2010-2011 Oregon Health & Sciences University Application Thread

[Northwesterly]

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Just kick back and enjoy the lunch- best one i've had 🙂

Yeah, Grand Central is pretty good, but if anyone's here for an interview and has time to try the best sandwich shop in town, Bunk is the place to go.

 

[Molly88]

they did serve us special sparkling water, avocado sandwiches and kettle chips with chocklate chip cookies... i dont know if any other school could beat that

 

[Melicopter]

so to bring up a previously discussed topic, it is my understanding that OHSU students apply for scholarships after the first year. When this happens, is preference given to IS students, or is everyone essentially on a level playing field, at least in terms of residency status?

I'm assuming it's a level playing field. The application is one page, gives room to list about three extracurricular activities and your intended specialty choice. It's really brief. Other than a separate application for a low-income scholarship, I don't know what criteria they even use.

 

[AGLAIA]

I got bold and went in to the office today to ask when there might be more information and was told they are inputting the prepared decisions now, so people should be hearing from the early interviews soon.

 

[Northwesterly]

I got bold and went in to the office today to ask when there might be more information and was told they are inputting the prepared decisions now, so people should be hearing from the early interviews soon.

Way to take one for the team! Thanks for the info.

Although the data entry aspect is kind of funny--I can just imagine an admissions office member trying to puzzle out name and status from a stack of scrawled Rx-style handwritten notes. "Wait, does this say 'Admit Joe!' or 'A damn idiot?'" (I'm sure it's all much more organized in real life, but still...)

 

[mgUCD]

Just interviewed here today. Really enjoyed my time there! Great people, great program, their focus is in all the right areas....here's to hoping. The only thing I didn't like was the cost 🙁 and the grading system (modified letter grade) 🙁. Oh well, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

 

[Dianyla]

they did serve us special sparkling water, avocado sandwiches and kettle chips with chocklate chip cookies... i dont know if any other school could beat that

I was so glad they didn't serve pizza like in previous years. Also, I swear that the peanut butter cookie I ate was dusted with crack. NOM! 😍

 

[AGLAIA]

My update went up finally.

Anyone else? Anyone not get put "on hold"?

 

[Molly88]

no nothing here, what does it say, does it state that you were just on hold? it says this in the admissions portal i am assuming

 

[AGLAIA]

no nothing here, what does it say, does it state that you were just on hold? it says this in the admissions portal i am assuming

"Since your interview, you have been discussed by the Admissions Committee and are currently in a hold category.

With 550+ interviews conducted over the course of six months (October through March) and a limited number of placements to offer, the Admissions Committee must put many applicants in a hold pool until they have had a chance to discuss each of their interviewed candidates. The Admissions Committee will be discussing applicants through the beginning of May, which means that you will be notified of a final decision regarding your application no later than May 15, 2011. Applicants put on hold will remain on hold until May 15, when final decisions will be made. At that point you will hear a decision of Accept, Alternate, or Refuse. Please note that further updates will not reopen your file or change the committee's decision.

We realize this is an anxious time of waiting and thank you for your understanding and patience."

 

[Molly88]

are you a IS and if you dont mind me asking stats and experience etc

 

[Northwesterly]

"Since your interview, you have been discussed by the Admissions Committee and are currently in a hold category.

With 550+ interviews conducted over the course of six months (October through March) and a limited number of placements to offer, the Admissions Committee must put many applicants in a hold pool until they have had a chance to discuss each of their interviewed candidates. The Admissions Committee will be discussing applicants through the beginning of May, which means that you will be notified of a final decision regarding your application no later than May 15, 2011. Applicants put on hold will remain on hold until May 15, when final decisions will be made. At that point you will hear a decision of Accept, Alternate, or Refuse. Please note that further updates will not reopen your file or change the committee's decision.

We realize this is an anxious time of waiting and thank you for your understanding and patience."

Gah, that sucks. I mean, objectively speaking you have a better chance of getting in from the hold pool than you did of being one of the 15% post-interview admits, but... yeah. Here's hoping you get a pre-May (maybe post New Year's?) offer.

No change on my admissions portal--it looks the same way it did the day after my interview on 10/14. "You have been invited... Your interview has been scheduled... Take our survey..." But tomorrow will only be five weeks post-interview, so I guess maybe a week or two more makes sense.

 

[SistaYaa]

Accepted.

IS, interviewed 9/30

Good luck!

 

[Northwesterly]

Accepted.

IS, interviewed 9/30

Good luck!

Congratulations!

 

[Molly88]

if you dont mind me askin Sistayaa what are your stats

 

[Dianyla]

Accepted.

IS, interviewed 9/30

Good luck!

Oooh, is this the first acceptance out this year? (At least, that's been posted here on SDN?)

Congrats! 😀

 

[tiedyeddog]

3.7/33 OOS. Would it be wise to send a LOI?

 

[AGLAIA]

Accepted.

IS, interviewed 9/30

Good luck!

Congrats!

 

[Molly88]

aglaia how did they notify you via email or admissions portal status

 

[Molly88]

Accepted.

IS, interviewed 9/30

Good luck!

how did they notify you

 

[byurazorhog]

Interview invite just now. IS, completed 10/20. Scheduled for 1/13, although the earliest choice given before january is 11/30.

 

[ImmortaliaX]

Interview invite just now. IS, completed 10/20. Scheduled for 1/13, although the earliest choice given before january is 11/30.

Congrats on the invite! 👍 May I ask what your stats are and what other choices there were for interview dates? Thanks : )

 

[byurazorhog]

Congrats on the invite! 👍 May I ask what your stats are and what other choices there were for interview dates? Thanks : )

Thanks. My stats are right around the average for OHSU. And here are the dates offered today:

Tuesday, November 30
Tuesday, January 11
Wednesday, January 12
Thursday, January 13
Tuesday, January 18
Wednesday, January 19
Thursday, January 20

 

[SistaYaa]

how did they notify you

It showed up on the portal last week. I got the official email this morning.

 

[Dianyla]

It showed up on the portal last week. I got the official email this morning.

It took 5+ days for the email to arrive? Geez. 😕

 

[Dr. Saturn]

Interview invite just now. IS, completed 10/20. Scheduled for 1/13, although the earliest choice given before january is 11/30.

CONGRATS!!! and best of luck. You are brilliant and will do wonderfully!

Byurazorhog and I were chatting in person the other day, and I mentioned something I posted and we figured out who each other is!! Wonder how many of the rest of you I might know?

 

[Cpck]

Accepted!!!! 🙂 OOS; Interviewed 10/14 Just got the e-mail now. No preemptive portal update though. Good Luck to all!

 

[BullDog4Eva]

Still no complete e-mail despite submitting 2ndary on 09/10.

I'm guessing I should call?

 

[Dianyla]

Accepted!!!! 🙂 OOS; Interviewed 10/14 Just got the e-mail now. No preemptive portal update though. Good Luck to all!

Congrats! 👍

I wonder if they were having an email notification issue that's now fixed?

Still no complete e-mail despite submitting 2ndary on 09/10.

I'm guessing I should call?

You won't get an email saying you're complete, but this status will be reflected online. What does your portal say? I submitted 8/30 and was complete by 9/15.

 

[BullDog4Eva]

AH HA!!! "Your file was complete on 09/27/2010." So I've been an idiot all these times by not checking....

Though I guess I'm as good as rejected. Oh well... 🙁

 

[Northwesterly]

Accepted!!!! 🙂 OOS; Interviewed 10/14 Just got the e-mail now. No preemptive portal update though. Good Luck to all!

Woot! Congrats!

No news yet for this 10/14 interviewee. I've been rechecking the portal and my email all morning. Maybe they input decisions one by one? I guess I'll find out soon.

 

[Dianyla]

AH HA!!! "Your file was complete on 09/27/2010." So I've been an idiot all these times by not checking....

Though I guess I'm as good as rejected. Oh well... 🙁

No way. They're notoriously slow. It's rare to get an interview invite within 4-6 weeks of being complete, and even rarer to get accepted right away ("right away" meaning 6-8 weeks post-interview). Keep the faith!

 

[Dianyla]

No news yet for this 10/14 interviewee. I've been rechecking the portal and my email all morning. Maybe they input decisions one by one? I guess I'll find out soon.

That would suggest you should hear news soon! Unless neither of your interviewers were at the meeting to discuss you. I'm hoping for you!

 

[mariner185]

10/14 as well and still no update. Hopefully later this evening. My updates from OHSU always seem like they don't come through until after 5pm pacific time. Here's to hoping!

 

[Northwesterly]

Here's hoping indeed. My productivity today has been... sub-optimal.

10/14 as well and still no update. Hopefully later this evening. My updates from OHSU always seem like they don't come through until after 5pm pacific time. Here's to hoping!

 

[byurazorhog]

CONGRATS!!! and best of luck. You are brilliant and will do wonderfully!

Byurazorhog and I were chatting in person the other day, and I mentioned something I posted and we figured out who each other is!! Wonder how many of the rest of you I might know?

Dr. Saturn, have u gotten word from OHSU recently? It's still early for OHSU given how many people they seem to have accepted. I have total faith that you'll not only get an interview soon but an acceptance this year. I'm happy to have the invite but am also very nervous. For some reason I just have the feeling that interviews at OHSU are quite uptight and stressful. Haven't checked the interview feedback though.

Btw, Happy Thanksgiving to you...and to all applicants!

 

[Dianyla]

I'm happy to have the invite but am also very nervous. For some reason I just have the feeling that interviews at OHSU are quite uptight and stressful. Haven't checked the interview feedback though.

I think it's relaxed a lot in the last few years. If you read through the interview feedback, you'll notice that in past years there used to be a strong trend towards a "good cop" vs. "bad cop" where you'd get one nice interviewer and one... not so nice. There is at least one interviewer up there who is legendary for playing mindgames like intentionally showing up late, asking you to open a window that's glued shut, pretending to ignore you by looking at his phone/computer while you're talking to him to see how you'll react, that kind of stuff. However, as far as I can tell he seems to not be interviewing this season, since noone I've talked to has gotten him and I haven't seen a trail of bruised and bloodied pre-meds limping around talking about their crazy interview.

Both of my interviewers were very pleasant. One conversation ended up being a lot more reserved/cerebral and the other was very visceral/emotional (but in a good way), and the main thing that impressed me was how thoroughly both of them had read my application. Almost every single question was specific to me, my activities, my experiences. There were very few hypothetical "what would you do if x" types of questions, and I got zero pop quiz, trivia, or fact recall questions. Every other person I talked to on interview day related similar pleasant experiences.

So, know that there's always a chance that you'll get a tough one, but I think they're been working hard to make interviewing a friendlier experience up on Pill Hill. I think you'll do just fine! 🙂

 

[Dianyla]

Here's hoping indeed. My productivity today has been... sub-optimal.

Ugh, I can sympathize! It's fine when I don't expect any updates, but any time something happens in my app that suggests "news soon!" I become completely useless!

I'm still mildly traumatized from the MCAT score wait a year and a half ago, when mine didn't come out until 9:30pm Pacific time. I got absolutely nothing done all day. 🙄

 

[Northwesterly]

I agree with Dianyla. I didn't get anything approaching a "gotcha" question in either interview. Any time you have an important interview it's going to be stressful, but FWIW it really seemed like they meant what they said about trying to "get to know you."

 

[Nickdawg]

On hold, according to the portal. No email update. Interviewed on 10/14...

 

[Northwesterly]

Anyone else from the 10/12 or 10/14 interview dates heard anything? I'm half inclined to give a call and see if we're likely to hear anything before the week of the 5th, since I'm assuming the Adcoms won't meet this week.
Happy (almost) thanksgiving, folks!

 

[Northwesterly]

[double post, sorry]

 

[n31387]

Anyone else from the 10/12 or 10/14 interview dates heard anything? I'm half inclined to give a call and see if we're likely to hear anything before the week of the 5th, since I'm assuming the Adcoms won't meet this week.
Happy (almost) thanksgiving, folks!

I too interviewed on 10/14 and haven't heard a peep. I called earlier today and left a message but haven't heard back. Here is to a long and not-so-relaxing weekend of even more waiting Good luck everyone and Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[drfancypants]

Anyone else from the 10/12 or 10/14 interview dates heard anything? I'm half inclined to give a call and see if we're likely to hear anything before the week of the 5th, since I'm assuming the Adcoms won't meet this week.
Happy (almost) thanksgiving, folks!

hey northwesterly, i interviewed on 10/12 and received a hold status on my secondary portal (no updates via email) exactly six weeks later on tuesday morning.

congrats to all who've received acceptances, by the way! ya'll definitely earned it.

 

[Northwesterly]

Interesting. I guess I'll just hope there's no lump of coal in my stocking tomorrow.

hey northwesterly, i interviewed on 10/12 and received a hold status on my secondary portal (no updates via email) exactly six weeks later on tuesday morning.

congrats to all who've received acceptances, by the way! ya'll definitely earned it.

 

[Dianyla]

Interesting. I guess I'll just hope there's no lump of coal in my stocking tomorrow.

Oh, that's the other thing that's been on my mind! My six weeks post-interview date is going to fall between Christmas and NY.

Some schools seem to take holidays into account when delivering news. Last year on the UCSF thread a very few people got positive answers 1-2 days before Christmas and the rejections (from comparable interview dates) didn't show up until afterwards.

Maybe that's just a coincidence, maybe not. But it doesn't help but add to the paranoia! 🙄

 

[Northwesterly]

Last year on the UCSF thread a very few people got positive answers 1-2 days before Christmas and the rejections (from comparable interview dates) didn't show up until afterwards.

Maybe that's just a coincidence, maybe not. But it doesn't help but add to the paranoia! 🙄

Ha. I'm gonna file that under "well intentioned but ultimately crazy-making." 🙂

 

[Dianyla]

Ha. I'm gonna file that under "well intentioned but ultimately crazy-making." 🙂

Oh yes, it is certainly well intentioned. 😳

I tend to think OHSU doesn't consider such things. They move at their own timeline, free from all external influences and pressures.

 

[URHere]

They move at their own timeline, free from all external influences and pressures.

I've been here for three years now, and I still think of OHSU as a little tree-top elf village, separated from the rest of the world by a tram-accessible bubble.

/randomness.

 

[Northwesterly]

I've been here for three years now, and I still think of OHSU as a little tree-top elf village, separated from the rest of the world by a tram-accessible bubble.

/randomness.

So *that* explains the pointy ears!