A.T. Still University Arizona (ATSU-SOMA) Discussion Thread 2014 - 2015

[nontrad78]

Yea I interviewed last cycle and deferred my acceptance to this year. I chose flagstaff for many reasons. I don't like big cities that much, and the location is wonderful. I'm big into hiking and skinning. I also chose flagstaff because I will have the option to do some of my rotations on the reservations. After my research I thought it was the best fit

Very nice. That's what is so appealing about the school: if you have a particular population you're really interested in working with, you get an opportunity to begin during med school. Certainly other schools have opportunities to work in student run clinic projects, and there are other community service projects that will put you in touch with the underserved, but you're not necessarily able to choose a specific population. From the options given, there is a tremendous chance to do that at SOMA. My experience is working with the homeless, and there are probably at least 3 sites where I could do that in the CHC system. Furthermore, if we liked the area, I think it allows for a good opportunity to solidify a residency.

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[moonwake]

1 year ago from tomorrow they sent out the first II's. I bet it will be either this week or next. Good luck everyone!

 

[keels99]

They sent out CHC confirmations today with the info that the deposit of $2000 is due August 31st (WHOOHOO MONAAAYYY!)

 

[qwertypie]

They sent out CHC confirmations today with the info that the deposit of $2000 is due August 31st (WHOOHOO MONAAAYYY!)

The only member of the SOMA c/0 2019 for the next three months.

 

[keels99]

The only member of the SOMA c/0 2019 for the next three months.

I'm certain I'm not the only one that received deferred acceptance. I think there is approximately 20 of us, and we all received first choice on our CHCs (unless the CHC site is switched, in which case we would receive our second choice.)

 

[France07]

Hey all, any news on interview invites? SOMA is an amazing school, would love to attend here. Interviewed last year, late in the cycle and was an alternate, didn't make the cut last cycle, hoping for some love from SOMA this time around.

 

[keels99]

They should be starting with the ii's soon. I just got an e-mail today stating that if we want to change our CHC we need to do it soon before interviewees start getting accepted.

 

[France07]

They should be starting with the ii's soon. I just got an e-mail today stating that if we want to change our CHC we need to do it soon before interviewees start getting accepted.

Great to know! Thanks for the update! Congrats on getting in btw. When did you interview with SOMA last cycle? Wonder if I met you when I was down there. Hopefully I will see you soon with a white coat on!

 

[keels99]

Great to know! Thanks for the update! Congrats on getting in btw. When did you interview with SOMA last cycle? Wonder if I met you when I was down there. Hopefully I will see you soon with a white coat on!

I interviewed the Saturday of Easter weekend

 

[GIpremed]

I'm certain I'm not the only one that received deferred acceptance. I think there is approximately 20 of us, and we all received first choice on our CHCs (unless the CHC site is switched, in which case we would receive our second choice.)

20 of 108 seats for this year?

 

[keels99]

20 of 108 seats for this year?

I don't know for sure. That's how it's been for the past few years, though

 

[GIpremed]

40,000 seems like a bit much for living costs, but I understand some people have families and other financial obligations... Thanks for your help!

It seems like a lot of debt to me too. I was looking at the CIB and compared AZCOM's to this

SOMA- Est. Room, Board, Books & Living Costs: $41,779/yr (+tuition $44,570= up to $86,349)
AZCOM-Est. Room, Board, Books & Living Costs: $25,584/yr (+tuition $55,267= up to $80,851)

Of course, not everyone needs to take out the full loan amounts and these figures are estimates. Every situation is different like you mentioned.

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@SLC and @manotter
Would you say that this difference is to help those that choose CHCs like DC or other high cost of living or high travel areas? That ~$16k could pay for a car/gas/flights

Also, do you think that some CHCs are more popular than others every year?

 

[keels99]

It seems like a lot of debt to me too. I was looking at the CIB and compared AZCOM's to this

SOMA- Est. Room, Board, Books & Living Costs: $41,779/yr (+tuition $44,570= up to $86,349)
AZCOM-Est. Room, Board, Books & Living Costs: $25,584/yr (+tuition $55,267= up to $80,851)

Of course, not everyone needs to take out the full loan amounts and these figures are estimates. Every situation is different like you mentioned.

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@SLC and @manotter
Would you say that this difference is to help those that choose CHCs like DC or other high cost of living or high travel areas? That ~$16k could pay for a car/gas/flights

Also, do you think that some CHCs are more popular than others every year?

I can answer the popularity part with a definite yes. There are definitely CHCs more popular a than others, and people do make choices on cost of living as well

 

[keels99]

I'm really wanting to start a facebook page for the newest class, but since I don't know anyone else on SDN that's in the upcoming class it's kind of pointless.

 

[manotter]

It seems like a lot of debt to me too. I was looking at the CIB and compared AZCOM's to this

SOMA- Est. Room, Board, Books & Living Costs: $41,779/yr (+tuition $44,570= up to $86,349)
AZCOM-Est. Room, Board, Books & Living Costs: $25,584/yr (+tuition $55,267= up to $80,851)

Of course, not everyone needs to take out the full loan amounts and these figures are estimates. Every situation is different like you mentioned.

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@SLC and @manotter
Would you say that this difference is to help those that choose CHCs like DC or other high cost of living or high travel areas? That ~$16k could pay for a car/gas/flights

Also, do you think that some CHCs are more popular than others every year?

The high amount of living expenses is partly due to the high living costs of places like New York, and formerly Hawaii. This is also to cover the cost of moving expenses after first year and potential costs of travel that can occur due to various CHC's and rotations at some of the more rural sites. With that said there are many people that take out the full amount and still don't have enough by the end of the year.

CHC's popularity varies greatly by year, but some are typically less popular. In my year New York and Portland were the most popular, in the year before me Seattle was the most popular. Typically Flagstaff and South Carolina are the least popular due to them being very rural. The school recognizes this and so their response was to include Washington D.C. and Chicago to the CHC options. I am not sure these were good options, since these are both areas with many medical schools which may make finding rotations difficult, but that is just my 2 cents.

 

[keels99]

I'm kind of surprised Flagstaff is so unpopular since it's such a pretty area. It was easily my number 1 choice.

 

[Fedxup]

I'm kind of surprised Flagstaff is so unpopular since it's such a pretty area. It was easily my number 1 choice.

I'm going to guess cities are more popular. Brooklyn, Phoenix, Tucson, etc...

 

[keels99]

I'm going to guess cities are more popular. Brooklyn, Phoenix, Tucson, etc...

I grew up in BFE, so I'm used to rural living. I enjoy it.

 

[manotter]

I'm kind of surprised Flagstaff is so unpopular since it's such a pretty area. It was easily my number 1 choice.

I agree, Flagstaff is very beautiful. But many of the rotations for the Flagstaff CHC may involve great distances such as Kingman and the Grand Canyon area, and some people may not want to rotate 200 miles away from their home.

 

[keels99]

I agree, Flagstaff is very beautiful. But many of the rotations for the Flagstaff CHC may involve great distances such as Kingman and the Grand Canyon area, and some people may not want to rotate 200 miles away from their home.

Kingman is just a 2 hour drive, Grand Canyon 1 hour. The worst I have seen is the Albuquerque rotation which is about 240 miles. I considered that when I picked my sites, but you have the ability to move to Kingman for years 3-4 to decrease driving distance if you want. Idk how many people stay in Flagstaff for years 3-4

 

[jjtheairplane]

I woke up today ready to this secondary. I had the prompts cut and pasted into the document. Pulled out some coffee. Stared at the extremely specific prompts and 500 word limit for 20 seconds. Felt intimidated and annoyed..again. Proceeded to do another schools secondary.

 

[t5Nitro]

I woke up today ready to this secondary. I had the prompts cut and pasted into the document. Pulled out some coffee. Stared at the extremely specific prompts and 500 word limit for 20 seconds. Felt intimidated and annoyed..again. Proceeded to do another schools secondary.

Right there with you on that. I received the secondary on June 18th. Guess how much of it I did?

 

[t5Nitro]

The LORs get sent to the Kirskville address?

 

[rzoo14]

Yes

 

[Fedxup]

All the secondary questions say ONE experience. I have been using two. I hope it is fine. Anyone care to comment? Should I only use one?

 

[pochi111]

Okay guys, so I'm pretty new to SDN and this is my first post. I applied really early in the DO cycle and have been wondering what to do.

Here are my stats:
cGPA: 3.59
sGPA: 3.37
MCAT: 25 (10/6/9)

Shadowed two DO's for about 20 hours each and one MD for 21.
Anatomy Lab TA for over 2 semesters.
Other EC's as well.

I'm just worried about my MCAT score. The 6 on the verbal is killing me and I'm mad that I did so bad on BS, but at this point I do not have the funds to pay for another crack at the MCAT...for now at least. Is my MCAT score going to kill me for ATSU-SOMA? I really like this school and would love to get in; I'm just not sure whether to retake the MCAT because my secondary is already in. Should I just sit and wait? I'm sorry, its just be killing me and I want some advice...

 

[manotter]

Okay guys, so I'm pretty new to SDN and this is my first post. I applied really early in the DO cycle and have been wondering what to do.

Here are my stats:
cGPA: 3.59
sGPA: 3.37
MCAT: 25 (10/6/9)

Shadowed two DO's for about 20 hours each and one MD for 21.
Anatomy Lab TA for over 2 semesters.
Other EC's as well.

I'm just worried about my MCAT score. The 6 on the verbal is killing me and I'm mad that I did so bad on BS, but at this point I do not have the funds to pay for another crack at the MCAT...for now at least. Is my MCAT score going to kill me for ATSU-SOMA? I really like this school and would love to get in; I'm just not sure whether to retake the MCAT because my secondary is already in. Should I just sit and wait? I'm sorry, its just be killing me and I want some advice...

Anything is possible. I have made this point before, but if you can get the secondary application and convincingly answer the questions in such a way that illustrates your passion to serve the underserved you will get an interview. Since that is the mission statement the ideal of this school is that you convince them of that.

I believe the current average MCAT is around 27 now, so a 25 isn't too far below that. Always taking it again and improving your score will be helpful. If you think you have the money and the time to study for the test then I would recommend taking it again and letting the school know you have it scheduled for the future.

 

[SLC]

@SLC and @manotter
Would you say that this difference is to help those that choose CHCs like DC or other high cost of living or high travel areas? That ~$16k could pay for a car/gas/flights

Also, do you think that some CHCs are more popular than others every year?

The costs are higher at some CHC's, we have sights in some very expensive areas such as Brooklyn, Chicago, DC, Seattle, and to a lesser extent, Portland.

AZCOM is in Phoenix, where (at least when I was a first year) real estate is cheap. Homes were being sold for less than 100K in Gilbert, less than 5 minutes from SOMA. We had a nice little house for a very low rent.

Then we moved to Portland and our rent roughly doubled and we had to live way out in the suburbs to get that. Plus I'm married and have kids, so there are expenses that single folks don't have. I had to drive 30+ minutes to class. And sometimes more than an hour to certain rotations. And there were rotations I didn't do that were more than 4 or 5 hours out. The single folks would rent a room for the month, I couldn't do that very often.

We use the full COA most definitely; and at AZCOM, unless we were in Phoenix or Tucson all 4 years, we'd probably struggle mightily to make ends meet on only $20K; and even then we'd be eating ramen and breakfast cereal and not much else.

As for CHC popularity:

My first year, NYC was the big site. We did a "match" process to get our CHC's back then; and there were over 20 people who wanted NYC (10 spots). California, Seattle, Portland, also had more applicants than positions. Phoenix had exactly 10 people that wanted to go there, so all 10 got it. I think Tucson may have had one or two extra people apply. Ohio filled more or less exactly I think. SC, Flag, and Alabama (no longer available) absorbed the folks who didn't get into NYC.

I think it's mainly driven by people's desire to live in some of these cities. With Phoenix sometimes being quite competitive due to the ability to stay put for all 4 years.

All sites will provide ample opportunities to do whatever you want to do with your education though, so pick the place you want to be for 3 years.

Hope that helps!

 

[moonwake]

So Phoenix is usually the first to go? I have 3 kids and the oldest will be starting school. We really want to live in Gilbert/Chandler but obviously realize that might not be the case if Phoenix fills up (or if I get rejected). Just wondering how quick it fills up.

 

[SLC]

So Phoenix is usually the first to go? I have 3 kids and the oldest will be starting school. We really want to live in Gilbert/Chandler but obviously realize that might not be the case if Phoenix fills up (or if I get rejected). Just wondering how quick it fills up.

Can't comment on how quick it fills up as it changes every year. I think the school's first class or two (I'm in the fifth graduating class) chose CHC's at the interview, but the two classes above me, and the one below, used a "match" system where we got presentations from each CHC director and then ranked the CHC's in order of preference. Then a computer tried matching everyone as high on their list as possible.

My year, Phoenix had exactly 10 people who ranked it #1, so all 10 of those people got to go (stay I guess). But I've heard that other years, PHX has been very popular.

I'd count on DC, Brooklyn, and Chicago filling early, with Seattle, Portland, and PHX close behind. The rest will follow in some order depending on the priorities of your particular classmates.

 

[67552931811]

.

 

[MPHOrtho13]

Rejected within days of submitting my secondary. I'm especially disappointed about this quick rejection because I put a tremendous amount of thought and effort into my secondary (but at least now I'm not sitting around with false hope). My app's weakness is definitely my undergrad GPA, but I had hoped that my 3.9 post bac + grad school GPA + extras would've helped offset it. I guess not.

This is a great school, so I'm wishing you all of you the best of luck with this application process. Hoping for lots of IIs for you all in the near future.

 

[deleted436726]

Rejected within days of submitting my secondary. I'm especially disappointed about this quick rejection because I put a tremendous amount of thought and effort into my secondary (but at least now I'm not sitting around with false hope). My app's weakness is definitely my undergrad GPA, but I had hoped that my 3.9 post bac + grad school GPA + extras would've helped offset it. I guess not.

This is a great school, so I'm wishing you all of you the best of luck with this application process. Hoping for lots of IIs for you all in the near future.

Sorry to hear that. What was your MCAT?

 

[MPHOrtho13]

Sorry to hear that. What was your MCAT?

Thanks, but no worries though. It just wasn't 'meant to be'.

To preserve anonymity while I'm still applying elsewhere, I won't share my most recent scores. However, I will say that they're right on target with the school's average, with a pretty even distribution. I will not be retaking. I've read all my LORs, so there's no red flag there. I'm much older than the average applicant, so I've had a lot of interesting life experiences, research, volunteering, etc. Good luck with your apps.

 

[TurkTurkleton92]

Rejected via snail mail.

 

[moonwake]

Im sorry were you pre secondary or post?

 

[TurkTurkleton92]

Im sorry were you pre secondary or post?

Post secondary. 3.57 cGPA, 3.35 sgpa, 24 (even), OOS, pretty good ECs. Good luck to everyone else!

 

[keels99]

Just a heads up to everyone doing their secondaries, SOMA really focuses on serving the underserved. I would make sure to include that in secondary essays.

 

[SLC]

Just a heads up to everyone doing their secondaries, SOMA really focuses on serving the underserved. I would make sure to include that in secondary essays.

And make sure you can back it up with personal examples if you're going to imply that you're already committed to doing so.

 

[keels99]

And make sure you can back it up with personal examples if you're going to imply that you're already committed to doing so.

I couldn't agree with this more. I felt like my interview really revolved around my volunteer experiences.

 

[SLC]

I couldn't agree with this more. I felt like my interview really revolved around my volunteer experiences.

Mine too.

And someone who writes about having a passion for serving will be generally well received, as long as they have something to demonstrate that to be the case. But there's nothing worse that writing something and being thought to have written it solely to look good on paper. ADCOM's are pros at sniffing out insincerity, SOMA's ADCOM is no different.

 

[Deranged Medic]

Just received an interview invite via email, but the email said the 2015 class is full?

"Your application for admission to A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona for the class beginning Summer 2015 has been reviewed and we are pleased to invite you to our campus for an interview. At this time all of our seats have been filled and we are interviewing pending an open seat in the class. If accepted after the interview and a seat does not open in 2015, you will be offered a seat by automatic deferment for 2016."

Is this normal?

 

[rzoo14]

They haven't started interviewing yet. Call them for clarification on the email. It's likely an error

 

[moonwake]

Its probably an error. I would definitely call them though

 

[keels99]

Just received an interview invite via email, but the email said the 2015 class is full?

"Your application for admission to A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona for the class beginning Summer 2015 has been reviewed and we are pleased to invite you to our campus for an interview. At this time all of our seats have been filled and we are interviewing pending an open seat in the class. If accepted after the interview and a seat does not open in 2015, you will be offered a seat by automatic deferment for 2016."

Is this normal?

It's a mistake. That's the email I received when I interviewed last cycle.

 

[luaylu]

.

 

[rkearl27]

II!!!! scheduled mine for the 5th of Sept. Secondary turned in on July 3rd. 31, 3.95.

 

[RedRaider11]

Just received an interview invite via email, but the email said the 2015 class is full?

"Your application for admission to A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona for the class beginning Summer 2015 has been reviewed and we are pleased to invite you to our campus for an interview. At this time all of our seats have been filled and we are interviewing pending an open seat in the class. If accepted after the interview and a seat does not open in 2015, you will be offered a seat by automatic deferment for 2016."

Is this normal?

I received the same email and very confused. Surely they wouldn't have thousands of students apply for an already full 2015 class with the hopes of waiting two years to start....(I hope). But if that's that case, I would unfortunately have to decline my II.

 

[keels99]

You guys, there are only 20 or so of us that deferred acceptance. It's obviously just an error. I received an email that interviews for you guys for THIS CYCLE would start soon.

Chill out.

 

[67552931811]

Thanks, but no worries though. It just wasn't 'meant to be'.

To preserve anonymity while I'm still applying elsewhere, I won't share my most recent scores. However, I will say that they're right on target with the school's average, with a pretty even distribution. I will not be retaking. I've read all my LORs, so there's no red flag there. I'm much older than the average applicant, so I've had a lot of interesting life experiences, research, volunteering, etc. Good luck with your apps.

Wait wait.. You didn't waive your access rights to your letters?