2011-2012 Oregon Health & Sciences University Application Thread

[anon747]

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I think to be an academic mission-based applicant it's either a GPA >/=3.65 OR an MCAT >/=32, which you have.

The website says: "For this admissions cycle, superior academics is defined as a cumulative Total GPA, as reported by AMCAS, of 3.65 or higher & most recent eligible MCAT of 32 or higher."

So this would suggest that they require both. And also, I would think that if I had been categorized as mission-based then I would have gotten an interview earlier in the cycle.

Regardless of these questions that are floating in my mind, I'm thrilled to be getting an interview, and I'm really looking forward to it.🙂

 

[ScribeDavid]

Oh geez I feel a little dumb now, I kept replacing the "&" with the "or" right before it haha.

 

[Handinhand]

I would imagine that a lot of OOS students who are offered acceptances decline them because of the high cost of tuition and attendance at OHSU. I think it's pretty safe to say that if you're OOS and get accepted to OHSU, you're also going to be accepted elsewhere and I'm guessing that a lot of these students decide to attend other schools.

Just trying to explain the skewed numbers posted a few back.

Also, I'm not in the OOS mission-group (36S MCAT and ~3.55, although my last 3 years were well over 3.7), and I never received a rejection a few weeks back when everyone else seemed to. My account still says complete since 10/9, but I'm assuming their updated message is a "silent" rejection.

Who knows...

 

[music2doc]

The website says: "For this admissions cycle, superior academics is defined as a cumulative Total GPA, as reported by AMCAS, of 3.65 or higher & most recent eligible MCAT of 32 or higher."

So this would suggest that they require both. And also, I would think that if I had been categorized as mission-based then I would have gotten an interview earlier in the cycle.

Regardless of these questions that are floating in my mind, I'm thrilled to be getting an interview, and I'm really looking forward to it.🙂

I would guess there is some wiggle room here. Your GPA, if averaged (sGPA & cGPA), beats the requirement and your MCAT is far above the requirement. At my interview day, one of the administrators stated that they had yet to even look at applicants outside their mission groups "and had not invited any to interview outside that group in several years"....

 

[anon747]

I would guess there is some wiggle room here. Your GPA, if averaged (sGPA & cGPA), beats the requirement and your MCAT is far above the requirement. At my interview day, one of the administrators stated that they had yet to even look at applicants outside their mission groups "and had not invited any to interview outside that group in several years"....

Huh, that's interesting. Out of curiosity, when was your interview?

 

[stay gold]

Anyone interviewing tomorrow?

 

[Dianyla]

there's no way submitting your secondary in February could help your original application.

Exactly. This must be priming people for next year's app cycle.

Well, I stand corrected. This morning I noticed this new message in the portal:

2/7/2012


Applicants to the 2012 admissions cycle:

We are still reviewing applications. If the OHSU Admissions Portal shows that your file is complete and you have not heard from us yet, we will send you notification through the portal within the next few weeks. Thank you for your patience.

For applicants who have not submitted the OHSU secondary application and are still interested in applying to the OHSU School of Medicine for the 2012 cycle, please log onto the portal and access the secondary application. If you choose to apply, the final submission deadline for all applicants is February 15, 2012.

Please carefully read all instructions and all supporting documentation including the Secondary Application FAQ before filling out the application. Please note that as stated in the secondary application instructions, it is the admissions policy of the School of Medicine to give preference to the following applicants:


Residents of Oregon
WICHE-certified residents of Montana and Wyoming
M.D./Ph.D. and M.D./M.P.H. candidates
Non-resident applicants with superior achievements in academics and other related experiences. (For this admissions cycle, superior academics is defined as a cumulative Total GPA, as reported by AMCAS, of 3.65 or higher & most recent eligible MCAT of 32 or higher.)
Applicants identified as Diversity applicants, through a holistic review of their application.

At this time we want to inform you that placement in the entering class of 2012 cannot be offered to applicants outside of these preference groups.

Please continue to check the Admissions Portal for the most up-to-date information concerning your file.

I've never heard of this extra round of secondaries that could be submitted in February. In my opinion, this suggests that they don't feel they have received enough quality or diversity of applications this year.

Very curious indeed...

 

[Simplify]

It is definitely curious. However, to be frank, they should stop dredging for late applications (and thus money) and instead provide expeditious decisions to people who have already submitted their applications--on time or early, I might add--as well as paid a fee to have said applications reviewed, presumably in some semblance of a timely manner.

 

[mybubbles627]

Well, I stand corrected. This morning I noticed this new message in the portal:


I've never heard of this extra round of secondaries that could be submitted in February. In my opinion, this suggests that they don't feel they have received enough quality or diversity of applications this year.

Very curious indeed...

What do you mean by extra round of secondaries? Has the deadline not always been February 15th?

 

[Dianyla]

It is definitely curious. However, to be frank, they should stop dredging for late applications (and thus money) and instead provide expeditious decisions to people who have already submitted their applications--on time or early, I might add--as well as paid a fee to have said applications reviewed, presumably in some semblance of a timely manner.

That was my very first thought - they want more secondary fees!

What do you mean by extra round of secondaries? Has the deadline not always been February 15th?

That may have always been the theoretical latest possible deadline. However, I don't see how it's relevant to most applicants. OHSU's AMCAS deadline is October 15th. The final transcript deadline for AMCAS to forward to OHSU was like 10/31. Let's say that the office takes a leisurely 6 weeks to receive your completed primary app, which puts you at mid-December. Then you're given a deadline of 30 days (from the date that they acknowledge your existence) to complete your secondary.

It's hard to see how any one applicant's personal deadline for submitting their secondary is any later than mid-January.

What appears to be happening is people who had sent a primary app to OHSU and never completed their secondary are getting a "Are you sure you really don't want to give us $100?" solicitation email. I guess the admissions staff must not have enough work to do. 🙄

 

[Simplify]

What appears to be happening is people who had sent a primary app to OHSU and never completed their secondary are getting a "Are you sure you really don't want to give us $100?" solicitation email. I guess the admissions staff must not have enough work to do. 🙄

^ I absolutely agree.

 

[tcc08]

After looking at their list of mission-based applicants, what groups of applicants would be considered under the "diversity" category?

 

[GoZags]

After looking at their list of mission-based applicants, what groups of applicants would be considered under the "diversity" category?

URM or anything that stands out from their survey Im guessing. They have that demographic survey in their secondary. Economically disadvantaged or any other adversity growing up

 

[eatsleepmed]

Perhaps someone has already asked this is.. but is there a cap to how many applicants they are interviewing this year in relation to past years?

 

[JRG]

Perhaps someone has already asked this is.. but is there a cap to how many applicants they are interviewing this year in relation to past years?

Well I don't think there is any sort of cap but during our interview day they did say that with the mmi's this year they are interviewing less people than other years. ~400 interviews offered. That's in relation to last year which was somewhere around 600 I think. Sorry I don't remember the exact #'s.

 

[music2doc]

Well I don't think there is any sort of cap but during our interview day they did say that with the mmi's this year they are interviewing less people than other years. ~400 interviews offered. That's in relation to last year which was somewhere around 600 I think. Sorry I don't remember the exact #'s.

I recall 480 being mentioned when I interviewed, but the number may have changed since then. I certainly wouldn't mind if it had gone down to 400... 😉

 

[stay gold]

Perhaps someone has already asked this is.. but is there a cap to how many applicants they are interviewing this year in relation to past years?

These were the numbers I remember being given on my interview day:
~ 480 interviews
~ 120 - 200 people will be put on hold and then ranked for the waitlist on May 15th.
After giving out ALL acceptance offers including to those people on the waitlist, OHSU will have given out ~250 total offers.
HOWEVER, they will only be giving out 136 (their class size) offers at a time (unlike most schools who usually give out more acceptances than their class size at a time with the anticipation that many will not matriculate).

Hope this is helpful to someone, and please do correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[mybubbles627]

These were the numbers I remember being given on my interview day:
~ 480 interviews
~ 120 - 200 people will be put on hold and then ranked for the waitlist on May 15th.
After giving out ALL acceptance offers including to those people on the waitlist, OHSU will have given out ~250 total offers.
HOWEVER, they will only be giving out 136 (their class size) offers at a time (unlike most schools who usually give out more acceptances than their class size at a time with the anticipation that many will not matriculate).

Hope this is helpful to someone, and please do correct me if I'm wrong.

On my day I remember them telling us that
1) They usually interview about 550+ people but due to the new MMI system they would only interview about 500.
2) They also said that because of the new MMI process the majority of applicants would be placed on hold at the beginning so they could get an idea of numbers and scores.
3) The wait list would be 120-200 people.
4) In the past if you were placed on hold you would remain on hold till May, but because of this new system if placed on hold you could hear anytime from being put on hold till May.
5) About 225-250 TOTAL acceptance offers depending on wait list movement.

If only 120-200 people are placed on hold post interview, are you saying they said the rest are accepted or rejected post interview? Or are you saying that the wait list will be 120-200 people, cause that's what I remember being told. I know that last year if you were placed on hold post interview, it didn't guarantee a wait list spot. I may be interpreting wrong but it sound like you are saying anyone on hold post interview is wait listed which doesn't seem quite right to me. Can you maybe clarify a little what you meant?

 

[stay gold]

On my day I remember them telling us that
1) They usually interview about 550+ people but due to the new MMI system they would only interview about 500.
2) They also said that because of the new MMI process the majority of applicants would be placed on hold at the beginning so they could get an idea of numbers and scores.
3) The wait list would be 120-200 people.
4) In the past if you were placed on hold you would remain on hold till May, but because of this new system if placed on hold you could hear anytime from being put on hold till May.
5) About 225-250 TOTAL acceptance offers depending on wait list movement.

If only 120-200 people are placed on hold post interview, are you saying they said the rest are accepted or rejected post interview? Or are you saying that the wait list will be 120-200 people, cause that's what I remember being told. I know that last year if you were placed on hold post interview, it didn't guarantee a wait list spot. I may be interpreting wrong but it sound like you are saying anyone on hold post interview is wait listed which doesn't seem quite right to me. Can you maybe clarify a little what you meant?

Yes, sorry, I meant that 120-200 would be ranked on a waitlist after being placed on hold; I assume not everyone placed on hold will be ranked.

 

[mgill52]

I'm still really hoping to get an interview invite! Portland is my home!

 

[Dianyla]

Interview invite this morning. Available dates offered ranged from 2/17 to 3/23, for those of you keeping track of such things. 🙂

 

[ScribeDavid]

Interview invite this morning as well. Complete 11/9.

 

[MedSchoolGirl88]

would those of you that got interview invites just within the past two weeks or so mind sharing your mcat/gpa just so I can compare and see what my changes at an interview invite might be at this point. I'm now still on a pre-interview hold..

 

[mybubbles627]

Interview invite this morning. Available dates offered ranged from 2/17 to 3/23, for those of you keeping track of such things. 🙂

Congrats to you and ScribeDavid! Talk about not much notice for a slot this Friday. I wonder if their was a cancellation that day. I wonder how much longer they will give invites out for since 3/23 is pretty close to their final interview day of 4/6. Good luck to both of you.

 

[MedSchoolGirl88]

the should be still giving enough interview invites to fill all those slots from 2/17 - 4/6. I bet few of those are already taken. I guess the question would be how many people per interview day? then that number multiplied by 8 interview days left 🙂 Hope I get one..

 

[mybubbles627]

the should be still giving enough interview invites to fill all those slots from 2/17 - 4/6. I bet few of those are already taken. I guess the question would be how many people per interview day? then that number multiplied by 8 interview days left 🙂 Hope I get one..

Not sure if that is the best logic to go by cause that is assuming that all the interview days still have the same number of open slots. When I interviewed there were 16 people total. That should be the number for all days cause 8 people for the morning group, 8 people for the afternoon group. OHSU gives 3-4 days as options for you to choose from. If the options ranged from 2/17-3/23 that means some days in between are already full and weren't offered because there are more then 3-4 dates during that time span. I definitely agree they will continue to give invites until the dates are full and will give out additional invites if people turn an interview down or initially accept one then change their mind. I guess the better question isn't the amount of time left they will give out interviews, but the amount of interviews left to give out. Good luck to you. I hope you get one too.

 

[Dianyla]

Congrats to you and ScribeDavid! Talk about not much notice for a slot this Friday. I wonder if their was a cancellation that day. I wonder how much longer they will give invites out for since 3/23 is pretty close to their final interview day of 4/6. Good luck to both of you.

Thanks! I replied very quickly to the invite email hoping to grab this Friday and just get it over with.

But they scheduled me for a later date in March. Who knows...

 

[Northwesterly]

Interview invite this morning. Available dates offered ranged from 2/17 to 3/23, for those of you keeping track of such things. 🙂

Congrats!!

 

[Dianyla]

Congrats!!

Thanks! I'm really looking forward to the doggy agility courseMMI format! 😎

 

[VeniceQueen]

Just scheduled my interview! March 3rd at 10:30 am 🙂 I'm really excited.

Is anyone else interviewing this date/time? Maybe we could split a cab to the airport!

 

[Dianyla]

Just scheduled my interview! March 3rd at 10:30 am 🙂 I'm really excited.

Is anyone else interviewing this date/time? Maybe we could split a cab to the airport!

On Saturday? Sure you don't mean Friday March 2nd? If so I'll see you there.

Which reminds me, I need to double-check the time. The interview invite email says that March 2nd activities start at 10:15, but the email I got back confirming the date said to check in by 8am...

 

[Yraqi]

I want to send an in area email. Does anyone have an email address for the admissions office?

 

[MedSchoolGirl88]

Can anyone answer who qualifies for an exit interview with the school?

 

[Northwesterly]

Can anyone answer who qualifies for an exit interview with the school?

There may be others who qualify, but so far as I know it's available to interviewed candidates who have been rejected. You can schedule an exit interview starting in June.

 

[Ahson]

On Saturday? Sure you don't mean Friday March 2nd? If so I'll see you there.

Which reminds me, I need to double-check the time. The interview invite email says that March 2nd activities start at 10:15, but the email I got back confirming the date said to check in by 8am...

Try to be there at 8:00. Everything starts by about 8:30, but it is a pretty hard building to find, unless your familiar with the campus of course. When I interviewed, there were a few people that walked in late because they couldn't find the building and the room. If your driving there, finding the parking booth is kinda tricky as well, its at the bottom of the hill, and my understanding is that you cannot park near the interview building. I would suggest trying to scope out the campus the night before your interview. Specifically find emma jones hall (if thats where your interview is being held), the parking booths, and the parking lots relative to emma jones..

And good luck!

 

[mybubbles627]

Can anyone answer who qualifies for an exit interview with the school?

I initially thought it was only for applicants who interviewed and were rejected, but then I also heard that you can do it even if you didn't get an interview. They may only do that over the phone instead of in person if you didn't recieve an interview. Also, they only start doing exit interviews in June so you wouldn't be able to get feedback before then.

 

[mgill52]

Pre-Interview Refuse. 🙁🙁🙁🙁

This one was tough. I guess I'm not going to be living in Portland anymore. Ugh.

 

[VeniceQueen]

Oh right, Friday March 2nd, oops. That doesn't sound right, though - my email says to check in to Emma Jones Hall at 10:15am, which is when the orientation starts.

On Saturday? Sure you don't mean Friday March 2nd? If so I'll see you there.

Which reminds me, I need to double-check the time. The interview invite email says that March 2nd activities start at 10:15, but the email I got back confirming the date said to check in by 8am...

 

[music2doc]

Oh right, Friday March 2nd, oops. That doesn't sound right, though - my email says to check in to Emma Jones Hall at 10:15am, which is when the orientation starts.

You might want to call and ask. Are you in the AM or PM group? This could make a difference... I know for mine, the MMI itself began right around 10am. The check-in was definitely 8-8:30 with a request to be there by 8:15.... I know I aimed to be there at 8am sharp b/c it's tough to find and I wanted to give myself plenty of extra time.

 

[furyhecla]

Does anyone have this message on their portal page?

"Your file has been screened and is currently on hold for an interview, pending further review"

They say that I may not be notified until mid-February...

I think I am in their mission group (barely)- I have a 3.65 GPA and 32Q, OOS.

I am wondering if anyone has any insights regarding this message...

 

[mybubbles627]

Does anyone have this message on their portal page?

"Your file has been screened and is currently on hold for an interview, pending further review"

They say that I may not be notified until mid-February...

I think I am in their mission group (barely)- I have a 3.65 GPA and 32Q, OOS.

I am wondering if anyone has any insights regarding this message...

I never had this message, but my interpretation of it would be that they have reviewed your file and they decided two things. 1) It wasn't weak enough to get a straight rejection but 2)It wasn't strong enough to receive an outright interview invitation. So they put you in the hold pile to be reviewed again later in the cycle. Therefore, they probably want to finish reviewing the remaining applications they have left, if there aren't enough people from that remaining group that they want to give interviews to/people withdraw from an interview or don't accept an invite, then they will move to the interview hold pool. Depending on how many interviews are left to give out, and how many people are in the hold pool will then dictate who/how many people from the "hold to interview" pool will receive an invite. OHSU interviews into the first week of April so it is very possible that people in the hold for interview pool could hear from them up to early/mid march. Just my thoughts though. I could be completely wrong. You could always call the school and ask when they will be reviewing the "hold to interview" pool since it says that you are pending further review.

 

[PNW4]

Is anyone who interviewed recently able to share if the admissions department explained how many acceptances had gone out, if any students will be pulled off the hold list to fill the class by the AAMC recommended deadline, or anything else?

 

[rgll]

Is anyone who interviewed recently able to share if the admissions department explained how many acceptances had gone out, if any students will be pulled off the hold list to fill the class by the AAMC recommended deadline, or anything else?

Is it only "recommended" or is it "mandatory"? I hope it's the latter.

 

[Northwesterly]

Is it only "recommended" or is it "mandatory"? I hope it's the latter.

It's "recommend." ("The AAMC recommends that... 4. By March 30 of the matriculation year, March 15 for M.D.-Ph.D. programs, each school or program have issued a number of offers of acceptance at least equal to the expected number of students in its first-year entering class and have reported those acceptance actions to the AAMC Section for Medical School Application Services.")

Interestingly enough, *all* of the traffic rules are listed as recommendations. This includes the May 15th deadline for holding only 1 acceptance, the October 15th deadline for giving out non-early decisions, maximum acceptance deposits, the whole shebang. And I'm not positive, but I got the impression from the Drexel thread that they specifically don't follow the recommendation of making the deposit refundable before May 15th. So really, who knows.

But... yeah. I wouldn't expect a huge flood of pre-April acceptances. Hope for the best, and all that, but most likely OHSU's new interview format is only going to stretch things out, not speed them up. (And whether or not every school follows the March 30th guideline, we can at least be thankful that they all seem to abide by the May 15th one. )

 

[Kekeirda]

It's "recommend." ("The AAMC recommends that... 4. By March 30 of the matriculation year, March 15 for M.D.-Ph.D. programs, each school or program have issued a number of offers of acceptance at least equal to the expected number of students in its first-year entering class and have reported those acceptance actions to the AAMC Section for Medical School Application Services.")

Interestingly enough, *all* of the traffic rules are listed as recommendations. This includes the May 15th deadline for holding only 1 acceptance, the October 15th deadline for giving out non-early decisions, maximum acceptance deposits, the whole shebang. And I'm not positive, but I got the impression from the Drexel thread that they specifically don't follow the recommendation of making the deposit refundable before May 15th. So really, who knows.

But... yeah. I wouldn't expect a huge flood of pre-April acceptances. Hope for the best, and all that, but most likely OHSU's new interview format is only going to stretch things out, not speed them up. (And whether or not every school follows the March 30th guideline, we can at least be thankful that they all seem to abide by the May 15th one. )

When i interviewed here last month it sounded like they didn't do most of their decision making until April and May (mostly May). But I could have been mistaken (please tell me I heard wrong).

 

[mybubbles627]

When i interviewed here last month it sounded like they didn't do most of their decision making until April and May (mostly May). But I could have been mistaken (please tell me I heard wrong).

I wish I could correct you, but that seems to be the general consensus.

Anyone out there still getting interview invites? I interviewed 12/16 and sadly was put on hold with the majority of people. Any news from people with later interview dates?

 

[Rooney124]

Just got an interview invite on Tuesday, so they're still happening. Definitely made my day, as it was the first new II since mid-December.

Submitted 10/11/11, "Complete" 12/14/11

Also, this is my first SDN post after lurking for months. Feels good.

 

[TheHouse]

I'll get in on the lurker coming out party here. Interviewed 1/6, but no word yet. I'll update when I hear news but until then just watching the pot as it tries to boil.

 

[Neuralbunny]

Just got an interview invite on Tuesday, so they're still happening. Definitely made my day, as it was the first new II since mid-December.

Submitted 10/11/11, "Complete" 12/14/11

Also, this is my first SDN post after lurking for months. Feels good.

You were complete 3 days before me, therefore I'm hoping for an II today 😉

 

[Rooney124]

You were complete 3 days before me, therefore I'm hoping for an II today 😉

Hope your logic is correct. I'll keep my fingers crossed for ya 🙂 Lord knows we've waited long enough.