2023-2024 Oakland (Beaumont)

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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:

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Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine Interview Feedback

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Last edited by a moderator:
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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)
 
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?
 
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?
 
jblackster said:
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?
Click to expand...
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
 
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soccerdr3 said:
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
Click to expand...
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
 
jblackster said:
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?
Click to expand...
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.
 
jblackster said:
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?
Click to expand...
1cas said:
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)
Click to expand...
The prompt ideally asks for educational experiences, so most student organizations are out unless they have direct influence on your academic competencies.
 
Describe how OUWB’s mission and values align with your professional goals and objectives.
Click to expand...
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.
 
camt_spel said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
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
 
camt_spel said:
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.
Click to expand...
What does the school offer you to achieve your vision as a physician?
 
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?
 
jblackster said:
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?
Click to expand...
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.
 
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...
 
PoppyBobby said:
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...
Click to expand...
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.
 
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.
 
demetriusclair said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
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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..?
 
soccerdr3 said:
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
Click to expand...
Would you mind sharing their exact response? I was a bit confused about this prompt too.
 
PoppyBobby said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.)
 
BetterLateThanNever. said:
Would you mind sharing their exact response? I was a bit confused about this prompt too.
Click to expand...
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."
 
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?
 
Mr.Smile12 said:
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.)
Click to expand...
@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?
 
soccerdr3 said:
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."
Click to expand...
Well contact me if you are confused... 🙂
 
camt_spel said:
@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?
Click to expand...
Not having any idea what you previously wrote, I can only suggest trying it out.
 
soccerdr3 said:
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
Click to expand...
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 . . .
 
Has anyone here taken PREview? Would taking it in September be considered too late?
 
FriendlyStranger said:
Has anyone here taken PREview? Would taking it in September be considered too late?
Click to expand...
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.
 
wysdoc said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
demetriusclair said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.)
 
wysdoc said:
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.)
Click to expand...
Thanks!
 
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?
 
entropymania said:
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?
Click to expand...

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 🤣
 
entropymania said:
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?
Click to expand...
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
 
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