2010-2011 Oregon Health & Sciences University Application Thread

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Congrats on the interview invite! First, I would recommend reading the SDN interview feedback (link at the top of every SDN page). I found it accurate and helpful.

My interviews were last month and they were very relaxed. They were both approx 1 hour and both interviewers had thoroughly read my file (primary and secondary minus coursework, grades, MCAT), so make sure to review your essays and activities. Do a Google search on most commonly asked med school interview questions and think about answers to each, even write down some bullet points and character traits that you would like to talk about (with examples). You'll want to be ready for questions like: why medicine? how have you prepared for a career in medicine? what is your biggest strength? weakness? what do you think the biggest challenge will be for you in med school, etc.

I was asked a health care reform question, so be prepared for that (e.g. if you could wave a magic wand and implement 2-3 changes to the US health care system, what would they be and why). Also think about some ethical dilemmas (e.g. what would you do if your patient asked for an abortion? refused treatment on religious grounds? etc.) Finally, be sure to have a couple of questions for your interviewers (and not things that you can easily look up on the website). That shows them you are prepared, engaged, and interested. Overall, just relax and be yourself. Oh, and bring something to read, there will be lots of downtime.

Thanks so much for the advice! It was really helpful. I am interviewing on Jan 11, so I am pretty excited!!! I love OHSU! I will definitely update you all once I get back.

Oh, and does anyone know approximately what time I may finish the interview? I am interviewing for MD/MPH, so that's 3 interviews. I know they say 5PM, but I want to know if I might have more time to check out Portland before my flight at 855PM! Merci!
 
Oh, and does anyone know approximately what time I may finish the interview? I am interviewing for MD/MPH, so that's 3 interviews. I know they say 5PM, but I want to know if I might have more time to check out Portland before my flight at 855PM!

It all depends on when your actual interviews are scheduled for, which is different for each person.

Despite what they said, my last interview actually ended up going beyond 5:00 pm. Not that I minded!

I recommend that you plan some stuff to do in case you finish before 2:00 pm. Then if you have time great; if you don't have time no big deal 🙂
 
I also took some classes this fall and OHSU told me to send transcripts and update my GPA through AMCAS. However, when I contacted AMCAS, they said they do not accept updating grades to change your GPA after you submit your primary application (unless there was a mistake). I told this to OHSU about 2 weeks ago to see if I should send them a transcript and never got a response. I sent them to OHSU anyway (even if it might not change my application's GPA).

New update from OHSU's message board:
Please note that we do not recalculate GPAS during the Admissions cycle. Any updates concerning grades or recently completed coursework will not change your GPA for the current cycle.



Funny timing that they just posted that. Do you think they read studentdoctor.net??

If so:

Dear OHSU,

We love you, please accept us 😍

Thanks,
All of us
 
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Funny timing that they just posted that. Do you think they read studentdoctor.net??
I'm sure at least someone up there does! 🙂

I know for a fact that another school where I'm applying follows their school's 2011 app cycle thread. 😳

If so:

Dear OHSU,

We love you, please accept us 😍

Thanks,
All of us
Ditto!! Love you, miss you, hope to hear from you soon! 😍
 
Just had my interviews yesterday, which went well except one was a no show so I need to reschedule. Has this happened to anyone else? It's less of a problem for me since I work here at OHSU, but I could imagine it being really tough for someone that's out of state.
 
Just had my interviews yesterday, which went well except one was a no show so I need to reschedule. Has this happened to anyone else? It's less of a problem for me since I work here at OHSU, but I could imagine it being really tough for someone that's out of state.
Oh, bummer! I remember during orientation Debbie Melton said that a make-up interview could be scheduled by phone for situations like this where someone is OOS.
 
Interview invite today.
California applicant
open dates from feb 22 to march 10
I am excited!
 
Just had my interviews yesterday, which went well except one was a no show so I need to reschedule. Has this happened to anyone else? It's less of a problem for me since I work here at OHSU, but I could imagine it being really tough for someone that's out of state.

I think that your MIA interviewer may have been my PI. He was up to his ears in Army grants on Wednesday, but he's a great guy, and I think you'll like him when you meet him. 🙂

Congrats on being done with the rest of your interview day!
 
I think that your MIA interviewer may have been my PI. He was up to his ears in Army grants on Wednesday, but he's a great guy, and I think you'll like him when you meet him. 🙂

Congrats on being done with the rest of your interview day!

Yeah I'll be meeting with him today. He told me to look for the guy in black glasses that are in the shape of benzene rings. Awesome!
 
Two quick questions about OHSU I would appreciate any advice on...

1. I will be applying as a 25 year old going on 26, having been out of school for 2 years. Does this class me as "non-traditional" for OHSU? (I hear they have a non-trad bent to them?)

2. I lived in Oregon my whole life - born in a rural town, grew up there, educated not too far away. Recently I have joined Teach for America and I am now teaching in Connecticut. I have an apartment, a driver's license and a registered car here in CT; my parents still live in OR. Is it remotely possible for me to apply as an in-state applicant?

When I begin applying in June 2011 (not too far off! 😱) I will have lived in Connecticut for just over a year.
 
1. I will be applying as a 25 year old going on 26, having been out of school for 2 years. Does this class me as "non-traditional" for OHSU? (I hear they have a non-trad bent to them?)

There's no set definition of "non-traditional" students. You're sort of in the grey zone. In any case, based on the data that they've made public, 26 is a very average age for new OHSU medical students.


2. I lived in Oregon my whole life - born in a rural town, grew up there, educated not too far away. Recently I have joined Teach for America and I am now teaching in Connecticut. I have an apartment, a driver's license and a registered car here in CT; my parents still live in OR. Is it remotely possible for me to apply as an in-state applicant?

When I begin applying in June 2011 (not too far off! 😱) I will have lived in Connecticut for just over a year.

Teach For America is a cool non-profit, but they offer a salary, health insurance, and retirement benefits, so as far as I'm concerned it is still a job. If you have been out of school AND out of state for a year, OHSU will almost certainly consider you an out of state applicant. OHSU has a somewhat complicated residency policy, but basically OHSU thinks that you establish residency IN Oregon if you live in Oregon for a year without going to school, and that you establish residency OUTSIDE of Oregon if you live outside Oregon for a year without going to school.

By all means, seek other opinions about whether you will be considered an Oregon resident. I'm not an expert! But it's something I spent a good amount of time researching and I'm pretty confident that the information I've provided is accurate.

The residency issue will be important for tuition, but if you are interested in rural medicine (and have strong ties to rural Oregon) they will likely consider you to be mission-based applicant. That would mean being out of state might not count against you for your chances of getting accepted, even if it counts against you for tuition.

Good luck!
 
Okay. This is pretty much what I thought. As I remember, OOS costs for OHSU are pretty steep... but we'll come to that challenge when we do.
Thanks!
 
I'd call admissions and ask about the residency if I were you. If you tell them you've always been a resident, but have taken a temporary position and will be working out of state for a year, it seems like they could make an exception. Especially if your parents still live in-state. A lot of people take a year to do something else before starting medical school, so it must have come up before. If it's any solace (or not), tuition costs are pretty steep for both in-state and out-of-state, and not as far apart as many schools. Like $40K vs. $50K.

In answer to your other question, the average age in my class (first-year) is 26. We have people in their early 20s, but also late 30s and 40s. The idea isn't an age-wise "non-traditional," though. They want a class with diverse life experiences. The traditional applicant may be 22, but also has done nothing besides school. Don't emphasize your age - emphasize what you've done in the years between 22 and 25 to make you well-rounded.
 
First time poster, I've been reading this thread for a while.

A quote from last year's thread: "I just called and was basically told that they screen/interview from their "mission-based groups" first and in the past they have not tapped into the "non-mission-based groups" to fill seats. It basically sounded like if you are not in that category you will be getting a rejection letter in the next few weeks."

Anyone know how much truth there is to this?
 
First time poster, I've been reading this thread for a while.

A quote from last year's thread: "I just called and was basically told that they screen/interview from their "mission-based groups" first and in the past they have not tapped into the "non-mission-based groups" to fill seats. It basically sounded like if you are not in that category you will be getting a rejection letter in the next few weeks."

Anyone know how much truth there is to this?


I've heard that as well (from people at the school), but remember that one of the mission-based groups is people with above-average numbers. I don't remember what all of the groups are, but I remember thinking it was a really strange label. They should call it "preference groups."
 
Seems like no one's heard from back from OHSU post-interview for a while. How far back are we? Any November interviewers hear anything?
 
Seems like no one's heard from back from OHSU post-interview for a while. How far back are we? Any November interviewers hear anything?
An acquaintance of mine got an acceptance last week (heard Tuesday morning) from a 10/28 interview, so about 10 weeks turnaround time.

My interview was 11/16 and I'm really getting anxious to hear news soon! 😱 😀 😱 😀
 
yeah I interviewed 11/2 and still have not heard anything...I'm really hoping this week I finally will!
 
An acquaintance of mine got an acceptance last week (heard Tuesday morning) from a 10/28 interview, so about 10 weeks turnaround time.

My interview was 11/16 and I'm really getting anxious to hear news soon! 😱 😀 😱 😀

WOW. 10 weeks!? They were saying 6-8 weeks when I interviewed on 12/14. Could that extended timeline be due to the holidays?
 
WOW. 10 weeks!? They were saying 6-8 weeks when I interviewed on 12/14. Could that extended timeline be due to the holidays?
Almost certainly that added more delay. I'm hoping that maybe they'll get caught back up to an 8 week turnaround time given that they didn't conduct interviews over the holidays either. So the queue should shorten, too. Theoretically.

Also, it is important to note that the delay for an individual may happen if neither of their interviewers were able to attend a given committee meeting. So I don't know if it's 10 weeks for everyone now or not.
 
Almost certainly that added more delay. I'm hoping that maybe they'll get caught back up to an 8 week turnaround time given that they didn't conduct interviews over the holidays either. So the queue should shorten, too. Theoretically.

Also, it is important to note that the delay for an individual may happen if neither of their interviewers were able to attend a given committee meeting. So I don't know if it's 10 weeks for everyone now or not.

I know we're all super anxious to hear something, but I think it's important to keep reminding ourselves that the immediate results we get after six, eight, or even 10 weeks is not likely to tell us much anyway.

Most people will be on hold until May, so I'm doing my best to mentally prepare myself for the long wait until that day, and perhaps even beyond as there will be a wait-list that starts at that point as well.

I mean... that doesn't stop me from checking my status every day 🙂 but realistically this is the way things work.
 
They have been behind on the 4-6 weeks all along; I was and early interviewee and didn't get any info for nearly 7+ weeks. It is a patience thing with them, but the previous poster was correct that most people will be truly waiting until May anyway. 🙂 GL all.
 
Most people will be on hold until May, so I'm doing my best to mentally prepare myself for the long wait until that day, and perhaps even beyond as there will be a wait-list that starts at that point as well.

I mean... that doesn't stop me from checking my status every day 🙂 but realistically this is the way things work.
I have to keep repeating this to myself as well. Especially in light of this post:
Also FYI, they also said that as of 10/14 they had done 150 interviews (out of the 500-550 they expect to conduct) and that they had made 12 offers of admission (out of a class of 120).
Which indicates that less than 10% of interviewees have been getting the "Insta-Accept" (where instant = 8+ weeks) and everyone else is a Hold til May 15th. Previous posts and verbal suggestions have hovered more around the idea that 15% of interviewees are getting a firm yes/no answer at the time of first committee review. Unless they're rejecting more than 5% immediately, as well. Which is always possible, but I don't recall seeing anyone posting about a post-interview rejection yet.
They have been behind on the 4-6 weeks all along; I was and early interviewee and didn't get any info for nearly 7+ weeks. It is a patience thing with them, but the previous poster was correct that most people will be truly waiting until May anyway. 🙂 GL all.
So the 4-6 weeks is really some sort of... wishful thinking? :laugh:

That's not a criticism, BTW. I'm often being asked for estimates at work and even when I do my damndest to try to give a realistic "It should take x days to finish this task" no matter how much I calculate and estimate and even outright pad the estimate to try to account for delays/emergencies/other people on vacation/random yeti attacks/etc. etc. everything always ends up taking longer than I'd promised. It drives me nuts! 🙄
 
I have to keep repeating this to myself as well. Especially in light of this post:

Which indicates that less than 10% of interviewees have been getting the "Insta-Accept" (where instant = 8+ weeks) and everyone else is a Hold til May 15th. Previous posts and verbal suggestions have hovered more around the idea that 15% of interviewees are getting a firm yes/no answer at the time of first committee review. Unless they're rejecting more than 5% immediately, as well. Which is always possible, but I don't recall seeing anyone posting about a post-interview rejection yet.

So the 4-6 weeks is really some sort of... wishful thinking? :laugh:

That's not a criticism, BTW. I'm often being asked for estimates at work and even when I do my damndest to try to give a realistic "It should take x days to finish this task" no matter how much I calculate and estimate and even outright pad the estimate to try to account for delays/emergencies/other people on vacation/random yeti attacks/etc. etc. everything always ends up taking longer than I'd promised. It drives me nuts! 🙄

They got back to me after about 6 weeks.
 
I heard back (hold) after 8 weeks to the day, FWIW.

I have to keep repeating this to myself as well. Especially in light of this post:

Which indicates that less than 10% of interviewees have been getting the "Insta-Accept" (where instant = 8+ weeks) and everyone else is a Hold til May 15th. Previous posts and verbal suggestions have hovered more around the idea that 15% of interviewees are getting a firm yes/no answer at the time of first committee review.

Well, I don't know about that. The 150 interviews against 12 offers sounds like a category error to me. No doubt they had held 150 interviews to that point, and offered 12 students admission. But seeing as the delay between interview and response is 6-10 weeks it's quite likely that those 12 offers were drawn from a 6-10 week older pool of substantially less than 150 candidates. 50 to 100, perhaps, which would put the post-interview acceptance rate in the 12-25% range. (I'd lean towards the high end, myself.)

At any rate, there should be a new batch of acceptees tomorrow or Wednesday morning, so congratulations in advance!
 
I would agree with NWerly's assessment. The 10 accepts were likely from a pool that was much smaller than the 150 interviews conducted, therefore the "insta-accept" rate would be higher than ~10%. At least, that is what I understood. It would be interesting if someone who had an interview coming up would ask for an update on the # of interviews/# of accepts. Also, I wonder if people who are put on hold get off the hold list before May 15.
 
I would agree with NWerly's assessment. The 10 accepts were likely from a pool that was much smaller than the 150 interviews conducted, therefore the "insta-accept" rate would be higher than ~10%. At least, that is what I understood. It would be interesting if someone who had an interview coming up would ask for an update on the # of interviews/# of accepts. Also, I wonder if people who are put on hold get off the hold list before May 15.

I'd love to be proven wrong, but going by the last couple years' threads, (I know, the plural of anecdote... etc...) pre-May admission from the hold pool is more theoretical than actual.
 
Hey I've been a lurker on this site forever and just wanted to make my first post about an interview invite to OHSU today!

I know when I was waiting to hear anything back from OHSU I liked it when ppl gave their info on dates referring to completion, secondary, etc.

SO...I was way way late in applying MD. Thought I really wanted to be a D.O. exclusively till I read some convincing articles and decided otherwise. Anyway I only applied to OHSU,

Oregon resident
file completed with OHSU 11/24/10.
Interview invite: 1/10/11

Good luck everyone, wish only the best for you crazy SDNers, you have no idea how much reading this forum has either comforted or stressed me out lol.
 
Hey I've been a lurker on this site forever and just wanted to make my first post about an interview invite to OHSU today!

I know when I was waiting to hear anything back from OHSU I liked it when ppl gave their info on dates referring to completion, secondary, etc.

SO...I was way way late in applying MD. Thought I really wanted to be a D.O. exclusively till I read some convincing articles and decided otherwise. Anyway I only applied to OHSU,

Oregon resident
file completed with OHSU 11/24/10.
Interview invite: 1/10/11

Good luck everyone, wish only the best for you crazy SDNers, you have no idea how much reading this forum has either comforted or stressed me out lol.

Congrats! That's some pretty good news for a first post! Are the interview dates out to March yet?

And hey, if you can get an interview with a... what, October? November? application, it just goes to show that you should take all the prescriptive info on SDN with a grain of salt.
 
Interview invite today! complete 9/15 and california resident.

Oh, forgot to say interview dates are from end of february to beginning of march.
 
Well, I don't know about that. The 150 interviews against 12 offers sounds like a category error to me. No doubt they had held 150 interviews to that point, and offered 12 students admission. But seeing as the delay between interview and response is 6-10 weeks it's quite likely that those 12 offers were drawn from a 6-10 week older pool of substantially less than 150 candidates. 50 to 100, perhaps, which would put the post-interview acceptance rate in the 12-25% range. (I'd lean towards the high end, myself.)
D'oh!! Stats FAIL. You're completely right, this is a classic denominator mistake. I promise I actually did take statistics! 😳
I heard back (hold) after 8 weeks to the day, FWIW.
My 8 weeks to the day mark is... tomorrow! I'm trying so very hard to not expect to hear an update yet. Nghh!!! :xf: :xf:
 
Hey I've been a lurker on this site forever and just wanted to make my first post about an interview invite to OHSU today!

I know when I was waiting to hear anything back from OHSU I liked it when ppl gave their info on dates referring to completion, secondary, etc.

SO...I was way way late in applying MD. Thought I really wanted to be a D.O. exclusively till I read some convincing articles and decided otherwise. Anyway I only applied to OHSU,

Oregon resident
file completed with OHSU 11/24/10.
Interview invite: 1/10/11

Good luck everyone, wish only the best for you crazy SDNers, you have no idea how much reading this forum has either comforted or stressed me out lol.

Congrats Takeyourstep! Do you mind telling us what your stats are? Best of luck!
 
Hey thanks guys! Ya I have no problem sharing some of my stats...22 yr male, science undergrad, and of course I had all the basic EC's: shadowing, volunteering, research (couple publications with 1 primary which may have helped). My actual numbers are very vanilla as well, 3.6 cGPA and 30 MCAT. I was actually studying to retake my MCAT when i got the email...lol try focusing after that!

So yes everyone, no matter what these forums say even you did everything backwards like me and applied very late you still have a shot.

Anyway this school is amazing and I can't brag about Portland enough. Congrats on everyone's interview invites/acceptances and I just can't wait to see if i'm lucky enough to get in!
 
SO...I was way way late in applying MD. Thought I really wanted to be a D.O. exclusively till I read some convincing articles and decided otherwise.

Just curious... If you don't mind sharing, what made you want to go only DO, and what turned your mind?
 
Hey Hopeful don't mind sharing at all why my decision flipped, it is actually why I made the comment above about how I did everything "backwards". First, just to get it out of the way, I'm a big believer in the argument ending idea that MD=DO so we skip all that crap. Like everyone else here hopefully, all I want to be is a physician regardless, pediatrician in my case.

My main reasoning to switch to MD was pretty much based entirely on OHSU. I grew up on a little farm outside of Portland and had always dreamed of going to this school (how cliche I know). Another big reason, albeit more obscure, was the efficacy of OMM. I know this may be a contentious topic, but in reading the studies on its use I was not entirely convinced.

Since I applied only DO and did so early, my interview invites came around early. I was fortunate as well, every DO school(minus one) I applied to I got an invite. It was a hugely stressful choice, but I finally decided that had to be 100% confident with no regrets in my choice if I was going to spend 4+ years across the country. So i turned down these great opportunities and applied very late to MD and only OHSU as a long shot chance. My advisor had told me to retake my low MCAT if I wanted to be competitive at OHSU so I had pretty much written the school off before I applied.

Anyway sorry for the long story... Ultimately I made the choice based on one school and hopefully it will pay off!
 
Interviewed here recently and was disappointed to hear that although all interviewees would hear something by March most of those notifications would be deferred decisions until May. The woman who ran the interview day said this to our interview group outright, and explained that it was so the AdCOM could review all the interviewees prior to making decisions.

I loved the school but I feel like May is a bit late to notify of acceptances considering we as applicants have to decide by May...furthermore this would eliminate the chance for a revisit weekend. I'm confused if this is just how OHSU does it, or if this is a new policy for this application season?
 
Interviewed here recently and was disappointed to hear that although all interviewees would hear something by March most of those notifications would be deferred decisions until May. The woman who ran the interview day said this to our interview group outright, and explained that it was so the AdCOM could review all the interviewees prior to making decisions.

I loved the school but I feel like May is a bit late to notify of acceptances considering we as applicants have to decide by May...furthermore this would eliminate the chance for a revisit weekend. I'm confused if this is just how OHSU does it, or if this is a new policy for this application season?

Ohsu will accept you if you are good... this is how it works.. you get interview score, you get EC score, you get MCAT/GPA score, and residency. If your sum is equal or greater than the number they have for immediate acceptance they will accept you.. if you dont they will waitlist you..
 
I loved the school but I feel like May is a bit late to notify of acceptances considering we as applicants have to decide by May...furthermore this would eliminate the chance for a revisit weekend. I'm confused if this is just how OHSU does it, or if this is a new policy for this application season?
This is how they've done it, as long as I've been paying attention. The way I look at it is that that they basically don't do rolling admissions, except for a very few outlier candidates that they really want to accept.
 
D'oh!! Stats FAIL. You're completely right, this is a classic denominator mistake. I promise I actually did take statistics! 😳

My 8 weeks to the day mark is... tomorrow! I'm trying so very hard to not expect to hear an update yet. Nghh!!! :xf: :xf:


Any good news Dianyla!?
 
Ohsu will accept you if you are good... this is how it works.. you get interview score, you get EC score, you get MCAT/GPA score, and residency. If your sum is equal or greater than the number they have for immediate acceptance they will accept you.. if you dont they will waitlist you..

This is how they've done it, as long as I've been paying attention. The way I look at it is that that they basically don't do rolling admissions, except for a very few outlier candidates that they really want to accept.

Thanks for the responses, :luck: everyone
 
Has anyone gotten interview invites since the new year? Wondering what the pace of OHSU is. I was complete 11/8. Thanks!
 
Has anyone gotten interview invites since the new year? Wondering what the pace of OHSU is. I was complete 11/8. Thanks!

Looks like a couple of people got invites on 1/10 (see above posts)
 
Has anyone gotten interview invites since the new year? Wondering what the pace of OHSU is. I was complete 11/8. Thanks!

Yes, if you look back on this page and the previous page you'll see that five people have had interview invites since the new year, and that's just people on SDN.

Good luck!
 
I just finished going through this entire thread looking for all interview invites, acceptances, and other status updates, with the goal of figuring out what day of the week they all happened on. I found 39 updates that break down like this:

Mondays: 8 updates
Tuesdays: 11 updates (two acceptances, two post-interview holds)
Wednesdays: 10 updates (two acceptances, three post-interview holds)
Thursdays: 5 updates (one post interview hold)
Fridays: 4

So... Tuesdays and Wednesdays appear to the the most common days to hear back, especially for post-interview updates.

Forty-percent of post-interview updates shared on SDN are acceptances. This is a small sample, but it should still be encouraging. This rate is higher than we would expect based on some of the discussions on this thread. Possibly people are more excited about sharing the good news of an acceptance than sharing a post-interview hold. Also, SDN members (those neurotic weirdos) might be slightly more motivated/prepared/qualified than average.


(FYI--I am on Winter Break until next week, so... yeah, I'm just that bored 🙂 )
 
I just finished going through this entire thread looking for all interview invites, acceptances, and other status updates, with the goal of figuring out what day of the week they all happened on. I found 39 updates that break down like this:

Mondays: 8 updates
Tuesdays: 11 updates (two acceptances, two post-interview holds)
Wednesdays: 10 updates (two acceptances, three post-interview holds)
Thursdays: 5 updates (one post interview hold)
Fridays: 4

So... Tuesdays and Wednesdays appear to the the most common days to hear back, especially for post-interview updates.

Forty-percent of post-interview updates shared on SDN are acceptances. This is a small sample, but it should still be encouraging. This rate is higher than we would expect based on some of the discussions on this thread. Possibly people are more excited about sharing the good news of an acceptance than sharing a post-interview hold. Also, SDN members (those neurotic weirdos) might be slightly more motivated/prepared/qualified than average.


(FYI--I am on Winter Break until next week, so... yeah, I'm just that bored 🙂 )

Could we get a pie chart or something? 🙂
 
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