2011-2012 Oregon Health & Sciences University Application Thread

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Originally Posted by Diggidy

So I just read through their admissions criteria and the say they look for OOS students with criteria:

GPA : 3.65+
MCAT: 32+

Is this absolute? My MCAT is 36S but my GPA is around a 3.55. Is it worth it to finish the secondary even? I'd like to think I have great ECs, and I have a steep upward trend (last 3 of my total 4 years of school were 3.65 or above), but I don't want to submit and pay this secondary fee if it's going to be an auto-rejection.

i'm kinda in the same boat. great mcat. not so hot undergrad gpa. if you get some answers, mind sharing the info? not that it'll really stop me from submitting this supplemental.. but maybe it'll help ease some of this terrible application season anxiety. =/

So if you do have the MCAT and GPA they want, are you guaranteed a secondary? how long does it take to receive it? Or is it really up in the air?

No, they send almost everyone a secondary.

Originally Posted by Emilyyyy

So if you do have the MCAT and GPA they want, are you guaranteed a secondary? how long does it take to receive it? Or is it really up in the air?

they say that they send the secondary to everyone and ask you to screen yourself to expedite the process.

"In order to be considered further in the admissions process, applicants must meet all of the following requirements:
1. Minimum cumulative Total GPA (as reported by AMCAS) of 2.80.
2. Minimum cumulative score of 24 on most recent eligible MCAT. Eligible MCATs for the 2012 admissions cycle are those recorded in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
3. United States citizenship or resident alien status with a current green card indicating permanent residency in the United States."

Ah, okay. Thank you!!

no prob. it just takes a while. especially considering there's no screening.. good luck!

Originally Posted by Sammich117

Question 1 - What experience have you had that has given you insight into the patients you hope to eventually serve? (1500 character limit)

Question 2 - What will be your greatest challenge in becoming a physician? (1500 character limit)

Question 3 - Give an example of a time when you tried your best to work with a person or a group but the problems still remained. What did you learn from the experience? (1500 characters)

Question 4 - Describe a time when you did not receive what you felt you deserved, and how you reacted. (1500 characters)

Question 5 - Give an example of personal feedback in the last few years that was difficult to receive. How did you respond? (1500 characters)

Question 6 - Please discuss the diversity that you would bring to the OHSU School of Medicine and the profession of medicine. (1500 characters)

Using the fields below, please provide a brief chronological account of your major activities and employment, including volunteer and summer activities, for the five years immediately preceding your proposed entry to medical school. This should include present and projected activities to the point of matriculation to medical school. Please do not include activities that took place prior to or during high school. Note: You are limited to 20 entries in this section.

Best of luck with your application !

are these the secondary questions for the MD only program at OHSU for 2012?
Or are these questions for combined programs like the md/phd?
thanks

Originally Posted by punjabimc

are these the secondary questions for the MD only program at OHSU for 2012?
Or are these questions for combined programs like the md/phd?
thanks

all for the MD only secondary...not sure about the MD/PHD but the MD/MPH has another whole application aspect

good luck!

Hey everyone, long time lurker, first time poster (this year anyway). Working on my secondary right now, will hopefully have it in today. Interviewed last year with them but was obviously rejected. I got good feedback though and hope to be one of the large # of reapplicants that matriculates. Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck to everyone!

Originally Posted by TabletopJoe

Hey everyone, long time lurker, first time poster (this year anyway). Working on my secondary right now, will hopefully have it in today. Interviewed last year with them but was obviously rejected. I got good feedback though and hope to be one of the large # of reapplicants that matriculates. Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck to everyone!

What feedback did they give you? I was interviewed last year and rejected as well and when I had my exit interview they didn't tell me anything to work on

Originally Posted by mybubbles627

What feedback did they give you? I was interviewed last year and rejected as well and when I had my exit interview they didn't tell me anything to work on

For me it was lack of healthcare experience and gpa. Nothing I can do about my gpa (3.2 as an undergrad 3.98 as a post bac), so I was told to find a job that works with patients.

Everything else they said I was highly competitive in, I have three non-medically related ec's, one that is (but back office only).

Other areas they grade you in are motivation for medicine (including understanding of the field), emotional maturity (probably means taking feedback well and presenting yourself professionally), communication (being able to demonstrate your motivation for medicine with experiences).

If your e.c's, grades and medical exp are fine, these might be some things to look at.

...and secondary is in

Originally Posted by TabletopJoe

Hey everyone, long time lurker, first time poster (this year anyway). Working on my secondary right now, will hopefully have it in today. Interviewed last year with them but was obviously rejected. I got good feedback though and hope to be one of the large # of reapplicants that matriculates. Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck to everyone!

Are you an Oregon resident?

For the "Describe a time when you did not receive what you felt you deserved, and how you reacted," what are you guys writing about? I don't really feel I've experienced this too much, except for very minor things or silly things (I felt like I deserved to get some academic achievement award, but it went to some other good student). This is the only essay that's giving me a lot of trouble for OHSU.

Originally Posted by Signifier

For the "Describe a time when you did not receive what you felt you deserved, and how you reacted," what are you guys writing about? I don't really feel I've experienced this too much, except for very minor things or silly things (I felt like I deserved to get some academic achievement award, but it went to some other good student). This is the only essay that's giving me a lot of trouble for OHSU.

Yeah, that was probably the toughest for me as well. My strategy with all of these questions was to keep the subtext at least as much in mind as the question itself--thus, "when didn't you get what you deserved?" becomes, "are you entitled?" and "do you react badly to disappointment?" (Because frankly, are they going to interview and accept someone with terrible ECs, stats, and scores just because they liked their essays? These things can help for sure, but I think there's much more potential for them to harm you app. or at least throw a few wrenches into the works if you do it wrong.)
Anyway, I answered with that in mind. Just as with "what will be your greatest challenge?" I answered honestly, but with a definite awareness that saying something like "I have a hard time talking to strangers" would probably come back to bite you in one or both interviews, if you got that far.

[edited to add: if you have trouble talking to strangers, you should probably think twice about going into medicine. ]

Originally Posted by centrigeugle

Are you an Oregon resident?

Yes.

Originally Posted by Signifier

For the "Describe a time when you did not receive what you felt you deserved, and how you reacted," what are you guys writing about? I don't really feel I've experienced this too much, except for very minor things or silly things (I felt like I deserved to get some academic achievement award, but it went to some other good student). This is the only essay that's giving me a lot of trouble for OHSU.

Agreed. If my other essays were home runs, this one wasn't, due to an equally lame experience. I can live with that.

So I was just checking statuses on all my apps because I don't start school and have nothing better to do than obsessively check things. Anyways, I was curious about OHSU since I never got an email regarding a secondary or anything, so I go to their website and sign in with my info. Turns out they emailed me on 8/4 Definitely never got it (I even check my junk because its where I found a few others). So should I email them and just apologize about not knowing I had it and just get it done ASAP?

What a killer secondary.

Submitted! Good luck to everyone.

Does anyone know if OHSU hands out rejections post-secondary? Or do they do silent rejections? I hear they do things differently here

Yes, they do give out post-secondary rejections.

Washington Resident and would love to stay in the PNW. Been mulling over this secondary for awhile. ITS TOUGH. My MCAT is great, but my undergrad GPA is 3.59, so apparently I just missed the cut for "preferred applicants"? That's kind of a downer. **** it I'm still submitting...Any interview invites yet? (I haven't read the other posts)

After submitting, I went to print a copy of my application, and noticed that the paragraph breaks I had entered when typing my essays did not show up. Did anyone else have this problem?

Originally Posted by TheUltimate12

After submitting, I went to print a copy of my application, and noticed that the paragraph breaks I had entered when typing my essays did not show up. Did anyone else have this problem?

Ya, I did too. I think this is something that automatically happens as I am certain that I inserted the paragraph breaks, manually.

Originally Posted by hydrogen1

Ya, I did too. I think this is something that automatically happens as I am certain that I inserted the paragraph breaks, manually.

When did you submit your application? I just checked mine and my breaks are there. It may have something to do with the date you submitted. I doubt it is that big of a deal. I'm sure it is very common.

New question: How long did it take you guys to get verified by amcas? I applied kind of late but its taking longer this year than last year, so I was just wondering if that is consistent with everyone else.

Originally Posted by mybubbles627

When did you submit your application? I just checked mine and my breaks are there. It may have something to do with the date you submitted. I doubt it is that big of a deal. I'm sure it is very common.

Was this for your 2012 secondary or 2011 secondary?

Anyone had their file marked complete yet? (As opposed to just "submitted.")

Yes, a day or two ago. It took a little while.

Submitted 8/x, not verified/complete yet.

To be more specific, I submitted the secondary on 8/24 and was complete 9/07.

Submitted 8/13, complete 8/23. Not holding my breath as I'm out of state and status check shows I'm in the group that will not be reviewed until January

Originally Posted by Schizotypy

To be more specific, I submitted the secondary on 8/24 and was complete 9/07.

Huh. I submitted 8/24 as well, (three hours post secondary receipt! Woo!) but nothing so far. Maybe next week.

Has anyone been invited to interview yet? Has OHSU even started interviews? I know they are known to be extremely slow, but this year seems to be even slower than normal.

So today is my deadline and I just submitted my secondary at 3 am this morning. I didn't realize there was a time lapse between the submission of the secondary and actually being complete. does this mean that i'm screwed?

Originally Posted by rgll

So today is my deadline and I just submitted my secondary at 3 am this morning. I didn't realize there was a time lapse between the submission of the secondary and actually being complete. does this mean that i'm screwed?

No.

Originally Posted by Northwesterly

No.

Thank goodness!

Anyone else waiting to be marked complete after 2+ weeks? I submitted the day I got my secondary (August 24th) and still nada.

And any guesses on when the first MMI session will be? I wonder how the switchover is going.

So sad. I had to stop my application process for this year. I will apply again next year.

Good luck all.
dsoz

Originally Posted by dsoz

So sad. I had to stop my application process for this year. I will apply again next year.

Good luck all.
dsoz

Sorry to hear that. Good luck!

Originally Posted by dsoz

So sad. I had to stop my application process for this year. I will apply again next year.

Good luck all.
dsoz

Oof. Sorry to hear that. Good luck with this year and next.

Originally Posted by Northwesterly

Anyone else waiting to be marked complete after 2+ weeks? I submitted the day I got my secondary (August 24th) and still nada.

And any guesses on when the first MMI session will be? I wonder how the switchover is going.

Submitted a couple days after you and also no completion.

Originally Posted by centrigeugle

Submitted a couple days after you and also no completion.

Ah. Sorry you're having to wait, but I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Originally Posted by Northwesterly

Ah. Sorry you're having to wait, but I'm glad I'm not the only one.

I'm waiting on it too. Submitted awhile ago.

Originally Posted by Northwesterly

Ah. Sorry you're having to wait, but I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Meh. It's Portland, man. Everybody's flaky and slow.

they may be starting to speed things up. my amcas application was finally processed after 6+ weeks on the 13th of september, and then i got the ohsu secondary the following day on the 14th.

Originally Posted by centrigeugle

Submitted a couple days after you and also no completion.

Originally Posted by Northwesterly

Ah. Sorry you're having to wait, but I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Originally Posted by TheUltimate12

I'm waiting on it too. Submitted awhile ago.

You won't be marked as complete until someone in the admissions office actually clicks on your letter packet and downloads it. Until then, enjoy your stay in limbo.

Seriously, though - this happens every year. Don't stress about it too much.

Originally Posted by URHere

You won't be marked as complete until someone in the admissions office actually clicks on your letter packet and downloads it. Until then, enjoy your stay in limbo.

Seriously, though - this happens every year. Don't stress about it too much.

How do you know that is how it works? Do you know if they have started interviewing yet?

Originally Posted by mybubbles627

How do you know that is how it works? Do you know if they have started interviewing yet?

URHere has been a good source for OHSU info in the past. I would trust them as a source. And though it has been said by many before, OHSU is notoriously slow in their process. I don't think they have started to interview...at least, they haven't asked for volunteer tour guides and lunch representatives yet.

I know that it is difficult to get past the pre-med neuroses of "why haven't they sent me a secondary yet?!?" or "I sent in my secondary 6 weeks ago, why haven't I been marked complete?!?!", but for the sake of your health...I would recommend taking a breath and just waiting a little longer (that said, if your wait is REALLY excessive, 10-12+ weeks...then give them a call/email and BE NICE ). For example, last year it took ~7 weeks for my secondary to come, ~8 weeks for an interview invite, and then ~10 weeks for a decision (admit). The wait was exasperating at times, but patience is certainly a virtue.

The admissions process is a marathon of the hurry-up-and-wait game, especially at OHSU and if you insist on sprinting the entire way through, you're going to end up keeling over before the end.

Good luck and best wishes to everyone!

Originally Posted by mybubbles627

How do you know that is how it works? Do you know if they have started interviewing yet?

Back when I applied, I freaked out about being incomplete, called the office, and got this answer. Over the last few years, I have known several people who had exactly the same experience so I'm assuming that being complete is still dependent on your letter packet being downloaded.

Also, I know that some interview invites have gone out, but I don't believe that the actual interviews have started yet. As ORMD mentioned, emails about hosting applicants, giving tours, and coming to lunches generally signal the start of interview season and I haven't seen any of those quite yet.