This bones of this review was
posted four year ago by
@jphwki82 and I have updated it a bit to reflect current curriculum and such. So... it's kind of a mix of both of our thoughts. Though I know it's more than you asked for, hopefully it's helpful! Happy to answer any specific questions.
Curriculum: the information from the website is pretty accurate (below). If you're interested in specifics, you can find it
here. The curriculum has been changing around a fair bit lately, so they're still working out some kinks. Notably, the first semester begins in the summer and is solely anatomy. After that, we go into basic sciences and then systems courses.
Technology: WiFi is available all through out the school and in the classrooms. All lectures are recorded, and some are even pre-recorded. They are posted on D2L, which is MSU's version of Blackboard. Also, live lectures are broadcasted the all three sites. The lecturers rotate between the three campuses, and there are always faculty present at all three campuses. You can ask questions even if the lecturer is not at your site. Finally, the school provides electronic course packs and hard copies of the course pack. It is in .pdf form, so you can use your tablet or iPad to take notes. They also use a wide variety of online didactics and online assignments (i.e. histology and pathology). The histology and pathology labs are done on the computer, and you can access the lab slides at home too.
Testing: Multiple-choice for all lecture exams. Some of the pathophysiology questions are similar to board style questions. Some of the exam questions can be kind of trivial, and are not reflective of board style questions at all. It is hit or miss depending on the professor that wrote the question. If you are looking for board style questions, I would definitely use a q-bank. For the most part, the questions are fair, but like every school, some of the questions can be kind of random trivia. There are practicals for Neuromusculoskeletal systems, Neuroanatomy and Anatomy. The bodies are pro-sected. Having done a year long cadaver disection course in undergrad, I can say that I thought the pro-sected bodies made the identification of some of the tags really difficult. The will body program is great, but some of the cadavers are really old. You have the opportunity to pro-sect later on, and can gain that experience if you choose.
Location: There are three campuses. The main campus is in East Lansing. Detroit Medical Center and Macomb are the other two campuses. The Macomb (MUC) campus is in Clinton Township, MI. It is right by the Clinton Township Henry Ford Medical Center campus. Also, Mount Clemens Regional Medical Center is really close to the MUC campus.
Cost: IS Tuition is reasonable, but OOS Tuition is really steep. I believe we still have the highest OOS Tuition out of all the DO schools. For the list of the financial info,
http://www.finaid.msu.edu/read/budcom.pdf
Faculty: I have found the faculty to be excellent so far. The lectures are somewhat split between research scientists and clinicians, so you get several viewpoints on all major topics.
Study areas: At East Lansing, the KRC is the major study area. This is split into a computer lab and a quiet study area with cubicles. There are a bunch of smaller study rooms. The KRC can get noisy at times, which can be distracting. It is a big 10 campus, there are plenty of other buildings to study at (e.g., Law Library). MUC and DMC are newer campuses, and have really nice study lounges. Their student size is smaller, so I would imagine that it maybe a little more quiet and less cramp at their campuses. I'm based in EL, so I can really comment all that much on the other two sites.
Clinical rotations: You have a base hospital. MSU's base hospital system is extensive. You pick your hospital at the beginning of your second year fall semester. There are a certain number of spots per hospital. So high demand hospitals go to lottery, which means you run the risk of not getting your chosen hospital. Then you have to pick from the left over spots at the other hospitals. Forth year is when you have all your elective rotations, and can go wherever for those.
Housing: The price of housing is pretty reasonable if you're used to living in a large city. If not, it can seem a bit steep -- but no more so than any decent-sized college town. You can find decent price apartments near Fee Hall in East Lansing. Okemos is right next to East Lansing, and has some nicer apartments that are reasonably priced. I just started looking at apartments by MUC and DMC, as I will be doing my clerkship out that way. The popular area seems to be Royal Oak. It is a suburb of Detroit, and is a little more pricer then some areas. However, there are is a lot to do if you are younger or single. It is still reasonably priced by comparison to apartments in New York, Chicago and California. A huge portion of the class is from Michigan, and they are usually pretty reliable for good places to live.
Social scene: MSU is a Big Ten campus. So if you are in East Lansing, you have college football, basketball and hockey. There are college bars in Downtown East Lansing. Also, there are a bunch of bars in Downtown Lansing. If you are older, some of the bars in Lansing have an older crowd. The SE campuses, you have the pro sports (Redwings, Lions, Tigers). There are some really nice areas, such as Royal Oak, that have a decent night life for younger people. There are plenty of intramural sports that you can join at MSU as well.
Reputation: MSU is well established, and has awesome connections to a lot of hospitals in Michigan. It has excellent alumni, which can be an excellent resource to MSUCOM students. We are historically ranked in the top 10 for US News Primary Care, and #1 of all DO schools when it comes to Federal research funding (if you are into the whole ranking thing). The school is affiliated with a ton of hospitals.
To sum up:
Curriculum: B+
Location: B+
Cost: A- (IS) C/C- (OOS)
Faculty: A
Housing: A-
Study space: A
Social scene: A
Reputation: A+
Overall: A
