Official The Ohio State University Class of 2011

[premedkid]

I'm surprised no one has started a class thread yet. Maybe we can make a facebook group too!

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[Katya00]

I am class of 2011 too. Where is everyone else?

 

[sandg]

Congratulations on being accepted, guys/gals. Hopefully this thread gets going in the near future. I'm an M2 at OSU now. I'll try to answer any questions that get posted here, although the time I spend on SDN has taken a sharp drop in the last year and a half for reasons you can probably guess. There are other OSU students on SDN as well that may be able to help too.

 

[Doctor Surreal]

Well I guess this forum hasn't really taken off yet, but I'm sure it'll come around. Actually at this point I'm not accepted so I guess technically I shouldn't even be posting on here. I do have the interview, which is in February. I realize this is pretty late in the process, but as an out of state student, I'm pretty happy with getting an interview offer at all. Hopefully things will work out. As that time comes near, I'm sure I'll be messaging on this thing more frequently.

 

[Doctor Surreal]

So I had a question that maybe someone that goes to Ohio State currently or will be going will know the answer to. How many interview days does the medical school have? For instance, I'm from Oklahoma, and at OU Med this year they have 2 dates in Sept., 2 dates in Oct., 2 dates in Nov., 2 dates in January, and 2 dates in February. Basically the reason that I am asking is because I have an interview set at Ohio State for February, and was trying to gauge how high/low I was in the applicant pool. At OU, if you get an interview for Sept. or Oct. you're sitting pretty, Nov. you're still doing pretty well, but Jan. & Feb. means they've already handed out a lot of acceptances and so your interview needs to go really well. Anyways, if someone could get back with me, either through this thread or PM, so I'm better informed, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[Emergency!]

Ohio State interviews every Monday and Wednesday (more or less) through about the first week of March. Unless they changed the procedure this year, they set aside a certain number of acceptances per month. So, in theory, you have an equal chance of getting accepted in February as in September. To my knowledge, even in February they haven't totally filled the class, allowing them some room to accept people later in the year. If you end up being "deferred", you will be asked in March or April if you want to be on the waitlist. In past years, as many as 50% of the people on the deferred list have ended up being granted acceptances. Last year, the waitlist didn't move much at all.

Hope that helps.

 

[jrm439]

Hi everyone, congratulations on your acceptances! I'm about 95% (maybe 98%) positive that I'll be at Ohio State next fall with you guys. I've already started the online apartment search, I can't wait!

 

[coco11]

same here- as of this moment, i'll be attending osu in the fall, despite being a HUGE wolverine fan (gasp!). i loved the school, even though i was trying as hard as i could to NOT like it during my interview.

 

[Niki21]

same here- as of this moment, i'll be attending osu in the fall, despite being a HUGE wolverine fan (gasp!). i loved the school, even though i was trying as hard as i could to NOT like it during my interview.

I feel your pain. I'm a huge wolverine fan as well (attend umich for undergrad) but after interviewing at OSU, I was very impressed. I'll definitely go to 2nd look weekend in March and there's a good chance I'll be there in the fall!!

 

[doublebuckeye]

i can't blame you UM folks for liking OSU so much. You might as well go to OSU for med school so you can taste what winning is like.

-Kevin
Med 1
OSUCOM

Seriously though there are like 10-15 UM kids in our class, so you will have friends in enemy territory.

 

[TakoCA]

Does anybody have a copy of the list of requirements you have to agree to when you accept OSU's invitation on their website? I can't seem to get to it anymore

 

[Emergency!]

Congrats on your acceptance! I don't think you are really agreeing to any binding requirements by accepting the invitation on the website. In a couple of weeks, you will get a letter from the professional admissions office asking you to submit a deposit (it was $25) to hold your spot. I think they give you ~ two weeks to mail that in. Other than that, I can't think of anything binding. If you decide after sending in the $25 deposit to not attend OSU, you just notify admissions that you are giving up your spot and you forfeit the deposit.

 

[TakoCA]

Congrats on your acceptance! I don't think you are really agreeing to any binding requirements by accepting the invitation on the website. In a couple of weeks, you will get a letter from the professional admissions office asking you to submit a deposit (it was $25) to hold your spot. I think they give you ~ two weeks to mail that in. Other than that, I can't think of anything binding. If you decide after sending in the $25 deposit to not attend OSU, you just notify admissions that you are giving up your spot and you forfeit the deposit.

Great, that's what I was actually worried about. I've been away from my apartment on winter vacation for the past few weeks so I couldn't get to my mail. I hope I'm not too late to get that check in next week.

 

[Emergency!]

Again, I really don't think you have anything to worry about. I doubt they're going to yank your acceptance because you didn't get the check in over the Christmas break. Call the admissions office on Monday. I'm sure its fine.

 

[ALWAYSanANGEL]

hey fellow buckeyes!!!!!!!!!!!!I proabably will be seeing you in the fall. I am just sad that florida will beat osu.

 

[Ambsjh]

Ohio State interviews every Monday and Wednesday (more or less) through about the first week of March. Unless they changed the procedure this year, they set aside a certain number of acceptances per month. So, in theory, you have an equal chance of getting accepted in February as in September. To my knowledge, even in February they haven't totally filled the class, allowing them some room to accept people later in the year. If you end up being "deferred", you will be asked in March or April if you want to be on the waitlist. In past years, as many as 50% of the people on the deferred list have ended up being granted acceptances. Last year, the waitlist didn't move much at all.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the info.

My fiancee just got deferred from OSU (he lives in Chicago, I'm a Ph.D. student at OSU). I know other schools accept supplemental information after a deferral. Do you have any advice on what one can do after receiving a deferral (more letters, essays, etc.)? We don't want to be a nuisance by any means, but we've been apart for two years already, and I'd give anything to not have to go another 4.

 

[Emergency!]

Thanks for the info.

My fiancee just got deferred from OSU (he lives in Chicago, I'm a Ph.D. student at OSU). I know other schools accept supplemental information after a deferral. Do you have any advice on what one can do after receiving a deferral (more letters, essays, etc.)? We don't want to be a nuisance by any means, but we've been apart for two years already, and I'd give anything to not have to go another 4.

I would send a letter of intent - that OSU is his/her number one choice and that he absolutely will attend there if accepted. Keep in contact with the admissions office, but like you said, don't be a nuisance. The admissions staff is really nice. I don't think they would mind if he/she called, explained the situation and asked if there was anything he/she could do.

Good luck! I hope everything works out for you!

 

[maestro1625]

Ohio State interviews every Monday and Wednesday (more or less) through about the first week of March. Unless they changed the procedure this year, they set aside a certain number of acceptances per month. So, in theory, you have an equal chance of getting accepted in February as in September. To my knowledge, even in February they haven't totally filled the class, allowing them some room to accept people later in the year. If you end up being "deferred", you will be asked in March or April if you want to be on the waitlist. In past years, as many as 50% of the people on the deferred list have ended up being granted acceptances. Last year, the waitlist didn't move much at all.

Hope that helps.

so wait, just a clarifiaction, does this mean deferred=waitlist? or do they pull people off the deferred list prior to establishing the waitlist?

 

[Emergency!]

so wait, just a clarifiaction, does this mean deferred=waitlist? or do they pull people off the deferred list prior to establishing the waitlist?

More or less it does equal waitlist. They have been known to accept some people off deferred status prior to the end of interviews - I was told that all deferred files are reveiwed once a month and can possibly be accepted at that time.

Sometime after interviews are over you will be contacted about whether or not you want to be on the waitlist, if I remember correctly.

 

[maestro1625]

More or less it does equal waitlist. They have been known to accept some people off deferred status prior to the end of interviews - I was told that all deferred files are reveiwed once a month and can possibly be accepted at that time.

Sometime after interviews are over you will be contacted about whether or not you want to be on the waitlist, if I remember correctly.

sounds reasonable... I'll definitely be sending OSU a letter of intent if such a thing happens.

 

[toitoitoi]

When and how do must people find housing and roommates? I'm guessing the second look weekend would be a great time to scope out housing options, but is there a good way to find roommates and such?

 

[Emergency!]

When and how do must people find housing and roommates? I'm guessing the second look weekend would be a great time to scope out housing options, but is there a good way to find roommates and such?

OSU does a roommate "match". They send out surveys and then match people who are looking for roommates up based on the answers to the questionnaires. I understand it works fairly well - some people have been known to live with their matches all four years. Admissions and/or student council do yearly surveys of students about their housing and make that info available to browse - I would think that kind of info would be available at second look.

If you're not into the roommate thing, Columbus is a very reasonable city to live in with a wide range of housing options. I also know students who have bought 2/3 bedroom condos or houses and then taken in roommates.

Just as an FYI - there is plenty of housing available in Columbus. Don't think you necessarily have to have housing lined up by May or so.

 

[premedkid]

does OSU have a medical school fraternity?

 

[TheGalvaniFrog]

does OSU have a medical school fraternity?

Uhh? I don't think such an entity exist in any med school.

 

[gannonia]

count me in too.....any others from the state of Michigan???

 

[TheGalvaniFrog]

Hi all, I am considering OSU. I just browsed the AMSA Medical School Survey site where it shows the result of med students surveys about the quality of their school:

http://www.amsa.org/premed/medsurvey/

I know the sample size is very small but there are patterns and comments on there that concerns me.

1. Compared to students at many other schools (I tried side-by-side comparasion with a few nearby schools: Cincy, Case, Toledo, Michigan State, etc), OSU students rated the quality of teaching in years 3 and 4 lower. In the comment section there are comments such as: "There are few quality educators for the third and fourth years." and "OSU hospital is a very unfriendly environment for students."

2. Again, compared to other schools, OSU's Helpfulness of Administration and Administration's support/encouragement of student organizations are rated relatively low. In the comment section: "Lack of encouragement from the administration for student activities," "frustrated by the administrations unwillingness to work with student organizations," "Unsupportive administration toward student-initiated activities."

3. Finally, there is a "Please share any other thoughts you may have about your school" section. Students from other schools tend to leave quite a few encouraging or informative comments. But for OSU, that section is glaringly empty.

So the overall picture I get from this admittedly very small survey is that OSU is a place where students feel more ignored by the administration, more unsatisfied with the quality of clinical education, and more generally apathetic about one's own school compared to students in many comparable schools.

Of course, there are positive points about OSU shown by the survey, but I am just picking up the points of concern.

Can any current OSU med students comment on these issues?

Thanks

 

[Emergency!]

I know the sample size is very small but there are patterns and comments on there that concerns me.

Not only is the sample size ridiculously small (OSU has over 800 medical students total in all four years), there is no way to know how old this survey data is. I looked at this data when I was applying (over 2 years ago), and it looks identical (based on the comments, which I remember) to what it was then. I would have to say that over the past couple of years there haven't been any or very few new surveys. There are several comments pertaining to the three pathways for years one and two . . . the last class to have PBL as an option graduated last June, further proof that the data is not recent.

If AMSA wants this to be a valid tool, they need to market it more to medical students to get larger sample sizes, and they should also limit the responses that they include in their compilation to those submitted in the last year (max 2 years). At the very least, they should list the dates that the surveys were submitted (i.e. "Based on surveys submitted in 2005").

1. Compared to students at many other schools (I tried side-by-side comparasion with a few nearby schools: Cincy, Case, Toledo, Michigan State, etc), OSU students rated the quality of teaching in years 3 and 4 lower. In the comment section there are comments such as: "There are few quality educators for the third and fourth years." and "OSU hospital is a very unfriendly environment for students."

I can't speak a LOT to this as I am a second year, but take this with a grain of salt. There are literally hundreds of clinical educators at OSU and surrounding sites. I know there has been a little more effort made to not assign students to preceptors who constantly get poor student evaluations. As for the environment - having worked as an EMT who transported to OSU prior to medical school, the environment is not only unfriendly to medical students. It can be unfriendly to anyone. Keep in mind though, that many students will do rotations outside of OSU. OSU has a ton of clinical sites, and I have heard great things about rotations at many of them. One last note on this - at OSU Main, the residents do a lot of the educating of medical students. So, again, quality can vary from year to year depending on the particular group of residents.

2. Again, compared to other schools, OSU's Helpfulness of Administration and Administration's support/encouragement of student organizations are rated relatively low. In the comment section: "Lack of encouragement from the administration for student activities," "frustrated by the administrations unwillingness to work with student organizations," "Unsupportive administration toward student-initiated activities."

Again, I point to the age of the data. There have been at least a couple of changes in administration in the past couple of years. There is a new Dean of Student Affairs and a new Dean. I personally have found the administration to be supportive. Students sit on nearly all of the committees - academic review committees, curriculum review committees, etc, so their voices are heard. The only major complaint I have heard about administrative support of student activities is the lack of funding. I have seen several new student-led initatives take place in the past year and a half, with the support of the administration.

There are some thing that the administration seems to be unwilling to change, but I imagine that is the case at many schools. I constantly hear students complain about how the administration refuses to change things in response to student complaints, however, I don't believe that is always the case. What people fail to take into consideration is that med school administration is a huge bureaucracy and change is slow to take place. So, by the time student complaints about something wind their way through the system and change actually occurs, the students that made the original complaints are not around to see the results.

3. Finally, there is a "Please share any other thoughts you may have about your school" section. Students from other schools tend to leave quite a few encouraging or informative comments. But for OSU, that section is glaringly empty.

So the overall picture I get from this admittedly very small survey is that OSU is a place where students feel more ignored by the administration, more unsatisfied with the quality of clinical education, and more generally apathetic about one's own school compared to students in many comparable schools.

I can't really give you an answer to why the students made few/no positive comments. There are many positive things to like. I think students who feel ignored by the administration have made no effort to meet with administration themselves. I have met with most of the associate deans/program leaders and I have found them to be incredibly supportive and helpful.

I guess my advice would be to base your decision on what YOU personally observe (via interview day, second look day, interaction with students when you visit) and your own gut instinct and not on a, IMO, poorly constructed survey of anonymous students. If/when you visit the school, make sure to ask administration and students about things that you found to be a point of concern.

Hope you found this somewhat helpful . . . again, don't place too much stock in a survey that I believe has little, if any, recent data.

 

[sunshine_42]

Hello! I've been accepted to OSU, too, so I guess I'll see you guys in the Fall. I really fell in love with the school at the interview; I think I would have cried for a week if they hadn't accepted me.

 

[soccerman3]

Does anyone have the details of what the SL Weekend entails besides the fact that it coincides with a conference that will be displaying posters of research done by faculty and students?

I'm wondering if it's worth the time and money to fly out there again.

 

[medtrial82]

x

 

[hlchess]

OSU does a roommate "match". They send out surveys and then match people who are looking for roommates up based on the answers to the questionnaires. I understand it works fairly well - some people have been known to live with their matches all four years. Admissions and/or student council do yearly surveys of students about their housing and make that info available to browse - I would think that kind of info would be available at second look.

If you're not into the roommate thing, Columbus is a very reasonable city to live in with a wide range of housing options. I also know students who have bought 2/3 bedroom condos or houses and then taken in roommates.

Just as an FYI - there is plenty of housing available in Columbus. Don't think you necessarily have to have housing lined up by May or so.

Is this "roommate match" thing for students living in dorms or off campus apartments?

Also, anyone know how many students live on campus? I thought most students lived off campus?

 

[Emergency!]

Other schools permit students to choose a lender (Such as Medloans) which permits them to get zero fees and interest rate reductions of 2 to 2.05 percent (i.e. 4.8% rate) over the standard rate of 6.8%. Does OHIO permit this and allow students to choose loan provider? Schools that do not permit this may charge the full 6.8% interest as well as upto 3% initial fee, both can add up to over $20,000 to $40,000 over the life of a loan. Most med schools also keep their financial aid and loan policies separate from the university they are housed in.

Ohio State does its federal loans directly though the government, and as far as I know, you have no choice in that. Other Ohio med schools (Cinci and MUO, I think, for example) allow you to choose your private lender for your federal loans. I'm sure if you call the FA office, they could give you all the details you need.

 

[Emergency!]

Is this "roommate match" thing for students living in dorms or off campus apartments?

Also, anyone know how many students live on campus? I thought most students lived off campus?

The roommate match is for off-campus. Most of the on-campus grad student housing is single person, I think. Not very many students live on campus, but there are a few.

 

[hlchess]

Does anyone have the details of what the SL Weekend entails besides the fact that it coincides with a conference that will be displaying posters of research done by faculty and students?

I'm wondering if it's worth the time and money to fly out there again.

I just got an email about the second look weekend. It's just one day, Saturday March 31st. I'm wondering if I should stay with a student host or in a hotel. Anyone have any suggestions? Also, anyone know if they pay for the transportation and hotel if I stay in one?

 

[Niki21]

I just got an email about the second look weekend. It's just one day, Saturday March 31st. I'm wondering if I should stay with a student host or in a hotel. Anyone have any suggestions? Also, anyone know if they pay for the transportation and hotel if I stay in one?

I'm wondering the same thing about the hotel vs. student host. I highly doubt they pay for transportation and hotel since they mentioned in the email that some of the hotels give discounts if you're there for the medical school. That seems to imply that you pay for it.

 

[coco11]

I'm wondering the same thing about the hotel vs. student host. I highly doubt they pay for transportation and hotel since they mentioned in the email that some of the hotels give discounts if you're there for the medical school. That seems to imply that you pay for it.

i didn't get this email

 

[coco11]

OSU Financial Aid deadline is tomorrow!!

Better get that FAFSA done.

 

[ryandote]

OSU Financial Aid deadline is tomorrow!!

Better get that FAFSA done.

Anybody have any experience screwing this one up? Apparently I hadn't "signed" my FAFSA with my PIN.

Any hope for financial aid?

 

[TleilaxuMD]

Anybody have any experience screwing this one up? Apparently I hadn't "signed" my FAFSA with my PIN.

Any hope for financial aid?

You can live without your kidneys right?

 

[Emergency!]

You're still eligible for the full amount of federal subsidized and unsubsidized loans. You'd have to call the financial aid office and ask them if you'll still be considered for any scholarships.

 

[ryandote]

You're still eligible for the full amount of federal subsidized and unsubsidized loans. You'd have to call the financial aid office and ask them if you'll still be considered for any scholarships.

That's a relief, good to know there is hope for idiots. I'll call tomorrow.

Thanks.

 

[hlchess]

Any current OSU students have any advice on how to look for apartments? I'll be coming to the second look weekend, and I want to take a look at some apartments while I'm here.

Thanks!

 

[confused48]

Business casual for the 2nd look? What does this mean for guys?

 

[hlchess]

Wait, where does it say we have to dress business casual? I'm not exactly sure what that is, but it sounds kinda dressy. In the email all it said was to wear comfortable shoes for the long tour. I was just going to wear whatever... I didn't know we had to dress up!?

 

[goingforthegold]

Business casual for the 2nd look? What does this mean for guys?

I was in a business organization in high school. Back then it meant a blouse, slacks/skirt, and closed toes shoes for women and a shirt, tie, and slacks for men.

hlchess - The business casual comment was at the top of the latest "Ohio State College of Medicine Update" email. I got the email on Monday. Also, good question about apartments. I plan to look at potential apartment complexes and neighborhoods that weekend as well. It would be nice to hear some opinions and have some direction for the search before I get there. Any current OSU students out there that love or hate their current abode?

 

[hlchess]

Ahh, I see it, thanks. Man, I thought we were done with dressing up after the interview. Ugh...

 

[Emergency!]

Also, good question about apartments. I plan to look at potential apartment complexes and neighborhoods that weekend as well. It would be nice to hear some opinions and have some direction for the search before I get there. Any current OSU students out there that love or hate their current abode?

If you dredge up the OSU class of 2010 and class of 2009 threads there's some decent advice on housing to be found there. In general, you want to be west and/or south of the medical school. If you go much east of the medical school, it is pretty much undergrad territory other than the Gateway complex, which is on High street. The Gateway complex caters mostly to professional/graduate students and faculty - very nice, but also very expensive. Olentangy Commons is a huge apartment complex north of the university where a lot of students live - but it's not as predominantly undergrad as some areas. I would avoid University Village - you might be tempted because they run free bussing from the complex to the university, but it is VERY heavily undergrad and, IMO, not a safe place to be during breaks (thieves know that most people are gone and declare open season on the heavy undergrad areas.)

Traffic is not bad in Columbus, and you can find some pretty nice places to live within a 15 minute drive. Some areas to check out are Victorian Village (walking distance), Short North (a little more expensive), Grandview, Upper Arlington.

 

[TheGalvaniFrog]

Two questions:

1) Is a car pretty much required for Columbus living?
2) What's the procedure to get your laptop approved and exempted from buying a new one? $1800 is pretty steep.

 

[logos]

Two questions:

1) Is a car pretty much required for Columbus living?
2) What's the procedure to get your laptop approved and exempted from buying a new one? $1800 is pretty steep.

1. Car is definately required.

2.When I got my laptop approved (2 years ago) I just took it to the IT people on the 4th floor of the library. They just make sure it meets the requirements, a 2 min job. I would probably send them an email to the extent that you plan on opting out sometime this summer. They should then give you specific directions.

That being said, I kinda wish I had gotten their laptop, especially if I could have gotten the one the Med 1's have. Its a tablet PC and very cool. Consider also that a warantee is included for the whole time you are at osu. Any problems get handled very quickly by the tech support people in the library...including giving you a replacement. It is a very wide reaching warantee in that you can even have caused the damage yourself and they'll still fix/replace it....so things like coffee spills/drops etc are covered.

 

[TakoCA]

Does anybody know when is orientation/start of classes? It looks like it was Aug. 9-11 for orientation last year, but I can't find any info on this year.