Northeastern state university? is it really a terrible idea?

[DrDori]

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I came across NSU on the aamc website, providing a postbacc for career changers.. I do not know much about MO but this school seems to be in the middle of nowhere.. an hour and a half away from Tulsa. Is this a horrible place to spend a couple of years?

What about the school and program's reputation? I havent seen much to make me optimistic, but I havent come across a solid negative either.

What do you think?

 

[DrMidlife]

The AAMC postbac list is just made from returned questionnaires or whatnot. AAMC doesn't do any fact checking, evidently. The list is missing lots of programs, and there are "programs" on that list that exist only as a webpage.

If you need to get the prereqs done and you don't have GPA damage, you can do them anywhere they're offered. I don't personally recommend doing a community college. Any school that makes sense for you (location, cost, financial aid availability, registration priority, access to upper div science coursework, access to research labs, etc) is fine. Just get A's.

If you have GPA damage, then imho it matters more what school you choose. You have to make it really easy for med school admissions folks to figure you out.

Best of luck to you.

 

[DrDori]

Thanks a lot.. I actually have only about 16 cr of pre-requisites left..
chem II, org chemistry, biology and no GPA damage.. my GPA is 3.89 so I guess we can call that not v damaged...
I am not sure, though, what you mean by: registration priority, access to upper div science coursework, access to research labs

 

[FightinUruKai]

Can't tell you about the school, but I can tell you about the area- I grew up around there. Broken Arrow is a pretty big city, and generally has everything you need, from movie theaters to multiple wal-marts to starbucks. It's not the middle of nowhere, and NSU is NOT an hour and a half from downtown Tulsa unless you want it to be. There is a turnpike right next to the school - it would only take you about 20 minutes to get to the main strip in Tulsa, maybe 40 minutes to get into the heart of downtown. If you don't want to pay, you can hop on the BA expressway and it'll get you to the main strip in Tulsa in under half an hour, downtown in under an hour.

It's in Oklahoma's nature to spread out over a large area, then put in lots of highways with speed limits 65+ mph with most people going around 80 something so you can get everywhere quickly.

Cool fact - Broken Arrow was originally part of Tulsa/ a connected suburb until it became too large and became a city in its own right. So all the streets in Broken Arrow have two names - the Broken Arrow name and the Tulsa name.

 

[DrMidlife]

registration priority

Can you get into the classes you need, or are there more students than seats? Usually you need to find this out from upperclassmen at the school - advisers won't necessarily be truthful about it.

, access to upper div science coursework,

You should take more than just the prereqs. If possible, also take biochem, genetics and cell biology. These are required at some med schools (you have to research requirements by med school).

access to research labs

A lot of med school applicants do research during undergrad, and usually research faculty participate in teaching. No labs, no research, no research faculty at lectures. When research is going on in the same institution where you're taking science, that can be a benefit.

Protect your GPA with everything you've got.

Best of luck to you.