2016-2017 University of Washington Application Thread

[Hawking2017]

Thanks for all your help @BABSstudent. These lists are amazingly valuable. It looks like the above sheet is for 2015. Here the one I saved a while back that has movement for 2016:

Also are the previous years' info the rank number of the last student accepted off the wait-list or just the overall number of people from the wait-list accepted?

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[barracuda23]

Also are the previous years' info the rank number of the last student accepted off the wait-list or just the overall number of people from the wait-list accepted?

The wording in the portal says the "Number of Alternates Accepted". Values listed on the portal are the same as those listed in the spreadsheet except a total of 32 accepted for 2016.
I feel like I may be overthinking the semantics here but does that imply that the rank number would potentially be higher? With people on the alternate list opting out or going somewhere else prior to acceptance

 

[BABSstudent]

The wording in the portal says the "Number of Alternates Accepted". Values listed on the portal are the same as those listed in the spreadsheet except a total of 32 accepted for 2016.
I feel like I may be overthinking the semantics here but does that imply that the rank number would potentially be higher? With people on the alternate list opting out or going somewhere else prior to acceptance

No, they accept each student but people may turn them down. The number will continue to increase as this happens because the acceptances still go out.

If they said number matriculated, the number would remain the same through all of it. Matriculate is number that end up attending the school.

Just some semantics for you to know.

So when the waitlist docs say number 29 was accepted, that is the 29th acceptance given (not necessarily the 29th person to decide to go there). That is alternate #29. However, that could theoretically be the 1st student that decided to reciprocate the yes if the 28 people in front said no.


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[Ativanistheanswer]

Alrighty, off from work. Now I sit and wait for that fateful e-mail with my favorite whiskey. Someone hold me.

 

[mavric1298]

Just finished off my work day with a double unit red cell donation to aid in the speed of inebriation


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[freak7]

Just finished off my work day with a double unit red cell donation to aid in the speed of inebriation


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Careful with that. I did a straight up pint donation the other week and hooooly cow drinking was a bad choice for that morning after

 

[mavric1298]

Careful with that. I did a straight up pint donation the other week and hooooly cow drinking was a bad choice for that morning after

I was mostly kidding. It's also helpful that I'm training for a half iron man right now, and my hemocrit was literally at the top of acceptable to donate - high 50's. Sure my training will suffer a little (say 5-10% of total redcell loss for 3-4 weeks) but hey, blood supply is important. And I don't have any races soon


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[EmberGoat]

Alrighty, off from work. Now I sit and wait for that fateful e-mail with my favorite whiskey. Someone hold me.

I'm with ya on that..

 

[mavric1298]

And it's official. Over.


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[Ativanistheanswer]

Rejected. I guess receiving all those compliments and assurance that my EXCOM will strongly advocate for me meant nothing in the end.

 

[freak7]

Rejected. I guess receiving all those compliments and assurance that my EXCOM will strongly advocate for me meant nothing in the end.

Right there with ya buddy.

And it's official. Over.


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Nooooooo

 

[amber80]

And it's official. Over.


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+1


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[EmberGoat]

Rejected too... Fought a good fight though. Keep your heads up guys and know that you gave it everything. A rejection now isn't a rejection forever.

Congrats to all of you who were accepted!

 

[mavric1298]

While I know it's just a means to an end, and that I am privileged to have an acceptance at PNWU, it's just hard come to terms with your dream being over, and not being with the rest of your friends and support system come the next 4 years. It's especially hard, being that I am a career changer, and literally one of my inspiring moments was reading a memoir of some who went through WWAMI, and setting that as my dream for the last 8 years. Up to this point that's what I've seen myself doing, and that I was going to make that a reality. While I still have 3 more post II's in waiting, it feels like they are all just come to this same result.

For me, even harder, is as a non-trad, who owns a home, and has made this city our home, I'm going to have to uproot my wife, leave our first home as a family, and leave our friends that have defined my 20's and now the first couple years of my 30's. I know I should view this an opportunity, but it's gonna take a bit of time to process and come to terms with.

Thanks for the support everyone on here, and I'll end my rant


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[freak7]

and literally one of my inspiring moments was reading a memoir of some who went through WWAMI, and setting that as my dream for the last 8 years. Up to this point that's what I've seen myself doing, and that I was going to make that a reality.

For me, even harder, is as a non-trad, who owns a home, and has made this city our home, I'm going to have to uproot my wife, leave our first home as a family, and leave our friends that have defined my 20's

Oh god, are you me?

 

[mavric1298]

Well considering we both are in the Rosi, OHSU, WSU threads, you use strongbad's voice when reading things to yourself, I would say yes. We are in fact the same person. Although I have some sneaking suspicion you're actually a Dalek with some plan to steal my screw driver


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[freak7]

Well considering we both are in the Rosi, OHSU, WSU threads, you use strongbad's voice when reading things to yourself, I would say yes. We are in fact the same person. Although I have some sneaking suspicion you're actually a Dalek with some plan to steal my screw driver


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"Dear Strongbad, y76p!"

 

[psychedskier]

Well considering we both are in the Rosi, OHSU, WSU threads, you use strongbad's voice when reading things to yourself, I would say yes. We are in fact the same person. Although I have some sneaking suspicion you're actually a Dalek with some plan to steal my screw driver


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I'm pretty sure you are both actually me, but in my univers we're going to COMP-NW

 

[paulie_gaultierie]

While I know it's just a means to an end, and that I am privileged to have an acceptance at PNWU, it's just hard come to terms with your dream being over, and not being with the rest of your friends and support system come the next 4 years. It's especially hard, being that I am a career changer, and literally one of my inspiring moments was reading a memoir of some who went through WWAMI, and setting that as my dream for the last 8 years. Up to this point that's what I've seen myself doing, and that I was going to make that a reality. While I still have 3 more post II's in waiting, it feels like they are all just come to this same result.

For me, even harder, is as a non-trad, who owns a home, and has made this city our home, I'm going to have to uproot my wife, leave our first home as a family, and leave our friends that have defined my 20's and now the first couple years of my 30's. I know I should view this an opportunity, but it's gonna take a bit of time to process and come to terms with.

Thanks for the support everyone on here, and I'll end my rant


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Just curious, what memoir?


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[redeMDtion]

.

 

[mavric1298]

Just curious, what memoir?


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I'm an avid reader and have gone through an ungodly amount of medical books over the last couple years so I'm taking a guess - what patients taught me by Audrey Young I believe


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[redeMDtion]

.

 

[msislander]

Are all rejections out by now?

 

[dobviously]

I have no idea how some people get accepted and others get rejected. I am literally everything this school asks for in their mission and have done so much to prove that I'm worthy of this...Way to be consistent UW

 

[Husky28]

sad part is I've been officially rejected three times from this school, having been placed on the waitlist during my first attempt. I asked to schedule a meeting with the dean to figure out why but they don't allow third time applicants to schedule meetings since we obviously can't reapply and clearly don't matter anymore. I honestly feel like I was just given lame excuses by the admissions office year after year because even after improving my application/interview they still rejected me. I just wish I would know why rather than some superficial reason.

But everything happens for a reason! Happy to be an MD elsewhere

 

[WillianIAm]

sad part is I've been officially rejected three times from this school, having been placed on the waitlist during my first attempt. I asked to schedule a meeting with the dean to figure out why but they don't allow third time applicants to schedule meetings since we obviously can't reapply and clearly don't matter anymore. I honestly feel like I was just given lame excuses by the admissions office year after year because even after improving my application/interview they still rejected me. I just wish I would know why rather than some superficial reason.

But everything happens for a reason! Happy to be an MD elsewhere

Don't despair. You might just not've fit UW's mission.

With your acceptance you'll still be a damn good physician. And they say you're only as good as the last place you trained (residency or fellowship).

Personally, I was not particularly impressed with the UW interview day either (out of 8 interviews, I'd say it was my second to least favorite). The school thinks it's so hotshot with its high research ranking and doesn't have to make its interview day very enticing since everyone wants to go here anyway. According to an attending I work with who is a UWSOM alum, how the school runs their undergrad is pretty similar to how the med school is run, so if you went to UW be prepared for that whether you liked it or not. By the way, UWSOM dropped out of the top 10 in research rankings this next year. Full US news report coming out on Tuesday.

Also, the medical sudents hinted that there is a lot of competitiveness within classes and they apparently argue about personal ideology preferences from time to time. They don't seem to be super happy, but maybe that was an isolated occurrence for my interview day.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. UW or not, you'll be a doctor and very few of your patients will know or care where you went for medical school. For those of you that got in, congratulations! It's a fantastic achievement and I'd be lying if I didn't say I wasn't at least a little envious, despite all of the aforementioned critique I just discussed above. As for me, I'll likely be accepted off waitlist and end up declining and attending elsewhere. Good luck in all your future endeavors.

 

[crazed4yoga]

Don't despair. You might just not've fit UW's mission.

With your acceptance you'll still be a damn good physician. And they say you're only as good as the last place you trained (residency or fellowship).

Personally, I was not particularly impressed with the UW interview day either (out of 8 interviews, I'd say it was my second to least favorite). The school thinks it's so hotshot with its high research ranking and doesn't have to make its interview day very enticing since everyone wants to go here anyway. According to an attending I work with who is a UWSOM alum, how the school runs their undergrad is pretty similar to how the med school is run, so if you went to UW be prepared for that whether you liked it or not. By the way, UWSOM dropped out of the top 10 in research rankings this next year. Full US news report coming out on Tuesday.

Also, the medical sudents hinted that there is a lot of competitiveness within classes and they apparently argue about personal ideology preferences from time to time. They don't seem to be super happy, but maybe that was an isolated occurrence for my interview day.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. UW or not, you'll be a doctor and very few of your patients will know or care where you went for medical school. For those of you that got in, congratulations! It's a fantastic achievement and I'd be lying if I didn't say I wasn't at least a little envious, despite all of the aforementioned critique I just discussed above. As for me, I'll likely be accepted off waitlist and end up declining and attending elsewhere. Good luck in all your future endeavors.

I go here -- just finished foundations phase and took step one, about to start clinicals.
Curriculum just had a MAJOR overhaul so not sure how the attending can compare it to UW undergrad when they definitely did not go through the new curriculum.
From my perspective, probably one of the least competitive schools you could go to --- people collaborate and help each other all the time. I was drawn to the school because the student body is relaxed and not competitive. There are a few competitive students who score towards the top, but they are basically only competitive with each other and it's all in good fun. Most of my class seems like they are fine and happy. I genuinely like just about everyone in the class, and I would say maybe one student out of 100 on my Seattle campus could be considered a gunner. So I'm very surprised that you got the impression there is a lot of competitiveness.

True that you can be a good doctor no matter where you go --- good luck with everything. Sorry for those who are disappointed.

 

[WillianIAm]

I go here -- just finished foundations phase and took step one, about to start clinicals.
Curriculum just had a MAJOR overhaul so not sure how the attending can compare it to UW undergrad when they definitely did not go through the new curriculum.
From my perspective, probably one of the least competitive schools you could go to --- people collaborate and help each other all the time. I was drawn to the school because the student body is relaxed and not competitive. There are a few competitive students who score towards the top, but they are basically only competitive with each other and it's all in good fun. Most of my class seems like they are fine and happy. I genuinely like just about everyone in the class, and I would say maybe one student out of 100 on my Seattle campus could be considered a gunner. So I'm very surprised that you got the impression there is a lot of competitiveness.

True that you can be a good doctor no matter where you go --- good luck with everything. Sorry for those who are disappointed.

In talking to the MS1s that had lunch with us on interview day, it seemed that the new curriculum was particularly frustrating as it has been newly implemented. Hopefully the issues they referred to will be ironed out for the incoming class.

I appreciate your insider perspective on the school. You're right, it had been years since he attended UW and he meant no ill will to his alma mater. I do think a top-10 research giant probably runs their program much differently than say, a school with community-based centers and no teaching hospital or significant NIH $$. It's a moot point anyway. No doubt, UW school of medicine boasts a world class education with top departments across the board. Good luck with your clinicals.

 

[freak7]

My complaint is that UWSOM doesn't seem to fill its class entirely with people who fulfill its mission. There seems to be a lot of non-mission people who get in and tons of mission-based applicants who have no shot because of the barriers that UW puts up.

The mission seems to be more of a public image and less of an actual solution to healthcare in the PNW

Edit: letter

 

[barracuda23]

I think that UWSOM has trouble reconciling the two aspects of their mission into a cohesive vision in terms of who they accept.

On one end, UW Medicine is a top tier tertiary referral center that is known to be one of the best places for training, education, specialized care in the country. If they were a private school, they'd focus on finding applicants with stacked MCATs, GPAs and research experiences, whose raw intelligence pulls much more weight that professed future goals.
On the other side, they have (nobly) taken up the responsibility of attempting to train providers for the WWAMI region, which lends itself to a different kind of applicant (think service driven, potentially from rural areas). Painting in broad strokes here but you get my point.

Applicants who are caught in the middle of these goals or don't have a coherent message they present on their application/interview end up having the most trouble. I also found the interview day to be somewhat disjointed and think this speaks to the fact that UW was trying to sell two messages at once. UW doesn't want to lose its prestige or its focus on providing care to the underserved. All of this creates a somewhat random and inconsistent pattern of acceptance and a lot of students on both ends of the mission feeling like they were slighted.

 

[SpacemanSpifff]

Congratulations to the newly accepted applicants! I hope you choose UW for the first step in your medical training. I can tell you that I have loved my time in Seattle/around the region. I wouldn't trade the last four years and the friendships I've made for anything.
To those of you who were not offered an acceptance, I am sorry. I know many of you have alternatives, and I hope you look forward to pursuing those. Please know (see below) that these decisions are not made lightly. It's understandable to feel cheated. After all, you've all done so much to prepare for this process. But please try to hold your judgements and understand that you are seeing this process from a single, limited, perspective. Know that this decisions is not a reflection of your quality as an individual, but rather the quality of the entire group of applicants.

Personally, I was not particularly impressed with the UW interview day either (out of 8 interviews, I'd say it was my second to least favorite). The school thinks it's so hotshot with its high research ranking and doesn't have to make its interview day very enticing since everyone wants to go here anyway. According to an attending I work with who is a UWSOM alum, how the school runs their undergrad is pretty similar to how the med school is run, so if you went to UW be prepared for that whether you liked it or not. By the way, UWSOM dropped out of the top 10 in research rankings this next year. Full US news report coming out on Tuesday.

Also, the medical sudents hinted that there is a lot of competitiveness within classes and they apparently argue about personal ideology preferences from time to time. They don't seem to be super happy, but maybe that was an isolated occurrence for my interview day.

Sorry you didn't enjoy your trip to UW. It seems like you'll be happier somewhere else, hopefully somewhere that still resides in the USNWR top 10.
Re: the bolded above, feeling overly competitive has never been an issue in my time at UW (and I lived with the current AOA president). Why? Because a P/F scheme in years 1&2 means I don't have to care about how my colleagues are scoring. My work was judged on an absolute scale. I worked as hard as I wanted to, until I felt comfortable with my understanding of the material and knew that I could pass my exams. Any sense of competition stems from the individual, not the system.

I think that UWSOM has trouble reconciling the two aspects of their mission into a cohesive vision in terms of who they accept.

On one end, UW Medicine is a top tier tertiary referral center that is known to be one of the best places for training, education, specialized care in the country. If they were a private school, they'd focus on finding applicants with stacked MCATs, GPAs and research experiences, whose raw intelligence pulls much more weight that professed future goals.
On the other side, they have (nobly) taken up the responsibility of attempting to train providers for the WWAMI region, which lends itself to a different kind of applicant (think service driven, potentially from rural areas). Painting in broad strokes here but you get my point.

Applicants who are caught in the middle of these goals or don't have a coherent message they present on their application/interview end up having the most trouble. I also found the interview day to be somewhat disjointed and think this speaks to the fact that UW was trying to sell two messages at once. UW doesn't want to lose its prestige or its focus on providing care to the underserved. All of this creates a somewhat random and inconsistent pattern of acceptance and a lot of students on both ends of the mission feeling like they were slighted.

As a member of the admissions committee, I can assure you that we have no issues reconciling our mission, as complex as it may seem. Applicants are assessed, in part, based on their fit to each of our missions (academic, rural/underserved, geographic, etc.). An individual who has shown a strong interest in catering to the underserved and built an application around that service is equally as likely to succeed as an applicant who has immersed themselves in research and accumulated a strong skill set in the academic realm. You really hit the nail on the head though: applicants who fail to present a cohesive, consistent message through out their application and during the interview will struggle to stand out. A particularly strong interview performance will elevate some of this group above the rest, but most are left in the limbo group.
The admissions process certainly has a random element, in that certain communication styles may fit better with certain EXCOM members, but remember your vantage point is highly influenced by your position. What you may see as random is in fact a thoroughly deliberated decision based on the input of many individuals.

My complaint is that UWSOM doesn't seem to fill its class entirely with people who fulfill its mission. There seem to be a lot of non-mission people who get in and tons of mission-based applicants who have no shot because of the barriers that UW puts up.

The mission seems to be more of a public image and less of an actual solution to healthcare in the PNW

If you want to assess UW's commitment to our mission, read our recent match lists, look at where our graduates go, and what populations they tend to serve. The complexity in our mission is certainly reflected in the makeup of our classes. Unfortunately, many "mission-based applicants" are not offered acceptances because there is an overabundance of qualified applicants. While it may be unsatisfying, that is the truth.

 

[freak7]

If you want to assess UW's commitment to our mission, read our recent match lists, look at where our graduates go, and what populations they tend to serve. The complexity in our mission is certainly reflected in the makeup of our classes. Unfortunately, many "mission-based applicants" are not offered acceptances because there is an overabundance of qualified applicants. While it may be unsatisfying, that is the truth.

I do want to assess UW's commitment to its mission. I've talked to many current students and the general consensus isn't the one that you're pitching. The current students are very upset with the makeup of UW's classes.

Also: Which part of the commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion mission of "Our objective is to create a community that encourages participation and connection, and that values each individual's unique contribution, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, language, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, spiritual practice, geography, mental and physical status and age." would you say that the 192 unduplicated white and 41 unduplicated Asian of the total of 245 first year students (that's over 95% btw) that UW reported to the AAMC is a reflection of the complex makeup of their classes?

 

[SpacemanSpifff]

I do want to assess UW's commitment to its mission. I've talked to many current students and the general consensus isn't the one that you're pitching. The current students are very upset with the makeup of UW's classes.

Also: Which part of the commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion mission of "Our objective is to create a community that encourages participation and connection, and that values each individual's unique contribution, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, language, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, spiritual practice, geography, mental and physical status and age." would you say that the 192 unduplicated white and 41 unduplicated Asian of the total of 245 first year students (that's over 95% btw) that UW reported to the AAMC is a reflection of the complex makeup of their classes?

Reread my post. If you want to assess UW's commitment to our mission, look at the graduates. Where are they going and what are they doing? Primarily filling primary care slots in the region and going on to careers in academic medicine, both of which fulfill the stated missions of UWSOM. My use of the word complexity was in reference to the multi-faceted nature of our mission, as well as the broad spectrum of clinical/personal aspirations that our students hold.

I will readily admit that UW has a long way to go in regards to fulfilling our mission of creating a more diverse, inclusive educational environment. It's going more slowly than we would like, which is par for the course when it comes to change at an institutional level. That said, we have a number of brilliant, committed students and faculty who continue to push our administration to make those changes. Judging the institution based on that sole short-coming is ignoring the things we do well.

And lastly, respectfully, consider the limitations of your perspective. UW has almost 1,000 students currently enrolled in our program. You spoke with a few disgruntled folks, whose voices are certainly legitimate, but may not represent the "general consensus" as you labeled it.

 

[FutureIdahoDR]

Here is the link to the UWSOM-Idaho E-2017 class.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1891548547733544?ref=bookmarks

 

[Purple+Gold]

I do want to assess UW's commitment to its mission. I've talked to many current students and the general consensus isn't the one that you're pitching. The current students are very upset with the makeup of UW's classes.

Also: Which part of the commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion mission of "Our objective is to create a community that encourages participation and connection, and that values each individual's unique contribution, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, language, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, spiritual practice, geography, mental and physical status and age." would you say that the 192 unduplicated white and 41 unduplicated Asian of the total of 245 first year students (that's over 95% btw) that UW reported to the AAMC is a reflection of the complex makeup of their classes?

Current student here with two cents to contribute. Your assessment of a school's merits is a healthy practice no matter where you go to school, but your criticisms need to be fair.

Wanted to point out that those totals you are listing reflect all the campuses across the WWAMI region. States/areas that are predominantly Caucasian (and thus are going to have more Caucasian applicants --> more Caucasian students) are going to be a huge contributor to the white student total. In Seattle there is a much larger proportion of minorities--even non-Asian minorities--than is suggested by those numbers.

Although I think I understand your intent in getting your point across, I'm challenging lumping in Asian students with the majority group when talking about diversity. Within the broad umbrella of "Asian" there are many more ethnicities that are underrepresented in medicine than overrepresented. To assume that all 41 students are ORM is also not reflective of the diversity that URM Asians bring to a class.

Let's also not forget that race is not the only marker of diversity. You bolded 5 of the 14 listed descriptors and yet only discussed race/ethnicity. Being white doesn't exclude you from contributing diversity. This is why it is so important that applicants are reviewed holistically.

I agree that a school always has room for improvement when it comes to expanding the diversity of their class (My classmates have been working hard with the administration on this). Yes, even in Seattle minority students are still the minority group compared to white students. However, for a city that consistently tops the lists of whitest big cities in America, I'd say UW is doing much better than I would expect.

Wherever you end up in school and in life, I wish you well!

[Edited because I hit "enter" early accidentally...d'oh!]

 

[namesthegame21]

Current student here with two cents to contribute. Wanted to point out that those totals you are listing reflect all the campuses across the WWAMI region. States/areas that are predominantly Caucasian (and thus are going to have more Caucasian applicants --> more Caucasian students) are going to be a huge contributor to the white student total. In Seattle there is a much larger proportion of minorities--even non-Asian minorities--than is suggested.

Not what I heard from other minority students at the med school. But I guess that's all subjective. Those numbers suggest racism and blatent white privilege.

Why boast about diversity and inclusion when it's simply not true? It's socially unjust.

Also, what about Yakima or any of the farming companies in these rural areas? There are large Hispanic and some native populations too. Why aren't they admitted?

This is not a new debate. UWSOM has been under fire for this for a while and there are a lot of faculty fighting against this, but UW is slow to change for some reason.

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[freak7]

Current student here with two cents to contribute. Wanted to point out that those totals you are listing reflect all the campuses across the WWAMI region. States/areas that are predominantly Caucasian (and thus are going to have more Caucasian applicants --> more Caucasian students) are going to be a huge contributor to the white student total. In Seattle there is a much larger proportion of minorities--even non-Asian minorities--than is suggested.

Let's break down the racial demographics of non-Washington WWAMI states. According to the 2010 census (disclaimer, "two or more races" and "other race" excluded)

Wyoming:
Unduplicated white - 90.7%
Unduplicated Asian - .1%
Sum - 90.8%
Alaska:
Unduplicated white - 66.7%
Unduplicated Asian - 5.4%
Sum - 72.1%
Montana:
Unduplicated white - 89.4%
Unduplicated Asian - .6%
Sum - 90.0%
Idaho:
Unduplicated white - 89.1%
Unduplicated Asian - 1.2%
Sum - 90.3%

(Someone check my data please, I was in a hurry)

Even if Washington is excluded from the numbers, not a single one of these states passes the 95% combined white and Asian mark as UWSOM does. Maybe UW reported incorrect figures to the AAMC? I have no idea. The point is, that given the data, UWSOM's student population doesn't seem representative of the populations it aims to serve. Maybe I'm missing the forest for the trees or something. Let me know!

Edit: phrasing

 

[pBluescript]

I will readily admit that UW has a long way to go in regards to fulfilling our mission of creating a more diverse, inclusive educational environment. It's going more slowly than we would like, which is par for the course when it comes to change at an institutional level. That said, we have a number of brilliant, committed students and faculty who continue to push our administration to make those changes. Judging the institution based on that sole short-coming is ignoring the things we do well.

I work with a lot of nontraditional students on the lower end of the SES who are premed and apply to UW.

While I appreciate that UW seems to be turning the institutional ship a bit, it sure doesn't seem like it from the outside. UW seems to pay lip service to the idea of diversity while consistently failing to recognize the difficulties faced by socioeconomically disadvantaged students, especially of color. Many of my students work full-time to support their families while going to school full-time; based on their feedback there seems to be absolutely no recognition from UW of the discipline and hard work this requires. If you can't afford to accumulate the hundreds of hours of volunteer work necessary to tick a box, tough luck. Even if you're lucky enough to have the time for some meaningful volunteering, it's tough to maintain when you don't have reliable transportation or when you live 30 miles out of the city due to housing costs. There's absolutely no attempt to meet promising students halfway on these sorts of issues.

I also agree with others that the 30-minute interview seems unfairly short-sighted. I've known dozens of capable, passionate, intelligent people who get outright rejected in favor of other people I wouldn't ever trust my healthcare to. (And the GPA/MCAT scores are comparable.) This is not a one-off impression; these are people who I've maintained professional and personal relationships with for years. A couple people accepted into the incoming class make me shiver -- one was so horribly racist towards his partner we had to separate them. When we complain that the admissions decisions are random, that's because they truly seem that way.

You're right in that things have to change. I hope it happens soon.

 

[SpacemanSpifff]

I work with a lot of nontraditional students on the lower end of the SES who are premed and apply to UW.

While I appreciate that UW seems to be turning the institutional ship a bit, it sure doesn't seem like it from the outside. UW seems to pay lip service to the idea of diversity while consistently failing to recognize the difficulties faced by socioeconomically disadvantaged students, especially of color. Many of my students work full-time to support their families while going to school full-time; based on their feedback there seems to be absolutely no recognition from UW of the discipline and hard work this requires. If you can't afford to accumulate the hundreds of hours of volunteer work necessary to tick a box, tough luck. Even if you're lucky enough to have the time for some meaningful volunteering, it's tough to maintain when you don't have reliable transportation or when you live 30 miles out of the city due to housing costs. There's absolutely no attempt to meet promising students halfway on these sorts of issues.

I also agree with others that the 30-minute interview seems unfairly short-sighted. I've known dozens of capable, passionate, intelligent people who get outright rejected in favor of other people I wouldn't ever trust my healthcare to. (And the GPA/MCAT scores are comparable.) This is not a one-off impression; these are people who I've maintained professional and personal relationships with for years. A couple people accepted into the incoming class make me shiver -- one was so horribly racist towards his partner we had to separate them. When we complain that the admissions decisions are random, that's because they truly seem that way.

You're right in that things have to change. I hope it happens soon.

I appreciate your insight. As I said, institutional change is slow. There have been several passionate discussions, emanating from the first and second year classes especially, that have been felt through out the institution. I am optimistic that significant changes will follow from this passion.
Regarding the bolded, I can only speak from my personal experience. I have lobbied for students who are forced to take on these extra responsibilities to be given preference time and time again during my time on the UW admissions committee. This opinion has been shared by most of the EXCOM members I have worked with. But again, I'm only one member of a body of opinions.
As I'm sure you know, people like you are the ones who truly make the difference for these students. I hope to continue to work from the inside to help recognize and recruit applicants who have the skills/dedication you mentioned.

Not what I heard from other minority students at the med school. But I guess that's all subjective. Those numbers suggest racism and blatent white privilege.

Why boast about diversity and inclusion when it's simply not true? It's socially unjust.

Also, what about Yakima or any of the farming companies in these rural areas? There are large Hispanic and some native populations too. Why aren't they admitted?

This is not a new debate. UWSOM has been under fire for this for a while and there are a lot of faculty fighting against this, but UW is slow to change for some reason.

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Let's break down the racial demographics of non-Washington WWAMI states. According to the 2010 census (disclaimer, "two or more races" and "other race" excluded)

Wyoming:
Unduplicated white - 90.7%
Unduplicated Asian - .1%
Sum - 90.8%
Alaska:
Unduplicated white - 66.7%
Unduplicated Asian - 5.4%
Sum - 72.1%
Montana:
Unduplicated white - 89.4%
Unduplicated Asian - .6%
Sum - 90.0%
Idaho:
Unduplicated white - 89.1%
Unduplicated Asian - 1.2%
Sum - 90.3%

(Someone check my data please, I was in a hurry)

Even if Washington is excluded from the numbers, not a single one of these states passes the 95% combined white and Asian mark as UWSOM does. Maybe UW reported incorrect figures to the AAMC? I have no idea. The point is, that given the data, UWSOM's student population doesn't seem representative of the populations it aims to serve. Maybe I'm missing the forest for the trees or something. Let me know!

Edit: phrasing

Your points are well received. UW exists in the social structure of modern day America, where white privilege is powerful and ubiquitous. As an institution born from this structure, it is not immune to that influence. Speaking as a beneficiary of white privilege, I agree: we should be doing more to support students of color to succeed when applying to UW. As stated above, much of that work starts before the application process even begins. Some of it involves reconfiguring how we consider experiences on the application itself.
Regarding the previous posts, my original point was speaking more to the ability of UW to train physicians to serve the region, which I stand by. But you're both right, inequity in the admissions process certainly exists.

 

[thedudeguy]

Man I'm so anxious about this. I'm WL #15, but I feel like WSU might change the total accepted off the waitlist. My family aand friends say I have "thedudeguy" luck, and unlucky events usually happens to me. By getting #15 I feel like just cost 15-30/40ish their acceptances, lol. May can't come any sooner cause I'm going crazy.

 

[Optikala]

Man I'm so anxious about this. I'm WL #15, but I feel like WSU might change the total accepted off the waitlist. My family aand friends say I have "thedudeguy" luck, and unlucky events usually happens to me. By getting #15 I feel like just cost 15-30/40ish their acceptances, lol. May can't come any sooner cause I'm going crazy.

Try to relax and enjoy yourself! You should be very safe at number 15, there has never been fewer than 29 accepted off the waitlist (at least in the past 16 years).

 

[thedudeguy]

Try to relax and enjoy yourself! You should be very safe at number 15, there has never been fewer than 29 accepted off the waitlist (at least in the past 16 years).

Thanks friend. I've never had a pre-med nervous attack, usually pretty chill about life, but for some reason I'm getting really nervous about this. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[psychedskier]

Thanks friend. I've never had a pre-med nervous attack, usually pretty chill about life, but for some reason I'm getting really nervous about this. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Well you should be, your dude guy curse has kept everyone on the alternate list out of the class so far keep your head up @thedudeguy the finish line is within your reach, but then the real race begins (ominous music plays in the background)

 

[redeMDtion]

Hi everyone, I can use some advice here. I am torn between UWSOM and UCSD. Both amazing institutions and I would be happy at either of them.

At UWSOM I'd be paying OOR tuition. At UCSD, I'll be instate and would rack on much less debt. I know at the end both will give me the MD but and I'll be able to pay off the debt - not a problem. What I'm hoping to gain insight on is whether it'll be worth going to UWSOM and pay OOR tuition over going to UCSD. Is UWSOM so amazing that you would? Thank you in advance for your feedback.


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[crazed4yoga]

Hi everyone, I can use some advice here. I am torn between UWSOM and UCSD. Both amazing institutions and I would be happy at either of them.

At UWSOM I'd be paying OOR tuition. At UCSD, I'll be instate and would rack on much less debt. I know at the end both will give me the MD but and I'll be able to pay off the debt - not a problem. What I'm hoping to gain insight on is whether it'll be worth going to UWSOM and pay OOR tuition over going to UCSD. Is UWSOM so amazing that you would? Thank you in advance for your feedback.


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It depends.
What are your current career goals? What specifically drew you to UWSOM?

 

[OKILUS]

@BABSstudent
Is there a specific date when foundation site assignments go out?
I'm in a bit of a pickle, and I'm really hoping that they go out soon...

 

[psychedskier]

Hi everyone, I can use some advice here. I am torn between UWSOM and UCSD. Both amazing institutions and I would be happy at either of them.

At UWSOM I'd be paying OOR tuition. At UCSD, I'll be instate and would rack on much less debt. I know at the end both will give me the MD but and I'll be able to pay off the debt - not a problem. What I'm hoping to gain insight on is whether it'll be worth going to UWSOM and pay OOR tuition over going to UCSD. Is UWSOM so amazing that you would? Thank you in advance for your feedback.


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I would choose UWSOM over UCSD because I live in WA, but if all things were equal, I would look at the one that had a learning environment that I thought would make me a better doctor. I know UWSOM is immersing their students in primary care right off the bat, and allowing them to build clinical skills very early. UCSD, I have know idea what their clinical program looks like. UWSOM is also working to make its didactic content more integrated and less compartmentalized, but some people might want to just have stand alone courses. Again, no idea how UCSD does it. As far as debt goes, there will be over a $100,000 difference in the two plus interest. I know we all think that once we are doctors we will make big bucks, but more than 100k isn't chump change. Throughout the past four years I almost always try to talk to every doctor I come across about what it is like, and most of them seem to have enjoyed the profession; however, the number one thing they all have said is "find a way out of the debt." Most even went so far as telling me to try to become an ARNP or PA-C instead due to having significantly less debt.

Then again, I'm sitting on the alternate list, and you choosing UCSD only helps me out. So take my advise with that disclaimer.

 

[Optikala]

Hi everyone, I can use some advice here. I am torn between UWSOM and UCSD. Both amazing institutions and I would be happy at either of them.

At UWSOM I'd be paying OOR tuition. At UCSD, I'll be instate and would rack on much less debt. I know at the end both will give me the MD but and I'll be able to pay off the debt - not a problem. What I'm hoping to gain insight on is whether it'll be worth going to UWSOM and pay OOR tuition over going to UCSD. Is UWSOM so amazing that you would? Thank you in advance for your feedback.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

You need to provide some more info! What are your goals in medicine?

Here are some school-related factors that are important in the decision:

• How are you with rain and constant grey all fall/winter? This is a serious consideration, given how stressful medical school can be.
• Is grading pass/fail, and is there internal ranking? UW is pass/fail, unranked. This leads to a super friendly/collaborative environment.
• How long is the pre-clinical curriculum? UW is 18, some schools are 24 months.
• Is there research going on at either school that is of particular interest (if you like research that is)?
• Etc

We certainly do have many California OOR students in our class, and I know at least some of them chose to attend the UW over in-state schools.

 

[StavrosF]

Also consider if primary care is something you're serious about pursuing. If yes, UWSOM is better. But OOS tuition is a high price to pay to justify a decision between two great medical schools. Go wherever you will be happy!

 

[happyducky]

I withdrew my acceptance here several days ago. hopefully that's good news for someone on the alternate's list!