2020-2021 Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences

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Aragorn55 said:
Congrats on the II! Mind sharing stats or LM?
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Sure! 515 MCAT, 3.99 GPA. I've got a research-heavy background, but probably lacking in the volunteering/community service department. Who knows if that will turn around to bite me? But at least I know what I can work on if this cycle doesn't work out!
 
Back to Cali said:
Sure! 515 MCAT, 3.99 GPA. I've got a research-heavy background, but probably lacking in the volunteering/community service department. Who knows if that will turn around to bite me? But at least I know what I can work on if this cycle doesn't work out!
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Thanks! They obviously liked what they saw so far. Good luck!
 
awin31 said:
To those of you who’ve interviewed, how long did you wait before hearing anything back? How true do y’all believe the 4-6 week wait is if you’ve interviewed sept/oct like they said?
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I interviewed 3 weeks ago, and they are asking the status of my contingent resignation so they can make a decision on my application. Started the process back in late-May/early-June and still not approved by my service branch (almost through the chop chain though). Anyway, I'll take that as a good sign. Why would they be hounding me for my branch's approval to apply if they just wanted to send me an R? They can send an R without my contingent resignation approval. I don't know if there is any validity to that thought process, but I'm sticking with it 😉
 
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washhyyy said:
Congrats!! Do you know (or does anyone else know) if there is an accepted students Facebook page or anything like that?
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There will be if there isn’t already (there probably isn’t yet). One of the admins for the school makes it and invites the accepted students. Honestly it gets used a bit before school starts for people posting about living arrangements and stuff, and then it sort of just gets ignored. The classes make their own GroupMe or slack chats and just use those.
 
washhyyy said:
Congrats!! Do you know (or does anyone else know) if there is an accepted students Facebook page or anything like that?
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I work at USUHS and I am active duty enlisted so I can help answer any questions, if needed
 
mulligan04 said:
I work at USUHS and I am active duty enlisted so I can help answer any questions, if needed
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Thanks! I don’t have any specific questions right now, I was just hoping to meet some of my future classmates
 
washhyyy said:
Thanks! I don’t have any specific questions right now, I was just hoping to meet some of my future classmates
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You will! But tbh a lot of the people accepted outright will get cold feet or decide to go elsewhere. So you really won’t know who your classmates are actually going to be until closer to school starting.
 
Yeah, as soon as I get an unconditional offer, [seriously praying that I get a waiver], I may withdraw my other applications. I just cannot think of a single program I applied to that I'd rather go to.
 
washhyyy said:
I figured as much. But I know there are definitely some people who are all in!
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Yeah there will be. Honestly it’s good that so many people withdraw. You want the folks who are all in. We serve a unique patient population and have unique practice environments and challenges. You don’t want the people in it for the wrong reasons. You can tell who is.
 
WindmillChaser92 said:
I am not in military medicine yet, but I would think it's possible to turn out great medical corps officers (that are in it for the right reasons) that withdraw their application from USUHS and decide to go somewhere else. I can only speak from experience in a different community, but there are great officers that did not attend service academies, and instead commissioned through OCS or ROTC. I don't know if that's a perfect comparison, but there are some applicants that probably choose the HPSP/FAP or HSCP route to be closer to family or attend a different school for whatever reason. I agree that you don't want candidates heading into military medicine that haven't done their research, given it serious thought/discussion, and are in it for the wrong reasons, regardless of commissioning track. But, I think you can withdraw an application from USUHS, or decline an acceptance, and still be "all in". Not speaking personally here! (just playing devil's advocate) because I know fine line officers in the Navy and Army that chose not to go to Annapolis or West Point.
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When I said “all on” I did not mean it as a slight towards people who withdraw to attend civilian schools (with or without HPSP). I just meant that there are people who know for a fact they want to attend USUHS over any other school.

I understand people change their minds and the student body will be changing into the spring. I just want to meet people who know they will be matriculating so I can start to get to know my future classmates
 
washhyyy said:
When I said “all on” I did not mean it as a slight towards people who withdraw to attend civilian schools (with or without HPSP). I just meant that there are people who know for a fact they want to attend USUHS over any other school.

I understand people change their minds and the student body will be changing into the spring. I just want to meet people who know they will be matriculating so I can start to get to know my future classmates
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PM me whenever you’d like to chat! I’m all in!!
 
washhyyy said:
When I said “all on” I did not mean it as a slight towards people who withdraw to attend civilian schools (with or without HPSP). I just meant that there are people who know for a fact they want to attend USUHS over any other school.

I understand people change their minds and the student body will be changing into the spring. I just want to meet people who know they will be matriculating so I can start to get to know my future classmates
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USUHS is for people who are all in. The commitment is long. 7 years is significantly longer than 4, and it is much easier to GMO and out with a 4 year HPSP contract than with a 7 year commitment. Around 75% of USUHS grads do 20 years, and I think that’s mainly because the school does a good job of selecting for people who are committed, both in the actual acceptance process and in being honest with everything so the people who get accepted and maybe aren’t 100% all in decide to go elsewhere.

Edit: this is not to disparage HPSP grads. You can be an excellent medical officer from HPSP. I have HPSP friends who are going to be great medical officers. By all in, I mean all in on doing it as a career. You can do that from HPSP too, but it’s easier to just do your time and get out from HPSP so you have more options quicker.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
You will! But tbh a lot of the people accepted outright will get cold feet or decide to go elsewhere. So you really won’t know who your classmates are actually going to be until closer to school starting.
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There was that time when I waited 6 months to ship to basic training in the Army, waiting for a background clearance. Wow, I lost count of how many times I had a change of heart. I imagine it could be something like that for many accepted students until next year-- but obviously on steroids.
 
veepfan said:
This might be an obvious question but - during the physical - do they check your height and weight? I'm a little scared I won't meet their requirement since I unfortunately gained some weight during quarantine - I've been working on getting it off, but still worried it won't come off in time
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They took my height and weight during my physical. I was worried about being too light (lol) but they let me keep my shoes, coat, and phone and wallet on me which helped. If you’re worried about being too heavy then definitely ask to take that stuff off first!
 
I completed back in early Aug and have not heard back at all... Anyone in the same boat? Maybe chalk it up as a R?
 
MAGABLM said:
I completed back in early Aug and have not heard back at all... Anyone in the same boat? Maybe chalk it up as a R?
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I completed my secondary later in the game, oct 18 it was confirmed complete. I am so nervous this is beyond late and I have no chance of getting an interview and it’s my dream to go here. Maybe mine is a R too?
 
TelloBello11 said:
I completed my secondary later in the game, oct 18 it was confirmed complete. I am so nervous this is beyond late and I have no chance of getting an interview and it’s my dream to go here. Maybe mine is a R too?
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regardless of my circumstance, genuine good luck to you!
 
Just scheduled an interview for Wednesday and Thursday respectively. The interviewer seems so qualified, it's quite daunting actually. I wish other interviewees nothing but great luck!
For these zoom interviews, is it open or closed file? I think the interview information packet suggested that it was open file this year.
 
Vairo said:
Just scheduled an interview for Wednesday and Thursday respectively. The interviewer seems so qualified, it's quite daunting actually. I wish other interviewees nothing but great luck!
For these zoom interviews, is it open or closed file? I think the interview information packet suggested that it was open file this year.
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It was open file. One of my interviewers was digging really deep into my AMCAS Personal Statement and W&A, so make sure you refresh yourself on those.
 
TelloBello11 said:
I completed my secondary later in the game, oct 18 it was confirmed complete. I am so nervous this is beyond late and I have no chance of getting an interview and it’s my dream to go here. Maybe mine is a R too?
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MAGABLM said:
I completed back in early Aug and have not heard back at all... Anyone in the same boat? Maybe chalk it up as a R?
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It's not an R unless they tell you it's an R.
 
Vairo said:
Just scheduled an interview for Wednesday and Thursday respectively. The interviewer seems so qualified, it's quite daunting actually. I wish other interviewees nothing but great luck!
For these zoom interviews, is it open or closed file? I think the interview information packet suggested that it was open file this year.
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It’s partially open file...they typically don’t have nor want to know your GPA and/or MCAT score. They only want to understand your reasons for choosing medicine AND the military. I know it’s easier said, but the interviewers really want to advocate for you to the admissions committee so focus on being authentic and candid. Try to think of examples of you being a leader and other times when you failed or faced adversity and the steps you took to overcome that.
 
Vairo said:
Just scheduled an interview for Wednesday and Thursday respectively. The interviewer seems so qualified, it's quite daunting actually. I wish other interviewees nothing but great luck!
For these zoom interviews, is it open or closed file? I think the interview information packet suggested that it was open file this year.
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My interviewers also let me ask a ton of questions about them and their careers. They may be crazy qualified but it was obvious that they cared a lot about you and wanted to help people go into military medicine that want to be there.
 
MAGABLM said:
I completed back in early Aug and have not heard back at all... Anyone in the same boat? Maybe chalk it up as a R?
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completed in July and haven't heard anything, but I also don't have the strongest application
 
Received my II for 11/16 this past Friday, completed secondary on 7/20ish, MCAT retake on 08/29 (rescheduled from May due to the pandemic), application complete notification received 09/15.

I'm a previous applicant that interviewed at USUHS this past cycle (01/20) earlier this year. FWIW, I think this cycle seems to have more interview dates past January than I remember from the previous cycle, so holding out hope for those still waiting.

Another thing to consider, if you took your MCATs after submitting your application you might consider reaching out to the school to ask if they received your scores. I checked my application for my state school this past week and saw that they still had my application marked as not complete, after a few emails they told me that a glitch on their system caused that error. My application was finally marked complete on 10/28, lol, 3+ months after submitting my secondary. So keep double-checking at your schools if you're in that boat.
 
Just got called for a preliminary medical review ... does this mean anything like if I will receive and interview or does everyone get this.
 
AspiringDoc911 said:
Just got called for a preliminary medical review ... does this mean anything like if I will receive and interview or does everyone get this.
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Also received a random call this morning asking a clarifying question on my medical history (positive response). No word on II though.
 
AspiringDoc911 said:
Just got called for a preliminary medical review ... does this mean anything like if I will receive and interview or does everyone get this.
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I didn't get a call but I was put through a preliminary medical review after I emailed my assigned admissions counselor about a mistake I made under the "Physical Requirements" section of the secondary. They got back to me about 10 days later and was told that my application was cleared and complete. They probably just want to verify a positive response in regards to potential medical concerns.

In my case, I read the disqualifying conditions as "history of cancer; current asthma; current peanut allergy... current high blood pressure", whereas it was really asking if you currently have or had any of the listed conditions on your medical record.
 
Does anyone know if they are sending hard copies of acceptance letters, or just the email?

Thanks in advance!
 
Just had a faculty interview! My interviewer only had my PS and secondaries. No info on your gpa or MCAT-- he said that was on purpose.
My interview didn't have too much structure. At first, I thought I was the interviewer and he was the interviewee.
Overall, it was as relaxing as it could be and the interviewer gave some really candid answers about his experience in the military.
 
Got the conditional acceptance! Got it the day after submitting my letter of approval to apply. USUHS must have been sitting on the decision, waiting for my service branch to approve my contingent resignation. Lesson learned to pass down to next round of AD applicants, start that process sooner than what most admins will tell you. My admin told me to start 12 months before my PRD. I started 15 months before my PRD, but you should really start it ~6-9 months out from October of the year you are applying to USUHS (regardless of when your PRD is). Super stoked! Good luck everyone!
 
tangelo36 said:
Pre-II hold email this afternoon. The wording seemed pretty positive, so at this point I’m just happy to still be under consideration 🙂
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+1

I interviewed in 2018 and this was the only school I reapplied to. I’ve had some unexpected luck at other schools so I’m fine what whatever outcome occurs
 
Thanks!! Also idk if anybody would have an idea, but I got this response after emailing the commissioning coordinator about a medical waiver a few weeks back:

"Thank you for submitting your request; we will enter your waiver into processing. No further evaluation is required from you at this time."

Does this mean my waiver request was accepted? Or am I still just floating in the sea of uncertainty lol
 
user3564 said:
Thanks!! Also idk if anybody would have an idea, but I got this response after emailing the commissioning coordinator about a medical waiver a few weeks back:

"Thank you for submitting your request; we will enter your waiver into processing. No further evaluation is required from you at this time."

Does this mean my waiver request was accepted? Or am I still just floating in the sea of uncertainty lol
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It means that they're processing your waiver right now and you just have to sit tight till they reach out. I'm right there with you.
 
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