2009-2010 Oregon Health & Sciences University (OHSU) Application Thread

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Acoustic said:
Is it really all the difficult to find parking on the hill? I traveled there with my girlfriend who explored Portland in her car while I interviewed, part of the time she gave herself a self-guided tour of the school. She told me it took her less than 5 minutes to find street parking immediately adjacent to campus. Is this uncommon? It was the middle of the day during the middle of the week.

I mean we are used to what might be some of the worst possible street parking in the country - downtown San Francisco where there are way too many people and very steep hills. Not uncommon to look for parking for 2 hours. Anything Portland could throw at us just doesn't seem like it would be as bad. We actually laughed, out of joy, when we tried to find parking in downtown Portland because it wasn't even an issue.

By the way did anyone get a status change this morning? I was mostly kidding about that maintenance message meaning status updates but it would be cool if it actually announced them.
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Parking is pretty easy to come by on campus especially mid-day. There are usually Zone C two-hour parking spots available at the top of the hill around 11th street. I find the hardest times to get close spots are weekdays around 9am and late Sunday evening, but it still sounds easier than San Fran. I have a Zone C permit, so I only know about that area... i believe there are 5 hour parking meters if you are willing to walk, and other free spaces very far up the hill if you show up superearly.
Parking downtown Portland is usually pretty easy unless there's a big event going on or something. A couple weeks ago I was meeting a friend for dinner near PSU, and there was an event going on at the Schnitzer Concert Hall. I probably drove around for 25-30 min, but did eventually find a close space. There are also lots of parking garages (like smart park) if you're willing to pay.
 
jdwmont said:
Nope. False alarm.
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Out of what is probably the majority of applicants that don't use this website there is probably at least some that heard today. I'm guessing that while the maintenance thing probably didn't mean anything the idea that decisions are announced on Tuesdays is probably true.

Only two Tuesdays left.....

Terrifying and exciting at the same time.
 
mariner185 said:
Put on Hold. Interviewed 3/30
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So they're up to 3/30 then huh? Might be done this time next week. Definitely looks like Wednesday notification now.

Has anyone written a letter of interest / is familiar with the opinion of the committee on them?
 
Acoustic said:
So they're up to 3/30 then huh? Might be done this time next week. Definitely looks like Wednesday notification now.

Has anyone written a letter of interest / is familiar with the opinion of the committee on them?
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I only wrote the pre-interview LOI/update. I saw online that they don't accept anymore because it wouldn't have an effect on the adcom.
 
tpham1030 said:
I only wrote the pre-interview LOI/update. I saw online that they don't accept anymore because it wouldn't have an effect on the adcom.
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Ya I did that too. I just wasn't sure because a letter of interest may or may not be an actual "update," I don't know if they're using that term loosely. It does seem like they're way too busy to read yet another essay though.
 
Still no update for me, interviewed 3/11... grrr. So nervous!!!
 
I interviewed on 3/11 as well and haven't had a change in status either.
 
me neither, no status change. I hope I am looking it correctly? it should just display status after you login, right?
 
Nafis64 said:
me neither, no status change. I hope I am looking it correctly? it should just display status after you login, right?
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From what I've gathered it will appear as another line in the list of events covering your file. For instance, the lines go like this for me:

[Green Check Mark] You Have Been invited for an interview...
[Green Check Mark] Your Interview Has Been Scheduled For...
[Red Exclamation] Please note that further updates...

I'm pretty sure it will end up being as above but after the red exclamation:

[Green Check Mark] Decision: (accepted? lol)

It can also say "Decision: Hold..." or I'm guessing "Decision: Rejected..." or some other euphemism.

I wish there was a link that prominently displayed itself once a decision was made, so you knew there was an update, and after clicking it the decision was clearly shown to you. That way you wouldn't have to scan the page looking for key words as you scrolled nervously.
 
Interviewed 3/17, accepted today!!! 🙂

The acceptance shows up as another item below the interview date, in the same format. It's not brightly colored/bolded/flashing, anything like that.

I actually got the email this morning, so I hadn't checked my status since last night - but it couldn't have been on my status page for long!
 
Melicopter said:
Interviewed 3/17, accepted today!!! 🙂

The acceptance shows up as another item below the interview date, in the same format. It's not brightly colored/bolded/flashing, anything like that.

I actually got the email this morning, so I hadn't checked my status since last night - but it couldn't have been on my status page for long!
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Congratulations!
 
Hmmm that's really weird how someone from 3/30 heard back but people from 3/11 and 3/09 haven't. Does the admissions committee look at random applications or something lol i wonder when the april interviews are going to hear back
 
Probably just depends on if your interviewer is at the committee meeting that day. I'm sure they don't have all the interviewers at every meeting.
 
Melicopter said:
Interviewed 3/17, accepted today!!! 🙂

The acceptance shows up as another item below the interview date, in the same format. It's not brightly colored/bolded/flashing, anything like that.

I actually got the email this morning, so I hadn't checked my status since last night - but it couldn't have been on my status page for long!
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So it actually has it's own green check mark (or other bullet mark) and isn't just added to the sentence under the interview date?

mariner185 said:
Probably just depends on if your interviewer is at the committee meeting that day. I'm sure they don't have all the interviewers at every meeting.
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That's what I was thinking, doesn't say anything beyond if the interviewer was present. At any rate I doubt very much that it would be longer than 2 weeks before we all heard, maybe even 1. They might take the last week to decide the order of the list if they haven't been compiling it already.
 
I interviewed on 3/16. Called the admissions office on Monday, they said that one of my interviewers still hasn't turned in my evaluation so I should give it another 2-3 weeks.......
 
Acoustic said:
So it actually has it's own green check mark (or other bullet mark) and isn't just added to the sentence under the interview date?
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Yes, it's just another green checkmark that says Decision:Accepted, with a smaller-font sentence below congratulating you.
 
Whoa I was just placed on hold today. haha I was expecting the hold but not so soon. I interviewed on 04/07 so I wasn't expecting anything for a while

lol this whole process is driving me crazy :scared:
 
tpham1030 said:
Whoa I was just placed on hold today. haha I was expecting the hold but not so soon. I interviewed on 04/07 so I wasn't expecting anything for a while

lol this whole process is driving me crazy :scared:
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Hey I interviewed 4/7 too! Still haven't heard anything though.
 
Does anyone know if anyone has been rejected outright post-interview or is everyone either accepted or placed on hold
 
tpham1030 said:
Does anyone know if anyone has been rejected outright post-interview or is everyone either accepted or placed on hold
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It is possible to be both rejected as your first status update after your interview AS WELL AS after you have been put in the hold category. At this point I would guess that it is very unlikely that anyone would be rejected if they were put on hold recently, however, since it is so close to the creation of the wait list that I'm not sure there would be any benefit to putting someone on hold that wasn't destined to be on the wait list. I imagine the function of the hold status in this way is more or less a buffer against rolling admissions, and has it's greatest ambiguity at the beginning of the cycle, while towards the end it is much more focused in its qualifications. But yes, it is possible to be rejected outright after the interview, so you can celebrate your status, not everyone will be as fortunate.
 
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Acoustic said:
It is possible to be both rejected as your first status update after your interview AS WELL AS after you have been put in the hold category. At this point I would guess that it is very unlikely that anyone would be rejected if they were put on hold recently, however, since it is so close to the creation of the wait list that I'm not sure there would be any benefit to putting someone on hold that wasn't destined to be on the wait list. I imagine the function of the hold status in this way is more or less a buffer against rolling admissions, and has it's greatest ambiguity at the beginning of the cycle, while towards the end it is much more focused in its qualifications. But yes, it is possible to be rejected outright after the interview, so you can celebrate your status, not everyone will be as fortunate.
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Last year I interviewed lat March, was put on hold in late April and rejected mid-May so personally I don't think there's really any way to look into where we stand until they tell us.
 
chuck84 said:
Last year I interviewed lat March, was put on hold in late April and rejected mid-May so personally I don't think there's really any way to look into where we stand until they tell us.
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Nice to know there are other reapplicants on here ;o) good luck this time around!
 
Interviewed 3/9, accepted 4/27 via email. 2nd time applicant, waitlisted last year. 31 MCAT (guh. Shoulda finished ochem first), 3.97 GPA, ca. 3k hours clinical experience.

Good luck, y'all; hope to see you up on the hill.
 
remededefortune said:
Interviewed 3/9, accepted 4/27 via email. 2nd time applicant, waitlisted last year. 31 MCAT (guh. Shoulda finished ochem first), 3.97 GPA, ca. 3k hours clinical experience.

Good luck, y'all; hope to see you up on the hill.
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I'm curious- what was your waitlist number?
And, you have NOTHING to be ashamed of at all. Those are amazing stats.
 
jdwmont said:
Emailed the admissions office regarding when we could accept a decision if we are on the hold list. The following was the reply I got...

Our deadline to admit the class and rank the alternate list is May 15. That is the latest you will hear back from the admissions office. (Though you may hear before, it is unlikely.) At that time, our applicants currently in the hold pool will be notified either of the fact that they have a spot on the alternate list or that they will be rejected.
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So, based on the above post, it seems that people with hold status will either get waitlisted or rejected by May 15 - no outright acceptances. Is this the general consensus?

Thanks,
Ascenda
 
Ascenda said:
So, based on the above post, it seems that people with hold status will either get waitlisted or rejected by May 15 - no outright acceptances. Is this the general consensus?

Thanks,
Ascenda
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That message just says what happens to people with the hold status at the point the ranked wait list is generated, which will likely be the day before May 15th since it's a Friday. People who have been on the hold status have been accepted BEFORE the generation of the ranked wait list, but I imagine that the majority of those who were were put on that status near the beginning of the cycle. In this way, the hold status acts as a buffer to combat rolling admissions. Since we are at the end of the cycle, I imagine that it would be very unlikely to get an outright acceptance from the hold status for this very reason, and won't happen after the wait list is ranked, which you could either be apart of or would be effectively rejected. Make sense?

But then again this whole system is very unpredictable, so as always there are no steadfast rules. Anything can happen.
 
Acoustic said:
That message just says what happens to people with the hold status at the point the ranked wait list is generated, which will likely be the day before May 15th since it's a Friday. People who have been on the hold status have been accepted BEFORE the generation of the ranked wait list, but I imagine that the majority of those who were were put on that status near the beginning of the cycle. In this way, the hold status acts as a buffer to combat rolling admissions. Since we are at the end of the cycle, I imagine that it would be very unlikely to get an outright acceptance from the hold status for this very reason, and won't happen after the wait list is ranked, which you could either be apart of or would be effectively rejected. Make sense?

But then again this whole system is very unpredictable, so as always there are no steadfast rules. Anything can happen.
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I have yet to see any evidence that this has actually happened, either last cycle or this cycle. I'm calling BS on the admissions people who have told us that you can be accepted off the hold list before it gets turned into a waitlist. Maybe you can in theory, but I've seen nothing to tell me that they ever actually do it.
 
long said:
I have yet to see any evidence that this has actually happened, either last cycle or this cycle. I'm calling BS on the admissions people who have told us that you can be accepted off the hold list before it gets turned into a waitlist. Maybe you can in theory, but I've seen nothing to tell me that they ever actually do it.
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I agree that you're probably accurate on this. But you also have to keep in mind that a lot of applicants don't ever use this site. I think it might be possible in theory, but in practice probably doesn't happen often, maybe on the order of less than five times each cycle. Although I think I remember someone saying on this thread that it had happened to them.
 
Does anyone know how far they've gone on the waitlist in the past? I know last year was in the thirties, but what about the previous years?
 
I remember hearing it usually ends up in the 50-80 range. I'm really not positive on that though and it clearly varies year to year. Maybe with cost being more of an issue for a lot of people, they'll end up going a lot farther into the waitlist this year than last year.
 
chuck84 said:
Does anyone know how far they've gone on the waitlist in the past? I know last year was in the thirties, but what about the previous years?
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I found this on last year's thread:

2003: #90's
2004: #64
2005: not sure
2006: #98
2007: #77
2008: #57
2009: #37
 
if only a true testament to how slow the admissions office is, i received my "unofficial" email acceptance (unofficial, because it was from the chair of the MD/MPH program who said he sent notice to the admissions office to offer me a spot) on Thursday 4/29 and have yet to receive anything from the admissions office or see any change on my status page. I'm beginning to think it was all a dream!! ;o)
 
pipette said:
if only a true testament to how slow the admissions office is, i received my "unofficial" email acceptance (unofficial, because it was from the chair of the MD/MPH program who said he sent notice to the admissions office to offer me a spot) on Thursday 4/29 and have yet to receive anything from the admissions office or see any change on my status page. I'm beginning to think it was all a dream!! ;o)
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Congratulations! I'm sure you'll get your official notification soon 🙂
 
anfielder said:
I remember hearing it usually ends up in the 50-80 range. I'm really not positive on that though and it clearly varies year to year. Maybe with cost being more of an issue for a lot of people, they'll end up going a lot farther into the waitlist this year than last year.
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I would actually think that the economy will lower movement on the wait list. Typically during situations like that people tend to go back to school, and with OHSU having a lot of non-traditional students, it would seem likely that more people would accept their acceptance at OHSU. Also a poor economy and just national trends have been increasing the cost of other schools, so that OHSU isn't as super expensive in comparison anymore. I think this is the reason for the overall trend towards a smaller movement on the wait list. But this is just speculation, and there really isn't any way to tell how much movement there will be this year.

Nafis64 said:
any acceptance emails or holds today?
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I think they're mostly coming on Wednesdays now. At least for SDNers.
 
Acoustic said:
I think they're mostly coming on Wednesdays now. At least for SDNers.
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Yeah it does look like Wednesday is the day to wait for. However, looking at previous comments, it seems as if acceptances at this point (and certainly rankings) aren't made before May 15th (or I guess the 14th this year). So maybe for now, no news is good news.
 
CornOnTheCob said:
Yeah it does look like Wednesday is the day to wait for. However, looking at previous comments, it seems as if acceptances at this point (and certainly rankings) aren't made before May 15th (or I guess the 14th this year). So maybe for now, no news is good news.
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Well that's encouraging. I think the worst part about this is not knowing even a little where I stand. It's aggravating to not know how I compare to other applicants, to make an educated estimate of the most likely outcome.
 
Acoustic said:
I would actually think that the economy will lower movement on the wait list. Typically during situations like that people tend to go back to school, and with OHSU having a lot of non-traditional students, it would seem likely that more people would accept their acceptance at OHSU. Also a poor economy and just national trends have been increasing the cost of other schools, so that OHSU isn't as super expensive in comparison anymore. I think this is the reason for the overall trend towards a smaller movement on the wait list. But this is just speculation, and there really isn't any way to tell how much movement there will be this year.


Great points. While it may not be outrageously more expensive in comparison, OHSU still has one of the highest (is it #1?) in-state tuitions in the country and OOS tuition that rivals any private school. Being on hold here, I think I've been latching on to the idea that many people may be much more hesitant to take on 200K+ of debt with a somewhat uncertain future over how much physicians will be compensated down the road. I'll be honest though, I'm trying to be optimistic about getting in to OHSU so I've been ignoring many of the other factors working the other direction as you point out.
In any case, I completely agree there's no way to really tell how much movement there will be. At first I was encouraged by seeing the numbers, but on second glance, it's decreased almost exactly 20 spots each year since 2006, here's to hoping this year bucks the trend.
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anfielder said:
Great points. While it may not be outrageously more expensive in comparison, OHSU still has one of the highest (is it #1?) in-state tuitions in the country and OOS tuition that rivals any private school. Being on hold here, I think I've been latching on to the idea that many people may be much more hesitant to take on 200K+ of debt with a somewhat uncertain future over how much physicians will be compensated down the road. I'll be honest though, I'm trying to be optimistic about getting in to OHSU so I've been ignoring many of the other factors working the other direction as you point out.
In any case, I completely agree there's no way to really tell how much movement there will be. At first I was encouraged by seeing the numbers, but on second glance, it's decreased almost exactly 20 spots each year since 2006, here's to hoping this year bucks the trend.
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That's definitely a good point. With the recent legislation showing that things are beginning to change, and an overall feeling of this economic situation as being almost afraid of debt rather than the short term process of providing might sway people away from OHSU. It's going to be impossible to say which factor will have the most influence, but given the overall trend (including the trend of the number of applicants to OHSU, which on my interview day they said was leveling off after huge spikes) I would say that 50 would be an optimistic upper limit. Who knows though.
 
Acoustic said:
Well that's encouraging. I think the worst part about this is not knowing even a little where I stand. It's aggravating to not know how I compare to other applicants, to make an educated estimate of the most likely outcome.
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I am completely there with you. I feel like my academic life is entirely on hold right now, pending the whim of the admissions committee. It's especially frustrating, because I do have a plan B, and I've reached a standstill, unable to really make any decisions/preparations until I get the final word from OHSU.
 
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