2010-2011 Oakland University Application Thread

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ksmi117

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Prompts:

1. In 400 words or fewer, please describe what contribution you will make to the learning environment and how that contribution supports the vision and mission of the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine.

2. Select one of the following two topics and respond in 400 words or fewer.

Describe one or two experiences you have had in the last three years interacting with individuals from diverse backgrounds. Please include what both you and the other individual(s) gained from these experiences.

Describe a situation in which you could not solve a problem but had to learn to manage it.

:luck: with your application!

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Ok, everyone, we need an opinion about applying to brand-new schools. I have family in the Central CA area and might be interested in this, but I don't know what kind of chances one takes with a brand new school.

Someone chime in.
 
Oakland University as in Oakland, MI there champ.
 
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Oakland University as in Oakland, MI there champ.
...and you mean Oakland county, Michigan. Cut him some slack, it's an honest mistake. Ed gets an "A" for enthusiasm. ;)

I finished my post-bacc at Oakland Univ. in the Biological Sciences department last year and am a life-long resident of SE Michigan. I realize that there are no upperclassmen to kick off the thread since it is a new school. So I figured I drop in and wish you all the best of luck with this cycle! :thumbup:
:luck::xf:
 
...and you mean Oakland county, Michigan. Cut him some slack, it's an honest mistake. Ed gets an "A" for enthusiasm. ;)

I finished my post-bacc at Oakland Univ. in the Biological Sciences department last year and am a life-long resident of SE Michigan. I realize that there are no upperclassmen to kick off the thread since it is a new school. So I figured I drop in and wish you all the best of luck with this cycle! :thumbup:
:luck::xf:

Whoops, that was stupid. Trying to do the whole MSAR in one weekend while simultaneously preparing for OChem on Monday.
 
...and you mean Oakland county, Michigan. Cut him some slack, it's an honest mistake. Ed gets an "A" for enthusiasm. ;)

I finished my post-bacc at Oakland Univ. in the Biological Sciences department last year and am a life-long resident of SE Michigan. I realize that there are no upperclassmen to kick off the thread since it is a new school. So I figured I drop in and wish you all the best of luck with this cycle! :thumbup:
:luck::xf:

Details details, it was implied in my post ;)
 
Does anyone know if Oakland has a secondary?
 
BTW, Oakland is having an admissions "webinar" on June 15th from 2-3.

"Interested in learning more about the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine admission process? Participate in one of our Admissions Webinar programs! The webinars are online audio presentations with the ability to type questions to be addressed by the presenter."

http://www.oakland.edu/medicine/webinars
 
Does anyone know if Oakland has a secondary?

On the website it says that they do but I have no idea how extensive it is.

I was born at the Beaumont Hospital! I wish that counted for something.
 
On the website it says that they do but I have no idea how extensive it is.

I was born at the Beaumont Hospital! I wish that counted for something.

My mom works at Beaumont, I wish that counted for something too lol
 
Their website also says they are having an "Applicant Visit Day" on Friday, June 25. You have to RSVP on their website if you want to attend.
 
Their website also says they are having an "Applicant Visit Day" on Friday, June 25. You have to RSVP on their website if you want to attend.

Anybody planning on going to this?
 
I've RSVP'd to attend. I live in the same city as the school, so it's pretty convenient for me.
 
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any idea from the webinar what the average MCAT and GPA are expected to be? I missed the whole webinar!
 
BTW, Oakland is having an admissions "webinar" on June 15th from 2-3.

"Interested in learning more about the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine admission process? Participate in one of our Admissions Webinar programs! The webinars are online audio presentations with the ability to type questions to be addressed by the presenter."

http://www.oakland.edu/medicine/webinars

I really enjoyed the webinar. The important information to me was how busy Beaumont hospital is. They seem to have a good plan for their first class of students and are well experienced in medical education. I liked that they saw starting this medical school as an opportunity to use the newest educational advances in a more systematic way. Standardized patients are used early on and I like the vertical integration plan.

Overall, it appears that the first students of Oakland may be well positioned in the medical field.
 
Yeah about that webinar...

I couldn't get the java program to work in either Win 7 or Win XP. wtf, right? And the connection here sucks :(

Ed, what did I miss?
 
Yeah about that webinar...

I couldn't get the java program to work in either Win 7 or Win XP. wtf, right? And the connection here sucks :(

Ed, what did I miss?

Well, that tells us YOUR real name :) I felt sorry for you, fighting your connection that way.

Mostly a lot of questions about letters of reference (Send a maximum of 5, send more and they will only read 5 random ones). They are going the vertical integrated education route (the modern way). They have good hospital support and the accreditation is going well. They have done lots of clerkship rotations and resident training through the years, so they are not concerned about ability to educate. The first year's class will be in temporary quarters for the first year.
 
Well, that tells us YOUR real name :)QUOTE]

Well, Ed, my friends call me t-money. :D

Thanks for the synopsis of the webinar. I'm glad they didn't just give everyone admission on the spot.

Yeah, Beaumont hospital (Royal Oak) is a great hospital and it would be great if going to the med school would give *someone* a better shot at a hot residency.

Not that I'm already thinking about residencies.......................................
 
I had problems with the Webinar on Windows7 as well, but I got it to work by the end. I had to update Java and restart my computer, then it worked perfectly.

You could try that and then attend the next Webinar. Or, they are having an open house type of thing (RSVP required) this Friday at the school.
 
I had problems with the Webinar on Windows7 as well, but I got it to work by the end. I had to update Java and restart my computer, then it worked perfectly.

You could try that and then attend the next Webinar. Or, they are having an open house type of thing (RSVP required) this Friday at the school.

It is filled :( They are having another one in July though, date TBA
 
beaumont has lots of residency programs and def. has all the resources to be a teaching hospital for med students. i wouldnt be worried about it.

ppl say the doctors there do walk around with a stick up their ass though. i mean "don't you have a beaumont doctor?"
 
beaumont has lots of residency programs and def. has all the resources to be a teaching hospital for med students. i wouldnt be worried about it.

ppl say the doctors there do walk around with a stick up their ass though. i mean "don't you have a beaumont doctor?"

I work at the Royal Oak hospital, on the ortho floor, and I don't really think that generalization is true. There will always be some egotistical doctors at every institution, but most of the physicians I've interacted with there are very nice.
 
beaumont has lots of residency programs and def. has all the resources to be a teaching hospital for med students. i wouldnt be worried about it.

ppl say the doctors there do walk around with a stick up their ass though. i mean "don't you have a beaumont doctor?"

I know a pre-op nurse at Beaumont and she says the problem is more the administration than the actual doctors. I mean, a lot of the docs at Beaumont GP work at other hospitals in the area too, and I think that a doctor is going to act how they act regardless of where they work. But I guess people get fired at Beaumont for downright stupid things, like parking a few times in the wrong parking lot (no joke, my "source" is reliable lol).

One of the docs I know who works there also told me that apparently Beaumont employees "aren't allowed to walk in the front doors of the hospital," they have to walk in a separate entrance. He basically said "f*** you" to them and does what he wants though because he's a kick-a** surgeon :D haha.

Anyways, I have heard so many stories like this that it kind of makes me worry; I mean, I can't imagine what rotations might be like as a med student if they don't really treat their staff that well...

P.S. And yeah, I live in SE Michigan and no one I have ever met has ever thought those commercials were good. So condescending.
 
I know a pre-op nurse at Beaumont and she says the problem is more the administration than the actual doctors. I mean, a lot of the docs at Beaumont GP work at other hospitals in the area too, and I think that a doctor is going to act how they act regardless of where they work. But I guess people get fired at Beaumont for downright stupid things, like parking a few times in the wrong parking lot (no joke, my "source" is reliable lol).

One of the docs I know who works there also told me that apparently Beaumont employees "aren't allowed to walk in the front doors of the hospital," they have to walk in a separate entrance. He basically said "f*** you" to them and does what he wants though because he's a kick-a** surgeon :D haha.

Anyways, I have heard so many stories like this that it kind of makes me worry; I mean, I can't imagine what rotations might be like as a med student if they don't really treat their staff that well...

P.S. And yeah, I live in SE Michigan and no one I have ever met has ever thought those commercials were good. So condescending.


Yeah - they can (and most likely do) fire staff members who consistently park in patient parking areas after several warnings. However, they do tell you that can happen in orientation, and there is plenty of staff parking, which is clearly marked.

As for the "not walking in the front door" - that's not accurate (at least for the Royal Oak campus). I've been working there for three years and I've gone in nearly every entrance the hospital has, and I've never been told otherwise. You can enter wherever you like.
 
Yeah - they can (and most likely do) fire staff members who consistently park in patient parking areas after several warnings. However, they do tell you that can happen in orientation, and there is plenty of staff parking, which is clearly marked.

As for the "not walking in the front door" - that's not accurate (at least for the Royal Oak campus). I've been working there for three years and I've gone in nearly every entrance the hospital has, and I've never been told otherwise. You can enter wherever you like.

It must be different over there, the things I've heard are mainly in regards to the GP Beaumont, where parking really is a problem. The employee lot fills up before 9am most days, and I don't know where else they would expect people to park then lol
 
It must be different over there, the things I've heard are mainly in regards to the GP Beaumont, where parking really is a problem. The employee lot fills up before 9am most days, and I don't know where else they would expect people to park then lol

Ahh, that's unfortunate. Well, from what I understand the clinical clerkships for the OUWB school will mostly take place at the Royal Oak campus (except for one at Troy...Family Practice, I think?) - so parking shouldn't be a problem.
 
not saying the generalizaion holds true. i really have no idea what its like. probably just like every other hospital in the world in terms of ego (broad spectrum)

i wouldnt be worried about going to school there though.
 
hey everyone, I am super excited about this school, but I can't seem to find this info on their website - any idea how they plan on grading us? are classes pass/fail, high honors/honors/pass, A-F, etc?
 
Just wondering if anyone was able to go to their applicant visit day, I wanted to go but sadly had to work :(. So any info would be much appreciated.
 
i went to the applicant visit day. OUWB has a super enthusiastic anatomy instructor who showed the visitors a cadaver during the tour.
 
Just an FYI for everyone who is applying to OUWB - at the applicant visit day, the woman giving the admissions talk told us they wouldn't be sending out secondary applications for about 4-5 weeks (from June 25).
 
I have a question for you folks:

Oakland wants at least two letters from science faculty members and one from a non science faculty member. Here is my pool of letters:
Physics prof
Biochem prof
Psychology TA (despite having a minor in psych, I was taught by zero professors in psychology. This TA has taught me for two classes so she knows me well, though.)
Internal Med physician I shadowed
Clinical research PI who is a bit prestigous who wrote a "very strong letter" (two pages) and is known throughout my hospital's community as a no bull-**** 110% kind of guy. This letter is most likely the type of stuff that could get a ****ty applicant accepted (not saying I'm bad, but rather that its good).
Another clinical research PI from the same research job as above, probably also strong but doubtful to be as strong as the above letter. The trump card is this particular guy graduated from OU.

Physics and biochem are obviously in, and so is the physician. I want to put the TA in because they want a nonscience faculty member letter, but I'm worried that it wouldn't be effective because she wasn't a professor. What are you opinions on that? Anyway, to include her, I would have to omit one of my research letters. So should I go with the guaranteed strongly written one from a realtively prestigous, pHD or the most likely less strong letter written by the OU graduate?
 
anyone know what the secondary is like?
 
anyone know what the secondary is like?

I just spoke to the admissions office and they said that the secondaries will not be out for a couple more weeks.
 
^

awesome thanks!
 
I saw that too, has me a little worried. Can anyone who went to the June seminar comment on this? I am signed up to go to their July 30th Applicant Visit Day to find out more about how they are setting up and running the classes.

That is the same tuition number they showed us at the visit day in June - it's going to be an expensive school. They gave a lot of info on the visit day, so it's worth attending if you're interested in the school.
 
For the people going to the July 30th visit day -- any chance anyone is going via Cleveland? I don't have a car... but it's only like 3.5 hours away (which might be a little too far... but maybe worth it)
 
For the people going to the July 30th visit day -- any chance anyone is going via Cleveland? I don't have a car... but it's only like 3.5 hours away (which might be a little too far... but maybe worth it)

Sorry, I'm coming from Detroit. But to anyone who is going from here, we should do an SDN lunch afterward or something.
 
Hey Guys,


For anyone wondering about the LORs. I was told for the 3rd letter it could be a non-science faculty member but it doesn't have to be. As an example, I ran an extracurricular activity that required interaction with a science professor for over 500 hours. I believe she is more capable to judge my reading, writing, communication and interpersonal skills compared to my English professors. I can get a letter from my English professor who taught me in a class of 80 students and knows me quite well but it would not reflect the insight that my extracurricular activity can provide. I was told the letter that can reveal more information about you and is more thorough is a better choice!

Hope that helps. If you want just call up the school and confirm with them. They are very friendly!:)
 
Sorry, I'm coming from Detroit. But to anyone who is going from here, we should do an SDN lunch afterward or something.

you are no help :p

Someone let Oakland know I am there in spirit. Oakland doesn't even know who I am yet. Unfortunately all their admissions webinars are when I'm working (why can't they have one during my lunch hour??) Though I will try to catch the July 22nd one.
 
:D

Anyone who signed up for either of the applicant visit days receive a confirmation email or phone call? I got nothing and when you submit the form it just takes you back to their main page, so I hope it actually went through lol
 
So Oakland University is a private school, right?

I'm just really confused because wikipedia says it is public...
 
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