Hey, guys, if I can be of any help at all, I'd be happy to do that. Otherwise, I'll go away.
Phange, I'm sorry you've had such rotten luck - truly - and I admire your persistence. After three tries, I would have to agree it's time to apply elsewhere and as widely as possible. I won't try to change your mind but since this thread is
very widely read (all the Oklahoma threads get an astronomical amount of traffic for reasons I've never fully understood) I'd like to present an alternate viewpoint.
It's true that you will not get an interview at OU unless you pass the MCAT/GPA-derived selection index. Although it "cuts" a few people who will probably be very fine doctors (and who will undoubtedly be admitted somewhere else), the system is - to my mind - eminently fair. As an over-40 applicant, I had very tough odds against me for getting into an allopathic school. I had a great application - good MCAT, GPA, and tons of volunteer work from my 20 years as a healthcare administrator - but I had so many schools that wouldn't even speak to me. Age discrimination is illegal, but it exists. At OU, however, I had a good selection index and was given an opportunity to interview and to present my story. I'll be a Senior in three weeks.
Once you pass the MCAT/GPA screen, your academic credentials are no longer an issue - you have acceptable "stats" to be in the next class. After that, it's all the soft stuff - who you are, your personality, your non-academic accomplishments, etc. The "soft" stuff is very carefully looked at - probably moreso than other schools - because you have to pass the selection index screen before your app is closely evaluated. It can be tough but, again, I think it's very fair. I don't want to make anybody angry, but I think OU's "cutoffs" are reasonable (unless your GPA is bad for some non-academic reason). The people I knew whose MCAT scores were near the bottom of what is acceptable at OU were people who really struggled in first year, and a couple didn't make it. We don't want that to happen more often by taking lower MCATs. It's very hard to get into medical school, but once you're in the university is committed to getting you through. OU is a very solid mid-level allopathic school and the curriculum is tough.
On the OOS issue, OU by law cannot take more than 20% OOS - by state statute. If you knew the interview process as well as I do, you'd know that OU has an
extremely rigorous in-state preference - remember, they won't even interview an OOS candidate unless he/she can prove ties to Oklahoma that make it likely that the OOS person might choose to stay in Oklahoma. Most OU classes have 10% or less OOS - the 20% limit has never been approached to my knowledge. And remember, those OOS folks who are accepted are paying OOS tuition that is just about
double what an in-state student pays, so it's no picnic for them.
No medical school scholarships are need-based. Once you make it to medical school, all of us are assumed to be financially-independent from our families and none of us are going to have a wage income after we start medical school - so we're all in the same boat. OU does offer some large tuition waivers (about half) to first-year students they really want - it's a recruiting thing. OU has worked hard to build its scholarship fund - even though I'm much older, I have won merit-based scholarships every year.
I can't help remembering my application days when you guys are so frustrated that campus is busy - because I felt exactly the same way. But, once you're in, and you're trying to get end-of-semester grades and loans and residency apps and out-of-state rotations and God-knows-what-else, you really don't want to hear about the work involved with the incoming class. Be patient - I know it's getting late - but Dotty is the absolute best - but all of those people work on many projects, and the administrative staff is probably much smaller than what you'd guess.
This is probably my longest SDN post ever - but if I can be of help, please ask. Good luck!!
