2023-2024 Oakland (Beaumont)

[chilly_md]

Thank you to @1cas for sharing this year’s questions.

2023-2024 Oakland Beaumont Secondary Essay Prompts

All are 400-word limits.

1. Oakland County has a diverse patient population with a health equity divide that has resulted in a vulnerable group of patients that are underserved. Given your understanding of social determinants of health, how would you go about addressing these inequities?

2. Describe how OUWB’s mission and values align with your professional goals and objectives.

3. Master adaptive learners in medicine represent a combination of both efficient problem-solvers and possess the ability to learn and innovate when faced with a novel challenge to deliver high quality healthcare. Think back to your educational journey and describe how you embodied the definition of a master adaptive learner.

4. Optional: Is there anything you want the admissions committee to know about your qualifications for medical school that are not already represented in your application materials? For example, if you have already graduated, briefly summarize your activities since graduation. Note: This space is provided for new information only, not to promote qualifications already highlighted in your other materials.

5. Optional: If you are a reapplicant to OUWB, please describe improvements you have made to your current application from previous cycles (please include academics, experiences, etc.).

Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview feedback:

Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine Interview Feedback

Review of Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine Interview Feedback. Get the latest information, opinions of fellow students, and LizzyM and SDN Rankings.

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[outcastdoodle]

+1 OOS secondary received

 

[outcastdoodle]

+1 OOS secondary received

jk. only an email about receiving primary

 

[Hippo.Jr]

jk. only an email about receiving primary

+2 received email confirming receipt of primary today.

 

[Fisherman Frank]

OOS received 20 mins ago

Essays:
1. Oakland County has a diverse patient population with a health equity divide that has resulted in a vulnerable group of patients that are underserved. Given your understanding of social determinants of health, how would you go about addressing these inequities? (400 words)
2. Describe how OUWB’s mission and values align with your professional goals and objectives. (400 words)
3. Master adaptive learners in medicine represent a combination of both efficient problem-solvers and possess the ability to learn and innovate when faced with a novel challenge to deliver high quality healthcare. Think back to your educational journey and describe how you embodied the definition of a master adaptive learner. (400 words)
4. Optional: Is there anything you want the admissions committee to know about your qualifications for medical school that are not already represented in your application materials? For example, if you have already graduated, briefly summarize your activities since graduation. Note: This space is provided for new information only, not to promote qualifications already highlighted in your other materials. (400 words)
5. Optional: If you are a reapplicant to OUWB, please describe improvements you have made to your current application from previous cycles (please include academics, experiences, etc.). (400 words)

 

[wysdoc]

Thanks for sharing the questions, @1cas

 

[That Guy 20125]

OOS received today, for the 4th question should I list what I have been doing since graduation or do I not list it since it is in my application?

 

[chilly_md]

OOS received today, for the 4th question should I list what I have been doing since graduation or do I not list it since it is in my application?

I think since you already included it elsewhere, this question can be left blank.

 

[dlosamtto]

OOS received

 

[Hippo.Jr]

+1 OOS received

 

[bdizzle646]

+1 OOS

 

[jblackster]

For the question asking about our educational journey, does that include only coursework or are student organizations we were involved in also considered part of our educational journey?

 

[wigglyextrovert]

For the question asking about our educational journey, does that include only coursework or are student organizations we were involved in also considered part of our educational journey?

I feel like student organizations could apply, I think it would be pretty limited otherwise if it just applied to classwork but I don't know

 

[wigglyextrovert]

I feel like student organizations could apply, I think it would be pretty limited otherwise if it just applied to classwork but I don't know

Update I emailed them and they said they don't advise applying students and they recommend looking at their website and pre-requisites...and then to ask my undergraduate pre-med advisor

 

[camt_spel]

For the question asking about our educational journey, does that include only coursework or are student organizations we were involved in also considered part of our educational journey?

I just talked about the challenges I experienced during my post-bacc especially during COVID, having to rearrange my life essentially, and working full-time at the same time. So I modeled it specifically around coursework and the challenges I faced during that time.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

For the question asking about our educational journey, does that include only coursework or are student organizations we were involved in also considered part of our educational journey?

Master adaptive learners in medicine represent a combination of both efficient problem-solvers and possess the ability to learn and innovate when faced with a novel challenge to deliver high quality healthcare. Think back to your educational journey and describe how you embodied the definition of a master adaptive learner. (400 words)

The prompt ideally asks for educational experiences, so most student organizations are out unless they have direct influence on your academic competencies.

 

[camt_spel]

Describe how OUWB’s mission and values align with your professional goals and objectives.

Is it okay to use some stories to 'describe' how OUWB's mission aligns with my objectives? I feel like i'm talking too much bout my story that speaks to my professional goals and objectives and not enough about their mission and values - but their mission statement and values are so short.

 

[thenew_man1415]

Is it okay to use some stories to 'describe' how OUWB's mission aligns with my objectives? I feel like i'm talking too much bout my story that speaks to my professional goals and objectives and not enough about their mission and values - but their mission statement and values are so short.

I leveraged this as a "why us" essay, and I'm not sure that stories would have a great place here as opposed to the other two essays.

 

[wigglyextrovert]

The prompt ideally asks for educational experiences, so most student organizations are out unless they have direct influence on your academic competencies.

Do you think experiences from a research lab still apply then?

 

[That Guy 20125]

IMO I think they want to know if you want to go to OUWB because they have a why OUWB and the education essay because they know everyone wrote their adversity essay on non-academic issues

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Do you think experiences from a research lab still apply then?

Not knowing if your story answers the prompt, it could work.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Is it okay to use some stories to 'describe' how OUWB's mission aligns with my objectives? I feel like i'm talking too much bout my story that speaks to my professional goals and objectives and not enough about their mission and values - but their mission statement and values are so short.

What does the school offer you to achieve your vision as a physician?

 

[beanpro]

For the 4th question, if I recently graduated 3 weeks ago and have only been writing secondaries and working, should I still try answering this question? I'm not sure if this question is more for those who already went through a gap year?

 

[thenew_man1415]

For the question asking about our educational journey, does that include only coursework or are student organizations we were involved in also considered part of our educational journey?

I included a brief paragraph on adversity with COVID affecting my educational journey but didn't focus on this since it didn't affect my GPA (4.0) and I do not feel that it drove me to adapt that much. I instead talked about my educational journey learning Spanish and immersing myself in the Spanish-speaking community and how that required relentless adapting, so I think you can write this in many ways if you don't feel like there was any adversity that affected your scholastic education.

 

[deleted1124957]

Question 4 is still throwing me off.
4. Optional: Is there anything you want the admissions committee to know about your qualifications for medical school that are not already represented in your application materials? For example, if you have already graduated, briefly summarize your activities since graduation. Note: This space is provided for new information only, not to promote qualifications already highlighted in your other materials.

From the initial stem of the question, I would think we could highlight whatever we want, so I was thinking a div/adv. Then bam, comes the for example, making it a gap year essay, but not really since its only new stuff.
So, is this just a gap year essay with new information not stated in primary, or can we highlight something we want them to know about our qualifications that weren't previous mentions- adv/div...

 

[chilly_md]

Question 4 is still throwing me off.
4. Optional: Is there anything you want the admissions committee to know about your qualifications for medical school that are not already represented in your application materials? For example, if you have already graduated, briefly summarize your activities since graduation. Note: This space is provided for new information only, not to promote qualifications already highlighted in your other materials.

From the initial stem of the question, I would think we could highlight whatever we want, so I was thinking a div/adv. Then bam, comes the for example, making it a gap year essay, but not really since its only new stuff.
So, is this just a gap year essay with new information not stated in primary, or can we highlight something we want them to know about our qualifications that weren't previous mentions- adv/div...

As the prompt says, it is a chance to share qualifications that have not been brought up before anywhere in your app. They provided an example of one thing you could use for the space. You do not have to fill out the optional essay either since they gave you 3 prompts with larger word limits already.

 

[demetriusclair]

For this question:

Master adaptive learners in medicine represent a combination of both efficient problem-solvers and possess the ability to learn and innovate when faced with a novel challenge to deliver high quality healthcare. Think back to your educational journey and describe how you embodied the definition of a master adaptive learner.

I wanted to talk about some of the problems I came across while doing my honors thesis in my dataset and how I used code to bypass these problems and save a significant amount of time. The problem I'm running into is that I'm not sure if the writing that I wrote is too complex for someone who isn't a programmer to understand. I've tried to dumb it down as much as possible to fill in the 400 words but I'm still wondering if I should just choose a different topic.

Also, I did this thesis for credit so thats why I used research for the educational journey question.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

For this question:

Master adaptive learners in medicine represent a combination of both efficient problem-solvers and possess the ability to learn and innovate when faced with a novel challenge to deliver high quality healthcare. Think back to your educational journey and describe how you embodied the definition of a master adaptive learner.

I wanted to talk about some of the problems I came across while doing my honors thesis in my dataset and how I used code to bypass these problems and save a significant amount of time. The problem I'm running into is that I'm not sure if the writing that I wrote is too complex for someone who isn't a programmer to understand. I've tried to dumb it down as much as possible to fill in the 400 words but I'm still wondering if I should just choose a different topic.

Also, I did this thesis for credit so thats why I used research for the educational journey question.

If it is the only example you have, you gotta make it work. Make sure it is written so a fifth grader can understand. Master teachers should be able to do this too.

 

[lovemydog]

Do you think for Optional #4, I should talk about what I'm doing over the gap year? The example provided is basically what I'm doing, but it said for novel information only..?

 

[BetterLateThanNever.]

Update I emailed them and they said they don't advise applying students and they recommend looking at their website and pre-requisites...and then to ask my undergraduate pre-med advisor

Would you mind sharing their exact response? I was a bit confused about this prompt too.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Optional: Is there anything you want the admissions committee to know about your qualifications for medical school that are not already represented in your application materials? For example, if you have already graduated, briefly summarize your activities since graduation. Note: This space is provided for new information only, not to promote qualifications already highlighted in your other materials.

For prompt #4, remember this is an optional essay. Depending on what you feel you have already covered, if there is still one aspect of your application that you feel was not addressed or mentioned in your entire application, this is your opportunity. If you have not already mentioned it in your personal statement, OIE, W/A, or responses to the school's essays, consider:

1) An opportunity that you will be working on during the application year which you did not mention in W/A.
2) You can expand on your response to the OIE on AMCAS.
3) You can discuss circumstances that affect you as an applicant, like you have a sibling who is attending a different school at the university.
4) Because you are taking an extended vacation abroad, you may not be reachable by internet while traveling until November. (Why one would take a vacation and defer all their interviewing until spring, I don't know.)

 

[wigglyextrovert]

Would you mind sharing their exact response? I was a bit confused about this prompt too.

It wasn't very helpful for me unfortunately -- "We do not provide advising for students who are applying. What I will recommend is to first look at our website. We have information on prerequisites, minimum academic requirements, and admission events. The other thing I will recommend is contacting the Pre-Health advisor at your undergraduate institution. They can guide you through the process of applying to medical school. If your undergraduate institution does not have a Pre-Health Advisor you can utilize the NAAHP website where they will provide you with one. Please let me know if we can be of further assistance."

 

[Lifeisabeach1]

For the first question, are you guys just focusing on one health inequity or are you keeping it broad to addressing all health disparities? I am lost on how to answer this one

1. Oakland County has a diverse patient population with a health equity divide that has resulted in a vulnerable group of patients that are underserved. Given your understanding of social determinants of health, how would you go about addressing these inequities?

 

[camt_spel]

For prompt #4, remember this is an optional essay. Depending on what you feel you have already covered, if there is still one aspect of your application that you feel was not addressed or mentioned in your entire application, this is your opportunity. If you have not already mentioned it in your personal statement, OIE, W/A, or responses to the school's essays, consider:

1) An opportunity that you will be working on during the application year which you did not mention in W/A.
2) You can expand on your response to the OIE on AMCAS.
3) You can discuss circumstances that affect you as an applicant, like you have a sibling who is attending a different school at the university.
4) Because you are taking an extended vacation abroad, you may not be reachable by internet while traveling until November. (Why one would take a vacation and defer all their interviewing until spring, I don't know.)

@Mr.Smile12 I wanted to write about a specific experience that occurred in a position from a W/A most meaningful on my primary app. This experience I wanted to write about was not talked about on my primary at all, but I wanted to include it to highlight my leadership skills and commitment to the health of my community.

It's basically written as a recollection of a decision I made in a leadership position in a laboratory that was not popular but allowed for the continued testing service to 200 families per year in our community, and then at the end I tie that into how challenging and unpopular decision making will come up in my future career as a physician... blah blah. you get the point.

Would this be appropriate for this optional essay?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

It wasn't very helpful for me unfortunately -- "We do not provide advising for students who are applying. What I will recommend is to first look at our website. We have information on prerequisites, minimum academic requirements, and admission events. The other thing I will recommend is contacting the Pre-Health advisor at your undergraduate institution. They can guide you through the process of applying to medical school. If your undergraduate institution does not have a Pre-Health Advisor you can utilize the NAAHP website where they will provide you with one. Please let me know if we can be of further assistance."

Well contact me if you are confused...

 

[Mr.Smile12]

@Mr.Smile12 I wanted to write about a specific experience that occurred in a position from a W/A most meaningful on my primary app. This experience I wanted to write about was not talked about on my primary at all, but I wanted to include it to highlight my leadership skills and commitment to the health of my community.

It's basically written as a recollection of a decision I made in a leadership position in a laboratory that was not popular but allowed for the continued testing service to 200 families per year in our community, and then at the end I tie that into how challenging and unpopular decision making will come up in my future career as a physician... blah blah. you get the point.

Would this be appropriate for this optional essay?

Not having any idea what you previously wrote, I can only suggest trying it out.

 

[Cotton Candy Lover]

I feel like student organizations could apply, I think it would be pretty limited otherwise if it just applied to classwork but I don't know

same. I interpreted that it doesn't have to be classwork related. You could definitely learn outside of school too. If they only want coursework related answers, then "academic journey" should be better since "educational" is very open . . .

 

[FriendlyStranger]

Has anyone here taken PREview? Would taking it in September be considered too late?

 

[wysdoc]

Has anyone here taken PREview? Would taking it in September be considered too late?

PREview is recommended, but not required, for this school, so I don't think it will hold back their reading of the rest of your application if you don't take it until September.

 

[demetriusclair]

PREview is recommended, but not required, for this school, so I don't think it will hold back their reading of the rest of your application if you don't take it until September.

Do you think for schools that it is recommended at, that we should still take it? I already took CASPER so I personally don't want to spend the money to take another test if its primarily going to be used for data collection. It is recommended at 2 of the schools I'm applying to though so that is why I have debated taking it.

 

[wysdoc]

Do you think for schools that it is recommended at, that we should still take it? I already took CASPER so I personally don't want to spend the money to take another test if its primarily going to be used for data collection. It is recommended at 2 of the schools I'm applying to though so that is why I have debated taking it.

It's up to you, and only 7 US MD schools require it this year.
If one of those is a school you really want to apply to, you're gonna do it.
Having it be optional at 2 of your schools makes it harder to decide.
PREview has no video portion and no free-written answers ( it is all answers you choose from a rating scale).
It does benefit you to spend some time on their site to see what they are getting at in the answers they want.
PREview is "remotely proctored" so you have to do it with your webcam on.
https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/13321/download?attachment
look especially at the rating scale on page 3 and see what each rating (1,2,3,4) means
Look at the qualities they are trying to test for (Diagram on Page 4.)

 

[demetriusclair]

It's up to you, and only 7 US MD schools require it this year.
If one of those is a school you really want to apply to, you're gonna do it.
Having it be optional at 2 of your schools makes it harder to decide.
PREview has no video portion and no free-written answers ( it is all answers you choose from a rating scale).
It does benefit you to spend some time on their site to see what they are getting at in the answers they want.
PREview is "remotely proctored" so you have to do it with your webcam on.
https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/13321/download?attachment
look especially at the rating scale on page 3 and see what each rating (1,2,3,4) means
Look at the qualities they are trying to test for (Diagram on Page 4.)

Thanks!

 

[Devboy]

II! Submitted on 7/17/23

 

[dhdneus]

II! Submitted on 7/17/23

Congrats! Stats/ IS or OOS ?

 

[Devboy]

Congrats! Stats/ IS or OOS ?

OOS, 3.9 gpa, 518 mcat

 

[entropymania]

I'm kind of confused about the LOR requirements. On their website they said, "If your premedical advising office provides a committee letter compiling feedback from multiple sources, this letter will count as two of your three required letters of recommendation." I have a letter packet that has two letters from science professors, one from a non-science professor, one from my volunteer supervisor, and one from my PI. But will my letter packet still only count as two of the three required LORs?

 

[BattalionX]

I'm kind of confused about the LOR requirements. On their website they said, "If your premedical advising office provides a committee letter compiling feedback from multiple sources, this letter will count as two of your three required letters of recommendation." I have a letter packet that has two letters from science professors, one from a non-science professor, one from my volunteer supervisor, and one from my PI. But will my letter packet still only count as two of the three required LORs?

Good question! Might email them and see what they say. This question #3 has thrown me for a doozy but it's definitely a unique question. I always hate these questions before writing them but then love them once I've finished the essay

 

[pandapremed]

I'm kind of confused about the LOR requirements. On their website they said, "If your premedical advising office provides a committee letter compiling feedback from multiple sources, this letter will count as two of your three required letters of recommendation." I have a letter packet that has two letters from science professors, one from a non-science professor, one from my volunteer supervisor, and one from my PI. But will my letter packet still only count as two of the three required LORs?

I took this to mean that the committee letter itself will count as 2/3 minimum. If your school doesn't do a committee letter, then it still seems like you hit the 3 minimum

 

[sunberry]

II! Submitted on 7/17/23

was your status as file complete or file under review before getting the II? does everyone else's status only say file complete?

 

[thenew_man1415]

II received. IS, 4.0GPA, 520.