NSU-COM Discussion thread 2008-2009

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I wonder how anal they are about the LORs. Liberal Arts will be a stretch...probably using my Latin teacher who's just a Grad Student. Hope it flies.
 
mosspoh said:
A school is naive to think a student wouldn't at least apply to their state schools, regardless of how hardcore DO they are. There are plenty of people like me that are neurotic and put down a lot of money now, so we don't have to go through it again. It doesn't mean I want to go to that school any less. NSU is in my top 5 probably...wish there were a way I could convey that.


what is the rest of the secondary like? Are there any questions like "why do you want to come to NSU" or "is there any additiional information you would like to tell us?" The latter would be a prime opportunity to express your interest in their school. If they do ask, I will be sure to let them know they are by no means a back up school and are at the top of my list for a vareity of reasons.
 
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what is the rest of the secondary like? Are there any questions like "why do you want to come to NSU" or "is there any additiional information you would like to tell us?" The latter would be a prime opportunity to express your interest in their school. If they do ask, I will be sure to let them know they are by no means a back up school and are at the top of my list for a vareity of reasons.

Yes. Here is the rest of the stuff you have to write out (there are no actual essays)...
1. Allopathic schools you applied to + application status
2. Osteopathic schools you applied to + application status
3. DO "acquaintances, your relationship to them, the medical school they graduated from + year they graduated
4. Employment during academic school year (not during summers)
5. "Interests" - really a place where you list activities, not necessarily health related
6. Significant healthcare experiences during high school

You should definitely use MS word to type these out before you copy/paste them into the online form because most of the fields have 2000 character limits. If you type things out in the form itself you'll likely end up taking out a lot of what you typed.
 
Yes. Here is the rest of the stuff you have to write out (there are no actual essays)...
1. Allopathic schools you applied to + application status
2. Osteopathic schools you applied to + application status
3. DO "acquaintances, your relationship to them, the medical school they graduated from + year they graduated
4. Employment during academic school year (not during summers)
5. "Interests" - really a place where you list activities, not necessarily health related
6. Significant healthcare experiences during high school

You should definitely use MS word to type these out before you copy/paste them into the online form because most of the fields have 2000 character limits. If you type things out in the form itself you'll likely end up taking out a lot of what you typed.

They actually want to know about healthcare experience since graduating high school, not during high school.
 
They actually want to know about healthcare experience since graduating high school, not during high school.

thanks CB..haha i am not with it today. must be still getting used to this altitude. i'm at 8000 feet you know. tomorrow...aspen mountain! (12,000 feet?)
 
No problem. What the hell are you doing up there? Whatever it is, I'll probably be jealous!

Visiting my brother who's playing in the Aspen music festival. I met Emanuel Ax tonight and got a picture with him. Anybody reading this...google him. One of the most famous pianists ever. I could use some supplemental oxygen though.
 
Is it really necessary to retype out all of your work experiences that are right on your AACOMAS application ???

Necessary? Yes. Ridiculous? Yes, also.

Several reasons cause schools to do this: a) They only care about the info on the secondary to initially screen candidates, b) they want the info in a certain format, or c) they want it to seem like they're not just after your $50-$100.
 
I wonder how anal they are about the LORs. Liberal Arts will be a stretch...probably using my Latin teacher who's just a Grad Student. Hope it flies.

Anyone else concerned about this with NSU? Is it a big deal?
 
Anyone else concerned about this with NSU? Is it a big deal?

Luckily I took a really neat class last sem and got to know the professors a little bit...I'll probably ask them for this. This is the only liberal arts LOR I'm going to need for any school. It's definitely weird and not common..that's for sure..

I'm still not terribly impressed with NSU but I don't know as much about it as I would like to. The fact that they require us to list allo/osteo schools with our application status of each is really annoying and it's even more annoying that I can't ask them why they require it. I submitted the secondary 2 days ago and you have to print out a confirmation page, sign it, and mail it to NSU before they can start looking at your application. No essay is nice...even though you're still writing a lot for the secondary...but 4 LORs makes up for the lack of a formal essay.
 
Liberal Arts: Academic subjects such as literature, philosophy, mathematics, and social and physical sciences, as distinct from professional and technical subjects.

Sounds like a non-science letter to me, which most pre health offices would have recommended you get, anyway.

Do you guys not have any non science letters or are you concerned the professor didn't teach the write subject?
 
I'm using a journalism professor for the liberal arts requirement. I would guess any non-science professor will meet the requirement.
 
For all those interested:

I just called and talked with a counselor about my MCAT score.
Turns out I will be auto-rejected without a retake of my MCAT.
They require at least a "7" in each section.
 
for the activities section, after you select all of yours from the scroll-down list given, what is everyone writing in the other activities section? is it only for those activities that do not fit into one of the categories they listed? do they want general categories or specific activities? there are only 5 lines, obviously not enough space to re-write all of our activities, so i'm not exactly sure what they are looking for here.
 
For all those interested:

I just called and talked with a counselor about my MCAT score.
Turns out I will be auto-rejected without a retake of my MCAT.
They require at least a "7" in each section.

Lamest thing ever. Do they really think that will keep you from being an asset to their alumni population? Don't we pay the secondary fees so that someone can actually look at our app, or is it to keep the IT guy working on new "efficiency" protocols? 👎
 
I wonder if my Information Science Technology prof will count. It isn't actually "science" more of a business oriented thing.

If not then I have to track down a German professors. My major one retired though and the other got a job at another university. He owes me though. I wrote his recommendation. It was an odd twist.
 
I was wondering how you guys got the NSU secondary. I just got off the phone with them and they told me they havent recieved any primaries yet.
 
I was wondering how you guys got the NSU secondary. I just got off the phone with them and they told me they havent recieved any primaries yet.

Email on the 11th. You sure they weren't talking about your specific case? Quote from my email from NOVA: "The Office for Admissions at Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine (NSU-COM) has recently received your application from the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service (AACOMAS)."
 
I wonder if my Information Science Technology prof will count. It isn't actually "science" more of a business oriented thing.

If not then I have to track down a German professors. My major one retired though and the other got a job at another university. He owes me though. I wrote his recommendation. It was an odd twist.

My LOR from a computer science prof counted as my non-science letter where one was required.
 
Another group of applicants. Best of luck everyone! 😀
 
I am itching for a nova secondary, it is near the top of my wish list!

I was too but the liberal arts lor really turns me off......not sure how to handle that.
 
I was too but the liberal arts lor really turns me off......not sure how to handle that.

You have to have had one class outside of science and math during your college career. Go to a prof that you took a class with, hopefully a class you got an A in. Explain your situation. Ask to set up a meeting and then you go with your personal statement, a resume, and maybe a copy of your transcripts. If you're up front they are usually more than happy to write a recommendation. Just won't be horribly personal.
 
You have to have had one class outside of science and math during your college career. Go to a prof that you took a class with, hopefully a class you got an A in. Explain your situation. Ask to set up a meeting and then you go with your personal statement, a resume, and maybe a copy of your transcripts. If you're up front they are usually more than happy to write a recommendation. Just won't be horribly personal.

Yep, thats what I did. I always liked my Latin prof. just never imagined I would need a LOR from him.
 
I was too but the liberal arts lor really turns me off......not sure how to handle that.

Yea, I can't get a non-science letter it has been 4 years since I took a non-science course. I have 3 science letters, I hope they accept that. So far other schools have seemed to accept it and mark me complete.
 
Still haven't received secondary and no one responds to my email. NSU has the worst admissions department on earth.
 
Still haven't received secondary and no one responds to my email. NSU has the worst admissions department on earth.

when did you submit primary/when were you verified? I submitted June 11th and just received NSU secondary yesterday
 
My feelings about there admissions dept go back to last app cycle. I love the school though 😀
 
NSU seems to be weird. I received my secondary later, but only like a week or two later than others. I filled it out two weeks ago I think. Other people that submitted around the same time still haven't gotten theirs. No idea how it works.
 
Everyone:

I just want to let you know that the SECOND (2nd) California Pizza Kitchen, within a 10 mile radius of my house, just opened.

Also, the NSU secondary wins for "Most Similar to AACOMAS". (Rush won for AMCAS)
 
does anybody know what their average turn around time is after they receive secondary to when they screen for interviews??

also, listing all the schools i'm applying to made me pretty annoyed too. kind of an invasion of privacy, i think...:idea:
 
Everyone:

I just want to let you know that the SECOND (2nd) California Pizza Kitchen, within a 10 mile radius of my house, just opened.

Also, the NSU secondary wins for "Most Similar to AACOMAS". (Rush won for AMCAS)

the southwestern pizza (i think thats what its called) at CPK is deliciouuuuuuuuuus.
 
Yea I applied to 45 schools, I hope they made their fields large enough.

Congrats. You are the first person to have beat me so far. I have 35 as of now. I decided to tag on UF even though it is a long shot and doesn't interest me.
 
hey guys and girls---

ill let you guys in on a little secret...when I interviewed at NOVA this past year, the other applicants and I had one very important thing in common...

We called Dev in admissions.....asked about the status/completeness of our files....and he was like " well umm when can u come down for an interview?"

not joking....we didnt even press the guy, we were simply seeing if all documents, lor's, mcats etc were in.....id say about 50% of the people i interviewed with were in this situation.

good luck
 
Last edited:
hey guys and girls---

ill let you guys in on a little secret...when I interviewed at NOVA this past year, the other applicants and I had one very important thing in common...

We called Dev in admissions.....asked about the status/completeness of our files....and he was like " well umm when can u come down for an interview?"

not joking....we didnt even press the guy, we were simply seeing if all documents, lor's, mcats etc were in.....id say about 50% of the people i interviewed with were in this situation.

good luck

Did they send emails last year? I get an email every time they receive something from me.
 
hey guys and girls---

ill let you guys in on a little secret...when I interviewed at NOVA this past year, the other applicants and I had one very important thing in common...

We called Dev in admissions.....asked about the status/completeness of our files....and he was like " well umm when can u come down for an interview?"

not joking....we didnt even press the guy, we were simply seeing if all documents, lor's, mcats etc were in.....id say about 50% of the people i interviewed with were in this situation.

good luck


wow thats awesome! i'l be sure to call Dev... haha. 👍
 
hey guys and girls---

ill let you guys in on a little secret...when I interviewed at NOVA this past year, the other applicants and I had one very important thing in common...

We called Dev in admissions.....asked about the status/completeness of our files....and he was like " well umm when can u come down for an interview?"

not joking....we didnt even press the guy, we were simply seeing if all documents, lor's, mcats etc were in.....id say about 50% of the people i interviewed with were in this situation.

good luck

Thanks for the advice!
 
Hey,

I'm a third year @ NSU right now. so I would like to impart some wisdom on applying to Nova.

1. Keep copies of everything- emails, letters, etc. I even did return receipt on my email. They are notorious for losing things, and have not gotten better.
2. LOR - non science, I got mine from a Music prof that I had taken two classes with. I went to a small lib-arts school, so he knew me pretty well.
3. Nova communications- they gave me less than 2 weeks notice of my interview. I was living in NC and working, so it was a mad rush to get a flight, get time off etc. They didn't tell me my app was incomplete at my interview (English credits), so I had to rush for that weeks before starting. (Had to get a letter from advisor explaining my situations, which they took.)
4. Alot of times, the webstar system will notify you of your acceptance status. I saw I was accepted before I had gotten the call. However, that assumes neurotically checking Webstar.

About South Fl -
1. Drivers are crazy. Most out of staters are shocked at this.
2. Cost of living is expensive, but you can make it work if you budget.
3. Traffic is bad. I had a classmate who commuted from Miami, and he usually got to school at 6:45am - classes start at 8.
4. Hurricanes do happen. We got off light the past 2 years. I've lived in S. Fl for 15 years, and we've only really been hit directly by one hurricane (wilma)

In general, I want to wish everyone good luck on their interviews, etc. It's a pretty stressful time, and I'd suggest taking some time to relax, so you don't drive yourself insane!
 
Ok what should I do? I applied last year and am still on alternate list i guess. I have my new aacomas verified and released since july 3rd but Nova is the only school that hasn't acknowledged my app or sent me a secondary. I still can access webstar and do a new secondary tho. Should I fill out a fall 2009 secondary even tho I didn't get the ok from the school? I have tried calling and emailing people but no one responds (as usual).
 
For all those interested:

I just called and talked with a counselor about my MCAT score.
Turns out I will be auto-rejected without a retake of my MCAT.
They require at least a "7" in each section.


as in they won't send an secondary?... why don't they state that then grrr...oh yeah I still haven't recieved a rejection letter from them for last year... not sure why I am applying again lol
 
I've tried like 4 days in a row to call and check if they offer fee waivers and no answer ever.
 
does anybody know what their average turn around time is after they receive secondary to when they screen for interviews??

also, listing all the schools i'm applying to made me pretty annoyed too. kind of an invasion of privacy, i think...:idea:
Early in the cycle, it can be as soon as a few hours to about two weeks. I am not sure they are sending out interviews yet. If they are, I'll be there giving tours.

Listing your schools lets NSUCOM know your interests. For example, if you applied to only DO or MD schools, that may indicate something. Your choice of schools may reveal something about you that they want to extrapolate on. Take their questions about your listing of schools as a positive one. It means they are actually reading your application instead of glazing over it.
 
Ok what should I do? I applied last year and am still on alternate list i guess. I have my new aacomas verified and released since july 3rd but Nova is the only school that hasn't acknowledged my app or sent me a secondary. I still can access webstar and do a new secondary tho. Should I fill out a fall 2009 secondary even tho I didn't get the ok from the school? I have tried calling and emailing people but no one responds (as usual).
Send it in, it can't hurt.
 
as in they won't send an secondary?... why don't they state that then grrr...oh yeah I still haven't recieved a rejection letter from them for last year... not sure why I am applying again lol
I'm not sure about the "7" rule. It may not be something enacted based on the quality of the applications they receive. Rarely do schools have on their website or application the minimal scores for acceptance.
 
I haven't received anything from them since alt list letter last year. I submitted new primary on 7/3 and didn't get any response to my emails and calls. Dr. Whitehead did respond via email and told me just to wait. So i managed to get in touch with admissions today and they told me they've had my primary for over 2 weeks and were asking why i didn't submit my secondary yet. BECAUSE YOU DIDNT SEND IT 😡 LOL.
 
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