thank you!
 
I got an email from Col. Saguil saying that I have been waitlisted. Interviewed 10/4.
 
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AirForceNaz said:
Super random question: does your weight matter for physicals? I’m on a bulking cycle right now and I would start cutting if I need to.

I was at a recruiting office earlier this year and overhead someone say “Please just get me someone who isn’t overweight” lmao
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Hi! I am a bit late to the party but I do have some info directly from Wilsnack! So I was over weight for my physical (recently turned 21, alooooot of liquid calories gained), and was sent an email about getting a body composition exam. Once you receive this email, you have until the end of Feburary to send in a passed exam (be under the required body fat percentage for your height, age, and gender). If you cannot get under by that time, you will have to start having “serious conversations” with Wilsnack in March.
 
Any other interviewers from 10/18 hear anything yet?
 
TybeeRagnar said:
Any other interviewers from 10/18 hear anything yet?
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I interviewed on 10/18 and was accepted for Navy on Tuesday 11/13 by phone call. I got a letter dated 11/09 that same day. I hope they call you soon!!
 
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Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
That's better news than it sounds like. USUHS historically goes through the vast majority of its waitlists for all three branches.
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That is actually super promising to a less-than-ideal candidate like myself! Still just crossing my fingers for an interview!
 
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II just now, I was put on hold a month ago. December 6th! I am so excited!
 
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II today! Complete back in August.
 
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SAFE doesn't work for anyone else, right? Can we email SECNAV to Ms. Baker directly?
 
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I interviewed on Nov. 8, and had the chance to talk to Dr. Saguil. He gave me a little info that may be promising.

If you interviewed, you are interviewing for a slot. They perform a serious vetting process before interviews and approximately 70% of interviewees will be accepted.

If you are waitlisted, that is fine. All that is means is that you are waiting on a spot to open up, and this happens all the time. Many people dont accept or don’t meet the standsrda to commision. If that is the case, the waitlisted people are next.

They prioritize in order of your interview performance. If you do well, you’ll go to the top of the list and receive the next available slot.

This is my interpretation of the conversation, but Dr. Saguil made it seem like interviewees had a pretty good chance of being accepted. Good luck!
 
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ALittleC8H10N4O2 said:
I interviewed on Nov. 8, and had the chance to talk to Dr. Saguil. He gave me a little info that may be promising.

If you interviewed, you are interviewing for a slot. They perform a serious vetting process before interviews and approximately 70% of interviewees will be accepted.

If you are waitlisted, that is fine. All that is means is that you are waiting on a spot to open up, and this happens all the time. Many people dont accept or don’t meet the standsrda to commision. If that is the case, the waitlisted people are next.

They prioritize in order of your interview performance. If you do well, you’ll go to the top of the list and receive the next available slot.

This is my interpretation of the conversation, but Dr. Saguil made it seem like interviewees had a pretty good chance of being accepted. Good luck!
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That is good news. Here is to hoping that we are part of the 70%!
 
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BunsenBeaker said:
Yes my partner will be NCR-based for a long time, which is why I'd be eyeing up Bethesda for residency. Do a lot of people try to stay for residency?
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I would say quite a few, but most people choose based on program and fit. I don't have hard numbers and wouldn't want to lie to you, but my guess is that for the larger program like IM/Peds/FM, there will be slots available to the average graduating student in the NCR. I haven't heard that Walter Reed is the most competitive location for most programs or anything along those lines.

I agree with your other concern, and it's valid. There are no guarantees with matching and having a spouse PCS'd somewhere else for a long period of time certainly puts a strain on any relationship. Again I can't speak to numbers, but from what I hear (again taking this with a grain of salt) programs definitely factor in a military spouses' assigned station and try to keep couples together.
 
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ALittleC8H10N4O2 said:
If you are waitlisted, that is fine. All that is means is that you are waiting on a spot to open up, and this happens all the time.
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That is correct, USU's waitlist moves faster than most civilian med schools (though still slower than every waitlisted student would like) and more of the class comes off the waitlist due to fewer acceptances offered outright. From what I understand, this is because USU's purse is controlled in large part by Congress, and they are prohibited to enrolling (and thus offering acceptances to) more students than their allocated funding allows. Therefore, USU only gives out exactly the number of acceptances that it has spots for, unlike civilian schools that accept 2.5-3.5 times more students than their average class, and once most of those acceptees choose to go elsewhere, then they take a few civilians off the waitlist. As a result, being on a waitlist at USU is actually pretty good overall, and much more optimistic than being waitlisted almost anywhere else.
 
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So I am having a hard time filling out my branch preference sheet. Is there a detriment to putting no preference? I see good qualities in all of the branches and I would be honored to join any but would that reflect as apathetic? Also does your desired specialty play in to which branch you should join? I would appreciate all of your thoughts!
 
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