2016-2017 Oakland University (Beaumont) Application Thread

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Got rejected today like many others. Here's my stats: MCAT 508, Transfer GPA 3.73, Science GPA - 3.83, Total GPA - 3.77, non-traditional student, philosophy and greek major, volunteering 146 hours, shadowing - 38 hours.
Curious about the stats of the person who got accepted notwithstanding their irrelevance.
 
Last edited:
Since I've read that posting stats may be a bit beside the point, here's what I talked about in my application. For the personal growth from service question, I talked about empathy and thankfulness for the small things (saccharine, I know). For the diversity essay, I talked about my love of languages, other cultures, Shakespeare, and my particular medical interests (myopia + calorie restriction).
 
Got rejected today like many others. Here's my stats: MCAT 508, Transfer GPA 3.73, Science GPA - 3.83, Total GPA - 3.77, non-traditional student, philosophy and greek major, volunteering 146 hours, shadowing - 38 hours.
Curious about the stats of the person who got accepted notwithstanding their irrelevance.
If you look at their profile you can see

"4.0, 520, Michigan resident" etc
 
Oh wow. These rejections with these high stats are crazy. I am sitting with a LizzyM of a 67, so I guess I get to wait for my rejection email any time now. Or I guess I can have that small hope that I have something that hooked them.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

All schools say they do holistic review. Some schools really mean it.

The people with high stats just might not "fit" here but will probably find a home elsewhere. A minority of them may be awful writers or have some other red flag flying.
 
518. 3.95, 3.95. I thought the rest of my app was good too, though. Married nontrad, veteran, good EC's, etc.....
I mean there obviously had to be some part of it they didn't like, I just wish I knew what it was....
It's just hit me kinda hard, because I could only apply to 4 schools, the ones within a couple hours of my home, so there went 25% of my pool.
I am so sorry. I pray you get a II at your other schools. You really deserve it with those stats. You may have not fit here. I know it is rough to here. I am praying for you.
 
Rejected today. Completed 7/4 OOS LM 67-69. Shortest most concise rejection letter I've received so far. Good luck to everyone still in the running.
 
All these rejections! The axe is coming for me soon, completed 06/30. I actually appreciate that OUWB lets you know their decision so promptly. Many other medical schools don't really care about giving you false hope all cycle long.
same, i hate schools that either put you on hold when they know they're going to reject you or just ignore you completely.
 
So is it reasonable to assume that we should hear either rejection or II by the end of the week if we submitted early?
 
They were supposed to send out IIs today. Weird that only one SDN person got one and like 20 got rejected. I guess it's the end of the work day so that's probably it for today


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Since I've read that posting stats may be a bit beside the point, here's what I talked about in my application. For the personal growth from service question, I talked about empathy and thankfulness for the small things (saccharine, I know). For the diversity essay, I talked about my love of languages, other cultures, Shakespeare, and my particular medical interests (myopia + calorie restriction).

Forgive me, but I did not think Oakland had a diversity essay. They had the service prompt, the what have you been up to since graduation prompt, and an additional qualifications prompt. I was under the impression that it was in bad taste to use the additional qualifications prompt to write about something that was not an additional qualification. If they wanted a diversity essay, they would have asked for one, right? Did I screw myself over by not answering this question? I truly had nothing else to write because all of my qualifications were addressed in my primary.
 
Forgive me, but I did not think Oakland had a diversity essay. They had the service prompt, the what have you been up to since graduation prompt, and an additional qualifications prompt. I was under the impression that it was in bad taste to use the additional qualifications prompt to write about something that was not an additional qualification. If they wanted a diversity essay, they would have asked for one, right? Did I screw myself over by not answering this question? I truly had nothing else to write because all of my qualifications were addressed in my primary.

No, I believe they also made it very clear that they did not want you highlighting traits that you had already discussed on AMCAS, they only wanted to know if you had any additional information to share with them (unless I'm confusing them with a different school!).
 
Forgive me, but I did not think Oakland had a diversity essay. They had the service prompt, the what have you been up to since graduation prompt, and an additional qualifications prompt. I was under the impression that it was in bad taste to use the additional qualifications prompt to write about something that was not an additional qualification. If they wanted a diversity essay, they would have asked for one, right? Did I screw myself over by not answering this question? I truly had nothing else to write because all of my qualifications were addressed in my primary.
I think you could possibly incorporate diversity aspects in the first essay question "How have your experiences serving others contributed to your personal growth?" but yeah I agree, I did not use the "additional qualifications prompt" to address that given how it was worded.
 
@Orthosurg1 @LutGholein
Alright, nice to know I'm not the only one.
I thought I remembered seeing a tweet from UUWB last cycle that said not to use that prompt for anything other than its stated purpose. But then I saw a thread from someone here saying that OUWB said it was okay to mention connections to the school in that box. Seems like conflicting messages.
 
NOOOO not you too! My former Mayo brethren 🙁
@Astra118 @Orthosurg1 fancy seeing you two in this thread. I'm starting to feel that schools in "Rochester" just like to reject me 😱 Hope the Mayo thread is still alive and well. I stopped reading as it just makes me sad about lost possibilities 🙁
Holy crap I come into this thread and I feel like it's Game of Thrones😱
Seriously though. All the rejections at once! At least we're in solidarity
Got rejected today like many others. Here's my stats: MCAT 508, Transfer GPA 3.73, Science GPA - 3.83, Total GPA - 3.77, non-traditional student, philosophy and greek major, volunteering 146 hours, shadowing - 38 hours.
Curious about the stats of the person who got accepted notwithstanding their irrelevance.
Pretty similar numbers to me. Though I'm traditional and have a bit more hours (though apparently not enough)
 
@Astra118 @Orthosurg1 fancy seeing you two in this thread. I'm starting to feel that schools in "Rochester" just like to reject me 😱 Hope the Mayo thread is still alive and well. I stopped reading as it just makes me sad about lost possibilities 🙁

Seriously though. All the rejections at once! At least we're in solidarity

Pretty similar numbers to me. Though I'm traditional and have a bit more hours (though apparently not enough)

I was so bummed when I saw your posts! I wish you the best of luck with the rest of your applications!
 
I was so bummed when I saw your posts! I wish you the best of luck with the rest of your applications!
Thanks! 😀 Hope you and the others are still in the running. Please keep the thread alive, hilarious, supportive and helpful. It was a great place to be. Good luck with your apps as well!
 
Hi all! I plan to add OUWB to my application this week. Any idea how long it takes to get the secondary? Thanks
 
Thanks! 😀 Hope you and the others are still in the running. Please keep the thread alive, hilarious, supportive and helpful. It was a great place to be. Good luck with your apps as well!
I'll miss you, Hau5MD. What other threads are you following?
 
Filling out secondary now. Curious about Essay 3. If I haven't graduated yet, should I leave this essay blank?
 
Seeing all these rejections is mortifying. Oakland is probably my top choice as an IS and seeing others with higher LM scores get rejected is very disheartening since I haven't submitted the secondary yet 🙁
 
I'll miss you, Hau5MD. What other threads are you following?
Aww thanks. I lurk on all UC's (minus UCLA and UCR), USC and Boston schools. Drop in and out on other school threads when they send me emails. What about you?
Filling out secondary now. Curious about Essay 3. If I haven't graduated yet, should I leave this essay blank?
Yeah, I wouldn't fill it out.
Seeing all these rejections is mortifying. Oakland is probably my top choice as an IS and seeing others with higher LM scores get rejected is very disheartening since I haven't submitted the secondary yet 🙁
Well you'll never know for sure unless you submit!
 
Seeing all these rejections is mortifying. Oakland is probably my top choice as an IS and seeing others with higher LM scores get rejected is very disheartening since I haven't submitted the secondary yet 🙁

As long as your stats are within their 10th and 90th percentile, there's no reason to believe you'll have a lesser chance based on stats alone. Believe! 🙂


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Aww thanks. I lurk on all UC's (minus UCLA and UCR), USC and Boston schools. Drop in and out on other school threads when they send me emails. What about you?

Yeah, I wouldn't fill it out.

Well you'll never know for sure unless you submit!
Hau5MD...I'm waiting on UC Irvine, plus both AZ schools, MCW, Penn State, UMass, Vermont, Stritch, etc. Maybe I'll catch you on one of those threads. Good luck to us all.!
 
Hau5MD...I'm waiting on UC Irvine, plus both AZ schools, MCW, Penn State, UMass, Vermont, Stritch, etc. Maybe I'll catch you on one of those threads. Good luck to us all.!
I'm sure you'll receive them soon enough. If you see me in a a thread, just summon me with a @ tag or reply and I'll pop in shortly. Good luck with your cycle and until we meet again!
 
518. 3.95, 3.95. I thought the rest of my app was good too, though. Married nontrad, veteran, good EC's, etc.....
I mean there obviously had to be some part of it they didn't like, I just wish I knew what it was....
It's just hit me kinda hard, because I could only apply to 4 schools, the ones within a couple hours of my home, so there went 25% of my pool.

Honestly, with stats like that, they may have assumed you would never choose to go there. Those are top tier stats and Military. They don't know you only applied to 4 schools.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Honestly, with stats like that, they may have assumed you would never choose to go there. Those are top tier stats and Military. They don't know you only applied to 4 schools.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Don't say stuff like this or they're gonna call us out on twitter again! In all seriousness, this is one of the few schools with a "holistic review" that I believe actually is more interested in how you fit their mission than checkboxes and scores.
 
Don't say stuff like this or they're gonna call us out on twitter again! In all seriousness, this is one of the few schools with a "holistic review" that I believe actually is more interested in how you fit their mission than checkboxes and scores.

Ha, just saw that tweet. JK, OUWB.. I didn't mean it.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Honestly, with stats like that, they may have assumed you would never choose to go there. Those are top tier stats and Military. They don't know you only applied to 4 schools.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
They said they don't do yield protection. If they rejected me because they don't think I'm a "good fit" there, I'm still disappointed but I can live with it. I'm just paranoid it's something else, that maybe something is wrong with my app. Bad rec, typos in my essays, etc....
 
They said they don't do yield protection. If they rejected me because they don't think I'm a "good fit" there, I'm still disappointed but I can live with it. I'm just paranoid it's something else, that maybe something is wrong with my app. Bad rec, typos in my essays, etc....

Don't think they would reject you because of typos. I had a MAJOR typo in my primary and it hasn't affected me negatively so far (as much as I know...). I think they're just really looking for a specific candidate.
 
Don't think they would reject you because of typos. I had a MAJOR typo in my primary and it hasn't affected me negatively so far (as much as I know...). I think they're just really looking for a specific candidate.
Speaking of which, does anyone know exactly what this candidate is? I've read their entire website 3-4 times through, but I can't find anything that really hones in on this.

I know that they're looking people who fit their mission, but it just seems very vague to me. I, like I'm sure most people here, fit those values in my own eyes, but is there anything else that I'm missing :shrug:
 
This is why it is important to just apply genuinely. Don't try to game the system, don't try to mold yourself into something you are not. If you are a good candidate your actual, real personality will fit in at some med school.

Well said. At the end of the day, I think only med school adcoms really know the type of students they are looking for after reading through thousands of applications. I don't think the system is as random as some people say.
 
Once submitted, can we edit our secondaries to update what we are currently doing? Or is it not editable once we send it in?
 
Top