2025-2026 Alice L Walton

Started by chilly_md
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dcubic said:
1.) No video or recording of the people speaking
2.) Avoiding a bunch of pertinent questions in the chat
3.) Selectively answering questions, not fully discussing accreditation, etc.

Above all else, I get the impression they're not really as holistic as they claim when it comes to their metrics
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That's too bad to hear! I was hoping this school would kinda be like looking at the future of medicine.
 
bussin said:
What webinar? How did you hear about it?
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They sent an email to people who applied. I couldn’t see how many students attended, it was mostly three faculty members sharing their screen and talking about the schools curriculum
 
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dcubic said:
1.) No video or recording of the people speaking
2.) Avoiding a bunch of pertinent questions in the chat
3.) Selectively answering questions, not fully discussing accreditation, etc.

Above all else, I get the impression they're not really as holistic as they claim when it comes to their metrics
Click to expand...
I currently am a medical student at the school, what questions do you feel like they were avoiding? Maybe I can answer them for you.
 
DeterminedWind said:
I currently am a medical student at the school, what questions do you feel like they were avoiding? Maybe I can answer them for you.
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Can you discuss their accreditation status more in-depth? They said they had pre-accreditation but aren't guaranteed to become accredited within the next few years. One of the gentlemen leading the panel discussed how difficult it is to even get pre-accredited.

Also, they welcomed all applicants with over a 500 MCAT and 3.4 cGPA / sGPA to apply. But are they holistic when it comes to admitting students who are a mission fit? For example, would students in the low 500s (say 502-505) be screened out on the basis of their low MCAT score as opposed to mission fit. As a newer school, AWSOM had a pretty high MCAT average of 513 (high for a new MD anyway). Several students on chat asked yesterday about if it was possible for low MCATs to receive IIs, but these questions were completely passed.
 
dcubic said:
Can you discuss their accreditation status more in-depth? They said they had pre-accreditation but aren't guaranteed to become accredited within the next few years. One of the gentlemen leading the panel discussed how difficult it is to even get pre-accredited.

Also, they welcomed all applicants with over a 500 MCAT and 3.4 cGPA / sGPA to apply. But are they holistic when it comes to admitting students who are a mission fit? For example, would students in the low 500s (say 502-505) be screened out on the basis of their low MCAT score as opposed to mission fit. As a newer school, AWSOM had a pretty high MCAT average of 513 (high for a new MD anyway). Several students on chat asked yesterday about if it was possible for low MCATs to receive IIs, but these questions were completely passed.
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I should have applied based on their name alone: AWSOM? C'mon
 
dcubic said:
Can you discuss their accreditation status more in-depth? They said they had pre-accreditation but aren't guaranteed to become accredited within the next few years. One of the gentlemen leading the panel discussed how difficult it is to even get pre-accredited.
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dcubic said:
Also, they welcomed all applicants with over a 500 MCAT and 3.4 cGPA / sGPA to apply. But are they holistic when it comes to admitting students who are a mission fit? For example, would students in the low 500s (say 502-505) be screened out on the basis of their low MCAT score as opposed to mission fit. As a newer school, AWSOM had a pretty high MCAT average of 513 (high for a new MD anyway). Several students on chat asked yesterday about if it was possible for low MCATs to receive IIs, but these questions were completely passed.
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Oh okay, well the accreditation process is a lengthy involved process. So I am not to familiar with it, there are some good websites that go into length about it. Essentially though they have a team dedicated to just achieving and meeting the milestones needed to achieve accreditation. They are correct that even achieving a pre-accreditation is exceptionally hard. It is incredibly rare for schools to lose their pre-accreditation status, I think there have to be pretty large issues, and they are given time to rectify those before losing that status. So far the school is incredibly receptive to change and is ever-evolving, they are investing an exceptional amount of money into the school and the area, so I don’t really foresee an issue when it comes to you as a medical student achieving an MD.

Yeah, unfortunately I think they just have a cutoff, a lot of schools do (most just don’t post it). It is what it is. I would definitely believe their cutoff, especially if they are telling you. I think by holistic they mean after you meet the grade and MCAT cutoff you are evaluated based on your whole picture. There are a lot of students at the school from different walks of life, so it definitely shows in their holistic approach.
 
DeterminedWind said:
Oh okay, well the accreditation process is a lengthy involved process. So I am not to familiar with it, there are some good websites that go into length about it. Essentially though they have a team dedicated to just achieving and meeting the milestones needed to achieve accreditation. They are correct that even achieving a pre-accreditation is exceptionally hard. It is incredibly rare for schools to lose their pre-accreditation status, I think there have to be pretty large issues, and they are given time to rectify those before losing that status. So far the school is incredibly receptive to change and is ever-evolving, they are investing an exceptional amount of money into the school and the area, so I don’t really foresee an issue when it comes to you as a medical student achieving an MD.

Yeah, unfortunately I think they just have a cutoff, a lot of schools do (most just don’t post it). It is what it is. I would definitely believe their cutoff, especially if they are telling you. I think by holistic they mean after you meet the grade and MCAT cutoff you are evaluated based on your whole picture. There are a lot of students at the school from different walks of life, so it definitely shows in their holistic approach.
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Their cutoff for a secondary was a 500 and cGPA / sGPA was a 3.4. So every applicant who received a secondary cleared those metrics. What I'm asking is if you had a lower end MCAT (say 502-505), will that prevent you from getting an II despite being an otherwise strong mission fit? I understand it makes it unlikely, but the way they skirted that question yesterday was something that didn't exactly sit right with many students who attended the webinar. I suppose it is what it is, though a newer school really shouldn't be that picky about stats in the grand scheme of things.

Also, they were weird about strongly encouraging PREview over CASPER, though it's too late to take the former exam. Not sure why they emphasize PREview so much, when it's just another money grab test that hardly any school requires. I already submitted my app, but this school is way too rigid, and it makes me question their lack of flexibility over such trivial things
 
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dcubic said:
Can you discuss their accreditation status more in-depth? They said they had pre-accreditation but aren't guaranteed to become accredited within the next few years. One of the gentlemen leading the panel discussed how difficult it is to even get pre-accredited.

Also, they welcomed all applicants with over a 500 MCAT and 3.4 cGPA / sGPA to apply. But are they holistic when it comes to admitting students who are a mission fit? For example, would students in the low 500s (say 502-505) be screened out on the basis of their low MCAT score as opposed to mission fit. As a newer school, AWSOM had a pretty high MCAT average of 513 (high for a new MD anyway). Several students on chat asked yesterday about if it was possible for low MCATs to receive IIs, but these questions were completely passed.
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LCME is the accrediting body.
A school that has been approved to take applications starts out at "preliminary accreditation"
If all is going well they advance to "provisional accreditation" after 2 years educating students
and continuing well can reach "full accreditation" in as early as 4 years when they graduate their first class.

Read more if interested: LCME Accreditation Steps
 
wysdoc said:
LCME is the accrediting body.
A school that has been approved to take applications starts out at "preliminary accreditation"
If all is going well they advance to "provisional accreditation" after 2 years educating students
and continuing well can reach "full accreditation" in as early as 4 years when they graduate their first class.

Read more if interested: LCME Accreditation Steps
Click to expand...

Thank you!
 
dcubic said:
Their cutoff for a secondary was a 500 and cGPA / sGPA was a 3.4. So every applicant who received a secondary cleared those metrics. What I'm asking is if you had a lower end MCAT (say 502-505), will that prevent you from getting an II despite being an otherwise strong mission fit? I understand it makes it unlikely, but the way they skirted that question yesterday was something that didn't exactly sit right with many students who attended the webinar. I suppose it is what it is, though a newer school really shouldn't be that picky about stats in the grand scheme of things.

Also, they were weird about strongly encouraging PREview over CASPER, though it's too late to take the former exam. Not sure why they emphasize PREview so much, when it's just another money grab test that hardly any school requires. I already submitted my app, but this school is way too rigid, and it makes me question their lack of flexibility over such trivial things
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I personally like Preview way more haha but that’s a personal thing. Some schools like the one over the others, I think most of the UC schools want preview or at least highly recommend it.

Hmm, I honestly can’t really speak to that, as it’s not a thing we go asking our peers. I can only speak to my own scores, which I had a LizzyM of 66, so I felt like their process evaluated me holistically. They are very big into their mission fit, and it makes sense when you get here why that is, the curriculum is heavily tailored into the whole health paradigm.
 
DeterminedWind said:
I personally like Preview way more haha but that’s a personal thing. Some schools like the one over the others, I think most of the UC schools want preview or at least highly recommend it.

Hmm, I honestly can’t really speak to that, as it’s not a thing we go asking our peers. I can only speak to my own scores, which I had a LizzyM of 66, so I felt like their process evaluated me holistically. They are very big into their mission fit, and it makes sense when you get here why that is, the curriculum is heavily tailored into the whole health paradigm.
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Gotcha. My LM is 62-63 and I didn’t take PREview. Ended up with 4Q CASPER by dumb luck. I hope it’s enough for a MD II somewhere but I’m an ORM so I may just be cooked
 
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Did anyone get an interview out of the people who got the email last month saying that they were under consideration for a virtual interview?
 
Maidenless?? said:
Just received the exact same email copy-pasted from last month lol.
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wait the message is a little different: the one a month ago said "your application is currently in queue to be reviewed by our application screeners." Mine this month says "your application has been reviewed by one of our application screeners and is currently under consideration for a virtual interview."
 
crackhousehaven said:
wait the message is a little different: the one a month ago said "your application is currently in queue to be reviewed by our application screeners." Mine this month says "your application has been reviewed by one of our application screeners and is currently under consideration for a virtual interview."
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+1 here, too. I thought it was an interesting kind of update to send... like, are they sending any pre-II Rs? I'm not sure whether this means an II is coming or whether they are just ranking applicants and skimming off the top of the list to mass-R later on.
 
crackhousehaven said:
wait the message is a little different: the one a month ago said "your application is currently in queue to be reviewed by our application screeners." Mine this month says "your application has been reviewed by one of our application screeners and is currently under consideration for a virtual interview."
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I double checked to make sure, but for me it was the exact same email stating "your application has been reviewed by one of our application screeners and is currently under consideration for a virtual interview."
 
Maidenless?? said:
I double checked to make sure, but for me it was the exact same email stating "your application has been reviewed by one of our application screeners and is currently under consideration for a virtual interview."
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I got this email last month, but then this month it says my screening will be complete in 2 weeks then move to being under consideration for a virtual interview. So not really sure how it seems I went backwards in the process?
 
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crackhousehaven said:
wait the message is a little different: the one a month ago said "your application is currently in queue to be reviewed by our application screeners." Mine this month says "your application has been reviewed by one of our application screeners and is currently under consideration for a virtual interview."
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Also just got the email today. My app has been reviewed and I’m being considered for interview.
 
elephant123! said:
I got an A yesterday as an OOS applicant via phone call - still can’t believe it 🫢! I interviewed on 9/5 and I’m pretty sure my interview day was the first one, so they might be releasing decisions in order
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That’s so awesome! Congrats!! What time did they call you with the news?
 
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DeterminedWind said:
I currently am a medical student at the school, what questions do you feel like they were avoiding? Maybe I can answer them for you.
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Would you be willing to share what the financial aid situation is like? I know it's free tuition, but approximately how much are you looking at in terms of private loans? Do they have any internal scholarships? Also, what are the structure of the exams, are they NBME exams? how often? Is it pass/fail all four years and is there any internal ranking? Sorry for all the questions, I just couldn't find very much online, thank you!!!
 
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