Columbia MS in Nutrition

[pawprint]

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Hey everyone,

Has anyone else been accepted into this program know anything about it? I was accepted yesterday and wanted to know people's thoughts/experiences on the program. I tried searching for it on these forums and didn't find anything recent.

I'm not doing this program for GPA boost...my GPA and MCAT are both good. I applied to medical school this year and wasn't accepted...I was told by admissions members that everything I had was good, they just had really competetive applicants this year. My GPA is a 3.5 so it could have been higher and was my biggest weakness. I had a downward trend but I improved it this year so I should be fine for applying next year. However, in the meantime I'm trying to do a program that supplements med school education (like this one suggests)

 

[deleted601822]

Hey everyone,

Has anyone else been accepted into this program know anything about it? I was accepted yesterday and wanted to know people's thoughts/experiences on the program. I tried searching for it on these forums and didn't find anything recent.

I'm not doing this program for GPA boost...my GPA and MCAT are both good. I applied to medical school this year and wasn't accepted...I was told by admissions members that everything I had was good, they just had really competetive applicants this year. My GPA is a 3.5 so it could have been higher and was my biggest weakness. I had a downward trend but I improved it this year so I should be fine for applying next year. However, in the meantime I'm trying to do a program that supplements med school education (like this one suggests)

I've been accepted to the program also. Not sure if I'm going to attend or work next year as a scribe. I'm planning to go to one of their open houses to learn more about it.

 

[pawprint]

I think I am definitely going to take this program. An MS from Columbia outweighs pretty much everything else. I've gotten into several other SMP's, but this one sticks out in that it is NOT you just taking med school classes for a year. You are learning information that supplements your medical school education. If you are going to pay a ton of money for an SMP, it makes sense to spend it on something that will actually be useful down the road. Any other SMP may help you get into medical school, but that's it...its no longer useful once you get in. You get to carry an MS in Nutrition from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons the rest of your life. The institute of nutrition is the #1 nutrition program in the US (don't remember where I saw the ranking).

If you aren't concerned about raising your GPA, this program is probably the best one you could do.

 

[bisonboy]

I am thinking of applying to this program. I got their information and have already spoken to an Admissions & Thesis coordinator. I think Nutrition is very important and the research opportunity at Columbia would be awesome. Expensive, but awesome. Can you just use medical school apllication materials for applying to this program or did you guys rewrite your application geared towards the IHN?

 

[The Helpful Aye Aye]

I think I am definitely going to take this program. An MS from Columbia outweighs pretty much everything else. I've gotten into several other SMP's, but this one sticks out in that it is NOT you just taking med school classes for a year. You are learning information that supplements your medical school education. If you are going to pay a ton of money for an SMP, it makes sense to spend it on something that will actually be useful down the road. Any other SMP may help you get into medical school, but that's it...its no longer useful once you get in. You get to carry an MS in Nutrition from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons the rest of your life. The institute of nutrition is the #1 nutrition program in the US (don't remember where I saw the ranking).

If you aren't concerned about raising your GPA, this program is probably the best one you could do.

As a Columbia alum, I think you're overestimating how important the name will be to your clout in the future. If you're doing an SMP, it should be because your GPA is low- there are other ways to improve your app that aren't nearly as expensive. If research is your weak area, then you can do research... and make money doing it. If you want to learn more about nutrition, as in the public health aspect, then do a combined MD/MPH program. Nothing in Columbia's M.S. program gives adcoms and indication of how you'll do in medical school since they're not medical school classes.

 

[bisonboy]

@notajock2day : is this a good gap year program?

 

[The Helpful Aye Aye]

@notajock2day : is this a good gap year program?

It's a program that often/inexplicably gets listed alongside actual SMP's (which are Master's Programs which allow you to take medical school classes to let med schools know you can handle medical school). It doesn't have a readily available list of where their alumni go, there's no integration with Columbia P & S, yet when factoring in cost of living it's one of the most expensive programs there is. The only reason you should be doing a Master's degree is if you want to go in a field where that's the norm (i.e. not medicine) OR you have an undergraduate GPA so low with so many credits that 1-2 years of 4.0 won't make it budge. The problem with Master's programs is that their grades tend to be inflated and it actually says nothing about your ability to handle M1 classes.

If your GPA and MCAT combination is high enough to get into medical school, there are more productive/financially sound things you can during gap year like being a scribe or clinical researcher. Instead of taking a big loan, you can save money. If your GPA too low and you need a boost, there are programs that make more sense in terms of giving adcoms confidence that you can handle the classes. In spite of this strange obsession/romanticism the media and one of the above posters has with the Ivy League, admissions committees aren't jizzing themselves over people with an obscure degree from an obscure program at a well-known school.

 

[deleted248403]

It's a program that often gets listed alongside actual SMP's (which are Master's Programs which allow you to take medical school classes to let med schools know you can handle medical school). It doesn't have an readily available list of where their alumni go, there's no integration with Columbia P & S, yet when factoring in cost of living it's one of the most expensive programs there is. The only reason you should be doing a Master's degree is if you want to go in a field where that's the norm (i.e. not medicine) OR you have an undergraduate GPA so low with so many credits that 1-2 years of 4.0 won't make it budge. The problem with Master's programs is that their grades tend to be inflated and it actually says nothing about your ability to handle M1 classes.

If your GPA and MCAT combination is high enough to get into medical school, there are more productive/financially sound things you can during gap year like being a scribe or clinical researcher. Instead of taking a big loan, you can save money. If your GPA too low and you need a boost, there are programs that make more sense in terms of giving adcoms confidence that you can handle the classes. In spite of this strange obsession/romanticism the media and one of the above posters has with the Ivy League, admissions committees aren't jizzing themselves over people with an obscure degree from an obscure program at a well-known school.

+1

 

[gilly168]

Hey everyone,

Has anyone else been accepted into this program know anything about it? I was accepted yesterday and wanted to know people's thoughts/experiences on the program. I tried searching for it on these forums and didn't find anything recent.

I'm not doing this program for GPA boost...my GPA and MCAT are both good. I applied to medical school this year and wasn't accepted...I was told by admissions members that everything I had was good, they just had really competetive applicants this year. My GPA is a 3.5 so it could have been higher and was my biggest weakness. I had a downward trend but I improved it this year so I should be fine for applying next year. However, in the meantime I'm trying to do a program that supplements med school education (like this one suggests)

I've been accepted to this program, as well as NYMC's traditional basic medical sciences program (2 yrs). My sGPA could defn use a boost, but my cGPA and MCAT are competitive. So far I'm waiting to hear back from other smp programs, but since its mid-July, I'm afraid I need to decide between one of these two programs.

 

[The Helpful Aye Aye]

I've been accepted to this program, as well as NYMC's traditional basic medical sciences program (2 yrs). My sGPA could defn use a boost, but my cGPA and MCAT are competitive. So far I'm waiting to hear back from other smp programs, but since its mid-July, I'm afraid I need to decide between one of these two programs.

From my understanding the NYMC Accelerated and Basic tracks count as graduate GPA's, since they are offered through a graduate school within NYMC and not a 4-year university. It won't look *bad* but it will have no effect on your undergrad GPAs as calculated by AMCAS. If the school you're applying to happens to average all of your GPAs together (I know a few random state schools do that) then fine, but in general it won't make the numerical impact you're hoping for. If your sGPA is low but salvageable, why not do a DIY post-bacc while strengthening other parts of your application?

The caution I have with recommending NYMC's program is that it's not integrated with medical students and there is a lack of transparency as to the fates of its students. This is also the problem I have Columbia's program, though you may actually be able to find some alumni of NYMC's program who did get into medical school afterwards on this forum.

 

[gilly168]

From my understanding the NYMC Accelerated and Basic tracks count as graduate GPA's, since they are offered through a graduate school within NYMC and not a 4-year university. It won't look *bad* but it will have no effect on your undergrad GPAs as calculated by AMCAS. If the school you're applying to happens to average all of your GPAs together (I know a few random state schools do that) then fine, but in general it won't make the numerical impact you're hoping for. If your sGPA is low but salvageable, why not do a DIY post-bacc while strengthening other parts of your application?

The caution I have with recommending NYMC's program is that it's not integrated with medical students and there is a lack of transparency as to the fates of its students. This is also the problem I have Columbia's program, though you may actually be able to find some alumni of NYMC's program who did get into medical school afterwards on this forum.

I've been considering this option more and more. I think in my case, a combination of both would be best, but of course that would take a LOT of time and $$$. I did talk to Dr. Lerea from NYMC and he said looking at my stats, it would defn be beneficial to approach applying to medical school by doing their program. Apparently, someone with similar stats as me completed the program and applied right after for med school and has gotten "a number of interviews and a few acceptances"...however, no clue on whether they are solely US MD schools.

I've never heard of too many success stories from people who did DIY post-baccs...maybe I'm not looking around hard enough or talking to enough people?