Touro Harlem Online MS vs Geisinger Online MBS Program

[deeee]

Can students who have either went to Touro or Geisinger please help me? All I have found are opinion based bs on forums with no real answers. More of my friend or my cousin took it and it sucked or it’s a scam, etc…Just students bashing the programs. I want to hear of students who actually completed their masters degree. Thank you so much in advance.

I have a bunch of questions:
1. Which program is better in terms of actively becoming a medical student after completing a masters degree.
2. If worse case scenario, an interview is not granted at gesinger or I am not accepted into touros DO program can I still apply to other Med schools confidently?
3. Are either masters reputable if I try and apply to other med schools?
4. Do either program offer aid whether it be grants or Scholarships? ( I’m not looking for the link where there’s a list of scholarship opportunities on the schools website)I want to know if YOU 🫵 received any aid?
5. How challenging was the one year? Is it doable with a part time job and 3 young children?
6. What was the schedule like? Synchronized? Asynchronized? Homework? Wuizzes? Exams? Midterms? Finals? Any presentations? Please breakdown a weekly schedule including the amount of hours each day required to do well.

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[SicilianDragon]

Hey there, I know this is a bit of a late response, but I completed the Geisinger MBS program back in 2022. The best part about the program is that it's accelerated (11 months) and virtual (I worked full-time while completing the program... would not recommend at all). However, it's extremely rigorous, and it takes a huge time commitment to balance studying for all the courses. Not to mention, I was not a fan of most of the professors; their exams were insane and not at all reflective of their lecture material. Despite those cons, GPA was a weakness in my AMCAS application - this program gave me the opportunity to address and improve on my weakness, and I was able to finally get accepted to med school.

1. Which program is better in terms of actively becoming a medical student after completing a masters degree?
   
   • As hard as Geisinger's MBS program was, it definitely forced me to find an effective learning strategy for myself. I feel like a better learner after going through the rigor of these courses.
2. If worse case scenario, an interview is not granted at Geisinger or I am not accepted into Touro's DO program, can I still apply to other Med schools confidently?
   
   • Yes, definitely. I didn't get into Geisinger but was accepted to a different MD program after applying broadly.
3. Are either masters reputable if I try and apply to other med schools?
   
   • Can't speak for Touro, but most schools I applied to understood that this was a special master's program based on a med school curriculum.
4. Do either program offer aid whether it be grants or Scholarships? ( I’m not looking for the link where there’s a list of scholarship opportunities on the schools website)I want to know if YOU 🫵 received any aid?
   
   • I did not receive any scholarships; I did apply for federal loans.
5. How challenging was the one year? Is it doable with a part time job and 3 young children?
   
   • Extremely challenging (I worked full-time while taking on this program). I personally would not recommend it if you've got a part time job and 3 kids, but you know your limits better than I do. Just keep in mind that it can be risky if you don't do well in the program and apply to med schools with a sub-par graduate GPA.
6. What was the schedule like? Synchronized? Asynchronized? Homework? Quizzes? Exams? Midterms? Finals? Any presentations? Please breakdown a weekly schedule including the amount of hours each day required to do well.
   
   • You have the option to be mostly asynchronous, with the exception of one or two courses that were synchronous and mandatory attendance. There was homework, quizzes, and exams for all courses, as well as presentations and occasionally group work assignments.
     • My job was a 9-5 from Mon-Fri... I'd get home, eat dinner, and study/work on assignments until about 1am (I'm a night owl so late nights never bothered me). Sleep, wake up next day around 7, review material, and then rinse and repeat. It was honestly a miserable experience, but it got me where I wanted to be so I don't regret it.

 

[deeee]

Thank you so much for replying lol, you really have no idea how much I appreciate your feedback. And Congratulations! I was accepted to Geisinger for the Fall 2023 start date. Touro accepted me as well but I needed to have the MCAT completed before classes started so I declined their offer.

Hey there, I know this is a bit of a late response, but I completed the Geisinger MBS program back in 2022. The best part about the program is that it's accelerated (11 months) and virtual (I worked full-time while completing the program... would not recommend at all). However, it's extremely rigorous, and it takes a huge time commitment to balance studying for all the courses. Not to mention, I was not a fan of most of the professors; their exams were insane and not at all reflective of their lecture material. Despite those cons, GPA was a weakness in my AMCAS application - this program gave me the opportunity to address and improve on my weakness, and I was able to finally get accepted to med school.

1. Which program is better in terms of actively becoming a medical student after completing a masters degree?
   
   • As hard as Geisinger's MBS program was, it definitely forced me to find an effective learning strategy for myself. I feel like a better learner after going through the rigor of these courses.
2. If worse case scenario, an interview is not granted at Geisinger or I am not accepted into Touro's DO program, can I still apply to other Med schools confidently?
   
   • Yes, definitely. I didn't get into Geisinger but was accepted to a different MD program after applying broadly.
3. Are either masters reputable if I try and apply to other med schools?
   
   • Can't speak for Touro, but most schools I applied to understood that this was a special master's program based on a med school curriculum.
4. Do either program offer aid whether it be grants or Scholarships? ( I’m not looking for the link where there’s a list of scholarship opportunities on the schools website)I want to know if YOU 🫵 received any aid?
   
   • I did not receive any scholarships; I did apply for federal loans.
5. How challenging was the one year? Is it doable with a part time job and 3 young children?
   
   • Extremely challenging (I worked full-time while taking on this program). I personally would not recommend it if you've got a part time job and 3 kids, but you know your limits better than I do. Just keep in mind that it can be risky if you don't do well in the program and apply to med schools with a sub-par graduate GPA.
6. What was the schedule like? Synchronized? Asynchronized? Homework? Quizzes? Exams? Midterms? Finals? Any presentations? Please breakdown a weekly schedule including the amount of hours each day required to do well.
   
   • You have the option to be mostly asynchronous, with the exception of one or two courses that were synchronous and mandatory attendance. There was homework, quizzes, and exams for all courses, as well as presentations and occasionally group work assignments.
     • My job was a 9-5 from Mon-Fri... I'd get home, eat dinner, and study/work on assignments until about 1am (I'm a night owl so late nights never bothered me). Sleep, wake up next day around 7, review material, and then rinse and repeat. It was honestly a miserable experience, but it got me where I wanted to be so I don't regret it.

Thank you so much for replying lol, you really have no idea how much I appreciate your feedback. You’re amazing 🤩 I was accepted to Geisinger for the Fall 2023 start date. Touro accepted me as well but I needed to have the MCAT completed before classes started (I think August 15th was their first day of classes) so I declined their offer because I haven’t sat for the exam yet.
Thank you for being so honest. I have a few weeks to accept Geisingers offer but I too am trying to strengthen my undergrad gpa so starting this program and sinking would not be helpful. And yes, I recently had my third baby so it worries me when you said it’s extremely rigorous and basically becareful.
Do you mind if I message you privately? Or actually tbh I would like to know more about the professors and your journey after you completed this program? How you managed to get into a medical school afterwards?
Thank you so much 😊