For discussion of the school noted above. This includes interview dates, questions, etc. Threads will be merged in here if they are created on their own.

Excellent! We don't have to share a thread with Erie! :p

Anyone else out there apply here? I specified Seton Hill as my first choice campus and was marked as under review on June 15th. Really excited about PBL. I also like the fact that Greensburg is less than an hour from my house. Would be great not to have to move and sell my house.

By the way, LECOM Erie/Seton Hill does NOT have any essays on the secondary this year!

http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-happy110.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php)

No essays this year? That's nice. The class of 2014 starts on July 24 so we can help answer questions, and there is a thread by DoctaJMa that has good information from the class of 2013.

I'll be making the commute too in less than 4 weeks from now so can let you know how it goes. Hopefully, we won't have a repeat of this year's winter again.:scared: Good luck!

anyone know where rotations will be for greensburg?

The second year students will have more up to date info than me, but here is what I know...

We were told during our interview in Erie that SH will be included with the Erie rotation sites. However, we would be given priority for the Pittsburgh locations. Erie would be given priority for the Erie area locations.

In addition, when I visited SH this spring, the LECOM staff told me that they were in the process of signing rotation agreements with Excela healthcare in Greensburg. Not sure the status, but I will definitely ask about this during orientation/open house in 3 weeks.

No matter the outcome, I'm certain that I'm not going to be able to stay in Pittsburgh for all of the rotations b/c I don't see 100 rotation opportunities being added for the additional ~100 students/class at SH. But I could be wrong...

so if we are unable to do all of our clerkships in Pitt then do they expect us to be moving around during the year? Erie and Pitt are not exactly close enough to be commuting

Until the MS2s at SH set up rotations for next year, I don't think we'll know whether it is possible to stay in Pitt the entire time. LECOM does have a very large rotation site list. There are lots of rotations in PA including some that are not that far from Pittsburgh such as in Washington, Indiana, McKeesport, Natrona Heights, etc. Even Weirton, WV and Wheeling, WV are just under an hour from here depending on where you live.

Does anyone have any idea how many spots LECOM- Seton Hill offers and how many are remaining for the 2009-2010 cycle?

Thanks

LECOM-Seton Hill has 108 seats, at least for the class of 2014. I would imagine for the class of 2014 they are full or very close to it since orientation starts on July 24th.

I have been accepted to the Seton Hill campus (my 1st choice since I can commute from my current residence). Does anyone know if there is some kind of organized opportunity to visit the campus before matriculation? Just curious since we have to interview at the Erie campus and therefore don't get to see this campus at our interview.

I am a current OMSI... we received invitations to come tour campus after we were accepted... I was admitted until March last year... So I can't tell you how early they started offering that but I'm sure you can call and ask to see when that will be available.

Does anybody know how much snow Greensburg gets a year?

Needed a break from Histo...Pittsburgh (~35 miles from Greensburg) gets about 40 inches per year. This past winter was an exception as I think we almost doubled the snow.

Changing topics for one moment....congrats to FuturePittMed on your acceptance!:)

Yes, I have lived in the Pittsburgh area my entire life. I never saw anything like the snow we had in February before - that was definitely not typical. A typical snowstorm here drops less than 6 inches.

Thanks, Trimthechute. I am very happy about my acceptance! :D

As of today I have been accepted to Seton Hill for the class of 2015

I'll probably have a ton of questions as Aug '11 gets closer

Epic Win

As of today I have been accepted to Seton Hill for the class of 2015

I'll probably have a ton of questions as Aug '11 gets closer

Epic Win


Awesome Dude! Congrats!

Anyone else get the email from Linda about the tours for accepted students? I am planning on going but have not decided on a date yet. It is okay to wear business casual to this tour since we've already been accepted and it is kind of like a "Second Look" (for the first time), right?

If you come to visit, you'll want to follow the LECOM dress code. Dress shirt & tie for guys. They made us follow the dress code even to get our computers configured over the summer.

:whistle:

What a quiet thread. Do I have no classmates for July? Anyone going to a tour day for accepted students?

Hey Guys!

I'm interviewing at Erie in November, but SH is my top choice for school. Have any of you visited? If so, did you like the town? Are there any resources for finding good apartments downtown? I've been looking online, but can't find much. Thanks!

Hey Guys!

I'm interviewing at Erie in November, but SH is my top choice for school. Have any of you visited? If so, did you like the town? Are there any resources for finding good apartments downtown? I've been looking online, but can't find much. Thanks!

Check out MyGreensburgApartment.com. They sent this link to me after I was admitted. I'll be visiting the campus next week on the tour for students who have been accepted.

Until the MS2s at SH set up rotations for next year, I don't think we'll know whether it is possible to stay in Pitt the entire time. LECOM does have a very large rotation site list. There are lots of rotations in PA including some that are not that far from Pittsburgh such as in Washington, Indiana, McKeesport, Natrona Heights, etc. Even Weirton, WV and Wheeling, WV are just under an hour from here depending on where you live.

About 10% of the class gets to stay in one place the whole time. The rest have to move around (or get to move around, depending on how you look at it). It is impossible to be in Pittsburgh the entire time, as every Pittsburgh area student still has to fulfill three or so mandatory rotations, the closest of which is a little more than an hour south or north of Pitt, the furthest of which is in Niagara Falls, and the worst of which is in Erie. :laugh: No preference is given to students from either class for any area (and, frankly, don't believe what anyone from Admissions or Student Affairs tells you, period). Sorting out rotations was a nightmare, and most people ended up fairly disappointed. The ones who really suffer from this are those students with husbands and wives and children - for most of us it's just annoying because it's not how we were led to believe things were going to go!:(

I just received my acceptance letter, and with it I have to choose whether to matriculate LDP at Erie or PBL at Seton Hill. My preference would be PBL, but I don't know much about the Seton Hill area/campus. Are the board passing rates just as good with SH PBL? Also, it sounds like it's a mess to find rotations at SH. I'm from NJ, so I'd like to do a rotation or two back here. Is this usually possible? If anyone has any opinions/answers it would be much appreciated.

About 10% of the class gets to stay in one place the whole time. The rest have to move around (or get to move around, depending on how you look at it). ... don't believe what anyone from Admissions or Student Affairs tells you, period). (

Well, here's hoping that in 2013 when I am a 3rd year they have added more local sites. I don't necessarily need to be at the same hospital but I was hoping to at least stay in Pgh. For various personal reasons, it will not be easy having to live somewhere else for 4-8 weeks.

Interestingly enough, at the admissions interview in Erie we were told that "everyone got what they wanted" for rotations. I was skeptical of this statement at the time.

I just received my acceptance letter, and with it I have to choose whether to matriculate LDP at Erie or PBL at Seton Hill. My preference would be PBL, but I don't know much about the Seton Hill area/campus. Are the board passing rates just as good with SH PBL? Also, it sounds like it's a mess to find rotations at SH. I'm from NJ, so I'd like to do a rotation or two back here. Is this usually possible? If anyone has any opinions/answers it would be much appreciated.

I know at the admissions interview they said the board passing rate was 96% but I don't know if that included SH.

There is a list of rotation sites on the flash drive they gave us at the interview. There is only one site for NJ listed, Warren Hospital in Phillipsburg. I don't know if that is in the area you were hoping and don't know how likely you'd be to get in there.

I visited the SH campus a few weeks ago. It is smaller than the main campus, a little less fancy, but smaller and more intimate. It is also on the campus of this really charming university. They have this amazing winding, tree lined driveway you drive up to get to the hill the campus is situated on. The cafeteria, which is in a building across from the main med school bldg at SH, looks like it is part of Hogwart's! I am not kidding! I will say that Erie has the better gym. SH has a modest gym and exercise equipment. There is a pool, too, but it wasn't on the tour.

Well the campus sounds nice. I just don't want to go there and have it be a ghost town. As for rotating in NJ, I was hoping to rotate once or twice through a hospital near my hometown where UMDNJ students rotate through. I'm sure it'd be up to me to do the leg work, but I just wanted to know that the school is open to the idea of me doing this, as it sounds like I'd have to travel away from SH anyway. Also, I'm assuming at SH there are no cadavers? I know Erie PBL doesn't have it but I've read Bradenton does, so I didn't know where SH sat.

Well the campus sounds nice. I just don't want to go there and have it be a ghost town. As for rotating in NJ, I was hoping to rotate once or twice through a hospital near my hometown where UMDNJ students rotate through. I'm sure it'd be up to me to do the leg work, but I just wanted to know that the school is open to the idea of me doing this, as it sounds like I'd have to travel away from SH anyway. Also, I'm assuming at SH there are no cadavers? I know Erie PBL doesn't have it but I've read Bradenton does, so I didn't know where SH sat.


I don't know a lot about Greensburg itself but in my brief trip there last month it didn't look like too small of a town. It definitely is not rural. At any rate, Pgh is maybe 40 minutes drive and there is lots to do there! Sports teams, symphony, theater, opera, regatta, concerts, etc.

I can't answer rotation questions so I will leave that to someone better qualified. I am going to pray a lot in the coming years that things work out for all of us and we get rotations we can live with! :)

I was definitely under the impression that there are no cadavers at SH. I am okay with this since I don't care for the chemical exposure.

Check out MyGreensburgApartment.com. They sent this link to me after I was admitted. I'll be visiting the campus next week on the tour for students who have been accepted.


Thanks for the tip! Much better than the other sites I was looking at. How did you like the campus? I am interviewing this Friday, and am a little bummed that I won't get a chance to see Greensburg before I select it as my preferred campus, but from what I've seen/heard it looks pretty great.

Thanks for the tip! Much better than the other sites I was looking at. How did you like the campus? I am interviewing this Friday, and am a little bummed that I won't get a chance to see Greensburg before I select it as my preferred campus, but from what I've seen/heard it looks pretty great.

It has a much different feel than the main campus. Of course this is based off a few hours spent at each place but here goes...

Erie main has close to 300 students per class plus the pharmacy students. That's a lot of people but you are all isolated together in this self contained building.

SH is on a college campus. I thought it was pretty charming and low key there. It will be much more intimate since there is only about 100 students per class so about 400 students total once they are up to speed there. The areas for the med school are locked off from the rest of campus with card key readers. But you are still on a college campus and will see other non med students at the gym and cafeteria and library (though a part of the library is for the med students only and you need a card key to get in).

I am thinking I will like the smaller, more intimate environment of SH. There was no question I wanted PBL. I am a nontrad and just feel I would get lost in a big lecture hall. My only regret, really, is the Wellness Center in Erie is just amazing and, while there are some modest exercise facilities at SH, they pale in comparison to that awesome Wellness Center!

Location was a big factor for me. I won't have to move from my current residence to go to SH and I knew I wanted PBL for sure so I felt good about selecting SH sight unseen at my interview in Erie. After having seen the campus I feel happy about my choice and think I will like the smaller environment. If they can fix the rotation situation within the next three years I will have picked the best med school possible for me.

Good luck at your interview MNBred! :luck:

My application to LECOM has been under review since November,9th. Does any one have an idea how long it takes before one gets a response? I chose LECOM/Seton Hill as my number one choice and I really hope I'll get it.
Thank you all for your help.

I just received my acceptance letter, and with it I have to choose whether to matriculate LDP at Erie or PBL at Seton Hill. My preference would be PBL, but I don't know much about the Seton Hill area/campus. Are the board passing rates just as good with SH PBL? Also, it sounds like it's a mess to find rotations at SH. I'm from NJ, so I'd like to do a rotation or two back here. Is this usually possible? If anyone has any opinions/answers it would be much appreciated.
1. Seton Hill hasn't taken boards yet, so we have no idea about comparative pass rates.
2. Rotations are equitably messy at Seton Hill and Erie, since we are all thrown into the same pot for the same rotations; which campus you're on makes no difference in your chances for a particular rotation.
3. I think that this year there was only one NJ site, though there were a few NYC-area sites. There were significant changes between last year's sites and this year's, so there is no way to know what will be available in 2-3 years when it's your turn. You can always do electives wherever you want.
Good luck!

It has a much different feel than the main campus. Of course this is based off a few hours spent at each place but here goes...

Erie main has close to 300 students per class plus the pharmacy students. That's a lot of people but you are all isolated together in this self contained building.

SH is on a college campus. I thought it was pretty charming and low key there. It will be much more intimate since there is only about 100 students per class so about 400 students total once they are up to speed there. The areas for the med school are locked off from the rest of campus with card key readers. But you are still on a college campus and will see other non med students at the gym and cafeteria and library (though a part of the library is for the med students only and you need a card key to get in).

I am thinking I will like the smaller, more intimate environment of SH. There was no question I wanted PBL. I am a nontrad and just feel I would get lost in a big lecture hall. My only regret, really, is the Wellness Center in Erie is just amazing and, while there are some modest exercise facilities at SH, they pale in comparison to that awesome Wellness Center!

Location was a big factor for me. I won't have to move from my current residence to go to SH and I knew I wanted PBL for sure so I felt good about selecting SH sight unseen at my interview in Erie. After having seen the campus I feel happy about my choice and think I will like the smaller environment. If they can fix the rotation situation within the next three years I will have picked the best med school possible for me.

Good luck at your interview MNBred! :luck:

Hey! It's been awhile since I was on this thread, so I just saw your response. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this up! I am also a non-trad and new that PBL would be right for me. Good thing I decided on that route because... I GOT IN!!:D I was a little worried about applying to the SH campus because I had never seen it, but after your description, I am feeling much better about it. I would have to relocate (like...cross the country re-locate) but am excited about the prospect of being close to Pitt, living in a smaller town than I live in now, and being part of a smaller class. Thanks again for your input!!

I am a pre-med student very interested in LeCOM. For those already accepted, congrats. Could you let the rest of us know what kind of resume you had? such as GPA, MCAT, and ECs

Thanks

I am a pre-med student very interested in LeCOM. For those already accepted, congrats. Could you let the rest of us know what kind of resume you had? such as GPA, MCAT, and ECs

Thanks

I got into LECOM Seton Hill recently and as of now I will likely attend there unless I get pulled from the alternate list at LECOM Bradenton.

My stats were ~3.4 GPA, ~3.3 sGPA, MCAT= 27

As for ECs, I was in a premed club, research 1.5 years (nothing published), volunteering, shadowing, Social Fraternity (was a recruitment chair and intramural chair for it) and some other clubs.

I think what LECOM is looking for is people who they think can succeed at their school. So if your interested in PBL, give them an example of how you can work efficiently by yourself and how your self motivated, etc...

Good luck

Interviewed 12/17
Portal Change 12/23
Acceptance Letter 12/31 - it was a very exciting end-of-the year surprise!

Interviewed 12/17
Portal Change 12/23
Acceptance Letter 12/31 - it was a very exciting end-of-the year surprise!

Congrats!

For everoyne applying here..
Average GPA of the class of 2014 seems to be about a 3.3 with the MCATs having a high of 32 and low of 22 (from people Ive talked to)

Greensburg is... Greensburg. There is stuff to do, golfing etc but it is not even remotely comparable to Pitt. Its about a 40 minute to 1hr drive to Shadyside in Pitt. There are a few bars that are cool, but in the most part there isnt a huge nightlife out here. Incidentally, you wont be enjoying the nightlife too much your first semester, as between PBL tests and Anatomy you are going to be swamped

Erie gets most of the attention/faculty (considering they have LDP) so dont expect too much in the way of support lectures or anything. However, they are rounding out the staff here at SH pretty nicely, and the new additions for Neuro/Micro/Path are great.
All this being said, I would never think twice if I had to pick between Erie LDP or SH PBL. SH PBL everytime. We are not a stand alone campus, so dress code is only in effect in LECOM affiliated buildings, so you can use the undergrad library and be in sweats and have food/water.

I never thought that I would find myself disagreeing with a post by ShyRem, who is one of my favorite people on these boards, but I'm not sure that board scores tell the whole story. I'm pretty sure that I will do well on the boards, but I could probably have done just as well on the boards just studying on my own. I do feel that I could have been better prepared for my clinical years if I had had better H&P instruction, better anatomy, and a collegial atmosphere rather than a combative one. Perhaps it is my fault for choosing a new campus, for believing the admissions officers and their selected students, or for misunderstanding what accreditation implied. I can't take back my decision to attend my school, but I do hope that other prospective students do not make the same mistakes that I did. There can be HUGE differences in the education you can get at different osteopathic medical schools. Is it still possible to learn what you need to at a crappy school? Sure! For example, we never learned how to do a physical exam on a patient in school, but I have family who are physicians and I have learned from them over the holidays. When I go on rotations in June, I'll be ale to learn with everyone else instead of hanging back in fear. But there are people in my class who will be hanging back, who may never really feel comfortable with some parts of PE, etc. Those students might have been better served at a better school. Just an example, and maybe others disagree. I just want to put my words of caution out there - please don't be fooled by low price tags or blithe assurances by those paid to promote a school; not all schools are created equal.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, there might not be one best school, but the worst do exist.


I pulled this up from another thread. The poster is a LECOM-Seton Hill student and she brings up some stuff that are surprising. I have already paid my deposit for this school and this scares me. Can any current students chime in on the type of clinical education that the school provides for its students?

I pulled this up from another thread. The poster is a LECOM-Seton Hill student and she brings up some stuff that are surprising. I have already paid my deposit for this school and this scares me. Can any current students chime in on the type of clinical education that the school provides for its students?

I too have read that and felt nervous about the program. I PMed that person to get more details. From reading his/her response it sounds to me like personal learning style differences and not major accreditation problems. I had sent him/her an additional messaged back asking for more details since the problems were just described with adjectives and not specific examples but I haven't heard back yet (I'm assume he/she is very busy). I have written to a few other LECOM students who did not have such huge concerns - they have said there are some small problems but if you are self motivated and have a positive outlook you should be fine.

My MS program was like this so I guess I am not concerned about LECOM-SH. After the first year of my MS program I so so frustrated with everything since it was not going the way I thought it was supposed to; I felt I wasn't learning anything because it was so different than undergrad. By the end those thoughts/feelings went away and in hindsight I am very happy I went there. It seemed for me that it was the transition from standard lecture to more of a self-directed, application approach that made me frustrated. I was used to professors telling me everything I needed to know - not only lecture/knoweldge things but also information re: deadlines, how to do something/obtain something required for graduation, how to gain more experience in a certain area. This is just one example of a non-academic situation - I had thought my advisor would tell me everything I needed to know and I didn't need to always check on my own to make sure things were getting done. I am a little OCD so I usually check anyway and was suprised at how many things I wasn't told. I was mad at first, but in reality I am a professional adult and need to take responsibility by doing things on my own and using the advisor as a resource. At the time I didn't realize how different undergrad and grad would be from each other and I just thought it was b/c the program was terrible. There were a lot of us who felt this way at the start and by the end most of us were very happy with the program...It was those of us who improved our attitudes and looked at the glass half full vs. half empty that came out satisfied in the end.

While I obviously don't go to SH right now and I very well could be kicking myself in 3 years for attending, I don't think that will be the case based on what other people have posted and my past experiences. It is what you make of it. From reading everything this is what I have gathered - If you don't want to deal with having to figure things out on your own and taking it upon yourself to learn something outside of class that your professor didn't explain well then PBL would not be a good fit. You will probably have to evaluate what you want your program to do for you and what you are willing to do on your own before deciding if SH is right for you. I suggest you talk to other students. PM me and I can send you a quick summary of the info I've gotten so far.

Im a current MS-1 at LECOM SH,
First and foremost, addressing your concerns, the first class here had it a lot more difficult than we have. The issues they might have experienced have been, for the most part, smoothed over. The faculty has been rounded out, and the curriculum is evolving. On a side note, the faculty is way more relaxed than their Erie counterparts, easily approachable.
This school puts a huge focus on both clinical application and H+P. We literally have done H+P every week since anatomy and will continue to do so.
I wont try to convince you to go here, but I can say that I do feel I will be more prepared for a medical setting coming from a PBL atmosphere than from a didactic class schedule. Some of the faculty here leaves a bit to be desired,but in all reality it isn't your faculty that will decide what you learn its yourself.
School is what you make of it. Memorizing lectures and regurgitating facts will get you a good GPA, but the question is will you learn any of th material well enough to apply it when someones life hangs in the balance? I dont second guess my decision to come here, I feel that I am being well prepared to approach medicine as a professional.

I am going on a tour on Monday the 17th. Anyone else going to be there? Also, have an interview feb 25th in Erie.

Thanks, jforbes, for the helpful info!

I would expect that a charter class would have some issues. Hopefully, most of those have been ironed out.

Im a current MS-1 at LECOM SH,
First and foremost, addressing your concerns, the first class here had it a lot more difficult than we have. The issues they might have experienced have been, for the most part, smoothed over. The faculty has been rounded out, and the curriculum is evolving. On a side note, the faculty is way more relaxed than their Erie counterparts, easily approachable.
This school puts a huge focus on both clinical application and H+P. We literally have done H+P every week since anatomy and will continue to do so.
I wont try to convince you to go here, but I can say that I do feel I will be more prepared for a medical setting coming from a PBL atmosphere than from a didactic class schedule. Some of the faculty here leaves a bit to be desired,but in all reality it isn't your faculty that will decide what you learn its yourself.
School is what you make of it. Memorizing lectures and regurgitating facts will get you a good GPA, but the question is will you learn any of th material well enough to apply it when someones life hangs in the balance? I dont second guess my decision to come here, I feel that I am being well prepared to approach medicine as a professional.

:thumbup:

I agree. PBL is very difficult at first if you are used to lecture-->regurgitation because you are learning a ton on your own, and you are expected to be thinking about differentials as soon as the case presents. I find myself getting overwhelmed with the "what tests to perform and why". However, the more cases we do, the better I am able to understand the why and what the results mean. These are the things that "stick" in my head long after the case is over. I feel this approach is going to really help me 3rd year.

There is a lot more support this year and some improvements from the previous year. There will be even more improvements for the class of 2015 as the staff gets feedback from our class. Sure, there are things that are annoying, but you are going to get that at any school.

This school puts a huge focus on both clinical application and H+P. We literally have done H+P every week since anatomy and will continue to do so.

So did the earlier quoted post saying that they "never learned how to do a physical exam on a patient" just mean that they didn't get to do one on an actual patient in a hospital or clinic? There's still "patient actors" or whatever they're called?

I'm thinking I'm going to withdraw my acceptance from NSU (and kiss that deposit goodbye) and cancel my interview at AZCOM for next month, but I'm still not completely sold. Spending $100,000 less and getting to do PBL is pretty appealing, though...

Hi all! I was recently accepted to LECOM-Seton Hill c/o 2015. I am from California and have not been to Greensburg yet. I was curious what areas I should look at for housing? I know some others have posted that Greensburg is not very pet friendly for renters. My husband and I have two small dogs. I am a little worried we are going to freeze to death on the East Coast LOL :) But I am excited about PBL!!! There really isn't a lot of info on LECOM Seton Hill at all! I would have thought there would be a tab on the LECOM website or Seton Hill website or something.... I appreciate all the info!

Hi all! I was recently accepted to LECOM-Seton Hill c/o 2015. I am from California and have not been to Greensburg yet. I was curious what areas I should look at for housing? I know some others have posted that Greensburg is not very pet friendly for renters. My husband and I have two small dogs. I am a little worried we are going to freeze to death on the East Coast LOL :) But I am excited about PBL!!! There really isn't a lot of info on LECOM Seton Hill at all! I would have thought there would be a tab on the LECOM website or Seton Hill website or something.... I appreciate all the info!


Housing in Greensburg doesn't offer much variety. Most of the places that people live are older (built in the 60s, 70s and maybe 80s). The main company that rents places apartments and townhouses in Greensburg is AR Building Company. I personally live in Starboard Villa... It was not my first choice... Rent isn't too bad $555 for a 2 bd/1 ba with garage townhouse. However no one ever disclosed to me how high my electric bill would be in the winter... It has been over $200 the past 2 months and I do not keep my thermostats above 60. So once you factor that in, the lack of a dishwasher and garbage disposal, coupled with the fact that there is no central air... It's not such a good deal (in my opinion). I also have 2 small dogs, but was unable to find a place that would allow me to have them here, so they are living with my parents for now.

I am personally looking to move to Monroeville or Pittsburgh this summer given the lack of options (in my opinion) here in Greensburg. Of course you can look on craigslist and various other sites but I have had no luck.

Hi, All!

I just received the new matriculation packet via email! :woot:

Classes start July 25th. :eek:

Thanks Whitjord85! I really appreciate it!

Ok...got the matriculation packet and I am little worried about a few things. Really the whole NO MAC WHATSOEVER EVEN IF YOU HAVE WINDOWS thing was the most irritating. My husband has a windows laptop so I am sort of covered, but I like my MAC! Are they that strict about computers? It seems like Seton Hill is pretty pro-apple from what I saw on their website. Anyone know anything or have an opinion?

I was also curious about the weekly schedule...so as I mentioned before I have 2 small doggies and a cat and from what I have found and others have mentioned NONE of the property management/apartments/craigslist listings will allow pets. Its looking like I will have to live in Pittsburgh or at least 30 minutes away if I want to have them (unless of course I get lucky). How often are we actually at school? I was under the impression that there aren't many class hours in the PBL curriculum. Would commuting from Pittsburgh be completely terrible? More then anything I am worried about the snow and missing class. I also don't want to spend all my study time commuting.... any thoughts?

Thanks for any advice!

Hello,

I'm a current first year at Lecom-SH, and I decided to take a break from my studies to check out SDN (haven't looked at this in 6 months and it's so strange to be the one offering advice now...).

I'm from Chicago but I attended USC, so I understand your anxieties about the East Coast weather. LA has spoiled me to the point where I can't see myself living anywhere else besides SoCal, so I'll make my way back there one day. The weather in Greensburg is mild compared to what I was used to in Chicago. It's not as windy or cold, and when it snows, they do a great job plowing the roads and street leading up to our school on the hill.

I know a bunch of my classmates who use Macs and IPADs during lecture and PBL sessions. Our IT guy at Lecom may not be an expert with Mac, so maybe that's the only reason why they are discouraging it.

One of my classmates owns a dog and lives in/near downtown Greensburg, so if you look really hard, I hope you can find a pet-friendly place. I'm currently living with 3 classmates in a house/duplex owned by the Greensburg YMCA. Rent is dirt cheap for me = $300/mo., no annual contract, and furnishing and all utilities paid for :). I love my location because it's walking distance to the Seton Hill shuttle that takes you right up the hill to school. But most people pay about $500-600 a month for a 1 bedroom apartment.

Yes, from what I've heard, commuting from Pitt would be terrible for 1st years. Most of my classmates live in the area or in Monroeville. Your first semester, you will be swamped with Embryo/Histo crash courses (first 3 weeks), Anatomy (Aug-mid October), PBL, OMM, HP, and occasional electives like EKG and Healthcare management. So you'll pretty much need to be on campus 5 days a week with some 3 day weekends every now and then.

We're in our 2nd semester now, and our schedule is so much better! PBL 2 hours per day M/W/F....OMM and lab 3 hours on Tue, and HP and lab 3 hours on Thursday. We just finished our intro Path elective (independent studying) and all of our PBL cases for the first exam which will be on Feb 21st. So that means we'll only have class on Tue and Th for the next 3 weeks! I feel much more relaxed now without Anatomy and doing case studies with PBL is really awesome.

Regarding Anatomy, our class scored 528 on the National Shelf exam compared with the national average of 494 for MD/DO schools. Most med schools don't really put much emphasis on this exam so maybe that's why the national avg is lower. However, you really will learn so much with Anatomy if you put in the crazy amount of effort (yes, even without cadavers).

Lastly, I highly encourage everyone to read the first few chapters in both Histo and Embryo before you start school. Those courses will hit you hard, you will only help yourself if you can start beforehand. If you need any other advice about anything, please feel free to let me know! Congrats, and good luck!

Ok...got the matriculation packet and I am little worried about a few things. Really the whole NO MAC WHATSOEVER EVEN IF YOU HAVE WINDOWS thing was the most irritating. My husband has a windows laptop so I am sort of covered, but I like my MAC! Are they that strict about computers? It seems like Seton Hill is pretty pro-apple from what I saw on their website. Anyone know anything or have an opinion?



I have a MAC and the only issue I had was in using the anatomy CD. I ended up using the LECOM computers in the library, but if your husband has a PC, you should be fine. Or you could install parallels or equiv. software to run Windows OS on your MAC. Other than that, no issues with MAC. In fact many in our class have IPads and even our anatomy professor used an IPad.

Commuting from Pittsburgh is doable, but it gets old during 1st semester as DrBee mentioned. Now it is not so bad since we are on campus a lot less. Depends on your tolerance for driving.

Hi All,
My fiance & I are class of 2015 at SH. Looking to rent or buy a house. Anybody have any advice? And I'd really like to know if there is a good/bad area to live in Greensburg. Thanks!

Hi....I live in the YMCA house with 4 other students, so I can't offer too much advice. Greensburg seems extremely safe to me (though I did grow up in Chicago and went to Los Angeles for undergrad). Your best bet is to probably visit the area when you get the chance...

Can anyone who has gotten their packet after they sent in their deposit tell me what date orientation starts? Calling the school has gotten me no where and Amy Rowe doesn't check her email. I'm waiting for my packet as they have received my check today.

I was wondering a couple things...I have my eerie interview on march 15 and from reading the eerie forum it seems they already filled all their seats and after being waitlisted to lecom-b and really liking the pbl program, i was looking into going to the seton hill campus, but i originally put eerie as my preferred campus on my supp app...should i call and change it?

I was wondering a couple things...I have my eerie interview on march 15 and from reading the eerie forum it seems they already filled all their seats and after being waitlisted to lecom-b and really liking the pbl program, i was looking into going to the seton hill campus, but i originally put eerie as my preferred campus on my supp app...should i call and change it?


No you don't need to call them because they have you rank the schools the day of the interview in Erie. I did not rank Seton Hill on supplementary, but put it first on interview day & that's where I got in. I was also betting that Erie PBL was full, with only 40 spots to begin with.
In regards to every spot being taken already, I doubt that is the case. They are getting full, but if you are really good, you can get accepted. Basically anything else gets waitlisted.

As far as apartments go, look on craigslist. I found a great place there (3 bedrooms with utilities included for $525 a month with a washer and dryer). After our winter break our class (2014) had to take a diagnostic exam and we scored the same as Bradenton. The nice thing about PBL is that you do most of the teaching yourselves. There have been a few weekends where I have been able to fly home for 5 days because of the PBL schedule (once you finish your cases you only have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays until the exam). I agree with JForbes, in that I would choose to go here again. After experiencing PBL, I could never do LDP. Our administration is a lot more laid back than up in Erie and students are willing to work together to help each other out. There are going to be issues with any medical school you go to and the class of 2013 did so much to make the school better.

Okay, silly question: When we are on campus at Seton Hill we'll have access to Wi-Fi, right?

For everoyne applying here..
Average GPA of the class of 2014 seems to be about a 3.3 with the MCATs having a high of 32 and low of 22 (from people Ive talked to)

Greensburg is... Greensburg. There is stuff to do, golfing etc but it is not even remotely comparable to Pitt. Its about a 40 minute to 1hr drive to Shadyside in Pitt. There are a few bars that are cool, but in the most part there isnt a huge nightlife out here. Incidentally, you wont be enjoying the nightlife too much your first semester, as between PBL tests and Anatomy you are going to be swamped

Erie gets most of the attention/faculty (considering they have LDP) so dont expect too much in the way of support lectures or anything. However, they are rounding out the staff here at SH pretty nicely, and the new additions for Neuro/Micro/Path are great.
All this being said, I would never think twice if I had to pick between Erie LDP or SH PBL. SH PBL everytime. We are not a stand alone campus, so dress code is only in effect in LECOM affiliated buildings, so you can use the undergrad library and be in sweats and have food/water.
Hey guys. I am also a first year at LECOM-Seton Hill. I agree with a lot of these posts that Seton Hill is MUCH better than Erie, however that doesn't mean LECOM-Seton Hill is a good medical school. I can't speak for anyone else but if I had to do it all over again knowing what kind of education (or lack of) I was going to get, I most definitely would have chosen a different medical school.

If any of you have tried researching LECOM-Seton Hill and not been able to come up with much it is because there isn't much here. We have no Cadaver labs (which in retrospect I think is a MUST). We have the basement floor of a very ugly building and a very small and depressing library that nobody uses because you have to be in dress code and can't even drink water. Seton Hill is a nice University but it is small and there is not much to do here. The gym is adequate but lacks a lot of equipment.

Basically if you attend this medical school you will most likely feel like you are teaching yourself to become a physician. After the first 12 weeks of Histo, Embryo and Gross Anatomy, you are basically on your own. There are rarely any lectures and the lectures we do have are pretty worthless. Apparently we have it a lot better than last year's inaugural class but that doesn't mean it is good by any means.

We recently had our white coat ceremony this past February and the Ferretti's (who own all three campuses) did not even come to our ceremony. They blamed it on bad weather even though there was barely a dusting on the ground. The ceremony itself was embarrassing. I was honestly embarrassed to attend this school and have my family watch me get a white coat from here. I am completely against everything about this school except for some of the PBL facilitators and my classmates. Luckily we are all in this crappy situation together and if it weren't for them I would have lost it by now.
One more aside on the white coat ceremony...they didn't even have a reception for us. The administration does NOTHING for us here. It is basically a completely student run medical school with so many restrictions that we aren't allowed to run it ourselves even though we have to in order to get anything done. So basically our families were to come from all over the country to see us get our white coats for an hour and then leave again...ridiculous. Thankfully our class officers organized a very nice reception at the Supper Club and that part of the day turned out okay.

I hope I am not offending anyone or deterring anyone from coming here. I mean only to tell the truth because if I had known these things before I had been accepted I would have DEFINITELY gone somewhere else.

I haven't even gotten into how rotations are done yet...that's for another day. Basically the class president does rotations by himself with no support from the faculty or staff and most people don't get what they want. (especially if you want to go to cleveland).

Back to Physiology. Good luck everyone. I hope this helps.

Hi all. I am applying here this year and will be commuting from Morgantown, WV if I get in. Can anyone give me an idea of what the class schedule is like for first and second years?

Does anyone here have/know anyone in the class who has small children? I would like to live closer to the school but am unsure about the quality of daycares there.

Any information would be great, thanks:)

Hi all. I am applying here this year and will be commuting from Morgantown, WV if I get in. Can anyone give me an idea of what the class schedule is like for first and second years?

Does anyone here have/know anyone in the class who has small children? I would like to live closer to the school but am unsure about the quality of daycares there.

Any information would be great, thanks:)

Hi, SunnK,

When you apply, they will have you apply through the LECOM portal and in there you will have access to the class schedules and book lists which is kind of nice. The first semester has anatomy and some other lectures so is 8-5 most days. But after that, it is not a bad schedule, looks about 2-3 hours of class or lab most days.

I will be starting in four months and commuting from the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh, about an hour each way. Not ideal but hopefully doable. :) Don't know anything about the daycares, though. Good luck.:luck:

Hi all. I am applying here this year and will be commuting from Morgantown, WV if I get in. Can anyone give me an idea of what the class schedule is like for first and second years?

Does anyone here have/know anyone in the class who has small children? I would like to live closer to the school but am unsure about the quality of daycares there.

Any information would be great, thanks:)

There is no way that commuting that far will work. You'll be spending 15+ hours a week commuting, when you're already strapped for study time (especially during anatomy). Not to mention the expense as gas is quickly approaching $4/gallon. On days that you go from 8am-5pm, you'd have to leave by 6 am at the very latest (due to traffic, parking, walking to class, etc) and you wouldn't get home until almost 7pm (walking back to car, traffic, etc). If you study the recommended 6 hours after that it puts you to 1am giving you 5 hours before you have to leave for class the next day.

There is no way that commuting that far will work. You'll be spending 15+ hours a week commuting, when you're already strapped for study time (especially during anatomy). Not to mention the expense as gas is quickly approaching $4/gallon. On days that you go from 8am-5pm, you'd have to leave by 6 am at the very latest (due to traffic, parking, walking to class, etc) and you wouldn't get home until almost 7pm (walking back to car, traffic, etc). If you study the recommended 6 hours after that it puts you to 1am giving you 5 hours before you have to leave for class the next day.

I am also a first year... And I'm gonna have to agree with this comment. You really need to have as much study time as possible, particularly until Anatomy is over. I would also mention that it is a good walk from the parking lot up to the building where our classes are... So you can't pull in 5 minutes before and expect to be on time... Especially if 1st and 2nd years are all on campus at once... You would likely be in the very bottom parking lot, which is at least a 15 minute walk. I only mention this because there are instances where administrators will stand at the entrance to the auditorium and have you badge in... And they will note if you are late or absent.
Some people in my class got lectured about being 30 seconds late... So take that for what its worth...
If there is anyway you could live closer to campus, I would advise it... At least for first semester... I know some people commuted from Monroeville and didn't have any trouble... But that is significantly closer than Northern suburbs of Pittsburgh
Just my two cents...

I
If there is anyway you could live closer to campus, I would advise it... At least for first semester... I know some people commuted from Monroeville and didn't have any trouble... But that is significantly closer than Northern suburbs of Pittsburgh
Just my two cents...

I've already done a test drive and it is just one hour which isn't great but is doable. Now SunnK is talking about a 140 mile drive round trip between WV and Greensburg. That is def something to think about...

I've already done a test drive and it is just one hour which isn't great but is doable. Now SunnK is talking about a 140 mile drive round trip between WV and Greensburg. That is def something to think about...


OMS-I here at LECOM-SH

So you think an hour isn't that bad but honestly I hate my 4-5 minute drive and the 10-15 walk from the parking lot.

I knew that medical school was going to be a lot of work and a lot of reading. I was wrong. It is A LOT OF READING. I don't even come close to reading the material 3 times each like they suggest and I still have relatively no life. I am a very laid back easy going person and Anatomy, Histo and Embryo all at the same time with useless labs and classes and forums that just take time away from your studying, and then finishing the 800+ pg Grey's book in less than 12 weeks brought me close to tears multiple times.

Do yourself a favor, everyone that is coming next year; if you haven't had extensive anatomy in your past then bone up a little over the summer. Muscle names and locations, learning to draw the brachial plexus will chop a few days of quivering in fear out of your Fall schedule.

Just trying to help and am open to any questions. If not then I will see you next Fall. Have fun now.

There's no question that there are problems with the administration here. You will be teaching yourself without a lot of help from the faculty unless you seek it out. But for me, I always end up teaching myself anyways, as trying to pay attention for 5-7 hrs straight of lecture is death.
Secondly, the commute from Pitt is going to be death... an hr each way is more time than you will have the energy to do. Trust me, you will be studying 12-15 hrs a day absolutely no question... unless you don't and then you wont be here very long anyways.
If you are consistently late to class, Mrs. Linville will jump down your throat (trust me, stay under her radar as much as possible)

I agree with all the others about reducing your commuting time - there are some second-years who commute an hour (there were more last year, I think, but most of them moved closer in), but, like PeaceLove, I drive about 10 min and walk the 15 from the parking lot and I needed that time for studying during Anatomy.

Morgantown is an hour and a half away, unless it snows, or there's traffic, or an accident, or two out of three. And with the money you'd be saving on gas and maintenance, you could hire a nanny. It's great if you get into school here, and I understand that maybe your family is in WV and can provide some free child care, but it would be incredibly difficult trying to commute 150 miles 4x or 5x a week. For something as important as medical school, you can't risk failing. And, one thing about LECOM, you need to keep a good gpa to keep them off your back, especially in second year. Don't be at the bottom of your class!

Hey all, Does anyone have LECOM SH first time pass rates for comlex 1. I tried looking but could not find it anywhere.

I was accepted to LDP erie and am on the waitlist for PBL in erie but am thinking of trying to switch to PBL in SH. I am still not sure that PBL is for me but I think I would learn a lot more reading and doing case studies than sitting in lecture.

Hey all, Does anyone have LECOM SH first time pass rates for comlex 1. I tried looking but could not find it anywhere.

I was accepted to LDP erie and am on the waitlist for PBL in erie but am thinking of trying to switch to PBL in SH. I am still not sure that PBL is for me but I think I would learn a lot more reading and doing case studies than sitting in lecture.

LECOM-SH's first class was 2009-2010, so no one from here has taken the boards yet. Second years will be taking them in the next couple of months. As for ever being able to find board score pass rates specifically for Seton Hill kids, I don't think you will ever find it. Thats the impression I was given during an admin meeting yesterday... That our scores will be grouped in with Erie.

I can tell you what they told us... LECOM-Erie has for the past couple of years has had a 100% pass rate for first time test takers for all students with a medical school GPA 3.0 or higher. Everyone is given (or forced, depending on how you look at it) to participate in a review course during the academic year... If you have a GPA <3.0 you must attend lectures during that time, if you have >3.0 then you just have to show up for some exams. If you happen to have <2.5 you have to take your first rotation spot for 3rd year and participate in summer course to prepare you for the boards. So if you have <2.5 then you essentially lose one of your elective rotations 3rd year.

Hope this is helpful since there is no data.

We also have to pass several shelf exams and some mock board exams in order to be allowed to take the comlex. Comparing the pass rates that a school reports might not mean much...

Hope this is helpful since there is no data.

Very helpful, It at least shows that the Administration is concerned with the success of its students. Thanks DuxburyPembroke for your response as well.

Do you or others feel that your training has adequately prepared you for your clinical rotations? Do you see any holes in your education that you are concerned about? Would you feel comfortable doing an H&P on a patient and presenting the case?

Sorry for all of the questions, I am just trying to figure some things out.

Hello,

I'm also a first-year here. Regarding adequate preparation for clinical rotations, I can't answer that yet based on a year of History and Physical. However, the Family Medicine club here does a nice job every Thursday going over what we learn weekly in HP lab. I would say that I am more comfortable now taking a patient history and doing a Review of Systems because they really emphasized that during the first semester. They just hired a new HP Professor so I'm not sure how that will influence your HP learning experience. Also, you will participate in a Sensitive Patient Exam training day up in Erie during Spring Semester (involving the sensitive nature of conducting male/female genitalia examinations). Surprisingly, it was a really great experience and very professional. I don't think most first-year medical students at other schools can say they've had the same type of training.

Pros at LECOM-SH: Not as frigid as Erie, Great classmates, pretty good PBL facilitators, PBL studying and flexibility, the Sensitive Patient Exam training in Erie, Caring Administration (esp. our Dean), Helpful/Resourceful student organizations (OMM club, Family Med club, Surgery club), low tuition costs/cheap housing, driving distance to Pitt/Philly/Washington DC for annual conferences: Family Med Educational Consortium in Hershey (where some of my classmates and I received a student scholarship to participate), American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians Conference in Pitt, and DO Day in Washington DC

Cons at LECOM-SH:
-I'm used to big cities with lots of diversity and 24/7 cafes for studying, so Greensburg, PA was a major transition for me
-First week of class = too much wasted time on administrative stuff.
-In late July/early August, they really should have given us an adequate preview of Histology/Embryology/Gross Anatomy before throwing us into the deep end. And although I did really well in all Histo/Embryo , in general the teaching didn't match up with the material on the Final Exam. The person who wrote our Final Exams was from Bradenton and he had to fly over here the week before our Finals to tell us what we needed to focus on...prior to that, we were all pretty lost in the dense material in our books. If this will be the case again next year, I would highly recommend reading/skimming through the first several chapters of Histo/Embryo before starting school.
-Gross Anatomy: Where do I even begin...overall, the class did better than the national average on the Shelf, and I believe most of the class was in the B range. My only two complaints have to be the weekly group quizzes (which lowered everyone's grades and I didn't benefit in any way from participating in the Lab groups) and the short time-frame for us to "master" the human anatomy. Although we did ok as a class, it was the most stressful several months ever. And because of the massive amount of cramming, I feel like I've only retained so little from Histo/Embryo/Anatomy.
-Lack of PBL Exam Reviews: They don't go over the exams with you afterward....which means you'll never know which answers you got wrong and thus which specific areas you need to work on the most. Although we're provided the breakdown based on which subjects we chose (ex. 9/10 in Pathology, but 4/10 in Biochem...so I need to work on my Biochem), I'll never know which specific chapters or learning issues I need to review. This is incredibly frustrating for me even though the admin is mostly caring and works hard for us.

Overall, the PBL sessions are pretty fun/unique/engaging...I'm not sure if the PBL Pathway up in Erie experiences the same problems that I mentioned but if they didn't have these issues, than I probably would have selected Erie's PBL as my top choice instead.

Lastly: I noticed that your location is "Cali." I went to school out there and several of my friends here are from out west. I can talk forever about transitioning to PA...anyway hope all this helps and message me if you have additional concerns/questions!

Ahhh! I just got accepted! I can't wait!! :D

Congrats, DanYing!

I am counting down the days until school starts (and I get to quit my monotonous job)!

Could anyone be so kind as to answer some of my questions?!

I'm coming form California and would like to know if a car is recommended. I know in California it is :p .. If it is highly recommended I'm going to do a cross country drive!

Also, I'm looking for a possible roommate. I think my first year experience would go smoother if I was rooming with someone else who was going through the same thing! Any 1st years interested?

Thanks!

In the paperwork I have received it doesn't list the start date. When is the first day of class?

In the paperwork I have received it doesn't list the start date. When is the first day of class?


First day of class is Monday, July 25th. There is also a mandatory registration day on Saturday, July 23rd.

First day of class is Monday, July 25th. There is also a mandatory registration day on Saturday, July 23rd.

That mandatory day isnt so mandatory.. I myself got in the wednesday before classes started and, while I attended, they said it was "not imperative" that I attend that day.. essentially all you do is take pics for a photo ID, fill out some stupid forms for health insurance etc and register your laptop with IT. You can do all that in probably less time later in the week. Try to attend (good time ot meet people) but dont bend over backwards to.

a few tips...
1. There is no such thing as a syllabus week/blow off week here. You have a test most likely the second friday/3rd monday here. Enjoy summer and hit the ground running. If you can, read up on embryo and histo.. they are brutal.
2. Its going to be really hot and dress code will be awful, but it gets better.
3. You will spend more time on campus for the frst 12 weeks than you will will spend on campus for the entire 2nd semester.
4. All told, you have 4 days for Thanksgiving, 2 weeks for X-mas break, and Martin Luther King Day. Those are your only days off from October to the end of May. I cannot stress enough how important it is to come in relaxed and rested. You will be mentally and physically exhausted by May.

I'm coming form California and would like to know if a car is recommended. I know in California it is :p .. If it is highly recommended I'm going to do a cross country drive!
Congratulations on getting into medical school!

You will definitely want a car here, so you should get your cross-country playlist ready...

Anyone with questions might consider visiting the facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_47156512637), since many of us are not on sdn so much (especially the ms2's, what with step 1 coming up :eek: )

Hi everyone,

I just received the book list. I'm pretty excited - the topics look really interesting. Is this the book list for both first and second year? Would current students recommend buying the books, or does the library have enough copies of all (or some) of the books so that certain books don't need to be purchased? And lastly about books, I plan to buy most (if not all) of them used - do students sell their books to other students for cheap, or should I plan to be looking online for used copies?

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I just received the book list. I'm pretty excited - the topics look really interesting. Is this the book list for both first and second year? Would current students recommend buying the books, or does the library have enough copies of all (or some) of the books so that certain books don't need to be purchased? And lastly about books, I plan to buy most (if not all) of them used - do students sell their books to other students for cheap, or should I plan to be looking online for used copies?

Thanks!

Yes... your book list is for both 1st and 2nd year... There may be a few books that get added later when you get to some modules (Health Care Management and Human Sexuality, etc... that's what they did to us). Yes the library does have copies of all the books... However I wouldn't depend on the library for the books... Books were stolen from the library this semester... So there is no guarantee they will be there. I would go ahead and look online for used copies... The MS-III's will already be gone by the time you get here... And we MS-IIs still need our books. Your other option is to look for the "international editions" of books... there are people in our class that did that and no trouble.

Interviewed 12/17
Portal Change 12/23
Acceptance Letter 12/31 - it was a very exciting end-of-the year surprise!

So, when did you submit your application? I am worried that my June 16 mcat will hurt my chances. Any advice?

WhitJord85, thanks for the advice!

So, when did you submit your application? I am worried that my June 16 mcat will hurt my chances. Any advice?
My advice would be to not go too crazy over it. Don't delay if you can help it, but don't get bent out of shape if you're not among the first ten people to submit your application (or the first 1,000).

I think LECOM received my application in September or October. I received an interview invite for early February, and then had my decision held up because my DO letter wasn't in. It took me about a month to get that taken care of, and then I found out in early April that I was accepted to my first choice of program and campus (PBL @ Seton Hill). Leading up to that point, I'd been reading on SDN that Seton Hill was full, so I was pleasantly surprised. (So there's another bit of advice - don't check this forum too often, and don't read everything as if it's the ultimate truth.)

Because LECOM does group interviews, it seems like they can grant more people interviews than other medical schools. I was a bit nervous about the group interview, but they're managed very well, actually. Of course, it's easy for me to say that when I was accepted through the process... :)

There is one potential disadvantage of having a very early interview with LECOM. While most other medical schools give you a deadline to fully commit to them, usually some time in late April or early May, LECOM wants you to commit within 30 days of receiving your acceptance, which usually comes within a week or two of your interview (assuming you don't have any missing letters). Committing means sending them a check for $1,500. That money goes toward your tuition, but you don't get it back if you commit and then withdraw. I understand why they do it and have no complaints about it, but it can be difficult if LECOM is your first acceptance but not your first choice, and if you're not made out of money (and let's face it - very few of us are).

I wouldn't try to hedge anything by applying to LECOM late, and I don't mean to say that when you apply doesn't matter. Just... don't worry too much :) Best of luck with your application, and with the MCAT! Stay positive!

So I've been hearing that the so-called "required" book list is a bit shady. Some students on the facebook page have been stating that some of the books are seldom used. Could someone give me a breakdown of the books. Which ones should I stay away from? Given, they all look important to me :confused:

Of course, I'll defer to a current SH student but I think the people saying you don't need books are LDP students at Erie - they are given Power Point slides in all their classes and can just study off of those. PBL is more independent study so I would think you'd need most of the books. Though I am sure there may be a few of the books that aren't so useful which one of the current students can clue us in on...

So I've been hearing that the so-called "required" book list is a bit shady. Some students on the facebook page have been stating that some of the books are seldom used. Could someone give me a breakdown of the books. Which ones should I stay away from? Given, they all look important to me :confused:

Some LDP kids in Erie don't use their books, is my understanding... but yes you need all your books in PBL... there is no other way to get the material... You don't get powerpoints to memorize. Questions on the exams come from the material covered in the book, and the only way to know what that is, is to get the books. I know it sucks, but look for used books, older editions and international versions if you are really concerned about the money... PS you get an allowance in your living expenses to account for books your first year.

So I've been hearing that the so-called "required" book list is a bit shady. Some students on the facebook page have been stating that some of the books are seldom used. Could someone give me a breakdown of the books. Which ones should I stay away from? Given, they all look important to me :confused:

I was looking at the LECOM Bradenton Class of 2015 facebook group and a current student posted this spreadsheet on what books to buy.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Au6xmPfwtazqdHdCZTN5WDhMS1NrZFBkcmxkOUJDO EE&hl=en&authkey=CKLrrvQK#gid=0

Since both Seton Hill and Bradenton are LECOMs and are both PBL, the books are probably similar but I haven't checked. The google spreadsheet has what books you should buy and what you shouldn't. Can someone verify the accuracy of this spreadsheet?

I was looking at the LECOM Bradenton Class of 2015 facebook group and a current student posted this spreadsheet on what books to buy.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Au6xmPfwtazqdHdCZTN5WDhMS1NrZFBkcmxkOUJDO EE&hl=en&authkey=CKLrrvQK#gid=0

Since both Seton Hill and Bradenton are LECOMs and are both PBL, the books are probably similar but I haven't checked. The google spreadsheet has what books you should buy and what you shouldn't. Can someone verify the accuracy of this spreadsheet?

This spreadsheet may hold true for Bradenton, but we use different books at Seton Hill. If the book is listed on the required list, buy it because it can and will at some point be a learning issue that you will be tested on. For all those worried about price and having money before classes begin... Ideally you would have them all, but some people can't afford them before they get their loan check... if you are in this boat... Make sure you have all the required Anatomy books, Embryo and Histo. You can make due with those for the first 2 weeks until you get your money... But then I would buy the books ASAP otherwise you will get behind in PBL and be scrambling when it comes time for the first PBL exam.

Thanks for your advice on the books, Whitjord! :)

Hey all, so just a word of advice. If you have questions feel free to ask the upperclassman. Make sure you check out the facebook page. This is a good way to get in contact with upperclassman and especially 3rd years. I can say we can really help you out. We only wish we had someone to talk with but we were totally on our own.

As for books check out the facebook page. There is a good discussion going on about books.