2011-2012 Ohio State Application Thread
 

In your own words, define altruism and provide an example or two where you exhibited altruistic behavior in your past activities. (600 words or less)

The face of medicine is changing and our goal is to provide physicians prepared to serve diverse populations. Describe one or more experiences you have had with people of different racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic backgrounds or belief systems than your own, and what impact this had on you. (600 words or less)

Best of luck with your application :luck::luck::luck:!

M1 (guess almost M2) here, feel free to ask questions!

Do you know if the OOS GPA and MCAT cutoff are 3.65/32? Is that concrete as well? What are some pros and cons of OSU would you say?

Thanks so much!

Never heard of cutoffs, I don't think that they are real.

Pros: you will be entering into a brand new integrated curriculum that is really shaping up, I'm almost jealous of you guys. You will be in a clinic very early and doing all the things and learning how to be a physician direct from the source. Big class size, VERY diverse, everyone is amazing at something. Super friendly atmosphere, they value your comments and feedback to a T, amazing facilities, some of the best staff in the midwest/country. Pass Fail, hard to know where you stand in the class so there's no competition bt classmates, it's actually super supportive. Excellent and unlimited research experiences.

Cons: Big class (some don't like), Columbus is a fun city, but anyone from a large city might find there's less stuff to do here than their cities. Dropped in research rankings bc of a technicality (if anyone even cares). Sometimes I feel that they ask for our feedback too much. The CAPS class students have been complaining about (Which they are abolishing for your class for the clinic stuff, more to come about this).

Please ask me specific questions that you may have so I can better answer them!

Hey! So I know that OSU went through that whole over admission thing so I was wondering if that just meant that basically there would be 50 less spots for applicants this cycle. I also heard that they are reducing the class size with the new curriculum so it seems to me that it may be much harder to get in than in previous years. Any new information on how these things are being handled?

Nothing is for sure yet, I will keep you updated

I was interviewed for the medpath program, do you know anything about this program? I still have not heard anything back from them as far as admissions and it has been a month since my interview. Is this typically normal?

whoa...where did you hear that?

Maybe you're confusing OHSU with OSU?
Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) has OOS cut-offs matching what you stated.

Yeah I just looked at the thread, I must have gotten them confused. Sorry everyone!

How is the new anatomy requirement going to work for everyone? There is no way I can finish it this school year.

http://medicine.osu.edu/students/adm...equisites.aspx

Check out that site.

They know it's tough for everyone to squeeze in an entirely new pre-req, so they're being pretty lenient. An online anatomy course would be fairly easy, and it would at least introduce you to basic terminology and the approach to anatomy. Any foundation is good to have. If you have specific questions, give the number on that website a call - our admission's staff is honestly one of the friendliest you will encounter.

Thanks! I called admissions and they said an online course would be sufficient if taken before matriculation. Crisis averted.

OSU is easily my top choice! Any current students have any input on the ISP track?

I can understand why they are adding the anatomy requirement with the whole new curriculum... but anatomy is VERY much an "if you don't use it, you lose it" subject, at least for me.

I'm hoping they just wanted us to have a little exposure to it is all, because this school is high on my list!

Dont give up hope or worry yourself sick!
 

Hey guys, I wish you the best of luck preparing your applications and with interviews. I just wanted to impart a bit of advice--and that's to breathe. I spent all year beating myself up over the fact that I didn't get into OSU. I was angry at my below-OSU-average test scores and grades, and felt like a failure. Once I was accepted to a school, I felt a bit better but still was disappointed in myself. Then, once I was interviewed and accepted at OSU (in late April), I realized how much OSU really looks at the person and not the grades or test scores. I know that I bring their averages down, but they recognized my drive, my passion and my loyalty to OSU--and let me in. I know how it easy it is to beat yourself up over not getting an interview as soon as you send off your application, but be patient--it will happen. Congratulations to each of you on getting to this point, and best of luck!

fatladysings -- thanks for the advice! may i ask if you were OOS or IS and also, did you send letters of intent, updates, etc.?

:(

I was accepted to OSU (OOS) with a lower GPA.

Got my secondary from OSU this morning! Doesn't seem too bad. Now I've got three to do :)

Prompts:

In your own words, define altruism and provide an example or two where you exhibited altruistic behavior in your past activities. (600 words or less)

The face of medicine is changing and our goal is to provide physicians prepared to serve diverse populations. Describe one or more experiences you have had with people of different racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic backgrounds or belief systems than your own, and what impact this had on you. (600 words or less)

I know this topic comes up frequently but I am always interested in hearing new opinions. I applied last year and was rejected post-interview (I am aware that re-application is risky and am going in with no expectations). The secondary prompts are exactly the same and I don't know how much I should alter my responses. Obviously I can add in a few new examples from over the past year but I still have the same general opinions on the prompts. Any advice?

Here's my guess: it didn't work the first time, so try something different.

On the secondary there is a question about "University Housing Information Request", and the three choices are University residence hall, student family housing, and no university housing requested. Does anyone know what that's for?
And do they really mean what is the educational level of your "father's parents" and "mother's parents"? Is that a typo?

if you got as far as the interview, i would contact them ASAP to see if you can get any general feedback or an exit-interview of sorts. maybe they can shed some light on what they felt were the weaker points of your application and how to approach the essays again.

"If you applied to any medical schools in previous years, please list them."... the response has six blanks.

uhhhh... i can haz more blanks? I'm going to contact them tomorrow but if any other reapplicants know how to answer this with only six slots, please help a brother out.

How many words are you guys writing for the prompts? Mine are about 350 words but it feels like they're short since you can write 600.

What was the reason for the rank drop?

I am an undergrad here, and from what you say, there are three options: You can live on campus in one of the dorms on South campus which is 3-5 mins walk to OSUMC and the Med School classes. The other option is if you are married and your family plans to stay with you as well, there is a separate building for them just near the campus about 5-7 mins walk and the third option is you can live in one of the off-campus apartments. I think they are trying to settle housing for the next year, especially on campus since OSU has one of the largest incoming freshmen classes in the nation.
Hope this helps.

I agree, if I got an interview the problem is clearly not my secondary, which is why I am at a loss for how I am supposed to change it from the first go around. Unfortunately, I totally blew one of the two interviews because it was my first and I was so nervous (typical excuses for being unprepared). I walked out of the room assuming I would be rejected so I think it would be unnecessary to call and ask why I got rejected (yes, it was that bad). I know it may be dumb to re-apply but I really loved this school (which is saying something coming from a wolverine) so I am willing to spend the extra money on a slim chance.

Thank you for your advice, I never thought about calling to ask about the essay questions but that is definitely a good idea!

the only real advice is for this is I hope you are not looking at schools based on how they rank in research, cause that is suchhhh a big part of the curriculum? :confused:

But I believe someone had forgotten or some kind of funding was mistakenly dropped that made OSU go down in rankings, while other schools gotten more (I guarantee you it will go back up next year)

This was definitely not my only criteria, though I'd assume a higher research rank means more funding, and thus better/more opportunities for medical students to participate.

I was just curious how OSU dropped from a top 25 to 38. A few ranks I'd understand, but such a large change was strange.

During 2nd look, the dean said the ranking drop had to do with a number of things, but foremost was a change in UNSWR's ranking methodology. In previous years, the portion of the rank that considers NIH funding was looked at for the school as a whole. As you all know, OSU is a clinical research powerhouse, so the old rankings cast it in a very favorable light.

However, the new ranking methodology considers NIH-funding PER FACULTY MEMBER, as opposed to the institution-wide consideration of old. This tends to favor the smaller schools which have a stronger presence in basic science research.

The other (minor) contribution was the incoming class' median GPA dropped by 0.02. I'd call that statistically insignificant, but maybe that's just me. :rolleyes:

So there you have it. That's how schools like OSU and Colorado can be docked 12 spots on the rank list due to the whims of USNWR writers. If the ranking methodology stays the same, I'm not sure how much OSU can climb this year, but it really shouldn't matter anyway. No matter the rank, it's still an excellent school and has some of the happiest students I met on the interview trail.

For you guys who have completed the secondary, does your status still say waiting for submission of secondary? or something to that effect.

Here's what mine reads:

Status: Payment accepted, data sent, received, and confirmed!

I wish it read:

Status: You've been accepted. No need to interview or wait several months to hear from us. Also, $1,000 has been transferred to your bank account.

so what should i put for the university housing question (i'm not married)? does it really matter?

Also, why does it ask for Father's PARENT'S educational level and Mother's PARENT's educational level? WHy would they be asking about my grandparents instead of my parents? so odd....

Just an FYI... i know of just one guy who's living on the on-campus housing. Live off-campus, its easy to find good housing for very reasonable prices very close to campus.

That would be pretty sweet huh :thumbup:

I would call, but most likely it's a typo and just asking for your mother and father's ed level (unless it already asked that, then I'd just answer to best of your ability)

It doesnt matter, but I would say live off-campus. Although, if you stay on campus, you most probably can become a resident adviser (RA) for one of the undergraduate dorms (Leadership experience, free staying, half priced food, although I don't know how will they do for 1st year med students since the RAs are already being trained). Majority of upper classmen as well as the professional students stay there (Good "social" life, ease and freedom of apartment). Rent is cheap (Columbus has the 4th cheapest rent in the nation.) I can provide you with realtor info later as you need. Just PM me!

For those who have submitted your secondary does it say awaiting submission of secondary on your Status page? I'm not talking about on the secondary page, but on the actual status page. I've already submitted my secondary, but it still says that.

Yes, mine still does as well.

Just received app complete e-mail.

This is different than the 2ndary received email right?

This is the second secondary received e-mail I've received (used two words twice in that sentence...hard to do). It gave me extra log-in instructions to a different website. Not sure if it's the same e-mail you're referring to.

Does anyone know what I'm supposed to do if I have received a fee waiver? Do they accept those?

Thanks

I was just wondering if anyone knew how much a difference military service brings? I served 2 years in the Israeli Defense Forces as a Combat Medic mainly cuz my gpa is a little lower cuz I switched from engineering to premed after my military service. but my mcat is really good 32Q (im out of state but have residency in cali so im not international)

when is the deadline for secondary?

I don't know since I havent received a secondary, but you might be better off calling the admissions office on 614 292 2200. Hope that helps!

Verifiefd 6/29
Secondary Invite 6/30

hey everyone, i am a reapplicant for medical school but first time applying to ohio state. there is a question:

If you applied to any medical schools in previous years, please list them.

for only 6 spaces. i applied to more schools last cycle...should i just randomly list 6? or choose schools near Ohio?

Anyone else unable to log into their applicant portal page with their new OSU ID and temp password?