TouroCOM Master's Program

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Hi everyone,
I'm a former masters student that will be starting the DO program this fall. In my experience the program was a great opportunity to prove that you can handle the rigorous coursework of medical school. Yes, it requires A LOT of hard work and you have to study day in day out but I do believe the end result makes it all worth it. There are not a lot of programs that offer direct admission as long as you meet certain requirements and I think this is a great opportunity for someone who doesn't have other options. The program itself is very competitive and everyone is competing for a seat in the DO class. You have to bring your A game from the start and you cannot slack off at all. I thought the exams were fair and if you put the work in you'll see the results. That being said, if you do decide to do this program it is important to acknowledge you may not see the results you had hoped for. I know some individuals that gave it their all but unfortunately could not make the cut. If any incoming master students have any questions or are looking for advice, feel free to reach out!
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Slick_kid said:
Hi everyone,
I'm a former masters student that will be starting the DO program this fall. In my experience the program was a great opportunity to prove that you can handle the rigorous coursework of medical school. Yes, it requires A LOT of hard work and you have to study day in day out but I do believe the end result makes it all worth it. There are not a lot of programs that offer direct admission as long as you meet certain requirements and I think this is a great opportunity for someone who doesn't have other options. The program itself is very competitive and everyone is competing for a seat in the DO class. You have to bring your A game from the start and you cannot slack off at all. I thought the exams were fair and if you put the work in you'll see the results. That being said, if you do decide to do this program it is important to acknowledge you may not see the results you had hoped for. I know some individuals that gave it their all but unfortunately could not make the cut. If any incoming master students have any questions or are looking for advice, feel free to reach out!
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Do you have any tips on how to stay on top of the material and to do well overall.
 
In my experience, starting off strong really paid off. Ending the first semester with a gpa close to a 4.0 as possible will give you some cushion as you enter second semester. The averages are higher second semester so it is harder to end up with an A in each class. Make sure you pay attention to how many credits each class is worth. You do not want to mess up in classes that are worth a lot of credits which will affect your gpa the most. Of course, ideally you want to be in A/A- range for every single class whether its 7 credits or 3. Staying on top of the material will not be an issue initially but once exams begin every week, it can be challenging. It is perfectly normal to fall behind and I found myself falling behind a couple of times because I was focusing on an upcoming exam for another class. Most exams are spaced out enough that you will have time to catch up if you are a bit behind. Don't get lost in using too many outside resources because the class lecture slides are enough to do well on every exam( except for one or two classes). I don't think there is a specific formula for success in this program but overall I'd say you just have to work hard, be able to understand and memorize large amounts of information in as little time as possible, monitor your own progress so you know where you stand after each exam, and of course a little bit of luck always helps.
 
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Anyone have past years class schedule/textbook list or class materials? PM me!
 
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Just got accepted to the harlem campus! where my harlem friends at? :)
 
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mbs2019 said:
Anyone have past years class schedule/textbook list or class materials? PM me!
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Me too! I've tried asking a few people in the previous classes in other social media sites but I've been left on read lol.
 
Does anyone know what date classes officially start in July? All I have is my acceptance letter and no other information.
 
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goldenese said:
Does anyone know what date classes officially start in July? All I have is my acceptance letter and no other information.
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Orientation begins the week of July 22 and classes officially start the week of July 29.
 
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If anyone is still looking for a place to live, in Middletown, I'm sharing my room with anyone who is willing, in a 4 bedroom house. The house is brand new with 3.5 bathrooms. The kitchen is fully furnished, and there is a washing machine and a drying machine. Parking is easily accessible on the street, and the house is located 10 minutes walking distance from campus. Total rent will be $400 per month. If any guys are interested in this offer, please feel free to message me. Again, this is for guys only, not gals.
 
goldenese said:
I have taken the exam. They present different scenarios and you are to write what you will do in each situation. It is more about your morals and ethics.
'
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How do you take the CASper exam? I don’t see any reservation options. I think I may be doing something wrong.
 
Step 8: CASPer Exam Registration
All students who wish to be eligible for direct matriculation must take a CASPer exam
  • CASPer® is an on line assessment tool used by academic programs to help assess applicants for non-academic attributes or “people skills”.
  • Beginning in the Fall of 2018 all students applying to the DO program are required to take the CASPer exam.
  • To assure that all potential DO matriculates have taken this exam, all students accepted to the MS program who wish to be eligible for direct matriculation into the DO program must take a CASPer exam between May 14, 2019 and September 26, 2019.
  • Your CASPer score will not impact whether you are eligible to directly matriculate into the DO program, and the score is being collected for informational purposes only.
  • Further information will be provided to accepted MS students as we approach the first May CASPer test date
 
goldenese said:
Step 8: CASPer Exam Registration
All students who wish to be eligible for direct matriculation must take a CASPer exam
  • CASPer® is an on line assessment tool used by academic programs to help assess applicants for non-academic attributes or “people skills”.
  • Beginning in the Fall of 2018 all students applying to the DO program are required to take the CASPer exam.
  • To assure that all potential DO matriculates have taken this exam, all students accepted to the MS program who wish to be eligible for direct matriculation into the DO program must take a CASPer exam between May 14, 2019 and September 26, 2019.
  • Your CASPer score will not impact whether you are eligible to directly matriculate into the DO program, and the score is being collected for informational purposes only.
  • Further information will be provided to accepted MS students as we approach the first May CASPer test date
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When we start school they will show you how to register you and you don't have to worry about that till next semester according to the email. I have done the exam in past when i was applying for medical school, that is how I know about it.
 
Hey guys can y'all drop the link for the the TOURO MS facebook group
 
Question to people that have completed the MS program. Assuming you meet the criteria to enter the DO program, If you were accepted to the MS program for Middletown could you transition into the Harlem campus to begin the DO program or vice versa?
 
Would anyone recommend doing this program without having taken a lot of bio electives?

I have taken all the prerequisites (have gotten mainly A's and A-'s aside from a B in physics) and have also taken microbiology. I plan on taking biochem and immunology this fall. I have only the fall semester left before I graduate in January and study for the MCAT. So I am a bit limited with what extra bio electives I can take.

Do you think this serves as a good indicator that I will be able to succeed and matriculate to the DO program?

Also -- if accepted I plan on taking their summer course to be better prepared.
 
Take biochem and immuno and then (after many practice tests) take the MCAT. Then you will be able to gauge whether you even need to consider this program.

I wouldn't entertain the idea of a Masters until I'd taken at least two swings at the MCAT, done some kind of post-bacc and one failed application cycle.
 
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brittanyisaperson said:
Would anyone recommend doing this program without having taken a lot of bio electives?

I have taken all the prerequisites (have gotten mainly A's and A-'s aside from a B in physics) and have also taken microbiology. I plan on taking biochem and immunology this fall. I have only the fall semester left before I graduate in January and study for the MCAT. So I am a bit limited with what extra bio electives I can take.

Do you think this serves as a good indicator that I will be able to succeed and matriculate to the DO program?

Also -- if accepted I plan on taking their summer course to be better prepared.
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Take your mcat and apply to medical school the regular way first.
 
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Hello, Is anyone else having a difficult time filling out the application pdf? For the pre-reqs section, whatever I write in the fillable text boxes gets duplicated to all the rest of the section?!

Thanks
 
does anyone know of an expected timeline for this app process? I applied to Harlem the day it opened, nov 1
 
ClinicalAbsorption said:
Hello, Is anyone else having a difficult time filling out the application pdf? For the pre-reqs section, whatever I write in the fillable text boxes gets duplicated to all the rest of the section?!

Thanks
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yes I had trouble haha I had to print/download it as a pdf and then add text on top of it!
 
should I assume I will not hear back until after the holidays?
 
Anyone got accepted yet?

My interview is coming up next week :)
 
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dancer09 said:
Accepted! Interviewed Jan 8th, accepted on Jan 31!!
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Congratulation!
May I ask for which campus?

I just had an interview at Harlem campus. They were really nice and friendly.
 
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Does anyone know if the GPA requirements for admission into the MS program are strict cut-off?
 
Accepted! They give you a one week deadline to return the response form. Can we accept now and decline later?
 
I'm accepted at both campus. Anyone has insights on Harlem vs Middletown?
 
Does anyone know what the average mcat and gpa for accepted students?
 
Shark25 said:
Does anyone know what the average mcat and gpa for accepted students?
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I don't believe they publish that information. I will say that my MCAT score when I applied to the program was south of 495 with a gpa north of 3.7, just to give you an anecdotal reference point.
 
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Dr. Basketball said:
I don't believe they publish that information. I will say that my MCAT score when I applied to the program was south of 495 with a gpa north of 3.7, just to give you an anecdotal reference point.
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Thankyou. I have a much lower GPA and MCAT around 500. I wonder if they will see that negatively.
 
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Hello,

I'm still waiting to hear back from Touro NY for admissions to the regular D.O. program (I had sent in my secondary late). I am planning on applying to the masters this week as my cycle hasn't gone too well. Do I have a good chance of getting in with a 3.2sGPA and a 506 mcat (all above 125).

ECs: - 3000 + clinical hours
Volunteer 1000 +
Research: Poster board presentation and about to be first author on a major oncology presentation.
I don't have a D.O. letter but I have worked with several D.O.'s in my clinic and I'm working on getting one.
 
Yes, you have a good chance of acceptance to the Masters program.

if I were you, I would reapply DO with a DO letter, revamp your essays and get the primary and secondaries in ASAP (as In, be complete before august). I’d go another cycle before dropping the $60k on this relatively high-risk program.

what is your cGPA? how many mcat attempts? Red flags?
 
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BobbyKoch said:
Yes, you have a good chance of acceptance to the Masters program.

if I were you, I would reapply DO with a DO letter, revamp your essays and get the primary and secondaries in ASAP (as In, be complete before august). I’d go another cycle before dropping the $60k on this relatively high-risk program.

what is your cGPA? how many mcat attempts? Red flags?
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That's what I thought when I applied last year, I regret applying later for some of these programs (around august - late september secondary completetions). I was gunning for MD so I sent those in first. I actually talked to an admissions couselor for PNWU which rejected me around november and they told me my application was great overall, its just my academics that held me back. My sGPA is on the lower end and my MCAT could have been a couple of points higher. I'm gonna get this application in for next cycle as soon as possible and maybe that will change things for D.O. I know what you mean about high risk and the cost but this is one of the very few programs that guarantees acceptance.

My cGPA is a 3.45. I'm retaking the MCAT in july and I don't have any red flags lol
 
3.2 is on the low end but not lethal and the same for 506. If you can push the MCAT past 510 I think you will open a bunch of doors.

I had similar stats, 3.2 but a higher MCAT, and had to apply twice but eventually got into an established DO school. If you’re really anxious to get started on something, the Touro Masters is there. But I can tell you from my experience in the fall semester there is nothing easy about it. You will work your butt off and be competing with 40-50 other very smart cookies who will keep the averages surprisingly high.

I always like to suggest that people maximize their other options before jumping into this program. Ie, take post bacc classes, retake MCAT, iron out your application. Best of luck.
 
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thatpremedguy said:
That's what I thought when I applied last year, I regret applying later for some of these programs (around august - late september secondary completetions). I was gunning for MD so I sent those in first. I actually talked to an admissions couselor for PNWU which rejected me around november and they told me my application was great overall, its just my academics that held me back. My sGPA is on the lower end and my MCAT could have been a couple of points higher. I'm gonna get this application in for next cycle as soon as possible and maybe that will change things for D.O. I know what you mean about high risk and the cost but this is one of the very few programs that guarantees acceptance.

My cGPA is a 3.45. I'm retaking the MCAT in july and I don't have any red flags lol
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In your case, this program is a huge waste of your time and money and you do not need it. Reapply early and I think you'll get some bites. Good luck to you.
 
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Dr. Basketball said:
In your case, this program is a huge waste of your time and money and you do not need it. Reapply early and I think you'll get some bites. Good luck to you.
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for some reason I was trying to be less direct but I totally agree with this post.
 
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thatpremedguy said:
That's what I thought when I applied last year, I regret applying later for some of these programs (around august - late september secondary completetions). I was gunning for MD so I sent those in first. I actually talked to an admissions couselor for PNWU which rejected me around november and they told me my application was great overall, its just my academics that held me back. My sGPA is on the lower end and my MCAT could have been a couple of points higher. I'm gonna get this application in for next cycle as soon as possible and maybe that will change things for D.O. I know what you mean about high risk and the cost but this is one of the very few programs that guarantees acceptance.

My cGPA is a 3.45. I'm retaking the MCAT in july and I don't have any red flags lol
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As far as I know, take this Masters if your GPA is a lot lower than that (or you want to take a high risk high reward route) as I got kicked out of a college and worked my way up to repair GPA (ended up with a 2.9). I think applying broadly for this cycle might land you a seat.

From both the interviews I went to (Harlem and Middletown), admission is "kinda" guaranteed. The curve is high and it's intensive, if you don't cut it, you'd get an useless degree. However, they did tell me that even if you don't get the seat from the guarantee policy, you can still apply to the normal route to Touro and they look at that more favorably. Just keep in mind that their wordings give them a lot of wiggle room to deny you.

So yeah. Raise MCAT and apply early and broadly. You can always apply to next Masters around Dec or Jan if your cycle isn't going well.
 
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Dr. Basketball said:
I guess that did come off a bit more blunt than I intended haha :rolleyes:
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I really do appreciate the bluntness, it will help me more in the long run. Funny story I just got an interview invite for the D.O. program, keeping my fingers crossed :)) If you guys have any interview advice I would greatly appreciate it
 
thatpremedguy said:
I really do appreciate the bluntness, it will help me more in the long run. Funny story I just got an interview invite for the D.O. program, keeping my fingers crossed :)) If you guys have any interview advice I would greatly appreciate it
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What school?
 
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