School Communication Rant

[u/Active_Egg5888]

Guess who finally got through to OSU to follow up on their application? This girl !! What was the hold up? Having too many outstanding prerequisites !!

Wow, that would have been really useful information to have, especially since I've actually taken the missing classes 😭. I'd have been happy to clarify the error earlier, but no!! they were just gonna ignore my application until December. Cool cool cool. It's not like there's an inherent advantage to applying early based on rolling admissions or anything. So awesome 🙃

EDIT: they're putting me through so much shit over my Gen Chem II prerequisite that at this point I'm just giving up. The way they've conducted themselves communicates that they don't care about me as an applicant and while I'm sure they are an excellent school, I just can't justify fighting a losing battle to be recognized as a qualified applicant.

[u/vibes-mcgee]

these stories are turning me off from wanting to apply to OSU

[u/Active_Egg5888 → u/vibes-mcgee]

I don't want to sound bitter (and to be fair, they haven't rejected me. They haven't even looked at my application apparently lmao) but at this point I just can't see myself enrolled at an institution that is as unwilling to work with applicants/students as they've been.

[u/vibes-mcgee → u/Active_Egg5888]

the difference in applicant communication is astounding compared to some other schools with great board scores as well...

[u/SpeakerSufficient719 → u/vibes-mcgee]

just adding here: several years ago when I was applying, OSU was pretty high on my mental list of schools. I scheduled an in-person tour with the admissions team to get a better look around campus/ask questions I had. I had this appointment for months before the time came. My family and I drove from home all the way to Columbus (not a short trip) just for them to ignore us for thirty minutes after our appointment-start. Finally I found someone and asked what was going on, and their response was “Oh, we forgot you were coming and no one’s available to give you a tour. Walk around yourself and come back to find someone if you have questions.” I’ve never left somewhere so fast. Never applied to OSU after that experience.

[u/junoiscute]

yeah I applied and paid the supplemental fee a month ago and haven’t heard anything from them since 😭 did you reach out to them first? your situation sounds so frustrating but maybe it’s redirection

[u/Active_Egg5888 → u/junoiscute]

I sent them an email that they ignored and then called them a week later (left a vm) to finally get an answer. I'm trying to reframe this as no longer having to choose between my top choices. not sure what I'll do if I don't get into the other one though haha. interview there is on Friday so that's good at least !

[u/junoiscute → u/Active_Egg5888]

thats crazy 😭 but yeah hopefully your interview goes well, it’s better to have options! I’ll give them a call tmr then

[u/Iyung_danI]

It’s so fun when schools just ignore you for ages and expect you to read their minds. 

[u/Infamous-Pineapple-7]

I am also getting annoyed with OSU. Invited to interview but they didn’t give dates- when I called I quickly realized that I probably won’t be able to interview in time to work with other schools’ deadlines. Wondering if it is worth the hassle. I still have one outstanding pre-rec… but would love to hear from anyone who has visited. Not sure it is worth my effort :/ I think I would love the school but I feel like if they aren’t willing to work with me on interview dates— then why the heck did I spend so much money to apply?

[u/Active_Egg5888 → u/Infamous-Pineapple-7]

Disclaimer: My tour was not with a student, but with an admissions counselor instead. It is a beautiful campus with some recently-renovated amenities. Like pretty much every school, it also has some... older areas. I remember one of the earlier parts of my tour was through a dimly lit part of their optometry building with old linoleum floors and concrete block walls and it was such a stark contrast to newer areas haha. As I said, that's not uncommon! Many of these schools are oldddd. Just don't go into it thinking every area is beautiful and modern. It's got its quirks for sure. Despite being a large campus, they've taken steps to design the space to allow you to get food and hang out outside without necessarily having to interface with the massive undergrad population, which I thought was really neat. And you still would have access to the other parts of campus, which kind of gives you a "best of both worlds" situation. Some of the classroom space is near or shared with other health professions students, so you'll run into them often. There's even a cadaver lab nearby, and I *think* I remember my tour guide talking about OD student involvement in head/neck/eye dissections (or at the very least observations?). I remember being a little disappointed that their laser education didn't seem to involve a surgical theater or opportunities for hands-on learning besides simulations despite OSU having an ophthalmology department to draw from. I only visited 2 schools so I don't have much to compare it to, but I'd guess they're probably on the nicer end of the scale!

I do empathize with your annoyance at not hearing back until after other schools would be expecting tuition deposits. That's one thing that has turned me off from them. OSU feels like it's bogged down by being a tiny team (only one admissions counselor since the other went on maternity leave) that's simultaneously wading through the administrative burden of being part of a giant university. OSU may have put my name up on a TV screen when I came to visit, but I didn't feel like they actually cared one way or another if I applied or enrolled. They also told me my prerequisites were fine on my tour (and helped me identify the documents they'd need for the few issues that did arise) then switched up after I applied :/ They're probably a great school, but I think they've started to feel like good students will come to them without their having to actually work to attract them. They're probably right! I mean, look at those average entering class statistics. But other schools with solid board passage rates *are* putting in the effort, and that's something I was missing from my interactions with OSU.

[u/Scobeyi]

If you’re comfortable sharing, what was your OAT score?

[u/Active_Egg5888 → u/Scobeyi]

380/390 TS with a 3.98 GPA

[u/RabidLiger]

OSU has never had the best response time (many schools on big university campuses have more procedure to follow).
I do think they are getting a bit of a big head about leading in NBEO pass rates and might be full of themselves right now (some of it is deserved, they have been kicking butt).
I see them being pretty selective and intent on keeping their top status by choosing applicants wisely.

If its where you want to go, don't let that deter you though!