ACOM vs. VCOM-Auburn

[AMH0514]

So! I have been lucky enough to be accepted to these two Alabama schools, but am having difficulty deciding which would be the best to attend. Here's my own list of pros and cons.

ACOM

Pros
Provide laptop/ipad mini for schooling and rotations
COMSAE practice tests from first year on*
First Aid prep book provided*
Pay for 1st attempt at COMLEX 1 and COMLEX 2 (written)*
Town very supportive
Locked in rotations
*I feel like these things are provided to give some confidence to students in that they can get decent pass rates

Cons
Unknown COMLEX pass rates
Unknown quality of rotation sites
Town itself is eh...

VCOM-Auburn

Pros
Brand new school
As inaugural class can make changes as necessary and be founders of clubs
Association with Auburn- research and facilities
Town much nicer, more like a normal "town" setting
The Carolinas campus branch had a 93% first time pass rate on COMLEX, so able to effectively prepare branch campuses for test.
International outreach programs

Cons
No upperclassmen for advice/tips
Largely unknown faculty
Have to have Windows laptop (yes I'm an Apple devotee...lol)
Rotations probably in different state (not a huge deal because I don't have a family and have a boyfriend who doesn't care where we go)
Auburn= possible distractions with undergraduates partying before/after football games

I'm sort of leaning more towards VCOM but I'm open to opinions!

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[rev0]

So! I have been lucky enough to be accepted to these two Alabama schools, but am having difficulty deciding which would be the best to attend. Here's my own list of pros and cons.

ACOM

Pros
Provide laptop/ipad mini for schooling and rotations
COMSAE practice tests from first year on*
First Aid prep book provided*
Pay for 1st attempt at COMLEX 1 and COMLEX 2 (written)*
Town very supportive
Locked in rotations
*I feel like these things are provided to give some confidence to students in that they can get decent pass rates

Cons
Unknown COMLEX pass rates
Unknown quality of rotation sites
Town itself is eh...

VCOM-Auburn

Pros
Brand new school
As inaugural class can make changes as necessary and be founders of clubs
Association with Auburn- research and facilities
Town much nicer, more like a normal "town" setting
The Carolinas campus branch had a 93% first time pass rate on COMLEX, so able to effectively prepare branch campuses for test.
International outreach programs

Cons
No upperclassmen for advice/tips
Largely unknown faculty
Have to have Windows laptop (yes I'm an Apple devotee...lol)
Rotations probably in different state (not a huge deal because I don't have a family and have a boyfriend who doesn't care where we go)
Auburn= possible distractions with undergraduates partying before/after football games

I'm sort of leaning more towards VCOM but I'm open to opinions!

The town and research possibilities are why im leaning towards vcom. If it was a brand new school i would be worried but as a branch it definitely puts me at ease. I can buy my own first aid book and exams thats not a problem.

 

[DrKershaw]

ACOM is still working with building up their reputation, and although they might develop a better rep simply because of their name (Alabama COM vs. Edward Via COM), it's going to be a few years before that actually happens.

Auburn has more easily accessible research opportunities (if you actually plan on doing research) and the town is probably a lot more student oriented than Dothan.

Also, if you have to switch to Windows it might become a bit of a learning curve, especially while you're trying to learn 20 credits worth of material. It seems insignificant, but I'm on my computer about 99% of the time I'm studying and having to get used to using windows would be the death of my aspiring top 10% ranking.

Alas, ultimately it should be where you felt most comfortable. One way or another you'll be learning the same things, so you'd be better off doing it at a place that you like and will be proud to be apart of.

 

[user3]

wonder why Auburn wasn't selected as the location for AL's first DO school. ACOM's loss, I guess.

 

[nontrad78]

wonder why Auburn wasn't selected as the location for AL's first DO school. ACOM's loss, I guess.

SAMC maybe? Then again, I think they're only planning on placing ~20 there for rotations. Also, dothan puts them closer to western Florida, which apparently is part of the region they're attemptong to serve. One of the rotation sites (possibly core) is currently Tallahassee, but there could be a good amount of shifting around once they start their first 3rd years.

 

[skeletor06]

I'm interviewing at VCOM-Auburn next week, and ACOM in December, so I'll chime in once I've interviewed at both places. Right now I'm leaning towards VCOM for many of the same reasons as the OP. @AMH0514 , what did you think about VCOM? How was the interview? Any help to prepare would be greatly appreciated!

 

[AMH0514]

I'm interviewing at VCOM-Auburn next week, and ACOM in December, so I'll chime in once I've interviewed at both places. Right now I'm leaning towards VCOM for many of the same reasons as the OP. @AMH0514 , what did you think about VCOM? How was the interview? Any help to prepare would be greatly appreciated!

I thought that Auburn was super nice, and the dean and everyone I met was really excited about starting the school and the potential it has. The interview was pretty conversational, though they kinda had questions prepared like a job interview. My first interviewer was pretty relaxed and friendly and the second guy was really intimidating haha. He had a stoic look and was very serious. But at the end he said I did really well so I had a little sigh of relief lol. I would say just be candid and sincere, and you'll do fine.

 

[tabbycatdontcur]

What does locked in rotations mean?

So! I have been lucky enough to be accepted to these two Alabama schools, but am having difficulty deciding which would be the best to attend. Here's my own list of pros and cons.

ACOM

Pros
Provide laptop/ipad mini for schooling and rotations
COMSAE practice tests from first year on*
First Aid prep book provided*
Pay for 1st attempt at COMLEX 1 and COMLEX 2 (written)*
Town very supportive
Locked in rotations
*I feel like these things are provided to give some confidence to students in that they can get decent pass rates

Cons
Unknown COMLEX pass rates
Unknown quality of rotation sites
Town itself is eh...

VCOM-Auburn

Pros
Brand new school
As inaugural class can make changes as necessary and be founders of clubs
Association with Auburn- research and facilities
Town much nicer, more like a normal "town" setting
The Carolinas campus branch had a 93% first time pass rate on COMLEX, so able to effectively prepare branch campuses for test.
International outreach programs

Cons
No upperclassmen for advice/tips
Largely unknown faculty
Have to have Windows laptop (yes I'm an Apple devotee...lol)
Rotations probably in different state (not a huge deal because I don't have a family and have a boyfriend who doesn't care where we go)
Auburn= possible distractions with undergraduates partying before/after football games

I'm sort of leaning more towards VCOM but I'm open to opinions!

 

[AlteredScale]

What does locked in rotations mean?

Some schools do not have strong affiliations with hospitals and let students "fend for themselves" to find those rotations. Thus it becomes a premise for having very variable quality in your clerkships which is not a great thing. You want assurance that you will go to hospitals that will provide you with a good immersion to pathology and clinical training that you will be expected to know for COMLEX II and USMLE Step 2 CS/CK.

So locked in rotations mean the school has affiliated with "good" sites. It's still very subjective though.

 

[tabbycatdontcur]

i thought all schools had this "locked in" sites thing unless you wanted to break the current trend of "locked in" sites and go elsewhere on your own. so this isn't the case? there are schools in which you have to fend for yourself for all rotations?!

 

[MPham1]

i thought all schools had this "locked in" sites thing unless you wanted to break the current trend of "locked in" sites and go elsewhere on your own. so this isn't the case? there are schools in which you have to fend for yourself for all rotations?!

Yes there are. I think LECOM-Bradenton is one example.

 

[hallowmann]

i thought all schools had this "locked in" sites thing unless you wanted to break the current trend of "locked in" sites and go elsewhere on your own. so this isn't the case? there are schools in which you have to fend for yourself for all rotations?!

Most schools have a variation of how rotations are picked. Some have clinical sites where you spend all your cores (like LECOM's 13's or SOMAs clinical campuses), others use a lottery system, others have like on online scheduler and is first come first served, others just send you where they want you (little to no input from you), and others basically give you a list of affiliates and tell you to set them up (complete control, but only if you know what you're doing). This does happen at some MD schools, but it's less common.

All that said, to begin with DO schools don't usually have a ton of security with their rotation sites. Due to expanding schools and the building of new schools, rotation sites get dropped or added year to year. For example, LECOM lost all of its UPMC sites in 2013, because of the Highmark vs. UPMC feud, but this year they added like 5 year-long clinical campuses, as well as 2 or 3 of the UPMC sites it lost, but lost Geisinger, which I heard TCMC students will be at. I've heard that COMP is slated to lose a couple sites due to a new/expanded MD school, NSU might lose one of its sites of Larkin COM ever happens, etc. Unfortunately, these things happen.

 

[MetricSystem]

I don't think laptop/iPad mini should be a pro. They aren't giving it to you. You are buying it with your tuition. It's like that in all schools that "give" you those. They probably get some discount or some contract with those companies.

On other hand, Paperless lecture/studying could be a pro.

 

[doctorveebs]

I'm an accepted student at VCOM-Auburn, and when I asked about clinical rotations, and this is the answer I received:
"We have signed agreements with over 10 hospitals providing rotation slots for 150. We have additional overflow slots in other states and we are continuing to develop additional.
We were held accountable for proving these clinical positions to our accrediting body , COCA- ( Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation ) in order to get our FULL ACCREDITATION .
We are fully accredited , NOT provisional; We would not have received that approval without the guarantee of enough clinical positions.”

Additionally, please note that we already have 3rd and 4th year students from our other two campuses at most of our hospitals that we have agreements with, so once we reach our 3rd year, we will be more than prepared!"

 

[user3]

I'm an accepted student at VCOM-Auburn, and when I asked about clinical rotations, and this is the answer I received:
"We have signed agreements with over 10 hospitals providing rotation slots for 150. We have additional overflow slots in other states and we are continuing to develop additional.
We were held accountable for proving these clinical positions to our accrediting body , COCA- ( Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation ) in order to get our FULL ACCREDITATION .
We are fully accredited , NOT provisional; We would not have received that approval without the guarantee of enough clinical positions.”

Additionally, please note that we already have 3rd and 4th year students from our other two campuses at most of our hospitals that we have agreements with, so once we reach our 3rd year, we will be more than prepared!"

you should ask for the list of planned rotation sites for VCOM-Auburn students. I can't see how AL could support two large DO schools without many rotation sites being out of state.

 

[doctorveebs]

I actually know several of the sites because I am a local and live near most of them. There are students already rotating here from VA and CC.

 

[user3]

I actually know several of the sites because I am a local and live near most of them. There are students already rotating here from VA and CC.

do you remember this article?

http://www.oanow.com/news/article_ac6399d1-8eb7-5532-a8d5-50222a6812be.html

Either way, it looks like VCOM's access to AU puts ACOM at a major disadvantage in terms of attracting students.

 

[doctorveebs]

Yes, I remember the article when it came out. ACOM has had the AMEC sites sewn up for a number of years, so they really don't have anything to worry about. There has been a huge swell of support locally for VCOM, which has opened up more sites for those students.

 

[AMH0514]

I'm an accepted student at VCOM-Auburn, and when I asked about clinical rotations, and this is the answer I received:
"We have signed agreements with over 10 hospitals providing rotation slots for 150. We have additional overflow slots in other states and we are continuing to develop additional.
We were held accountable for proving these clinical positions to our accrediting body , COCA- ( Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation ) in order to get our FULL ACCREDITATION .
We are fully accredited , NOT provisional; We would not have received that approval without the guarantee of enough clinical positions.”

Additionally, please note that we already have 3rd and 4th year students from our other two campuses at most of our hospitals that we have agreements with, so once we reach our 3rd year, we will be more than prepared!"

Thanks for the reply! I've actually decided to attend VCOM-Auburn in the fall. I can see myself being happy there and I'm excited for it, even if it is a new school/branch. There will definitely be some bumps but every school has them at some point or another.

 

[doctorveebs]

Thanks for the reply! I've actually decided to attend VCOM-Auburn in the fall. I can see myself being happy there and I'm excited for it, even if it is a new school/branch. There will definitely be some bumps but every school has them at some point or another.

I'll see you there!

 

[ToKingdomCome]

Vcom -A

 

[DrMaples]

You should definitely go to VCOM-Auburn.

-Its 2 years newer! (WOW!). Plus its 2 hours farther from the Florida border. ITS A SIGN!
-Its "affiliated" with Auburn, which means you'll definitely have access to...(kegers on the weekend?) tons of amazing research opportunities at its world renowned research centers. You heard about the amazing research they did on obesity, of course elephants are fatter than tigers, duh.
-Town much nicer, if you like living even farther into the sticks with a 1/4 mile long main street overrun with undergrads. Auburn even has amazing student housing, its a whole neighborhood of mobile homes (mobile in the tornado sense).
-One of there other campuses has a good pass rate, with other teachers, (too bad you didn't get in there, right).
-International outreach programs... Hartsfield-Jackson is only 2 hours away, and if you are not from Alabama, you are going to be begging to leave. (Alabama is 49/50 for a reason).
-Opportunity for change, yes, people who already have their degrees (& years of experience) love hearing how to run things from medical students who can barely show up to class on time or bother to brush their hair/teeth. Just ask the students at ACOM.
-You'll get to create your own club, and then a year or so later you are gone, what a legacy. A Facebook club might be more fulfilling.
-Which brings me to the best reason you should attend VCOM-Auburn, you likely will only have to spend 2 years in Alabama! You surely won't want to attend any of the 3rd rate community centers they will try to send you to in-state. Outside of EAMC, what quality options will they have left? Alabama has one of the worst healthcare systems in the country, and with a population south of 5 million, they simply dont have the ability to provide a quality eduction in 3rd/4th year to so many students. If you are into rural medicine, VCOM-Auburn may be for you. Be realistic, ACOM has the best of the rest as far as hospital core sites go, and the bottom three have fewer than 100 beds. Troy, Centerville, Brewton may have more than 50 beds, but thats because they count the chairs in the lobby as "beds".

If I were in your shoes, id hold out hope I could get into a more established school. Medical school is more about your ability to succeed in the face of the obstacles the school puts in your way. The newer the school, the more obstacles. Windows PC required? RUN! They are techno-******ed!

So! I have been lucky enough to be accepted to these two Alabama schools, but am having difficulty deciding which would be the best to attend. Here's my own list of pros and cons.

ACOM

Pros
Provide laptop/ipad mini for schooling and rotations
COMSAE practice tests from first year on*
First Aid prep book provided*
Pay for 1st attempt at COMLEX 1 and COMLEX 2 (written)*
Town very supportive
Locked in rotations
*I feel like these things are provided to give some confidence to students in that they can get decent pass rates

Cons
Unknown COMLEX pass rates
Unknown quality of rotation sites
Town itself is eh...

VCOM-Auburn

Pros
Brand new school
As inaugural class can make changes as necessary and be founders of clubs
Association with Auburn- research and facilities
Town much nicer, more like a normal "town" setting
The Carolinas campus branch had a 93% first time pass rate on COMLEX, so able to effectively prepare branch campuses for test.
International outreach programs

Cons
No upperclassmen for advice/tips
Largely unknown faculty
Have to have Windows laptop (yes I'm an Apple devotee...lol)
Rotations probably in different state (not a huge deal because I don't have a family and have a boyfriend who doesn't care where we go)
Auburn= possible distractions with undergraduates partying before/after football games

I'm sort of leaning more towards VCOM but I'm open to opinions!

 

[DrMaples]

Every year thousands of Americans take planes to tiny islands in the Caribbean to be exploited for the opportunity to become physicians. It would stand to reason that any school in the US, is not going to have a "major disadvantage in attracting students." Id bet both VCOM-Auburn and ACOM had well north of 2000 applicants this year. Besides, nobody would want to attend one of the few (only?) osteopathic schools owned and operated by an actual hospital. Hint - its not the school in Auburn.

do you remember this article?

http://www.oanow.com/news/article_ac6399d1-8eb7-5532-a8d5-50222a6812be.html

Either way, it looks like VCOM's access to AU puts ACOM at a major disadvantage in terms of attracting students.

 

[AMH0514]

You should definitely go to VCOM-Auburn.

-Its 2 years newer! (WOW!). Plus its 2 hours farther from the Florida border. ITS A SIGN!
-Its "affiliated" with Auburn, which means you'll definitely have access to...(kegers on the weekend?) tons of amazing research opportunities at its world renowned research centers. You heard about the amazing research they did on obesity, of course elephants are fatter than tigers, duh.
-Town much nicer, if you like living even farther into the sticks with a 1/4 mile long main street overrun with undergrads. Auburn even has amazing student housing, its a whole neighborhood of mobile homes (mobile in the tornado sense).
-One of there other campuses has a good pass rate, with other teachers, (too bad you didn't get in there, right).
-International outreach programs... Hartsfield-Jackson is only 2 hours away, and if you are not from Alabama, you are going to be begging to leave. (Alabama is 49/50 for a reason).
-Opportunity for change, yes, people who already have their degrees (& years of experience) love hearing how to run things from medical students who can barely show up to class on time or bother to brush their hair/teeth. Just ask the students at ACOM.
-You'll get to create your own club, and then a year or so later you are gone, what a legacy. A Facebook club might be more fulfilling.
-Which brings me to the best reason you should attend VCOM-Auburn, you likely will only have to spend 2 years in Alabama! You surely won't want to attend any of the 3rd rate community centers they will try to send you to in-state. Outside of EAMC, what quality options will they have left? Alabama has one of the worst healthcare systems in the country, and with a population south of 5 million, they simply dont have the ability to provide a quality eduction in 3rd/4th year to so many students. If you are into rural medicine, VCOM-Auburn may be for you. Be realistic, ACOM has the best of the rest as far as hospital core sites go, and the bottom three have fewer than 100 beds. Troy, Centerville, Brewton may have more than 50 beds, but thats because they count the chairs in the lobby as "beds".

If I were in your shoes, id hold out hope I could get into a more established school. Medical school is more about your ability to succeed in the face of the obstacles the school puts in your way. The newer the school, the more obstacles. Windows PC required? RUN! They are techno-******ed!

I have to admit, this did make me chuckle. I appreciate a hefty serving of sarcasm. I've already decided on attending VCOM, and perhaps when I'm done I'll come back to this and say you were completely right. But what's done is done and I'm still happy with my decision even if other people think it's a bad one. Thank you for your advice and wisdom and I'm honored you used your first post on this website to reply to my thread (and this is without any sarcasm whatsoever)

 

[user3]

Every year thousands of Americans take planes to tiny islands in the Caribbean to be exploited for the opportunity to become physicians. It would stand to reason that any school in the US, is not going to have a "major disadvantage in attracting students." Id bet both VCOM-Auburn and ACOM had well north of 2000 applicants this year. Besides, nobody would want to attend one of the few (only?) osteopathic schools owned and operated by an actual hospital. Hint - its not the school in Auburn.

FWIW, most people I've seen here have chosen VCOM-Auburn over ACOM.

And yea, any medical school in the US can fill its class given the many people with teens-low 20's MCAT that are desparate to get in anywhere. In ACOM's case, someone with a 22 MCAT and 3 vr was accepted there last year-- is this the type of applicant ACOM commonly must resort to to fill its seats?

 

[DocWinter]

FWIW, most people I've seen here have chosen VCOM-Auburn over ACOM.

And yea, any medical school in the US can fill its class given the many people with teens-low 20's MCAT that are desparate to get in anywhere. In ACOM's case, someone with a 22 MCAT and 3 vr was accepted there last year-- is this the type of applicant ACOM commonly must resort to to fill its seats?

Seriously, a 3? I'm at ACOM and while we have our share of weaker and stronger applicants, I hope that claim as more than just word of mouth. There were around 2500 applicants and plenty of people turned down rather prestigious spots elsewhere (I've talked to many accepted to the Touros, Tulane, LMU, VCOM VA and Carolina, etc)...
The average accepted MCAT for the incoming 2019 class is reportedly a 28 so far.
And yes, the local SAMC hospital is the reason ACOM is in Dothan.

 

[IslandStyle808]

Seriously, a 3? I'm at ACOM and while we have our share of weaker and stronger applicants, I hope that claim as more than just word of mouth. There were around 2500 applicants and plenty of people turned down rather prestigious spots elsewhere (I've talked to many accepted to the Touros, Tulane, LMU, VCOM VA and Carolina, etc)...
The average accepted MCAT for the incoming 2019 class is reportedly a 28 so far.
And yes, the local SAMC hospital is the reason ACOM is in Dothan.

They were looking for either a 26 MCAT or 3.3 GPA pre-interivew (probably around mid cycle). The standard have gone up quite a bit this cycle.

 

[DocWinter]

Yes, my class (2018) has higher incoming stats than the inaugural class - we're a 26 MCAT, not sure on GPA but I've heard around 3.4, higher cumulative. I know some very intelligent idiots, and some pretty street-smart average students. It's my opinion that when you can consistently get Bs or B+ in science courses, and study up and get a 25+ on the MCAT, you prove that you can make it in medical school.
I do wonder @user3 if you could expound on how you know about this 3 in verbal?

 

[AlteredScale]

Moving to School Specific Discussions.

 

[user3]

Yes, my class (2018) has higher incoming stats than the inaugural class - we're a 26 MCAT, not sure on GPA but I've heard around 3.4, higher cumulative. I know some very intelligent idiots, and some pretty street-smart average students. It's my opinion that when you can consistently get Bs or B+ in science courses, and study up and get a 25+ on the MCAT, you prove that you can make it in medical school.
I do wonder @user3 if you could expound on how you know about this 3 in verbal?

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/what-is-the-chance-of-5-on-vr.1120722/#post-16187921

 

[QuiAudetAdipiscitur]

ACOM!!!!!! message me for more advice and information.

 

[MirrorTodd]

ACOM baby!