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Just curious...How was SGU? what was the major deciding factor that made you withdraw?
TouroCOM Master's Program
- Thread starter chandini786
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Cultural shock, over 900+ students in lecture, 2 exams per semester, depressed island, students dying every term. I just wasn't clicking overall with the school and the curriculum.
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Wait, why were students dying? And only 2 exams. Do you really think that curriculum will help you with Touro's curriculum? Also, are you going to the Middletown or Harlem campus?
I happened to meet Touro MS students today and they told me that it is rumored that next year they're capping the number of students who matriculate from MS to DO to 35 students. Seeing as there's about 75 kids, that gives you ~50% chance of getting in. I thought that was interesting.........
I got an email today to schedule my phone interview. What should I expect and should I be concerned that I didn't get invited to a campus interview or am I reading too much into it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks!
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That's roughly what it's always been. about half the class or so made it through because they met the stupid GPA requirement.
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That's interesting. No way I would do this program if I hadn't already been exposed to the material before. Getting 90+ in med school classes is no joke and requires a lot of hard work and luck. Is Middletown better than Harlem in terms of matriculation chances?
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Why would anyone go for this program? There are other linkage programs with the DO schools that are much better in term of being accepted to their program, tuition, living expenses and all, so why go here? Is it city? I do not much about Middleton campus but the harlem one is a shi* hole.
Touro's harlem DO program has one of the lowest comlex pass scores and in my opinion its the 2nd worst after lucom
Touro's harlem DO program has one of the lowest comlex pass scores and in my opinion its the 2nd worst after lucom
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Dude go to hell. I find it creepy that as a pre-pharmacy you randomly pop up here and throw crap.
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Not stressful, be yourself and be ready to explain bad grades and also know what OMM is. Good luck
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lol its a legitimate question so you don't have to get feisty about it
There are students here from TouroCom who were saying bad things about the program a few months back. You can find those thread in either pre-do or school specific info if you do a search. Then there are Adcoms here telling students their best to stay away from this school, and i guess lucom as well (but lucom has different issues).
My question is very simple. If there are better programs out there, and if you have the stats to get into tourcom ms program then you should be able to get into one of these other programs, then why go here? As far i know, this is the only school with a 3.5 gpa + a final exam requirement, in order to be part of their DO program. Those requirements with their high tuition is very risky.
I had friends in this program few years back. 1 of them made it through and other didn't. The one that didn't had a 3.4 gpa in the program. Luckily he goes to another DO school now but this is after 1 year in this program with 50K debt.
But at the end of the day, one may not have a choice...so that's that!
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What other SMP programs can offer the same kind of linkage as Touro's though? I'm waitlisted for the DO class and applied for this Masters program in case I don't end up getting a spot. Considering all you need to do is place in the top third or so to get automatic acceptance... of course it's a risk and definitely not a guarantee, but it's certainly worth considering. Unfortunately for me the grade replacement policy really screwed me and so my application will be objectively worse if I need to reapply, so realistically in that case this could be my only shot.
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Were you scoring in the top 10% of your class at SGU? It is good preparation but you can probably gauge your chances of doing well in this program by how you did at SGU. If you were top 10% you will probably do fine here.
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That logic is somehow flawed. All the students coming into the masters were not scoring in the top 10% of their class. If they did, they would get in directly and not waste time on the masters. I believe some students have an edge over others based on background. I for instance definitely have an edge over others because I have seen all the material we will be doing before except for micro and I am watching all of Dr Najeeb videos even before the program starts. I will be better prepared and ready compared to someone coming straight from undergrad even if the person had 99 percentile on the MCAT. Medical school is not hard once you find a study method that works for you and stay on top of your game. Thus, the key to doing well in this program is quickly knowing what method works for you and staying on top on your game. Working hard necessarily wouldn't be enough if one is approaching the material in the wrong way. To do well in this program or medical school, understand the material, see the connection, memorize minute facts and do LOTS of questions.
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Just because you know the material well might not make you a good test taker which is what I failed to mention. I do think it'll give you an edge but to do well you should traditonally be scoring in the top percentage of your classes. If a person can't do that at abother school, theyll have a hard time doing that here esp during the second semester when you can only get a few questions wrong max on exams. Like I mentioned early, there are many people who do the masters who have high gpas (think 3.7 and higher) who get referred from the DO admission process. Those at the very top of the class had great stats and were in the program because they either didn't apply to the DO program or they applied and didn't get in post interview. They school is not stupid enough to take people who are going to fail because ultimately they want people who will deliver high board scores.
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May I ask you why you don't consider retaking the mcat if that is keeping you from getting in the traditional way? It will ultimately be cheaper and much easier.
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Be honest bro, what do you really think makes a successful student based on your experience? Should someone has sub par stats and really want to work as hard and put their all in it, do you think it's doable?
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Okay boss, thanks
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Can i join u guys??
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Lol am actually waiting for him to PM me
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What's up prospective master's students, current Middletown MS student here! I would like to share my experience in this program, for those interested. First of all, I would like you guys/gals, to be aware of something. The grading curve in this program is different than the grading curve for the DO students, so you will be competing with each other. As other MS students have mentioned. You will be graded on a B+ curve, and in order to get at least an A- in every class (which amounts to a 3.67 overall at the end of the semester), you will have to get at least half a standard deviation above the average for the class. So for example, The average for our first anatomy exam this semester was almost a 90 and the standard was around 7.8, so we would need at least 94 in order to get an A-. In order to get an A, we can literally miss one question only! The competition in this program is insane and the amount of material which you will be learning in a short period of time is immense! If you're the type of student that needs time to really learn the material, start studying during the summer!!! What makes this program so competitive, is the people whom you will be competing against. In this program, you will find people from ivy league schools, you will find people with other master's degrees who have a very strong background in the material you'll be studying , you will even find people who could've easily made it into other medical school, or have made it (I know 2 people who were accepted into tother medical schools before starting this program), but decided to do the master's program because they applied late, so couldn't make it into the DO program. You will even find people who are repeating the program because they missed the 3.5 gpa by a bit and didn't matriculate into the DO program in the prior year. You will be competing with people who have amazing stats, but might be lacking in their interview skills which prevented their acceptance at other schools. You will be competing against people who have interviewed for the DO program, but were waitlisted, so they decided to do the master's for direct admission. Those are the kinds of people whom you will be competing with, so just keep that in mind. I would advise everyone who will be starting this program, to really study hard for the MCAT, if that's your only hinderance, and retake it before this program, to have a back up plan just in case you don't make it. I know a few people in my class who have been accepted to other schools. If your gpa is the only hinderance, and you have a decent MCAT, I advise you to look into other master's programs. In order to make the 3.5 gpa in this program, you literally have to be outcompeting, not only your class, but the DO class as well! My point is, please please please make sure you have a backup plan before starting this program and make sure you've explored other options as well. For those wondering, I am a middletown student, and only 25 people made the gpa for the first semester out of 75 students. As of now, we only have 68 students. For our class, only 25 people will make the 3.5 by the end of the semester, and the school will accept an extra 15, who have applied for AACOMAS. But for prospective MS students, there will be a cap of 35 students who will make into the DO program for the upcoming years. If anyone has a question, please feel free to ask. Also, I apologize if this post has intimidated some of you, but I'm being very honest, so you guys would get a glimpse of what you're up against.
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Wow based on your experience, how do the top students study? Do they study really hard or naturally smart? And how would you recommend studying for the classes?
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This is some awesome feedback! Do you recomend this program overall?! And what are adeuqate study methods? How competitive are the students with each other?I met a group of MS students at the Health Equity conference in Orange County last week and they seemed to get a long and recomend the program. They honestly made me pumped to start it
Did you make the cut/required GPA to get into Touro. Ahhh soo many questionsHonestly, for me, I took the MCAT twice and went from a 500 to a 505. I personally think that not going to a well ranked undergrad that was truly lacking in academics truly hindered my critical thinking abilities and instead of shooting darts and taking the MCAT yet again, I decided to look into Masters programs. I also got in to NYMC AMP, so I'm also weighing that option, but when I spoke to the director, he basically said that while the masters program tends to accept students who they thing can get into A US med school, MD or DO, it is not a guarantee that you will get in NYMC. At least Touro gives you that guarantee if you make the cut. This has been my reasoning as to why I wanted to do the program...
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Okay, so here's the thing. Every student is different, so you would know yourself best. I think the people that did end up getting the gpa are those who are able to retain most of the material in the shortest time. This was my main issue. I wasn't able to retain the material efficiently, and a lot of times, I relied too much on pure memorization, which did not serve me well. If you're the type of person that takes time to absorb information, then I highly recommend to start studying during the summer. I think the people who did end up making it are both naturally smart and hard workers. There was a girl in our class, and you'll probably hear more about her if you'll be in the Middletown campus, who was literally a walking textbook. We all wondered how she was always on top of the material even during exam time. Not surprisingly, she got bumped up after the first semester because she ended with a 4.0, so she's basically a DO student now. Another thing which I would highly advise you to do, is find a group of people whom you trust and study together! Do not study alone because it will hurt you. That's what those who made the gpa, did. They studied in a group. In this program, every class is different. For anatomy and embryology, the anatomy department does a great job teaching. They will tell you what you need to know. The best way to study for this class is watch the lecture videos, Dr Lobo's videos were awesome but Dr Rich's videos were sometimes useless, then make sure to do practice problems. BRS and Grey's anatomy are essential. Sometimes questions are taken verbatim from BRS. Grey's is sometimes complicated, but it will prepare you well. The biochem department does an amazing job putting everything you need to know on the slides. So watch the lecture videos, and then do the slides afterwards, which should be enough. The histology department is terrible. If you want an A in the class, you're going to have to read the book thoroughly, then memorize the crap out of the lecture slides. Same thing for physiology. Dr Conrad Fischer does a horrendous job teaching, so, I can't stress this enough, but READ THE BOOK FOR PHYSIOLOGY. I didn't read the book for the second physiology exam, which happened to be the hardest exam of the year for all the classes with a class average of 70, and I did terrible on that exam. When I read the book for the first and final exam, I did well.
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I really think you can get into at least one DO school with this MCAT score, and with a decent gpa. I know people with a lower MCAT who have gotten into a DO school. Overall, I'd recommend the program if you've exhausted all your other options, because let's face it. You'll be paying 20K for this program, so why pay that money when you can make it into medical school to begin with? In the Middletown campus, we're very helpful with one another, the competition isn't as crazy as it is in Harlem for some reason. As for study methods, this is what I said in the previous post:This is some awesome feedback! Do you recomend this program overall?! And what are adeuqate study methods? How competitive are the students with each other?I met a group of MS students at the Health Equity conference in Orange County last week and they seemed to get a long and recomend the program. They honestly made me pumped to start it
Honestly, for me, I took the MCAT twice and went from a 500 to a 503. I personally think that not going to a well ranked undergrad that was truly lacking in academics truly hindered my critical thinking abilities and instead of shooting darts and taking the MCAT yet again, I decided to look into Masters programs. I also got in to NYMC AMP, so I'm also weighing that option, but when I spoke to the director, he basically said that while the masters program tends to accept students who they thing can get into A US med school, MD or DO, it is not a guarantee that you will get in NYMC. At least Touro gives you that guarantee if you make the cut. This has been my reasoning as to why I wanted to do the program...
Okay, so here's the thing. Every student is different, so you would know yourself best. I think the people that did end up getting the gpa are those who are able to retain most of the material in the shortest time. This was my main issue. I wasn't able to retain the material efficiently, and a lot of times, I relied too much on pure memorization, which did not serve me well. If you're the type of person that takes time to absorb information, then I highly recommend to start studying during the summer. I think the people who did end up making it are both naturally smart and hard workers. There was a girl in our class, and you'll probably hear more about her if you'll be in the Middletown campus, who was literally a walking textbook. We all wondered how she was always on top of the material even during exam time. Not surprisingly, she got bumped up after the first semester because she ended with a 4.0, so she's basically a DO student now. Another thing which I would highly advise you to do, is find a group of people whom you trust and study together! Do not study alone because it will hurt you. That's what those who made the gpa, did. They studied in a group. In this program, every class is different. For anatomy and embryology, the anatomy department does a great job teaching. They will tell you what you need to know. The best way to study for this class is watch the lecture videos, Dr Lobo's videos were awesome but Dr Rich's videos were sometimes useless, then make sure to do practice problems. BRS and Grey's anatomy are essential. Sometimes questions are taken verbatim from BRS. Grey's is sometimes complicated, but it will prepare you well. The biochem department does an amazing job putting everything you need to know on the slides. So watch the lecture videos, and then do the slides afterwards, which should be enough. The histology department is terrible. If you want an A in the class, you're going to have to read the book thoroughly, then memorize the crap out of the lecture slides. Same thing for physiology. Dr Conrad Fischer does a horrendous job teaching, so, I can't stress this enough, but READ THE BOOK FOR PHYSIOLOGY. I didn't read the book for the second physiology exam, which happened to be the hardest exam of the year for all the classes with a class average of 70, and I did terrible on that exam. When I read the book for the first and final exam, I did well.
As for my gpa. It seems like I'll be ending the program with around a 3.4 overall. I'll also be interviewing at Touro through AACOMAS, because only 25 people made the gpa and they'll accept an extra 15 through AACOMAS, so fingers crossed lol. My issue was that at I didn't find my footing when the program first started, and I have crippling exam anxiety. I would literally miss questions on exams, which I had gotten right the night before while doing the clicker questions, but it is what it is.
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do you recomend the summer anatomy program? I'll be enrolling at Middletown wohoo, so I am happy to see the camraderie is pretty good amongst the students! Do you know which campus is academically stronger this year--- Middletown or Harlem?
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I personally haven't taken summer anatomy, but those who took it do recommend it. The Middletown averages have been by far higher that the Harlem averages, for almost all the exams. When it came to biochem the averages were almost the same for those classes, but we would always outperform them in anatomy and histo and physio. Even on our first histology test, our average was 84.5 and the Harlem average was 79, I believe. Lets just say, if I had been in Harlem, I would've made the 3.5 gpa for the first semester lol. There's a theory as to why we outperform them, but I'm not sure if it's valid or not. Middletown is rural area, so there's nothing to do besides studying. Harlem, on the other hand is in the city, so there are so many distractions. Again, I'm not sure if this theory is valid or not, but it's a speculation
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Current Middletown MS student here
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask me and I be happy to answer them in your inbox or on this thread! Good luck to all who are applying/waiting for hear back/who are in the MS class right now
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask me and I be happy to answer them in your inbox or on this thread! Good luck to all who are applying/waiting for hear back/who are in the MS class right now
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So they literally bump people who get 4.0 into the DO class?
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So it's not that if you have a 4.0 you get bumped up. It's more so dependent on whether the DO class has space for more students. The reason for that is usually because people drop out mid semester.
Also they accept the top 'however many spaces they have' students from the MS class which was 3 this year and atleast 2 last year. Don't worry about that though. Talking to the people who got moved up, they said it's enormously stressful as you take the spring classes which include all of the MS class and then Physical diagnosis, pathology, and OMM. The problem is that DO students already took PD1 and OMM1 their fall semester which are classes that MS students don't take. So the moved up students have to take those in the spring to "catch up". So basically you're taking 11 courses in the spring semester. Then again you save on a year of tuition.
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This is probably a silly question but is the letter attached to the acceptance e-mail that you have to sign and e-mail back binding in any way? There's no mention of any deposit on it. I recently applied to another SMP and I'm undecided whether I would go to Touro's or this other one (if I'm accepted). If I end up going with the other program, presumably I would just let Touro know that I'm withdrawing my seat?
Hello! I just got accepted and looking for any
Hello! I've just been accepted to Middletown. would you recommend this program? how has your experience been?
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HI, you don't need to pay a deposit. It's just your word and signature lol. I was told back in January that they would follow up with me mid February to tell me more about logistics, but no one ever did
I was going to follow up this week, but with the blizzard and all, it has been pretty hard.
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I just went to an interview yesterday, and I'm so nervous. The interviewer kept interrupting me, the atmosphere was not friendly at all. I don't understand the "laid back" interview others are talking about. I was told to "prove myself" as the program is very competitive, I was cut off while trying to "prove myself". I was asked about some bad grades I received in my sophomore year. At the end I was soo stressed that I forgot the questions I was going to ask. I managed to ask 2 however. Has anyone ever been rejected after an interview?
Also these are my stats. SGPA-3.13 CGPA-3.2 MCAT- 493. I'm literally out of my mind, I can't sleep, someone please answer this question.
Also these are my stats. SGPA-3.13 CGPA-3.2 MCAT- 493. I'm literally out of my mind, I can't sleep, someone please answer this question.
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delete
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Hi everyone,
I just got invited for an interview for the MS program. Can anyone tell me about their experience? Also, does anyone knows what is the chance of being accepted after an interview.
I am very excited about this interview but would love some insignt
I just got invited for an interview for the MS program. Can anyone tell me about their experience? Also, does anyone knows what is the chance of being accepted after an interview.
I am very excited about this interview but would love some insignt
Hi! I had my interview about 2 weeks ago and got accepted about a week ago. I thought the interview was really relaxed, and the professor was really nice. They ask you mostly to explain yourself for any C's if you have them, and they ask you why MS and not DO and your path to Med school etc etc. Classic interview questions basically about your academic record. My interview was about 20 minutes long so nothing too crazy. I wouldn't be too worried about it just be relaxed and focused and you'll be fine. Congratulations on your interview!
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wow that is a short interview!!!! haha CONGRATS on getting accepted and best of luck!! if I do I'll be back here so we can keep in touch
The interview is very relaxed and last about 25 mins. They just want to get to know you little better. Print out your resume, its easier to follow their thoughts.
As another student in the program at Middletown, I just want to remind that these are just some people's opinions. This is excellent insight into the program and how it works but everyone is different. The program is undoubtedly one of the most competitive atmospheres I have been in, but I would not necessarily look at it as a last resort. I wish I would have came here earlier than I did. Yearningformedschool does give a good idea of what it is like here, but don't be scared to give yourself a chance to prove what you are capable of.
Hi, Thanks for the insights. I got accepted to the Harlem campus but I assume the program is all the same?
I really hope to matriculate into the DO program like everyone else. How many hours you spend on studying?
Can you talk give me some idea on your schedule during the week please? What is the classes like? Thank you!
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At the end of the day, the reality is that only 35 people will make the gpa, and if next year's class ends with around 70 students, that leaves half of the class without a seat in the DO program for the following year. Realistically, those students are going to have to take more gap years to improve their application, provided that they don't get anywhere if they apply to other schools while in the program, in order to make it in somewhere. There are student's here in Middletown who will finish the program and they're going to have to retake the MCAT because they didn't make the gpa and their MCAT is too low to get them into any school, so you don't want to find yourself in that position. So like NewYorkNY said, everyone is different, but make sure you have a backup plan before starting this program. Obviously current master's students are going to tell you about the program from their vantage point, so there is going to be some bias from those who made the gpa, and from those who didn't make the gpa, but overall, the program is definitely competitive, yet worth it because at the very least, you're basically taking the same classes as the first year medical students, excluding PD and OMM. One last thing which I would like to add is that, a good indicator of whether or not you'll be able to get the 3.5 gpa, is the amount of credit load you were able to handle during undergrad. If you took 19-24 credits as an undergrad student and did well in those courses, chances are, you will do well in this masters program. If you're the type of person who struggled with 15 credits of upper level science courses, please forgive me for being blunt, but this program is not for you. I apologize once again if I've intimidated anyone, but I'm trying to be brutally honest and not sugarcoat anything.
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That's a tough one lol. Roughly half the people that I know are instate students.
Harlem takes the same classes throughout the week as us and the same exams at the same time as us, so it should be the same. As far as how many hours a week, its hard to give an exact number but I have had weeks where I was doing 12-14 hours a day basically every day, with some breaks worked in. Other times doing 8-10. You can't really take weekends off, there will be times when you don't have an exam the next week you can take a few days here and there, but once the program really gets in to the swing of things and you are serious about being here as a first year, it will basically be day in and day out. If you want more detail on what my studying was like feel free to message me, or whenever you start your program.
I am not sure if Harlem's class times are the same as ours. At middletown Tuesday-Thursday its mostly class from 1-5 and Friday anatomy class and lab 8-1. Mondays are set aside for Exams, so the first few Mondays are free and then it starts to become an exam almost every week with a Monday off here or there. As far as classes each one is different, but the general idea of each is the same that you watch every recorded lecture on your own time and come to class for clicker questions throughout the week. Plus 4 hours in anatomy lab each week.
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Hey! Awesome. So I'm assuming you were one of the students who was offered a seat in Touro's COM? What was your overall GPA in the masters program? Do you mind if you tell me more in detail about what your studying was like and if you have any particular studying tips? I tried to message you, but idk how haha
Also, I was informed by the MS Program Coordinator that there is a mentorship program for MS students. Did you find it helpful?
