Preparing for the Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine interview

How OHSU decides after your interview

OHSU gives every interviewed candidate a priority score built from three things: the admissions committee score, your MMI scores and your academics. Candidates are compared with each other, and based on that ranking you are offered acceptance, placed on hold or refused admission.

The committee's review covers your motivation, ability to communicate, life enriching experiences, problem-solving ability and maturity, plus your academic record, MCAT, letters, understanding of health care issues or biomedical research, and interest in rural health, underserved areas and primary care.

OHSU runs modified rolling admissions. Seats stay open until interviewing ends for the year, so an interview invitation late in the season still puts you in the running for a spot in the class.

• On hold: you can be accepted out of the hold pool at any time before April 30.
• By May 1, all initial offers are made and the alternate list is ranked.
• Alternate list: OHSU ranks its top 120 to 200 applicants with a discrete number each and offers seats in that order from May 1 to the first day of orientation.
• OHSU only skips an alternate who has withdrawn by contacting the office directly. Choosing "commit to enroll" at another school through AMCAS does not withdraw you.

Oregon residents, Oregon Heritage and WICHE

OHSU gives strong preference to Oregon residents and treats applicants with Oregon Heritage the same way inside its admissions process. Heritage students still pay nonresident tuition. To be considered a resident, you must declare Oregon as your legal residence on both AMCAS and the OHSU secondary.

The admissions page's applicant snapshot shows why this matters: Oregonians are 7% of more than 6,000 applicants, while 82% of entering students are Oregon residents. The same snapshot lists 543 applicants interviewed and a class of about 150.

• Oregon Heritage, any one of: a parent or legal guardian lives in Oregon when you apply, you attended an Oregon high school for at least two years and graduated from it, or you attended and graduated from an Oregon college after at least two years there and apply within seven years.
• Other preferred groups: WICHE-certified applicants in allopathic medicine, MD/PhD and MD/MPH candidates, nonresidents with outstanding achievements in academics and in health care, leadership, extracurricular or community service, and applicants who have overcome adversity or personally experienced inequities in the health care system.

OHSU facts that can ground a "why OHSU" answer

OHSU describes itself as Oregon's only public academic medical center. The MD program says students who do well there are independent, lifelong learners, and that its graduates are committed to becoming health care leaders who meet patients' needs throughout the Northwest.

Pick the ones that match something you have actually done, and say what you would do with them. Listing them back to an interviewer adds little.

• Early clinical experience, with patient-care responsibility growing as you move through the program.
• A multidisciplinary approach that lets you individualize your program of study.
• A tuition promise: your MD tuition stays the same each year of the program if you finish in a reasonable timeframe.
• No required prerequisite courses. OHSU recommends 17 AAMC premedical competencies instead, including teamwork, oral communication, service orientation and scientific inquiry.
• Dual degrees such as the MD/PhD and MD/MPH.

Frequently asked questions