okayplayer said:
Hey guys,
I am interested in applying to MSU-COM but I am not sure about the extremely high out-of-state tuition and the low percentage of out-of-state students accepted. If you are a pretty competitive out-of-state applicant GPA/MCAT-wise is it possible to get scholarships or grants to reduce the tuition. How common are these?
Thanks for your help.
I applied to MSU this past cycle and I'm a California resident. I was almost immediately rejected from the allopathic school, without a secondary and then within a couple days invited to interview at the osteopathic school. I have a feeling someone decided that I was a better match for their DO program. My MCAT is competitive for MD schools with an "even" 29 (10, 9, 10) and average GPA for DO, > 3.4.
MSU accepts between 10-15% of the class from out-of-state, sometimes upto 20% I think. It's a phenomenal schools with outstanding rotations and a wealth of residencies and fellowships in the state. If you're an above average applicant for osteopathic schools I'd give it a shot.
If you match into a Michigan residency, which is a good bet as MI has many programs and some of the best osteopathic residencies in the country, they will retroactively reduce your 4th year tuition to in-state. So this saves a few thousand and is nice, but doesn't help enough for most.
With regard to the scholarship, there are 8 non-resident scholarships (up to $14,000 or so per year) awarded. For the entering class this was 8 offered to 53 students (I didn't receive the award as my statement for the secondary application was atrocious). This makes it quite competitive as those who do receive the scholarship are very likely to attend while we who don't will have to live without the money or forfeit. Each year the award goes up for grabs again. For the class of 2008, there were 8 awards but only 12 applicants (non-residents). Do take into account that the number of non-residents will increase with the class size this entering class, so if number of awards doesn't increase the competition will increase further with more applicants and more students applying once they're in.
Best of luck and remember, if you want a DO, this is one of the top schools with superb residencies.
