2018-2019 Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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sxp2022 said:
In-state, currently in undergrad, 4.0 GPA at a tough school, 507 MCAT, shadowing/volunteering/research/etc. Do you think I have a shot for an interview? Anxiously waiting to hear back
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Your GPA is awesome! OHSU is a slow school. I will let you know though that OHSU is very big on older applicants and like to see people take a gap year. Obviously there’s definitely exceptions but it’s sometimes good to keep that in perspective :)
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chaua said:
Definitely! They interview ~80% of all IS applicants. When was your secondary complete?
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hopefuldoctor511 said:
Your GPA is awesome! OHSU is a slow school. I will let you know though that OHSU is very big on older applicants and like to see people take a gap year. Obviously there’s definitely exceptions but it’s sometimes good to keep that in perspective :)
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LuckyDolphin22 said:
Your stats look good! I think whether you get an interview or not depends on how strong your secondary is, since OHSU really cares about life experiences.
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Thank you for your inputs, I do feel better :) I definitely would not have as much life experience as someone who has taken more gap years but hopefully I have enough and was able to articulate it in the secondary
 
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VikingWarrior said:
Based on previous year threads OHSU typically interview instate applicants and Oregon heritage applicants first. Superior achievement OOS applicants can expect to wait until the end of December or early January. From last year's thread the first OOS applicant received an interview around 12/20 and there were a few other OOS applicants who got interviews within the following week. Moral of the story is if you are OOS do not expect an interview from OHSU this early.
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Unless you are a WICHE applicant. I interviewed in november.
 
Is it potentially disadvantageous to interview early or am I letting my nerves get to me? I'm reading a lot of reassuring things about people who don't interview until much later but I interviewed earlier this month and I don't know how to feel about that. I feel like if I get placed on hold on Oct 15th or Nov 1st, they'd forget about me by the time Apr 30th rolls around.
 
climbrunskirepeat said:
Is it potentially disadvantageous to interview early or am I letting my nerves get to me? I'm reading a lot of reassuring things about people who don't interview until much later but I interviewed earlier this month and I don't know how to feel about that. I feel like if I get placed on hold on Oct 15th or Nov 1st, they'd forget about me by the time Apr 30th rolls around.
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I really worry about this too. But from what I’ve heard, it’s always a good thing to be interviewed early. They’ve just started a new cycle and probably don’t have interviewer fatigue. They’re clearly interested in your app, since last year I was complete late August and was told that I basically was on a pre interview hold until I got an II in February.

I think (or at least what I’ve told myself to not go crazy) is it’s a good sign if you’re interviewing early but you’re still in the running if you interview later.
 
hopefuldoctor511 said:
I really worry about this too. But from what I’ve heard, it’s always a good thing to be interviewed early. They’ve just started a new cycle and probably don’t have interviewer fatigue. They’re clearly interested in your app, since last year I was complete late August and was told that I basically was on a pre interview hold until I got an II in February.

I think (or at least what I’ve told myself to not go crazy) is it’s a good sign if you’re interviewing early but you’re still in the running if you interview later.
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I think the number of people reassuring others that they didn't interview until later has had a detrimental effect on the people who were in the first groups to interview. Haha
 
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If anyone can comment on their interview day and how the schedule/day goes that would be so greatly appreciated! Thank you!!
 
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coffeeislife02 said:
If anyone can comment on their interview day and how the schedule/day goes that would be so greatly appreciated! Thank you!!
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Sure. So the interview day starts at 8. For me, there were around 20 applicants in my interview day. You get up to the room and watch a video prepared by the admissions staff explaining the new curriculum. Then, the dean will come talk to you (he had a service dog last year! No dice this year though) and honestly, he really calmed me down because he explained that he really takes each applicant into account and picks them carefully.

Then there’s the MMI. It’ll take about 2-2.5 hours if I remember correctly. They’re pretty tight lipped about the process but I’ll tell you that it was what I expected.

Afterwards, there were a few medical students who led us around the building where you do your preclinical years. Note: the hospital is up on the hill, and the class building is down at the waterfront. You have the chance to do a self guided tour in the afternoon if you want.

You’ll eat lunch with the medical students. It was a pretty basic light lunch. Small sandwiches, salad, and a sweet treat. Certainly enough food when you’re running on adrenaline. Lunch doubles as a student panel so you’ll have a chance to talk to the students. Then there’s a really brief presentation about the different programs available in the medical school. This finished up around 1.

That’s the end of the group part of the day. Your one on one will be scheduled in the afternoon. Mine was at 2:30, and it seemed like the latest was at 4:30. That’ll be a half hour. Much like the MMI, there were no curveballs and it was a standard interview. I thought this years was harder because I had a different interviewer and she kinda drilled me, but take that with a grain of salt since I’m an anxious little ****. My interview was on the hill, so you take the tram up and find the spot. They have really detailed instructions on how to get there, and if you get lost, there are concierge staff in the hospital that are very friendly.

All in all, it’s a pretty quick day. I was done and ready to drive back around 3:30. There is some construction around the building, so if you drive up there like I did, just know that google maps got a little confused. The parking garage will run you a cool 18 bucks when all is said and done.

I love Portland and OHSU so I’m really biased, but the interview day just showed how collaborative and welcoming the environment is. I enjoyed it about as much you can enjoy an interview ;)

Hope that helps! Good luck!
 
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hopefuldoctor511 said:
Sure. So the interview day starts at 8. For me, there were around 20 applicants in my interview day. You get up to the room and watch a video prepared by the admissions staff explaining the new curriculum. Then, the dean will come talk to you (he had a service dog last year! No dice this year though) and honestly, he really calmed me down because he explained that he really takes each applicant into account and picks them carefully.

Then there’s the MMI. It’ll take about 2-2.5 hours if I remember correctly. They’re pretty tight lipped about the process but I’ll tell you that it was what I expected.

Afterwards, there were a few medical students who led us around the building where you do your preclinical years. Note: the hospital is up on the hill, and the class building is down at the waterfront. You have the chance to do a self guided tour in the afternoon if you want.

You’ll eat lunch with the medical students. It was a pretty basic light lunch. Small sandwiches, salad, and a sweet treat. Certainly enough food when you’re running on adrenaline. Lunch doubles as a student panel so you’ll have a chance to talk to the students. Then there’s a really brief presentation about the different programs available in the medical school. This finished up around 1.

That’s the end of the group part of the day. Your one on one will be scheduled in the afternoon. Mine was at 2:30, and it seemed like the latest was at 4:30. That’ll be a half hour. Much like the MMI, there were no curveballs and it was a standard interview. I thought this years was harder because I had a different interviewer and she kinda drilled me, but take that with a grain of salt since I’m an anxious little ****. My interview was on the hill, so you take the tram up and find the spot. They have really detailed instructions on how to get there, and if you get lost, there are concierge staff in the hospital that are very friendly.

All in all, it’s a pretty quick day. I was done and ready to drive back around 3:30. There is some construction around the building, so if you drive up there like I did, just know that google maps got a little confused. The parking garage will run you a cool 18 bucks when all is said and done.

I love Portland and OHSU so I’m really biased, but the interview day just showed how collaborative and welcoming the environment is. I enjoyed it about as much you can enjoy an interview ;)

Hope that helps! Good luck!
Click to expand...


Thank you so so much for taking the time to write this, I really appreciate it. Hope your interview went great and you get in!
 
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Hi everyone. I know this might be a bit late for those applying this cycle, but I thought I'd add to this thread anyway, esp for those who are using this info to apply for next cycle.

I went to the "So you want to be a physician" day yesterday at OHSU. It was put on by the admissions office (who was also the first speaker) and also included info about the curriculum from the dean of the SOM and a student panel.

A few take-aways:

Their admissions office is small (only four staff) but seem completely old-school in a good way. They go through every single app. If you meet the minimum cut-off (2.8-ish GPA and 497 MCAT) they will look through your app. They are happy to work with you if you call/email and have questions (and I can speak from personal experience, I have called and they have been very helpful). They said they appreciate thank-yous if they've helped you with questions.

They're really big on seeing your story/narrative on why you want to work as a physician. "Traditional" students are in the minority here; most of those who are accepted have a unique path to medical school and most with (often multiple) gap years. They want you to be well rounded. And they want you to be able to present your narrative well through your personal statement, secondary application, and interview. Most of the students on the panel had really wild and unique pasts, although there were a few with fairly traditional paths as well. Only half looked like future stereotypical physicians (because, hey, it's Portland! We love tats, piercings, and being super casual!) but no matter what they looked like on the outside, they all seemed to mesh well with each other (which is a sign that the adcoms did good jobs picking collaborative students).

The school is huge into collaboration within and between medical professions. The name of their med school building even has the word "collaborative" in it! You better know how to collaborate.

They recommend committing to whatever you are doing with your life while preparing for medical school, for example, building relationships with physicians through shadowing and really learning about their specialty. If you are going to do something, do it well.

Interview is 8 MMIs with a 22 minute one-on-one interview. They want to know that you are emotionally mature, can handle yourself under stressful situations, to see if you are a good fit for their school, what your motivations for medicine are, what your life experiences are, how can you read a room, and basically be able to be a functionally social human. And to see if can you show clear ownership of your decisions.

Because their applicants are so non-trad, their LOR guidelines are only guidelines. You don't NEED 2-3 professor letters, fewer will do, but you do need STRONG letters. Get letters from whoever can speak to your strengths, especially when it comes to your personal narrative. You are not penalized for having less than the guidelines of professor letters (but I'm going to assume you need at least 1?).

They only look at the most recent MCAT. They also said that if you are going to need to reapply, they should be seeing a lot more improvement in your overall app than a slightly higher MCAT score. Stay busy during app season.

The three components to making decisions on who to offer admission to are as follows: 40% on what your personal route to medicine is (via interview and application), 40% on your MMI (and I assume your one-on-one as well, but that wasn't listed), and 20% on your academic stats. It truly seems that if you can make it through the interview door you have a decent shot. Know your narrative.

They specifically said to avoid online forums (and one speaker mentioned SDN specifically, haha).

Their curriculum is pretty interesting, as they've taken pieces from here and there and seem to have built a cool program. During didactic years they do body systems and work through the basic sciences, clinical sciences, and health systems sciences at the same time instead of going through each "science" one by one. Core and elective rotations during clinical years are interspersed. There are 7-8 weeks dedicated Step 1 study time. Each student has a faculty mentor and does a scholarly project during their time in medical school.

Like I stated before, they're big on collaboration, and group learning seems to be a big part of their program.

The dean specifically stated that they are not a primary care factory, but are committed to seeing you be the best doctor you can be, whatever that may be.

If you are rejected, you can call the admissions office and ask for feedback, and they will give you honest feedback. Someone from the student panel did this one year he was rejected, and it helped him a lot (obviously, as he's now a student!)

The MD/PhD program is fully funded with a stipend!! If I had more research experience I'd consider it!

Mostly, I'd say they are super laid back as a school. Obviously don't take that as an excuse to dress in business casual and be lax during an interview or anything, but don't be super uptight or meek, either. And once you are in, it seems like a really great place to be a student.

I hope that helps someone. Good luck!
 
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stayathomemom said:
Hi everyone. I know this might be a bit late for those applying this cycle, but I thought I'd add to this thread anyway, esp for those who are using this info to apply for next cycle.

I went to the "So you want to be a physician" day yesterday at OHSU. It was put on by the admissions office (who was also the first speaker) and also included info about the curriculum from the dean of the SOM and a student panel.

A few take-aways:

Their admissions office is small (only four staff) but seem completely old-school in a good way. They go through every single app. If you meet the minimum cut-off (2.8-ish GPA and 497 MCAT) they will look through your app. They are happy to work with you if you call/email and have questions (and I can speak from personal experience, I have called and they have been very helpful). They said they appreciate thank-yous if they've helped you with questions.

They're really big on seeing your story/narrative on why you want to work as a physician. "Traditional" students are in the minority here; most of those who are accepted have a unique path to medical school and most with (often multiple) gap years. They want you to be well rounded. And they want you to be able to present your narrative well through your personal statement, secondary application, and interview. Most of the students on the panel had really wild and unique pasts, although there were a few with fairly traditional paths as well. Only half looked like future stereotypical physicians (because, hey, it's Portland! We love tats, piercings, and being super casual!) but no matter what they looked like on the outside, they all seemed to mesh well with each other (which is a sign that the adcoms did good jobs picking collaborative students).

The school is huge into collaboration within and between medical professions. The name of their med school building even has the word "collaborative" in it! You better know how to collaborate.

They recommend committing to whatever you are doing with your life while preparing for medical school, for example, building relationships with physicians through shadowing and really learning about their specialty. If you are going to do something, do it well.

Interview is 8 MMIs with a 22 minute one-on-one interview. They want to know that you are emotionally mature, can handle yourself under stressful situations, to see if you are a good fit for their school, what your motivations for medicine are, what your life experiences are, how can you read a room, and basically be able to be a functionally social human. And to see if can you show clear ownership of your decisions.

Because their applicants are so non-trad, their LOR guidelines are only guidelines. You don't NEED 2-3 professor letters, fewer will do, but you do need STRONG letters. Get letters from whoever can speak to your strengths, especially when it comes to your personal narrative. You are not penalized for having less than the guidelines of professor letters (but I'm going to assume you need at least 1?).

They only look at the most recent MCAT. They also said that if you are going to need to reapply, they should be seeing a lot more improvement in your overall app than a slightly higher MCAT score. Stay busy during app season.

The three components to making decisions on who to offer admission to are as follows: 40% on what your personal route to medicine is (via interview and application), 40% on your MMI (and I assume your one-on-one as well, but that wasn't listed), and 20% on your academic stats. It truly seems that if you can make it through the interview door you have a decent shot. Know your narrative.

They specifically said to avoid online forums (and one speaker mentioned SDN specifically, haha).

Their curriculum is pretty interesting, as they've taken pieces from here and there and seem to have built a cool program. During didactic years they do body systems and work through the basic sciences, clinical sciences, and health systems sciences at the same time instead of going through each "science" one by one. Core and elective rotations during clinical years are interspersed. There are 7-8 weeks dedicated Step 1 study time. Each student has a faculty mentor and does a scholarly project during their time in medical school.

Like I stated before, they're big on collaboration, and group learning seems to be a big part of their program.

The dean specifically stated that they are not a primary care factory, but are committed to seeing you be the best doctor you can be, whatever that may be.

If you are rejected, you can call the admissions office and ask for feedback, and they will give you honest feedback. Someone from the student panel did this one year he was rejected, and it helped him a lot (obviously, as he's now a student!)

The MD/PhD program is fully funded with a stipend!! If I had more research experience I'd consider it!

Mostly, I'd say they are super laid back as a school. Obviously don't take that as an excuse to dress in business casual and be lax during an interview or anything, but don't be super uptight or meek, either. And once you are in, it seems like a really great place to be a student.

I hope that helps someone. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Really helpful info. Still waiting on an II, but this gives me hope!
 
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stayathomemom said:
Hi everyone. I know this might be a bit late for those applying this cycle, but I thought I'd add to this thread anyway, esp for those who are using this info to apply for next cycle.
Click to expand...

Mostly accurate. I made a few revisions.

The three components to making decisions on who to offer admission to are as follows: 50% on what your personal route to medicine is (via 1-on-1 interview and application), 30% on your MMI (and I assume your one-on-one as well, but that wasn't listed - 30% is solely MMI), and 20% on your academic stats.

Interview is 10 MMIs with a 30 minute one-on-one interview.
 
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VikingWarrior said:
Mostly accurate. I made a few revisions.

The three components to making decisions on who to offer admission to are as follows: 50% on what your personal route to medicine is (via 1-on-1 interview and application), 30% on your MMI (and I assume your one-on-one as well, but that wasn't listed - 30% is solely MMI), and 20% on your academic stats.

Interview is 10 MMIs with a 30 minute one-on-one interview.
Click to expand...
Well, ok, but the info I relayed was straight from the Administrative Coordinator of the admissions office, on her powerpoint (of which I have a copy), and presented in front of the dean of the medical school who didn't refute it. So...:shrug:

Are you a student there or otherwise involved with the adcom?
 
Last edited:
stayathomemom said:
Well, ok, but the info I relayed was straight from the Administrative Coordinator of the admissions office, on her powerpoint (of which I have a copy), and presented in front of the dean of the medical school who didn't refute it. So...:shrug:

Are you a student there or otherwise involved with the adcom?
Click to expand...

That's interesting to hear because it does not match what the Admission's Dean told us on the day of the interview. Last year they had 8 MMI stations and a 40/40/20 split; however, they changed it to 10 MMI stations with a 50/30/20 split this year. They are putting less emphasis on MMI interviews now because applicants are able to prepare for them, so they are not as predictive as they were a few years ago when it was new idea. Maybe they reverted back to the old scale from last year.
 
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VikingWarrior said:
That's interesting to hear because it does not match what the Admission's Dean told us on the day of the interview. Last year they had 8 MMI stations and a 40/40/20 split; however, they changed it to 10 MMI stations with a 50/30/20 split this year. They are putting less emphasis on MMI interviews now because applicants are able to prepare for them, so they are not as predictive as they were a few years ago when it was new idea. Maybe they reverted back to the old scale from last year.
Click to expand...

I second the 50/30/20 split. Source was my interview last month; admissions dean did say that they revised this from the previous years.
 
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That's super odd then. Thanks for the info!
 
PleaseLetMeIn95 said:
On my II email it says that there will be 8 8 minute MMI stations this year.
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I can also confirm there were 10 stations. Yes my email also said 8 stations but on interview day when we showed up there were 10! Best of luck!
 
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Logged in to the portal and I’m finally complete as of 10/3!! Hopefully I get an interview
 
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I was complete 8/2 and still have not received any information. Should I count myself out? I am in state, 509 MCAT, 3.8 GPA.
 
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cherrypie123 said:
I was complete 8/2 and still have not received any information. Should I count myself out? I am in state, 509 MCAT, 3.8 GPA.
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Nope. OHSU is notoriously slow. I was complete late August last cycle and interviewed in February. You still have a good shot!
 
hopefuldoctor511 said:
Nope. OHSU is notoriously slow. I was complete late August last cycle and interviewed in February. You still have a good shot!
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Okay thank you! That makes me feel better. It's so hard to watch every else get them and has no information coming my way.
 
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Has anyone sent an update letter (new pubs, etc) to OHSU? Their portal doesn't seem to have an option to do so, and I can't find any info on their admissions page about their update letter policy. Is anyone better informed than I am?
 
goose144 said:
Has anyone sent an update letter (new pubs, etc) to OHSU? Their portal doesn't seem to have an option to do so, and I can't find any info on their admissions page about their update letter policy. Is anyone better informed than I am?
Click to expand...

Have you been interviewed yet? They do not accept any updates after your interview.
 
Hey all, I'm an IS applicant. I've already submitted my secondaries for a while, however I was just on the portal and clicked the Print My Application and realized under the Oregon Heritage section, it says I put my Parent Residency as "No" and that my graduation from an Oregon High school was also a "No", even though both should be a Yes. But I remember the secondary app stating if you were an OR resident you didn't need to fill that section out, so I had left it blank. Perhaps I'm remembering that wrong but did I screw up? Should I email them about this?
 
lobotron said:
Hey all, I'm an IS applicant. I've already submitted my secondaries for a while, however I was just on the portal and clicked the Print My Application and realized under the Oregon Heritage section, it says I put my Parent Residency as "No" and that my graduation from an Oregon High school was also a "No", even though both should be a Yes. But I remember the secondary app stating if you were an OR resident you didn't need to fill that section out, so I had left it blank. Perhaps I'm remembering that wrong but did I screw up? Should I email them about this?
Click to expand...

Don't worry about it. Looks like you filled it out correctly. I'm an IS applicant who interviewed here earlier this cycle and this is what my application looks like.

State of Legal Residency: OR
Parent residency: No
Graduation from high school in Oregon with at least two years at a high school in Oregon: No
 
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I recently called OHSU due to an email issue. During the call (which was last week), they said that my application had just been “screened” two weeks ago, so I should get a status update in about four weeks. What screening were they referring to? I was marked as complete on July 5th and have heard nothing since. Does this screening mean I was placed on hold? I’m curious to see if anyone else knows more about the screening process. In state, LizzyM 78, graduated in 2017.
 
Reyluvbry said:
Logged in to the portal and I’m finally complete as of 10/3!! Hopefully I get an interview
Click to expand...
When did you submit your app? I submitted on 08/02 but have not been marked as complete on my portal yet.
 
meltin0223 said:
When did you submit your app? I submitted on 08/02 but have not been marked as complete on my portal yet.
Click to expand...

I submitted on 7/14, so it took awhile to be marked complete on my portal.
 
Reyluvbry said:
I submitted on 7/14, so it took awhile to be marked complete on my portal.
Click to expand...

Hm, I submitted on 7/27 and was complete 7/27 according to the portal. I still haven’t heard anything from OHSU though. I’m IS
 
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