2020-2021 Western Michigan

Get Your Med School Admissions Questions Answered!
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star67 said:
How much is rent for solo and roommate?
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Hey, I'm an M1 at WMed right now. Rent depends on location, but there's a decent range of options depending on how nice of a place you'd want. For me personally, when I was looking for places last year, I set my budget as <$800 a month for rent. With that budget, there were quite a few nice 1 bedroom options that are a bit further away, like a ~10 minute drive to campus, right around $700-800 (and cheaper options if you have a roommate too, of course). It's more pricey downtown where the school is, but I ended up finding a nice 2 bedroom to share with a roommate that's only a couple blocks away from the school, and still within my price range. There's also a lot of houses near campus that are split into apartments that many students live in, and have much lower rent (maybe like around $500 for a room), if you're into that. If budget is less of an issue, there's a few very nice apartment buildings downtown (and more are being built) where you can find a fancier 1 bedroom for around $1400, or a studio for around $1000.
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Are there any people still waiting to hear back from their interviews?
 
@soysizle @asiagobagel First off, I'm totally loving WMed. There are SO many positives for me - location near home (so I can bring all my furniture and see my family more), lower rent cost than other locations, the kindness and enthusiasm for the school that I've seen from every person I've interacted with, and the awesome schedules, both throughout each week and also the frequent weeks between courses.

However, I was accepted to a few other programs that are more established and match really really well. I know that I wouldn't have too many issues matching any specialty I would want, especially at the school that accepted me a couple of days ago (I mean, if I'm competitive and have what they're looking for, obviously I know that I would not succeed at even the most prestigious schools with poor performance or a weak app lol). I think I would be basically equally happy at either school because the culture is similar, and each kind of have what the other lacks.

Do you think I would be at any sort of disadvantage at WMed if I want to match a competitive specialty or program? Should I go somewhere who has a stellar record, or take a chance on WMed?

P.S. THANK YOU for answering our questions! All of the students I've interacted with have been amazing.
 
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MoreSleepPlz said:
@soysizle @asiagobagel First off, I'm totally loving WMed. There are SO many positives for me - location near home (so I can bring all my furniture and see my family more), lower rent cost than other locations, the kindness and enthusiasm for the school that I've seen from every person I've interacted with, and the awesome schedules, both throughout each week and also the frequent weeks between courses.

However, I was accepted to a few other programs that are more established and match really really well. I know that I wouldn't have too many issues matching any specialty I would want, especially at the school that accepted me a couple of days ago (I mean, if I'm competitive and have what they're looking for, obviously I know that I would not succeed at even the most prestigious schools with poor performance or a weak app lol). I think I would be basically equally happy at either school because the culture is similar, and each kind of have what the other lacks.

Do you think I would be at any sort of disadvantage at WMed if I want to match a competitive specialty or program? Should I go somewhere who has a stellar record, or take a chance on WMed?

P.S. Bless you for answering our questions! All of the students I've interacted with have been amazing.
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I'll be honest with you, I love wmed but If I had the opportunity to attend a more well known school I would have probably done so. The fact of the matter is that program directors tend to favor applicants from more well established schools simply because their program has a history of taking students from the same schools year after year and with great success. Not to mention the alumni connections. A 4th year student had mentioned to me that one of the program directors at a highly ranked program had mentioned that he would have had more interview success had he not been attending a "no name school". I was hoping that by being in the 5th graduating class that PDs would start to recognize us but I'm reminded It takes decades to build a good reputation. HOWEVER, each year we keep kicking ass and matching people at pretty awesome programs and in almost every specialty possible so what do I know?
I think you'll find success anywhere, you get out what you put in. You still have to consider cost and your overall happiness with the institution.
 
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MoreSleepPlz said:
@soysizle @asiagobagel First off, I'm totally loving WMed. There are SO many positives for me - location near home (so I can bring all my furniture and see my family more), lower rent cost than other locations, the kindness and enthusiasm for the school that I've seen from every person I've interacted with, and the awesome schedules, both throughout each week and also the frequent weeks between courses.

However, I was accepted to a few other programs that are more established and match really really well. I know that I wouldn't have too many issues matching any specialty I would want, especially at the school that accepted me a couple of days ago (I mean, if I'm competitive and have what they're looking for, obviously I know that I would not succeed at even the most prestigious schools with poor performance or a weak app lol). I think I would be basically equally happy at either school because the culture is similar, and each kind of have what the other lacks.

Do you think I would be at any sort of disadvantage at WMed if I want to match a competitive specialty or program? Should I go somewhere who has a stellar record, or take a chance on WMed?

P.S. THANK YOU for answering our questions! All of the students I've interacted with have been amazing.
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Basically, go with your gut here. That is where you'll be happiest and therefore that is where you will perform the best.

And yes, school has some impact on match. But what has more impact is the individual application -- scores, experiences, motivation for the specialty, etc. We had people match plastics and uro this year. We've had neurosurg. So WMed won't be your limiting factor if you want these specialties.

All that I have learned in my 4 years of med school is that your education is exactly that -- yours. If you're an amazing student, you're gonna be great at WMed or Harvard. And you will match well. My advice at this point is: figure out where you will be happiest. Figure out what matters to you. And go to med school based on that. Don't let numbers and rankings get in your way. They won't mean anything in 20 years. But what will matter is your experience.
 
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@soysizle @kipper68 Thank you both so much. You're totally right. It's easy to lose sight of what's most important sometimes, especially with everyone in your life throwing their own opinion in the ring (and from spending too much time reading posts by neurotic SDNers). It's such a major decision that it's easy to get sidetracked by differences between schools that probably are kind of inconsequential at the end of the day. So thank you for bringing me back down to earth a little bit! A few years ago, my life was very, very different and I never thought I would be able to even go to medical school, so I'm honestly living the dream now...I just have to remember that.
 
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Just declined my A yesterday, fingers crossed for lots of WL movement for you all!
 
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Has anyone heard more about the MBS program? I’m wondering if we will have to interview for it.
 
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Just withdrew my acceptance
Good luck to everyone on the waitlist!!
 
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Withdrew my acceptance (and scholarship). Good luck y'all, especially those in the WL!
 
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I also withdrew my A! Really hoping it goes to one of you guys on here, best of luck!
 
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Looks like there won't be movement until after the 30th and my heart cant take it!!
 
Just got the call! Accepted off the WL. I'm in shock. First acceptance! Top choice! 😭
 
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I got pulled off of the waitlist about 20 minutes ago. I was planning to CTE to another school today, so there is a 99% chance that I will be withdrawing.
 
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I got the call 2 hours ago! SO many emotions. Also my top choice and first A 🙏 😭
 
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Congrats to everyone that got pulled off the waitlist today! Really hope they aren’t done sending out acceptances haha
 
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Withdrew my acceptance here. Wishing everyone on the waitlist all the best!!
 
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Congrats to people who got off the waitlist yesterday. Do you mind sharing your stats?
 
it seemed like a lot of people were withdrawing as well on here but either they have been silent this week or there was movement and we dont know about it. I just really hope it works out for those of us on the waitlist haha
 
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WAMCHELP123 said:
Does anyone know if they pulled anyone recently?
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I was pulled off the waitlist on the 6th! In the Facebook group, there are 80 members including about 6 admins/current students, so I think there may be some spots left unless there are some who haven’t joined the Facebook group yet? Someone just joined the group yesterday, so maybe they recently got their waitlist call... hope that’s helpful!
 
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BigggBioGuy said:
I was pulled off the waitlist on the 6th! In the Facebook group, there are 80 members including about 6 admins/current students, so I think there may be some spots left unless there are some who haven’t joined the Facebook group yet? Someone just joined the group yesterday, so maybe they recently got their waitlist call... hope that’s helpful!
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Thanks for the info!!
 
Haha man I want to hope for the best but now I’m prepping myself to mentally accept that this cycle is over for me,
 
waitlist movement generally continues for a while- even past the CTE deadline. I know of at least one person in my class that got off the waitlist on July 1st. Don’t lose hope!
 
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asiagobagel said:
waitlist movement generally continues for a while- even past the CTE deadline. I know of at least one person in my class that got off the waitlist on July 1st. Don’t lose hope!
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Thank you, I needed this
 
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I was pulled off the WL today!! 😭😭 I was admitted elsewhere and it’s gonna be really tough declining because WMed really seems like a tight family and an excellent school. I believe I’ll end up declining by Monday. I really hope it goes to one of you who are still anxiously waiting! (FB group is at 83 when I checked this morning)
 
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Thanks so much for posting here and updating us! Good luck!!
lislo56 said:
I was pulled off the WL today!! 😭😭 I was admitted elsewhere and it’s gonna be really tough declining because WMed really seems like a tight family and an excellent school. I believe I’ll end up declining by Monday. I really hope it goes to one of you who are still anxiously waiting! (FB group is at 83 when I checked this morning)
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Just got the call OMG. I thought this cycle was over for me - waitlisted at both the schools I interviewed at.
 
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