Disappointed at OSU rejection

[BuckEYEhopeful]

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First off I'm not trying to brag, but I thought I had a pretty solid application and got flat out rejected at Ohio State. Problem is, they were my top choice. I had 244 boards, go to a top 5 medical school, good grades, and good letters (from chair, professor emeritus in ophtho, and medicine). I have family in Ohio, have worked at Ohio State and was hoping to practice in Ohio when done. My application was read and reread by my faculty and they liked it.

The question I have is this: Is there anything I could possibly do to have them review me again? I may be reaching here but I wish I had at least gotten an interview.

 

[indytx]

did they know you're from ohio and that you have family there? the only explanation i can think of is they didn't expect you to actually come to OSU.

 

[rubensan]

i think a letter and/or e-mail to the program director and department chair re-iterating many of the points that you made in your original post can only help help your cause. best of luck.

 

[Sams]

I agree with indy.

Are you currently located near Ohio? If not, if you have a great application they probably will assume you will go elsewhere. I think in our point of view it seems unfair, but I think we have to realize that admissions committee has been doing this for years and they must see trends as to who ends up where.

There is still Cole Eye, Case Western and Akron. Good luck.

 

[schistosomiasis]

A modification of rubensan's idea would to get someone to call on your behalf (preferably your ophtho department chair, if not one of your recommenders; when I was a student our chair volunteered to call for us in extreme situations like yours) to say that you are really interested. I'd act as fast as possible, people are turning down interviews and slots are being filled...

 

[fatman41]

similar numbers, but not top 5 school and I was rejected as well. I told one of our residents that I was rejected by Wisconsin straight up even though they are on probation. He said if you're numbers/applicantion are too good they may not offer an invitation b/c they assume you will want to go elsewhere. Would not hurt to call.

 

[Sams]

Another thought about "pulling strings" and making phone calls,

If you get interviews from Cole Eye and case western and end up ranking those schools higher than OSU (becuz of better rep's, etc.) I don't think it would look to good on your part (especially since you want to practice there later) and on the part of your school/ chairman.

It seems like you have made up your mind about OSU, and in that case I would go for it.

 

[Gaskell]

I would definitely try what the above posters have suggested, if you are really keen on Ohio. I mean, what have you really got to lose? If they say no, you're no worse than before.

Good luck!

 

[indytx]

Another thought about "pulling strings" and making phone calls,

If you get interviews from Cole Eye and case western and end up ranking those schools higher than OSU (becuz of better rep's, etc.) I don't think it would look to good on your part (especially since you want to practice there later) and on the part of your school/ chairman.

It seems like you have made up your mind about OSU, and in that case I would go for it.

i think the OP is just trying to get an ivw at this point, and is not making a firm committment to OSU by having someone call on his behalf. if you were trying to get them to rank you first, and then ranked another school first, obviously that's a different story. i think you should be agressive about pursuing ivws at the other ohio schools as well, if you really want to stay there.

GL to you.

 

[rubensan]

so, i think all of you are starting to realize that there is an element of randomness and chaos to this whole process. i agree with schistosomiasis, if there is a place you really want to be, use everything in your arsenal.

similar numbers, but not top 5 school and I was rejected as well. I told one of our residents that I was rejected by Wisconsin straight up even though they are on probation. He said if you're numbers/applicantion are too good they may not offer an invitation b/c they assume you will want to go elsewhere. Would not hurt to call.

 

[BuckEYEhopeful]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I will take up what most of you have said and speak to a Dean to call on my behalf. As far as the rank goes, I guess I cannot know for sure until I visit, but I can say they are my number 1 from my research on them, location, and fit for me. This board has been very helpful - so again thank you all for your thoughts 🙂

 

[7ontheline]

so, i think all of you are starting to realize that there is an element of randomness and chaos to this whole process. i agree with schistosomiasis, if there is a place you really want to be, use everything in your arsenal.

Truth.

You should all realize that there are a LOT of great and good candidates out there - the line separating all of you is very thin, practically invisible. If there is something you really want, make sure they know it. Otherwise you are not THAT different, regardless of your scores, grades, med school, etc. Lots of people have good scores and grades and research. It's just how it goes.

 

[Olddog1]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I will take up what most of you have said and speak to a Dean to call on my behalf. As far as the rank goes, I guess I cannot know for sure until I visit, but I can say they are my number 1 from my research on them, location, and fit for me. This board has been very helpful - so again thank you all for your thoughts 🙂

I would opt for someone in the Ophtho department, esp. someone that wrote you a letter of rec or someone that knows you. You could also consider the Dean calling someone in your department (do you know if someone from Optho is on the admissions committee for med school? that could be an in) and have them call. I am not sure if who the caller is would matter but I think there would be a better chance if it was from an Ophthalomologist.

I agree with 7ontheline and rubensan about the applicant pool in general. There seem to be more applicants this year and many are very good to excellent. There was likely something on your application that hinted to the OSU folks you may not come. Make it clear that you have some link to Ohio. Good luck, the only thing you risk is another rejection from the same program.

 

[BuckEYEhopeful]

Yeah I know the applicant pool is great this year - apparently everyone figured out how cool ophthalmology is 🙂 And I wasn't trying to imply that I thought I was above the rest of the applicants by any means. I'm just trying to get my number 1 choice to look at me.

So I'll keep my fingers crossed, but I realize there are several great programs out there. As such, I'm looking forward to the interview trail and keeping an open mind!

 

[Wolverine98]

If you're having someone call, definitely have it be from someone in ophthalmology, unless your dean happens to know the program director or chair (eg from med school). Even better if it's an ophthalmologist they already know.

As I've said in several posts littered around the board, part of it is a crapshoot, and you'll never figure out what they're looking for. I agree with the others that it's worth a shot. What's the worst they can do?
From talking with our program director, it sounds like there are a ton of applicants this year (that was also the case last year).

One thing I remember about my interview at OSU was that they made sure to tell everyone that they never go past 8 or 9 on their ranklist. I thought it was sort of a pointless thing to say, but I know it rubbed a lot of people I've talked to the wrong way.

You might find that your list is significantly different than you expect once you've visited all the places. My list was tremendously different once I was done; a couple of places that I thought of as sort of backups ended up near the top, and some places I really wanted/expected to like ended up at the bottom.

Dave

 

[speyeder]

Sometimes whether or not you get an interview depends on who is reviewing your application. We all have our biases and preferences, which are shaped by our own experiences. Your application may look great to one committee member but only good to another. It just depends on who is reading your file. This points to the subjective nature of the review process and the fact that most applicants are pretty well qualified, with similar numbers and credentials.

 

[LADoc00]

First off I'm not trying to brag, but I thought I had a pretty solid application and got flat out rejected at Ohio State. Problem is, they were my top choice. I had 244 boards, go to a top 5 medical school, good grades, and good letters (from chair, professor emeritus in ophtho, and medicine). I have family in Ohio, have worked at Ohio State and was hoping to practice in Ohio when done. My application was read and reread by my faculty and they liked it.

The question I have is this: Is there anything I could possibly do to have them review me again? I may be reaching here but I wish I had at least gotten an interview.

top 5 med school as in? WashU? Penn? Maybe you should try to work the med school angle. Call some alum. Regardless, I doubt going back to Ohio would be much of a problem after you are done training, if you are at a top 5 school (as in Harvard Hopkins Penn WashU and UCSF) it is almost unheard of not to match if you apply wide enough (key) and arent a total screw off.

 

[BuckEYEhopeful]

So I have some good news. OSU reviewed my application and granted me an interview there. Again everyone's advice was much appreciated and I'm going to keep an open mind on the interview trail. I am excited to finally start seeing some programs instead of just reading the website info 🙂 To everyone applying , good luck on the interview trail!

 

[amelie4i's]

Congratulations!! Nice to hear a happy ending.

 

[azzarah]

So I have some good news. OSU reviewed my application and granted me an interview there. Again everyone's advice was much appreciated and I'm going to keep an open mind on the interview trail. I am excited to finally start seeing some programs instead of just reading the website info 🙂 To everyone applying , good luck on the interview trail!

YES!!!!! 👍