UWSOM WWAMI Interview Invites

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FamousPotatoes

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I'll preface this with the admission that I know I'm being extremely neurotic about this, especially given that Idaho interviews don't even take place until February. That said:

Does anyone know how UWSOM handles interview invites for WWAMI applicants who don't meet the 3.5/27 automatic invite cutoff? By my AMCAS GPA I would make the cut-off, but because of the way UW calculates GPA (senior year not included, junior year weighted heavily) I don't think I do. In fact I am completely unsure how their formula will handle my GPA, because my junior year was abroad and mandatory pass/fail (Jr GPA of 0/0 = undefined?).

I read that Dr. Samson reviews all the apps that fall under the cut-off to decide on whether an interview will be granted. Does anyone know when this happens? It makes sense that it might not be until Jan or Feb when they have all their WA interviews settled. Still, one month after being complete and no word makes me a nervous boy.
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I too am an Idaho app. I had heard that we dont get interviews until Feb (dang it) but I didnt know about the formula. I got a degree, worked for a year, then did two years of post-bac. What was technically my junior year was the worst year of my academic career. If they weigh heavily on that...oh boy...I am s.o.l. BIG TIME! Hopefully someone will actually look at my whole app.

And FamousPotatoes, your MDapps profile looks great! I dont see how they could NOT want you! And don't worry about being neurotic: "neurosis" is my middle name, so I'm right there with you! Best of luck!!:luck:
 
hey, I'm in the same boat. I'm so ignorant as to the process. There's a cutoff? I'm an Idaho applicant, and I went into the application process thinking that as an idaho resident, it's easy to get into U dub. I think this may have been a killer move -- as I've only interviewed at one place. I only applied to 5 places, and had one interview, and I'm seriously just banking on u dub, I don't want to go anywhere else.

If I have to do this process over again as a result of my naivete on u dub I may go crazy. But on a brighter side -- maybe we'll all be classmates next year?
 
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I forgot to type the main question I had in my head. Do any of you guys know when they hand out interview invites to Idaho residents? And do they offer interviews to anyone who makes that cutoff?
 
Hmmm... Don't know when they "hand them out," but if they aren't going to interview us until february, I bet they dont get around to letting us know until late dec or jan. Arent there 20-something seats for ID residents? I forget the exact number. And it seems from the MSARs of the past, generally about 120 or so Idaho people apply for those seats every time. I would assume they would interview most everybody then, unless an application is SERIOUSLY lacking...but that being said...I also heard from a 2nd year there (who applied 3 times before getting in) that only 25% of the incoming class are first time applicants...plus...they are VERY big on the research thing. I'm not feeling real hopeful for this school. I am hoping I get an interview there, just so I can see if it really is as bad as I've heard. In a perfect world, I can interview there after Im already accepted somewhere so I can relax a little more, and just enjoy the experience.

On another note...I just discovered my space (yeah, guess I've been in a cave for a bit) and I need friends...neurotic pre-med friends...🙂 pm me for the site address!
 
holy crap, only 25% are first time applicants? I know there are 20 seats, but definitely didn't know that they were really big on the research. I thought they'd be more all about primary car/rural healthcare.

Hmmm...this waiting game is killing me. I keep hearing U dub interview horror stories as well -- my only interview was beyond chill, so I don't know if I'll be prepared for a tough interview.
 
Khanal007 said:
holy crap, only 25% are first time applicants? I know there are 20 seats, but definitely didn't know that they were really big on the research. I thought they'd be more all about primary car/rural healthcare.

Hmmm...this waiting game is killing me. I keep hearing U dub interview horror stories as well -- my only interview was beyond chill, so I don't know if I'll be prepared for a tough interview.
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Well, I am not sure about the 25% statistic, but I do have some thoughts on the research/primary care paradox.

When I interviewed a few weeks ago I wasn't expecting to talk about my research but that is the first thing I was asked about. There were several follow-up questions where each of the interviewers seemed genuinely interested.

Then they switched to primary care/underserved mode. That is, they said "if you are so interested in research and becoming (blank specialty) than why would you come here. You know we are aimed at producing physicians that are intending to serve the rural communities in the 5 states we represent."

Next they transitioned into the stereotypical ethics questions with several unnecessary follow questions (to each of these I just reiterated what I already had said...I think they are trying to get you to cave and change your mind).

Overall, pretty much what I expected. Definitely the most aggressive interview I have had, although I felt pretty good walking out.

Good Luck:luck:
 
Well, the Dean of Admissions (Dr Werner Samson) came to my school (Western Washington University) to give a talk about admission to the medical school. He said that he himself looks through every single applicant that has been screened out by "the computer" that does not meet the cutoff to check to "significant improvement later", ect.

You can to the UW AED chapter website to search for texts of talks he as given on admissions. Interseting:

http://students.washington.edu/aed/newlink/minutes.htm

there are alot of links however...search for his name or "admissions"
 
I saw FamousPotatoes got an interview...found out about it by calling with a screening question??! Nice! Oh my gosh, I think I have a question too! I better go call right now. Seriously! I hope this works as well for me as it did for you!😀
 
Dang, that is alot of letters in teh school name. What exactly does it stand for? Thanks
 
eternalrage said:
Dang, that is alot of letters in teh school name. What exactly does it stand for? Thanks
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UWSOM
University (of) Washington School Of Medicine

WWAMI is the 5 state region served by UWSOM... Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho... it's the only public med school for all these states.
 
I have heard (secondhand through my brother and sister who are both UWSOM students who are from Idaho and went through the WWAMI program) that there are specified dates that Idaho applicants interview on...They bring over physicians/admissions committee members from Idaho to conduct the interviews and have all the Idaho applicants interview on those days...I believe there are three days throughout the interview season designated for Idaho applicants and the timing of the interview depends on how early your application is reviewed and whether the earlier interview sessions are full..I know my brother didn't interview until March, but found out that he was admitted 3 days after interviewing, so I wouldn't take a later interview date as a bad sign...
 
Rainman84 said:
UWSOM
University (of) Washington School Of Medicine

WWAMI is the 5 state region served by UWSOM... Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho... it's the only public med school for all these states.
Click to expand...


FYI- UWSOM is not the only public med school for all these states. There's also a program called WICHE which gives in state preference to the western states which don't have a med school (and unlike WWAMI, you spend all 4 years at the school). The schools that participate in this are Arizona, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada...not too shabby of a deal, except you're competing with all the in state applicants as well as all of the applicants from the states w/o a med school. yikes.

anyways, I'm a Montana resident and I received my UWSOM interview invite last week...scheduled for the end of January. I was interviewing at schools in September with Idaho applicants who had already received their interview invites, scheduled for Feb. So I have a feeling this process is rolling and if your application is complete, you should probably be hearing from the school.

Good luck good luck!
 
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The 25% stat is incorrect. I have a handout from Samson after he gave a talk to about 10 of us volunteers at Harborview one day that shows about 25% of matriculating students have applied more than once, this includes 2, 3, 4 or more times. In addition, Idaho has 18 spots, for which they interview about 80 students (or they did last year). That percentage (roughly 1 in 4 interviewees accepted) is pretty even across all the WWAMI states at UWSOM.

I interview tomorrow morning, and was called on Monday to interview... talk about short notice...
 
Dane07MD said:
The 25% stat is incorrect. I have a handout from Samson after he gave a talk to about 10 of us volunteers at Harborview one day that shows about 25% of matriculating students have applied more than once, this includes 2, 3, 4 or more times. In addition, Idaho has 18 spots, for which they interview about 80 students (or they did last year). That percentage (roughly 1 in 4 interviewees accepted) is pretty even across all the WWAMI states at UWSOM.

I interview tomorrow morning, and was called on Monday to interview... talk about short notice...
Click to expand...

Wow, great. For once, I'm glad I'm wrong. I thought my source was reliable, but yours sounds much more so. Just weird unfortunate coincidence that all the med students I have ever met from there applied more than once. Good luck on that interview!! Let us know how it goes!
 
This thread has been really informative being an Idaho resident also. I've been curious though, will going to UW help me in looking better to them? (I'm already here, just curious if undergrad place matters). Also, do many ID residents get into UW from ID state schools or are most of us applying from out of state schools?
 
The top schools that UWSOM accepts from from entering class of 2006. (in no. of students)

UW: 32
Stanford: 8
Montana State: 7
Western WA: 7
U Wyoming: 6
Dartmouth: 5
Harvard: 5
WSU: 5
Brigham Young: 4
Gonzaga: 4
U. Puget Sound: 4
Oregon State: 3
Seattle U: 3
U. Penn: 3
U. Portland: 3
Whitman College: 3
Willamette: 3
 
LeikiLaniAhAh said:
I saw FamousPotatoes got an interview...found out about it by calling with a screening question??! Nice! Oh my gosh, I think I have a question too! I better go call right now. Seriously! I hope this works as well for me as it did for you!😀
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If you pass the cutoff then you have an interview. I called in to update my address and she mentioned to me also that I have an interview even though I haven't gotten any correspondence (email or mail) saying I have an interview. The admin lady said they were still forming the committee for Idaho applicants and would get to us within a month to schedule interview times.
 
Khanal - Great info. Still forming the committees for the Idaho applicants? Don't they use the same committees every year? I guess I'm clueless as to their process.....
Didn't somebody post earlier that Idaho interviews are still taking place in February of '07?
 
Sarchis said:
..I know my brother didn't interview until March, but found out that he was admitted 3 days after interviewing, so I wouldn't take a later interview date as a bad sign...
Click to expand...

👍 Thanks for that info! I was starting to worry that with such "late" interview dates (the first of next year!!! 😱 ) that we wouldn't get acceptances until the end of spring.

I wonder if the three-day turn around time is pretty standard for the WWAMI applicants or if your brother was just special??? 😕
 
JeremyJHartl said:
👍 Thanks for that info! I was starting to worry that with such "late" interview dates (the first of next year!!! 😱 ) that we wouldn't get acceptances until the end of spring.

I wonder if the three-day turn around time is pretty standard for the WWAMI applicants or if your brother was just special??? 😕
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I think it's pretty standard for a quick response time, everyone I know (about 5 people) were told their decision within 5 days. As for Idaho, they have their interviews on four days in February or on these four days in March. They do that because some of the committee members are practicing doctors in Idaho, so they fly out to Seattle specifically to conduct interviews.
 
Yes, finally! Got my invite for Feb! I was starting to lose hope there for a bit....
yippeee!
 
LeikiLaniAhAh said:
Yes, finally! Got my invite for Feb! I was starting to lose hope there for a bit....
yippeee!
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got mine too. Im debating whether or not I want to stay with a student host. What's everyone else doing? (Im assuming a lot of people got their invites today, at least Idahoans)
 
On another UWSOM note, perhaps someone can clarify the following statement for me. I recently interviewed there and then received an email saying I am "part of a pool of applicants who will remain under consideration." It then stated, "Last
year 39% of the applicants who received this letter were eventually
accepted or put on an alternate list."

What exactly does an "alternate list" mean? Is that just a fancy term for waitlist? How many people from this pool were actually accepted? I want to read this as saying I have a 1 in 2.5 chance of getting in, but I know it's not quite that good.

Anyone know?
 
I just got my invite for an interview but it isn't until March. Is there any reason why others of you got the invite for the earlier dates and I got mine for march? Would there bee too many people already for the Feb date. I had all of my materials in pretty early and my numbers are well above the automatic cutoff so I don't see any reason that I would get the later date. Any thoughts?
 
Dr.who said:
On another UWSOM note, perhaps someone can clarify the following statement for me. I recently interviewed there and then received an email saying I am "part of a pool of applicants who will remain under consideration." It then stated, "Last
year 39% of the applicants who received this letter were eventually
accepted or put on an alternate list."

What exactly does an "alternate list" mean? Is that just a fancy term for waitlist? How many people from this pool were actually accepted? I want to read this as saying I have a 1 in 2.5 chance of getting in, but I know it's not quite that good.

Anyone know?
Click to expand...
alternate list just means waitlist, but I think there's a good chance of getting off the "still in consideration" they put u on. As for how many are accepted off the alternate...I'm not sure.
 
JeremyJHartl said:
I just got my invite for an interview but it isn't until March. Is there any reason why others of you got the invite for the earlier dates and I got mine for march? Would there bee too many people already for the Feb date. I had all of my materials in pretty early and my numbers are well above the automatic cutoff so I don't see any reason that I would get the later date. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
I read somewhere that they just go right in order when looking at people who've passed the numerical cutoff..right in order of when people were complete. I was complete there in late september (i'm from idaho), and I got february. Were u complete before then?
 
I completed all of my application materials in early October. Yes, that is later than you did in September, but I received my invitation yesterday. Other people on here got there invite just one or two days before that got a February date.
How about this as an added question, is there anyone that has a February date interview that is applying for the first time? Or when did everyone get their materials in if you are a first time applicant?
 
Just got an interview for Feb. 5. I'm a first time applicant, Idaho resident. I'm not sure if i met the 3.5 gpa cutoff or not (the way UWSOM calculates it) but I got an interview either way. see you all in Feb!
 
kmjn315 said:
Just got an interview for Feb. 5. I'm a first time applicant, Idaho resident. I'm not sure if i met the 3.5 gpa cutoff or not (the way UWSOM calculates it) but I got an interview either way. see you all in Feb!
Click to expand...

Good luck! I will be there in March. What are your stats?
 
SO...
Following suit with other SND peeps who hadn't heard from UW yet, I went ahead and dared call the admissions office...LUCKILY.

It turns out they already SENT the interview invite, but for some reason I hadn't gotten it yet!! This school is REALLY high on my list, so you can imagine the excitement...😀

At any rate, any WWAMI Wyoming student planning to be there on the 14th of February?
 
When you guys go through the interview, think you could post here or PM me and tell what the interviews were like? I'm in my freshman year, currently at a community college, but I plan to do my junior and senior year at UW and hope to get into med school there as well (since I already live here, it would be convienent, as well as probably being my best chance at a state college as I'm a resident here in WA)
 
marie_in_wa said:
When you guys go through the interview, think you could post here or PM me and tell what the interviews were like? I'm in my freshman year, currently at a community college, but I plan to do my junior and senior year at UW and hope to get into med school there as well (since I already live here, it would be convienent, as well as probably being my best chance at a state college as I'm a resident here in WA)
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check the interview feedback section of SDN under UW. There are over a 150 responses from people who've interviewed at u dub in the past years.
 
Hey all you Idaho peeps--
I'm going to be in Seattle next week to interview with the rest of WY, but I'd love to know how your WWAMI interviews went this week! Keep us all posted...I'm just sitting here obsessively checking until then...
Thanks!
 
i was in seattle earlier this week. The interview was pretty in line with what's posted in the interview feedback, definitely read the UW bioethics site and you'll be fine.

The person who interviewed at the same time as me decided to share a cab with me on the way home since we both had to rush to the airport after our interviews. She said she started crying in her interview and was crying most of the ride home. But my interview wasn't that harsh. I think as long as you prepare you'll be fine.
 
I was there this week too and didn't find the interview to be that bad. It's not a fluff interview, but they aren't out to get you. I found everyone to be exceedingly nice, even if they did ask tough questions. Just know a little bit about the health care system and you'll be set.

That said, knowing that the interview counted for 50% stressed me out a fair bit and I got flustered once or twice. I left kicking myself for not answering every question perfectly, but there's nothing I can do about it now. Keeping my fingers crossed for good news on Monday. I really want to come home to ID.
 
Does anyone know how UW handles study abroad? Will have no Jr year grades due to attending a foreign university. There are evaluations made but no equivalent grades given.
 
Khanal007 said:
i was in seattle earlier this week. The interview was pretty in line with what's posted in the interview feedback, definitely read the UW bioethics site and you'll be fine.

The person who interviewed at the same time as me decided to share a cab with me on the way home since we both had to rush to the airport after our interviews. She said she started crying in her interview and was crying most of the ride home. But my interview wasn't that harsh. I think as long as you prepare you'll be fine.
Click to expand...


Crying?? Oh boy. I'm a pretty emotional person, but I have to say my interview was definitely not that harsh! There were things that I left wishing I had clarified better or worded more eloquently, but overall it wasn't so bad. Did she say what exactly had her crying?
 
.dream.big. said:
Crying?? Oh boy. I'm a pretty emotional person, but I have to say my interview was definitely not that harsh! There were things that I left wishing I had clarified better or worded more eloquently, but overall it wasn't so bad. Did she say what exactly had her crying?
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Yeah, apparently she just hadn't prepared that much for ethics and perceived all of their followup questions as threatening. Also, apparently they asked her "soo, what happened the day of the MCAT?" Which she was offended about. I mean, she was pretty nervous beforehand as well, and I think a little prodding cracked her.

But seirously, their ethics questions are straight out of the UW bioethics site. I read through it, took notes, and read my notes once on the plane before, and i had no problem. Just make sure u read them and you'll be set.

I also second that they are very nice people. extremely nice.
 
Schoko said:
Does anyone know how UW handles study abroad? Will have no Jr year grades due to attending a foreign university. There are evaluations made but no equivalent grades given.
Click to expand...

I have no idea what their policy on that is. I was in the same boat, all my jr year credits are pass/fail (all passes) because I was abroad the whole year. When I asked them, I was told "We take all of your grades into consideration," and they didn't really elaborate. I got the impression that they actually use a 50/25/25 (interview/gpa/mcat) formula as a major factor in ranking candidates, so I don't like that my GPA won't fit neatly into that scheme. I'm sure they run across plenty of candidates that don't fit their mold (they are known for liking non-trads etc), so I'm not too worried. They have some way to handle it fairly.
 
WOOOT, got in this morning! Fast turnaround for non-washingtonian applicants!

FIRST ACCEPTANCE WOOOOOOOOT!
 
Congrats, I got dropped into the March pool. Could have been much worse, considering how displeased I was with my interview performance. Time to write the most eloquent update letter ever and hope that will help me out.
 
hey! I think we had our interviews on the same day! Maybe we'll be classmates next year!
 
Hello all--
Just thought I'd sign in for the Wyoming WWAMI students since there don't appear to be many around. I GOT IN!! They sent me an email this week.
In case you're curious as to dates:
Interviewed Feb 14
Received email Feb 20...good turn around for the WWAMI team.
Anyway, I'm extremely excited, and will be there next fall!!
Any other WWAMI victories?!
 
Schoko said:
Does anyone know how UW handles study abroad? Will have no Jr year grades due to attending a foreign university. There are evaluations made but no equivalent grades given.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the same grade mathematics applies whether you were abroad or not. I too got a 4.0 my junior year due to a year abroad, and that only helped my app in this case.
Were your grades pass/fail or what? Why do you have no grades?
 
For those of you that have been accepted. When did you receive the email? The next monday? Tuesday? I just had my interview and will be out of town next week and would like an idea of when the emails are sent so that I know if I have a dreaded rejection or waitlist letter sitting at home on the mail box.
Thank you and congrats again on the acceptances!
 
Whit1113 said:
For those of you that have been accepted. When did you receive the email? The next monday? Tuesday? I just had my interview and will be out of town next week and would like an idea of when the emails are sent so that I know if I have a dreaded rejection or waitlist letter sitting at home on the mail box.
Thank you and congrats again on the acceptances!
Click to expand...
the next monday for me
 
Whit1113 said:
For those of you that have been accepted. When did you receive the email? The next monday? Tuesday? I just had my interview and will be out of town next week and would like an idea of when the emails are sent so that I know if I have a dreaded rejection or waitlist letter sitting at home on the mail box.
Thank you and congrats again on the acceptances!
Click to expand...

The next Tuesday for me (Monday was a holiday).
 
Ok...its 3:42 my time (mountain) and I'm quickly losing hope....has anyone heard from the U of W today from the Idaho interviews last week? We are suppose to hear yes today, and if not a no by snail mail later....in other words, if I don't get that email today.........🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁

Has anyone received an email from UWSOM today, or are they yet to send them out?

Praying for the latter.....
 
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