Go to MCPHS or wait?

[jackieengo]

I applied to UMSL, ICO, and MCPHS. The reason I applied to these three was because these three schools do not required Orgo 2/Biochem both of which I haven't taken. I was rejected from UMSL. I've been asked by ICO to retake my OAT and that my application will be reviewed again after that. I've been invited to interview at MCPHS.

Initially I wasn't too bothered by the fact that MCPHS wasn't accredited yet, but then I was reading some of the forum posts and now I'm a bit worried about attending MCPHS. There's no guarantee that they'll be accredited. I don't even know how well they prepare their students for the boards because their success rate hasn't been posted yet. I don't really have much faith in the school since they're so brand new and I'm worried about being their guinea pig while they tweak the curriculum, which looks easy compared to a lot of other schools.

I'm trying to decide on if I should take the risk and go to MCPHS if I get accepted just so I can start my journey to becoming an OD. Or should I decline it and focus on ICO? I'm planning on returning to school to take Orgo 2, Biochem, & perhaps some additional science courses if I don't get into ICO this round. That would open up a lot of schools for me to apply to.

What do you guys think?

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[kayrayy]

Current MCPHS student here. While the whole not being accredited thing sounds scary, it seems to me at least that everyone here isn't too worried. It's not like they're a brand new school -- MCP has been around forever with plenty of other successful programs. They know what they have to do, and have hired the right people to do it it seems. And our faculty has experience at other schools.
Our current 3rd years are preparing to take their first part of boards and the school hired a company to review with them on the weekends to prepare.
I haven't done much comparing but I think we have less credit hours a semester because we have summer session as well.
Why not take orgo/biochem over the summer? That's what I did my summer before coming here.
I only applied to a handful of schools b/c I applied late and got into two. I chose to come here and start my adventure to being an OD vs. waiting another round but that was my decision. Do what you're comfortable with and where you can see yourself living for a few years