CCName1 can share their experience, but of the 5 kids I know from our neighborhood, no one was denied. The application is mostly a formality, based on what I’ve heard. That’s why it’s advertised as a joint BS/DO program.
1 of these 5 decided to move to another med school after completing the BS portion at NSU.
Yes, it’s guaranteed.
They have changed the MCAT score needed -it used to be higher and may explain why it’s much easier to meet the requirements (… or having a bunch of students failing their requirements gave them an incentive).
3.5 is doable and certainly lower than you’d need from UMich.
As for peers, were you automatically admitted to Farquhar?
If not you can still try and apply - the deadline was May1 but with the FAFSA mess they may not gave closed admissions. Farquhar Honors College Fall 2024 Application.
(Nsu tends to attract “beautiful/beach” students, some with an interest in Health related careers, but Honors and BSDOstudents would likely be … for lack of a better word, I’ll say, deeper, or more serious than the average student there.)
Primary care or specialist? Community doctor in small town/ suburb or academic medical center physician?
If you decide on DO, you are much more likely end up doing primary care at a rural or suburban location.
NSU’s rotation sites are smaller community programs in northern FL. You will only have very limited exposure to general surgery and you won’t get the exposure to
the more competitive/more selective specialties unless you make a good deal of extra effort to get it. You will also need to arrange away/audition rotations if you want to match at residency programs outside of the Southeast
If you want to work in an academic center or want to be some kind of sub specialist (cardiology, GI), surgeon (particularly plastics, thoracic, or vascular), or enter one of the more competitive specialities (ortho, dermatology, ophthalmology, and neurosurgery and nowadays even OB/GYN anesthesia or radiology), then you probably want to choose Michigan and try to attend MD program.
FWIW, UMich med school favors UMich undergrads in admission. (Partly because 40% of the med school’s funding comes from the state of Michigan and they are required to accept instate students preferentially. Partly because the med school adcomm know how rigorous UM’s undergrad classes are and take that into consideration when making admission decisions.)
But with the opt out the student is not prevented from applying to other programs. So they’re not locked into just this. But it gives better odds to practice medicine even if it limits the types.
One thing that confuses me is that, taking medical school out of the equation, everyone states UM is far better than NSE.
On the averages sure but people aren’t average and OP could certainly end up with as good an outcome. So if the student went to NSE and didn’t go to med school, they’ll still have had access to a great education.
This may be getting off topic, but I think there is objective evidence that Michigan is “better.” People can have different preferences in many metrics in comparing the schools, but the fact remains that Michigan’s graduation rate is far higher than NSU’s. That stat doesn’t mean that a student can’t have “access to a great education,” at NSU, but it does indicate to me that there is something different about the student body or the institution itself — or both — that leads to better graduation outcomes at Michigan.
I was 100% Team Michigan until the poster said he liked sun and sand. Weather does influence quality of life for a lot of people. If good weather is important, he needs to choose NSU.
There is also subjective evidence like frequent posters who highlight Michigan as one of the most globally recognized college brands. Most people would not recognize Nova.
Why does this confuse you? University of Michigan is a very top research flagship university in arguably the best college town in the country. Nova…doesn’t have the same qualities.
My opinion…if this student is smart enough to get accepted to Michigan, they likely have a chance at DO or MD schools going the regular way.
Let’s just say, if this student changes their mind about medicine, Michigan (in my opinion) is a better place to be than Nova.
There might also be some issues with one mandatory rotation for medical school students in FL.
ETA…there apparently isn’t an issue with any rotation. Still…I think every potential doctor should be considering where their potential rotations will be during medical school…if they go the Bs/DO route.
Things to check…how many are accepted to the BS/DO program annually and how many actually continue to the DO portion?
No question, that Nova has a much higher %age of accepted students than Michigan.
As others have mentioned NOVA is not a guaranteed program and it has acceptance rate less than 50%?
UMICH is a great school and if the cost is the same, with same effort it is possible to get into MD or a Better DO …
It confuses me - because one could say the same about UM vs. where my daughter goes or even UM vs. where your daughter went.
On paper, UM is better than all these schools - rank, perception, etc. but that does not mean that your daughter couldn’t get just as good or better an education at SCU or mine at C of C or this student at Nova.
My point is/was - that people are assuming, if you’re not going to med school, that UM is better for this student - hands down - and no one can say that.
What one can say is that UM is a highly ranked, highly respected university.
btw - top research flagship doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with a student experiencing a top flight, quality education.
I’m sure they can at Michigan…but I’m simply saying that doesn’t mean they also couldn’t at Nova Southeast - so if they go to Nova Southeast and they decide against the medical path, they can still have a fantastic experience.
It is virtually guaranteed! It’s their whole selling point.
And that’s about the only reason to pick Nova over Michigan (assuming OP is committed to doing medicine). And maybe good weather if that’s critical for OP.
For everything else, Michigan is the clear winner.
It’s not entirely guaranteed since there are conditions, but the MCAT score has been lowered to 502, which is minimal (from I think 508 at one point, which made it very far from guaranteed) and the odds are indeed very high, especially if compared with the odds of making it to a MD or DO school from UMichigan.
On the other hand, if the student thinks they can get a 3.5 from UMichigan, so, roughly, be in the middle of the pack, they have a shot at a DO school anyway.
On the other other hand, for sure weather and beach proximity v. Cold&snow would make NSU the clear winner.
And on the other other hand, the new FL abortion ban make ObGyn training more limited and problematic (where would that rotation take place? AFAIK the 2-month Obgyn rotation is mandatory, is that different in FL? @WayOutWestMom ?)
Presumably there is a reason why this student chose to remain on the Michigan waitlist and then got offered a seat in the freshman class. I think this student needs to revisit the reasons for that decision. If Nova was the clear winner, then why remain on the Michigan waitlist.
Taking medical school out of the picture…would one choose Nova or Michigan?
While I agree that a student could get a good education at NSU (I have a family member who teaches there), you really cannot compare it to Michigan. You just can’t.
OP would you be happy doing family medicine in a rural or suburban area (see post above) or would you always wonder “what if”?
Pick what is in your heart. Some would choose Nova and not look back. Others would always wonder.
Ob/Gyn residencies send their students to out of state hospitals with less restrictive laws for 4 weeks of abortion care training 2-3 times during the residency.
Medical students are never required to participate in abortion training.
ACOG does not require abortion training (nor training in birth control methods for that matter) as part of its required curriculum. If it did, then no Catholic-owned hospital would be able to host a OB/GYN residency. (Catholic hospitals not only refuse to provide abortion services, they will not allow doctors working at them to offer artificial birth control methods to patients–including oral contraceptives and sterilization. This has become an issue at colleges where a Catholic-owned healthcare provider has taken over the campus health center.)
Are you sure? we were in the process and talked to kids who are already in the program and we heard they take more students and students who finally end up matriculating to the program is less than … I don’t know the exact number, but it is not 100% guaranteed program
@WayOutWestMom is there any data telling how many are accepted into the BS/DO program, and how many actually continue through to the D.O. Part at Nova?