Midwestern University Chicago (CCOM) Discussion Thread 2015 - 2016

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Accepted today! Interviewed on 3/11 and was notified by email.

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Everything @absie107 wrote is true, @Henry101 if you have any more specific questions about the curriculum etc. let me know. There's no good answer in response to the tuition being so high, but we're all in the same boat there... sorry.
 
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I didn't look at my checklist before my interview... Is the consensus that if you have a section "required prerequisites" when you click on your applicant checklist that you are waitlisted?:brb::barf:
 
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I didn't look at my checklist before my interview... Is the consensus that if you have a section "required prerequisites" when you click on your applicant checklist that you are waitlisted?:brb::barf:

Unfortunately, yes. Welcome to the waitlist.


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Those who got wait listed, don't be discouraged. I was wait listed, interviewed around mid-march! Keep those updates and letters of interest coming!
 
Interviewed/alternate listed last cycle. I applied immediately after this cycle started. Received an email saying I'd been withdrawn from CCOM's application due to not scheduling a secondary. Freaked out. Called. Got one scheduled. I never received a secondary invite (Yes, I checked spam). Interview is insanely late, but I figure I'll give it a shot. CCOM is my top choice program.
 
I thought the interview day was great. Quick and to the point. If you know anything about this process you know it essentially makes no difference what school you go to in terms of your experience there. Your experience is going to consist primarily of living as a information-aholic no matter where you go. The tuition rate is probably due to the location and the premiums they have to pay to get such good rotation sites. The curriculum is the same as nearly every other school out there with a little more emphasis on anatomy and biochemistry. I have never heard of getting Fridays off at any school. It looks like a lot of people go for the military scholarship route to manage the expenses.


Lots of programs have time off like that. TECH in Lubbock is a great example of a program that gives students plenty of time to study on their own. MOST schools I know have have fridays off and exams are typically in the morning. No class on exam days outside of clinical work.
 
For Waitlisted peeps, a friend of mine gave me the following information that I think will help some of you out.
CCOM barely sends out just a little shy of 400 acceptances for 200 seats. That is a total underestimate because, considering CCOM is one of top 3 most competitive DO school in the nation, some accepted students will likely have an MD acceptances or other acceptances in their home state. Why does CCOM underestimate their acceptances? All we know is that Dean Nichols likes to keep admission competitive and is concerned about overenrollment. CCOM will send out its last batch of acceptances the last week or last seconed week of April (date is not disclosed). The last set of deposits are due in the beginning of May. In mid May, the admissions committee meets and the number of committed students (with fully paid deposists) is disclosed and the number of "open" seats counted. At this point, the admissions committee reviews files THAT HAVE AN UPDATE LETTER first. For the past few year, the average number of students in the incoming class that have come from the waitlist is 35. Does this mean that 30 people will be pulled from the waitlist? NO. It means that, more than likely, a larger number were offered a seat with some of them turning it down for other schools until the class is filled. This process continues into June. The key is SEND UPDATE LETTERS. If you are an undergrad and have new grades, send those in with another letter.
 
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Interviewed/alternate listed last cycle. I applied immediately after this cycle started. Received an email saying I'd been withdrawn from CCOM's application due to not scheduling a secondary. Freaked out. Called. Got one scheduled. I never received a secondary invite (Yes, I checked spam). Interview is insanely late, but I figure I'll give it a shot. CCOM is my top choice program.

Lots of programs have time off like that. TECH in Lubbock is a great example of a program that gives students plenty of time to study on their own. MOST schools I know have have fridays off and exams are typically in the morning. No class on exam days outside of clinical work.

Best of luck on your interview!!

Just for reference, at CCOM we definitely have class on exam days (99% of the time) and our exams vary from early in the morning (7am) to mid-afternoon. Occasionally we do have exams or clinical activities scheduled on Fridays, but never class during first year. Second years have class on Fridays.
 
Best of luck on your interview!!

Just for reference, at CCOM we definitely have class on exam days (99% of the time) and our exams vary from early in the morning (7am) to mid-afternoon. Occasionally we do have exams or clinical activities scheduled on Fridays, but never class during first year. Second years have class on Fridays.
Also to add on to the class after exams thing, not everybody will go to class after an exam (I've skipped out to get brunch because my brain was still recovering) but class isn't mandatory and all lectures are recorded except OMM.
 
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Interviewing on friday! Does anyone have any info/opinions w/r/t current rotation sites and selection thereof? Also are there any charitable oppurtunities for early hands-on experience (MWU clinics or some such?). Thanks!
 
Interviewing on friday! Does anyone have any info/opinions w/r/t current rotation sites and selection thereof? Also are there any charitable oppurtunities for early hands-on experience (MWU clinics or some such?). Thanks!
I'm only a first year but rotation sites are in the Chicagoland area. Students rank their rotation track (the order they do their rotations) and sites separately and will get their lists around spring second year, I think.

There's the Community Health Clinic in Chicago that students apply for. There's also the Soft Tissue Clinic run at school and Old Irving Park Clinic for OMM skills/clinical skills.
 
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Interviewing on friday! Does anyone have any info/opinions w/r/t current rotation sites and selection thereof? Also are there any charitable oppurtunities for early hands-on experience (MWU clinics or some such?). Thanks!

I'm only a first year but rotation sites are in the Chicagoland area. Students rank their rotation track (the order they do their rotations) and sites separately and will get their lists around spring second year, I think.

There's the Community Health Clinic in Chicago that students apply for. There's also the Soft Tissue Clinic run at school and Old Irving Park Clinic for OMM skills/clinical skills.

I too am a first year.
To go off what RavenclawMed said, I know that 2nd years were reporting receiving info regarding some of their chosen rotation sites a couple of days ago. It seems that you pick your tracks (order of how you want your rotations) and select 5 options for sites.
Main rotation sites are in Chicagoland area as mentioned by RavenclawMed, but you can also do out of state or even out of the country rotations for your elective rotations.
 
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Best of luck on your interview!!

Just for reference, at CCOM we definitely have class on exam days (99% of the time) and our exams vary from early in the morning (7am) to mid-afternoon. Occasionally we do have exams or clinical activities scheduled on Fridays, but never class during first year. Second years have class on Fridays.

Awesome info!! Thank you! This is going to be a completely insane question, but...are the lectures posted in a way that you can speed them up? That's what I did during my Masters, listened to everything on double speed, and worked on readings during class. The ADHD is strong with this one.
 
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Awesome info!! Thank you! This is going to be a completely insane question, but...are the lectures posted in a way that you can speed them up? That's what I did during my Masters, listened to everything on double speed, and worked on readings during class. The ADHD is strong with this one.
It depends on your technology. For apple products, you can speed them up on you Mac, but if you are on your iphone or iPad using Safari, then you can't. At least I have not figured out my iPhone or iPad.
 
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Awesome info!! Thank you! This is going to be a completely insane question, but...are the lectures posted in a way that you can speed them up? That's what I did during my Masters, listened to everything on double speed, and worked on readings during class. The ADHD is strong with this one.
It depends on your technology. For apple products, you can speed them up on you Mac, but if you are on your iphone or iPad using Safari, then you can't. At least I have not figured out my iPhone or iPad.
And you can't play them at all on the blackboard app. The blackboard app in general...:rolleyes:
 
Does anyone have insight regarding their interview day? I REALLY want to get in, and this is so late in the game that I'm looking for anything I can at this point.
 
Does anyone have insight regarding their interview day? I REALLY want to get in, and this is so late in the game that I'm looking for anything I can at this point.

Honestly, just do your best to relax. Be prepared to talk about anything on your resume (you might want to think ahead about any anecdotes you could share about experiences you've had) and express your interest in the school. You'll do great :)
 
Honestly, just do your best to relax. Be prepared to talk about anything on your resume (you might want to think ahead about any anecdotes you could share about experiences you've had) and express your interest in the school. You'll do great :)
Thank you! My dad went there and I loved it last year when I interviewed. Super excited for next week!
 
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Has anyone heard anything yet? I interviewed late in the cycle (April) and am still checking the portal twelve times a day.
 
Has anyone heard anything yet? I interviewed late in the cycle (April) and am still checking the portal twelve times a day.

I heard from both this thread and read based on acceptances that they seem to have a meeting at the end of the month, so you probably won't hear back until at least next week.

At the same time, someone earlier posted that there won't be major movements on the acceptance/alternative lists until May as they try to finish their last rounds of interviews.
 
I heard from both this thread and read based on acceptances that they seem to have a meeting at the end of the month, so you probably won't hear back until at least next week.

At the same time, someone earlier posted that there won't be major movements on the acceptance/alternative lists until May as they try to finish their last rounds of interviews.
Last interview day was 4/12 I believe. So hopefully it's end of this month and not May.
 
For those of you still waiting, check the online portal.
DDDDYYYYYYING. NO change on my portal. Hope that doesn't mean a rejection. Especially after being on the alternate list last cycle.
 
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DDDDYYYYYYING. NO change on my portal. Hope that doesn't mean a rejection. Especially after being on the alternate list last cycle.
Give em' a call. No change on my portal but the office told me I made the alternate list. Office closes at 430 btw
 
Interview on 4/8 and I am wait listed. I'll gladly take that since I didn't feel like that was my best interview.
 
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Rejected. Not sure what happened, it was hands down one of the best interviews I've ever had in my life. Alternate listed last cycle and my stats have only gone up since then.
 
Rejected. Not sure what happened, it was hands down one of the best interviews I've ever had in my life. Alternate listed last cycle and my stats have only gone up since then.
I'm so sorry to hear that. I sincerely wish you the best of luck with the rest of your applications. :(
 
Hello All,

Just wondering what loans and how much are accepted students planning to take out. I just got my award letter and I must admit I am very very hesitant to click accept on a 99k loan to be dispersed to my account. There also seems to be loans offered by CCOM and a primary care loan.
 
Hello All,

Just wondering what loans and how much are accepted students planning to take out. I just got my award letter and I must admit I am very very hesitant to click accept on a 99k loan to be dispersed to my account. There also seems to be loans offered by CCOM and a primary care loan.
Ouch, 99k is bit much. When did you submit your financial aid application.
 
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Hello All,

Just wondering what loans and how much are accepted students planning to take out. I just got my award letter and I must admit I am very very hesitant to click accept on a 99k loan to be dispersed to my account. There also seems to be loans offered by CCOM and a primary care loan.
Loan amounts aren't final, so if you change your mind later (to add more or take some away), the financial aid office can help you with that. You're not locked into 99k if you feel that it is too much in a month or 6 months.
 
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me @ myself taking 85k in loans
not-really-here.gif
 
Hello All,

Just wondering what loans and how much are accepted students planning to take out. I just got my award letter and I must admit I am very very hesitant to click accept on a 99k loan to be dispersed to my account. There also seems to be loans offered by CCOM and a primary care loan.

tuition this year is 65k, if you're living off campus you can find rent + other expenses for about 12-15k/year. if you budget well, you could probably do ok on less than 90k for the year. you can also do federal work-study by doing volunteer hours (ask the finaid office about it) but it only goes up to 3k/year. there are scholarships too that we can start applying for I think in the spring, but obvi not super helpful for our first year, sadly. :(
 
There are some scholarships also offered in the fall or winter. I didn't apply for any because I didn't make time to apply for them, but if you're diligent, then you can get some money that way too.
 
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I'm so sorry to hear that. I sincerely wish you the best of luck with the rest of your applications. :(
Thank you! I'm content with my other acceptance. CCOM was a last-minute interview and a shot in the dark. Regardless, we're all going to be physicians, so it's kind of hard to complain.
 
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Thank you! I'm content with my other acceptance. CCOM was a last-minute interview and a shot in the dark. Regardless, we're all going to be physicians, so it's kind of hard to complain.
YEA WE ARE WOOP WOOP
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Watch Scrubs! When we learned about the digital rectal exam, they played this song in lab. Like projected on the TVs for all of us.

 
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I have literally grown up in the hospital, scrubs is the most accurate show I have ever seen lol.
 
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Nothing that I've heard yet. Looks like last year the waitlist started moving around around the middle of May.
I believe May 14 is the deadline to get partial refunds on deposits. I'm assuming movement to occur after that.
 
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Very hard decision but withdrew my acceptance and seat-deposit today.
This is one of the best DO schools in the country with resources and faculty that are on par with most MD schools in the country. Along with the first-class location, CCOM was truly my dream school when starting this process out. The price-tag, however, is a little too scary for me. I hope my seat goes out to one of you that are still on the waitlist. Enjoy CCOM! It's an amazing school!
 
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Very hard decision but withdrew my acceptance and seat-deposit today.
This is one of the best DO schools in the country with resources and faculty that are on par with most MD schools in the country. Along with the first-class location, CCOM was truly my dream school when starting this process out. The price-tag, however, is a little too scary for me. I hope my seat goes out to one of you that are still on the waitlist. Enjoy CCOM! It's an amazing school!
Best of luck to you elsewhere!!!
 
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