Medical Student Selection Policy

 Policy Number: AD.10.05.170425 

Applies to: This policy applies to WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine Admissions Committee members for the MD program. 

Date: 12/5/23

1.0 Policy Statement 

It is the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine policy that the Admissions Committee for the MD program develops the medical student admissions criteria and procedures in alignment with the College of Medicine mission, vision, and accreditation standards. 

2.0 Definitions 

AMCAS

American Medical College Application Service is the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) centralized medical school application processing service for the majority of MD programs nationally. 

MCAT

Medical College Admission Test; standardized examination administered through the AAMC which measures critical thinking, science, and social science foundational knowledge necessary for medical school. 

MSI

The Mixed Structured Interview is a multiple assessment interview modality that includes short, highly structured scenario-style interviews and two highly structured traditional interviews. 

UGPA

Undergraduate grade point average. The UGPA is calculated by AMCAS using all college course credit earned, even when taken at multiple institutions. Graduate GPA is calculated separately. 

3.0 Responsibility 

• Office of Student Experience (Admissions) 
• Admissions Committee

4.0 Procedures

The admissions process uses the Holistic Review framework which identifies mission aligned experiences, attributes, and academic metrics aligned with the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine mission. Applicants are reviewed through this intentional and standardized process which ensures admissions practices, processes, and policies support the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine’s mission and strategic priorities and identifies all the way an applicant contributes to the learning environment and healthcare.

The following components of holistic review are incorporated into the admissions process:

Experiences

Experiences are considered at all phases of the admissions process. Specific applicant experiences have been chosen by the Admissions Committee as being in alignment with the College of Medicine mission. These experiences and their definitions are published transparently on the College’s admissions website.

Attributes

Attributes are considered at all phases of the admissions process. These attributes and their definitions are published transparently on the College’s admissions website.

Metrics

Threshold combinations of academic metrics (UGPA and highest composite percentile rank on the MCAT) are considered at the pre-screening phase which partially determines if an applicant receives a secondary application. These thresholds are screened by the application management system. After that point, MCAT and GPA are no longer considered in the admissions process and are masked by the application management system. These threshold combinations of UGPA and MCAT are published transparently on the College’s admissions website.

In line with the mission, strategic pathway programs with conditional acceptance can be developed and must be approved by the Admissions Committee. These strategic programs must:

• Uphold and align with the College of Medicine admissions standards;
• Facilitate the admittance of students aligned with our mission;
• Develop innovative models to reduce the financial indebtedness for medical students.

The details of the admissions cycle are outlined below:

Submission of AMCAS application

Pre-screening for applicants to receive the secondary application includes the following requirements:

• Has met one of the thresholds combinations of academic metrics (UGPA and MCAT).
  • If an applicant has completed coursework toward a master’s or doctoral-level program in a science area, the graduate GPA may be taken into consideration if the original thresholds with UGPA are not met.
• Connections to Washington through ties to the state or residency in the state.
  • Applicants can meet this requirement through having three of the following four ties to Washington (verified in AMCAS):
    • Born in Washington
    • Childhood address in Washington
      • Applicants are asked to provide any childhood home addresses in Washington to further support this tie. The following criteria are used:
        • Between 8-18 years of age
        • Minimum of 6 years (does not need to be continuous)
    • Graduated from a Washington high school
    • Parent/guardian currently lives in Washington
  • If an applicant does not meet the required ties to the state, this requirement can be fulfilled by meeting a definition of “resident student” as outlined in RCW 28B.15.012(2). Common examples of a resident student in Washington include:
    • Applicants who are financially independent and have maintained a bona fide domicile in the state of Washington primarily for purposes other than educational for at least one year by and immediately leading into January 1 of the enrollment year.
    • Applicants who are financially dependent with at least one parent or legal guardian who has maintained a bona fide domicile in the state of Washington for at least one year by and immediately leading into January 1 of the enrollment year.
    • Applicants who are on active military duty stationed in the state of Washington or are members of the Washington national guard.
    • Applicants who (i) are members of a federally recognized tribe who traditional and customary tribal boundaries include portions of the state of Washington, or whose tribe was granted reserved lands within the state of Washington, and (ii) have maintained a bona fide domicile in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, or Washington or a combination of these states, for one year by and immediately leading into January 1 of the enrollment year. This includes the tribes WSU has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with.
  • If an applicant’s residency changes through AMCAS during the admission cycle, these requirements must still be met.
  • If an applicant does not have the required ties to the state or meet a definition of Washington resident student, they are not eligible for admission.
• Must be a US Citizen or US Permanent Resident
• Must reach the age of 21 years within the four years required to earn the MD degree as outlined in the WSU Catalog as a graduation requirement.
• All required letters of recommendation must have been received from AMCAS.
• Applicants who meet the above requirements will receive a secondary application to be considered further.

Interview Selection 

• Approved mission-aligned rubrics are used to screen for interviews when reviewing the AMCAS application, secondary application, and letters of recommendation. 
• Each application is independently reviewed by two trained screeners who are members of the Admissions Committee or Admissions team members. 
• When there are discrepant screen decisions (complete opposite decisions), a third screen will be completed. 
• These recommendations determine which applicants receive interview invitations. 
• Each screener completes training on the process prior to reviewing applications. 
• Outside influence on interview decisions is prohibited; all decisions are made following the Admissions Committee approved process. 
• Per state and federal law, the questions asking an applicant’s race/ethnicity are masked in the AMCAS application. If race/ethnicity are disclosed in essays, letters of recommendations, or interviews, they are not considered. Furthermore, race/ethnicity is not inferred.

Mixed Structured Interview (MSI) 

• Each cycle, the Admission Committee identifies scenarios which assess attributes that align with the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine mission; final approval of MSI scenarios is provided by a subcommittee of the Admissions Committee. 
• Each new interviewer will complete initial training and continuing interviewers complete refresher training each subsequent cycle. 

Acceptance Decisions 

• Following the interview, the applicant’s packet (AMCAS application, secondary application, letters of recommendation, and interview assessments) is independently reviewed by two trained reviewers who are members of the Admissions Committee using mission-aligned rubrics. 
• A member of the Admissions Committee presents a summary of the two independent reviews during a Committee meeting, the Committee discusses, and each Committee member submits a confidential score via the application management system using a unique mission-aligned rubric. The mean of these scores is called the Committee Score which forms the rank list. 
• The Vice Dean for Admissions, Student Affairs, and Alumni Engagement uses the rank list to make all offers of acceptance during the regular offer period (October 15–March 15). 
• The waitlist is formed and offers are made aligned with the LCME Consensus Statement on Satisfactory Performance in Element 10.2: Acceptance from the Waitlist/Alternate List after all initial seats are filled. This process is approved by the Admissions Committee. 
• Coercion and outside influence on acceptance decisions are prohibited; all decisions are made by the Admissions Committee following the approved process. 

Offer of Admission 

• Offers of admission are first made verbally by the Vice Dean or the Senior Director of Admissions followed by an email detailing the response deadline, conditions of acceptance, and other details. 
• The AAMC requires medical schools to make a total number of acceptances to fill the class by March 15. 
  • Withdrawals or declined admissions offers result in an offer from the waitlist in keeping with the designated class size.
    • Applicants are asked to confirm their wish to be on the waitlist at the time of formation and periodically thereafter. 
    • Applicants who do not want to be on the waitlist withdraw their candidacy. 
    • Offers from the waitlist are made following the Admissions Committee approved process. 
    • Applicants with Committee Scores below a threshold of consideration for an acceptance or position on the waitlist are denied. 
• Admission is contingent upon completion of all requirements by July 15 which are verified by admissions staff. 
• For deferrals, refer to the Deferral of Admissions Policy. 

Beyond pre-screening criteria outlined above, additional requirements to be considered for acceptance to the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine include: 

Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)

• Must have been taken no earlier than four years before the expected date of matriculation.
• Must be taken by September 30th of the application year.
• The highest composite MCAT percentile is used

Letters of Evaluation

• Three (3) individual letters or a Health Professions Advisory Committee (HPAC) packet which can include varying numbers of individual letters are required and must be submitted directly to AMCAS. If an HPAC packet is submitted, the applicant may have one (1) extra letter of evaluation submitted directly to AMCAS.
• All letters must be written on official letterhead.
• All letters should be dated for the application year.
• Letters from family members or friends are not considered.

Undergraduate Course Requirements

• Biology with lab: 4 semester credit hrs. (or 6 quarter hrs.) Preferred focus: Genetics, Molecular, Biology
• Organic Chemistry with lab: 4 semester credit hrs. (or 6 quarter hrs.)
• Physics with lab: 4 semester credit hrs. (or 6 quarter hrs.)
• These requirements should be specified for science majors.
• Online coursework and coursework from community colleges meet these requirements.
• Coursework does not expire.
• All required coursework must be taken at an accredited US or Canadian institution.

Baccalaureate Degree

• A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited US or Canadian institution must be earned by July 15 of the matriculation year.
• If a doctoral degree has been/will be earned by July 15 prior to matriculation but did not require a bachelor’s degree for entrance, the doctorate degree may be substituted to meet this requirement.

5.0 Related Policies

• RCW 28B.15.012(2) – Classification as resident or nonresident student

6.0 Key Search Words

Applicant, applicant selection, screening, interviews, offers of acceptance

7.0 Revision History

Original Approval: 1/31/2016, 2/11/2017
Policy Number: AD.10.06.170211, AD.10.06.170425
Review/Revision: 2/11/2017, 4/25/2017, 10/31/2017, 4/10/2020, 12/03/23