2014-2015 Oakland University Application Thread

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Also a point to note - we've only had 2 classes take step 1, and they've both done right around the national average (which is great, especially for a newer school). There have been a lot of changes to the curriculum based on their input, as well as hiring of new professors to address identified weak points. By and large, Step 1 scores are going to reflect how much effort an individual puts into it. The preclinical curriculum is by and large going to be pretty similar no matter where you go. So I would caution against using average step 1 scores or match lists to "judge" any school. There's far too many other factors that go into it.
 
Well, not sure if this has any correlation, but its food for thought.

Oakland's median MCAT (at least for last year's class) was 31, which was under the national median of 33 according to the MSAR. So I guess it would make sense that the average step scores were just under the national average? Do step scores usually correlate with mcat scores in this way?
 
The Milkman said:
Well, not sure if this has any correlation, but its food for thought.

Oakland's median MCAT (at least for last year's class) was 31, which was under the national median of 33 according to the MSAR. So I guess it would make sense that the average step scores were just under the national average? Do step scores usually correlate with mcat scores in this way?
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There's not much of a correlation, if any. The median MCAT point is also entirely worthless because OUWB is decidedly NOT a stat-centric school. They take their holistic process very seriously.

Also...let's talk statistics here. 229 vs. 230 with a class size of ~75 is not even remotely close to approaching a statistically significant difference.
 
The Milkman said:
Well, not sure if this has any correlation, but its food for thought.

Oakland's median MCAT (at least for last year's class) was 31, which was under the national median of 33 according to the MSAR. So I guess it would make sense that the average step scores were just under the national average? Do step scores usually correlate with mcat scores in this way?
Click to expand...
Some people say MCAT has a (very very) small correlation to Step 1, but that generally has to do with the type of person. For example, if you study like crazy and get a 39 on your MCAT in undergrad, one wouldn't expect that type of person to slack off and do nothing in medical school. It has to do with the amount of work you put in with the exception of very gifted students. There are people who get 28 MCAT that score 260, there are people with 35 MCAT that score 220. It is more about how hard you work during school and how much you can retain over the 2 years.
 
Ophthoseidon said:
Some people say MCAT has a (very very) small correlation to Step 1, but that generally has to do with the type of person. For example, if you study like crazy and get a 39 on your MCAT in undergrad, one wouldn't expect that type of person to slack off and do nothing in medical school. It has to do with the amount of work you put in with the exception of very gifted students. There are people who get 28 MCAT that score 260, there are people with 35 MCAT that score 220. It is more about how hard you work during school and how much you can retain over the 2 years.
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Adding to this, they're really different types of tests. MCAT is a lot more about critical thinking. Step 1 involves a lot of critical thinking, but the breadth of knowledge is far far higher so there's more first/second order stuff that can be tested.
 
Received an Interview offer yesterday (complete in early August and put on hold in November). Very pleasant surprise!
 
Late post, but rejected after my interview. Very saddened to receive the news...was my top choice. 🙁
 
cmbrx said:
Late post, but rejected after my interview. Very saddened to receive the news...was my top choice. 🙁
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Boo. That is so disappointing, especially because it was your top choice. Best of luck to you!
 
In the last admitted students newsletter, they mentioned about befriending that specific email address in order to be invited to join the facebook group. Has anyone actually been invited to join the Facebook group yet?
 
meupatdoes said:
In the last admitted students newsletter, they mentioned about befriending that specific email address in order to be invited to join the facebook group. Has anyone actually been invited to join the Facebook group yet?
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The group has just over 80 members and the students are super helpful.
 
Thanks!! I befriended the email address about in December, and I haven't heard anything from them. So, I didn't know if it was active or not. Thanks for the information!!
 
meupatdoes said:
Thanks!! I befriended the email address about in December, and I haven't heard anything from them. So, I didn't know if it was active or not. Thanks for the information!!
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That is odd. Maybe you should email them and request to join!
 
Interviewing in 2 weeks I got accepted to Wayne State Medical school but waiting for the tour to see if this school is better then Wayne.
 
Dr psychopath said:
Interviewing in 2 weeks I got accepted to Wayne State Medical school but waiting for the tour to see if this school is better then Wayne.
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They're drastically different schools in a lot of ways. Don't get me wrong, Wayne is a fantastic school with a great track record of turning out excellent students, and the clinical experience you get in downtown Detroit is phenomenal. But as you'll see on the interview at OUWB, the schools are almost polar opposites in the ways the approach a lot of things. I wouldn't say there's a "better" way of doing it in either sense. You're going to have to just find out which one is the better "fit" for you in terms of the way they're structured.
 
TheThirdLevel said:
They're drastically different schools in a lot of ways. Don't get me wrong, Wayne is a fantastic school with a great track record of turning out excellent students, and the clinical experience you get in downtown Detroit is phenomenal. But as you'll see on the interview at OUWB, the schools are almost polar opposites in the ways the approach a lot of things. I wouldn't say there's a "better" way of doing it in either sense. You're going to have to just find out which one is the better "fit" for you in terms of the way they're structured.
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Thanks for the reply
What you like about OUWB ? Can you give all of us some info on your experience with this school? I see you were interested in Radiology did you went that direction?
 
Is it possible to receive a scholarship from OUWB if you're accepted off the waitlist?
 
Dr psychopath said:
Thanks for the reply
What you like about OUWB ? Can you give all of us some info on your experience with this school? I see you were interested in Radiology did you went that direction?
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I've posted a couple times earlier in this thread, if you have any specific questions i'd be happy to answer them. I have a ways to go before deciding any specialty and I haven't really set my sights on one. Just doing my due diligence.
 
aaking786 said:
Is it possible to receive a scholarship from OUWB if you're accepted off the waitlist?
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It's possible, I suppose, but yeah probably not likely as was said above. That said, they do give out about 50/50 need:merit based. Unlikely that you'd get a merit-based one, I would assume, but I could see the need-based ones still being in play assuming they have any left.
 
On this note...I've been accepted to Oakland, and feel that the population base in Detroit is one with which I'd really like to work. In fact, I am considering living in Detroit and commuting up (does anyone do this?). Are there opps for clinical rotations in Detroit in medical school? Ultimately I'd like to do a residency in Detroit. I have a family and children so I'm wanting to settle into one spot for the long-ish haul. I do think the population at Oakland is really interesting too, for the record.
 
blazecl said:
On this note...I've been accepted to Oakland, and feel that the population base in Detroit is one with which I'd really like to work. In fact, I am considering living in Detroit and commuting up (does anyone do this?). Are there opps for clinical rotations in Detroit in medical school? Ultimately I'd like to do a residency in Detroit. I have a family and children so I'm wanting to settle into one spot for the long-ish haul. I do think the population at Oakland is really interesting too, for the record.
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I don't think you realize how long of commute this is, and the traffic nightmare. Live in Royal Oak or Warren or Ferndale or any of the suburbs between Oakland U (near Rochester MI) and Beaumont (which is in Royal Oak). And the public schools in Detroit are bad, so you are looking at private school tuition. Take a look at a Map, you have many choices, and all the public schools between Rochester and Royal Oak are just fine. I grew up in Ann Arbor (which is more awesome than metro detroit), but that is an hour commute, too long. Spend more time with the family and less time on the road. Good luck to you.
 
Rainbow Zebra said:
I don't think you realize how long of commute this is, and the traffic nightmare. Live in Royal Oak or Warren or Ferndale or any of the suburbs between Oakland U (near Rochester MI) and Beaumont (which is in Royal Oak). And the public schools in Detroit are bad, so you are looking at private school tuition. Take a look at a Map, you have many choices, and all the public schools between Rochester and Royal Oak are just fine. I grew up in Ann Arbor (which is more awesome than metro detroit), but that is an hour commute, too long. Spend more time with the family and less time on the road. Good luck to you.
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Hi there. So many factors go into a students decision on where to live when there is a family involved! I'm sure you can appreciate that 🙂 Thank you for your feedback I did get a sense of the traffic challenge when I interviewed and drove back to the airport in rush hour. I must add that Detroit is of huge interest for myself and my family long term for reasons to numerous to discuss here.
 
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blazecl said:
On this note...I've been accepted to Oakland, and feel that the population base in Detroit is one with which I'd really like to work. In fact, I am considering living in Detroit and commuting up (does anyone do this?). Are there opps for clinical rotations in Detroit in medical school? Ultimately I'd like to do a residency in Detroit. I have a family and children so I'm wanting to settle into one spot for the long-ish haul. I do think the population at Oakland is really interesting too, for the record.
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Check out Troy Mi is in between Rochester Hills and Royal Oak.
 
blazecl said:
On this note...I've been accepted to Oakland, and feel that the population base in Detroit is one with which I'd really like to work. In fact, I am considering living in Detroit and commuting up (does anyone do this?). Are there opps for clinical rotations in Detroit in medical school? Ultimately I'd like to do a residency in Detroit. I have a family and children so I'm wanting to settle into one spot for the long-ish haul. I do think the population at Oakland is really interesting too, for the record.
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From my experience here I think it'd be best not to live in Detroit itself. It's about a 40 minute drive without traffic and could be even further depending on where in Detroit. Royal Oak is a better option that is still close to Detroit but only take 20-25 minutes normally. When everyone else is moving for third year you could just stay there as the hospital is in Royal Oak.
 
To all the M2-M4 Med students what is the good and bad for this Med school?
 
Compare to Oakland medical school Wayne have more opportunities because of the funding they have.
I had copy this from another student in here:
1). Research. For NIH grants: Wayne = $70 million, OUWB = $2 million, CMU = no data. Wayne is also building a new $90 million research facility able to house 500 researchers, which should be complete in 2015.
http://www.freep.com/article/201403...y-Multipurpose-Biomedical-Research-Building
2.) Clinical Experience. First year residents affiliated with the following schools' teaching hospitals: Wayne = 570, OUWB = 104, CMU = 29. I used number of residents to approximate size of departments and hospitals. In other words, a small community hospital may have a dermatologist, but is unlikely to have dermatology residents, and therefore the complexity of the cases they see will be limited. I also used it as a rough measure of the size of the hospital systems. Check out the size of the departments you are interested in below.
Source: http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/programresults2009-2013.pdf
 
Dr psychopath said:
Compare to Oakland medical school Wayne have more opportunities because of the funding they have.
I had copy this from another student in here:
1). Research. For NIH grants: Wayne = $70 million, OUWB = $2 million, CMU = no data. Wayne is also building a new $90 million research facility able to house 500 researchers, which should be complete in 2015.
http://www.freep.com/article/201403...y-Multipurpose-Biomedical-Research-Building
2.) Clinical Experience. First year residents affiliated with the following schools' teaching hospitals: Wayne = 570, OUWB = 104, CMU = 29. I used number of residents to approximate size of departments and hospitals. In other words, a small community hospital may have a dermatologist, but is unlikely to have dermatology residents, and therefore the complexity of the cases they see will be limited. I also used it as a rough measure of the size of the hospital systems. Check out the size of the departments you are interested in below.
Source: http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/programresults2009-2013.pdf
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing this information Dr psychopath! Though, I feel it is hard to compare the two schools in this way. It may be difficult to compare an institution like Wayne, which was established in 1868, against OUWB which is graduating its charter class this year. For newer schools like OUWB, I believe that their initial main focus is to obtain full LCME accreditation, which OUWB now has. While research funding is important for medical institutions, I feel that OUWB has still been able to provide more than adequate, meaningful research opportunities for its students via the Capstone program despite having less NIH grants than other already established schools. From my understanding, it is difficult for medical students to engage in "hard" scientific research while balancing the medical curriculum anyways. If you are still curious, on my interview day, one of the professors told me that the school's future goals are to build new research facilities. However, most of my friends in medical school have undertaken clinical-based outcomes research, which is less intensive and easier to manage while learning the medical curriculum. As for clinical experience, the discrepancy in the number of residents may be due to the fact that Wayne has many affiliate hospitals, while OUWB's exclusive teaching partner Beaumont is a single entity and might only take on residents at their main hospital in Royal Oak. Could someone confirm? Again, I don't think this necessarily means that there are less clinical experience opportunities at OUWB. Nor does it say that the quality of education and experience is any less significant. Choosing a medical school should all come down to fit and where you feel like you will become the best physician you can be anyways. I have not matriculated to OUWB, but I can already tell how much time and effort the students, staff, and faculty have invested into building the school up to where it is today. It has grown a lot in such a short time, and will continue to grow in the next couple of years.
 
instagramd said:
Thanks for sharing this information Dr psychopath! Though, I feel it is hard to compare the two schools in this way. It may be difficult to compare an institution like Wayne, which was established in 1868, against OUWB which is graduating its charter class this year. For newer schools like OUWB, I believe that their initial main focus is to obtain full LCME accreditation, which OUWB now has. While research funding is important for medical institutions, I feel that OUWB has still been able to provide more than adequate, meaningful research opportunities for its students via the Capstone program despite having less NIH grants than other already established schools. From my understanding, it is difficult for medical students to engage in "hard" scientific research while balancing the medical curriculum anyways. If you are still curious, on my interview day, one of the professors told me that the school's future goals are to build new research facilities. However, most of my friends in medical school have undertaken clinical-based outcomes research, which is less intensive and easier to manage while learning the medical curriculum. As for clinical experience, the discrepancy in the number of residents may be due to the fact that Wayne has many affiliate hospitals, while OUWB's exclusive teaching partner Beaumont is a single entity and might only take on residents at their main hospital in Royal Oak. Could someone confirm? Again, I don't think this necessarily means that there are less clinical experience opportunities at OUWB. Nor does it say that the quality of education and experience is any less significant. Choosing a medical school should all come down to fit and where you feel like you will become the best physician you can be anyways. I have not matriculated to OUWB, but I can already tell how much time and effort the students, staff, and faculty have invested into building the school up to where it is today. It has grown a lot in such a short time, and will continue to grow in the next couple of years.
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On point with most of this. The resident numbers are directly related to affiliate hospitals. OUWB students rotate exclusively at Beaumont (usually Royal Oak or Troy, sometimes Grosse Pointe). I'm pretty sure the the other hospitals have residents too. Also, the new merger with Botsford and Oakwood will probably jack that number up. Also, it should be considered that Wayne has 350 students per class, meaning they need to have more affiliate hospitals to get rotation sites for all of them. Since OUWB is essentially a joint school between Oakland and Beaumont, there's a reason why they want to have all the students to rotate through Beaumont rather than be cycled around different hospitals. There are pros and cons to both systems (based on what i've herd from M3/M4s at both OUWB and Wayne) and it really comes down to personal preference. There's also always the opportunity to do away rotations (and I believe they're working on setting something up with Botsford/Oakwood after all the paperwork goes through).

In terms of research, i'm not sure where the cited figures come from. Wayne State is large, public research institution and identifies as such, so it's not entirely surprising they bring in more NIH money (especially considering how long they've been around). However, there's tons of research going on at Beaumont (which is, after all, an tertiary care academic referral center) and frankly we have more opportunities than we'll ever really be able to do (just in terms of the amount of time). The only area where I would say we are "weak" might be bench research because that would be more on OU's end. However I cannot speak personally to the opportunities available because I despite bench research. Furthermore, there's a lot of resaerch at OUWB going on in community and global health as well as medical education research (a gigantic chunk of the pre-clinical faculty is highly invested in this). But in any case, as a student at OUWB, you'll more research opportunities than you'll know what to do with. Currently i'm weighing my options over the summer on 5-6 different projects with physicians that i've spoken to, who are all enthusiastic about supporting medical students' desires on doing research. Beaumont is well known as a research powerhouse in quite a few fields (Rad Onc especially comes to mind) and is highly ranked in many specialties. So overall, there's a ton of opportunities available on clinical projects at Beaumont as well as community/global health and medical educational projects.

Garferies said:
Anyone know how good they are with financial aid? (I have an EFC of 0 all my life). And when would they generate the offer? The costs here are making me decide on other schools instead.
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I believe out of all scholarship money, it's split 50/50 merit to need. I think something around 40-50% of people get some form of aid. Offers go out after FAFSA anytime but I think on the whole most schools tend to send out most of their stuff around April-May.
 
TheThirdLevel said:
On point with most of this. The resident numbers are directly related to affiliate hospitals. OUWB students rotate exclusively at Beaumont (usually Royal Oak or Troy, sometimes Grosse Pointe). I'm pretty sure the the other hospitals have residents too. Also, the new merger with Botsford and Oakwood will probably jack that number up. Also, it should be considered that Wayne has 350 students per class, meaning they need to have more affiliate hospitals to get rotation sites for all of them. Since OUWB is essentially a joint school between Oakland and Beaumont, there's a reason why they want to have all the students to rotate through Beaumont rather than be cycled around different hospitals. There are pros and cons to both systems (based on what i've herd from M3/M4s at both OUWB and Wayne) and it really comes down to personal preference. There's also always the opportunity to do away rotations (and I believe they're working on setting something up with Botsford/Oakwood after all the paperwork goes through).

In terms of research, i'm not sure where the cited figures come from. Wayne State is large, public research institution and identifies as such, so it's not entirely surprising they bring in more NIH money (especially considering how long they've been around). However, there's tons of research going on at Beaumont (which is, after all, an tertiary care academic referral center) and frankly we have more opportunities than we'll ever really be able to do (just in terms of the amount of time). The only area where I would say we are "weak" might be bench research because that would be more on OU's end. However I cannot speak personally to the opportunities available because I despite bench research. Furthermore, there's a lot of resaerch at OUWB going on in community and global health as well as medical education research (a gigantic chunk of the pre-clinical faculty is highly invested in this). But in any case, as a student at OUWB, you'll more research opportunities than you'll know what to do with. Currently i'm weighing my options over the summer on 5-6 different projects with physicians that i've spoken to, who are all enthusiastic about supporting medical students' desires on doing research. Beaumont is well known as a research powerhouse in quite a few fields (Rad Onc especially comes to mind) and is highly ranked in many specialties. So overall, there's a ton of opportunities available on clinical projects at Beaumont as well as community/global health and medical educational projects.

I asked about global health the day of my interview and didn't feel like anyone knew much about specifics. I'd love to know more if you have the answers on that. 🙂
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I know that there's definitely a few professors that do that sort of research who have spoken to us as a class about it. I want to say there's a few people doing their Capstones on it too, although i'm not sure of the nature of their projects specifically. Unfortunately I still can't speak to the specifics because it's not really an avenue I have explored because it's not something I particularly wanted to pursue.
 
Interviewed on 2/6 and still no word. I know rejection decisions are sent out quickly, but what about wait list decisions? It seems like there are not that many straight acceptances going out in late March, according to past threads. I apologize if this was covered already.
 
X3NA said:
Interviewed on 2/6 and still no word. I know rejection decisions are sent out quickly, but what about wait list decisions? It seems like there are not that many straight acceptances going out in late March, according to past threads. I apologize if this was covered already.
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If you're not accepted or rejected, you're on hold. They don't even put together a waitlist until March/April or something (don't remember exactly) so once they put it together you might have an idea. I'm not sure if they email you telling you if you're waitlisted or if you have to call and ask. If you don't hear anything by April i'll give them a call and see.
 
X3NA said:
Interviewed on 2/6 and still no word. I know rejection decisions are sent out quickly, but what about wait list decisions? It seems like there are not that many straight acceptances going out in late March, according to past threads. I apologize if this was covered already.
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Interviewed mid-January with no word. Really liked OUWB, but the lack of post-interview decision/communication is killing my enthusiasm.
 
X3NA said:
Hang in there guys! We might hear some good news soon. If anything, they liked you guys enough to not reject you right away.
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Last interview date is march 13 so after that they will start looking at the wait list.
 
Anyone else get an email regarding their financial aid award? I had an EFC of 0 and just got 3,000 for federal work study. Everything else was a loan. Although, I don't think they have given out all scholarships quite yet. At least, based on my interpretation of the email. which was:

"This is your official financial aid award notification for the 2015-2016 school year.


Federal financial aid is processed and awarded through the Oakland University student record system. You will have online access via our MySail portal system to view your financial aid award and monitor your financial aid status.

If you received notification of an OUWB scholarship award from the Admissions Office, please know that OUWB scholarship awards may not yet be incorporated into your financial aid package. Once posted to your record, the award will likely reduce federal loan funds you are currently awarded. You will receive a revised notification when this is done. Students must be making satisfactory academic progress to retain renewable scholarship awards.Eligibility will be evaluated at the end of the current academic year."
 
Rollerbladdin said:
Anyone else get an email regarding their financial aid award? I had an EFC of 0 and just got 3,000 for federal work study. Everything else was a loan. Although, I don't think they have given out all scholarships quite yet. At least, based on my interpretation of the email. which was:

"This is your official financial aid award notification for the 2015-2016 school year.


Federal financial aid is processed and awarded through the Oakland University student record system. You will have online access via our MySail portal system to view your financial aid award and monitor your financial aid status.

If you received notification of an OUWB scholarship award from the Admissions Office, please know that OUWB scholarship awards may not yet be incorporated into your financial aid package. Once posted to your record, the award will likely reduce federal loan funds you are currently awarded. You will receive a revised notification when this is done. Students must be making satisfactory academic progress to retain renewable scholarship awards.Eligibility will be evaluated at the end of the current academic year."
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Yep, just received the FINAID award. No mention of scholarship 🙁. Really hoping for some help $ though... It would make my decision much easier. I loved this school!
 
pink/\floyd said:
Yep, just received the FINAID award. No mention of scholarship 🙁. Really hoping for some help $ though... It would make my decision much easier. I loved this school!
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Yea I was really excited when I got the email but am a little nervous about no mention of scholarships
 
Scholarships are not always sent along with financial aid. They often will be sent separately, plus you tend to see more movement later as people withdraw to go to other schools.
 
Did anyone received an acceptance well after the date that their interview day was reviewed (based on the admissions twitter account)? I'm one of the ones who was passed over, but not rejected or 3rd tier wait listed.

I ask because the latest twitter message said that they reviewed applicants "prior to February" as well as those who interviewed in February. I've assumed until now that they haven't given me (or anyone in my position) a second look yet and won't do so until all interview days get their initial pass. Now I'm not so sure. I'm hoping my initial interpretation was correct as the continued silence doesn't bode well otherwise...

The paranoia is real.
 
Screekins said:
Did anyone received an acceptance well after the date that their interview day was reviewed (based on the admissions twitter account)? I'm one of the ones who was passed over, but not rejected or 3rd tier wait listed.

I ask because the latest twitter message said that they reviewed applicants "prior to February" as well as those who interviewed in February. I've assumed until now that they haven't given me (or anyone in my position) a second look yet and won't do so until all interview days get their initial pass. Now I'm not so sure. I'm hoping my initial interpretation was correct as the continued silence doesn't bode well otherwise...

The paranoia is real.
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If you're not rejected, then they will keep your app on file and review it at later admissions meetings as well. So it's definitely possible. And again, i'm not sure if the waitlist have been formulated yet.
 
Considering the match hasn't happened yet, no. I think they said it will be available soon afterward.
 
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