What can I do to improve my chances next cycle?

[jxpd]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hey guys,

I applied to quite a few schools this year (about 15 schools ranging in levels of selectivity--some UC schools, some OOS friendly east coast schools, some OOS state schools, etc...), but the main school I wanted to get into was OHSU, because it's close to home. It's January, they're interviewing OOS applicants, and I haven't received an II. I currently attend an undergraduate state school, and my advisor doesn't know how to give feedback (everytime I talk to her, she nods her head and says I'm doing everything right), so I want you guys to help me. How can I improve my chances next year?

Here are things in my application:
-GPA: 3.6c (4.0 this past term)
-MCAT: 30
-clinical experience: I was previously a medical student in Vietnam, and spent a year doing actual work in hospitals
-shadowed 50 hours at OHSU & small clinics around Portland
-work: have worked at a retirement for the past 6 years
-volunteer: as a Vietnamese language teacher at local Vietnamese schools, around the Vietnamese community, recently applied for Portland Rescue Missions
-research: 3 years, 3 publications, 2 first place awards, 1 invitation to a national conference

I submitted my AMCAS in June, and it wasn't verified until August. I received the secondary applications and submitted them by September 15th.

 

[DrMidlife]

OHSU always gets going late, so don't assume it's over. OOS interviews mean exactly nothing about your status.

Start regularly contacting the admissions office by phone, politely inquire as to your status, be friendly, be grateful.

The best thing you can do to find out what's going on is to find a meaner, older professor who has been faculty a long time. Beg, politely and humbly, for an interview and hard feedback on your application. Take notes and then act upon them. And send thankyou notes (not email) to everyone who helps you.

Spend about a dozen hours reading posts in this (reapp) forum for insights on what has gone wrong with others. Everything you need, that SDN can provide, is already here.

Best of luck to you.

 

[gyngyn]

If you have to re-apply, forget the CA schools. You can get in with your current stats, just not here.

 

[mybubbles627]

If you want to get into OHSU you pretty much have to be in a mission group. You don't meet the IS or academic groups. Do you meet one of the other mission groups?

 

[Plecopotamus]

Are you a U.S. Citizen?

 

[jxpd]

Are you a U.S. Citizen?

Yes. I am IS.

 

[Plecopotamus]

Yes. I am IS.

IS? (In state? Not sure if that's what you meant in the context of citizenship).

 

[jxpd]

IS? (In state? Not sure if that's what you meant in the context of citizenship).

Yes, I am a citizen. I am also in state.