Hello, everyone.
My names Bryan, I live in lakewood and I, like many of you have a severe aspiration on becoming a doctor, however, I graduated from a school where my graduating class wasn’t exactly the most “driven” of the bunch and I feel like threes no one I can relate with. So needless to say I kind of feel completely lost. I really want to get into OSU but I’m really freaked out about the acceptance rate. My gpa isn’t exactly good right now, but I’m reaaaalyyy early on, this is my first year of undergrad and yeah it seems early to be freaked out but I’m going to a community college right now trying to do pre reqs, the counselors are a joke, and I feel like I’m not doing everything in my power to get the most out of where I am right now. I currently work at the hospital in Euclid, OH as an state tested nursing assistant (god no I’m not becoming a nurse I just thought it would look good to have hands on medical experience when I applied to my pre med program) and other than that I’m totally lost. So if anyone can give me any advice on where I should be heading and any advice on classes I should take to get into Ohio State I would really appreciate it. I was hoping to transfer next winter but I’m just all freaked out about my lack of pre reqs and worried they won’t accept me because I haven’t taken bio yet because it was full. So if anyone could give me any advice id reaaaaly appreciate hearing it from someone who actually knows what I’m going through and has been there. Thanks a lot guys I’ll look forward to hearing from all of you!
Hi Bryan,
I graduated from THE Ohio State University in 2004 with my first degree in Management Information Systems and am back at OSU taking my premed classes. Here’s some information that you might find helpful.
The university admits students for undergraduate studies based on a point system. Each applicant has their test scores, class rank, personal statements, and extra curricular activities evaluated and then a point total is given that determines if a student gets admitted for main campus. I used to work at the admissions office as a student and the point total needed to get in used to be 100. Let me explain in further detail how this point system works.
The most points are awarded for your class rank, SAT/ACT scores, and high school that you attended. If you attended a high school that historically graduates a high percentage of students at OSU, then you will get more points than a student who is from a high school that typically doesn’t have a high success rate. Points are awarded also for minority status (which changes each year based on the applicant pool and who is currently attending).
Not knowing anything about your high school numbers, my suggestion is that you do well in your current classes at your present undergrad college. This will show the admissions office that you are able to be successful taking on a college work load. I’m not sure if transfer students have to send in their high school and standardized test scores but if this is a requirement, then you will only benefit from having a competitive class rank, high school GPA, and test scores. The last time I checked, shoe in candidates have a 3.5 GPA and 27-28 on their ACT. I have no clue what the test scores are for the ACT since its scored out of 2400 and not 1600 (sacrilege!).
If you apply for a transfer into OSU and don’t have a competitive application, the university will either wait list you for a quarter or differ you to a regional campus.
Good luck and hopefully in a year you’ll be on main campus!
I’m a little unclear as to whether you are asking for advice on getting into Ohio State for medical school or to work on your undergrad degree. For now, I’ll address the undergrad degree. As Hugz mentioned, getting accepted to the main campus is very competitive. However, whether or not you have taken the pre-reqs is not really going to be an issue on transferring to OSU. The factors Hugz mentioned will be important.
If possible, I would actually recommend that you transfer to a regional OSU campus. Once you are an accepted student at a regional campus, if you meet the set criteria for transfer, you will be able to transfer to main campus. Additionally, you will be able to take many of the pre-reqs at a branch campus in much smaller sections than at the main campus and have one-on-one opportunities with the professors that you won’t get at a bigger campus. Ohio State considers courses taken at the branch campuses (with the exception of some courses taken at ATI in Wooster) to be exactly the same as if they were taken at main campus.