Chances/Advice

[JC19321]

Hey Folks,

 

I hate to start another one of these threads but you guys seem to be the most knowledgeable and best source of information. I am currently completing my undergraduate degree in health sciences through Thompson Rivers University. It is an articulation agreement so I am only going to have one year of "university courses" due to a block transfer from my previous schooling. From what i have read this should meet the minimum requirements but has anyone ever gotten accepted with one of these articulation agreement degrees?

 

As far as other information I live in between Ottawa and North Bay in a community with a RIO of 70. Its funny we are farther north then Huntsville/Gravenhurst area but i dont believe we are considered Northern Ontario. I am working as an advanced care paramedic for the last 3 years. Extra curriculars include volunteering with the cadet movement, involved in our paramedic association, our union and was class representative in my college program and my graduate certificate.

 

I figure that I am at least 1 year away from being ready to apply but am curious if what Thompson Rivers is going to give me is actually making me a prospective applicant. I know the school doesnt nessecarrily have the best "reputation" and am curious if i should be looking at other avenues or not.

 

Thanks for any feedback/criticism/whatever you have to offer

 

-Joe

[Nyscol]

I was just in contact with NOSM admissions about degrees completed through distance education. They don't make a distinction between distance education, part time, or traditional studies. This probably goes along with their mandate, as traditional "brick and mortar" universities may be less accessible to people in rural communities. There's nothing wrong with doing distance education. Many people complete degrees through Athabasca or TRU, however, you should think about what is conducive to getting good grades. Distance education can be quite difficult at times.

 

Where is it that you live? Deep River area?.. Mattawa?

 

EDIT** I pulled up the email from admissions.

 

"NOSM accepts applications from applicants who have pursued their undergraduate studies on a full-time or part-time basis as well as from those who have completed course work by distance education or in the spring/summer terms.

 

To address your questions in this regard, firstly, the educational background of applicants with on-line education degree(s)/courses earned are not viewed differently from those who did pursue their education on-campus at an institution."

 

Hope that helps.

[jojoluvsu2]

Your degree should be fine, it would be your context that may hurt. RIO really has no influence with NOSM; Thunder Bay has a RIO of 0 but clearly it is counted as a NOSM community. If you aren't considered "northern" you have an uphill battle to fight.

 

I don't mean to pick apart your post and divert from your real question, but what do you mean by NOSM not having the greatest reputation? It is a new school and does things differently than more traditional schools like UofT but that isn't necessarily a bad thing (we start with patient interaction in year one rather than year 3 so our people skills are some of the best of any school). We also have the best CaRMS matching history (yes the high number of family med applicants skews this a little but we still place many specialties). In the end any med school in Canada will get you to where you need to be, each having pros and cons, but by no mean does NOSM not have a good reputation.

[Nyscol]

I think the OP is referring to whether or not Thompson Rivers has a good reputation or not. To be fair, there is so much misinformation and elitist attitudes that really run down online degrees, I can see why the OP has cause for concern. That's what's so great about NOSM, is that they accommodate such a wide variety of backgrounds.

[jojoluvsu2]

Ah yes yes yes I read it that way now. I just had to staunchly defend NOSM to a friend at UofC so I was a little hopped up on some pro-NOSM juice and was primed for another fight

[JC19321]

Thanks for the replies folks!

 

First off I absolutely did not mean that NOSM doesn't have a good reputation, I was referring to Thompson Rivers. I have read quite a bit and am very intrigued by NOSM's approach to education. I have also been on various training courses for work where I have met residents from many schools and the grads of NOSM seem to be some of the nicest most approachable people I have met.

 

As you guessed I am in the Deep River area. I honestly don't know where my community falls in on the "northern" scale. Geographically I can say we are significantly farther then some of the communities that NOSM considers northern but from a provincial stand point we aren't northern enough for any of the "northern perks" such as being able to stud winter tires and so on. I guess I can call the school and ask of they consider my residence northern but from what I've read in previous posts the context score is quite hush hush.

 

I have considered re-locating but honeslty I have a great full time job with an excellent employer and leaving this on a whim is worrysome. Maybe I just need to take a leap of faith but I'll look at that later.

[bikekp]

Well, I got in this year, and I have never lived in Northern Ontario or been there for anything other than my interview. I am from rural town in the south east corner of BC, so I think the RIO has something to do with it. I also don't have a killer gpa or really anything that makes me stand out all that much, so my context score had to be pretty good. I think you have a good shot, at least as good as I did.

[jojoluvsu2]

RIO is Rural Index for Ontario, so a rural town in BC isn't on the list. BC may have it's own rural index, I'm not sure. RIO may have something to do with things, but given that Thunder Bay (and Sudbury?) have a score of 0 on the RIO it certainly can't be used to determine context score (at least as the only metric). There are many rural towns in southern Ontario that score quite high, yet as they aren't northern it doesn't matter. That's why I believe (IMHO) that RIO isn't used to determine context, but of course the magic formula is closely guarded and we will never be certain

 

You can contact NOSM with the question if Deep River is considered a northern community, I don't think answering that question would divulge any information about their context score. Of course they may choose not to answer.

 

You sound like a great candidate, hopefully you get some questions answered and can put in an application!

[PassingTheTime]

Thanks for the replies folks!

 

First off I absolutely did not mean that NOSM doesn't have a good reputation, I was referring to Thompson Rivers. I have read quite a bit and am very intrigued by NOSM's approach to education. I have also been on various training courses for work where I have met residents from many schools and the grads of NOSM seem to be some of the nicest most approachable people I have met.

 

As you guessed I am in the Deep River area. I honestly don't know where my community falls in on the "northern" scale. Geographically I can say we are significantly farther then some of the communities that NOSM considers northern but from a provincial stand point we aren't northern enough for any of the "northern perks" such as being able to stud winter tires and so on. I guess I can call the school and ask of they consider my residence northern but from what I've read in previous posts the context score is quite hush hush.

 

I have considered re-locating but honeslty I have a great full time job with an excellent employer and leaving this on a whim is worrysome. Maybe I just need to take a leap of faith but I'll look at that later.

 

I lived in deep river for 10 years and for the rest of my life I lived in an urban city- I was accepted to NOSM this year so I'm guessing it won't be a deterrent for you

[JC19321]

So I contacted NOSM and asked about the status of Deep River with regards to being considered northern ontario and got what seems like a scripted answer about the secrecy of the context score. I was also told about upcoming information sessions so i think i will attempt to attend one of these sessions hoping that some more light can be shed on the subject.

 

Just curious PassingTheTime did you do high school in Deep River or live here prior to secondary school. I have read in other threads that where you went to highschool seems to count but am unsure how people know this based on how secretive the context score seems.

 

Thanks everyone for the help

[PassingTheTime]

So I contacted NOSM and asked about the status of Deep River with regards to being considered northern ontario and got what seems like a scripted answer about the secrecy of the context score. I was also told about upcoming information sessions so i think i will attempt to attend one of these sessions hoping that some more light can be shed on the subject.

 

Just curious PassingTheTime did you do high school in Deep River or live here prior to secondary school. I have read in other threads that where you went to highschool seems to count but am unsure how people know this based on how secretive the context score seems.

 

Thanks everyone for the help

 

I sent you a PM!

[jojoluvsu2]

It asks for the postal code of your high school (hint #1) and many people grow up in the north, attend uni in southern Ontario and still get in. That leads me to believe that where you go to high school counts (no mention of elementary school...). However, some people (like Beef), did not grow up in Northern Ontario but spent a few years (~5) in the north and seem to improve their context score (based on their acceptance to NOSM).