2022-2023 Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine (Provo, UT) Noorda-COM

[Noorda-COM Admissions]

For the white coat, can any current students speak to the difference between the women's vs men's jacket please? Another school I interviewed at let us try theirs on during the interview day, and it turned out that the men's had longer sleeves and were better for the taller ladies. Wondering if these might be the same.

Hello,

A lot of what has been shared by others has been helpful, but we would be happy to add some clarity! The women's coats have "darts" where the back is gathered for a more form-fitting look and the men's is a more relaxed fit. As for the arm sleeves, the men's sleeves are about an inch longer. For comparison, the women's medium sleeve is 24.25" and the men's medium sleeve is 25.5". Additionally, we will have extra sizes during orientation week for you to try on and make sure you get the best fit. So, do your best to measure and pick what you think will be best fit utilizing the size guide at the bottom of the "White Coat Info & Order Form" tab in your Noorda-COM portal, but we will be sure to get you what you need when the time comes!

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[MasturChef117]

Hello,

A lot of what has been shared by others has been helpful, but we would be happy to add some clarity! The women's coats have "darts" where the back is gathered for a more form-fitting look and the men's is a more relaxed fit. As for the arm sleeves, the men's sleeves are about an inch longer. For comparison, the women's medium sleeve is 24.25" and the men's medium sleeve is 25.5". Additionally, we will have extra sizes during orientation week for you to try on and make sure you get the best fit. So, do your best to measure and pick what you think will be best fit utilizing the size guide at the bottom of the "White Coat Info & Order Form" tab in your Noorda-COM portal, but we will be sure to get you what you need when the time comes!

Really glad to hear this because I ordered an XL which usually works for me but I'm a big boy and clothes can be kind of hit or miss for me lol, being able to try on some other sizes is awesome!

 

[Dr._Dwight]

I got the APS on Friday. Any idea about the odds of getting in? I know that email says no one knows the timeline or odds, but if there are any students that applied last year that had an idea of numbers I would love to hear your thoughts. How many people are in this class and how big the APS group is? The email says it's a small group but I'm not sure what small means in this sense haha.

 

[sean1020]

I got the APS on Friday. Any idea about the odds of getting in? I know that email says no one knows the timeline or odds, but if there are any students that applied last year that had an idea of numbers I would love to hear your thoughts. How many people are in this class and how big the APS group is? The email says it's a small group but I'm not sure what small means in this sense haha.

What does APS stand for?

 

[DOctorCAL1]

What does APS stand for?

acceptance pending seat. this school does that and regular waitlist

 

[Kutefairytale]

is anyone else who had to redo the hepatitis stuff and submitted that their working on it not have their immunizations box checked off on the Noorda portal?

Ooo the struggle bus is real, I'm getting my titer today 😭

 

[drthedude]

Ooo the struggle bus is real, I'm getting my titer today 😭

It’s a hassle! My last dose is in July during orientation week so no clue where I’m gonna get it done

 

[starlord47]

For those of you who interviewed, did you receive an itinerary anytime before about who you would be interviewing with? Also is the interview a 1 on 1 or is it with multiple people?

 

[Swimgirl18]

For those of you who interviewed, did you receive an itinerary anytime before about who you would be interviewing with? Also is the interview a 1 on 1 or is it with multiple people?

I knew nothing about who I was interviewing with, just an itinerary with the overall structure of the day. Mine was a 1-on-1 but I think some people had 2-on-1s

 

[Cali894]

How soon after the interview were you notified of a decision?

 

[Swimgirl18]

How soon after the interview were you notified of a decision?

Mine was about 3 weeks, because thanksgiving was 2 weeks

 

[Medical_dummy]

For those of you who interviewed, did you receive an itinerary anytime before about who you would be interviewing with? Also is the interview a 1 on 1 or is it with multiple people?

From what I read, most were 1-1 but some including mine we 2-1. And they did give us a small itinerary. Like a little into in the beginning, then the interview then the dean spoke for a little bit and then student ambassadors took questions.

 

[drthedude]

How soon after the interview were you notified of a decision?

3 weeks for me

 

[whatareweevendoing4]

Just gave up my seat at Noorda for an MD spot. Good luck to everyone and I hope the open seat makes someone's day when they find out they've been accepted!

 

[Cali894]

Just gave up my seat at Noorda for an MD spot. Good luck to everyone and I hope the open seat makes someone's day when they find out they've been accepted!

Congrats!!

 

[MasturChef117]

It’s a hassle! My last dose is in July during orientation week so no clue where I’m gonna get it done

Bro my tertiary dose for the Hep B vaccine isn't going to be until September 😭 Luckily admissions sent out an email saying that you have to at least demonstrate progress on completing all of your vaccines before April 1st so we should be good

 

[drthedude]

Bro my tertiary dose for the Hep B vaccine isn't going to be until September 😭 Luckily admissions sent out an email saying that you have to at least demonstrate progress on completing all of your vaccines before April 1st so we should be good

Agreed!! I was starting to get worried when I didn’t see it checked off my checklist but it seems like they won’t check it off

 

[Swimgirl18]

Just gave up my seat at Noorda for an MD spot. Good luck to everyone and I hope the open seat makes someone's day when they find out they've been accepted!

That’s amazing!! Congrats!!

 

[medster123]

Hi, anybody with a pre secondary hold (low science, mcat, etc) was anybody able to get that hold lifted?

 

[DOctorCAL1]

Hi, anybody with a pre secondary hold (low science, mcat, etc) was anybody able to get that hold lifted?

i was on that last year and was ultimately rejected at end of march. i think they do review people on the list if they need to. last year they did not need to.

 

[JD909]

Do any accepted students have any insights on how to better afford NOORDA?

 

[drthedude]

Do any accepted students have any insights on how to better afford NOORDA?

Tbh I’m not sure there is a way, regardless of where we go to school we will be in massive amounts of debt, you can try to save to have a little bit of extra spending money but that’s about it

 

[JD909]

Tbh I’m not sure there is a way, regardless of where we go to school we will be in massive amounts of debt, you can try to save to have a little bit of extra spending money but that’s about it

Was just curious if there was any insight.... the private lenders didn't give me a great interest rate....

 

[LlMITBREAKER]

Do any accepted students have any insights on how to better afford NOORDA?

I'm not an accepted student here (waitlisted) but one thing you can do is lower the interest rates of private loans as much as possible with a cosigner and build your own good credit. The second option might be a bit too late but every bit helps. Then, you can refinance your student loans for an even lower rate later. I honestly think NOORDA can get FAFSA support probably in 2 years so you want to refinance asap when that happens for your private loans. Also, try to find a lender that would allow you to defer payments during school.

You will have to start making repayment during residency (for the federal loans, income based repayment but for your private loans a low amount since you would have refinanced). If your federal loans are over 300K (might not be you since you would have taken private loans) then I would consider working for 6 years in a nonprofit organization aka most hospitals continuing to make the minimum income based repayment. The remainder of the federal loans would be forgiven. If you can find a private lender (unlikely) that also has these perks of loan forgiveness, then that's ideal.

There is a caveat to the part I mentioned about working in hospitals. If you get placed in a high paying residency, it might be in your best interest to join a private clinic/organization because the salaries here are typically higher. Then this might be cost efficient for you to not take advantage of the nonprofit loan forgiveness

I'm no financial advisor, but this is what I would do.

 

[drwild111]

Was just curious if there was any insight.... the private lenders didn't give me a great interest rate....

What was your rate?

 

[JD909]

I'm not an accepted student here (waitlisted) but one thing you can do is lower the interest rates of private loans as much as possible with a cosigner and build your own good credit. The second option might be a bit too late but every bit helps. Then, you can refinance your student loans for an even lower rate later. I honestly think NOORDA can get FAFSA support probably in 2 years so you want to refinance asap when that happens for your private loans. Also, try to find a lender that would allow you to defer payments during school.

You will have to start making repayment during residency (for the federal loans, income based repayment but for your private loans a low amount since you would have refinanced). If your federal loans are over 300K (might not be you since you would have taken private loans) then I would consider working for 6 years in a nonprofit organization aka most hospitals continuing to make the minimum income based repayment. The remainder of the federal loans would be forgiven. If you can find a private lender (unlikely) that also has these perks of loan forgiveness, then that's ideal.

There is a caveat to the part I mentioned about working in hospitals. If you get placed in a high paying residency, it might be in your best interest to join a private clinic/organization because the salaries here are typically higher. Then this might be cost efficient for you to not take advantage of the nonprofit loan forgiveness

I'm no financial advisor, but this is what I would do.

I don't believe that the private loan lenders NOORDA partnered with (Ihelp and Sallie Mae) are eligible for the nonprofit organization repayment plan. I thought this only applied to federal loans?
They did say we could rate shop but I don't know who else to shop through, most lenders require the school to be accredited to qualify for the loan from my understanding. I think refinancing is probably my best bet... But it's scary when I only qualify for a high interest rate and no co-signer...

 

[LlMITBREAKER]

I don't believe that the private loan lenders NOORDA partnered with (Ihelp and Sallie Mae) are eligible for the nonprofit organization repayment plan. I thought this only applied to federal loans?
They did say we could rate shop but I don't know who else to shop through, most lenders require the school to be accredited to qualify for the loan from my understanding. I think refinancing is probably my best bet... But it's scary when I only qualify for a high interest rate and no co-signer...

I didnt do research about private loan options to recommend one. If you cannot get a cosigner and the interest is just high then you really cant do much about it. So do not worry so much about it. It just means you will have to pay a bit more in repayment or pay longer during residency/career. This should not affect your happiness.

I feel like repayment highly depends on lifestyle choices. Like say traditionally with fed loan forgiveness and you work in a hospital for 6 years, yeah your pay is less but you get 100s of thousands forgiven vs paying it yourself. Whether you go private or non profit, you have to make monthly payments anyway, but if its a big bill this means your means will be average despite your high paying job for a longer while. But who knows, maybe that wont even happen if you get married and your partner brings in an income too. Combined, your means could be high.
Either way to me, living with average means is not a bad thing because you get to do what you love with your life. But as soon as these loans go away, personally other than savings/investing I would just splurge a bit on hobbies like traveling. As long as I can afford my bills after repayment, nothing really changes much if I get to pocket $150K vs my full salary after loans are gone at $300K for me atleast because being a physician is what makes me happy. This is just my thought process and you might feel differently/have different goals and thats ok. But this thought process makes me less worried about these massive student loans. (But ofc try to be in as little debt as possible! )

 

[JD909]

I didnt do research about private loan options to recommend one. If you cannot get a cosigner and the interest is just high then you really cant do much about it. So do not worry so much about it. It just means you will have to pay a bit more in repayment or pay longer during residency/career. This should not affect your happiness.

I feel like repayment highly depends on lifestyle choices. Like say traditionally with fed loan forgiveness and you work in a hospital for 6 years, yeah your pay is less but you get 100s of thousands forgiven vs paying it yourself. Whether you go private or non profit, you have to make monthly payments anyway, but if its a big bill this means your means will be average despite your high paying job for a longer while. But who knows, maybe that wont even happen if you get married and your partner brings in an income too. Combined, your means could be high.
Either way to me, living with average means is not a bad thing because you get to do what you love with your life. But as soon as these loans go away, personally other than savings/investing I would just splurge a bit on hobbies like traveling. As long as I can afford my bills after repayment, nothing really changes much if I get to pocket $150K vs my full salary after loans are gone at $300K for me atleast because being a physician is what makes me happy. This is just my thought process and you might feel differently/have different goals and thats ok. But this thought process makes me less worried about these massive student loans. (But ofc try to be in as little debt as possible! )

I appreciate your input! I just have been stressed trying to figure out affordability for school, mostly due to my interest rate. It has been my dream to be a doctor but I honestly don't want to put myself in a situation where I end up half a million dollars in debt and will be just scraping by because of the interest.... it may be fine but it definitely will be something I want to keep in mind as I'm a non-traditional student and a little older than most.
I thought I'd just reach out to see if anyone on here had any insights on rate shopping or scholarships etc. I know you all are going through the same thing.

 

[drthedude]

Was just curious if there was any insight.... the private lenders didn't give me a great interest rate....

Limit described it perfectly! We are all going through this together!

 

[LlMITBREAKER]

I appreciate your input! I just have been stressed trying to figure out affordability for school, mostly due to my interest rate. It has been my dream to be a doctor but I honestly don't want to put myself in a situation where I end up half a million dollars in debt and will be just scraping by because of the interest.... it may be fine but it definitely will be something I want to keep in mind as I'm a non-traditional student and a little older than most.
I thought I'd just reach out to see if anyone on here had any insights on rate shopping or scholarships etc. I know you all are going through the same thing.

Hey man, I know that your at an important crossroads, but the fact that you got this far and invested so much in yourself especially as a non trad to get an acceptance to med school already tells me that your passion is medicine. Don't let the $$$ deter you now because it certainly didn't deter you from getting this far (unless you got a full ride undergrad/grad degrees or something lol). Debt is scary, but its just a tool to get you a better life when used correctly. Becoming a physician using debt is obviously using it correctly. To buy time/options with this decision, you could just pay the deposit for NOORDA and hold your seat and then switch schools that offer FAFSA when you get in there. Its lower cost this way as well in the long run. But if NOORDA is your only option, then the debt problems will fix itself eventually. It has for pretty much all practicing physicians eventually without affecting their lives very much (based on doctors I have known/shadowed from a lots of fields). You can scour existing SDN threads and also ask the OG's about this too if it helps your decision.
Another part of using the debt tool correctly is matching into the residency of your choice. Obviously this involves getting through med school correctly with good scores so you have the power to control this. This factor is FAR more important than the cost of medical school. If you think NOORDA gives you a better chance than a FAFSA offering med school for x,y,z reason, go with NOORDA. Or if some other school is a better fit for you to reach this objective, go with it! You want to end up with the power and means to chose your passion in the medical field. Even if the $$$ is higher.
If you find that you are passionate about a low paying residency then that's fine because you will know that taking longer to pay of the loans will be worth because the rest of your career/life will be happy doing what you love. If you want to attain what happens to be a high paying residency, then that's great too and the debt will go away a bit quicker. Either way don't let the debt/loans dictate your life because its just a tool. To keep it 100 with you, most other careers and lifestyle choices (like buying a house) are all dependent on some form of debt too. I think Medicine is just a far safer lifestyle warranting using debt as a tool because you are guaranteed at the end of everything with a decent salary to pay it off eventually. There are a lot of careers such as business where its not a guarantee and you could go bankrupt. There are also other jobs in medicine that pay well but with low debt. Here is where you got to really think about if that is your passion or is it some job. You got one life so you better be following your dreams. There are too many people in the world that unfortunately could not follow their dreams for various reasons, for you to chose not to follow your dream based on debt that you are guaranteed to eventually erase. So go for it bro!

 

[Medical_dummy]

Is anyone worried about Noorda being in pre-accreditation?

 

[MasturChef117]

Is anyone worried about Noorda being in pre-accreditation?

I was mostly concerned about how well the faculty collaborated to bring a cohesive curriculum and the relatively untested pod learning style due to it being a very new school. From everything I have heard so far, the students are enjoying it quite well and they have been succeeding in practice boards. The word "pre-accreditation" doesn't really bother me as long as they are able to award their students the DO degree and COCA deems them effective at delivering a good medical education.

 

[Medical_dummy]

I was mostly concerned about how well the faculty collaborated to bring a cohesive curriculum and the relatively untested pod learning style due to it being a very new school. From everything I have heard so far, the students are enjoying it quite well and they have been succeeding in practice boards. The word "pre-accreditation" doesn't really bother me as long as they are able to award their students the DO degree and COCA deems them effective at delivering a good medical education.

Yea I had the same thoughts, but recently I’ve been thinking like “what if they don’t get accredited” I know it’s in their best interest to get accredited. But it’s just something I’ve been thinking a lot recently

 

[drthedude]

Is anyone worried about Noorda being in pre-accreditation?

no the dean is a former COCA inspector

 

[Thero101]

Yea I had the same thoughts, but recently I’ve been thinking like “what if they don’t get accredited” I know it’s in their best interest to get accredited. But it’s just something I’ve been thinking a lot recently

My understanding is that the most we as students will potentially lose out on if they don't get accredited is time. Noorda specifically has things put in place to where if the sky falls and they don't get accredited for some reason, the students are repaid or helped out financially to finish out school. Kristen Anderson (head of admissions) talks about it in the YouTube video I linked. She starts talking about the risk at about 17:00 and specifically mentions what I said about having money set aside at 18:20.

 

[elietero]

Do any accepted students have any insights on how to better afford NOORDA?

aside from what other people have said which is very good advice, you could also look into National Health Service Corp Scholarship Program (NHSC SP), VA scholarship and HPSP scholarship (if you don't mind the military commitment). Im HPSP feel free to message me if you want more info.

 

[JD909]

aside from what other people have said which is very good advice, you could also look into National Health Service Corp Scholarship Program (NHSC SP), VA scholarship and HPSP scholarship (if you don't mind the military commitment). Im HPSP feel free to message me if you want more info.

I'm currently looking into the VA scholarship but just am not sure how likely I will be awarded it because I have no military affiliation. I would consider the HPSP but have a pre-exsiting condition that I'm pretty sure will disqualify me...

 

[omogedoctor]

Do any accepted students have any insights on how to better afford NOORDA?

If you are interested in a faculty position: https://bhw.hrsa.gov/funding/apply-loan-repayment/faculty-lrp
Faculty positions include anatomy lab instructor, clinical instructor, course professor. Some of these positions are offered per diem (as little as once a week) and sometimes pay over $100/hr. The award is $40,000 for every 2 years you work as a faculty member.


If you're interested in working in behavioral health/substance abuse: https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loan-repayment/nhsc-sud-workforce-loan-repayment-program
The award is $50K for 2 year full-time employment, $25K for 2-year part-time employment


If you're interested in clinical research: Eligibility & Programs | National Institutes of Health | Division of Loan Repayment
The award is $50K for 1 year of qualified research

These are a couple of options I'm considering.

 

[JD909]

If you are interested in a faculty position: https://bhw.hrsa.gov/funding/apply-loan-repayment/faculty-lrp
Faculty positions include anatomy lab instructor, clinical instructor, course professor. Some of these positions are offered per diem (as little as once a week) and sometimes pay over $100/hr. The award is $40,000 for every 2 years you work as a faculty member.


If you're interested in working in behavioral health/substance abuse: https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loan-repayment/nhsc-sud-workforce-loan-repayment-program
The award is $50K for 2 year full-time employment, $25K for 2-year part-time employment


If you're interested in clinical research: Eligibility & Programs | National Institutes of Health | Division of Loan Repayment
The award is $50K for 1 year of qualified research

These are a couple of options I'm considering.

This actually helps a lot!! Thank you! I was already thinking about clinical trails since I currently work in them and really enjoy it. I appreciate you sharing this!

 

[Deep Space]

If you are interested in a faculty position: https://bhw.hrsa.gov/funding/apply-loan-repayment/faculty-lrp
Faculty positions include anatomy lab instructor, clinical instructor, course professor. Some of these positions are offered per diem (as little as once a week) and sometimes pay over $100/hr. The award is $40,000 for every 2 years you work as a faculty member.


If you're interested in working in behavioral health/substance abuse: https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loan-repayment/nhsc-sud-workforce-loan-repayment-program
The award is $50K for 2 year full-time employment, $25K for 2-year part-time employment


If you're interested in clinical research: Eligibility & Programs | National Institutes of Health | Division of Loan Repayment
The award is $50K for 1 year of qualified research

These are a couple of options I'm considering.

Only thing to watch for is that, for the first link, schools must be public or non-profit, so NOORDA-COM would not qualify as they are for-profit.

 

[omogedoctor]

Only thing to watch for is that, for the first link, schools must be public or non-profit, so NOORDA-COM would not qualify as they are for-profit.

My understanding is that the health professional school you work as a faculty member must be non-profit, not the institution you graduated from.

 

[Deep Space]

My understanding is that the health professional school you work as a faculty member must be non-profit, not the institution you graduated from.

Good clarification, thank you . Just wanted to make sure that was out there so people are aware of that important qualification.

 

[Majortreblemaker]

I've had an A here for a while, but I finally heard back from the last school I interviewed with, they offered me a WL spot, but I declined it. I'm full sending it on Noorda, see y'all real soon!

 

[Swimgirl18]

Hello all, just wondering for those that are on the accepted pending seat list: has anyone come off. I know that they will go before the waitlist, and as someone on the waitlist just trying to figure out if there has been any movement😅. TIA

 

[Cali894]

I have my interview on Wednesday.. I’m nervous but excited. Do you think they’re still accepting or it’s for a spot on WL?

 

[deleted1096794]

I have my interview on Wednesday.. I’m nervous but excited. Do you think they’re still accepting or it’s for a spot on WL?

I think it is for a small number of accepted pending seats which I feel like is essentially an acceptance. The waitlists at this point in the cycle feel like soft rejections tbh but hoping I am wrong.

 

[drthedude]

I have my interview on Wednesday.. I’m nervous but excited. Do you think they’re still accepting or it’s for a spot on WL?

def still accepting unless otherwise specified, best of luck!

 

[Cali894]

def still accepting unless otherwise specified, best of luck!

Thank you!

 

[Cali894]

I think it is for a small number of accepted pending seats which I feel like is essentially an acceptance. The waitlists at this point in the cycle feel like soft rejections tbh but hoping I am wrong.

Got it.. hoping for that acceptance!

 

[Swimgirl18]

I think it is for a small number of accepted pending seats which I feel like is essentially an acceptance. The waitlists at this point in the cycle feel like soft rejections tbh but hoping I am wrong.

How do you figure that the waitlist is like a soft rejection? They had a lot of waitlist movement last year, so it would stand to reason they would have a good amount this year as well.