Oklahoma Anyone? part 01

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Amxcvbcv said:
If you end up being underbudget for a month or two and have extra cash laying around, is it possible to throw it back at your loans without too much hassle?

Just curious...

If you "throw" any money at your loans, you will enter repayment. You may end your deferment and be required to make monthly repayments. It is possible to just pay back the interest, however, you may be required to continue paying that payment monthly as well if you decide to begin.

This may not be how all programs work, but this is true for the majority of cases.
 
OSUdoc08 said:
If you "throw" any money at your loans, you will enter repayment. You will end your deferment and be required to make monthly repayments. It is possible to just pay back the interest, however, you will be required to continue paying that payment monthly as well if you decide to begin.

My loan program doesn't work this way. I pay back interest on a quarterly basis, but I am not required to if I don't want to. They just send me a statement on the interest amount with a due date of never and it's up to me whether I want to pay it or not. As far as paying back the money that you don't use, this probably depends on the loan program. I'm almost sure that there is no penalty with my program for early repayment. You should contact your loan people about this. I have friends who payed theirs back at the end of last semester. Even if you can't pay it back, you can always put it in an account for use after graduation.
 
any advice for out-of-staters? The budget they gave me was $60K/year...GULP! As much as I'd love going to OU, I kind of hope I dont have to just so I'm not in a Mount Everest of debt...I didnt recieve a scholarship of any type from OU and it's damn near impossible to get OK residency...so I was just wondering...
 
Amxcvbcv said:
If you end up being underbudget for a month or two and have extra cash laying around, is it possible to throw it back at your loans without too much hassle?

Just curious...

Student loans are generally cheap money. The current interest payback is around 2.7-2.8%, which is extremely low, and will probably go up a bit in July. However, if you have extra money and you invest it into medium-risk mutual fund accounts over the 4 years of med school (and beyond if you consolidate at a low interest rate after the 4 years), you can probably make a bit more than that. Even if it is only 1-2% more, every little bit helps. Alternatively, if you have enough extra to buy a small house instead of renting, you pay a bit more on mortgage each month, but that money is tax deductible (unlike rent). This may not matter if you are single and have no income from which to deduct tax, but if you are married with a working spouse or if you bought the house through your parents the the benefit stays in the family. Note: I am not recommending 'gambling' with the money, invest it wisely. Just take advantage of the low interest rate and make it work for you (especially if they penalize you for early payback).
 
biendesalud said:
Student loans are generally cheap money. The current interest payback is around 2.7-2.8%, which is extremely low, and will probably go up a bit in July. However, if you have extra money and you invest it into medium-risk mutual fund accounts over the 4 years of med school (and beyond if you consolidate at a low interest rate after the 4 years), you can probably make a bit more than that. Even if it is only 1-2% more, every little bit helps. Alternatively, if you have enough extra to buy a small house instead of renting, you pay a bit more on mortgage each month, but that money is tax deductible (unlike rent). This may not matter if you are single and have no income from which to deduct tax, but if you are married with a working spouse or if you bought the house through your parents the the benefit stays in the family. Note: I am not recommending 'gambling' with the money, invest it wisely. Just take advantage of the low interest rate and make it work for you (especially if they penalize you for early payback).

This is ad_sharp under another name. I am in the process of buying a house right now with my money. However, I would caution against using the money for stock market investment purposes. You sign a sheet of paper at the beginning of school that states that the money is for transportation, housing, or education related expenses. I don't think that the stock market fits in this category. That's why I've decided to invest in real estate. You'll probably never get caught investing the money, but the penalties can be pretty steep.
 
just wondering, anyone who interviewed on 2/9-2/10 at OU received any words yet? 😕 or last year OU Feb interviewees, can you shed some light on when you guys heard the news last year? Thanks a bunch!!!!! 🙂


wow...i would never have thought about investing medschool loan money 😱 :laugh: :laugh:

best of luck! :luck:
another humble applicant

________________________________
the family guy returns in MAY!!!! on fox
 
wordup said:
...or education related expenses...

what better way to pay off your loans than to make a little extra $$ on the side 😉

Nah, I didn't know about the 'constrictions' on the money. The house is a good call, especially if you can fix it up a bit by the time you finish school or buy in a growing development area. The housing market seems to be picking up a bit in OKC.
 
lfesiam said:
just wondering, anyone who interviewed on 2/9-2/10 at OU received any words yet? 😕 or last year OU Feb interviewees, can you shed some light on when you guys heard the news last year? Thanks a bunch!!!!! 🙂

Nothing yet. Really hoping to hear in the next few days.
 
overrated said:
lfesiam said:
just wondering, anyone who interviewed on 2/9-2/10 at OU received any words yet? 😕 or last year OU Feb interviewees, can you shed some light on when you guys heard the news last year? Thanks a bunch!!!!! 🙂

Nothing yet. Really hoping to hear in the next few days.

the agony of waiting... :scared:
thanks for the info overrated! :laugh:

___________________________________________
lfesiam.atspace.com
 
ad_sharp said:
Since we're all talking about all of this financial stuff, where are all of you getting your loans from? I would caution you to avoid the MEDLOANS program that the AAMC and Sallie Mae push on you. The terms suck and the origination fees are stupid. Oudoc and I are on the student maximizer loan from Bank of America-no origination fee and payback incentives. Best of all you don't have to go through the evil empire that is called Sallie Mae. I can't stand those people (my wife has undergrad loans with them). They're outsourced all over the place and you can't get anybody to help you when you need it. I almost lost a home loan because they couldn't figure out how to work a fax machine (took two weeks and repeated angry phone calls). Here's a link. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Hey, thanks for all the info. I did have a few more questions though...When should we start applying for these loans and scholarships? What information will we need when applying for the loans? Do they allow for more loan money if you're out of state to account for the out-of-state part?
Also...
I'm going to OU in the fall and have some National Merit Scholarships from OU-Norman that will transfer for the first 2 years. How will this affect my loans? Will I still be allowed to borrow the maximum allowable or will my maximum allowable be less because the estimated tuition costs are lower?

Thanks a lot for all your help!
 
JoeHuffmanOU said:
Hey, thanks for all the info. I did have a few more questions though...When should we start applying for these loans and scholarships? What information will we need when applying for the loans? Do they allow for more loan money if you're out of state to account for the out-of-state part?
Also...
I'm going to OU in the fall and have some National Merit Scholarships from OU-Norman that will transfer for the first 2 years. How will this affect my loans? Will I still be allowed to borrow the maximum allowable or will my maximum allowable be less because the estimated tuition costs are lower?

Thanks a lot for all your help!

They'll send you a financial aid statement when your fafsa is complete detailing your scholarships/loans, etc. You will have to notify the fa office of your merit scholarship on this statement. All you have to do to get the loan (it's really too easy) is put the lender code of your chosen financial company on the statement and send it back. You will be allowed a larger budget for out of state, but you should be careful not to exceed the loan caps of $189,000. If you go over, you're going to have to get the money from alternative loan programs. Your scholarship will be put into the budget for your maximum loan. For example if your max loan amount for a semester is $17K and you have a scholarship for $5K, you will only get to borrow $12K. Bad if you want a bunch of money, but good because you don't have to pay it back later. You might want to call the fa office to discuss it with them (as I am just a lowly student myself), but I think that this info is accurate.
 
not to change the topic, but I got a random question. Does Presbyterian
Tower/hospital have a cafeteria or a food court?
 
Stealth Vector said:
not to change the topic, but I got a random question. Does Presbyterian
Tower/hospital have a cafeteria or a food court?


I eat lunch at presby, children's, or the union. They're all good places to eat.
 
Has anyone had the guts to call and find out when the final letters are going out? Or, adsharp have you heard/could you find out anything? They told us we'd hear by March 1st, but it's been two weeks since the final interviews. Just wondered if they really weren't meeting until this week or what. I'm just anxious to either join in the financial aid discussion or at least be able to justifiably scoff at it. Here's hoping for good news...
 
hey overrated, i'm with you man. i can't wait to hear the news, i think it's anytime from now till next week. got a bottle of champagne and a cigar ready for the good news...... + a bottle of whiskey for the bad news. sigh sigh sigh...
 
lfesiam said:
hey overrated, i'm with you man. i can't wait to hear the news, i think it's anytime from now till next week. got a bottle of champagne and a cigar ready for the good news...... + a bottle of whiskey for the bad news. sigh sigh sigh...

They arn't even meeting untill Monday. 🙁 That means it will be at least the end of the week before we hear anything. I'm guessing acceptances will go out first, then the waitlist, then the rejects. Any idea how many people were deferred? There were @ 80 interviews in feb + deferred applicants for 20 spot's and the waitlist. Odd's arn't looking so good!
Best of luck. :luck:
 
Thanks for the info RachelD! i heard about 40-50% on the waitlist do get in so the odds are not that bad.

my $0.02, so if they meet on 3/1 we'll probably hear by.... i think the earliest, next saturday 3/5 since it takes about 4-5 days for a snail mail.

here's another info, if you get a BIG RED envelope = you got in!!! (my gf got one). 🙂

best of luck to all the sdn OU last rounders!!! :luck:
hopefully i'll be seeing you all sdners this fall 👍
 
RachelD, did you find that out from the admissions office recently or are you going by what was posted previously? Good luck to everyone!
 
lfesiam said:
Thanks for the info RachelD! i heard about 40-50% on the waitlist do get in so the odds are not that bad.

my $0.02, so if they meet on monday and sent out the letters the next day (2/29).... we'll probably hear by.... i think the earliest, next saturday 3/5 since it takes about 4-5 days for a snail mail.

here's another info, if you get a BIG RED envelope = you got in!!! (my gf got one). 🙂

best of luck to all the sdn OU last rounders!!! :luck:
hopefully i'll be seeing you all sdners this fall 👍

Any idea how many they waitlist?
 
Congrats guys! I just thought I'd stick my nose in b/c I did my freshman year of undergrad in Norman. Transferred to UT to finish up (I know traitor) but I must say I still root for the Sooners every season.
 
overrated said:
RachelD, did you find that out from the admissions office recently or are you going by what was posted previously? Good luck to everyone!

On my interview day Dean Hall told us that the adcom would be meeting on March 1st to make decisions on the remaining spots and to fill the waitlist. I posted that they were meeting on Monday but I guess March 1st is actually on Tuesday!! Sorry.
 
I work at OUHSC, and I have several friends that are 4th yrs. who help with the interview days. In fact, one of my friends actually escorted me to my interview room. From what she told me, all the interviewers meet following the last interview session of the day. At that meeting they pretty much determine your fate. Thus, I am not sure what the meeting on Tuesday is about. Unless it is to double check the numbers for the accepted and establish a rough wait list. This could be speculation, but I do know that my friend went to talk to the other student who interviewed me, but he was already in the meeting following my interview. With that said, I am not putting much hope in an acceptance (my stats were poor). Good luck to everyone else.
 
RachelD said:
Any idea how many they waitlist?

no clue on how many they waitlist, i'm just restating what i heard on a previous post, sorry =( but i do know this:

from the ou website:
250 total interviewed
150 class-size
I think they probably would accept a bit over the class size. (170-180?) so your chances of getting in after an interview is atleast 60% (150/250) which is good! now...if they accept more than the class size....(170/250=68%) now if you add in those waitlisted, the chances are not as bad as we all think, 👍

hope this info makes everyone feels a bit better 🙂
keep your hopes up! :luck:

____________________________________________
my stats aren't that great either, but hey, you can be the brightest doctor in the world but without compassion, i don't think you can be a true physician-healer. it's more than just the gpa (not that it isn't important! that's why they have minimum req.) :meanie:

____________________________________
The man told his doctor that he wasn't able to do all the things around the house that he used to do. When the examination was complete, he said, "Now, Doc, I can take it. Tell me in plain English what is wrong with me."
"Well, in plain English," the doctor replied, "you're just lazy." "Okay," said the man. "Now give me the medical term so I can tell my wife."
 
lfesiam said:
no clue on how many they waitlist, i'm just restating what i heard on a previous post, sorry =( but i do know this:

from the ou website:
250 total interviewed
150 class-size
I think they probably would accept a bit over the class size. (170-180?) so your chances of getting in after an interview is atleast 60% (150/250) which is good! now...if they accept more than the class size....(170/250=68%) now if you add in those waitlisted, the chances are not as bad as we all think, 👍

I think they actually interviewed 270 this year. 27 a day for 10 days. I'm pretty sure I remember them telling us this during january interviews.
 
Ginz is right. In the afternoons after the interviews, the 3 people that interviewed you present you to another committee who then make their recommendation. About 3 weeks after the last round of interviews, the entire committee meets to discuss and arrange/rearrange the final wait list. Letters will go out soon after that date.

Good luck everyone. I know what it feels like to be in limbo! 🙂
 
lfesiam said:
no clue on how many they waitlist, i'm just restating what i heard on a previous post, sorry =( but i do know this:

from the ou website:
250 total interviewed
150 class-size
I think they probably would accept a bit over the class size. (170-180?) so your chances of getting in after an interview is atleast 60% (150/250) which is good! now...if they accept more than the class size....(170/250=68%) now if you add in those waitlisted, the chances are not as bad as we all think, 👍


From what I heard last year the waitlist is about 35-40 peeps. I really doubt though that they would enlarge the class size without formally publicizing it since that's something that's pretty major to modify.
 
Napoleon1801 said:
From what I heard last year the waitlist is about 35-40 peeps. I really doubt though that they would enlarge the class size without formally publicizing it since that's something that's pretty major to modify.


what i meant to say is that generally, medschool accepts more peeps than the class size since there will be people who will withdraw. (this is without the waitlist)

thanks for the info on the waitlist napoleon 😎
 
Okay, so I broke down and gave OU a call today. They confirmed what was posted a few weeks back, the final adcom meeting is this Sunday, Feb. 27th. So, our letters should start showing up on Tues. and Wed. next week. At least we know for sure now. I can't believe they're meeting on a Sunday, too bad they couldn't have just met today! Good luck everyone.
 
overrated said:
Okay, so I broke down and gave OU a call today. They confirmed what was posted a few weeks back, the final adcom meeting is this Sunday, Feb. 27th. So, our letters should start showing up on Tues. and Wed. next week. At least we know for sure now. I can't believe they're meeting on a Sunday, too bad they couldn't have just met today! Good luck everyone.


👍 👍 👍 nice overrated! i was about to call this afternoon! i wish you guys best of luck! :luck:

__________________________________________________
Doctor: I have some bad news and some very bad news.
Patient: Well, might as well give me the bad news first.
Doctor: The lab called with your test results. They said you have 24 hours to live.
Patient: 24 HOURS! That's terrible!! WHAT could be WORSE? What's the very bad news?
Doctor: I've been trying to reach you since yesterday.
 
Bump....
I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the adcom meeting! Thank goodness our wait will be over soon. Anyone still waiting on a decision planning on taking the MCAT in April if they don't get in? We have until March 11 to register....
 
RachelD said:
Bump....
I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the adcom meeting! Thank goodness our wait will be over soon. Anyone still waiting on a decision planning on taking the MCAT in April if they don't get in? We have until March 11 to register....


We should know by this tuesday or wed, whoohoo 👍
 
Do any of you folks go to UCO? I'm going to be giving their premed club a tour on the 8th.
 
If you interviewed on the 10th and talked with me (Rachel)- you are female getting out of the military...I can't remember your name 🙁 . I know you read this board. E-mail me at [email protected]. I have some info/need to ask you something.....
 
I hope everyone that is waiting hears good news tomorrow or wednesday.

I was wondering about the housing situation. I know about the university village, but is $350/month pretty expensive for okc? I'm not too familiar with OKC since I grew up in the better big city of the state, Tulsa, and now live in Atlanta. What are some recommendations for apartments near the med school? Also is it to late to apply for the village apartments? Whats the typical apartment rate going to go for in OKC? I'm just looking for a decent place thats isnt too far away from the campus.

Thanks and good luck everyone.
 
10.....9.....8.....7.....6.....5....4......3.... argh...... anytime now...

wow, $350 a month? that's cheap! 👍 in philly, we usually pay $500-800 for a studio or a small single 👎
__________________________________________
 
Well, I'll post on here as soon as my mail runs today. I should know by noon. I looked at my interview letter, and I received it one day after it was postmarked, so if they got the letters out in yesterday's mail, I'll have it today. If not, then we can probably still expect them tomorrow and Thursday.

I can't wait to pay rent in OKC. I pay $1150 for a 1BR in Chicago, and I can get an awesome 2BR at Deep Deuce for like $850. It would be great to have a separate office, especially since there's so much home schooling.
 
I received an email reply today from Ms. Killam.

"We had our final meeting on Sunday and letters went out to all applicants yesterday (2/28)."

Agreed overrated, it'll be nice to have a study space or a place to put a foosball table. 👍

Sigh... Hopefully we will all hear good news, if not what are you guys' backup plans? MS? Postbac? Retaking the MCAT? PhD? I'm thinking about taking a year or two to do a MS.
 
No letter today. They probably didn't get them in the mail until after 5pm yesterday. Well, tomorrow is a definite then. Thanks for confirming the sent date lfesiam. I had the letter sent to my parents house in OK so I wouldn't have to wait two extra days for the mail. I forced my poor mother to give me the play by play over the phone just now. When she opened the mailbox and said there's nothing big or red my heart dropped. It made me realize I was expecting good news a little more than the odds suggest. Well, four more trilogies to watch and the mail will be running again. I'll post again tomorrow, I think I might know by 1030 or 11am.
 
overrated said:
No letter today. They probably didn't get them in the mail until after 5pm yesterday. Well, tomorrow is a definite then. Thanks for confirming the sent date lfesiam. I had the letter sent to my parents house in OK so I wouldn't have to wait two extra days for the mail. I forced my poor mother to give me the play by play over the phone just now. When she opened the mailbox and said there's nothing big or red my heart dropped. It made me realize I was expecting good news a little more than the odds suggest. Well, four more trilogies to watch and the mail will be running again. I'll post again tomorrow, I think I might know by 1030 or 11am.
This process is driving me crazy! My poor mailman 😱
 
overrated said:
No letter today. They probably didn't get them in the mail until after 5pm yesterday. Well, tomorrow is a definite then. Thanks for confirming the sent date lfesiam. I had the letter sent to my parents house in OK so I wouldn't have to wait two extra days for the mail. I forced my poor mother to give me the play by play over the phone just now. When she opened the mailbox and said there's nothing big or red my heart dropped. It made me realize I was expecting good news a little more than the odds suggest. Well, four more trilogies to watch and the mail will be running again. I'll post again tomorrow, I think I might know by 1030 or 11am.

I think OU mailed letters via "Presorted First Class" (that's how our interview letters were mailed). It's like a priority mail (somewhat) but a day slower. I look up the time it takes for delivery, for within' Oklahoma = 1 day!, so you'll definitely get it tomorrow!!!! For those of us who are in other states, we'll hear by this thursday-friday (3 days).
I searched the delivery time on the usps website. Call me a dork all you want, I'm just bored and have nothing better to do than checking sdn & my yahoo email every 10 mins. Boredom + Anxiety = More Anxiety, so keep yourself busy people! :laugh: K time to go practice tae kwon do, any martial artist in here? 😎

hehe so my Dad's birthday is this thursday, hope that'll increase my luck! :luck:
 
lfesiam said:
I think OU mailed letters via "Presorted First Class" (that's how our interview letters were mailed). It's like a priority mail (somewhat) but a day slower. I look up the time it takes for delivery, for within' Oklahoma = 1 day!, so you'll definitely get it tomorrow!!!! For those of us who are in other states, we'll hear by this thursday-friday (3 days).
I searched the delivery time on the usps website. Call me a dork all you want, I'm just bored and have nothing better to do than checking sdn & my yahoo email every 10 mins. Boredom + Anxiety = More Anxiety, so keep yourself busy people! :laugh: K time to go practice tae kwon do, any martial artist in here? 😎


I live in Oklahoma (about half way bt Tulsa and OKC) and it took about three days after the post mark date until I received my acceptance...I could hardly stand it bc it was taking so long.....I was about to call 😱 .
 
wow lfesiam, and I thought I was bad for going back to check the post-mark on the interview letter and then looking up what date I posted that I got it on SDN to figure out how long the transit time was. It really sucks that you have to wait for the letter to get to you out of state. I was lucky to have the option of sending it to my parents' house, I decided that knowing an extra day or two ahead of time was definitely worth hearing the news over the phone. Well, hopefully in about 10 hours I'll be hearing some of the best news of my life over the phone. Good luck again to RachelD, lfesiam, and any other SDN'ers whose fate hasn't yet been decided.
 
:scared:
overrated said:
wow lfesiam, and I thought I was bad for going back to check the post-mark on the interview letter and then looking up what date I posted that I got it on SDN to figure out how long the transit time was. It really sucks that you have to wait for the letter to get to you out of state. I was lucky to have the option of sending it to my parents' house, I decided that knowing an extra day or two ahead of time was definitely worth hearing the news over the phone. Well, hopefully in about 10 hours I'll be hearing some of the best news of my life over the phone. Good luck again to RachelD, lfesiam, and any other SDN'ers whose fate hasn't yet been decided.

Good luck to you too. :luck: Today should be the day for those of us with local mail.
 
lfesiam said:
did you guys get the letters today? overrated,RachelD? frogMD? 👍 :scared: :meanie:

My mail hasn't run yet. Any minute now....arrgggh
 
you guys are even making me anxious. :scared:
 
BIG RED ENVELOPES RULE!!!!!!! I guess I finally get to put OU Class of 2009 on my SDN signature line. Wow, I'm late for work. See you guys in August.
 
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