How does Wake Forest screen?

Started by speranza
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

speranza

Senior Member
10+ Year Member
5+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Just MCAT/GPA? Or whole app? I'm wondering b/c I got an email from them saying that they would ask for more info when my MCAT scores were in (Aug MCATer). So does this mean they will reconsider my application once they have my MCAT scores to decide whether or not I get a secondary? Or that they've looked at my app and everything's okay except they need to see if my MCAT meets their minimum cutoff for a secondary?
 
i'm sure they look most closely at numbers, but, according to them, they give each application a careful review while screening for secondaries (who knows what that really means). it sounds like wake is really going to town with the pre-secondary rejections this year. i wonder what the reason is. i know the applicant pool gets more competitive each year, but i can't imagine it has gotten that much more competitive from last year to this year. anyway, good luck.

edit: i apologize for not reading your post closely enough. i think it's just a general e-mail acknowledging that you've applied. i think, if i can remember, that they'll wait until they get your scores until they do any sort of review of your app.
 
I got a 33Q and have a 3.67 gpa and I got the rejection letter... no secondary for me 😡
 
uclaguy32 said:
I got a 33Q and have a 3.67 gpa and I got the rejection letter... no secondary for me 😡

Don't feel too bad. The rejections seemed very random this year.

I was in the interview pool last year and got rejected pre-secondary this year.
 
uclaguy32 said:
I got a 33Q and have a 3.67 gpa and I got the rejection letter... no secondary for me 😡

wow - that's really nuts. how do they expect to even fill their class if they're aiming higher than that!? isn't their avg like 3.6 and a 30 or something around there? very baffling.
 
medstylee said:
wow - that's really nuts. how do they expect to even fill their class if they're aiming higher than that!? isn't their avg like 3.6 and a 30 or something around there? very baffling.

They are crazy to reject someone with a 36 pre secondary! It is because they had such a huge spike in apps last year. As silly as it sounds it was probably because of the baskebtall team doing so well or something. They are probably expecting another increase in apps this year. Funny thing is they had to go really far down their waitlist to fill the class this past year....
 
From the few profiles I saw, it looked people were getting rejected with an 8 or less in ANY section of the MCAT (regardless of their overall total), or a GPA of <3.4 (either BCMP or overall). 🙁 Any other theories?
 
the brown note said:
From the few profiles I saw, it looked people were getting rejected with an 8 or less in ANY section of the MCAT (regardless of their overall total), or a GPA of <3.4 (either BCMP or overall). 🙁 Any other theories?

Cant be just that.. I had 9-9-13 S on mcat and 3.5 overall. Went to Wake and still got rejected
 
I've spoken with the Dean before (I grew up in Winston-Salem). He told me that they have three piles of applications:

1. Automatically send secondary - based on high GPA/MCAT
2. Screen before secondary - They want to look at other factors
3. Automatically reject - based on low GPA/MCAT

However, he did say that he personally looks at all of those in pile 3 before sending the rejection letter just to make sure they aren't missing someone with other outstanding attributes.

Not sure that really helps. Sorry, I don't know what scores differentiate each pile.
 
the brown note said:
From the few profiles I saw, it looked people were getting rejected with an 8 or less in ANY section of the MCAT (regardless of their overall total), or a GPA of <3.4 (either BCMP or overall). 🙁 Any other theories?

i have a 2.8 overall and I got a secondary, so who knows.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
murphomatic said:
i have a 2.8 overall and I got a secondary, so who knows.

This is what the Office of Admissions at Yale told me:

Friendly suggestion: Don't worry too much about trying to determine whether you will be accepted before you submit an application to a given school. It won't work. You'll never figure it out, and you'll drive yourself crazy. Select a longish list of reasonable places, and give it your best shot.

My conclusion: we will never know.
 
Ridiculous...how is it that I have better numbers than their average accepted applicants and not at least get a secondary? Well either way this is my first rejection of the process so far; not exactly the feeling I am after.
 
well, I gotta 6 on VR and still got my secondary from them.
 
Bobo,

I don't understand what their deal is....You'd think they'd multiply your wake gpa by some kind of number, anyway. of all the schools, wake forest should know how tough wake undergrad is....
 
an email I got says...

"we're looking for a 3.5 science GPA and 10s on the MCAT, where sometimes an 8 can be an eliminating factor"

I guess the key word is "sometimes!" Heh. Oh well, like others say, this whole thing is hard to predict. Don't worry about it too much. Life goes on 🙂
 
i just got their rejection email too. my first rejection letter ever ( i only applied to few schools for undergraduate), but i feel not too bad. maybe cuz i know there will be tons more of those coming in for me 🙂
 
crazy_cavalier said:
an email I got says...

"we're looking for a 3.5 science GPA and 10s on the MCAT, where sometimes an 8 can be an eliminating factor"

I guess the key word is "sometimes!" Heh. Oh well, like others say, this whole thing is hard to predict. Don't worry about it too much. Life goes on 🙂

What email is that? One you asked the Dean what they are looking for?
 
ychoi81 said:
i just got their rejection email too. my first rejection letter ever ( i only applied to few schools for undergraduate), but i feel not too bad. maybe cuz i know there will be tons more of those coming in for me 🙂

🙁 same here, my lowest score was a 7 on the Physical Sci section, 3.4 overall gpa. First rejection. Still working on those 2ndaries for other schools, but geez, it sure wears down some self-esteem if I've even got any. Oh well, the harder it is, the more I'm a gonna go for it! Hiyaaah!
 
I got the reject letter too. My numbers: PS-8, VR-11, BS-8, WS-M, GPA 3.64. But that's OK because these secondaries can get expensive.
 
I would have throught Wake was applying some type of multiplier to the GPA number based on the undergraduate program that the applicant is from. However, that theory seems to be blown out of the water by BOBDR's expereince. Surely, Wake rates it own undergraduate program very highly. It is nationally prominent and I have heard from several sources that the Wake undergrad program is tough and there is little grade inflation compared to many schools.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
seiko,

i love you. thank you for saying that. sometimes i feel that many do not realize how tough wake is. i'm a wake undergrad right now, and those premed reqs have been a b___h, not to mention everything else. and, on top of that, wake undergrad definitely has a much stronger reputation than wake med, so you would think that it would consider that when evaluating applicants' gpa's. i'm not complaining, b/c i got the secondary, but i agree...bobo's experience seems unfair.
 
REJECTED!!! 11BS 9V 9PS

3.68 GPA 3.60 BCPM 3.87 AO

publication lots of ECRs..


who knows? I'm guessing they're gonna really have to dip from their waitlist again
 
Wake is extremely tough, and I am not even complaining because I didn't do well, because I did. Wake med is a mystery to me. I personally know a girl with a 3.25, 30 (10-10-10) and no noteworthy EC's to speak of get a secondary (2 yrs in a row) while I did not (2 yrs in a row). Who knows? I would be happy going to any medical school but if I do not get in this year then I have no idea what to do next. When I look at other career options nothing else thrills me. I do not know how much longer I can keep my sanity while working in research. Yeah publications and my boss is decent but I am getting bored and hate seeing all the med students here walk around (sorry just a little jealous 😳 ). Only good part of the week is seeing rheumatology patients on Wed.... oh well.
 
seiko said:
I would have throught Wake was applying some type of multiplier to the GPA number based on the undergraduate program that the applicant is from. However, that theory seems to be blown out of the water by BOBDR's expereince. Surely, Wake rates it own undergraduate program very highly. It is nationally prominent and I have heard from several sources that the Wake undergrad program is tough and there is little grade inflation compared to many schools.

I think sometimes schools will have a year where they take very few undergrads from their own institution so they can balance out their statistics and say they don't give preference to undergrads from their own school. I say this because 2 years ago, the law school at my university did not accept anyone from our undergrad program. Even the class valedictorian, who was accepted to Ivy league schools, didn't get in. This is just a theory of mine, but if it's true, it could just be a bad year for Wake undergrads to get accepted to Wake med 🙁 , but not a bad sign for the whole admissions process.
 
One thing that I noticed on the Wake Forest web site is that they have an Early Assurance program. The website says "Well-qualified college students, upon completion of the sophomore year, at very competitive schools may apply for acceptance to the class entering two years later." I wonder how long this program has been in place and whether they are accepting enough people two years in advance that it is affecting the rejection rate that is being seen. Maybe they do not really have 108 open slots for the class that enters in 2006. I would expect they accept few people under this Early Assurance provision though. Does anyone know?
 
If the above poster was right about the Dean personally looking through all 3 piles of applications, then perhaps they take a thorough look at the entire application. Maybe Wake Forest is placing a higher emphasis on non-trad applicants? Maybe there are a LOT more applications this year? Who knows...all I know is that I was surprised as all hell to get a secondary from them when I got pre-secondary rejections from some other places. If they had to go far down their waitlist last year, it means that they'll probably be doing the same again this year. Has anyone actually called the Admissions Office after getting the pdf file to ask what the deal is?
 
the brown note said:
From the few profiles I saw, it looked people were getting rejected with an 8 or less in ANY section of the MCAT (regardless of their overall total), or a GPA of <3.4 (either BCMP or overall). 🙁 Any other theories?

Well that would explain my rejection. It's so weird though because I received a secondary from Ohio State (which has higher numbers than Wake), as well as VCU. I guess it just depends on the school and the person reviewing your app.
 
Rebs said:
Ridiculous...how is it that I have better numbers than their average accepted applicants and not at least get a secondary? Well either way this is my first rejection of the process so far; not exactly the feeling I am after.

It may come as a shocker to everyone, but perhaps some people with higher than average stats are getting pre-secondary rejections from Wake because there are factors other than just mcat scores and gpa's which come into play when deciding which applicants are going to be good doctors.
 
tacrum43 said:
Well that would explain my rejection. It's so weird though because I received a secondary from Ohio State (which has higher numbers than Wake), as well as VCU. I guess it just depends on the school and the person reviewing your app.

Dang, and I was really hoping you'd end up here. I'm going to bookmark your mdapps if you don't mind.
 
I got a secondary with a 3.7 overall, 3.6 sci and 10's across the board. Out of state. *shrug*
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
the brown note said:
From the few profiles I saw, it looked people were getting rejected with an 8 or less in ANY section of the MCAT (regardless of their overall total), or a GPA of <3.4 (either BCMP or overall). 🙁 Any other theories?

I actually got an 8 on VR and got a secondary, 33Q. Rejection is crap. Admission is crapshoot.
 
non trad here... stats are just as competetive as some of those that received a secondary. So I don't think it's the non-trad idea.
 
Nakhrewali said:
... Maybe Wake Forest is placing a higher emphasis on non-trad applicants? Maybe there are a LOT more applications this year? Who knows...
I'm a non-trad with some very good and some very not-so-good elements of my app and did receive a secondary.

3.28 GPA, 3.74 Science, 38 MCAT, not much research, lots of non-med volunteer and other experience.

I don't know that evaluating a few people who received or didn't receive secondaries helps to figure out their system, but I know that I appreciate it when other people add their details, so I thought I'd throw mine in.
 
the brown note said:
From the few profiles I saw, it looked people were getting rejected with an 8 or less in ANY section of the MCAT (regardless of their overall total), or a GPA of <3.4 (either BCMP or overall). 🙁 Any other theories?

I have a 3.38 bcmp and still got the secondary... (ivy though)

seems random...
 
Medikit said:
Dang, and I was really hoping you'd end up here. I'm going to bookmark your mdapps if you don't mind.

Awww 🙁 , Medikit, my CSU buddy! I would be honored to have you bookmark my mdapps profile.

When does Wake Forest start?
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
I have a 3.4 and a 37P and I got a secondary, though my friend has similar stuff to me and got rejected pre-secondary. I don't know whats up.
 
i finally spoke with someone at wake admissions.

i was told that the pre-secondary criteria have gotten a lot more strict this year. they are doing this in effort to shift more of the applicant eliminations to the pre-secondary stage. that way, they'll have to send out less applications, less people will have to pay the secondary fee (at least they don't make people waste money), and they won't have as large of an interview pool.

anyway, that's the impetus for this wave of rejections.
 
medstylee said:
i finally spoke with someone at wake admissions.

i was told that the pre-secondary criteria have gotten a lot more strict this year. they are doing this in effort to shift more of the applicant eliminations to the pre-secondary stage. that way, they'll have to send out less applications, less people will have to pay the secondary fee (at least they don't make people waste money), and they won't have as large of an interview pool.

anyway, that's the impetus for this wave of rejections.

Anyone know approximately how many receive secondaries and, of those, how many receive interviews?
 
I got an email saying they got my application on aug 16th and my rejection letter was dated the 17th aug!!!
 
The website doesn't mention the percent of applicants who were rewarded secondaries that get interviews. All I found was the following:

"...Upon receipt of the AMCAS application, the Committee on Admissions evaluates each applicant. Those who cannot be interviewed are notified. Other applicants receive a Supplemental Application Form before December 15. The nonrefundable processing fee of $55, which is required with submission of the Supplemental Application Packet, includes a request for an evaluation by the applicant's Premedical Advisory Committee or from individuals who have taught or supervised the applicant if the undergraduate institution does not have a Premedical Advisory Committee.

After the Supplemental Application Packet, MCAT scores, and letter(s) of evaluation are received, the completed application is reviewed by the Committee on Admissions, and candidates are invited for interview. Approximately nine percent of all applicants are asked to visit Wake Forest University School of Medicine for interviews from October through March. Academic achievement, academic improvement, MCAT scores, state (or country) of residence, and letters of recommendation are considered in selecting applicants for interview. Thus, all applicants for interview are considered competitively. By the end of April all applicants are notified of the action of the Committee on Admissions: acceptance, placement on the waiting list, or rejection. Those retained on the waiting list are considered for vacancies as accepted applicants withdraw; this list is maintained until one week after school has begun. An applicant who is accepted is asked to respond in writing within two weeks. Upon acceptance of an offer, a holding place fee must be submitted. This fee, which is credited toward tuition, is refundable until May 1..."
 
Nakhrewali said:
The website doesn't mention the percent of applicants who were rewarded secondaries that get interviews. All I found was the following:

"...Upon receipt of the AMCAS application, the Committee on Admissions evaluates each applicant. Those who cannot be interviewed are notified. Other applicants receive a Supplemental Application Form before December 15. The nonrefundable processing fee of $55, which is required with submission of the Supplemental Application Packet, includes a request for an evaluation by the applicant's Premedical Advisory Committee or from individuals who have taught or supervised the applicant if the undergraduate institution does not have a Premedical Advisory Committee.

After the Supplemental Application Packet, MCAT scores, and letter(s) of evaluation are received, the completed application is reviewed by the Committee on Admissions, and candidates are invited for interview. Approximately nine percent of all applicants are asked to visit Wake Forest University School of Medicine for interviews from October through March. Academic achievement, academic improvement, MCAT scores, state (or country) of residence, and letters of recommendation are considered in selecting applicants for interview. Thus, all applicants for interview are considered competitively. By the end of April all applicants are notified of the action of the Committee on Admissions: acceptance, placement on the waiting list, or rejection. Those retained on the waiting list are considered for vacancies as accepted applicants withdraw; this list is maintained until one week after school has begun. An applicant who is accepted is asked to respond in writing within two weeks. Upon acceptance of an offer, a holding place fee must be submitted. This fee, which is credited toward tuition, is refundable until May 1..."

Much obliged. 9%, so approximately 400 or so interviews if they get over 4000 applications. This seems really low given that WF is no powerhouse and many acceptees are likely to withdraw and go somewhere else.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad