***Wayne State SOM Everything***

[fisko82]

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Hi everyone--I'd greatly appreciate any advice you can give me about my weird situation.

First some stats:
MCAT: 33S (V13, P11, B9)
BCPM GPA: 3.22
AO GPA: 3.83
Overall GPA: 3.56
EC: 4+ summers of research at or affiliated with WSOM (4 posters), 90 hrs ER volunteering, various school extracurriculars all 4 years.
Recs: Strong, including one from a professor at WSOM

Now, Wayne State was my top school until August, when they sent me a rejection pre-secondary.

That's nuts. Your mcat is solid, ECs are good, and your grades are fine, considering you went to Notre Dame for undergrad. For what it's worth, Wayne appears to be rejecting and waitlisting a lot of highly qualified applicants this cycle. Perhaps the school is trying to avoid over-admitting like they did last year? So to avoid this problem again, they're rejecting and waitlisting more people than usual at this time of year, you think? 😕

 

[mink31]

Yeah, I don't get what the deal is either. One theory is that in order to strengthen their residency program, they may be trying to build up a strong med school class that's willing to match with their alma mater. I'm not even sure that makes sense, since it's almost impossible to reliably predict what a student's intentions are for residency before they've even been admitted to med school😱.

I'll try to get some answers when I talk to them tomorrow and will report what I learn tomorrow evening...

 

[Piyush]

Ithink that will help a lot of us who are still waiting/waitlisted at WSU.

Let us know what you find out.

Cheers, and good luck
Piyush

Yeah, I don't get what the deal is either. One theory is that in order to strengthen their residency program, they may be trying to build up a strong med school class that's willing to match with their alma mater. I'm not even sure that makes sense, since it's almost impossible to reliably predict what a student's intentions are for residency before they've even been admitted to med school😱.

I'll try to get some answers when I talk to them tomorrow and will report what I learn tomorrow evening...

 

[fun8stuff]

Hi everyone--I'd greatly appreciate any advice you can give me about my weird situation.

First some stats:
MCAT: 33S (V13, P11, B9)
BCPM GPA: 3.22
AO GPA: 3.83
Overall GPA: 3.56
EC: 4+ summers of research at or affiliated with WSOM (4 posters), 90 hrs ER volunteering, various school extracurriculars all 4 years.
Recs: Strong, including one from a professor at WSOM

Now, Wayne State was my top school until August, when they sent me a rejection pre-secondary. Only recently did I find out that I can meet with someone at admissions about any "final decision" they made. I'm having this meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 8.

Has anyone had such a meeting? Other than asking them WTF about me not getting a secondary, what can you suggest I say?

Also, am I too late for any hope of getting admitted this year?

Thanks so much for your help--this thread is great and I wish I had read it much earlier!

yeah good luck... perhaps it was a mistake? that is the only thing i can think of. I would say most people have lower stats than you at wsusom. Hopefully you find something out at that meeting... good luck

 

[coffeebythelake]

Nope, I've lived in the Detroit area for the last 15 years. My mom works at WSOM, in fact.

The main reason why I've decided against doing post-bac right now (other than being late with the application, for which the deadline was Dec 1), is that I'm still waiting for interview from 7 schools. I've had 5 rejections and no interviews yet 🙁

Anyway, by the April 1 post-bac deadline, I'll know for sure whether I'll need the classes or not. Who know? Maybe I'll get in to MSU by then or something...

Let us know what they had to say?

 

[mink31]

SO, just had that meeting at the admissions office, and no, I didn't get any chance at another shot this cycle (as I expected, really). According to the counselor I didn't get a secondary b/c my science GPA was too low (3.17 at time of application) and I didn't have quite enough clinical experience.
According to her:
Avg GPA for admitted students (or was it interviews? I'm not sure): 3.57 (same for Sci and Overall)
Here's what she suggested to improve my chances in the future:
-Take at least 20 (!) science credits post-bac with no less than a 3.75 GPA for them.
-Do more clinical.
The **** is that it's obviously gonna take some time to take 20 creds so if I don't get in anywhere this year, it looks like entering class 2010 for me...

 

[scowdeva]

mink, just to throw this out there...do you know that you can't still sign up for classes this semester? If you could get into just 10 credits, knock them out, then do 10 over the summer you could definitely get all those grades in at the beginning of next fall and be competitive for next year. I know that Central is still letting us sign up since we just started this week, and both MSU and U of M let you sign up until the Friday classes start without any extra charges (what can I say, I've always been a last minute registree ). I would think that Wayne would too. I would try and take one or two classes that sound really smart, then take another that is science but just sounds really interesting, and perhaps a bit less difficult. This should ensure that you would have enough time to rock them out.

I'm not sure exactly what your time commitments are, but I know this is what I would want to do in your shoes. If you think my idea sucks, I wouldn't blame you. Just thought I'd throw it out there.

Oh, and with that average interviewee GPA, I have definitely just written off my last hope of getting some in-state love this year. Dag nabit!

 

[mink31]

mink, just to throw this out there...do you know that you can't still sign up for classes this semester? If you could get into just 10 credits, knock them out, then do 10 over the summer you could definitely get all those grades in at the beginning of next fall and be competitive for next year. I know that Central is still letting us sign up since we just started this week, and both MSU and U of M let you sign up until the Friday classes start without any extra charges (what can I say, I've always been a last minute registree ). I would think that Wayne would too. I would try and take one or two classes that sound really smart, then take another that is science but just sounds really interesting, and perhaps a bit less difficult. This should ensure that you would have enough time to rock them out.

I'm not sure exactly what your time commitments are, but I know this is what I would want to do in your shoes. If you think my idea sucks, I wouldn't blame you. Just thought I'd throw it out there.

Thanks for the suggestions--and I agree with everything you said--but, I'm gonna be starting a full-time job Jan 14th and will continue volunteering (as per WSOM's suggestions) this semester. I might be able to knock the job down to 20 hrs/week, but even then, I'm afraid I won't be able to pull all As with 3 upper-level sciences and 10 hrs/week volunteering.

Also--even if I do get 20 creds of post-bac in by late August--I'd have to submit my AMCAS (with let's say 9 post-bac sciences complete + 12 in-progress, if I can find 12) in early July to maximize my chances. And chances are that I'll get rejected pre-sec again because my Sci GPA will at best be only 3.34. Basically, the admissions person agreed with me that my best bet is to apply for 2010 with my best possible application.

 

[scowdeva]

<hits head>

I was totally not considering that you wouldn't have all of the course work done until after your primary was submitted, and therefore your sGPA wouldn't go up as much as it would with the full 20 credits. I wonder what they consider to be 'too low' of a sGPA...they granted me a secondary (although I will likely not get an interview) with a sGPA of 3.26. Who knows? I have officially stopped trying to figure out what goes on in the head of an adcom.

 

[NickMB]

The **** is that it's obviously gonna take some time to take 20 creds so if I don't get in anywhere this year, it looks like entering class 2010 for me...

I took 20 credits last semester, only 4 of which weren't science classes 😛. Before that I took 19, 8 of which were not science classes. But I seriously would not recommend it. Last time I'll ever do it 😀

I'm sure you'll be a doctor someday soon, though. As long as you really want to do it, you'll end up doing it. The determined mind knows no realistic limits.

 

[TMP-SMX]

It's tough as it would have been best for you to take some classes this semester. Take 12 credits of science courses that are not that difficult and then take 2 in the spring (first summer session).

That will be 20 credits depending on how the school offers credits. So you could easily apply early and have the classes done.

Since you were rejected early on pre-secondary it is ALL about numbers. They screened you out due to your BCPM. Can you calculate the quality points you have now for BCPM and figure out how much you could improve with 80 QP from all 4.0s on 20 credits? 80+previous QP/Previous GPA hours+20.

Of course you could do all summer courses and just update the schools when the semester is complete. You would only be able to take a max of 8-10 credits each summer session but it is possible and perhaps a couple classes this semester then you have plenty. (Maybe). Your goal is to not get rejected early on and to show that your GPA is improving throughout the application cycle.

 

[mink31]

Can you calculate the quality points you have now for BCPM and figure out how much you could improve with 80 QP from all 4.0s on 20 credits?

Assuming all As for 21 credits (7 3-credit classes is what I'm thinking), my BCPM GPA tops out at 3.45. Now, that's still lower than all other med schools' science averages, but on the other hand, my overall will increase a bit to 3.62.

Seems like a lot of work for small gains, but hey, I'm paying for those Bs Fresh/Soph years...

 

[scowdeva]

A 3.45 is pretty respectable, I would loooove to have that sGPA 🙂 Also keep in mind that those are just AVERAGES, so there are people above and below. Plus, your MCAT is solidly above, and your overall GPA is nice, so numbers-wise that puts you in a perfect position. If they didnt mention anything about your PS or LOR, you should be pretty well set for next year if this year doesnt pan out anywhere else. Did anywhere else that you have been rejected from offer to discuss your file? If they did, you may want to see what they have to say, since different adcoms look for different things. Your numbers are pretty solid...I don't understand why you are still waiting on interviews, especially with you being complete that early!

 

[mink31]

Your numbers are pretty solid...I don't understand why you are still waiting on interviews, especially with you being complete that early!

Well, I just found out this morning that my school forgot to make my recs available to BU (and this after them F'ing up the same way with CaseW😡), so that might explain why it's been a while for them. It was a good thing I checked my status at BU, too--their rec deadline was Jan 2 but they just extended it to this Fri!

 

[doctor2201]

For people that recently got interview offers would some people mind posting their mcat and gpa stats, So I know what level they are interview at so far and estimate if I will get an interview?

Thanks

 

[scowdeva]

I second the above post....also, has anyone received an interview offer yet this month? They usually are sending them out about now, but it may have been delayed by a week or so due to the holidays...

 

[Piyush]

For those of you who had a decision announced in December - irrespective of what the decision was - have you received anything in the mail yet?

Cheers
Piyush

 

[DoctorSmilie]

Yeah, for the Wayne State stuff, I got the letter sometime during Winter Break. I don't know if it is because I live in the Detroit Metro area so it arrived quicker or what. Hopefully it arrived just as fast to everyone else!

Oh btw, be aware that the amount of time they give you to submit a deposit is three weeks from the date on the letter. So definitely call them up and check if you haven't received anything!

Hope this helps! Good luck with the application process everyone!

 

[DryIce]

For people still waiting on interview invites,

I received one yesterday for end of this month. Mind you, I am Canadian and live so far away that it takes for over a month for snail mail to get news to me from USA. [And they call themselves the developed world 😡]

Anyway, thought I'd let you all know that they are still sending out interviews.

Oh and for people who have been there and done it, any advice/recommendation/thoughts/suggestions?? 😕

 

[scowdeva]

DryIce, what are your stats? I'm guessing that you were in the group to be invited in December...no one has posted up here yet this month to say they got an invite. We think they invite by MCAT score, so if you don't mind, what is yours? That helps to let us know where they are at in reviewing files.

 

[Piyush]

I am put on alternate list, I know that from the phone call, but I have not received anything in the mail yet, which really really really worries me cause it makes me feel that WSU just forgot about me, even after I sent them a two page update letter from after hearing the decision on the phone.

Oh the agonizing wait, its like the burn of salt over open flesh


hehe
Piyush.

Yeah, for the Wayne State stuff, I got the letter sometime during Winter Break. I don't know if it is because I live in the Detroit Metro area so it arrived quicker or what. Hopefully it arrived just as fast to everyone else!

Oh btw, be aware that the amount of time they give you to submit a deposit is three weeks from the date on the letter. So definitely call them up and check if you haven't received anything!

Hope this helps! Good luck with the application process everyone!

 

[DryIce]

My MCAT is 33 S.

And GPA wise, I believe I have a 3.8 overall.

does that help? I have low-mediocre ECs I'd say, so dont think that helped at all.

DryIce, what are your stats? I'm guessing that you were in the group to be invited in December...no one has posted up here yet this month to say they got an invite. We think they invite by MCAT score, so if you don't mind, what is yours? That helps to let us know where they are at in reviewing files.

 

[scowdeva]

Thanks for posting your stats DryIce! And so quickly! Wayne apparently only looks at files in the order of MCAT score...so my low MCAT but amazing ECs and in-state status probably won't ever be seen by a human being this year since they are only down to 33 in December...gah! Congrats and good luck to you, though! Wayne is a great school!

 

[paradocs we are]

😀 Thanks DryIce!


I hope they get to me this month.

 

[154465]

I've been reading through the forums trying to get more info on Wayne's erratic interview process and I noticed people on this site are so damn negative when it comes to WSU. Even some guy trying to decide between going to Wayne and some random DO school cause he didnt like Detroit or Wayne's ranking 😱. This leads me to ask... what the hell SDN? Why are people such haters when it comes to the green and yellow?

 

[lkevin]

Just thought I'd share the randomness that is applying to med school:

I'm in state, U of M engineer with a 31 MCAT and a 3.6 science, 3.52 overall GPA. Had I not called the admissions office I would have not known I got a secondary, and I have not been invited for interview. I'm starting to think I'm not gonna get one, which really surprises me. Mind you my stats are not killer, but I think I have solid activities and a well-composed application. Pair this with the fact that I've interviewed at Case and Boston, and the entire process makes no sense whatsoever. good luck everyone...

 

[Piyush]

BU get back to ya already post interview? It seems to have done that to some other applicants.

Cheers, and good luck, and give WSU a call...dosent hurt to ask, lol
Piyush.

Just thought I'd share the randomness that is applying to med school:

I'm in state, U of M engineer with a 31 MCAT and a 3.6 science, 3.52 overall GPA. Had I not called the admissions office I would have not known I got a secondary, and I have not been invited for interview. I'm starting to think I'm not gonna get one, which really surprises me. Mind you my stats are not killer, but I think I have solid activities and a well-composed application. Pair this with the fact that I've interviewed at Case and Boston, and the entire process makes no sense whatsoever. good luck everyone...

 

[FrickenhugeMD]

Well I just had my interview at Wayne yesterday, and from what I saw I was pretty impressed. Even though the facilities are a bit dated, the hospital system is really nice. They are currently redoing the medical library, and are alos adding a new building to house simulators and such in by 2009. The area of Detroit it is in was remarkably nicer than I expected it to be, and any fears I had about any parking situations were absolved.

I interviewed with the residency director of psychiatry, who was very nice and had all the information I could ever want on the selection process, which was alot more complicated than I would have imagined.

 

[HaloMasterChief]

To those that are waitlisted, do you guys call the admission office everytime on the day that they have an admission commitee meeting to find out if there is any new update on your status??? I was waitlisted and i'm wondering if i should call on the days that they told me the admission comittee is meeting.

 

[ilikefudge]

hi, i have an interview coming up at Wayne State, so I was just wondering, how many students do they usually interview per day? i know its not that important, but i was just curious... Thanks!!😀

 

[Piyush]

My interview day had 6 people, half were MD/PHD, other half was MD Only.

 

[coffeebythelake]

hi, i have an interview coming up at Wayne State, so I was just wondering, how many students do they usually interview per day? i know its not that important, but i was just curious... Thanks!!😀

When I had my interview last year, I believe there were 10 people.

 

[NickMB]

Well I just had my interview at Wayne yesterday, and from what I saw I was pretty impressed. Even though the facilities are a bit dated, the hospital system is really nice. They are currently redoing the medical library, and are alos adding a new building to house simulators and such in by 2009. The area of Detroit it is in was remarkably nicer than I expected it to be, and any fears I had about any parking situations were absolved.

I interviewed with the residency director of psychiatry, who was very nice and had all the information I could ever want on the selection process, which was alot more complicated than I would have imagined.

Were you guys the group of people going through the cafeteria with a blond lady leading?

 

[fun8stuff]

hi, i have an interview coming up at Wayne State, so I was just wondering, how many students do they usually interview per day? i know its not that important, but i was just curious... Thanks!!😀

for the first 2 years of med school i took interviewees on tours.. as per numbers interviewed, it ranged from 10-15 people early on in the application process down to 2-5 people later on in the application process.

as per people bashing wayne (debating between DO and WSUSOM), that is ridiculous. i may be biased... but the clinical training at wayne is way above most schools. WSUSOM has the biggest medical campus in the nation. Detroit's population is very poor and very underserved. There is a huge variety of pathologies seen in Detroit. Med students get to do a lot downtown, given the multiple hospitals that are understaffed and overworked.

Do you learn best from books or do you learn from hands-on, real life experiences? Do you think you will better remember the AIDS case study you read or the patients with advanced AIDS who could not afford treatment that you took care of third and fourth year?

 

[crimson138]

For people that recently got interview offers would some people mind posting their mcat and gpa stats, So I know what level they are interview at so far and estimate if I will get an interview?

Thanks

I just interviewed last week, got the offer in December. MCAT: 33R GPA: 3.6

 

[crimson138]

I just interviewed last week, got the offer in December. MCAT: 33R GPA: 3.6

To clarify. Got an interview invite in December not an offer. Sorry about the slip.

 

[scowdeva]

I just interviewed last week, got the offer in December. MCAT: 33R GPA: 3.6

Crimson, are you in state or OOS? Man, I was hoping that they were a little farther down the MCAT line than a 33 last month...maybe they'll hit down to 30 or 31 this month so that I'd have a shot of getting an interview in Feb. How late does Wayne interview?

 

[Phosphorus]

Crimson, are you in state or OOS? Man, I was hoping that they were a little farther down the MCAT line than a 33 last month...maybe they'll hit down to 30 or 31 this month so that I'd have a shot of getting an interview in Feb. How late does Wayne interview?

I believe april.
I have a 31 and I was invited in December for January interview.

 

[fisko82]

I could be wrong, but I don't think Wayne just goes down the line by mcat score when reviewing apps. I think they use a combination of one's mcat score and gpa, perhaps something like the LizzyM formula: GPA*10 + MCAT = competitive score. Granted, I don't know any of this for a fact, but a friend of mine was interviewed in December and had a 30mcat/4.0 gpa, which would seem to go against the notion that Wayne reviews in order of one's mcat.

 

[Phosphorus]

I could be wrong, but I don't think Wayne just goes down the line by mcat score when reviewing apps. I think they use a combination of one's mcat score and gpa, perhaps something like the LizzyM formula: GPA*10 + MCAT = competitive score. Granted, I don't know any of this for a fact, but a friend of mine was interviewed in December and had a 30mcat/4.0 gpa, which would seem to go against the notion that Wayne reviews in order of one's mcat.

i believe the MCAT hypothesis to be true. my brother and i have very different GPAs, and the exact same MCAT, and were invited the same day.

 

[fisko82]

i believe the MCAT hypothesis to be true. my brother and i have very different GPAs, and the exact same MCAT, and were invited the same day.

Hmm, strange. If it is indeed true, then it doesn't explain why this person http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=8496 received an invite on 10/11 for 11/20, or why my friend who has a 30 mcat interviewed in December. Did you apply late? I'm not certain, but I believe my friend applied in August. Maybe it has to do with an ECs/LOR rating in addition to mcat?

 

[scowdeva]

I'm sure they don't interview just based on MCAT score, but what I was told is that they look at files by the range of MCAT...like they look at 31-33 one month, then say 28-30 the next and so on. They still have to like the whole package to invite you, but they won't look at the file if you aren't in that MCAT range.

I would think that if you applied late (I did not, I was complete at the beginning of Sept) then if you had a really high MCAT, higher than what they were looking at, then they would look at your file.

Phosphorous, I think I remember from another thread that you are from MI. If so, yay, maybe I will get looked at this month or next! I would really like to have a shot at Wayne!

 

[HaloMasterChief]

To those that are waitlisted, do you guys call the admission office everytime on the day that they have an admission commitee meeting to find out if there is any new update on your status??? I was waitlisted and i'm wondering if i should call on the days that they told me the admission comittee is meeting.

 

[oldjeeps]

To those that are waitlisted, do you guys call the admission office everytime on the day that they have an admission commitee meeting to find out if there is any new update on your status??? I was waitlisted and i'm wondering if i should call on the days that they told me the admission comittee is meeting.

I thought that this was already covered, but I can remember the anxiety that comes with being in your position so here it goes (again):
-if you are on the waitlist it is possible that your status can change any time that the adcom meets.
-should your status change to an acceptance then you’ll be notified the same way all accepted applicants are – by phone if you call on a “call in day” and/or by mail a few days later.
-unless you do something to really tick off (being rude, profanity, etc) the admissions office staff there should be no harm in calling on each and every “call in day” (and I think in years past it was actually encouraged)

summary: call if it makes you feel better, but it probably will have no effect on if you get in or not.

Should you get in off the waitlist after the last “call in day” you can expect to be getting a call from the folks in the admissions office.

 

[dandelionwisps]

I'm sure they don't interview just based on MCAT score, but what I was told is that they look at files by the range of MCAT...like they look at 31-33 one month, then say 28-30 the next and so on. They still have to like the whole package to invite you, but they won't look at the file if you aren't in that MCAT range.

I would think that if you applied late (I did not, I was complete at the beginning of Sept) then if you had a really high MCAT, higher than what they were looking at, then they would look at your file.

Phosphorous, I think I remember from another thread that you are from MI. If so, yay, maybe I will get looked at this month or next! I would really like to have a shot at Wayne!

this might make more sense, looking at a range of mcat scores, since i got a 32 and have been interviewed already. and i even completed very late (mid-dec). the hypothesis of just looking at one mcat score at a time doesn't make since since people with lower mcat already got interviews. plus i doubt it would take this many months to go down the list... but i wouldn't know for sure i guess..

 

[HaloMasterChief]

I thought that this was already covered, but I can remember the anxiety that comes with being in your position so here it goes (again):
-if you are on the waitlist it is possible that your status can change any time that the adcom meets.
-should your status change to an acceptance then you’ll be notified the same way all accepted applicants are – by phone if you call on a “call in day” and/or by mail a few days later.
-unless you do something to really tick off (being rude, profanity, etc) the admissions office staff there should be no harm in calling on each and every “call in day” (and I think in years past it was actually encouraged)

summary: call if it makes you feel better, but it probably will have no effect on if you get in or not.

Should you get in off the waitlist after the last “call in day” you can expect to be getting a call from the folks in the admissions office.

Actually, it has not been covered before otherwise i wouldn't be asking it!!!

 

[mikkey]

Hey
I called Wayne and they told me I had been ranked. The last time I called, I was on the alternate list, and there were no numbers! When did these come in? What do they mean? Of course they won't let you know where you are on the god forsaken list, which is simply ridiculous! What does it change for them to let you know if you actually stand a chance or not?
This process is really tampering with my sanity.

 

[scowdeva]

I also called Wayne today to find out if they had reviewed files yet this month for the next round of interview invites. She said that they haven't yet, but will know by the end of the week who they are inviting this month for next. Just wanted to give anyone else out there still waiting for an interview a heads up. No one's gotten passed over yet this month! Yaaaay!

 

[paradocs we are]

I also called Wayne today to find out if they had reviewed files yet this month for the next round of interview invites. She said that they haven't yet, but will know by the end of the week who they are inviting this month for next. Just wanted to give anyone else out there still waiting for an interview a heads up. No one's gotten passed over yet this month! Yaaaay!

Thanks! I needed that info.

 

[Piyush]

Why call today? I thought the next call in date was at the end of the month?