2008-2009 OHSU Secondary Application Thread

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Yay, got the secondary today! I wasn't expecting it since I added OHSU late, and the subject/sender is not recognizable so it was a nice surprise 🙂 Although, being almost done with all my other secondaries I was hoping for a short break 😳 But I'm happy to get the secondary!
 
I've been complete since Sept 4 and haven't heard anything...is that normal?
 
primadonna22274 said:
I'm getting the impression that OHSU is interested in nontrads.
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When I spoke with the med school last year, I was told how the screening process for the secondary application works...

First, preference is given to residents, which is a given, as a state school.

There are two MD screeners that decide whether you get an interview. What they look at are (in no specific order)...
A) Your science GPA
B) Your overall GPA
C) MCAT scores
D) Letters of recommendation
E) Professional preparation

The professional preparation is probably the most important out of all of them, as I was told that it stresses that you have a clearly defined motivaion to continue to pursue a career in medicine. This would explain OHSU's average age of 26 for incoming first years.
 
Irish37 said:
I haven't seen the specific wording for the optional essays on OHSU's secondary. could someone post those, please? Also, not sure if it's possible, but is there a way to attach a copy of the secondary pdf to the thread so we can download it?
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I second this. I haven't received this secondary yet and would like to pre-write these essays, but it helps to have the exact wording and character/word limits.

Anyone interested in helping out? Thanks in advance!!
 
PERSONAL ESSAY (REQUIRED):
How will you evaluate your success as a medical student? (Please submit on a separate
sheet of paper, do not exceed one page. No particular format, font or spacing is required.)

EMPLOYMENT/ACTIVITIES HISTORY (REQUIRED):
Using the format below, give us 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.
(Please submit on a separate sheet of paper, do not exceed one page.)

4) In high school or college were you enrolled in a program to promote or enhance diversity in the health professions, science,
or related careers such as the Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP), Minority Medical Education Program (MMEP),
Summer Medical Education Program (SMEP), Trio, Gear Up, or HeadStart?

Describe Program: (very little space here 1-2 sentence max)


5) While you were growing up, did you experience any of the following types of adversity?

(and then they provide a list of things to check off)

Please describe the nature of the adversity (attach separate page if needed):

7) Please discuss the diversity that you would bring to the OHSU School of Medicine and the profession of medicine. You may
want to consider important aspects of your life experience such as early educational opportunities, socioeconomic status,
culture, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or life/work experiences and how these circumstances have shaped your perspective
of medicine and better prepared you to become a physician. (Please submit on a separate sheet of paper, do not exceed one
page.)


**The numbered questions are optional, and the ones in between those I've listed are just check off questions, no essay or anything.
 
could someone quickly look at my MDApps profile and tell me if it is worth applying to OHSU... I really don't think its worth wasting my money, but if I have any sort of shot, I will...
 
^^^
I heard somewhere that being a Washington resident hurts you at OHSU, and vice versa for Oregon residents applying to UW, but don't take my word for it. If you really want to go to OHSU then apply, they are two very different schools.
 
chewsnuffles said:
could someone quickly look at my MDApps profile and tell me if it is worth applying to OHSU... I really don't think its worth wasting my money, but if I have any sort of shot, I will...
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I don't see anything in your application that would kill your chances at OHSU. You have a very strong MCAT and GPA isn't weighted as heavily at OHSU as it is at many other schools.

I just have two questions for you: Do you interview well, and do you have a genuine interest in OHSU? The interview is very important at OHSU, and I personally believe that our school looks more favorably on applicants who really like it. If your answers to those schools are "yes", then by all means apply!
 
olives, thanks so much for posting the optional secondary q's!! Time to get writing! 👍
 
URHere said:
I don't see anything in your application that would kill your chances at OHSU. You have a very strong MCAT and GPA isn't weighted as heavily at OHSU as it is at many other schools.

I just have two questions for you: Do you interview well, and do you have a genuine interest in OHSU? The interview is very important at OHSU, and I personally believe that our school looks more favorably on applicants who really like it. If your answers to those schools are "yes", then by all means apply!
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Thanks for the reply, to answer your questions, yes, I would say I can interview convincingly, and my interested in OHSU extends as far as I've done work there and toured w/ faculty, and I know its a great school for IM (my interest). Additionally, I went to school in Oregon, but I'm no Oregon resident, so whatever that means...

I'm still concerned though, even though you say it looks less on GPA, they have quite a high one (what, 3.75ish), and I am not a URM, not disadvantaged in any way, and not from a medically undeserved area...

The only reason I am debating this so much is because I feel as though as an OOS applicant, I have no shot, but maybe my undergrad ties to OHSU would be worth something...

Sorry for rambling, but its the last of two secondaries I have to fill out, but money is getting really tight right now! Maybe I'll just bite the bullet and eat ramen this week 😉
 
chewsnuffles said:
Thanks for the reply, to answer your questions, yes, I would say I can interview convincingly, and my interested in OHSU extends as far as I've done work there and toured w/ faculty, and I know its a great school for IM (my interest). Additionally, I went to school in Oregon, but I'm no Oregon resident, so whatever that means...

I'm still concerned though, even though you say it looks less on GPA, they have quite a high one (what, 3.75ish), and I am not a URM, not disadvantaged in any way, and not from a medically undeserved area...

The only reason I am debating this so much is because I feel as though as an OOS applicant, I have no shot, but maybe my undergrad ties to OHSU would be worth something...

Sorry for rambling, but its the last of two secondaries I have to fill out, but money is getting really tight right now! Maybe I'll just bite the bullet and eat ramen this week 😉
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I think you should definitely apply if a chance at OHSU means more than the 100 bucks. They also look very favorably on upward trends, and it looks like you have that going from undergrad--> masters (if I'm looking at your MDapps correctly). I wouldn't worry about your GPA at all!
 
chewsnuffles said:
Thanks for the reply, to answer your questions, yes, I would say I can interview convincingly, and my interested in OHSU extends as far as I've done work there and toured w/ faculty, and I know its a great school for IM (my interest). Additionally, I went to school in Oregon, but I'm no Oregon resident, so whatever that means...

I'm still concerned though, even though you say it looks less on GPA, they have quite a high one (what, 3.75ish), and I am not a URM, not disadvantaged in any way, and not from a medically undeserved area...

The only reason I am debating this so much is because I feel as though as an OOS applicant, I have no shot, but maybe my undergrad ties to OHSU would be worth something...

Sorry for rambling, but its the last of two secondaries I have to fill out, but money is getting really tight right now! Maybe I'll just bite the bullet and eat ramen this week 😉
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In the admissions process, OHSU weights the interview/personal factors such as essays and ECs MUCH more heavily than GPA. In fact, if I remember correctly, these other factors account for more than half of the admissions decision while GPA counts for less than 20%.

As for the OOS thing, OHSU is definitely willing to accept OOS students. Again, if I remember correctly, I think that only 60ish of the 115 students in my class are Oregon residents.
 
OHSU hasn't favored in-state students for a very long time. Which means when you're an Oregon resident trying to get into the only state school which also services Montana and Wyoming that have no medical school it really sucks. OTOH as a displaced Oregonian I've been told I have a fair shot (strange but true). We'll see what happens after I finish all those secondary essays and send it on in..... 🙄

URHere said:
In the admissions process, OHSU weights the interview/personal factors such as essays and ECs MUCH more heavily than GPA. In fact, if I remember correctly, these other factors account for more than half of the admissions decision while GPA counts for less than 20%.

As for the OOS thing, OHSU is definitely willing to accept OOS students. Again, if I remember correctly, I think that only 60ish of the 115 students in my class are Oregon residents.
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You guys win! (or I win?) Thanks for all the feedback, I really appreciate it.

I'm gonna go finish that application right now!
 
First off, thank you everyone who posts on this forum. SDN has made this whole process a lot easier. Second, sorry if this question should be in another thread (it's my first post): For the MD/PhD addendum, do the two pages on future career goals and a desire to enter a combined degree program need to be different than the AMCAS MD/PhD essay?

I read somewhere that some schools don't receive the AMCAS MD/PhD essays (UCSF in particular) and so allow copy pasta on their secondaries. I called OHSU, but I need to mail this before the 48 hour wait for an answer expires. Either way, I'll have to add something about future career goals, since that was not part of the AMCAS essay, but I was just wondering if anyone had already asked OHSU admissions about this. Thanks for your help.
 
Scotoma said:
First off, thank you everyone who posts on this forum. SDN has made this whole process a lot easier. Second, sorry if this question should be in another thread (it's my first post): For the MD/PhD addendum, do the two pages on future career goals and a desire to enter a combined degree program need to be different than the AMCAS MD/PhD essay?

I read somewhere that some schools don't receive the AMCAS MD/PhD essays (UCSF in particular) and so allow copy pasta on their secondaries. I called OHSU, but I need to mail this before the 48 hour wait for an answer expires. Either way, I'll have to add something about future career goals, since that was not part of the AMCAS essay, but I was just wondering if anyone had already asked OHSU admissions about this. Thanks for your help.
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I know for MD programs, it has to be different...but MD/PhD, sorry, I don't know. URHere is an MD/PhD student at OHSU, so I'm sure she'll be able to answer your question if she comes online before your deadline.

Good Luck!
 
Scotoma said:
First off, thank you everyone who posts on this forum. SDN has made this whole process a lot easier. Second, sorry if this question should be in another thread (it's my first post): For the MD/PhD addendum, do the two pages on future career goals and a desire to enter a combined degree program need to be different than the AMCAS MD/PhD essay?

I read somewhere that some schools don't receive the AMCAS MD/PhD essays (UCSF in particular) and so allow copy pasta on their secondaries. I called OHSU, but I need to mail this before the 48 hour wait for an answer expires. Either way, I'll have to add something about future career goals, since that was not part of the AMCAS essay, but I was just wondering if anyone had already asked OHSU admissions about this. Thanks for your help.
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Hey Scotoma,

I'm not actually sure OHSU's program has an official stance on this - we have just transitioned to a new program director and we have been overhauling many things about the MD/PhD program (for the better of course 🙂)

In case you don't hear back from the school in time, I would suggest at least making some changes to what you wrote on your primary apps. I am almost 100% positive that OHSU has a copy of everything you included in your AMCAS application, so repeating yourself verbatim may not be the best idea. Hope that helps, and good luck!
 
URHere said:
I am almost 100% positive that OHSU has a copy of everything you included in your AMCAS application, so repeating yourself verbatim may not be the best idea. Hope that helps, and good luck!
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Thank you for this information URHere; that's exactly what I was looking for 🙂. I ended up writing a new essay, and I'm glad I spent the time since they already have my AMCAS essay. A lot of the information is redundant, but I used different experiences to illustrate my reasons for applying. Hopefully that's what they intended.
 
Hi everyone! I was just curious to know if anyone has interviewed at OHSU yet and if so what your experience was like. Thanks so much!
 
ok, so before i had actually started writing the answer to this secondary question, i thought it would be so easy becuase i had other secondaries similar. uh huh! this is harder than i thought- and i can't decide if it it supposed to be a list of literal aspects or something else... could other people tell me how they approached this question? please? thanks....
 
Hey,

I was just wondering, does anyone (like URHere) know if the application screening process the same for the MD/MPH program as it is for the MD program? Are the same adcoms looking at the apps? Are all the MD/MPH applicants taken out of the general pool and evaluated separately? Oh, and finally, are there a specific number of MD/MPH slots in the class or is it flexible?

Thanks!!!!
 
Bradstein said:
Both would be good
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Interview- pretty relaxed...depends on who you get. I felt like my first one was awesome...it was conversational. My second one was harder, but ended with the interviewer saying he has no doubt I'll get in (which is great, but not necessarily true). I had some other interviewers say they had bad (not horrible) experiences, so I guess it depends. And bad just means the interviewer asked a lot of questions about the person's app, not that they were grilled.

Interview day- fun! There was only a couple of us there...so it was really chill. Everyone was nice and answered our questions. You have an hour here and there of free time. A lot of hills, so wear somewhat comfortable shoes.

It's a great school! :thumup:
 
JuliaGulia2789 said:
Hey,

I was just wondering, does anyone (like URHere) know if the application screening process the same for the MD/MPH program as it is for the MD program? Are the same adcoms looking at the apps? Are all the MD/MPH applicants taken out of the general pool and evaluated separately? Oh, and finally, are there a specific number of MD/MPH slots in the class or is it flexible?

Thanks!!!!
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I don't know too much about the screening process for the MD/MPH program. However, I'll give you what little information I have:

1) There is a decent amount of information about the program on the school's website. http://www.ohsu.edu/public-health/education/mdmph/mdmph_summary.shtml

2) I know that last year, MD/MPH applicants interviewed on the same day as the MD-only applicants. I don't know if they had more interviews than the MD-only applicants, but I am almost positive that they have a supplimental committee evaluating their applications.

3) The first year class has 6 MD/MPH students.

4) John Stull, the program director is a really nice guy. If you want more info, you should email him. I'm sure he will be glad to help you!
 
ami1983 said:
could other people tell me how they approached this question? please? thanks....
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I wrote about how I would judge my success in med school and how it went beyond grades and Step 1 score...

but not that far beyond :laugh:


jgberken said:
Interview
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An interviewee told me there were THREE interviews and they were each about an hour long?
 
Bradstein said:
I wrote about how I would judge my success in med school and how it went beyond grades and Step 1 score...

but not that far beyond :laugh:




An interviewee told me there were THREE interviews and they were each about an hour long?
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Nope 2 interviews, 1 hour long. I'm 100% sure it's not 3.
 
Bradstein said:
An interviewee told me there were THREE interviews and they were each about an hour long?
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It's possible that you talked to an MD/MPH applicant - I know that MD/PhD applicants have 4 interviews (each about an hour long), so it would make sense for the MD/MPHers to have an extra interview as well.
 
Thanks for your response URHere! I'm so glad you're here to answer questions. I'll follow up with the program director.
 
For those who have received a completion notice from OHSU, how long did it take for them to let you know that your application was complete.
I turned my app in on September 5th, and have yet to hear anything yet =/😎
 
LHKP0603 said:
For those who have received a completion notice from OHSU, how long did it take for them to let you know that your application was complete.
I turned my app in on September 5th, and have yet to hear anything yet =/😎
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I sent in my app 9/15 ish and got the complete email last week. I'm In State so maybe that's why? If you're also IS I would definitely call to make sure they have everything..
 
OHSU is very weird with their secondaries and completion notices. I'm an in state resident and sent my secondary in during mid august and got a completion e-mail on 9/3. While my girlfriend received her OHSU secondary two weeks before me and sent it in just about the same time I did. Yet she never received a completion e-mail. She had to send them an e-mail and they e-mailed her back to say that they sent her a completion e-mail and that it was probably in her spam inbox. Well they didn't send her a completion e-mail and it wasn't in her spam inbox. Another weird thing is that we're both instate residents and our MCAT, gpa, and extracurriculars are very similar yet I was invited for an interview and shes still on hold. I'm not sure how their process works but its quite confusing.
 
Has anyone that has already interviewed know when they are sending out decisions?
 
jgberken said:
ohh yeah. they said "at least" 6 to 8 weeks. I'm expecting a 2-3 month wait 😛
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Jgberken, when did you interview? Because I interviewed last week and they said it would be a 4-6 week wait. I hope its not gonna take 6 to 8 weeks. Probably the worst thing is that when they do notify you of your stance chances are you'll be on the hold list according to them. Very few get accepted right off the bat but then again very few get rejected right off the bat. Its just gonna be a sweet kick in the butt waiting for a month and half only to be notified, "youre not in yet, but we should know sometime before or on may 15th!! Good Luck!" I can't wait...haha. But I guess I should just feel very fortunate to even be considered to this school. Its my number one choice. I'll be willing to wait as long as it takes if it means I can get into here.
 
RGMass03 said:
Jgberken, when did you interview? Because I interviewed last week and they said it would be a 4-6 week wait. I hope its not gonna take 6 to 8 weeks. Probably the worst thing is that when they do notify you of your stance chances are you'll be on the hold list according to them. Very few get accepted right off the bat but then again very few get rejected right off the bat. Its just gonna be a sweet kick in the butt waiting for a month and half only to be notified, "youre not in yet, but we should know sometime before or on may 15th!! Good Luck!" I can't wait...haha. But I guess I should just feel very fortunate to even be considered to this school. Its my number one choice. I'll be willing to wait as long as it takes if it means I can get into here.
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I interviewed 3 weeks ago...and they said that since I was in the first interview groups, that it would take us longer to get a decision. I guess they're going to look at all interviewees from late sept through oct and make decisions about all of us at once. and you're right....it's probably going to be a waitlist 😛
 
I STILL haven't heard anything from OHSU since the "complete" email...I wonder if this is a silent rejection or maybe my spam caught some kind of notification? I think I asked this last week...but 2 months is a long wait right? (complete sept 3).

I am obviously not a very patient person 😳
 
nina7123 said:
I STILL haven't heard anything from OHSU since the "complete" email...I wonder if this is a silent rejection or maybe my spam caught some kind of notification? I think I asked this last week...but 2 months is a long wait right? (complete sept 3).

I am obviously not a very patient person 😳
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I havent heard a peep either...also complete since early sept.
 
URHere said:
Did you interview on Thursday by any chance? Because if you did, I gave you your tour...

/Randomness
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Hey !! I was there 😀. I dint know this was you. Your tour was awesome, infact one of the best I have had so far on my interviews. 👍👍
 
URHere said:
Did you interview on Thursday by any chance? Because if you did, I gave you your tour...

/Randomness
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You know I actually interviewed on tuesday. Two MS1s gave me a tour. Sorry I missed you, that would've been awesome to meet someone from this thread. But on my way out of my last interview (around 3:45ish) at Doernbechers cardiology department I did walk past a girl that was carrying something and talking to two other people about how much time she has left in her MD/PhD education. That wouldn't have happened to have been you would it? Kind of a long shot but thought I'd at least try.
 
RGMass03 said:
You know I actually interviewed on tuesday. Two MS1s gave me a tour. Sorry I missed you, that would've been awesome to meet someone from this thread. But on my way out of my last interview (around 3:45ish) at Doernbechers cardiology department I did walk past a girl that was carrying something and talking to two other people about how much time she has left in her MD/PhD education. That wouldn't have happened to have been you would it? Kind of a long shot but thought I'd at least try.
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Haha, not quite. At this point people are more likely to ask me "Wait, what? How many years? Are you ever going to graduate?!" than "how much time do you have left?" :laugh:

As for you Timus, glad you liked the tour! I felt excessively random during it so it's good to know people didn't walk away thinking, "dear god, who was that loon?"

At any rate, I hope you both liked OHSU!
 
URHere said:
Haha, not quite. At this point people are more likely to ask me "Wait, what? How many years? Are you ever going to graduate?!" than "how much time do you have left?" :laugh:

As for you Timus, glad you liked the tour! I felt excessively random during it so it's good to know people didn't walk away thinking, "dear god, who was that loon?"

At any rate, I hope you both liked OHSU!
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😱 I didn't get a tour from URHere! 🙁
 
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