2011-2012 University of Oklahoma Application Thread

Good luck to all the applicants and be sure to review last years thread. Many common questions can be answered there.

Will be re-applying here this summer! Didn't get an interview last year due to mediocre MCAT and GPA but I am determined to make big improvement on the MCAT this summer and hopefully attending the MPH program on campus will help out!

Good luck to everyone else!

Good luck to everyone applying this year! I'll be an MS1 starting this August, so I'll be rooting for y'all!

from this thread if only one person is applying you have a good chance of getting accepted.

I think reapplicants are really looked upon favorably speaking from personal experience. I think like 60% or so of reapplicants are accepted. If you show tangible improvement in your application than you should have a chance.

I also think the MPH program on campus will help although I don't know to what extent it will help.

okdocrx said:

from this thread if only one person is applying you have a good chance of getting accepted.

I think reapplicants are really looked upon favorably speaking from personal experience. I think like 60% or so of reapplicants are accepted. If you show tangible improvement in your application than you should have a chance.

I also think the MPH program on campus will help although I don't know to what extent it will help.

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Thanks! that is encouraging to hear!

I agree, I chose to enter the program because I wanted to do something that was related to the healthcare field and something I could use while practicing amongst several other reasons. So I guess we'll find out!

I've seen the data, but does OU basically not look at OOS at all?

AzDesertDoc said:

I've seen the data, but does OU basically not look at OOS at all?

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Oos have to have ties to the state.

okdocrx said:

Oos have to have ties to the state.

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Does having a grandparent that went to OU count as ties?

AzDesertDoc said:

Does having a grandparent that went to OU count as ties?

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Did he live or grow up in oklahoma or stay in Oklahoma after his undergrad

I think this counts as ties but stronger ties the better. Something that the admissions committee believes would make you consider practicing medicine the state just like any state funded school

I would imagine they would want a family member that has roots in Oklahoma

So if he just came for undergrad and left it's not as strong. However I really cant speak for the admissions committee. You might shoot a friendly email to admissions committee

Just submitted my secondary!

All there is left to do is knock out the MCAT!

bretski47 said:

Just submitted my secondary!

All there is left to do is knock out the MCAT!

Since the secondary asks if you are a legacy does anyone know how the admissions looks at this? Do they look at positively, negatively, or what?

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I think I misunderstood you when you said your grandparent went to OU (I assumed undergrad) but it now looks like he went to OU medical school.

I don't know how they look at legacy but it must be important if they ask about it and I would think has a positive impact.

okdocrx said:

I think I misunderstood you when you said your grandparent went to OU (I assumed undergrad) but it now looks like he went to OU medical school.

I don't know how they look at legacy but it must be important if they ask about it and I would think has a positive impact.

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haha I think you are getting confused between azdoc and and my posts but you answered my question anyways so thanks!

bretski47 said:

haha I think you are getting confused between azdoc and and my posts but you answered my question anyways so thanks!

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lol, I guess I am getting confused. My brain has been on stand-by this past year.

Well it turns out I have enough ties.
I have lots of family there...so I think I'm Ok.

Do ya'll think that applicants with strong ties, but OOS none the less are much more selective?

bretski47 said:

Just submitted my secondary!

All there is left to do is knock out the MCAT!

Since the secondary asks if you are a legacy does anyone know how the admissions looks at this? Do they look at positively, negatively, or what?

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how long did you have to wait before you got your secondaries?

GOMPLAYER said:

how long did you have to wait before you got your secondaries?

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I got an email from OU the day after I hit the "submit" button for my AMCAS app.

When do people expect to hear about interviews from OU?

AzDesertDoc said:

When do people expect to hear about interviews from OU?

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i dont know how early you get them.. but looking at last year's discussion, at the latest, you'll find out about a month before the actual interview..

Would it hurt me if I did not write a response for the third field on the secondary app?

Here is the prompt: Please enter any other relevant life experience that you feel might have an impact on your application to the OUSCM track.

Thanks!

OklahoMED said:

Would it hurt me if I did not write a response for the third field on the secondary app?

Here is the prompt: Please enter any other relevant life experience that you feel might have an impact on your application to the OUSCM track.

Thanks!

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I think with any application to any medical school leaving a blank space would not look very good. I think people underappreciate how good of an opportunity Tulsa really is. Unfortunately I will not be doing it because my housing is in OKC. But they are not just a primary care factory people can go into specialties. I digress, I would definitely fill something out if you are really interested in community medicine.

AzDesertDoc said:

When do people expect to hear about interviews from OU?

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I agree it's a month in advance and according to the facebook page OU College of Medicine Admissions, interviews start in October so you will probably get that interview invite about early to mid september and I think the OU interview score calculation formula still applies from the previous years threads. Scores of 11 or higher or something like that get the early interviews.

And you really want the early interviews. November isn't that bad either not as good as October though.

The facebook page of the admissions office is usually updated with information like when invites are going out or when acceptance letters have been mailed. Which can be looked at positively or negatively.

okdocrx said:

I agree it's a month in advance and according to the facebook page OU College of Medicine Admissions, interviews start in October so you will probably get that interview invite about early to mid september and I think the OU interview score calculation formula still applies from the previous years threads. Scores of 11 or higher or something like that get the early interviews.

And you really want the early interviews. November isn't that bad either not as good as October though.

The facebook page of the admissions office is usually updated with information like when invites are going out or when acceptance letters have been mailed. Which can be looked at positively or negatively.

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actually from what i've read on the forums.. i think november is just as good.. they interview about 150 applicants in oct/nov and i think about 120 of them get accepted.. considering that their class was ~165 last year, i'd give anything to have an interview in the fall..

GOMPLAYER said:

actually from what i've read on the forums.. i think november is just as good.. they interview about 150 applicants in oct/nov and i think about 120 of them get accepted.. considering that their class was ~165 last year, i'd give anything to have an interview in the fall..

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just curious...where did you get those figures?

Are you just assumed complete at this school or will they email you in august?

bretski47 said:

just curious...where did you get those figures?

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this is not written in stone but this is where i got it
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=10250722&postcount=110

GOMPLAYER said:

actually from what i've read on the forums.. i think november is just as good.. they interview about 150 applicants in oct/nov and i think about 120 of them get accepted.. considering that their class was ~165 last year, i'd give anything to have an interview in the fall..

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Most of the 30 that were rejected or waitlisted were from November.

October is considered like auto-accept basically though I don't want to lull anyone to false sense of acceptance because there are some who do not get accepted from October. But from previous threads if you don't get accepted in October there usually is a major red flag in the application.

So all in all October November those would be great months to interview (in general interviewing early anywhere is a good thing because all the schools are trying to fill spots) but there is a difference between October and November. October might be like 95% or something like that acceptance and November is like maybe 80%.

That's a big difference from like January Febuary where you have all the people waitlisted from November, October plus all like six or seven interview dates in january february competing for forty spots.

However when you factor in the waitlist during the summer if your in-state and you get an interview chances are good for getting an acceptance compared to other medical schools. OU has a really high percentage for in-state acceptance of the number they interview in-state.

PHD To MD said:

Are you just assumed complete at this school or will they email you in august?

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I would call them or email to make sure. I knew one person who had an issue with recommendation letters and they didn't call her; she actually called them to make sure everything was okay.

Email first just so you aren't annoying them. I was always afraid to call the admissions committee. Their probably like he's calling again? so usually I sent an email and if I didn't hear back within a week or so I would call.

"Please enter any additional community or volunteer experience not included on your AMCAS application."

I am a graduate student applying for med school now. I have listed the relevant medical experiences I have had in volunteering on my AMCAS. However, I have a few I did not document. These include tutoring from when I was in high school, organizing clothing drives for my church when I was younger, and volunteering at a local animal shelter while I was still an undergraduate.

Should I include these experiences, even though they are not very recent or directly relate to the practice of medicine in community involvement?

What are the prompts/requirements in the secondary for those who aren't applying to the Community Medicine school?

paradingbull said:

"Please enter any additional community or volunteer experience not included on your AMCAS application."

I am a graduate student applying for med school now. I have listed the relevant medical experiences I have had in volunteering on my AMCAS. However, I have a few I did not document. These include tutoring from when I was in high school, organizing clothing drives for my church when I was younger, and volunteering at a local animal shelter while I was still an undergraduate.

Should I include these experiences, even though they are not very recent or directly relate to the practice of medicine in community involvement?

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General rule of thumb is to omit anything that occured before first year of undergrad. So include anything volunteering/work/shadowing you did in college and then after.

Question...I'm taking the MCAT for the 2nd time on the 18th and I'm considering pushing it back to 9/1, which scores don't get released for until 10/4.

For the Jan/Feb interviews will those who completed their file earlier be sorted higher on the interview list, or those who completed later but with a higher app score? At that point does completing your file by 9/1 still matter, or could you get away with completing it after, and still get just as many chances for an interview for someone who got everything in by Aug 1, but has the same stats as you?

I'm assuming my OU score (11.4 :: 3.79 / 25) isn't good enough to get me an Oct/Nov interview so would it matter if my file wasn't complete with MCAT score until 10/4?

iMAX386 said:

Question...I'm taking the MCAT for the 2nd time on the 18th and I'm considering pushing it back to 9/1, which scores don't get released for until 10/4.

For the Jan/Feb interviews will those who completed their file earlier be sorted higher on the interview list, or those who completed later but with a higher app score? At that point does completing your file by 9/1 still matter, or could you get away with completing it after, and still get just as many chances for an interview for someone who got everything in by Aug 1, but has the same stats as you?

I'm assuming my OU score (11.4 :: 3.79 / 25) isn't good enough to get me an Oct/Nov interview so would it matter if my file wasn't complete with MCAT score until 10/4?

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Hmmm, well I guess I'm not sure exactly as far as having the best chance at getting the earliest interview possible, but in summary I would say take the MCAT when you feel you would do best.

If you think the extra 2-3 weeks would help your score then by all means push it back. Your scores for the 8/18 test wouldn't be released all that early to begin with.

How important is the 9/1 date? Is it like a definite due date (I can't remember when our app was techinically due last year)?

HW51Revisited said:

Hmmm, well I guess I'm not sure exactly as far as having the best chance at getting the earliest interview possible, but in summary I would say take the MCAT when you feel you would do best.

If you think the extra 2-3 weeks would help your score then by all means push it back. Your scores for the 8/18 test wouldn't be released all that early to begin with.

How important is the 9/1 date? Is it like a definite due date (I can't remember when our app was techinically due last year)?

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The 9/1 deadline is if you want to be considered for Oct. interviews. I don't have the stats to interview that month so I think it's a moot point for me to meet that deadline, but I'm wondering if after the Nov. interviews they compile everyone else and decide interview dates based on their stats, or if they still take submission date into account for Jan/Feb interviews?

If they do still take app completion date into account then I'll most likely stick with my original test date.

iMAX386 said:

The 9/1 deadline is if you want to be considered for Oct. interviews. I don't have the stats to interview that month so I think it's a moot point for me to meet that deadline, but I'm wondering if after the Nov. interviews they compile everyone else and decide interview dates based on their stats, or if they still take submission date into account for Jan/Feb interviews?

If they do still take app completion date into account then I'll most likely stick with my original test date.

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facebook says that the deadline for october interview consideration is due on aug 15??

http://www.facebook.com/pages/OU-College-of-Medicine-Admissions/376001975399

GOMPLAYER said:

facebook says that the deadline for october interview consideration is due on aug 15??

http://www.facebook.com/pages/OU-College-of-Medicine-Admissions/376001975399

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I'm think 9/1 is the hard deadline, but they recommend 8/15 for those who people who don't consider the time it takes AMCAS to process your app and if you want to be considered for ALL Oct dates.

iMAX386 said:

Question...I'm taking the MCAT for the 2nd time on the 18th and I'm considering pushing it back to 9/1, which scores don't get released for until 10/4.

For the Jan/Feb interviews will those who completed their file earlier be sorted higher on the interview list, or those who completed later but with a higher app score? At that point does completing your file by 9/1 still matter, or could you get away with completing it after, and still get just as many chances for an interview for someone who got everything in by Aug 1, but has the same stats as you?

I'm assuming my OU score (11.4 :: 3.79 / 25) isn't good enough to get me an Oct/Nov interview so would it matter if my file wasn't complete with MCAT score until 10/4?

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I believe they would still consider your app complete with the first score and add the 2nd score later. Dotty will fill interview spots with less competitive applicants if they have available spots, which they usually do.

iMAX386 said:

I'm think 9/1 is the hard deadline, but they recommend 8/15 for those who people who don't consider the time it takes AMCAS to process your app and if you want to be considered for ALL Oct dates.

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Doesn't it take AMCAS much longer to verify, especially as late as August? I submitted 6/20 and that is how long it took to be verified (7/7) back then. Also AMCAS will need to have all of your transcripts before then to have any hope of being verified and completed by 9/1. And then there is the issue of not having your secondary completed which you wont recieve until your AMCAS app is verified. Bottom line if you are hoping to get an October interview I hope you have submitted your AMCAS app already!

On another note I was wondering if anyone knew if you got your completed application in after 9/1 but before 10/1 if you would be eligible for a November interview? Or would you just have to wait for a January interview?

bretski47 said:

Doesn't it take AMCAS much longer to verify, especially as late as August? I submitted 6/20 and that is how long it took to be verified (7/7) back then. Also AMCAS will need to have all of your transcripts before then to have any hope of being verified and completed by 9/1. And then there is the issue of not having your secondary completed which you wont recieve until your AMCAS app is verified. Bottom line if you are hoping to get an October interview I hope you have submitted your AMCAS app already!

On another note I was wondering if anyone knew if you got your completed application in after 9/1 but before 10/1 if you would be eligible for a November interview? Or would you just have to wait for a January interview?

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My application was complete mid-September 2010 and I had a November interview.

okdocrx said:

I would call them or email to make sure. I knew one person who had an issue with recommendation letters and they didn't call her; she actually called them to make sure everything was okay.

Email first just so you aren't annoying them. I was always afraid to call the admissions committee. Their probably like he's calling again? so usually I sent an email and if I didn't hear back within a week or so I would call.

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could i get the email and/or number to contact them?

GOMPLAYER said:

could i get the email and/or number to contact them?

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http://www.oumedicine.com/body.cfm?id=647

With an OU score 10.9 and having everything in already what are my chances of getting an october or november interview???

bretski47 said:

With an OU score 10.9 and having everything in already what are my chances of getting an october or november interview???

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Zero. Historically OU scores above 11.7 or so get the October and November Interviews. I had a 11.4 and got a late January and was complete in August when I applied

But hey, I hope you prove me wrong

Anybody received an interview invite yet? I haven't heard a thing since I submitted my payment and whatnot in July. I'm IS

I'm also IS and have not heard back about anything. Surely invites will get sent out soon though...

I'm pretty sure they haven't started offering interviews yet. I think they started right around this time last year though, so let's hope for this week!

from the OU College of Medicine Admissions facebook page last year..."We have emailed our October interview offers. We will schedule November interviews in October...." Sep 14 8:28 AM. I imagine october offers will be sent out this week

bretski47 said:

from the OU College of Medicine Admissions facebook page last year..."We have emailed our October interview offers. We will schedule November interviews in October...." Sep 14 8:28 AM. I imagine october offers will be sent out this week

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Awesome! However, today is the 13th not the 14th but hopefully it does get sent out this week.

Whoops just saw that you said it was from last year haha my bad

has anyone gotten an interview invite yet??

I haven't heard of anyone getting an invite yet either... It seems like a lot of other schools have already started conducting their interviews but nothing from OU!!