Anyone know how many people have been accepted at Tucson so far?
Also, those of you who have been accepted to UACOM- tucson, do you plan on matriculating there?
No idea on how many have been accepted, but I'm definitely planning on matriculating there. For reference, I received 8 II, attended 5 interviews (2 ranked in top 20 for primary care, 1 ranked top 20 for research), accepted at 3, rejected at 1, waiting on 1. I plan on withdrawing from everywhere else this week. Here are my reasons:
1) The faculty at UA Tucson were much more approachable than other schools I interviewed at. They weren't elitist, but were definitely on top of their game. Importantly, they had direct answers for every question I asked. There was no skirting the issue.
2) The students that I met seemed like they enjoyed being there, and even though it's a pass/fail, they seemed very driven and focused. This was different from two of the schools that I interviewed at that were pass/fail where the students seemed to take pride in the fact that they could "watch the lectures from home in pajamas and sleep in until noon" - direct quote... I don't want to be part of a program where students who are representing the university on interview day have this cavalier attitude towards their education. What does that say about the ones who aren't "representatives"?
3) There seems to be a good balance between research focus and clinical exposure. They aren't trying to pump out academic physicians, but if you want that route it seems to be very accessible.
4) From a personal side, and likely not relevant to many who don't have families, the CoA was very in line with living costs in Tucson. I don't have family money or a fat savings account, so having a family in tow and making the decision to live primarily off of loans for the duration of medical school, this was important to me.
Potential Cons:
I think Tucson lacks the massive healthcare centers that many of the other universities offer. I considered this carefully, because I believe that there is a lot to say for exposure to a wide array of cases that you would see in these other powerhouses. However, I believe that traveling for rotations in year 4 would definitely compensate for this, and having seen these systems while on interviews I definitely have an idea of what's out there and where I may want to go on my away rotations.
I LOVED the school! Best wishes to everyone!
