Frequently Asked Questions

All previous scores can be seen on your application. An upward trajectory in your MCAT scores will be looked upon positively. Applications are held until we have the newest score.

Any additional courses you take will not affect your GPA, since the GPA used is your total undergraduate work. Having said this, please keep in mind the committee will be able to see all the courses you have taken and the grades that you have received. These additional courses and grades will be taken into consideration by the committee. Showing that you can do well in upper-level science courses is helpful.

A post-baccalaureate program is useful for applicants who had GPA below 3.5 as undergrads and/or <503 MCAT, or non-traditional students with minimal science exposure and low MCAT.

If you are screened out immediately and have a low initial GPA, but subsequent better grades, please let our office know.

No.

Any meaningful experiences that you have should be included in your application. We have people who talk about things that happened to them in the third grade, some of which are medical, some are not. Some are just to let people know that they really like helping people. Anything that lets us know who you are is fine and it does not matter when it happened.​

Assume that the committee member reviewing your file will be too busy to read your publication. A short description is probably best and you could include the website—just in case. If it is associated with a presentation or award, include that in the same experience box.

It is very helpful when you list the amount of time with each experience/activity. If there are some activities that you are presently still participating in, it would be helpful to state it in your experience box.

There are benefits to having a breadth of experience and also focusing your attention on specific activities. Breadth allows you to see what is out there. Focusing on one or two activities allow you to really understand the organization and com.

Don't worry about the verbiage in the boxes. We expect to read those. Consider them as mini personal statements. However, some schools value brevity. You can still say what you learned in one or two sentences.

If you are applying to the M.D./Ph.D. program, it is critical that you have research and talk as much about research as possible. For the M.D.-only program, it is one more experience. It is nice to put what you found in your research if you can do it concisely and comment on it. During the interview, we commonly ask you to describe your research to us and want you to be able to describe it in plain English.

If you previously only described the experiences, then use this opportunity to add reflections. Or, if you feel differently about an experience now that you have thought about it for another year, change your reflection. Otherwise, it is fine to leave the experience boxes as they were on the previous application.

If the activity is well-known to any reader (eg. Habitat for Humanity, tutoring) it does not need to be described. You should just talk about what you learned.

Certainly. Anything you learned about relating to people is a good thing. Having a child is another example.

We do take that into consideration, as well as varsity sports. You would not have as many hours to study. You may be working to support your family and we take that into account. The ability to handle more than one commitment at a time speaks to your maturity, organizational skills, time management and balance. These are all important in medical school and in a career as a physician.

This is a good place for applicants to add anything they feel was not covered in the AMCAS personal statement. It is an opportunity to discuss your motivation for being a doctor if it was not covered in your AMCAS application.

We recommend that you lead off with why you want to be a doctor and why you think you will be good at it and save the slightly more negative stuff for later in the personal statement. One way to describe a bump in the road might be, "I realize that my GPA might not be what you expect for someone who is applying to medical school. Initially I was not sure I was interested in the sciences, or I was carrying a heavy load..." We want to know that you have some understanding of what happened and why it happened. You can phrase it "I'm not happy with my GPA, however as a junior and senior I subsequently took a lot of difficult courses and did very well." Or, "I've taken a lot of classes after college and I have done very well." Use two or three sentences at most.

The personal statement does not have to be a chronology of your life in any way. It should be about why you are suited for medicine. Therefore, the defining moments that happened in the past can still be your defining moments but move them around in the personal statement. By not rewriting the personal statement, it gives the impression that the applicant is not dedicated.

Only the Executive Committee member sees your previous application. Whenever an applicant re-applies, the committee anticipates and appreciates any evidence of self evaluation and change. The committee might feel an applicant is a strong candidate in many ways, but just needs some time to mature. You might be one of these individuals.

Your essay is a personal statement, so by its very nature it will be relatively casual. However, you should beware of using "I" too frequently, using texting abbreviations or slang.

Details of your first round need not be part of your personal statement unless you feel that not being accepted the first time was a major learning experience and in some way made you realize something important about yourself. In addition, in our Secondary Application, you are required to answer a question asking how you have improved since your previous application. Also keep in mind that you may be applying to schools that never saw your previous application and the main emphasis in your personal statement should be about why you want to be a doctor and how you know that this is the right career for you.

Absolutely. The interview is important because it determines the sequence that we talk about the applicant. However, the committee will review and consider all aspects in your file.

Please do not contact the EXCOM member. All correspondence to your interviewers should go through the Admissions Office. The exception is if the interviewer initiates the contact.

If rejected, WWAMI applicants can request a feedback appointment by contacting the Office of Admissions between March and April: askuwsom@uw.edu Please note: we do not accept feedback requests any other time throughout the year. Also, we do not offer feedback to applicants who are not residents of WWAMI states.