WashU MD student here! Let me know if you have any questions. More than happy to help!

What do you think is helpful to know for approaching the Washu secondaries in terms of value/school alignment? I am an mdphd applicant and WashU is my top choice

Showing that you are genuinely interested in WashU and St. Louis goes a long way! A lot of applicants send out 30 applications meaning that there will inevitably be a lot of plug-and-chug in secondary essays. If you demonstrate through your writing and interviews that you've done your research about the school and program you'll stand out. DM if you need more personalized advice.

Thank you for the quick reply! Im not sure how to DM first since your profile is anonymous, but I would really appreciate your help and am open to DM'ing. I have some notes from a medical school forum I attended from a WashU representative who gave a presentation, so Ill definitely incorporate that into your advice. If you know any MD/PhD students that would also be very helpful in my case. What lead you to choose WashU over other schools?

Decided to attend here over other T10 programs. Difficult decision but in retrospect the correct one.

Few things that impacted my decision:

1) Cost of attendance! WashU is very generous with their merit and need-based scholarships.

2) Cost of living! Could afford a decent apartment minutes from school for 1/3 of cost in SF or Boston. Best part about living here is how many free city amenities there are (concerts, museums, theater, parks, botanical garden) and how cheap concerts and sport games are! More manageable on a student budget.

3) Midwestern culture! People here are so friendly and welcoming. Coming from the East Coast where academic culture is more competitive and frankly at times obnoxious, it was a breath of fresh air when I visited.

4) Clinical training facilities! I want to do research as an attending, but my primary priority is clinical medicine. It was important to me to train at a medical center that was both a tertiary care center (and quaternary) and a safety net hospital. Between Barnes Jewish, Siteman Cancer Center and St. Louis Children's Hospital (all on the same campus), you get a remarkably unique exposure to diverse patient populations and variability in pathology on the wards.

5) Curriculum! The competency-based curriculum, the mentorship structure, and the immersions really appealed to me when I visited during second-look.

Yeah I’m heading here in the fall and fucking love this school

Chose another md school over WashU and having serious regrets lol

Which other school if you dont mind me asking

mt sinai

Can you explain why as someone applying to both if you are comfortable