Why Wake Forest?

[chaldobruin]

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Hey guys, I have an interview at Wake Forest coming up in a couple of weeks, which I'm very excited about, and I have been trying to learn more about the school recently. For any WFU interviewees, hopefuls, or med students: what are some unique things about WFU? What do you like about WFU that would propel you to choose it over other schools?

Here are some things I know so far:

-The curriculum is almost entirely problem-based (not sure if thats true?).

-The use of technology on campus is impressive. Everything is wired; the students get laptops (IBM thinkpads) their first year and palm pilots in their third years. Also, what is transcribed on the white boards and power point presentations are all available on the internet

-Though there are substantial lectures, there is also a strong emphasis on clinical skills development.

-The cost of living is pretty cheap and although there is not so much to do in Winston-Salem, the absence of distractions might be a good thing

 

[maestro1625]

Hey guys, I have an interview at Wake Forest coming up in a couple of weeks, which I'm very excited about, and I have been trying to learn more about the school recently. For any WFU interviewees, hopefuls, or med students: what are some unique things about WFU? What do you like about WFU that would propel you to choose it over other schools?

Here are some things I know so far:

-The curriculum is almost entirely problem-based (not sure if thats true?).

-The use of technology on campus is impressive. Everything is wired; the students get laptops (IBM thinkpads) their first year and palm pilots in their third years. Also, what is transcribed on the white boards and power point presentations are all available on the internet

-Though there are substantial lectures, there is also a strong emphasis on clinical skills development.

-The cost of living is pretty cheap and although there is not so much to do in Winston-Salem, the absence of distractions might be a good thing

problem based is a decent mix, not all out.

Tech is nice with the thinkpads (made by lenovo, IBM hasnt actually made computers in years, for the record), but as one student noted, for all the talk about technology, the lectures aren't even video taped, like many other schools.

third point about the clinical skills seems about right.

W-S is very cheap, and not too bad a town, nice weather too (though I come from probably the worst college town in the country)

either way, it's probably one of my top 2 choices.

 

[whykiki]

Hey guys, I have an interview at Wake Forest coming up in a couple of weeks, which I'm very excited about, and I have been trying to learn more about the school recently. For any WFU interviewees, hopefuls, or med students: what are some unique things about WFU? What do you like about WFU that would propel you to choose it over other schools?

Here are some things I know so far:

-The curriculum is almost entirely problem-based (not sure if thats true?).

-The use of technology on campus is impressive. Everything is wired; the students get laptops (IBM thinkpads) their first year and palm pilots in their third years. Also, what is transcribed on the white boards and power point presentations are all available on the internet

-Though there are substantial lectures, there is also a strong emphasis on clinical skills development.

-The cost of living is pretty cheap and although there is not so much to do in Winston-Salem, the absence of distractions might be a good thing

I hope you realize that almost every OOS applicant will say all of the above and it won't do much to convince the interviewers that you really wanna go there.

You're from LA. Winston-Salem is very different. Why will you be happy there? How will it benefit your medical education?

You have friends or family in the area? That'll help since you'll have a supportive network of people.

Convince them with stuff like that. The interviewers are tired of hearing how their students get laptops.

 

[chaldobruin]

I hope you realize that almost every OOS applicant will say all of the above and it won't do much to convince the interviewers that you really wanna go there.

You're from LA. Winston-Salem is very different. Why will you be happy there? How will it benefit your medical education?

You have friends or family in the area? That'll help since you'll have a supportive network of people.

Convince them with stuff like that. The interviewers are tired of hearing how their students get laptops.

You are right, most OOS applicants will mention things like what I mentioned above but like I said these are the only things I know about the school right now, and I have a lot of research to do. I would never mention the laptop thing at an interview, haha. Thats not a real compelling reason to attend a school anyhow, I already have a laptop thats pretty new. But Winston-Salem might be a nice break from smoggy, overcrowded Los Angeles.

 

[chaldobruin]

bump

 

[Medikit]

The weather is nice- not too many extremes- the summers can be pretty humid though.

The people in Winston-Salem are nice and a lot of people are working on trying to give the downtown area a little more character.

Mercer's survey ranks Winston-Salem the #1 cheapest place to live in the US and 124th in the world. http://www.finfacts.ie/costofliving.htm

The 3rd and 4th years are supposed to be very good at Wake- I'm a second year so I guess I'll find out soon enough- we start 3rd year in April.

They take student feedback very seriously and so the curriculum is frequently being tweaked- this has upsides and downsides.

The Salem lake area is a nice area for exercise, I love going there- there are other small parks around town and some nice hiking areas less than an hour away.

They do have a substantial amount of clinical skills classes- I'll probably appreciate it more once I'm done with it because it can be a bit overwhelming at times.


One thing though- if you're from Los Angeles you're going to miss it. Winston-Salem is a medium sized city (200,000) with a small town feel. I can't for the life of me find decent food here- I have to go to Greensboro for that. Strangely enough Hickory, NC has amazing Thai food- I can't really explain it.

 

[maestro1625]

I hope you realize that almost every OOS applicant will say all of the above and it won't do much to convince the interviewers that you really wanna go there.

You're from LA. Winston-Salem is very different. Why will you be happy there? How will it benefit your medical education?

You have friends or family in the area? That'll help since you'll have a supportive network of people.

Convince them with stuff like that. The interviewers are tired of hearing how their students get laptops.

thank god I mentioned the fact that my aunt and uncle recently moved to the area...

...yeah, still waiting to hear from them.

 

[FutureNeuroStud]

Go to this story, read it, talk abt it at your interview if it's something you're interested in.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/01/07/stem.cells.ap/index.html

This guy's going to win a Nobel Prize at some point. Go to Wake's website if you want to find out more abt what he's been doing there.