GW Hold

[TerraMedicX]

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I was completed july 25th and haven't received anything yet...Do I assume a snail mail rejection?

I'm in the EXACT same boat as you!! I was complete July 23rd...this was my first secondary and I mailed it in like the day after I got it! Reading about all the great applicants who are on hold, I'm pretty sure I'll be getting the rejection in the mail next week! 🙁

Nate.

 

[Waiting112]

this is so wierd. last year i got an interview late, like in january and waitlisted and eventually the rejection. This year i was complete way early and got the 'hold'. I live a few blocks from GW, so I'm thinking about just going down there and seeing whats up. i know other students that have gotten interviews already.

Hey! I'm in the same situation as you. I interviewed and was waitlisted two years ago and this year, couldn't even get an interview. Please let us know what you find out.

 

[fiji]

on hold as well got the email yesterday

 

[LaDaLa]

on hold too! this thread made me feel better 🙂

 

[hsentar]

i, too, interviewed and waitlisted last year, but got this hold e-mail.

 

[lisichka]

sorry wrong post

 

[lisichka]

.

 

[hsentar]

i must have posted that while i was half asleep, im actually in FL for an interview this weekend at a DO school, but I'll def try to find something out this week. besides, today is saturday.... there would have been nobody there.

 

[TopDocChick]

I also got put on hold by GW

I didnt mention to GW, Georgetown, JH or UMD that I grew up in the maryland/DC area and that my family still lives there. Should I send a letter indicating my ties to the community?

 

[lisichka]

.

 

[viciouz]

Is GW cool with being sent update letters?

 

[wutwinb]

Is GW cool with being sent update letters?

the email they sent said this:

"As the AMCAS application, secondary application, and letters of recommendation are quite detailed, we do not require any further information or documentation from you at this time."


so it looks like they don't want anything else.

 

[lisichka]

/

 

[TopDocChick]

I wrote them. If they were going to reject me, I'd rather they reject me knowing that I was serious about applying to their school because I have ties to their community and would be happy to move back to my home town. I'd rather not be rejected because they think whats a girl with kids from (midwestern town) want to do at our school? No way she would seriously move here, we were probably just a safety.

none of my schools are "safety". Each one I chose because I really want to go there. I want them to know that. If they reject me for clarifying that, at least they knew I was serious.

 

[jtse106]

dang it..looks like i joined the group.

GWU hold as well as SUNY upstate hold.

at least i have 1 interview....*sigh*

i wish i had more 🙁

 

[div0t17]

GW hold...plus about four others 🙁

 

[MDee]

If pretty much everyone on SDN got a GW hold (including myself), then exactly WHO IS getting invites? 😕

 

[Lmack1817]

i was put on hold also.... kinda weird because I got an interview at Gtown but a hold at GW. Originally I thought the exact opposite was going to happen. My numbers are very sub gtown and appropriate for GWU Whatever, just goes to tell you, that med school admissions are WHACKED OUT!!!

 

[hsentar]

there are SDNers who confirmed getting interview invites for Sept and October - my personal bias is that it's not really related to when you applied or how high or low your scores are (sort of) - it has to do with some kind of logistical model that GW's admcom has created for the 'typical' student that matriculates. I think that they've picked out the students somehow that they realistically think will matriculate, if accepted, and everybody else is on hold. Seems like some of the people in this thread are overqualified and were complete pretty early, and others are right at their average or just below, and still got the hold.

They're putting some of you guys and gals with 38s and 42s etc. on hold probably because they know you've applied to a lot of other schools and probably will get into them and not come to GW. It's a frustrating system for the students, but makes more sense on GW's part when they're receiving so many applications... i sort of understand it, but still hate it. Now, if you guys with these super MCAT scores were to send in a LOI really showing them why you're a good fit for GW and why you'd actually come there, then maybe it'll help push you "up the list" - I'd be interested to know if the 'hold' list has any sort of ranking or priority - sort of like the waiting list (which we'll discuss later in the spring) has the "high priority" and regular group...

This is just my opinion after digging around on here for a few days. It also seems like not too many people come off the GW Hold - it's almost like a waiting list for interviews IMO - when they're done with all the ones they've selected, and if people say "no" to the matriculation offer, then they'll start pulling us off.

Again, just my opinion, not factual at all. Like I said before, I may try to find out some info this week, although it doesn't look like the admissions office will tell me more than what the letter says... they'll just re-word it and eventually ask me to leave.

 

[solumanculver]

Hey Dudes, I got a hold too. Those GWU guys are b*stards... I didn't even really want to go there, but it still kind of hurts my feelings. Nobody else put me on hold (yet...), I guess I should be happy with the interviews I have...

How many interviews do you think you need to get, on average, to convince yourself that you'll be accepted somewhere? That one's killing me...

 

[DianaUT06]

How many interviews do you think you need to get, on average, to convince yourself that you'll be accepted somewhere? That one's killing me...

You never know. 4 wasn't enough for me last year...

 

[kecs4213]

Finished Harvard interview got GW on hold. It does not hurt a bit.
If GW invite me that will be a head ache to me.

 

[TopDocChick]

Hey Dudes, I got a hold too. Those GWU guys are b*stards... I didn't even really want to go there, but it still kind of hurts my feelings. Nobody else put me on hold (yet...), I guess I should be happy with the interviews I have...

How many interviews do you think you need to get, on average, to convince yourself that you'll be accepted somewhere? That one's killing me...

Out of curiosity, when were you complete at all the schools you got interviews to?

 

[solumanculver]

Out of curiosity, when were you complete at all the schools you got interviews to?

I was complete at all of them at the beginning of september. I got all of my interviews within a week of being complete... That makes me feel pretty bad about all those other schools that I'm complete at with no interview... especially since 4 interviews might not be enough... oh well.

 

[jackson123]

Finished Harvard interview got GW on hold. It does not hurt a bit.
If GW invite me that will be a head ache to me.

Thats hilarious....i feel exactly the same way about this

 

[goldenmed11]

count me in as well. luckily not too many rejections yet...if that's a good thing

 

[hsentar]

so i went by the admissions office yesterday, and found it nothing new that hasn't been posted on SDN already (either this year or in last year's GWU Hold thread).

Basically they told me that people have been outright rejected already, so it should be a small sigh of relief that you weren't in that category.

However, being on hold doesn't actually mean anything beyond that. She said that people have gotten off the hold and invited for an interview in as little as a week and a half, others stay on it until they eventually receive a rejection notice... or you could receive an interview anytime. It's a wierd system that she couldn't even quite explain, because she kept insisting that it isn't ranked or prioritized, yet she couldn't explain how they choose or decide who to pull of Hold.

She said that a lot of people have been calling and that everybody is over-analyzing the e-mail (like we are!), but that we should take it at face value - they literally have too many applications and they just can't get to them all at once. I guess this why GW's automated system is so good about sending you the secondary like hours after you've checked the box on ACMAS (even if you aren't verified yet) - you basically have to turn it in on Day 1 to avoid this fiasco.

IMO GW should cap the number of applicants so that they can fairly evaluate everybody who took the time out to complete the application and secondary early. of course, they'll never do that because they enjoy having students essentially purchase themselves a "hold e-mail" for the application fee.... (sigh).

 

[lisichka]

/

 

[Waiting112]

so i went by the admissions office yesterday, and found it nothing new that hasn't been posted on SDN already (either this year or in last year's GWU Hold thread).

Basically they told me that people have been outright rejected already, so it should be a small sigh of relief that you weren't in that category.

However, being on hold doesn't actually mean anything beyond that. She said that people have gotten off the hold and invited for an interview in as little as a week and a half, others stay on it until they eventually receive a rejection notice... or you could receive an interview anytime. It's a wierd system that she couldn't even quite explain, because she kept insisting that it isn't ranked or prioritized, yet she couldn't explain how they choose or decide who to pull of Hold.

She said that a lot of people have been calling and that everybody is over-analyzing the e-mail (like we are!), but that we should take it at face value - they literally have too many applications and they just can't get to them all at once. I guess this why GW's automated system is so good about sending you the secondary like hours after you've checked the box on ACMAS (even if you aren't verified yet) - you basically have to turn it in on Day 1 to avoid this fiasco.

IMO GW should cap the number of applicants so that they can fairly evaluate everybody who took the time out to complete the application and secondary early. of course, they'll never do that because they enjoy having students essentially purchase themselves a "hold e-mail" for the application fee.... (sigh).

Thanks for keeping us updated.

 

[hsentar]

no problem 🙂

maybe she wasnt supposed to tell me that people were rejected - maybe the letters haven't gone out yet... hmm.

 

[hsentar]

maybe it's a stupid question to ask, but has anybody else heard anything different or new from what has been posted on this thread?

 

[Waiting112]

maybe it's a stupid question to ask, but has anybody else heard anything different or new from what has been posted on this thread?

I haven't. This thread basically reiterated everything that I have heard.

 

[ssquared]

So what's the typical turnaround time for GW? I've been complete for several weeks, and I'm wondering how much longer it will be until I get that hold (being optimistic here, I'm hoping for a little better than an outright rejection...I'm a DC native! don't they have to be nice to me?)

And on a random note, has anybody looked at this admissions handbook? It's got all these medical students prancing around the steps of the capitol in their white coats, holding First Aid. It's so cheesy!

 

[hsentar]

i, too, am a D.C. native, and have made it all the way past the interview to the waiting list before (last year) - but got no special treatment this year. straight to the hold (which I somehow managed to avoid last year?).

The only logical explanation is that there's too many applicants. expected turnaround time is a nonexistant term with GWUMC - after the interview the vague timeline is 5-6 weeks, for me last year it turned out to be 7 or 8.

 

[tacrum43]

And on a random note, has anybody looked at this admissions handbook? It's got all these medical students prancing around the steps of the capitol in their white coats, holding First Aid. It's so cheesy!

Hello! What do you think we have those coats for? 😉

 

[cdarnay]

Also, I don't think people fully understand just how many spots at GW are taken by linkage students.

A cursory glance shows that 20 students in each class are from GW's own BS/MD program, with some more from the 8 year BS/MD program that GW has with St. Bonaventure.

Others apply for early selection, where they apply after sophomore year and don't have to take the MCAT if they attend one of a list of schools (Lyon, Colgate, Claremont McKenna, Maryland, Knox, Rowan, Franklin and Marshall, George Mason, Hamden-Sydney, and St. Bonaventure) I don't know how many total students go from this route but I have to assume it's at least more than one per school.

Also, another 30+ students will link to GW from postbac programs that have linkages with GW (Scripps, where more than half the class will typically link, Bryn Mawr, and Goucher, U Penn, Brandeis, NYU, Hopkins).

That means that out of 177 seats, 1/3 of them may be taken by linkage students, which might put things into perspective when you realize that 13,000 people are competing for 120 seats. They have to reject 99% of applicants, ultimately.

There are some things you mentioned which aren't true. GW does have its own BA/MD program and some early selection and post-bacc link but their class is not 1/3 filled with people that fall into one of those categories. I'd say its closer to 35-40 students out of 185. Also, GW places a huge emphasis on having something "unique" about you. They look beyond the stats and to have a strong gpa, mcat and good/typical pre-med extracurricular activities will usually not make you stand out. For all the applications that they get, there are probably 5 people out there who are very similar with scores, grades and volunteer experience/hospital shadowing. Try to stand out and definitely show your interest in GWU if it is your top choice.

 

[DrDugger]

Please consider that last year's George Washington matriculating class had an average undergraduate GPA of 3.52 and a average composite MCAT score of 9.6 according to US News rankings.

• While it does get more apps than most, it is still comparatively one of the easier schools to get into according to the same ranking system.

So RELAX- most of the posts in this thread come from well over these figures.

• Weighing in at 3.32 w/ a 32 and without a GW hold, I am the one who should be sweating bullets, not the rest of you 😉
  

 

[UCDavisISokay]

Hello! What do you think we have those coats for? 😉

tell the adcoms at your school, your school sucks! I got invited for interviews at better places, but why was I put on hold there, huh?

 

[hj7korp]

Please consider that last year's George Washington matriculating class had an average undergraduate GPA of 3.52 and a average composite MCAT score of 9.6 according to US News rankings.

• While it does get more apps than most, it is still comparatively one of the easier schools to get into according to the same ranking system.

So RELAX- most of the posts in this thread come from well over these figures.

• Weighing in at 3.32 w/ a 32 and without a GW hold, I am the one who should be sweating bullets, not the rest of you 😉

I disagree. They said they are anticipating close to 15,000 applications this year. They probably can easily fill their class so that the average MCAT and GPA can be something like 33-34 and 3.7, but they don't. They rather choose to pick people from diverse and interesting backgrounds.

 

[drizzt3117]

I disagree. They said they are anticipating close to 15,000 applications this year. They probably can easily fill their class so that the average MCAT and GPA can be something like 33-34 and 3.7, but they don't. They rather choose to pick people from diverse and interesting backgrounds.

Yes, but how many of those 15,000 applicants have GW as a top choice? People with 3.7/34 can get into a better school and would likely not go there anyways. It's not like GW is economical or anything.

 

[hj7korp]

Yes, but how many of those 15,000 applicants have GW as a top choice? People with 3.7/34 can get into a better school and would likely not go there anyways. It's not like GW is economical or anything.

People seem to apply to GW by looking at its numbers and think it's an 'easier' school to get in. True, their average MCAT or GPA isn't as impressive as others, but that only means that they're looking for people who are a great 'fit' for their school.

I don't think it's safe to conclude that their numbers are lower because people with higher numbers who get accepted choose to go somewhere else. They accept around 300 people and matriculate 177. More than half of the students who get accepted there choose to go there, which I consider as a high percentage compared to other 'better schools' that accept 400-500 people and matriculte around 150.

Their emphasis on patient care and service is amazing, and students there are bright and competitive. Their health care policy and international internship opportunities are truly unique and outstanding. Depending on what you are looking for out of your medical education, I think GW can easily be one of the best schools that you can ever go.

 

[drizzt3117]

People seem to apply to GW by looking at its numbers and think it's an 'easier' school to get in. True, their average MCAT or GPA isn't as impressive as others, but that only means that they're looking for people who are a great 'fit' for their school.

Every school is looking for students who are a "great fit" for their school. Have you ever heard a dean of admissions say "we're only interested in numbers, and we don't care how a prospective student might fit in with our school's ideals/values"? Given those parameters, one can safely say that schools can be evaluated by matriculant statistics and grouped into tiers using such stats as guidelines.

I don't think it's safe to conclude that their numbers are lower because people with higher numbers who get accepted choose to go somewhere else. They accept around 300 people and matriculate 177. More than half of the students who get accepted there choose to go there, which I consider as a high percentage compared to other 'better schools' that accept 400-500 people and matriculte around 150.

As was mentioned earlier, those numbers are skewed because 20-35% of their class is filled from linkage/early assurance/BS/MD where 100% of the people who are accepted are essentially obligated to matriculate. From what I've read about the linkage programs, I still think that could be as high as 50 but I'll defer to the GW student who said about 35 people are from one of those paths. That still means that they're accepting 260-270 people of which 115 or so are attending, which is in line with most schools with similar ranking.

Their emphasis on patient care and service is amazing, and students there are bright and competitive. Their health care policy and international internship opportunities are truly unique and outstanding. Depending on what you are looking for out of your medical education, I think GW can easily be one of the best schools that you can ever go.

GW does have a pretty strong emphasis on health policy and if that's your field of interest it can be excellent. As far as interational opportunities, every school has those opportunities and I would go as far as to say that another school in the same city as GW with similar stats has better such opportunities.

I'm not saying GW isn't a good school, I'm sure it is. A lot of my postbac classmates are there and love it. I just feel that people applying there should understand that they get a ton of applications because their average stats for matriculants are low and because of the location. They obviously pick students that really want to go there and understand the profile of a typical matriculant and there's nothing wrong with that.

That said, just because they get a lot of applications doesn't mean they could fill their class with students with higher stats. They might be able to do that, if they accepted three times as many students, but that's going to open up a whole different can of worms that most medical schools just don't want to deal with.

Anyways, I'm sure GT and GW are great schools. I chose not to apply to either because I didn't really want to go to school in DC. There are plenty of other people who would love to go to school there and applied. I'm sure they aren't hurting for applicants in any case.

 

[lisichka]

.

 

[drizzt3117]

can you explain further, about the can of worms, that is? just curious.
thank you🙂

When you are trying to raise the average matriculant stats of your class you'll have to accept more students because your expected yield will be lower. Right now for non-linkage/early assurance/bs-md GW appears to be accepting about 270 people for 115 spots. Let's say they want to raise the average GPA/MCAT of their entering class from 3.52/29 to 3.7/32, they're likely going to have to accept more students to do that. Let's say they raise that 260 to 400. What happens if all those people decide to come? They can't accommodate a class of that size, so they'll have to ask people to defer. The other solution, of course, is to have a big waitlist, which has its own logistical problems.

Suffice it to say that schools generally understand what kind of students are likely to attend and can calculate an expected yield and don't tend to deviate from their formulas that much unless something really really major has changed about their program (new hospital, new med school, moved up in the rankings 10-20 spots, etc)

One other thing I neglected to mention before is that GW's matriculant stats are again skewed downwards by linkage, which only requires a 27 MCAT/3.5 BCPM and there may be students accepted who have significantly lower cGPAs than 3.5. Their real open pool matriculant stats may be significantly higher.

 

[DrDugger]

Ok, linkage may skew the scores, but the people in this thread (many > 3.5/32 ) want to know why they have been on hold for so long?

While I would still like to say that the more competitive should worry less simply based on the statistical data- I am intrigued by many of the posts above.

• at the source of this thread I find the question to be what is the "GW fit?"
  • may anyone elaborate on the facets of this fit?
    • GPA / MCAT (open applicant pool)
    • Geographic orientation?
    • Experience in policy?
    • Other facets?
  • Also please describe the Health Policy program there

Thanks in advance.

 

[drizzt3117]

Ok, linkage may skew the scores, but the people in this thread (many > 3.5/32 ) want to know why they have been on hold for so long?

While I would still like to say that the more competitive should worry less simply based on the statistical data- I am intrigued by many of the posts above.

• at the source of this thread I find the question to be what is the "GW fit?"
  • may anyone elaborate on the facets of this fit?
    • GPA / MCAT (open applicant pool)
    • Geographic orientation?
    • Experience in policy?
    • Other facets?
  • Also please describe the Health Policy program there

Thanks in advance.

I'd contend that the only people who really know what GW wants are members of the GW admissions committee.

That said, one could speculate that they're looking for candidates within a specific score range (probably slightly higher than their matriculant averages, but not much higher) that geography or ties to the area matter, especially when pulling people off the wait list late, that health policy and international experiences are considered (from the people who have been granted interviews so far) and much of this process is subjective.

These are simply my thoughts as an impartial observer and much of this info is heavily based on what I've heard about GW from my classmates who are there.

 

[DrDugger]

I'd contend that the only people who really know what GW wants are members of the GW admissions committee.

That said, one could speculate that they're looking for candidates within a specific score range (probably slightly higher than their matriculant averages, but not much higher) that geography or ties to the area matter, especially when pulling people off the wait list late, that health policy and international experiences are considered (from the people who have been granted interviews so far) and much of this process is subjective.

These are simply my thoughts as an impartial observer and much of this info is heavily based on what I've heard about GW from my classmates who are there.

Thank you Drizzt.

Others please add

What is the "GW fit?"

• may anyone elaborate on the facets of this fit?
  • GPA / MCAT (open applicant pool)
    • Drizzt-probably slightly higher than their matriculant averages, but not much higher
  • Geographic orientation?
    • Drizzt-ties to the area matter
  • Experience in policy?
    • Drizzt-experience in health policy is considered
      
  • Experience Abroad?
    • Drizzy-international experiences are considered
  • Other facets?

Also if anyone could, please describe the Health Policy program there.

Thanks again

 

[bellacnella]

Does anyone know if GW gives out auto-invites?

 

[luckycharms08]

Does anyone know if GW gives out auto-invites?

definitely not

 

[bellacnella]

definitely not

So if you got a really fast interview invite, then you should also assume that they have actually reviewed the application to some extent?