2009-2010 Ohio State Application Thread

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yea, I just got an acceptance letter with a deposit request (not due till 05/15)...though I'm happy enough with that for now!
 
just received the call from dr. capers...I'm IN!!! so excited......anyone else hear good news today?
 
Got my Deferred-Decision Pending status update today. Damn.............

😕
 
BlueElmo said:
Bummer, welcome to the club.🙁
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Yeah, I'm fairly certain that it had something to do with my relative lack of community service. My interviewer remarked on how solid they thought my academic credentials were but also hinted that the ADCOM might be concerned at the slightly low amount of community service/volunteering.

Compared to Pitt and Case, OSU seemed to place a higher emphasis on the community service (not that Case and Pitt didn't care, they just didn't seem to push it as much as OSU). My Case and Pitt interviewers seemed more interested in academic credentials and neither even hinted at volunteering/community service but rather focused on classes, grades, and research.

Nevertheless, I fell in love with OSU while there soooooooooooooo......
 
futuredoc88 said:
Yeah, I'm fairly certain that it had something to do with my relative lack of community service. My interviewer remarked on how solid they thought my academic credentials were but also hinted that the ADCOM might be concerned at the slightly low amount of community service/volunteering.

Compared to Pitt and Case, OSU seemed to place a higher emphasis on the community service (not that Case and Pitt didn't care, they just didn't seem to push it as much as OSU). My Case and Pitt interviewers seemed more interested in academic credentials and neither even hinted at volunteering/community service but rather focused on classes, grades, and research.

Nevertheless, I fell in love with OSU while there soooooooooooooo......
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Yeah, hopefully they get to us deferred people again in December. Hopefully.
 
BlueElmo said:
Yeah, hopefully they get to us deferred people again in December. Hopefully.
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Yeah! The worst part is they know they have our hopes, dreams, and aspirations hanging in the balance...yet, still, they make us wait. I'm sure it'll turn out well for both of us though!................ 😳
 
Does anyone have any pertinent advice regarding the effect of a letter of intent at this school? I know that some schools welcome them while other schools are more "We saw you at the Interview" and generally don't care what you send them-it's more of a "luck" thing whether you're accepted off the deferred list or not. Any input or insight into this school would be appreciated! Thanks! :laugh:
 
Well, I was expecting the call tonight, and I didn't get it. I guess that means I'm deferred. 🙁
 
Accepted! 🙂 I really loved Ohio State, I'm excited to come back for 2nd look.
 
filhodeinferno said:
Well, I was expecting the call tonight, and I didn't get it. I guess that means I'm deferred. 🙁
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Don't lose hope! Dean Capers isn't able to call everyone that got accepted on the same night. I got called 4 days after my status page read "accepted". Keep up the faith! It can still happen
 
rockaction said:
Don't lose hope! Dean Capers isn't able to call everyone that got accepted on the same night. I got called 4 days after my status page read "accepted". Keep up the faith! It can still happen
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Wow, that's good news. I guess I won't lose hope just yet.
 
If you didn't get a call Monday night, that means deferred or rejected.
 
filhodeinferno said:
Actually, according to the poster above, that is not always the case apparently.
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I think it was different for the people around 10/15, when he was accepted, apparently they did it differently then. Now, I think Capers just calls accepted people Monday night. I'm pretty sure, but I hope I'm wrong.
 
hey, has anyone who interviewed on 11/16 heard anything, or had a status update?
 
No word; I interviewed 11/16. . . I'm assuming waitlist or rejection based on what everyone said about calls last night. But, this waiting is killing me. 😡

Please OSU...I love you 😍
 
pppfcr said:
No word; I interviewed 11/16. . . I'm assuming waitlist or rejection based on what everyone said about calls last night. But, this waiting is killing me. 😡

Please OSU...I love you 😍
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I know. No call last night, and now no status update either. What is going on?
 
Hey to those who got the call last night - did the status page get updated to "Accepted"?

Because mine still says "Interview completed"... yet dean capers called me last night (and i'm pretty sure I wasn't hallucinating...)
 
I guess no one has status updates this morning (including those who were accepted).... I'm still waiting. (why is there no finger's crossed icon)... good luck to filhodeinferno and sportygirl10 too. I'm right there with you two.
 
pppfcr said:
I guess no one has status updates this morning (including those who were accepted).... I'm still waiting. (why is there no finger's crossed icon)... good luck to filhodeinferno and sportygirl10 too. I'm right there with you two.
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Looks like it was JUST updated!

whoo! 😀
 
got the call from Dr. Capers last night!!
good luck =]

secondary late sept
interviewed on 11/16
 
ugh deferred. though not really surprised considering how i was grilled the whole time.

someone call me the waa-mbulance
 
ilikekiwis said:
ugh deferred. though not really surprised considering how i was grilled the whole time.

someone call me the waa-mbulance
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:shrug: sorry bud...hopefully some movement later
 
futuredoc88 said:
Does anyone have any pertinent advice regarding the effect of a letter of intent at this school? I know that some schools welcome them while other schools are more "We saw you at the Interview" and generally don't care what you send them-it's more of a "luck" thing whether you're accepted off the deferred list or not. Any input or insight into this school would be appreciated! Thanks! :laugh:
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As someone who got in off the deferred list last year I think I can speak a little to this. As a caveat this is Dean Capers first year as Dean of Admissions so it might be a little different to the year prior when it was Dr. Batisky (he's since gone to a Atlanta). Anyway...I know as a neurotic SDN surfer last year, I wanted any scrap of information I could get my grubby little hands on so that I could analyze in triplicate my chances of getting off the deferred list. So I'm just going to spill my guts here...these are just my observations from going through the process and from sdn last year. Each year is different and it depends on the applicant pool, so please don't take what happened last year as set in stone! Some years 100 people get in off the deferred list...others much less.

A little background on how admissions at OSU works. It's really different from most other schools that I know of. Basically after you finish your interviews, that afternoon there is a meeting to decide on your fate so to speak. They put your face up on a screen and it's up to both your student interviewer and faculty interviewer to present you to the rest of the committee. Most of the time they defend you and any flaws that you might have in your application based on what you might have told them in the interview. If you messed up your interview, you kinda lost your advocate there. But that's why there are 2 of them. So that day they assign you a numerical score based on your strength as an applicant. For all intents in purposes the initial decision to let you in is made that afternoon. I believe a very low proportion (10%?) get outright rejected if you have no chance of admission...but I could be wrong here. Otherwise you are deferred and it really sucks to be in limbo so I feel for you guys.

In years past, say even 3-4 years ago being deferred was actually not a bad situation to be in. I don't think OSU was that high on people's lists for whatever reason and a good proportion of the initial acceptees decided to go elsewhere. So maybe 1/3-1/2 of the eventual class was taken off the deferred list come May. That's a good 50-100 people a year and pretty good odds.

Unfortunately last year this was not the case. OSU might have been a lot higher on people's lists or maybe they accepted more people initially than usual last year (who knows maybe they'll account for that this year?). They did have a period of where they reevaluated the deferred pool late February/early March as the overall class was shaping up. They admitted some students I guess to "round out" the class and keep it diverse So this is your first chance to get off the deferred list. I'm not sure if they let people in off the deferred prior to Feb last year because that is when I interviewed and started checking SDN.

Not too many people withdrew after second look weekends were over. By May 15th (the day when you have to have only one school) the class was still very much over booked by 30 people 😱. I think around this time they do sit down and go over all the applicants again and a shortlist of people to admit if spots open up. BUT they won't tell you it exists AND it's not a list that is in any set order. They are looking to see who withdraws and they try to admit another similar student.

Eventually it did slowly work it's way down so that around June 10th they were able to start letting in some of us off the deferred list. I think the last person they called a week before classes were about to start (so don't give up hope until the day before class starts! you too can be that kid with the story that they only got a call a week ago!). Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be that many off the deferred list this year. Somewhere on the magnitude of 10-20. It's hard to say because most people don't advertise the fact that they got in off the waitlist. I also don't know how many were admitted in March tho...so overall the numbers of the deferred list might be higher than this. There are also a very small number of students that actually get offered admission for the year after if you were good enough to get in...but there just weren't enough spots b/c you interviewed late.

Here's the good news- OSUs admissions office is one of the nicest around. They put up with my calling just about every day after May 15th 🙂. I interviewed late February. I wrote one letter of update in March and one letter of strong desire to attend in early May. They add these to your file and it really did seem to make a difference. They might not read them that thoroughly (I glanced at it a couple months ago and I had a typo my first sentence!), but the fact that they are there make a difference. It's still pretty early, so you can update them if you have anything significant to add. I wouldn't inundate them or anything. But a clip of 1 every 2 months or so seems appropriate. I personally don't think a LOI is necessary this early in the game. Save it for after interview season is over and you know you mean it. You can't take it back after it has been sent.

What I put in my letters:
-why I really really really wanted to attend
-what had changed in the past year/months that made me a better candidate
-what I could contribute to the school if I were able to gain admittance
-addressed any weaknesses in my application.

I know it is hard this early in the season to get feedback on your application because things are full swing, but it's definitely worth a shot to ask schools why you've been rejected by them. You'd be surprised how many people have issues that they didn't realize they had: bad letters of rec, not explaining enough a change from law to med or bad interviews when they thought they had gone amazing etc etc.

I found these pretty inspiring when writing my letters, the first one especially (their spirit, not the format):

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/archive/index.php/t-106811.html
http://mdapplicants.com/profile.php?id=6325

Finally good luck with apps these year! There is definitely hope if you show that little extra effort and enthusiasm! 👍
 
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dude. you are the man
 
So does this mean us deferred people have not a good chance? Sorry for the grammar.
 
The more I start to factor in the cost of attending medical school, especially private schools, the more attractive Ohio State looks with in-state tuition after the first year. It's a very high quality school with one of the cheapest costs of attending that I have seen for an out of state school. See you guys at second look.

Congrats to all those accepted! Good luck to deferred applicants - everything will work out in the end.
 
BlueElmo said:
So does this mean us deferred people have not a good chance? Sorry for the grammar.
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I wish I could tell you for sure, I really don't know! That's dependent on so many thing like how many people they took straight up or how many people withdraw to go to other places. A sample size of one year is not much to go on...who knows maybe this year they'll take a whole bunch of people off the list.

Just give yourself the best chance possible by showing you maintain interest and improve yourself as a candidate.
 
lackli how are you liking first year so far??
 
osumc2014 said:
lackli how are you liking first year so far??
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yes, please tell us!

Case and OSU are battling for my heart; Case has so much representation at SDN, so I need to hear the OSU opinions. tell me everything that rocks about OSU.
 
Haha you're right! I glanced at cases thread and it seems like a much more happening place. carving eggplants?! what?

I have a couple friends at case and they love it there. It's pretty different tho in terms of feel and I don't think I would have fit in there as well. It's true what they say...the med school that suits you the most will find you. I'll mention what little i know about case...i'm not bashing it by any means but I just want to contrast because i think it's a close call for a lot of people.

let me break OSU down for you:

what I like:
1. cheap- no.1, hands down, biggest reason to come here. You don't realize it when you are applying but money is a huge huge factor after graduation. it affects your choice in specialty, what you can do (global health when you have 200K in debt anyone?) and your lifestyle. by the time you are out of residency and in a position to pay off your debt, you want to be thinking more about spending your attending pay on a house for you family, cars and kids...not your debt.

at OSU you can get in state after a year and save 15K at least a year over most other schools. hey that's a 15K scholarship if you want to put another spin on it. If you are top 25% in the class at the end of each year you can get a extra 5000 dollar merit scholarship thrown in too. columbus is a cheap town.

2. anatomy is taught really well here. dr.dephillip, the division head...all he does is teach, or do research on teaching.

3. community feel. I don't feel like a number here at all. there are 220 of us, but we have a group of 12 called a learning community that meets with a doctor every month for dinner. he/she is kinda like a mentor/guide for you and helps make sure you aren't lost in the shuffle. Every month there is also a school wide Dean's dinner which is kinda like a town hall meeting with all the bigwigs so you can voice concerns. they usually bring someone in to talk as well.

4. tests every 3 weeks. I know Case has them at much longer intervals. personally i couldn't imagine that at all. there is so much material that my brain can't handle more than a months worth before exploding.

5. football (and being good at it)

6. lots of students=lots of interest groups=lots of free meals

7. there is an interdisciplinary global health program here. you take 14 credits your first two years in various global health classes. 4th year you do an away rotation abroad or even more if you want.

8. Big on ultrasound here. it's emphasized in anatomy and you can get some extra training throughout your four years. it's a big big plus when applying to certain residencies. OSU is only one of 3 schools in the country with something like this and I think the only one where you can get a rmds as well.

9. that little sumthin sumthin. I can't really put it into words...but when you are walking in the grassy area in front of the main hospital and it says "THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY" in big bold letters, all you can think is..."damn straight"


what I don't like:

1. CAPs- kinda like the practice in medicine, you know history taking, physical exam. coming in i thought great idea! in practice they have it regularly for 3 hours every week. I feel like it's a waste of time and really breaks up the flow of the day/week. and it's hard to focus on it when you have a test coming up so often. would prefer if they did something like at michigan where it is all compacted into one week chunks.

2. lectures- once anatomy was over i realized how great the lecturers were. the Cell block lecturers...let's just say some are excellent and others don't suit my style. I'm only a first year so maybe it gets better.:xf: I don't go to lecture anymore and podcast the lectures i know are good. Can't say that this is a problem that only OSU has though. Also I know that all Case lectures are mandatory attendance and only if you are sick can you access the podcast.

3. They hit you hard with the coursework as soon as you get here. I know at Case they ease you in with some of the more nebulous topics in medicine like ethics etc. Which is why school for them starts in July. That is pretty awesome actually because the class gets to party together for a whole month and I think they are a little closer as a class then OSU is.

4. you don't get your own assigned carrel like at case (unless you are ISP)......i'm a little bitter over this.


what I'm ambivalent about:

1. If you have a family or just study better on your own, there is the whole independent study program thing here. It's great for those who want to do it...i'm sure you heard it on interview day a whole lot. You probably won't see these people that much anymore haha.

2. senior partner's project- pair you up with a geriatric patient and you develop a relationship over 2 years with them. has not started so can't really comment.

3. OSU is shooting up the rankings. It was 40 something not too long ago. 27 this year vs 25 for case. considering that OSU just decided to spend 1 billion dollars on a new hospital i think it'll hit top 20 pretty soon. but then again...only your mom really cares about this thing. residency directors don't. and you definitely don't after you get in.
 
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👍

I know what you mean about the sumthin sumthin hehe
 
sounds awsome lackli, now I just need to find a way to get accepted.:laugh:
 
amazing post, thanks so much!! 👍 hearing from the students is really the way to go in making these decisions 🙂
 
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