William Carey University (WCUCOM) Discussion Thread 2014 - 2015

[jbuc1081]

We, I, here at WCUCOM will be happy to welcome you into our true academic family.

We will do our very best to provide you the opportunity to become the physician you want to be. Will it be easy? - NO.
Will it be rewarding? - YES.

I full heartedly believe that. As someone with other options, I felt this was the best place I interviewed and jumped on the opportunity.

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[arpitsaxena09]

Hi. Did anybody got an interview call after Thanksgiving? Thanks.

 

[jhu6569]

Hi. Did anybody got an interview call after Thanksgiving? Thanks.

I cannot reply directly to this immediate previous post with pertinent data. However, I will state that we here at WCUCOM are now still actively interviewing for our fall incoming class in 2015. I, myself, will be interviewing prospective students this coming Monday and this weekly process should be continued for quite a while into the late Spring of 2015. [Note: I myself will not be an interviewer for all of the future applicants.]

 

[TaterSalad]

(Current student here) I can say as a student who did fairly well last semester that yes, there are issues here. However, I would mostly agree with everything jhu6569 has said. Having several friends in other medical schools in the region has given me a chance to compare a lot of what students here complain about to what students at other schools have issues with, and from what I've gathered most of the problems are uniform issues medical students deal with. Do we have issues? Yes, but to me the issues involve things like not enough anatomy lab faculty, or wasted class time, not things like professors that don't care or want to see you fail. To make my point, as someone who had options in where to go to med school, I would say that I made an overall good choice, not only by going the DO route but by picking William Carey COM as my school. Having professors like jhu6569 ( listen to what he says here, he might be the best professor in first year ) or Dr. Jones in OPP ( learn who this is, it is in your best interest ) make this school worth your time, and I believe easily out weigh the issues we have. I would recommend this school to anyone interested in Osteopathic Medicine.

 

[jbuc1081]

(Current student here) I can say as a student who did fairly well last semester that yes, there are issues here. However, I would mostly agree with everything jhu6569 has said. Having several friends in other medical schools in the region has give me a chance to compare a lot of what students here complain about to what students at other schools have issues with, and from what I've gathered most of the problems are uniform issues medical students deal with. Do we have issues? Yes, but to me the issues involve things like not enough anatomy lab faculty, or wasted class time, not things like professors that don't care or want to see you fail. To make my point, as someone who had options in where to go to med school, I would say that I made an overall good choice, not only by going the DO route but by picking William Carey COM as my school. Having professors like jhu6569 ( listen to what he says here, he might be the best professor in first year ) or Dr. Jones in OPP ( learn who this is, it is in your best interest ) make this school worth your time, and I believe easily out weigh the issues we have. I would recommend this school to anyone interested in Osteopathic Medicine.

Thank you for the honest opinion. I'm sure some of what Paul Revere was saying in his previous post was valid, but it just didn't sound very objective.

 

[Louisianadoc]

Soooo...my primary was complete on November 11th and I have still heard nothing. No secondary. Nothing. I'm a Louisiana resident 3.52 Gpa; 3.71 sGpa 28 MCAT (10,8,10). More than enough volunteer experience and clincal exposure over an extended period to express my interest in medicine. I'm frustrated

 

[WhatIsSleep]

I am an OMSII at WCUCOM and it is extremely disappointing that a faculty member believes student complaints about the attendance policy are excuses for poor performance. I have maintained a very high GPA but choosing a school with an attendance policy is one of my biggest regrets. I am not an auditory learner, so spending hours in lecture is very inefficient. I have been successful but aware that I could achieve much more if greater flexibility was allowed. The goal is to learn as much as possible to become a competent physician.

Also, rates of dismissal and "strongly encouraged withdrawal" are very high. Many of the dismissed students experienced a death in the family, depression, or physical illness that contributed to abnormally poor performance. So please do not assume it cannot happen to you.

 

[jbuc1081]

I am an OMSII at WCUCOM and it is extremely disappointing that a faculty member believes student complaints about the attendance policy are excuses for poor performance. I have maintained a very high GPA but choosing a school with an attendance policy is one of my biggest regrets. I am not an auditory learner, so spending hours in lecture is very inefficient. I have been successful but aware that I could achieve much more if greater flexibility was allowed. The goal is to learn as much as possible to become a competent physician.

I hope applicants are noting the hostile tone faculty use to address students. WCUCOM comes across as very student friendly and accommodating during the interview process; however, the reality is very different. Students have been chastised for providing negative feedback or for performing poorly as a whole on an exam (if 90% of students fail an exam, are they truly all lazy or is there a systematic problem?). Also, rates of dismissal and "strongly encouraged withdrawal" are very high. Many of the dismissed students experienced a death in the family, depression, or physical illness that contributed to abnormally poor performance. So please do not assume it cannot happen to you. I am guessing it is easier to eliminate "weak" students before they have the chance to lower the school's COMLEX pass rate. From what I understand (word of mouth- not official data from the school), 9 students were dismissed from my class this last semester. I find it very hard to believe our attrition rate is "normal".
http://www.aacom.org/docs/default-source/data-and-trends/2013-com-attrition.pdf?sfvrsn=2
http://www.aacom.org/docs/default-source/data-and-trends/2013-com-attrition.pdf?sfvrsn=2

https://www.aamc.org/download/102346/data/aibvol7no2.pdf

To be fair to the faculty member, I heard three different students say that the attendance policy was causing them to fail their exams on my interview day.

 

[jhu6569]

And their proof of this assertion was exactly what? Really. Excuses for failures, for ALL of us are easy to concoct. Pathways for success are most often hard, and always more difficult to conceive and conduct than are rationalizations for perceived sub-standard results.

Please understand here - I myself keep NO attendance figures. However, I do find, with now a full 40 years of teaching experience in medical schools, that students complaining about attendance requirements ARE utilizing mental "crutch" explanations that will not aid them in their future experiences with clinical preceptors.

First/second year students - ask you third/fourth year colleagues engaged in their clinical rotations. WHAT is the attendance requirement? Duh - 100% without exception: barring illness or some serious event.

Ask yourself - seriously! You have patients scheduled from 7:30AM until 5:00PM. You wake up at 6AM feeling slightly less than perfect. What are your choices? NONE- SEE YOUR PATIENTS. People, the rigor states on day 1 of medical school , NOT at some arbitrary point in time that you yourself think is appropriate.

OK- I have provided much too much fodder for this forum of late. I will not be replying to any further posts for a while. Understand, though, that I myself am pro-student; I do not believe, however, that 1st/2nd year medical students really understand their environment; I DO have many many years of relevant experience; Everything I have stated here, on any post, is MY personal and honest opinion. I trust that any reader takes it as this and only such.

 

[WhatIsSleep]

I greatly appreciate your honesty and feedback.

 

[WorldChanger36]

What is this? Med school or pre K because I am having serious problems telling with all the crying going on around here. If you actually claim that having to go to class is causing you to fail or under perform you are an idiot. Just because you have to physically be in the classroom does not mean you have to pay any attention to the lecture. What is stoping you from sitting in the back of the room popping in ear buds and studying something else in your own way? Geez tired of seeing this over and over. Also if there is some outside factor causing poor performance take a leave of absence, figure it out then come back. An extra year beats failing grades and being dismissed.

 

[WhatIsSleep]

I respectfully disagree with your statement. It is possible to attempt multitasking during class; however, many professors call upon students to speak during class or will count you as absent if they realize you have earbuds in while studying something instead of listening.

At the risk of identifying myself, I would like to clarify that I am not a “whiner” or a struggling disgruntled student. I love medicine and want to learn everything possible to become the best physician I am capable of. The frustration voiced from many WCUCOM students comes from feeling that our school makes it more difficult for us to learn and reach our full potential. The attendance policy (for those who do not learn most efficiently from lectures) is only one example of this. Many current students comment on here to make sure applicants understand what we wish we had before we chose to attend.

 

[careforeveryone]

I am another 2nd year here at WCU, and I would like to second my previous classmates' concerns. It is not merely a case of sour grapes as one of senior faculty members would like you to believe. I firmly believe that the school is doing everything in it's power to try and maintain it's high board pass scores by preventing students that it believes may reflect poorly on the school from taking the exams. Our class started with 112 members, we lost 16 the first year, and have lost another 9 just in the first semester of 2nd year. We will be lucky to get to Step 1 with 90 people left in the class.

The school looks for any and every way that it can to not promote people. It records grades every semester as opposed to just at the end of the year like most schools do. This gives you less of an opportunity to improve the test you may have bombed on. Additionally, WCU will break courses into 2 sections, which you have to pass independently in order to pass the course. Couple that with an inflexible attendance policy, and you have a system that's set up for 10% attrition.

Listen if you'd like, or don't. I have nothing to gain or lose from passing this information on. I just wish more people would have been open about the actual atmosphere of the school before I had signed on. The school will force you to hold it's hand the entire time, but will not hesitate to drop you if you're becoming a burden.

And WorldChanger36, there are explicit rules against wearing headphones while in class.

 

[hashtagforlife]

What is this? Med school or pre K because I am having serious problems telling with all the crying going on around here. If you actually claim that having to go to class is causing you to fail or under perform you are an idiot. Just because you have to physically be in the classroom does not mean you have to pay any attention to the lecture. What is stoping you from sitting in the back of the room popping in ear buds and studying something else in your own way? Geez tired of seeing this over and over. Also if there is some outside factor causing poor performance take a leave of absence, figure it out then come back. An extra year beats failing grades and being dismissed.

Preface: I am one of those students that regardless of an attendance policy would be in my seat every day for every lecture (assuming I am not deathly ill or have some other extreme circumstances i.e. death in the family, sick child, etc). I am a second year - I was never on welcoming committee, but I did meet with students. I have always given an honest opinion to any student that asks.

With that being said: the 80% attendance policy is a significant issue for many students, it does not make that student an idiot (in fact, one student who struggles with the attendance policy is a 4.0 student - clearly not an idiot) - to that point, you are informed prior to accepting your spot here and it's much like crying over spilled milk at this point. We do the best we can with the lemons we are handed - we don't always make lemonade, sometimes just lemon flavored water.

To your point of simply sitting in the back of class and popping in head phones - this is expressly prohibited under our professionalism clause in our handbook. If you are caught, you will be called out, you may be kicked out of lecture (yes this has happened). You are expected to be in your seat and to participate if called upon by a professor. Some professors do not accept "I do not know" as an answer - make an attempt at any question asked of you.

To the student who sat in on class (I've lost track of which of you have done what in your research on WCUCOM) - You were incredibly lucky in that you were in Anatomy - one of the best courses here at WCUCOM. From my experience last year (OMS1), second years being in lab is incredibly rare and they very well may have been brought in specifically because you were taking a test drive - after all, you should put your best foot forward in all situations.

Is medical school hard? Absolutely. Does it sometimes seem as if some professors are "out to get you"? Sure. Are they really? Highly unlikely. Do all classes curve form a 69.5% to a 70%? Absolutely not, however most of them do.

WCUCOM has some excellent faculty members - some of the very best. Are all of our faculty members the best at communicating information to students during lecture? No - some people are just too smart to effectively teach at a level that everyone can understand (speaking from experience in undergraduate and graduate coursework). Any student is welcome in the faculty members offices if you are struggling with a topic - it's a hard pill to swallow, but we can't all be perfect in every subject.

As far as stats from administration: Keep in mind that it is highly unlikely for any school to ever publish data that is detrimental to their program. All of you need to start playing devil's advocate in your life - your patients WILL lie to you, but you are still responsible for catching those lies.

Is WCUCOM perfect? No - it has issues. So do all medical schools. This is a new program, they are constantly shifting and changing their curriculum which may result in some students falling through the cracks. Even in second year, we feel the loss of our classmates.

Some of the issues presented here are valid - rotation spots being changed (we no longer have spots in Florida and the Alabama slots are incredibly limited; the numbers are made up for by increasing the number of rotation sites available in the MS Delta region).

Finally, to all of the perspective students - keep in mind that you are not here, in the trenches, experiencing the day to day grind of medical school. It is really easy to pass judgement when you are not here. Once you start and walk a day in our shoes, you may (and most likely will) feel differently than you do now. Would I still choose WCUCOM if I could go back to the Spring of 2013? Probably - I love the Hattiesburg area, I love my classmates and my group of friends that help me see the light on the dark days; there are issues with any and every decision you make - my only advice: play devil's advocate and choose wisely, this is your future and your money (300k+).

Good lucky to any and all future students!

 

[arpitsaxena09]

I cannot reply directly to this immediate previous post with pertinent data. However, I will state that we here at WCUCOM are now still actively interviewing for our fall incoming class in 2015. I, myself, will be interviewing prospective students this coming Monday and this weekly process should be continued for quite a while into the late Spring of 2015. [Note: I myself will not be an interviewer for all of the future applicants.]

Sir. I was asking as I submitted my secondary just a day before Thanksgiving and I have not heard anything back. I just want to make sure whether WCUCOM has called anybody for an interview after Thanksgiving and they are still interviewing those students whom they called for an interview before Thanksgiving.

Also, will you be calling more people to schedule for interviews and when? Thank you.

 

[diiaa36]

With all this attendance talk can a current student actually provide their weekly schedule.
Thanks

 

[WorldChanger36]

With all this attendance talk can a current student actually provide their weekly schedule.
Thanks

+1 in this please

 

[WorldChanger36]

I should also point out that my earlier statement is reflecting frustration over a minor issue. Now if you don't believe it is a minor issue explain why? I can not figure out how being required to go to class causes problems so bad that people are failing.

 

[careforeveryone]

M 8 - 3
T 8 - 3
W 8 - 5
T 8 - 12 or 3 depending on which OPP lab you have
F 8 - 12

Usually by 3 in the afternoon, your brain is exhausted and studying is essentially an exercise in futility.

I, personally, would be much better suited to being able to listen to lectures on my own schedule, with the ability to pause whenever my mind starts to wander, than sit through 6 hours of lecture that I may only be able to digest an hour of. To each their own, but it definitely does not help that some courses (namely OPP) and a few select professors, choose not to record their lectures or even post their slides before class. This is despite the fact, that according to the student handbook, ALL lectures are to be recorded. Take what you want from these insights, but please don't ever call anyone an idiot, especially when you haven't even started your medical schooling.

 

[careforeveryone]

To put the attendance in another light, suppose you got in a car wreck and were hospitalized for two and a half weeks (we had 4 students get in wrecks in their first year, Hattiesburg drivers are not the best), yet you kept up with your studies while hospitalized and were released in time to take the next test which you then passed. Even with a passing score, the school would still make you remediate and potentially retake the entire year due to your accident.

 

[WorldChanger36]

To put the attendance in another light, suppose you got in a car wreck and were hospitalized for two and a half weeks (we had 4 students get in wrecks in their first year, Hattiesburg drivers are not the best), yet you kept up with your studies while hospitalized and were released in time to take the next test which you then passed. Even with a passing score, the school would still make you remediate and potentially retake the entire year due to your accident.

I doubt it. That sounds ridiculous. They would make an exception.

 

[hashtagforlife]

I doubt it. That sounds ridiculous. They would make an exception.

We had a student that had to miss over the 20% allowed absences for medical reasons. Still passed all of their classes with good grades (i.e., was not a borderline F-C issue). They still repeated the year because of the absence issue.

Again, until you are here, you do not know what is going on.

I'm not attempting to dissuade you from coming to WCUCOM - I like it, personally. However, again, unless you are here you do not know what is going on in the day-to-day grind.

 

[WorldChanger36]

We had a student that had to miss over the 20% allowed absences for medical reasons. Still passed all of their classes with good grades (i.e., was not a borderline F-C issue). They still repeated the year because of the absence issue.

Again, until you are here, you do not know what is going on.

I'm not attempting to dissuade you from coming to WCUCOM - I like it, personally. However, again, unless you are here you do not know what is going on in the day-to-day grind.

Interesting. For someone that claims not to be trying to dissuade that is all you have posted.

 

[jbuc1081]

There has been a ton of activity from current students today. It's just odd after months of nothing.

 

[hashtagforlife]

Interesting. For someone that claims not to be trying to dissuade that is all you have posted.

I am truly not trying to dissuade. I am simply wanting to remind you that you are not here and cannot speak to the policies at the school - unless I am mistaken and you are, in fact, an OMS1 or OMS2, then please, excuse my ignorance.

We have amazing faculty members that are well published and do a fantastic job of educating our students. I sincerely believe I am well prepared to pass COMLEX step 1 and will be equally prepared to pass Step 2 CE and PE - partly due to my education and partly due to my personal hard work to prepare myself for these exams. I firmly believe my education through WCUCOM will ensure that I have a residency position at a hospital of my choosing instead of having to settle.

But, the concern expressed by current students has been easily dismissed by many on this site. Current students are giving their honest opinions (pro and con) and many are refusing to accept anything outside of what they want to be true. This will not serve you well in life. Take in all opinions, weigh them equally, and take to heart the ones you wish and discard the others.

Honesty and transparency are not attempts to dissuade future students - simply laying out information so people can make an informed decision.

Again, remember you have not started your education here and cannot give personal insight into the day to day workings of this particular medical school.

As for the lack of activity - the months of Nov and Dec are full of exams for all of us here at WCUCOM and we sort of drop off social media for a while to adequately prepare.

I look forward to meeting any and all future students and welcoming them to our wonderful family here at the COM.

Cheers.

 

[nowaysanjose]

This is getting kind of depressing.

 

[jbuc1081]

This is getting kind of depressing.

I wouldn't worry about it. As the last poster said, we won't know what it's like to be a medical student until we are there. Are people going to fail from the next incoming class? Of course. Attrition is a bitch. I'll take my chances and just work hard. If I fail out, maybe I can be one of those guys that artificially inseminates elephants by crawling in. That seems like just punishment!

 

[nowaysanjose]

To current students: assuming that our deposits are paid, we're broke, have turned down our other iis and acceptances and there's no turning back now, what tangible advice-- attendance issues notwithstanding-- could you give to the incoming class on how we can succeed here?

n is getting bigger with each new poster, and this is starting to become hard to rationalize.

 

[WhatIsSleep]

The comments made were intended to make applicants aware of the reality. If you love medicine and want to become a DO, WCUCOM may be the best fit for you, regardless of ongoing issues. Perhaps knowing what to expect coming in will provide an advantage on its own. Advice I feel may be useful:

Figure out what works for you and stick with it (even if it seems odd or goes against what others do). Because I do not learn best from lectures and think more clearly at night, I often end up studying for most of the night and just suffer through feeling like a zombie in class. It would not work for some, but it allows me to spend my most alert hours learning in the ways that are more efficient for me. I handwrite stacks of notes, make charts, draw anatomy structures on my own body, etc. Some people use study groups, rewatch lecture recordings, or type digital flashcards. Whatever weirdness it takes to learn- do it.

Be strategic with absences. Even if lectures fall in line with your learning style, being able to miss more class near the end of a semester is beneficial. Almost everyone will feel “burn out” near the end of a semester and want to be able to miss a day here and there to study from home or catch up on sleep. Also, your immune system takes a hit during medical school and you do not want illness late in a semester to result in course failure if you can prevent it.

If you start having any kind of medical or personal problem, seek help immediately. And for the same reasons, try to find time to do things that make you happy. It is very easy to become depressed or allow an illness to interfere with your best performance. It is also inconvenient to get to doctor appointments or obtain therapy with our schedule. If you notice something is not right with yourself or a friend in class, do something about it before it ends your medical career. One bad exam can make it difficult to recover. Good luck!

 

[hashtagforlife]

Like the previous poster said: find what works for you and stick with it.
One suggestion from a faculty member was "study every subject every day" - make a study calendar and stick to it. It seemed weird to me at first to study every single subject we learn every day (45-50 min blocks per subject) but once I started doing it, my grades increased significantly. Do not wait until the last minute to cram for an exam - it will not work.

I feel the best piece of advice would be this: make friends here - they will become your second family. You cannot (maybe you can but most of us cannot) get through this without support and only fellow classmates truly understand what you are experiencing. If making study guides of every lecture helps - do it. If making mind maps of lectures works - do it. If you prefer a site like quizlet - do it.

In my group we split the work load between 2-3 people in making study guides and review things. We set aside time to study as a group once we have individually attempted to learn the material. Learn from your friends strengths and weaknesses - they may be able to explain a concept in a way that you never would have thought but it makes perfect sense.

The next most important piece of advice - seek help early if you even think you may be struggling. WCUCOM provides tutors (upperclassmen) and your professors will sit and go through the material with you until you get it. They want to be confident in you to the point that they would allow you to care for their family members.

Finally: others have done this before you - it is not impossible. But it is not easy. This is not undergrad. This is not grad school. This is the hardest thing you will do (academically) but you will be a better person in the end.

 

[TheTruthTeller]

looks like I opened a can of worms good to see my fellow classmates giving advice and the faculty member who is comparing mandatory attendance in classes to clinical rotations is obviously unaware of the real issues even though I belive jhu is the best professor at this school since he is a phd and never did rotations take it with a grain of salt I still appreciate his advice here but disagree with some points

 

[jhu6569]

Like the previous poster said: find what works for you and stick with it.
One suggestion from a faculty member was "study every subject every day" - make a study calendar and stick to it. It seemed weird to me at first to study every single subject we learn every day (45-50 min blocks per subject) but once I started doing it, my grades increased significantly. Do not wait until the last minute to cram for an exam - it will not work.

I feel the best piece of advice would be this: make friends here - they will become your second family. You cannot (maybe you can but most of us cannot) get through this without support and only fellow classmates truly understand what you are experiencing. If making study guides of every lecture helps - do it. If making mind maps of lectures works - do it. If you prefer a site like quizlet - do it.

In my group we split the work load between 2-3 people in making study guides and review things. We set aside time to study as a group once we have individually attempted to learn the material. Learn from your friends strengths and weaknesses - they may be able to explain a concept in a way that you never would have thought but it makes perfect sense.

The next most important piece of advice - seek help early if you even think you may be struggling. WCUCOM provides tutors (upperclassmen) and your professors will sit and go through the material with you until you get it. They want to be confident in you to the point that they would allow you to care for their family members.

Finally: others have done this before you - it is not impossible. But it is not easy. This is not undergrad. This is not grad school. This is the hardest thing you will do (academically) but you will be a better person in the end.

Excellent comments here.

 

[Biram Smith]

Hey, so 8 submitted my primary application in September 2014. I got a secondary app back in early December. Unfortunately due to a emergency all the money I had saved for secondary apps had to be used elsewhere. I'll be submitting the app within 5 days. Is it too late or what?

 

[WorldChanger36]

Hey, so 8 submitted my primary application in September 2014. I got a secondary app back in early December. Unfortunately due to a emergency all the money I had saved for secondary apps had to be used elsewhere. I'll be submitting the app within 5 days. Is it too late or what?

I would say yeah way too late

 

[careforeveryone]

I submitted my secondary at the beginning of February and interviewed in late April. Sat on the wait list until 2 weeks before school started. It's not too late.

 

[jhu6569]

I submitted my secondary at the beginning of February and interviewed in late April. Sat on the wait list until 2 weeks before school started. It's not too late.

Definitely NOT too late to apply. Here posted as a member of the faculty Admissions Committee.

 

[jenjoie]

I don't know that I am particularly qualified to step into this conversation because I am not affiliated with the COM yet, but I did want to give a more objective opinion.

I have been a student at WCU for a while. From what I can tell, many of the things that people are taking issue with are not necessarily COM-specific policies or issues. Campus wide, you can expect mandatory attendance. Professors take roll, every day. For the most part (some are more lenient than others) you are expected to be there on time, and stay the entire time. Assignments are due the day they are due; there are no extensions (or at least not without substantial grade penalties). The majority of my professors have not graded on a curve, or if they did it was because the entire class received a B or lower on the exam. I realize that we aren't Harvard, but for the most part WCU has high standards for its students. They aren't going to take a lot of excuses, they aren't going to hand out good grades, and they aren't going to hold your hand. However, I have never felt that the policies were unfair, and I have never gone to a professor with a problem and not gotten some kind of help.

I guess what I'm saying is this...if I were to attend WCUCOM, I know what to expect. They operate in a manner not unlike the rest of the university. I understand that there are probably flaws within the COM, just like there are flaws in every program, everywhere. Just know what you are getting into.

 

[nowaysanjose]

Anyone hear about a Facebook group?

 

[CajunMedic]

Anyone hear about a Facebook group?

Should be getting an email as soon as the welcoming committee gets your name from Mrs. Donna

 

[Mehd School]

Please note: our very first year class match rate (Yep, THAT first year class from a very first year school) achieved something like a 98% match-rate.

What percentage of the first year class matched prior to scrambling?

 

[Louisianadoc]

Can someone post the admissions committee email? I need to contact them but cannot find it on their website

 

[giayg4444]

Ms. Donna should be able to help you. Here's her email: [email protected]

 

[doctor8800]

For any of those currently at WCUCOM, where do a lot of the students live both married and single?

 

[CajunMedic]

For any of those currently at WCUCOM, where do a lot of the students live both married and single?

Crowne at Longleaf Trace, The Lakes, The Reserve at Park Place are all pretty popular. A few live at Mark 4.

 

[TeddyBoomBoom]

Crowne at Longleaf Trace, The Lakes, The Reserve at Park Place are all pretty popular. A few live at Mark 4.

Quite a few of us live at Breckenridge, and are pretty happy there.

 

[nolakas]

For the current students: Do you find the financial aid cost of living loans are enough to cover the rent at these local apartment complexes?

 

[TeddyBoomBoom]

For the current students: Do you find the financial aid cost of living loans are enough to cover the rent at these local apartment complexes?

Yep. I mean, loans do suck but it's par for the course. The COL in hattiesburg is also a lot less than I'm used to, which is nice.

If you end up here, feel free to hit me up and I'll be happy to answer questions.

 

[theoriginalsandman]

Hello all,
As I have posted before, I am a current first year. I saw a number of applicants looking for advice on med school and Hattiesburg in general. Rather than replying to the posts individually, I will offer my opinion on the previous questions in this post.

Regarding SDN:
In general take everything you see on SDN, and not just related to WCUCOM, but any school, with a grain of salt in your overall decision on where to attend. Remember, posters, myself included are for the most part offering their perspective/opinion. In particular I would give little credence to posters offering you their advice or opinion if they have not attended a medical school or are not faculty, as they really do not understand the process. I am not trying to be negative, just realize that most of us actually in med school are still trying to figure out the system.

Deciding on where to attend:
Do not rush or take the decision lightly as it will affect you daily for the next 4 years. Use Dr. Google to find any data available including the area in which you will live. Talk to students, faculty, or anyone with direct knowledge (alumni, matriculated or faculty) about the school and see if your personality/learning style fits. Review the student policy manual and handbook PRIOR to accepting, even better, prior to applying to any school. If there are deal breakers in the stated school information then choose another school if you are afforded the opportunity; I would offer that statement for any and all schools. Policy manual information should help direct your decision.

Prior to matriculation:
If you have a chance bone, up on the basis sciences, particularly anatomy, it is a big time consumer. There are free summer courses online through universities. Check Carnegie Mellon, but don’t quote me. If you have some time browse through the BRS or USMLE first aid. They are not comprehensive to the med school exams but will give you a great foundation to at least have seen certain terms or concepts.

When you begin:
My previous class mates gave some good unbiased information in posts 287 and 288 of this thread.

WCUCOM and Hattiesburg:
Most everyone is friendly and polite. The cost of living is low for both apartments and homes (rent or buy). I have met some really great people here. Despite my constant feeling as though I am run over by a train daily; I am happy to be a part of the WCUCOM family.

One last thought:
Keep in mind regardless of where you attend, you are training to become physicians. It carries responsibility to the public. Act as a professional. Are there times where I am frustrated out of my mind? YEP! But that is the same in any med school or hospital environment. Take a break, find an outlet, blow off some steam and get back at it. You will be doctors; enjoy the experience, both the bitter and the sweet. Graduate and then go save the world.
As always, you can PM me with any specific questions.
Best of luck!

 

[arpitsaxena09]

Hi. Does anybody know whether the admission office has called anybody after mid- December 2014 for an interview.
I have submitted my secondary near thanksgiving but haven't received any information after that. Thank you.

 

[Louisianadoc]

Ms. Donna should be able to help you. Here's her email: [email protected]

Thank you so much!