Did not receive secondary invite for OHSU, but invitation sent 7 days ago

[Prometheus123]

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I believe I did not receive an email invitation to do the secondary application for OHSU, my state school and second home. I've searched my inbox and spam folder repeatedly, but there is no such email in there. I even searched for emails from the address OHSU's site says to whitelist to make sure you get the invitation, mdadmin at ohsu.edu, with no results in Spam or elsewhere. I just found out it says on their portal they sent me an invite on the 4th, the day my AMCAS was sent to them 7 days ago!

Will anyone please read my OHSU secondaries before I submit them? Given that it's currently past end of day on Friday, I could theoretically wait to submit until Monday morning, right? Or should I just submit what I have immediately? They're very entertaining, but I'm worried I may have missed a spot of crazy talk in them (riffing on a @Med Ed ism).

Are they going to think I'm not interested because I waited 7-9 days to submit my secondaries? If so, what can I do to do damage control on this?

If you're as worried about this as I am, just know that everything that's turned out the best in my premed career has been fraught with just such last-minute catastrophes, so it might be a good sign if experience is to be believed. The story of how I scored in the 97th percentile on the MCAT on 2 hours of sleep is the epitome of this trend. Hear the whole story in response to OHSU prompt #3: "Discuss a time in your life that demonstrated your resilience."

 

[Med Ed]

Are they going to think I'm not interested because I waited 7-9 days to submit my secondaries? If so, what can I do to do damage control on this?

 

[Prometheus123]

Haha, thank you, that made me laugh.

 

[Goro]

I believe I did not receive an email invitation to do the secondary application for OHSU, my state school and second home. I've searched my inbox and spam folder repeatedly, but there is no such email in there. I even searched for emails from the address OHSU's site says to whitelist to make sure you get the invitation, mdadmin at ohsu.edu, with no results in Spam or elsewhere. I just found out it says on their portal they sent me an invite on the 4th, the day my AMCAS was sent to them 7 days ago!

Will anyone please read my OHSU secondaries before I submit them? Given that it's currently past end of day on Friday, I could theoretically wait to submit until Monday morning, right? Or should I just submit what I have immediately? They're very entertaining, but I'm worried I may have missed a spot of crazy talk in them (riffing on a @Med Ed ism).

Are they going to think I'm not interested because I waited 7-9 days to submit my secondaries? If so, what can I do to do damage control on this?

If you're as worried about this as I am, just know that everything that's turned out the best in my premed career has been fraught with just such last-minute catastrophes, so it might be a good sign if experience is to be believed. The story of how I scored in the 97th percentile on the MCAT on 2 hours of sleep is the epitome of this trend. Hear the whole story in response to OHSU prompt #3: "Discuss a time in your life that demonstrated your resilience."

The Admissions dean does not have a stopwatch going waiting to see how long it takes for you to send in your secondary.

 

[Dox4lyfe]

waited 7-9 days to submit my secondaries? If so, what can I do to do damage control on this?

You should hand deliver the secondary at this point.

 

[Prometheus123]

Happy to hear that!

The Admissions dean does not have a stopwatch going waiting to see how long it takes for you to send in your secondary.

 

[Prometheus123]

You should hand deliver the secondary at this point.

Are you serious or joking? Either way, sounds like baller yet pleasantly professional and old-fashioned move.

 

[mwsapphire]

deleted by moderator

.......

 

[Prometheus123]

deleted by moderator

I can tell @Dox4lyfe was joking, so that's a poor (not to mention unprofessional, inaccurate, offensive, and wildly inappropriate) diagnosis, but anyway. I'm just saying it kind of sounds like it might be a good idea. I'd bring everyone in admissions flowers if I thought it might make a difference.

 

[Dox4lyfe]

I believe I did not receive an email invitation to do the secondary application for OHSU, my state school and second home. I've searched my inbox and spam folder repeatedly, but there is no such email in there. I even searched for emails from the address OHSU's site says to whitelist to make sure you get the invitation, mdadmin at ohsu.edu, with no results in Spam or elsewhere. I just found out it says on their portal they sent me an invite on the 4th, the day my AMCAS was sent to them 7 days ago!

Will anyone please read my OHSU secondaries before I submit them? Given that it's currently past end of day on Friday, I could theoretically wait to submit until Monday morning, right? Or should I just submit what I have immediately? They're very entertaining, but I'm worried I may have missed a spot of crazy talk in them (riffing on a @Med Ed ism).

Are they going to think I'm not interested because I waited 7-9 days to submit my secondaries? If so, what can I do to do damage control on this?

If you're as worried about this as I am, just know that everything that's turned out the best in my premed career has been fraught with just such last-minute catastrophes, so it might be a good sign if experience is to be believed. The story of how I scored in the 97th percentile on the MCAT on 2 hours of sleep is the epitome of this trend. Hear the whole story in response to OHSU prompt #3: "Discuss a time in your life that demonstrated your resilience."

Send your secondary online whenever you think it's ready. It won't make a difference whether you submit it tonight or next week. Please don't hand deliver Haha.

 

[Med Ed]

Haha, thank you, that made me laugh.

Your application at OHSU: an exercise in visual metaphor.

Go to the bank and obtain $67.00 in pennies. Take them home and spread them around on the floor of one room. Pick one out. That's you.

 

[Prometheus123]

Your application at OHSU: an exercise in visual metaphor.

Go to the bank and obtain $67.00 in pennies. Take them home and spread them around on the floor of one room. Pick one out. That's you.

Sigh...well, I haven't put all my eggs in one basket. Current list is up to 18 schools I believe. Hopefully I'm a lucky penny.

 

[ADSigMel]

Are you serious or joking? Either way, sounds like baller yet pleasantly professional and old-fashioned move.

I hand-delivered my secondary to the one school in my town. They still use a paper app, so walking it over saved me the price of a stamp.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[Med Ed]

Sigh...well, I haven't put all my eggs in one basket. Current list is up to 18 schools I believe. Hopefully I'm a lucky penny.

It's not so much a commentary on your overall chances, but a representation of what OHSU's admissions office contends with each year.

 

[Prometheus123]

It's not so much a commentary on your overall chances, but a representation of what OHSU's admissions office contends with each year.

The task facing ADCOMs everywhere does seem daunting. Given the primary care shortage and absurd competition, seems like the US needs more medical schools, no?

 

[Prometheus123]

I hand-delivered my secondary to the one school in my town. They still use a paper app, so walking it over saved me the price of a stamp.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

Did you talk to anyone in the office? Did you somehow manage to make a good impression on someone?

 

[Upstage]

Just remember you have a 1 month deadline, I literally sent my secondary in a few hours before the deadline.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Prometheus123]

Just remember you have a 1 month deadline, I literally sent my secondary in a few hours before the deadline.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

What happened? Did you get in?

 

[Med Ed]

Did you talk to anyone in the office? Did you somehow manage to make a good impression on someone?

If someone walked in here with a paper secondary it certainly would make an impression. Odds are someone would look at you like you have two heads and then direct you back home to submit it electronically, because that's how our system works. I guess someone could scan it and attach it to your file, but then it might get missed in the system. Or transcribe it for you, but that would make you look like a helpless baby who is incapable of following directions.

 

[Med Ed]

The task facing ADCOMs everywhere does seem daunting. Given the primary care shortage and absurd competition, seems like the US needs more medical schools, no?

There has been a significant increase in medical schools and medical school class sizes since 2000. The bottleneck is residency.

 

[Prometheus123]

There has been a significant increase in medical schools and medical school class sizes since 2000. The bottleneck is residency.

Oh, so this is the easy part? Great lol. My wife is a FMG studying for USMLE Step 1. She's been studying for a long time, and both our families keep demanding that she just take the test already. What we keep explaining to them is that because she's an FMG, she has to not just pass, but score exceptionally well to have a shot at the residencies she wants (ENT, her specialty in India, or internal medicine as a more achievable Plan B) and that takes time.

 

[ADSigMel]

Did you talk to anyone in the office? Did you somehow manage to make a good impression on someone?

I stuck my head in the Director of Admission's door to say hi. We had already met about a year ago when I was just toying with the idea of applying (I'm a non-trad). He remembered me, and indicated that he was pleased to see that I was applying to his school. BUT! I repeat: This school still does paper applications (maybe the only school in the country that still does), so I believe that several of the applicants who live in town do submit secondary applications in person. It's a small state school, so this is different than, say, walking an application over to the med school at Tulane or Loyola or Temple or somewhere else that gets tens of thousands of applications from students all over the country (and expects them to be submitted electronically).

 

[Prometheus123]

I stuck my head in the Director of Admission's door to say hi. We had already met about a year ago when I was just toying with the idea of applying (I'm a non-trad). He remembered me, and indicated that he was pleased to see that I was applying to his school. BUT! I repeat: This school still does paper applications (maybe the only school in the country that still does), so I believe that several of the applicants who live in town do submit secondary applications in person. It's a small state school, so this is different than, say, walking an application over to the med school at Tulane or Loyola or Temple or somewhere else that gets tens of thousands of applications from students all over the country (and expects them to be submitted electronically).

That makes sense. I toyed with the idea this morning of bringing them a humidifier with built-in lavender oil aromatizer. We've been having a heat-wave in Portland the past two weeks, so the air inside their building is very dry from the constant AC I imagine. But I don't think the risk to benefit ratio works out well enough to justify it. Also, apparently it's no big deal to submit it a week or two after they send them out, contrary to what I had read previously.

 

[ADSigMel]

That makes sense. I toyed with the idea this morning of bringing them a humidifier with built-in lavender oil aromatizer. We've been having a heat-wave in Portland the past two weeks, so the air inside their building is very dry from the constant AC I imagine. But I don't think the risk to benefit ratio works out well enough to justify it. Also, apparently it's no big deal to submit it a week or two after they send them out, contrary to what I had read previously.

The humidifier idea is very sweet, but, sadly, might make you look a little psycho. And I've submitted some secondaries as much as *gasp* THREE WHOLE WEEKS after getting them. You're ok, hon, really. Maybe don't wait 6-8 weeks to turn your secondaries around, but I promise you're not hurting your chances by delaying a week or two.

 

[Prometheus123]

The humidifier idea is very sweet, but, sadly, might make you look a little psycho. And I've submitted some secondaries as much as *gasp* THREE WHOLE WEEKS after getting them. You're ok, hon, really. Maybe don't wait 6-8 weeks to turn your secondaries around, but I promise you're not hurting your chances by delaying a week or two.

Haha, yeah, that's the concern I had. Thanks for the reassurance too. I was overreacting because I thought, based on inaccurate info I read online, that this was some catastrophic mistake I had made, and I won't lose my state school without a fight. In my defense, the absurd competitiveness of this process breeds paranoia about such things.

 

[drmantistobbogan]

That makes sense. I toyed with the idea this morning of bringing them a humidifier with built-in lavender oil aromatizer. We've been having a heat-wave in Portland the past two weeks, so the air inside their building is very dry from the constant AC I imagine. But I don't think the risk to benefit ratio works out well enough to justify it. Also, apparently it's no big deal to submit it a week or two after they send them out, contrary to what I had read previously.

Have you considered applying to the naturopath school in Oregon? Based on your post history, it seems like a better fit for your interests.

 

[Prometheus123]

Have you considered applying to the naturopath school in Oregon? Based on your post history, it seems like a better fit for your interests.

An astute observation. I actually considered whether I should go ND, MD, DO, or other for about a year before I committed to premed MD/DO. There are many reasons why I chose MD/DO over ND. First of all, I know too many unemployed NDs. Almost no one outside the West Coast of the US has ever heard of an ND. NDs can't specialize. Most importantly, and I might be wrong about this, but my impression is that the naturopathic curriculum is not as rigorous and in-depth as the MD or DO ones regarding physio, patho, and pharma, and that's really a deal-breaker for me.

I only suggest people try eating dietary supplements for now because it's ethical for anyone to suggest people eat certain foods or change their lifestyles. I know a little bit about some great pharmaceuticals (not nearly as much as I'd like to), but I don't talk about them because I don't know enough and it would be unethical for me to do so.

I have no preference for nutraceuticals over pharmaceuticals over vice versa though. I like whatever works.

 

[drmantistobbogan]

An astute observation. I actually considered whether I should go ND, MD, DO, or other for about a year before I committed to premed MD/DO. There are many reasons why I chose MD/DO over ND. First of all, I know too many unemployed NDs. Almost no one outside the West Coast of the US has ever heard of an ND. NDs can't specialize. Most importantly, and I might be wrong about this, but my impression is that the naturopathic curriculum is not as rigorous and in-depth as the MD or DO ones regarding physio, patho, and pharma, and that's really a deal-breaker for me.

I only suggest people try eating dietary supplements for now because it's ethical for anyone to suggest people eat certain foods or change their lifestyles. I know a little bit about some great pharmaceuticals (not nearly as much as I'd like to), but I don't talk about them because I don't know enough and it would be unethical for me to do so.

I have no preference for nutraceuticals over pharmaceuticals over vice versa though. I like whatever works.

I would imagine that the disparity in curriculum stems from the cognitive dissonance that naturopaths must feel in the face of evidence. Just a word of general advice, I wouldn't disclose much in regards to naturopathic interests. It is one thing to speak on the integration of diet into general health, but it is another to extol the virtues of essential oils, which have been debunked.

 

[Prometheus123]

I would imagine that the disparity in curriculum stems from the cognitive dissonance that naturopaths must feel in the face of evidence. Just a word of general advice, I wouldn't disclose much in regards to naturopathic interests. It is one thing to speak on the integration of diet into general health, but it is another to extol the virtues of essential oils, which have been debunked.

I would imagine that the disparity in curriculum stems from the cognitive dissonance that naturopaths must feel in the face of evidence. Just a word of general advice, I wouldn't disclose much in regards to naturopathic interests. It is one thing to speak on the integration of diet into general health, but it is another to extol the virtues of essential oils, which have been debunked.

I never said anything about benefits of essential oils! I just think they smell nice. I don't know anything about it, but my impression is also that they've been debunked.

I will keep my naturopathic interests on the DL. Regarding cognitive dissonance in the face of evidence, I think that depends on the intervention you're talking about. The only naturopathic medicine I included in that list that I'm aware of is milk thistle, and I admit I know the least about that one. The rest are all finds from the literature or recommendations from clinicians that I subsequently read up about.