Hey guys... some of you asked me to tell you about my application review for this cycle... this was my 2nd year applying, interviewing, getting rejected, and doing a file review with OSU...read my post (#430) of this thread to get my background info before you finish reading this post...
I had my review with Dr. Brandt on Monday (2/23/09). I told her that I didn't really need a full review with pointers (because I have been accepted elsewhere), but OSU has been my #1 pick, and after doing everything suggested last year I just wanted to know why I didn't get in. Here comes the heartwrenching part....wait for it.... I missed getting accepted BY 3 POINTS...which is a teeny tiny margin. She felt horrible having to tell me this. For their process, they have categories broken down with point values (academic, financial awareness, job awareness, motivation, references, etc...). Dr. Brandt told me my interview went stellar, and I couldn't have done any better. For most categories, there was only room for improvement of half a point to a point...she said where I could have easily made up those 3 points would have been in my references...I was floored/shocked/felt let down by my evaluators. Dr. Brandt said the written part of the eLORs were really supportive and positive, but there was also a section with like 10 statements and they had to rank me... with 0 being the poorest, and 5 being the best... she said my evaluators gave me more 4s than 5s...had I gotten better ranks, I would have gotten the points I needed. So I feel horrible, and frustrated. My 2 vets are amazing and have been great to work with...they also, both got in their first try and don't quite understand how hard it is to stand out and get accepted...unfortunately, they didn't understand that you need to be scored near perfect (they viewed a "5" as meaning there was no room for improvement, which they don't believe in, hence giving me more 4s than 5s)...Dr. Brandt also said that this year had an extremely competitive pool of students (much more so than in past years....so had I scored similarly last year like this year, I would have gotten in last year)...I asked her how I didn't even make it to the waitlist if I was only 3 points away from an acceptance...she explained that there were probably about a 100 or so other students that also scored 1-3 points within being accepted, so it goes down to luck of the draw on who got waitlisted....I was not one of the lucky ones...
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So, although it may be absolutely heartbreaking to hear you were this close to getting in, it is way better to know that you didn't blow it in the interview....that you should have gotten in, but there aren't enough seats... accept the fact that maybe you should have done some things differently, or made choices more carefully. I REALLY RECOMMEND DOING A FILE REVIEW...it truely is helpful, and hopefully it will help you get in next year if you are applying....
