This is a message I got from a conversation I had with a current COB student:
Hi there. I am a current one year cob student and plan on matriculating to com in August. We actually have 5 finals next week so the stress level is a little high right now so sorry if it took awhile for me to reply.
Anyway, I personnaly think it is a great program. I was a little shocked at first with the class size as the years past was only around thirty students whereas my class is about seventy five. I think they are expanding to about 100 next year.
The requirements for us to get into the com is a 3.25 or higher in the cob program, an mcat greater than 25 with no less than a 8 in any section, and successful completion of the program which includes a mini thesis seminar and a yearly comprehensive exam. We still have to interview but they basically told us as long as you're not a jackass in it and have the grades and mcat, you're in. They told us they won't deny any of us if we meet their requirement and the com matriculates ~275 students.
People kind of wale on smps but it really is very helpful and am confident it will help with being successful in com. We have an actual cadaver lab for the cob program (limited) which has been extremely useful since we have been doing regional musculoskeletal the last half of this semester including intervation/vascularization which is what you do the first semester of com. I think it really will give you a leg up if you don't get into med school this cycle. If you need it, KCUMB offers a Kaplan mcat prep course as well with zero charge. Fortunately I don't need it but I'd say at least 80% of our class is taking the prep course. I'd suggest getting your mcat above the cob-com requirement before matriculating into cob so you can focus strictly on school. It's a fairly large load and the work really piles on without notice.
Hope this helps and would be glad to answer any other questions about kcumb and or kc in general.