2014-2015 Oregon Health & Science University Application Thread

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EsotericAlchemy said:
I doubt you'll get any love here if you're below the min gpa and don't meet any of the mission based groups
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But is this a mission group as well or are they saying if you fall into a mission group category and satisfy the following criteria:

  • 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.
 
For those of you who have completed the secondary, how did you interpret the "personal feedback" question? I wrote about a job performance review, but now I'm wondering if that's not "personal" enough. Any thoughts are appreciated!

Thanks,
Bill
 
BillrothI said:
For those of you who have completed the secondary, how did you interpret the "personal feedback" question? I wrote about a job performance review, but now I'm wondering if that's not "personal" enough. Any thoughts are appreciated!

Thanks,
Bill
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That's essentially what I wrote about. Job performance is personal feedback.
 
4forsmores said:
But is this a mission group as well or are they saying if you fall into a mission group category and satisfy the following criteria:

  • 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.
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That's a mission-based group.
 
Buskutsustah said:
Hey guys,

I just got the secondary but after reading the mission-based groups statement I don't know if it's worth completing this because I am OOS and have 3.66 GPA (but just because of two bad grades first semester freshman year--strong upward trend) and 30 MCAT (9PS/10VR/11VS). But my ECs are really strong and I know I could blow the secondary essays out of the water. I also just feel like my personality really fits with this school which is why I want to go here so much and think I could convey that in my secondary essays. Do they really not look outside the mission-based groups though? If not, I dunno if I have a chance, sadly... Advice appreciated 🙂

Good luck to everybody! This school rocks!
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I feel exactly the same way. Anymore info on this would be great 🙂.
 
Current 3rd year here. Feel free to message me with any questions! I can't speak much to the new curriculum because I'm part of the old curriculum but I can share insight based on what I have heard. Good luck everyone!

OHSU is VERY OOS friendly. I have multiple friends in the class who are OOS and who didn't meet the GPA/Grade requirements but still interviewed and were accepted because they had other interesting/unique things are their apps. I would say OHSU is one of the most OOS friendly public school in the country.
 
So when they say primary contact for the letters and you have multiple individual letters, how does that work?
 
Wow, six questions. That was rough. OOS applicant, submitted.
 
Idaho resident here with Oregon Heritage (dad lives there + worked there in Beaverton for a year). It seems like the averages for IS are much lower than the OOS. Thank God! Love Portland and the OHSU campus.
 
How did you guys go in answering question 2? Does it literally me becoming a physician, like what I'll go through as medical student and such? Or does it mean what challenges I'll face as a physician as well? Sorta having a tough time with this question. >.<
 
joonage said:
How did you guys go in answering question 2? Does it literally me becoming a physician, like what I'll go through as medical student and such? Or does it mean what challenges I'll face as a physician as well? Sorta having a tough time with this question. >.<
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Hah, I'm having a tough time with like 4 of them. I think they are just asking "what is your greatest weakness". At least that's how I went about answering the question.
 
Was anyone able to put "present" in their To Date field when listing activities? I keep getting an error saying that it has to be in mm/yyyy format.
 
orderofthescar said:
Was anyone able to put "present" in their To Date field when listing activities? I keep getting an error saying that it has to be in mm/yyyy format.
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Yes I put "present" for several activities. Are you sure you put it in the right field? Give them a call/email if the problem persists.
 
My application status currently says that my preliminary application was received, a secondary application notice was emailed to me, and that my secondary application was submitted. It doesn't say anything about my LOR's. Does this mean that they haven't received them yet?
 
Hey, question about the MD/MPH program. I'm OOS and interested in public health so was considering applying. Anybody know if the MCAT and GPA are higher/lower for the MD/MPH program and if it's more or less competitive than the MD?
 
Buskutsustah said:
Hey, question about the MD/MPH program. I'm OOS and interested in public health so was considering applying. Anybody know if the MCAT and GPA are higher/lower for the MD/MPH program and if it's more or less competitive than the MD?
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They told me that they interview people separately for the MD/MPH program, and that something like only 6 people get in. It sounds more competitive than the MD only program.
 
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Can't get myself to finish this secondary .... :/ As a re-applicant and OOS'er, might just scrap it .. ah...
 
Do you guys think it is worth applying: I live in Chicago and no Oregon Heritage. MCAT 32. GPA 3.55 I have extensive research, moderate volunteering (I am doing more), scribe, some shadowing. I don't think I want to put in the effort for the essays if I can not get in with a 3.
 
tpathiyil14 said:
Do you guys think it is worth applying: I live in Chicago and no Oregon Heritage. MCAT 32. GPA 3.55 I have extensive research, moderate volunteering (I am doing more), scribe, some shadowing. I don't think I want to put in the effort for the essays if I can not get in with a 3.
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Probably not. My guess is that without Oregon heritage, you should have connections to the state in some other way. A practice interest, letter writer stating practice interest, etc etc.
 
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Hey all! Submitted that beast of a secondary this morning. Phew! Just wondering - on MSAR it says that the earliest notice of admission is October 15, 2014 and that admissions notices are sent "until class is full." That sounds to me like rolling admissions. Anybody know if Oregon has indeed changed to rolling admissions?
 
Jrcomsto said:
Hey all! Submitted that beast of a secondary this morning. Phew! Just wondering - on MSAR it says that the earliest notice of admission is October 15, 2014 and that admissions notices are sent "until class is full." That sounds to me like rolling admissions. Anybody know if Oregon has indeed changed to rolling admissions?
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Assuming it's the same as last year, it works like this:
They accept the best candidates within 1 month of the interview. Everyone else gets placed on a Hold list or Refused. Everyone on hold must wait until May 15th for them to rank all the hold list folk. On May 15th, applicants are either Refused, Waitlisted, or Accepted according to their score.
 
Does this requirement mean that I would only need one semester of general biology and one course of genetics? Would they accept other biology courses that had sections about genetics?

"2. Following are the minimum acceptable college-level courses required for matriculation:

Biology - One academic year of general biology to include one genetics course.
Laboratories are recommended."
 
It is worth a call, but I am sure that this is a "flexible" course requirement. I took a "Genetics 2000" course which included evolution and population genetics (recall Hardy-Weinberg principle), but I felt it was a little inferior to "Biology 4000+" courses I took, including Molecular Biology, Cell Physiology, and Biochemistry, which all covered the nuts and bolts of genetic transmission at the DNA level in a more detailed manner, which is really the level at which a medical school course would be at.

Point is, I think they want the foundation of genetics obtained through any relevant class. I would apply regardless of how they worded this requirement.
 
Just submitted, right before the deadline! Application isn't processed yet though, hopefully that doesn't make my app late/ineligible. Since they say processing takes several weeks I can imagine it would.
 
Has anybody received an invite for an interview yet or know when they start sending those out??
 
I heard from someone that they are just starting on apps because this year's entering class was only finalized about 3 weeks ago. I would guess early September!
 
First time user here-please forgive me if I'm not going about this right. I'm a seriously older student thinking of applying to medical school for entrance in 2016. I can only apply to school in Oregon and can't decide if it is worth it for me to try--trying would involve quitting my job to volunteer, study for MCAT, etc. I entered medical school many many years ago, when I was fresh out of college, and left at the end of my first year. I passed everything and left completely voluntarily; I had no disciplinary or academic problems at all. I know I have a lot of explaining to do but I want to make sure OHSU does not have a policy or rule against allowing applications by anyone who has previously entered medical school; I have been told that BU, for example, forbids applications from people in my position. I can't find anything in OHSU's online materials to this effect, but thought since you all are in the thick of it that if they have any such rule, someone might have noticed it and could give me a heads up. Any help anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated!
 
bumblebee611 said:
First time user here-please forgive me if I'm not going about this right. I'm a seriously older student thinking of applying to medical school for entrance in 2016. I can only apply to school in Oregon and can't decide if it is worth it for me to try--trying would involve quitting my job to volunteer, study for MCAT, etc. I entered medical school many many years ago, when I was fresh out of college, and left at the end of my first year. I passed everything and left completely voluntarily; I had no disciplinary or academic problems at all. I know I have a lot of explaining to do but I want to make sure OHSU does not have a policy or rule against allowing applications by anyone who has previously entered medical school; I have been told that BU, for example, forbids applications from people in my position. I can't find anything in OHSU's online materials to this effect, but thought since you all are in the thick of it that if they have any such rule, someone might have noticed it and could give me a heads up. Any help anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated!
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I didn't notice anything in particular but I wasn't paying attention to that. I have nowhere near the experience to answer your question- I would say call the admissions office and ask! Usually if you are honest and upfront you will get a frank answer. Good luck!
 
bumblebee611 said:
First time user here-please forgive me if I'm not going about this right. I'm a seriously older student thinking of applying to medical school for entrance in 2016. I can only apply to school in Oregon and can't decide if it is worth it for me to try--trying would involve quitting my job to volunteer, study for MCAT, etc. I entered medical school many many years ago, when I was fresh out of college, and left at the end of my first year. I passed everything and left completely voluntarily; I had no disciplinary or academic problems at all. I know I have a lot of explaining to do but I want to make sure OHSU does not have a policy or rule against allowing applications by anyone who has previously entered medical school; I have been told that BU, for example, forbids applications from people in my position. I can't find anything in OHSU's online materials to this effect, but thought since you all are in the thick of it that if they have any such rule, someone might have noticed it and could give me a heads up. Any help anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated!
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I don't know anything one way or the other about forbidding you from applying, I agree that calling them and explaining your situation is the best place to start. I just wanted to say that it is possible to study for the MCAT and get ready to apply while working full time, so don't let that discourage you! Best of luck mate.
 
Thanks for the good wishes, folks. I have a call in to student life because I can't seem to find a phone number for admissions.
 
Quick question, how did you guys answer the "most difficult challenge in becoming a physician" question?

I've held off submitting due to not being completely satisfied with my response.
 
My path is a bit different, being almost 40 and never attended college until 4 years ago, but I went with "going back to school" as my greatest challenge to becoming a physician. Sort of a first step is the hardest type story....
 
Submitted the painful secondary this morning. Good luck to all!
 
tymont12 said:
Quick question, how did you guys answer the "most difficult challenge in becoming a physician" question?

I've held off submitting due to not being completely satisfied with my response.
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I took it as 'How will your biggest personal weaknesses manifest itself as you enter physicianhood?'
 
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