2013-2014 Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine

BU Medical Sciences
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Man ... this secondary ........................ is a pain.
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Dianyla said:
No kidding. I'm so not looking forward to answering these same questions for the third time. :eek:
Click to expand...

Your dedication is admirable. This secondary is more time-consuming than the next 3 longest combined!
 
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Hi all -

What is the character limit on the diversity question? Is it 2,000 characters?
 
Haven't got the secondary yet, but already dreading the effort it will require.

-_-
 
Thanks for the heads up on the longer char. limit.

Best of luck on that 2ndary, y'all. 'Tis a beast
 
what are the chances of getting an interview if I have a 3.75 cgpa but a 31 mcat? The mcat score is close but 1 below what they require for their mission based group :(
 
piesrsquared said:
what are the chances of getting an interview if I have a 3.75 cgpa but a 31 mcat? The mcat score is close but 1 below what they require for their mission based group :(
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Are you IS or OOS? Look at my MDapps. I had a 3.6 and a 31, interviewed pretty early.

If you are OOS, then not very good chances. They have not had to look outside the mission based groups for many years. If you are IS, then you have a good shot.

Make sure your secondary essays are good. They, along with the MMI, are 40% of your "score," another 20% are from your stats, and the last 40% are from your on-on-one interviewer.

Stats get you in the door. Essays get you an interview, and the interview gets you the spot.

Good luck.

dsoz
 
^^^ For secondaries, how did you go about answering "What experience have you had that has given your insight into the patients you hope to eventually serve?" and "What will be your greatest challenge in becoming a physician?"

For #1, is it like a specific example? Or is it like ... experiences you've had giving insight, such as shadowing, volunteering, etc.
For #2, would that be the path on becoming a physician? Or during your time as a doctor?

These essays seem slightly ambiguous ... xD
 
So I got the e-mail for a secondary... but when I logged in it says that I haven't.... hmmmm anyone else have this problem?
 
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joonage said:
^^^ For secondaries, how did you go about answering "What experience have you had that has given your insight into the patients you hope to eventually serve?" and "What will be your greatest challenge in becoming a physician?"

For #1, is it like a specific example? Or is it like ... experiences you've had giving insight, such as shadowing, volunteering, etc.
For #2, would that be the path on becoming a physician? Or during your time as a doctor?

These essays seem slightly ambiguous ... xD
Click to expand...

For #1, I wrote about my experiences as a non-traditional in the job market, raising a family, and working with a diverse population.

For #2, my challenge was able to be used for both getting into med school, and post med school as a physician. Be sure to know how to overcome the challenge. I know it is vague, but that is all I can give you. If you read last years thread, people wrote both types of situations, and most were able to score interviews.

I will say that this was the most difficult secondary that I encountered. First because I grew up in Oregon under the shadow of the hill. I really wanted this acceptance so I would not uproot my family. Second because the questions were so intense. No other school had questions this in-depth.

My strategy was to not look at them as separate essays, but as a way to tell ONE story from different perspectives. I made sure that the story flowed from one essay prompt to the next. By the end of the essays, the reader had a pretty good grasp of why I was applying there. My interviewer even commented on how my essays were so connected.

The essays are ambiguous for a reason (I think). It could be so that they don't get 5000 of them back that all look the same. They are looking for information to talk with you about at the interview.

dsoz
 
dsoz said:
Are you IS or OOS? Look at my MDapps. I had a 3.6 and a 31, interviewed pretty early.

If you are OOS, then not very good chances. They have not had to look outside the mission based groups for many years. If you are IS, then you have a good shot.

Make sure your secondary essays are good. They, along with the MMI, are 40% of your "score," another 20% are from your stats, and the last 40% are from your on-on-one interviewer.

Stats get you in the door. Essays get you an interview, and the interview gets you the spot.

Good luck.

dsoz
Click to expand...

DSOZ,

Hey so has Oregon really not given any acceptances to OOS people unless you are in a mission-based group? I am from Idaho, but I am a resident of Utah now and I would love to go to Oregon but I don't fit into a mission-based group. However I do have very competitive stats, 35 & 3.8. But it sounds like I am still a long shot here?
 
dsoz said:
For #1, I wrote about my experiences as a non-traditional in the job market, raising a family, and working with a diverse population.

For #2, my challenge was able to be used for both getting into med school, and post med school as a physician. Be sure to know how to overcome the challenge. I know it is vague, but that is all I can give you. If you read last years thread, people wrote both types of situations, and most were able to score interviews.

I will say that this was the most difficult secondary that I encountered. First because I grew up in Oregon under the shadow of the hill. I really wanted this acceptance so I would not uproot my family. Second because the questions were so intense. No other school had questions this in-depth.

My strategy was to not look at them as separate essays, but as a way to tell ONE story from different perspectives. I made sure that the story flowed from one essay prompt to the next. By the end of the essays, the reader had a pretty good grasp of why I was applying there. My interviewer even commented on how my essays were so connected.

The essays are ambiguous for a reason (I think). It could be so that they don't get 5000 of them back that all look the same. They are looking for information to talk with you about at the interview.

dsoz
Click to expand...

:thumbup: Thanks! Yeah, this secondary and perhaps Case's and Loyola's are probably the hardest secondaries ....

runningdude said:
DSOZ,

Hey so has Oregon really not given any acceptances to OOS people unless you are in a mission-based group? I am from Idaho, but I am a resident of Utah now and I would love to go to Oregon but I don't fit into a mission-based group. However I do have very competitive stats, 35 & 3.8. But it sounds like I am still a long shot here?
Click to expand...

Hmm .. I believe 3.65+/32+ are considered in the mission-based group. That's a key reason why I'm still applying to OHSU.
 
I think it just takes a little while for the application portal to be updated. I got the secondary email yesterday and on the website it said that I hadn't received it. I was considering calling them but my status ending up changing this morning.
 
joonage said:
Hmm .. I believe 3.65+/32+ are considered in the mission-based group. That's a key reason why I'm still applying to OHSU.
Click to expand...

I hope that is true; however, I understood the mission-based group as the following,

Oregon Heritage is defined as
1) A student with one or both parents
residing in Oregon at the time of application,
2) A student who graduated
from high school in Oregon with at least two years at a high school in
Oregon, or
3) A student who graduated from an Oregon institution of
higher education with a bachelor’s or advanced degree with at least two
years of attendance at an institution of higher education in Oregon
 
runningdude said:
DSOZ,

Hey so has Oregon really not given any acceptances to OOS people unless you are in a mission-based group? I am from Idaho, but I am a resident of Utah now and I would love to go to Oregon but I don't fit into a mission-based group. However I do have very competitive stats, 35 & 3.8. But it sounds like I am still a long shot here?
Click to expand...

Anecdotal, n=1, grain of salt, etc., but I know someone that got an interview last year that applied straight MD, and was OOS from Iowa, no ties to OR other than some friends we both knew while in Japan. She had a 3.5 cGPA, 34 MCAT, nontrad. I don't know if she got in or not. I'm guessing a unique, compelling background can give you a shot at an interview but that an acceptance means you'll have to totally rock the interview. People with similarly compelling backgrounds that meet the mission based group guidelines would get preference for acceptance.
 
runningdude said:
I hope that is true; however, I understood the mission-based group as the following,

Oregon Heritage is defined as
1) A student with one or both parents
residing in Oregon at the time of application,
2) A student who graduated
from high school in Oregon with at least two years at a high school in
Oregon, or
3) A student who graduated from an Oregon institution of
higher education with a bachelor’s or advanced degree with at least two
years of attendance at an institution of higher education in Oregon
Click to expand...

This is where I got my info: http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/education/sc...admissions/academic-and-selection-factors.cfm

MISSION-BASED GROUPS

The committee adheres to a policy of equal opportunity and non-discrimination on the basis of sex, age, race, ethnic origin, religion, disability, military service, sexual orientation, or any other status protected by law. The School of Medicine gives preference to the following applicants:

-Residents of Oregon.
- Non-resident applicants with Oregon Heritage. The School of Medicine uses the Oregon Heritage Policy for student selection, but it is not used as a basis for determining residency, and therefore the tuition a student pays. Oregon Heritage is defined as 1) A student with one or both parents residing in Oregon at the time of application, 2) A student who graduated from high school in Oregon with at least two years at a high school in Oregon, or 3) A student who graduated from an Oregon institution of higher education with a bachelor’s or advanced degree with at least two years of attendance at an institution of higher education in Oregon.
- WICHE-Certified residents of Montana and Wyoming.
- Applicants applying to the M.D./Ph.D. Combined Degree Program.
- Applicants applying to the M.D./M.P.H. Combined Degree Program.
- Non-resident applicants with superior achievements in academics and other related experiences. For the 2014 cycle, superior academics is defined as a cumulative Total GPA, as reported by AMCAS, of 3.65 or higher and a cumulative score of 32 or higher on the most-recent eligible MCAT.
-The School of Medicine Admissions Committee fully recognizes the importance of diversity in its student body and in the physician workforce in providing for effective delivery of health care. Accordingly, the OHSU School of Medicine strongly encourages applications from persons from all socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, religious, and educational backgrounds and from persons from groups underrepresented in medicine.
Click to expand...

So hopefully we count! :thumbup:
 
runningdude said:
DSOZ,

Hey so has Oregon really not given any acceptances to OOS people unless you are in a mission-based group? I am from Idaho, but I am a resident of Utah now and I would love to go to Oregon but I don't fit into a mission-based group. However I do have very competitive stats, 35 & 3.8. But it sounds like I am still a long shot here?
Click to expand...

joonage said:
This is where I got my info: http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/education/sc...admissions/academic-and-selection-factors.cfm



So hopefully we count! :thumbup:
Click to expand...

If you fit in the "high stats" category, greater than 3.65 and 32, then you ARE in a mission based group. There are a lot of people in this years entering class that seem to be from OOS.

I am getting my information from the interview day when the presenter was talking about 5000 primaries, 2500 secondaries, ~500 interviews for 140 spots. None of the interviews from the past few years were from outside the mission based groups. But high stats is a mission based group.

dsoz
 
dsoz said:
If you fit in the "high stats" category, greater than 3.65 and 32, then you ARE in a mission based group. There are a lot of people in this years entering class that seem to be from OOS.

I am getting my information from the interview day when the presenter was talking about 5000 primaries, 2500 secondaries, ~500 interviews for 140 spots. None of the interviews from the past few years were from outside the mission based groups. But high stats is a mission based group.

dsoz
Click to expand...

This is great news! Thanks for responding. I guess it is well worth spending several days on these essays.
 
Just submitted.

Word of advice, type your essays in word and not in the boxes provided. Server timeout is a beezy ..... especially after spending 30+ minutes writing 3000 character adversity essay ... ugh.
 
Got verified this morning and received a secondary 1 hour after!! IS and prewrote this one. Hopefully will get it out early next week. Good luck everyone!
 
I miss Portland! I'm OOS but with pretty significant "Oregon heritage," and I fall into the high stats group, so I think I'm ok. It'd be awesome to go back. I always feel like such a traitor at the UW-UofO football games.

Only issue is the OOS tuition. It's the most expensive school on my list by about 10,000 dollars a year!

Also - is it just me, or is their secondary basically the worst job interview you've ever had? My partner winced when I showed him the questions.
 
i have a 3.61/34Q, OOS. i know its a long shot since theyre so focused on their mission statement. hope theyre just a tiny bit lax on the rules and i dont get weeded out right away

oh well i knew itd be a risk, i got all my other schools to depend on then
 
On the secondary app, the section titled "Employment/Activities History" seems to be almost identical to the primary "Work/Activities" section of the primary app. Anyone think it would seem lazy to copy the same responses from the primary onto this section of the secondary, but also possibly adding a few extra?

Thanks!
 
Hi guys! Can anyone post the secondary prompts? Thanks so much
 
DocTheFuture said:
Hi guys! Can anyone post the secondary prompts? Thanks so much
Click to expand...

Question 1 - What experience have you had that has given you insight into the patients you hope to eventually serve?
Question 2 - What will be your greatest challenge in becoming a physician?
Question 3 - Give an example of a time when you tried your best to work with a person or a group but the problems still remained. What did you learn from the experience?
Question 4 - Describe a time when you did not receive what you felt you deserved, and how you reacted.
Question 5 - Give an example of personal feedback in the last few years that was difficult to receive. How did you respond?
Question 6 - Please discuss the diversity that you would bring to the OHSU School of Medicine and the profession of medicine.

Prompt 1-5 are 1500 characters. Prompt 6 is 2000 characters.

Good luck. They are rough.

dsoz
 
dsoz said:
Question 1 - What experience have you had that has given you insight into the patients you hope to eventually serve?
Question 2 - What will be your greatest challenge in becoming a physician?
Question 3 - Give an example of a time when you tried your best to work with a person or a group but the problems still remained. What did you learn from the experience?
Question 4 - Describe a time when you did not receive what you felt you deserved, and how you reacted.
Question 5 - Give an example of personal feedback in the last few years that was difficult to receive. How did you respond?
Question 6 - Please discuss the diversity that you would bring to the OHSU School of Medicine and the profession of medicine.

Prompt 1-5 are 1500 characters. Prompt 6 is 2000 characters.

Good luck. They are rough.

dsoz
Click to expand...

Thanks so much!!
 
Dianyla said:
No kidding. I'm so not looking forward to answering these same questions for the third time. :eek:
Click to expand...

Good luck Dianyla. Just remember it took me the 4th time of applying to get into med school and that has no bearings on how Ive done in med school. I just got a great step 1 score and am now starting my PhD. Just know that with OHSU, persistence pays off. Hope this is the last time for you, I remember how much this whole process sucks.
 
chuck84 said:
Good luck Dianyla. Just remember it took me the 4th time of applying to get into med school and that has no bearings on how Ive done in med school. I just got a great step 1 score and am now starting my PhD. Just know that with OHSU, persistence pays off. Hope this is the last time for you, I remember how much this whole process sucks.
Click to expand...

Hey I just wanted to know if you had some insight on to why they kept rejecting you? Did you interview every year? Just curious as a reapplicant who interviewed last year and really don't want to go through it for 4 years
 
exitonly29 said:
Hey I just wanted to know if you had some insight on to why they kept rejecting you? Did you interview every year? Just curious as a reapplicant who interviewed last year and really don't want to go through it for 4 years
Click to expand...

Did you do an exit interview? My problem, at least according to the information from the exit interview, was lack of clinical experience and they wanted to see better answers on the secondary.
 
HamsterHuey said:
Did you do an exit interview? My problem, at least according to the information from the exit interview, was lack of clinical experience and they wanted to see better answers on the secondary.
Click to expand...

I did...I had similar responses. I was merely wondering if that last year if he had done something significant to get over the admissions hurdle
 
I also got my secondary today after AMCAS verification. I only fit a "mission" group because of my SES and background (don't think I'm considered URM for this school), MCAT is too low esp. as an OOSer.

OH WELL, Here's to shooting blindly in the dark! :D
 
jennyfishy said:
i also got my secondary today after amcas verification. I only fit a "mission" group because of my ses and background (don't think i'm considered urm for this school), mcat is too low esp. As an ooser.

Oh well, here's to shooting blindly in the dark! :hungover:
Click to expand...

ses?
 
Good luck everyone! This is round two for me....
 
exitonly29 said:
Hey I just wanted to know if you had some insight on to why they kept rejecting you? Did you interview every year? Just curious as a reapplicant who interviewed last year and really don't want to go through it for 4 years
Click to expand...

Yeah, they kept say your app looks fine, perhaps you could add more clinical experiences. This was after i shadowed around 4 docs, had a job in a clinic for a summer and spent 3 years doing a clinical research/ shadowing thing in the ER. I kept adding more too (like free health clinic volunteer etc). I think that's kinda their go-to response for the people with good enough applications who dont get in. They said that same thing for all three of my exit interviews and I pretended not to be really pissed off by the third time. I did get interviews each time. The first time they rejected me, the second I was on hold and was then rejected, the third time i was waitlisted at around 38 and it made it to 32 and the fourth time I was accepted 4 weeks after my interview.

I think the reasons I had so much trouble getting in were that my freshman grades, where my main priorities were not academics, and my low verbal score (bs 12 vr 6 ps 12) hurt my app enough to lower my ranking just below acceptance. I think the MD/ PhD director figured out answering questions on fine art, litigation, and cuisine had nothing to do with becoming a good doc. I guess that's why theyre getting rid of verbal to make it more relavent.

P.S. when one of my interviewers on the 4th time around asked about my exit interview, she scoffed saying that was a bs answer they gave me
 
Another incoming student at OHSU here (along with dsoz). I'm happy to answer any questions you folks have about OHSU/Portland/the app process here. Feel free to PM me questions as well. Good luck in this cycle.
 
Hi everyone!

I am having a bit of a dilemma and am wondering if anyone knows how I should approach this situation….

I have applied to OHSU as an Oregon resident and just received my secondary. I was born and raised in Oregon, but went to college in Southern California. My parents are Oregonians and I plan to come back to Oregon after medical school no matter where I end up. OHSU is one of my top medical schools as well.

However, I have an opportunity for a temporary job in another state and am worried about how this might affect my status as an Oregon resident for tuition purposes. If I were to move and work in this other state from say September to June, will OHSU deny me Oregon residency tuition (if I were to get in down the road)?

My parents (OR residents) will be claiming me as a dependent for the tax year of 2013, and although I have done a lot of research on this topic, I still can’t seem to get a clear, definite answer. A friend of mine in a similar situation called OHSU and a woman there told her that you have one year of “leniency” if you are currently an Oregon resident and your parents claim you on their taxes for 2013 (basically meaning my time in another state would not affect my Oregon residency). I have read OHSU’s website regarding residency requirements and feel that what is listed online contradicts what the residency officer told me friend. I am worried that I could possibly be denied OR tuition due to paying taxes/living/working in another state.

Does anyone know how OHSU handles situations like this? I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been in this situation.


Thank you for your help!
 
OR90 said:
Hi everyone!

I am having a bit of a dilemma and am wondering if anyone knows how I should approach this situation….

I have applied to OHSU as an Oregon resident and just received my secondary. I was born and raised in Oregon, but went to college in Southern California. My parents are Oregonians and I plan to come back to Oregon after medical school no matter where I end up. OHSU is one of my top medical schools as well.

However, I have an opportunity for a temporary job in another state and am worried about how this might affect my status as an Oregon resident for tuition purposes. If I were to move and work in this other state from say September to June, will OHSU deny me Oregon residency tuition (if I were to get in down the road)?

My parents (OR residents) will be claiming me as a dependent for the tax year of 2013, and although I have done a lot of research on this topic, I still can’t seem to get a clear, definite answer. A friend of mine in a similar situation called OHSU and a woman there told her that you have one year of “leniency” if you are currently an Oregon resident and your parents claim you on their taxes for 2013 (basically meaning my time in another state would not affect my Oregon residency). I have read OHSU’s website regarding residency requirements and feel that what is listed online contradicts what the residency officer told me friend. I am worried that I could possibly be denied OR tuition due to paying taxes/living/working in another state.

Does anyone know how OHSU handles situations like this? I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been in this situation.


Thank you for your help!
Click to expand...
I THINK as long as your parents claim you, then that is the state you are a resident of. Do you have an Oregon drivers license? Are you registered to vote in Oregon? If yes, then there is no problem. If you register to vote elsewhere, get a drivers license from another state, then you may have problems.

But the person in the office told you about a one year rule, then use it. Get hat person's name for later use.

dsoz
 
Hi dsoz, thanks for the reply!

Yes, I am Oregon everything--license, voting, and all!

Unfortunately, I haven't spoken to the residency officer yet myself--I'm hesitant to call and have my application be "marked" so that they inquire about this at a later point (if I take the job in the other state).

Thanks for the help!
 
OR90 said:
Hi everyone!

I am having a bit of a dilemma and am wondering if anyone knows how I should approach this situation….

I have applied to OHSU as an Oregon resident and just received my secondary. I was born and raised in Oregon, but went to college in Southern California. My parents are Oregonians and I plan to come back to Oregon after medical school no matter where I end up. OHSU is one of my top medical schools as well.

However, I have an opportunity for a temporary job in another state and am worried about how this might affect my status as an Oregon resident for tuition purposes. If I were to move and work in this other state from say September to June, will OHSU deny me Oregon residency tuition (if I were to get in down the road)?

My parents (OR residents) will be claiming me as a dependent for the tax year of 2013, and although I have done a lot of research on this topic, I still can’t seem to get a clear, definite answer. A friend of mine in a similar situation called OHSU and a woman there told her that you have one year of “leniency” if you are currently an Oregon resident and your parents claim you on their taxes for 2013 (basically meaning my time in another state would not affect my Oregon residency). I have read OHSU’s website regarding residency requirements and feel that what is listed online contradicts what the residency officer told me friend. I am worried that I could possibly be denied OR tuition due to paying taxes/living/working in another state.

Does anyone know how OHSU handles situations like this? I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been in this situation.


Thank you for your help!
Click to expand...

Residency isn't determined by where you work as compared to where you live (and have lived) as well as where you vote and your "home" address. If you're coming straight out of college and being claimed as a dependent, residency will be determined by your parents location/history/taxes. I would definitely recommend calling admissions to clarify the residency requirements. Situations like yours come up all the time and its not something that would stand out (don't over think it :))
 
Sabate said:
Residency isn't determined by where you work as compared to where you live (and have lived) as well as where you vote and your "home" address. If you're coming straight out of college and being claimed as a dependent, residency will be determined by your parents location/history/taxes. I would definitely recommend calling admissions to clarify the residency requirements. Situations like yours come up all the time and its not something that would stand out (don't over think it :))
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply, Sabate. I'm thinking I will go ahead and call admissions to put my mind at ease.
 
Hey everyone, so I am currently working on this secondary application. I am hoping for some advice on the essays. For my background here, I am a re-applicant to Oregon with a 35/3.8 but OOS. This year I have spent more time working on my secondaries, because this was one of my weaknesses last year.

On Oregon's secondary 4/6 questions are about how you dealt with a challenge. Does Oregon place a high priority in admissions on dealing with stress or overcoming challenges?

What characteristics does everyone think the admissions committee is trying to understand in us?
 
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