Osu

[s42brown]

OK, I have finally decided that OSU might be the school for me. I have an interview at KCOM and UHS but have not sent in my secondary to OSU. I think the biggest attraction I have to OSU is that it is one of the best and is in a larger city. I wanted to know how many out of state applicants OSU accepts each year. I know it is more competitive for out of staters. I presently work in the ER of a local hospital and have a 3.76science GPA and a 9,9,10 N MCAT. I would love for anyone attending OSU to give me some insight into how competitive you think might stats are for someone outside Oklahoma and what you like about your school.
Thanks for your help

cutty

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[Dr JPH]

Originally posted by s42brown
...but have not sent in my secondary to OSU

Why not?

Send it in and see what happens.

The longer you wait, the less chance you have of an acceptance.

You're wasting time by posting here.

 

[too-sweet-phat-cool 4-life]

HI Brown,
Looks to me like you would have a good chance here. I know of about 10 from out of state in my class and I think that is about normal. Honestly, your stats are good enough, but it all comes down to the interview. I know many people rejected with great stats based on their interview. I really like it here, but I am from OK so I might be a little biased. All the people from out of state say the love it here also, Tulsa is pretty nice and the school is right off the Arkansas River. Anyway, I know there are a few people on this thread at OSU from out of state and they might have a little more insight.

Good Luck,
Luke

 

[shindog]

I am from out-of-state and had similar numbers to you. Each year OSU accepts about 10 students from outside OK. Your numbers are fine. As Luke stated, it all comes down to the interview. It was easily the most relaxed interview I had with any of the osteopathic schools. And that's saying a lot because UHS, DMU were pretty laid back. Your interview will only last about a half-hour. They just try to get a feel of where you're coming from. We talked about drinking Guinness and Cardinal baseball during my interview. The hardest question they'll probably ask you is if you plan on staying in OK after residency, etc. For me Tulsa is the perfect location. It's not too big, not too small. The school is right across the river from downtown.

If you have any specific questions go ahead and send me a PM.

Good luck

 

[shindog]

s42brown,

I noticed that you're from St. Louis. I did research at WashU SOM for two years after undergrad and volunteered in the ER at Barnes during that period. The new ER there kicks a$$. It's also encouraging that there are a couple DO residents there and that the chief attending is a DO. I got a lot of valuable information from them. If you're interested in emergency medicine, you might want to get to know them. I had established a pretty good connection with them by the time I left, so I know they won't forget me if I apply to EM there.

 

[John DO]

Hey, s42! I replied to you in the KCOM forum the other day, but thought I would here, too. I am from OK and had a similar decision to make when I was accepted to both KCOM and OSU-COM. Both are excellent schools, but i finally decided on KCOM and have not regretted that decision one iota. I do have friends attending OSU, however, and they seem happy, also.

You are right that OSU is pretty competitive for OOS applicants, but they offer a lot of interviews and that is your biggest selling point. Don't count on an extended interview day like you may get other places, like KCOM--they don't roll out the red carpet until you are accepted. Since KCOM offers a limited number of interviews, they go out of their way to sell the school to you while you are here (they do a WONDERFUL job making you feel welcome, I think). Also, don't forget your tuition--OOS tuition is pretty high at OSU--you may as well attend a private university like KCOM, instead of spending more than twice as much as your in-state colleagues for the same education!

Tulsa is a great town if you like larger areas (about 400,000 people) and if you lie the smell of oil (that is only around the school, which is close the the industrial side of Tulsa). If you are from St. Louis, Tulsa will seem like a rural community to you! I have children and am not the least bit impressed with Tulsa's public school system, so that factored into my decision, in addition to KCOM's long-standing reputation in the medical community. We have students here that are from St. Louis and make the drive regularly to visit family and to get a city "fix" after spending all their time here in the farmland. The drive doesn't take long if you take Hwy 6. Since KCOM offers St. Louis as a core rotation site, those students are planning to return for their third and fourth year. At OSU, you will be traveling around the rural sites in Oklahoma (think Poteau), which is great if you plan to go into family medicine.

Just some points to ponder--have fun on your interviews and get that secondary in to OSU-COM--they have a rolling admissions, so if you wait too long, they may offer all their OOS spots!!!

 

[UnderGrad]

Hey Brown,

I think you have a good chance to get in here provided your interview goes well. Don't let the OOS status discourage you. The only discouraging part might be the waitlist factor. If you get waitlisted, DON'T GIVE UP!! There are a lot of people in our class that got in off the waitlist.

Also, while the rural part of the rotations might be a negative for some, there are some positive aspects. I think you get to do more as a medical student during rotations because you aren't in line behind interns and residents. You could potentially learn more in these situations than if you only got to observe. A particular example comes to mind of 3rd year last year who pinned a hip from start to finish (under A LOT of supervision!). That's no small feat.

If you have any questions about OSU feel free to ask. I'm not OOS, but there is a guy on the board named Fenrez that's in my class. I'll have him post a message to you if you'd like.

 

[Homunculus]

I was accepted to both KCOM and OSU-COM as well, and i am an out of stater. I chose OSU because 1) Tulsa > Kirksville ( biggest reason for me, i'll expound on this reason in a bit), 2) I didn't want to get tossed to the breeze after my second year, 3)OSU (big public school people have heard of) to me sounds better than Kirksville, (yeah it's a dumb reason, but hey, it's my education ) and 4) smaller class size

The most important reason to me was location, location, location. Everything else is pretty much just little piddly stuff that doesn't mean much.

Tulsa's job market is infinitely larger for spouses, its entertainment and recreation possibilities far outweith K-ville and Columbia combined, and it does have good schools, depending on what disctrict you move into. There are some really good private schools here, too. If you don't like the city, thanks to a few highways, the surrounding bedroom communities are anywhere from 10-30 minutes from the school.

as for "rural" rotations, don't let John scare ya. I have a grand total of TWO rotations (that's 2 out of 24) that are more than a 30 minute drive outta town. Some students trade certain rural rotations and OKC rotations to better fit their rotation schedule to their needs, which is handy when they have relatives in the boonies of the panhandle while others would rather stay close to civilization, lol.

Basically, if you plan on having any kind of fun outside of class, which you will, I'd choose Tulsa. Or if you have a significant other who has a career in something Kville or Columbia may not provide. For example, I have a close friend whose wife is a financial analyst. not that she *couldn't* find a job in Kville or Columbia, but I imagine the market for her talents was much larger here.

hmmm let's see.. . and the answer to your original question is yes, you are competitive, and the sooner you get your app in the better.

good luck in all your interviews-- and remember no matter what school you go to, the end result is the same.

take it easy

homonculus

 

[John DO]

This is true--job opportunities are much greater in Tulsa. I do not feel remiss in entertainment here in KV, considering time is of some certain value to a medical student. I have yet to have a night where I was just totally bored and had nothing to do. On the few free nights I do have, KV offers a little and Columbia offers more, not to mention the great weekend trips to St. Louis, Kansas City, Des Moines, and Chicago, all within driving distance.

I wasn't trying to scare anybody with my rural comment. I come from a town of 2000 people and I STILL believe that those rotations are the best way to train for family medicine, which is what I actually said (my comment was NOT a negative one). For the record, KCOM does not "throw" anybody "to the wind" after their second year. We are offered excellent opportunities in many locations, so you are sure to find an area that fits you. If you prefer hospital-based practice and would like the opportunities afforded to you by meeting and/or woking with many residency directors, choose Saginaw (an 1100 bed facility), Gensys, or one of the other major hospital systems. If you prefer rural Amish medicine, choose one of the NE MO sites. If you want anything in between, we have a spot for you. Each site has a KCOM-employed DME to oversee your education so you are ensured a quality experience. The regional deans are also very receptive to feedback!

I also don't think you will find that Kirksville is unheard of, since it is the founding school of Osteopathy and has been in operation for over 110 years. True, OSU is well known for football, but OSU has only been affiliated with the Osteopathic school for about 15 years (since 1988, after being founded in 1972 by the state association and nearly being closed down), hardly a long track record. Don't get me wrong, it is a high quality school, but I seriously doubt that their reputation holds up to KCOM's in the world of Osteopathic Medicine, or Allopathic Medicine, in that case. When I first came onto SDN a year and a half ago, many of the people I spoke with didn't even know that OSU was an Osteopathic school. Their success in recent years in the USNews and World Report rankings has established them as a quality contender, but this is a recent event, not an historical one.

 

[s42brown]

Ok I have one last question. My fiancee and I have the majority of our families in St. Louis and definitely want to come back here. Now what are the chances, if any, of a student finishing their third and fourth year back in St. Louis? I am fortunate enough to have Des Peres hospital here. Des Peres is a 250 bed hospital with residencies in ER,FP,IM,ortho surgery, facial-plastic surgery,and general surgery. This would have a very large influence on my decision to attend OSU

 

[DrMom]

I know that you have to do your 4 month core rotations here and you have to do a few months of rural rotations (can't remember how long). Other than that, I believe that you can arrange your other rotations pretty much anywhere (has to be approved, but that's the case if you're doing the rotations here, too).

That would be a good question to ask the admissions office. If they cannot answer it, ask them who you can talk to who can.

 

[Lisa_OSU]

s42brown,
you will have a total of 13 months of required rotations in Oklahoma. 6 months of these rotations have to be done in Tulsa (which includes the 4 months of core rotations--2 medicine, 1 OB, 1 surg). The other 7 months of required rotations are at various places in Oklahoma--most in/around Tulsa, but you can make arrangements to do them in other places. Most commonly people from OKC want to go back there to do peds, psych, etc. Included in the 13 required rotations are two months at a community hospital, say Durant or Poteau for example, and a month of rural family medicine. Given that the school was founded to provide primary care physicians in rural OK, the amount of time that we spend doing FP and rural rotations makes sense.

Your 7-8 months of elective time can be taken anywhere.

The most important thing right now is to get your secondary app in ASAP!