Kansas City University (KCUMB-COM) Discussion Thread 2014 - 2015

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serenade said:
It'll fall back down. But it's not too surprising this year was the most competitive DO cycle yet. It'll only continue to get more and more from now on.
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serenade, just out of curiosity, what makes you think that it will fall back down?
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jjkenzie said:
Yeah I heard that last year was about 28.... The 26 was from the class two years ago.

I don't know that it will fall back down if it's continuing to get more competitive and the new dean being more strict on it...? They don't have much room to increase class size either.
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It will be hard to say what the competition will be like in a year or two and beyond since January, 2015 will be the last administration of the current mcat format. After that (and students with non-expired mcat scores in the next 2-3 years), the bar will be set with a new standard of scoring and it may be hard to gauge what is competitive. I am kind of surprised that kcumb's average was around a 26 given that they are one of the oldest and more traditional DO schools and is one of the few DO schools that has an emphasis on research.
 
Fargofargo said:
serenade, just out of curiosity, what makes you think that it will fall back down?
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It always falls down. The averages for accepted students in May is drastically different than what it is in August. People come off waitlists at better matches and md schools.

For example, mucom's average was a 28 in May. It's now probably a 27.
 
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serenade said:
It always falls down. The averages for accepted students in May is drastically different than what it is in August. People come off waitlists at better matches and md schools.

For example, mucom's average was a 28 in May. It's now probably a 27.
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But even if accepted students choose to go elsewhere, they're still counted in the "average MCAT score of accepted students." I can see how people withdrawing would affect the average MCAT store of MATRICULATED students though.
 
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jjkenzie said:
Yeah I heard that last year was about 28.... The 26 was from the class two years ago.

I don't know that it will fall back down if it's continuing to get more competitive and the new dean being more strict on it...? They don't have much room to increase class size either.
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I think they're increasing class sizes a bit.

sundancing said:
But even if accepted students choose to go elsewhere, they're still counted in the "average MCAT score of accepted students." I can see how people withdrawing would affect the average MCAT store of MATRICULATED students though.
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Hence why you should only care about the matriculated score to be honest. Accepted scores are inflated by virtue of multiple admissions.
 
thegreatjaspy said:
This is the first time I have heard anyone throw around the idea of 80 shadowing hours, I have 50, does that really take me out of the running?
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I only had ~50. I don't know if they changed it, but last year 80 hours was on the list of recommended things to have among many others. With a decent spread of ECs you should be fine.
 
JDMcNugent said:
It will be hard to say what the competition will be like in a year or two and beyond since January, 2015 will be the last administration of the current mcat format. After that (and students with non-expired mcat scores in the next 2-3 years), the bar will be set with a new standard of scoring and it may be hard to gauge what is competitive. I am kind of surprised that kcumb's average was around a 26 given that they are one of the oldest and more traditional DO schools and is one of the few DO schools that has an emphasis on research.
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I have successfully pushed the 2015 MCAT from all but my deepest subconscious and even that is a condolence to all those that are forced to take it. But good point.
 
I applied to this school along with a bunch of other DO schools, and my public in state MD schools.
My stats are 3.46 cGPA, 3.51 sGPA BS in biology (I graduated May 2014), and 8 physical, 8 verbal, 11 biological (27) on the MCAT. I have research experience, over a hundred hours of shadowing, and will be working as a full time medical scribe in an ER room this next year that I am taking off of school. I am also a Missouri resident. Do you think I have a good shot of getting in here?
 
Xavi13 said:
I applied to this school along with a bunch of other DO schools, and my public in state MD schools.
My stats are 3.46 cGPA, 3.51 sGPA BS in biology (I graduated May 2014), and 8 physical, 8 verbal, 11 biological (27) on the MCAT. I have research experience, over a hundred hours of shadowing, and will be working as a full time medical scribe in an ER room this next year that I am taking off of school. I am also a Missouri resident. Do you think I have a good shot of getting in here?
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You probably have an amazing shot.
 
Was volunteering the other day at the hospital and a DO fellow was sitting next to me. Started talking to him and realized he graduated from KCUMB. Pretty cool to see a cardiovascular surgeon DO in the field.
 
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Xavi13 said:
I applied to this school along with a bunch of other DO schools, and my public in state MD schools.
My stats are 3.46 cGPA, 3.51 sGPA BS in biology (I graduated May 2014), and 8 physical, 8 verbal, 11 biological (27) on the MCAT. I have research experience, over a hundred hours of shadowing, and will be working as a full time medical scribe in an ER room this next year that I am taking off of school. I am also a Missouri resident. Do you think I have a good shot of getting in here?
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Do you have any clinical volunteering? Otherwise I would say you have a great shot.
 
sundancing said:
Do you have any clinical volunteering? Otherwise I would say you have a great shot.
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I have some ER volunteering 20 hours or so, and about 80 hours total of a few different volunteering experiences.
 
I haven't received a secondary yet, however my AACOMAS primary app was recently updated such that I now exceed the 3.25 cGPA/sGPA cutoff. How should I let them know? I can't seem to find their email address.

EDIT: never mind! [email protected]
 
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Last time I heard, the class of 2014 had an average mcat score around 28/29. No idea if that will go down or up. Dr. Dubin is the new dean and from what I understand, he is pretty MCAT heavy so I could see the average stats continuing to increase. He has a history of increasing board scores through the roof. Not sure if that has to do with the curriculum he implements at the schools along with the new free board prep courses, or if it has to do with increasing required stats for incoming classes. I would say try your best to get a balanced score and shoot for a 27 and above.

This last cycle was a hard one. I had a few friends with 28 mcats not get accepted because of lower GPA and also one person had a 6 verbal.

It's always going to be a crap shoot. You might get in with a 25/26 and you might get rejected with a 30. Do everything you can to get an interview, majority of students that interview are accepted. Good luck!
 
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Does anyone know if they send secondaries without an mcat score posted yet?
 
JeBrAs said:
Dang, I got a 6 in VR (26 total) of my MCAT and a s3.20 GPA but a c3.4 GPA. I guess I am out. Looked like an awesome school and program!
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Unfortunately, the Adcom doesn't mess around. 6 or lower is out of the question, and a 7 is pushing it. I applied last year with a 6 in VR and they autorrjected me pre-secondary. Don't lose hope though, there's plenty of other excellent programs that will take you. I got accepted to Nova and I got an ii from DMU and Rowan. There's hope for you!
 
Chillywilly said:
Unfortunately, the Adcom doesn't mess around. 6 or lower is out of the question, and a 7 is pushing it. I applied last year with a 6 in VR and they autorrjected me pre-secondary. Don't lose hope though, there's plenty of other excellent programs that will take you. I got accepted to Nova and I got an ii from DMU and Rowan. There's hope for you!
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Awesome, thanks! It is good to know that if I apply broadly I can still have a good chance and that a 6 in VR is doable.
 
Can more than the required amount of LOR be submitted? i.e. a letter from my employer.

I believe the required are 1 DO letter, 1 sci prof.
 
Should i be worried if i havent received a secondary yet? I got secondaries from most of my other schools july 2-4th.... still haven't heard anything from KCUMB.

Meet all the cut-offs and have strong ECs....
 
Lost Vagus said:
Last time I heard, the class of 2014 had an average mcat score around 28/29. No idea if that will go down or up. Dr. Dubin is the new dean and from what I understand, he is pretty MCAT heavy so I could see the average stats continuing to increase. He has a history of increasing board scores through the roof. Not sure if that has to do with the curriculum he implements at the schools along with the new free board prep courses, or if it has to do with increasing required stats for incoming classes. I would say try your best to get a balanced score and shoot for a 27 and above.

This last cycle was a hard one. I had a few friends with 28 mcats not get accepted because of lower GPA and also one person had a 6 verbal.

It's always going to be a crap shoot. You might get in with a 25/26 and you might get rejected with a 30. Do everything you can to get an interview, majority of students that interview are accepted. Good luck!
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I still don't know how I got in and I'll never know.

WesternRedCedar said:
Should i be worried if i havent received a secondary yet? I got secondaries from most of my other schools july 2-4th.... still haven't heard anything from KCUMB.

Meet all the cut-offs and have strong ECs....
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Last year a couple of us didn't get secondaries. We called in and found out we were supposed to have gotten them weeks ago.

Give it 1 week and then call.
 
Not sure how much has changed since I interviewed (current M4) but at the time, KCUMB had an incredibly high acceptance rate for the people they interviewed. So if you got the interview, there was a good chance you would get in.

I just saw that the average MCAT of accepted students in the C/O 2018 was 28.08. Not sure what the average GPA was.
 
meliora27 said:
Not sure how much has changed since I interviewed (current M4) but at the time, KCUMB had an incredibly high acceptance rate for the people they interviewed. So if you got the interview, there was a good chance you would get in.

I just saw that the average MCAT of accepted students in the C/O 2018 was 28.08. Not sure what the average GPA was.
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I met a lot of people who were waitlisted on the interview trail. I think things changed last year since I was told the same thing for the previous cycle.

Where did you find out the average MCAT?
 
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chizledfrmstone said:
I still don't know how I got in and I'll never know.



Last year a couple of us didn't get secondaries. We called in and found out we were supposed to have gotten them weeks ago.

Give it 1 week and then call.
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It has been more than 2 weeks since release to them, will call!
 
Has anyone who doesn't meet the cut offs gotten a secondary? Still debating if it's worth it to apply with a 3.15/3.08/38...
 
chizledfrmstone said:
Is this a typo?
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I don't think it is...I creeped on Dr. Turkelton's profile and it did say that he/she got 38 MCAT. very impressive!


I think you should definitely apply, if anything it will create more buzz for your application due to the very high MCAT score.
 
Dr Turkelton said:
Has anyone who doesn't meet the cut offs gotten a secondary? Still debating if it's worth it to apply with a 3.15/3.08/38...
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Save your money, they are strict on the cutoffs. They made exceptions if you had 2/3, but not for 1/3. You'll get response elsewhere though!
 
Hmm interesting. Apparently s/he took an SMP and only got 1 B.

I would definitely apply and see what happens. Don't think they see very many 38s. It might raise an eyebrow or 2.
 
KCUMB is pretty strict on cut offs, but I've mentioned before that in previous years they have had a subcommittee that can look at outstanding applicants that don't necessarily meet all the requirements. I havn't read through your posts, but If you did a SMP program and you did well, I wouldn't be surprised if they looked at your grad gpa and give you special treatment. I would 100 percent apply.

Are you applying to only DO schools? GPA over 3.0 and a 38 mcat can most definitely land you a spot at an MD school somewhere. If you aren't interesting in being an MD, I highly recommend KCUMB. Good luck!

@Dr Turkelton
 
Does anyone know how strict they are on the "within 2 years of matriculation" requirement for the letters of recommendation? My DO letter was written 2 months too early so it is not within the 2 year time period.
 
Ok thanks guys, think i'll apply here and just not send a few other DO secondaries to make up the price difference.

@Lost Vagus I'm applying mainly to MD with a handful of DO schools thrown in, but KCUMB would definitely be one of my top DO choices and I would be more than happy to go there.
 
SynapticDoctah said:
Ya. I told her my DO letter was 2 months old and she said "just send it in and we will look at it"
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Yah, I feel like some of my letters are maybe 3 months older than that. So yah, I'm content.

I think their requirement is really mostly designed for idk, preventing major time inconsistencies. Though, they probably should be more lenient with their wording too..
 
Out of 22 applications this is one of 7 I have not received a secondary from yet, I meet all the minimums, wonder whats going on...
 
Be patient guys. KCUMB was one of the last to send out secondaries last year. It's still early.
 
bionerd1992 said:
I had 30 hours of shadowing by the time I applied. I didn't feel like it hurt me at all to have that little, but it may be dependent on other extracurricular activities you might have.
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Did you have considerable volunteer hours or ECs going into the process?
 
Any idea when interview invites go out?


EDIT: answer! late august lol
 
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the secondary comes out pretty late compared to other schools. I was in the first batch of students to get a secondary and I interviewed on the first day possible. I was accepted in October, so once I got the ball rolling it went by fast

Orientation for first years starts the 28th, white coat and ribbon cutting for the new academic building is august 2nd.. Lot of stuff going on. Be patient
 
Lost Vagus said:
Orientation for first years starts the 28th, white coat and ribbon cutting for the new academic building is august 2nd.. Lot of stuff going on. Be patient
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Toured the facilities last weekend and got a peek into the new lecture halls.... they are mind blowing. The dean himself sat in the chairs until he found one that he liked, I was told. Google fiber ports every 6-8 feet or so, and over 90% of the old material was reused. It looks awesome.
 
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