Why didn't I get an interview at OHSU?

[paradude]

I called OHSU yesterday and they told me they were still reviewing their entire applicant pool before deciding wether or not they would interview me. I leave for two months in Africa on Jan. 25th so these 3 weeks are pretty much my last shot.

Maybe they are discriminating against me for my low MCAT score or my handsome photograph. Anyway I didn't really want to go there! (yeah right!)

Portland Native
Science GPA -- 3.6
MCAT -- 27

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[Indryd]

Oregon resident current and x 10 years
GPA/BCPM 3.85/3.75
MCAT 36

Mad EC's including major involvement with medical community x 3 years.

No love.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

argh, don't know. i'm working up my courage to call them and ask what's up. do you mind if i ask when you were complete? did you explain the africa thing to them? sorry they didn't give you better news.

 

[paradude]

argh, don't know. i'm working up my courage to call them and ask what's up. do you mind if i ask when you were complete? did you explain the africa thing to them? sorry they didn't give you better news.

I was complete back in August, I don't really remember the exact date. All of my schools know about the Africa trip. I guess I was hoping for some more love from my home state school. good luck to you.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I was complete back in August, I don't really remember the exact date. All of my schools know about the Africa trip. I guess I was hoping for some more love from my home state school. good luck to you.

Have they contacted you at all since you got your complete postcard? I'm just curious if they let people know if they're on some unofficial hold, or if you just don't hear anything. Their postcard said 12 weeks, and I was assuming they were pretty firm about getting you some notification by then. Maybe I was wrong.

Anyway, it's their loss. I think we've all realized that OHSU's priority is not to produce doctors for Oregon.

 

[oldprospector]

I was complete back in August, I don't really remember the exact date. All of my schools know about the Africa trip. I guess I was hoping for some more love from my home state school. good luck to you.

i'm an OR guy as well and interviewed last month (i think there were 12 total and 9 were OOS). the students up there seem to think that there's really no telling who's going to get invites as far as oregonians are concerned...re: dude with the 3.8/36, that's nuts you haven't been up there. anyway, i know it's not impossible for people overseas to have phone interviews -- good luck.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

i'm an OR guy as well and interviewed last month (i think there were 12 total and 9 were OOS). the students up there seem to think that there's really no telling who's going to get invites as far as oregonians are concerned...re: dude with the 3.8/36, that's nuts you haven't been up there. anyway, i know it's not impossible for people overseas to have phone interviews -- good luck.

interesting. since the interview invite is the only preferential treatment we instate people get, you'd think it would be more clear about what their standards are. i don't know if it's asking for too much for a state school to interview all their qualified instate applicants. this is so frustrating.

 

[paradude]

Have they contacted you at all since you got your complete postcard? I'm just curious if they let people know if they're on some unofficial hold, or if you just don't hear anything. Their postcard said 12 weeks, and I was assuming they were pretty firm about getting you some notification by then. Maybe I was wrong.

Anyway, it's their loss. I think we've all realized that OHSU's priority is not to produce doctors for Oregon.

No, they didn't contact me at all. That's why I finally broke down and called them, even though their voice mail at the admissions office tries to intimidate you into not leaving a message. At least they called me back to tell me to keep waiting.

Now I'm just focused on moving on.
One acceptance: USUHS!

 

[robh]

I think all many of us who are in-state are pretty annoyed with the lack of preferential treatment, given the preference most other state schools show their citizens, and the fact that OHSU has a monopoly on medical education in the state.

With regard to the preferential treatment we do get, I was told that it consisted of lower GPA and MCAT cutoffs for an interview. Once you get to the interview, you are on a level playing field with everyone else. I was told this by someone who should be in a position to know, but I can't independently verify it.

The waiting sucks. I've interviewed and failed the first cut, so I'm waiting until May or June to see if I will get in. Hang in there. Interviewing late will not hurt you, thus said the Dean of Admissions when I interviewed.

Paradude, I would send them a letter for your file stating your schedule, and when you will be available for an interview. That way, when you file comes up for review, they won't try to schedule you for an interview while you are gone. Hang in there! We're not dead yet. Hopefully we'll all be classmates next fall.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Now I'm just focused on moving on.
One acceptance: USUHS!

Well, that's awesome -- congrats! I'm pretty okay with moving on, but my husband does not want to leave Portland.

Robh gave good advice, and totally summed up my frustration. One thing that adds to the frustration is that OHSU supposedly has a complete monopoly on clinical rotation sites in the Portland area. Western U/COMP has a northwest track program where you do your first two years in SoCal and came back up here for the second two years. However, the story seems to be that they have no sites in Portland because OHSU keeps on shutting them out. If COMP had rotations here, I probably would have gone there and had pretty minimal disruption to my life/marriage.

 

[BooMed]

Wow, good luck all you Oregonians.

I had no idea it was so hard to get into OHSU, now I'm kinda glad I moved although I love Portland.

 

[kimmcauliffe]

Hm... I'm not going to lie, it sounds like OHSU is pretty discouraging. I'm planning on transferring to PSU in the fall of '07 and was hoping to get in OHSU. Well, I guess I'm just going to cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Good luck to you guys on here, don't give up! If they don't take you, someone better will.

 

[paradude]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I sent in a letter to OHSU this morning with my Jan-Apr schedule. Not really holding my breath. Good luck to the rest of you tree-huggers.

 

[robh]

One more thing to consider. OHSU didn't start interviewing until the middle of October. Given the Holiday break, they've really only been at it for 2 months. Based on what the Dean said, I believe they continue to interview into April. This means that significantly more than half of the cycle is remaining.

Hey Kimm, don't let our whining discourage you. OHSU is a great school and they love non-trads (80% of the class). I keep reminding myself that I don't really know anything about my chances at OHSU. None of us does until the process is complete. That was the point the Dean made to us when I interviewed. The last person to interview gets the same consideration as the first person. I have to say, that's a fair way of doing things. It's just hell waiting. The fact that OHSU is such a great school makes it that much harder...