2025-2026 Washington State

Started by wysdoc
BU Medical Sciences
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Hi guys! I'm trying to get a feel for WSU's college of medicine, but because it's newer, it feels really difficult to find information about the medical student experience there. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about it (beyond what they have on their website) that they could share?


I'm especially curious to know about the Regional Medical Campuses (Everett/Vancouver/Tri Cities/Spokane). My understanding is that we have to rank our location before M1 starts if we're admitted, but I want to know more about what each location is like. What kind of people does each location attract? What are the values of each campus? What about the student/faculty ratios? What unique opportunities does each campus have that could draw people to that location? I'm desperate for information lol
 
taylorsprivatejet1 said:
Hi guys! I'm trying to get a feel for WSU's college of medicine, but because it's newer, it feels really difficult to find information about the medical student experience there. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about it (beyond what they have on their website) that they could share?


I'm especially curious to know about the Regional Medical Campuses (Everett/Vancouver/Tri Cities/Spokane). My understanding is that we have to rank our location before M1 starts if we're admitted, but I want to know more about what each location is like. What kind of people does each location attract? What are the values of each campus? What about the student/faculty ratios? What unique opportunities does each campus have that could draw people to that location? I'm desperate for information lol
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also looking for information about this, as well as residency match programs and how well clerkships are.. from what i’ve heard wsu is still fairly new and struggling with clerkship stability compared to competing med schools uw and pnw. anyone know a good contact to reach out to or have more insight on this?
 
if they did emails to schedule acceptance calls yesterday, then does that mean the rest will have to wait next month for news?
 
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chestpain said:
Interviewed in August, got an update email today stating class is more than half filled. Another round of acceptances coming in mid-February.
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Also recieved this email! I really appreciate how much WSU communicates with applicants and how transparent they are about the application process. I know they can’t accept everyone, but it feels like they do care about their applicants and want us to be successful.
 
Hey everyone!! I am a current MS1 and am happy to answer questions that anyone may have regarding WSU.

Unfortunately, WSU waits to connect you with current students until you have been formerly accepted, so finding any information before then can be frustrating as I experienced it as well when I applied.

I am currently part of the Vancouver cohort, so my knowledge on the other campuses (Everett/Tri-Cities) is very limited, but I can do my best! Otherwise, let me know any questions you may have regarding the school, curriculum, perks, etc!

For those who decide to enroll, I look forward to meeting you next year! Go Cougs!
 
taylorsprivatejet1 said:
Hi guys! I'm trying to get a feel for WSU's college of medicine, but because it's newer, it feels really difficult to find information about the medical student experience there. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about it (beyond what they have on their website) that they could share?


I'm especially curious to know about the Regional Medical Campuses (Everett/Vancouver/Tri Cities/Spokane). My understanding is that we have to rank our location before M1 starts if we're admitted, but I want to know more about what each location is like. What kind of people does each location attract? What are the values of each campus? What about the student/faculty ratios? What unique opportunities does each campus have that could draw people to that location? I'm desperate for information lol
Click to expand...
WSU will make everyone who enrolls by the deadline date (pre-waitlist admissions) rank their choices for clinical campuses. To be honest, this is a very skewed process. There are limited spots at each one and people can write about any extenuating circumstances that they have to get a “better chance” for their preferred campus. I know people from each cohort that love their placement, however I do think most people wish that they had more time to visit these locations before ranking. WSU makes you rank early on because you will visit your regional campus within the first couple months of school, so they like everyone to be set in place.

If you are nervous about getting a certain placement or not getting the one you want, it is hard to fight for it unless you have a very specific reason. Being from an area or not wanting to live in a certain area are not “justifiable” reasons to WSU.

To be completely transparent, a lot of people will get shunted to Tri-Cities such as my class did since not many are from there and it was lower ranked on many lists. Therefore they have to pull students to go there, even if it was ranked 3rd-4th. Once again.. if you have extenuating circumstances.. you need to write them when you rank. Otherwise, you’ll get your placement and it’s set in stone. In regards to Tri-Cities, a lot of people in my class were unfamiliar with the region, but have definitely learned to like it! There’s certainly a bond between everyone in that cohort. It is affectionately named “Tri-Singles” as a lot of single people will end up getting picked to go there since they don’t have a partner to use as the extenuating circumstance.

As for what each campus offers, it’s hard to say b/c you don’t learn a ton about it until your 3rd-4th year. Remember that these are regional campuses, so you aren’t locked to the city. Students from Vancouver will often go as far south as Portland and as far North as Olympia. Tri-Cities students sometimes do rotations in Yakima or Northern Oregon.

I would recommend looking into each city and seeing what feels like the best fit for you. Unfortunately while you do rank, it still does come down to chance.

Regardless of the regional campuse you get, I can promise that you will love WSU! They really do take care of us as students and I do not regret my decision nor know anybody that regrets being here too. They will keep you plenty busy your 3rd-4th year so that you won’t really focus too much on the city around you.

I hope this helps and if you have any other questions, let me know! I know it can be a confusing process with limited info online.
 
sunny4756 said:
also looking for information about this, as well as residency match programs and how well clerkships are.. from what i’ve heard wsu is still fairly new and struggling with clerkship stability compared to competing med schools uw and pnw. anyone know a good contact to reach out to or have more insight on this?
Click to expand...
Depending on the clinical campus you go to will depend on the competition of the clerkship. I would say that Everett students have the hardest time due to the proximity of UW.

WSU does not have and is not affiliated with a teaching hospital and instead relies on community partners for clerkships. There’s pros and cons to this, however this does allow you to visit a lot of different hospitals and work directly with the attendings rather than be shunted to the residents and forgotten about. I haven’t personally experienced any issues with stability and rather I’ve seen their list of community partners grow.

You will visit your clinical campus 3 times your first year and 2 times your second year with 2 clerkship rotations at each visit. Then you will be there full time your 3rd and 4th years. You can rank your choices for rotations during these visits, however it comes to chance as they want you to experience different specialties.

Rather than join UW health system, WSU has kinda metaphorically “raised the middle finger” and going for force against UW (for more context, look up why WSU had to wait so long for a med school. UW isn’t loved here). This January, they just launched WSU Health, their own health system that they want to start expanding throughout the state. With this, WSU has also initiated their own residency programs. These options are still limited given the young nature of the health system, but I anticipate it will grow fast given how invested WSU is with their mission. By the time you would enter residency, there is no saying how big the program will be or how many residency options there will be. In terms of matching, you can look up the previous classes and see where each student matches to. WSU isn’t a ranked school and doesn’t carry prestige with the name, however they aren’t going to limit you either. They will give you the resources (research, leadership, extracurriculars), however it will be on you to apply these things. Show that you want to be here and match, and you will be able to go where you want for residency, despite not being at a ranked school.

Hope this helps!
 
YelloOne3 said:
Hey everyone!! I am a current MS1 and am happy to answer questions that anyone may have regarding WSU.

Unfortunately, WSU waits to connect you with current students until you have been formerly accepted, so finding any information before then can be frustrating as I experienced it as well when I applied.

I am currently part of the Vancouver cohort, so my knowledge on the other campuses (Everett/Tri-Cities) is very limited, but I can do my best! Otherwise, let me know any questions you may have regarding the school, curriculum, perks, etc!

For those who decide to enroll, I look forward to meeting you next year! Go Cougs!
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With the clinical campuses, are you responsible for transportation/housing for faraway rotations? Or does WSU help facilitate that? I know they mentioned that because the campuses are regional, you could end up a few hours away on the peninsula or in Oregon depending on where the campus rotates for different specialties (especially for the rural rotations), which I imagine would be a lot of driving if you are trying to go back to a central apartment/house every day. Also, what has been the most difficult part of your first year/something you wish you had known to prepare for going into medical school? Thank you for doing this!
 
Oneeyedwonder17 said:
With the clinical campuses, are you responsible for transportation/housing for faraway rotations? Or does WSU help facilitate that? I know they mentioned that because the campuses are regional, you could end up a few hours away on the peninsula or in Oregon depending on where the campus rotates for different specialties (especially for the rural rotations), which I imagine would be a lot of driving if you are trying to go back to a central apartment/house every day. Also, what has been the most difficult part of your first year/something you wish you had known to prepare for going into medical school? Thank you for doing this!
Click to expand...
So during your clinical campus weeks in your first 2 years, you will stay with a home stay family (or your own family/friends if they are close by). The school won’t schedule any rotations during these 2 years that are too far away from the regional campus. They want you to get familiar with the regional campus, so they won’t send you to the peninsula until the 3rd/4th years (fo the Vancouver/Everett peeps of course)

I believe the farthest someone has had to drive in their first 2 years has been about an hour to get to their clinic. In your 3rd/4th years, you will live full time in your region so you will be responsible for housing. For the far away rotations at that time, I believe WSU will reimburse some of the travel costs/hotel costs. Unfortunately that is not something really talked about until you get to your 3rd year so I don’t know a ton.

Great question! Honestly before med school, I was always a person who liked to take had written notes during lecture. I liked being able to write all the sentences out as they were being said. This is something that is just not even possible now. The speed that the lectures go at is very quick and keeping up with handwriting notes is difficult. This is unless you were to go back and rewatch the lectures, however finding the time for this in an already busy schedule can be hard.

WSU provides every student an iPad/case/Apple Pencil. Most students will download the pdf of the lectures and annotate them and that’s how we all keep our notes. My recommendation to you is to figure out what note taking system you like (good notes, notability, etc..) so that you can be prepared to day one. Additionally, if you intend to use Anki, I would recommend understanding how that software works as it is easy to fall behind quickly.

THERE IS NO NEED TO STUDY NOW. I truly emphasize that b/c trust me when I say that WSU will drill in every learning point to you. Enjoy your free time now. Going to medical school is a privilege that I am thankful for, however there is still a lot of sacrifices you make. Take your time now, and then when you start school, there will be very limited breaks and many many hours of studying. No worries.. you will learn the medicine you always dreamed of learning🙂

Finally, this is moreso a note for anyone considering WSU. They LOVE their iPads. The entire curriculum runs through them. No books (except First Aid). And they provide a lot of very expensive softwares for you that you will use throughout your time here (Amboss, Complete Anatomy, and UWorld* to name a few). If you do not like the Apple Ecosystem, you will have to learn to at least tolerate it to survive here. Our exams go through them as well. WSU has done some impressive things with the iPads, but it could get frustrating for anyone that hates Apple products.

*Just a note, UWorld is a service that’s not provided until your second year.
 
YelloOne3 said:
So during your clinical campus weeks in your first 2 years, you will stay with a home stay family (or your own family/friends if they are close by). The school won’t schedule any rotations during these 2 years that are too far away from the regional campus. They want you to get familiar with the regional campus, so they won’t send you to the peninsula until the 3rd/4th years (fo the Vancouver/Everett peeps of course)

I believe the farthest someone has had to drive in their first 2 years has been about an hour to get to their clinic. In your 3rd/4th years, you will live full time in your region so you will be responsible for housing. For the far away rotations at that time, I believe WSU will reimburse some of the travel costs/hotel costs. Unfortunately that is not something really talked about until you get to your 3rd year so I don’t know a ton.

Great question! Honestly before med school, I was always a person who liked to take had written notes during lecture. I liked being able to write all the sentences out as they were being said. This is something that is just not even possible now. The speed that the lectures go at is very quick and keeping up with handwriting notes is difficult. This is unless you were to go back and rewatch the lectures, however finding the time for this in an already busy schedule can be hard.

WSU provides every student an iPad/case/Apple Pencil. Most students will download the pdf of the lectures and annotate them and that’s how we all keep our notes. My recommendation to you is to figure out what note taking system you like (good notes, notability, etc..) so that you can be prepared to day one. Additionally, if you intend to use Anki, I would recommend understanding how that software works as it is easy to fall behind quickly.

THERE IS NO NEED TO STUDY NOW. I truly emphasize that b/c trust me when I say that WSU will drill in every learning point to you. Enjoy your free time now. Going to medical school is a privilege that I am thankful for, however there is still a lot of sacrifices you make. Take your time now, and then when you start school, there will be very limited breaks and many many hours of studying. No worries.. you will learn the medicine you always dreamed of learning🙂

Finally, this is moreso a note for anyone considering WSU. They LOVE their iPads. The entire curriculum runs through them. No books (except First Aid). And they provide a lot of very expensive softwares for you that you will use throughout your time here (Amboss, Complete Anatomy, and UWorld* to name a few). If you do not like the Apple Ecosystem, you will have to learn to at least tolerate it to survive here. Our exams go through them as well. WSU has done some impressive things with the iPads, but it could get frustrating for anyone that hates Apple products.

*Just a note, UWorld is a service that’s not provided until your second year.
Click to expand...
thank you, all of this information is so helpful!
 
YelloOne3 said:
So during your clinical campus weeks in your first 2 years, you will stay with a home stay family (or your own family/friends if they are close by). The school won’t schedule any rotations during these 2 years that are too far away from the regional campus. They want you to get familiar with the regional campus, so they won’t send you to the peninsula until the 3rd/4th years (fo the Vancouver/Everett peeps of course)

I believe the farthest someone has had to drive in their first 2 years has been about an hour to get to their clinic. In your 3rd/4th years, you will live full time in your region so you will be responsible for housing. For the far away rotations at that time, I believe WSU will reimburse some of the travel costs/hotel costs. Unfortunately that is not something really talked about until you get to your 3rd year so I don’t know a ton.

Great question! Honestly before med school, I was always a person who liked to take had written notes during lecture. I liked being able to write all the sentences out as they were being said. This is something that is just not even possible now. The speed that the lectures go at is very quick and keeping up with handwriting notes is difficult. This is unless you were to go back and rewatch the lectures, however finding the time for this in an already busy schedule can be hard.

WSU provides every student an iPad/case/Apple Pencil. Most students will download the pdf of the lectures and annotate them and that’s how we all keep our notes. My recommendation to you is to figure out what note taking system you like (good notes, notability, etc..) so that you can be prepared to day one. Additionally, if you intend to use Anki, I would recommend understanding how that software works as it is easy to fall behind quickly.

THERE IS NO NEED TO STUDY NOW. I truly emphasize that b/c trust me when I say that WSU will drill in every learning point to you. Enjoy your free time now. Going to medical school is a privilege that I am thankful for, however there is still a lot of sacrifices you make. Take your time now, and then when you start school, there will be very limited breaks and many many hours of studying. No worries.. you will learn the medicine you always dreamed of learning🙂

Finally, this is moreso a note for anyone considering WSU. They LOVE their iPads. The entire curriculum runs through them. No books (except First Aid). And they provide a lot of very expensive softwares for you that you will use throughout your time here (Amboss, Complete Anatomy, and UWorld* to name a few). If you do not like the Apple Ecosystem, you will have to learn to at least tolerate it to survive here. Our exams go through them as well. WSU has done some impressive things with the iPads, but it could get frustrating for anyone that hates Apple products.

*Just a note, UWorld is a service that’s not provided until your second year.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for the info!
 
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Has anyone who interviewed 1/16 heard back? I feel like I remember them saying the admissions committee would meet 2/6 so I am hoping we hear back today or later this week
 
sunny4756 said:
what number was the call to schedule an interview from? would they have left a voicemail if you didnt pick up?
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I didn't pick up, I was working and didn't see it for over an hour. They do leave a voicemail with a number to call back! Just an admissions main number I think!
 
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Would someone who’s already interviewed be willing to share what they wore? I’m debating a button up sweater, but I wonder if that’s going to look too casual and I should just stick with a blouse and blazer
 
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taylorsprivatejet1 said:
Would someone who’s already interviewed be willing to share what they wore? I’m debating a button up sweater, but I wonder if that’s going to look too casual and I should just stick with a blouse and blazer
Click to expand...
I wore a blouse and blazer and I’d say all the folks in my interview day also wore either a blouse and blazer or suit and tie! I’m sure a button up sweater would be totally fine but I’d honestly just stick with a blouse and blazer to be super duper safe (especially if you have a blazer already)
 
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