2017-2018 A.T. Still University - Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (ATSU-KCOM)

Applying to Med School? Get In Or Your Money Back
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ab1995 said:
Midwestern-CCOM! Although the tuition is crazy high, for me the location and clinical rotations outweighed the price.
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What’s their tuition and living expenses? I think KCOM is like $81k/year, which is a lottttttt for a small town in Missouri
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hz13 said:
What’s their tuition and living expenses? I think KCOM is like $81k/year, which is a lottttttt for a small town in Missouri
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Tuition at CCOM is around 68,000, not including living expenses/books etc. Very depressing lol but worth it in my opinion.
 
ab1995 said:
Tuition at CCOM is around 68,000, not including living expenses/books etc. Very depressing lol but worth it in my opinion.
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Worth it how? Will it increase your future earning potential or alter your job prospects? It will not. Will it improve your board scores? Nope. Will it help you get into XYZ residency program more? Unlikely. All of those things are dependent only on you, how hard you work, can you get along well with people, and what career you choose. Is it REALLY worth an extra $80,000????? Because after 4 years, increasing tuition, and accumulating interest, that's how much more it will cost you to go there over Kirksville. (Not even considering the COL differences)

$80,000!

Hope you plan to do neurosurgery or ortho surgery.
 
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abolt18 said:
Worth it how? Will it increase your future earning potential or alter your job prospects? It will not. Will it improve your board scores? Nope. Will it help you get into XYZ residency program more? Unlikely. All of those things are dependent only on you, how hard you work, can you get along well with people, and what career you choose. Is it REALLY worth an extra $80,000????? Because after 4 years, increasing tuition, and accumulating interest, that's how much more it will cost you to go there over Kirksville. (Not even considering the COL differences)

$80,000!

Hope you plan to do neurosurgery or ortho surgery.
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You are entitled to your own opinions, as am I. Best of luck to you!
 
ab1995 said:
You are entitled to your own opinions, as am I. Best of luck to you!
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Indeed. But with those opinions come consequences and in this case those can be very significant financial ones. You do what you want, but I am just inviting you to consider future you and how you are going to feel in 4 years when you are starting to have to figure out what to do with your student loans.

Just wanted to provide the perspective of someone who has been through it. The actual differences between DO schools are smaller than you'd imagine. Not enough to justify paying that much more in tuition. The best advice I could give you is to go to the least expensive med school you can get into.

I graduated with $380K and that's coming from a school with substantially lower tuition than CCOM. You're likely to 500K by the time you finish your residency!

My only regret is that I didn't apply to any cheaper schools (like Texas) because I planned on using the military to pay for school, making tuition cost a non-issue initially. In the end though, I decided not to do the military.

Good luck with your decision and with school.
 
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ab1995 said:
You are entitled to your own opinions, as am I. Best of luck to you!
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Also, those questions I was asking you are sincere questions that I wanted to know your answers to. What is it, in your mind, that can possibly make it worth it to spend that much more on school? I'm truly interested to know.
 
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abolt18 said:
Indeed. But with those opinions come consequences and in this case those can be very significant financial ones. You do what you want, but I am just inviting you to consider future you and how you are going to feel in 4 years when you are starting to have to figure out what to do with your student loans.

Just wanted to provide the perspective of someone who has been through it. The actual differences between DO schools are smaller than you'd imagine. Not enough to justify paying that much more in tuition. The best advice I could give you is to go to the least expensive med school you can get into.

I graduated with $380K and that's coming from a school with substantially lower tuition than CCOM. You're likely to 500K by the time you finish your residency!

My only regret is that I didn't apply to any cheaper schools (like Texas) because I planned on using the military to pay for school, making tuition cost a non-issue initially. In the end though, I decided not to do the military.

Good luck with your decision and with school.
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This is one of the reasons why I may possibly decline my acceptance at KCOM. I got a couple more weeks to my deadline though.

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bluegorilla said:
Around 10am this morning (1/18)
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Did you send in any thank you cards to your interviewers?

I interviewed last week and the wait is killing me already. CONGRATS!!
I was so impressed with KCOM. I'm really hoping for good news coming up!
 
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jef5678 said:
Did you send in any thank you cards to your interviewers?

I interviewed last week and the wait is killing me already. CONGRATS!!
I was so impressed with KCOM. I'm really hoping for good news coming up!
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I interviewed on 11/17, and didn't get accepted till 1/10 (almost 2 months later). It was just silence for weeks, I never sent any thank you cards, but I don't know if they do accept them though.

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jef5678 said:
Did you send in any thank you cards to your interviewers?

I interviewed last week and the wait is killing me already. CONGRATS!!
I was so impressed with KCOM. I'm really hoping for good news coming up!
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Yes, I sent handwritten thank you notes. Thank you so much! Hope you get good news soon!
 
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hz13 said:
What’s their tuition and living expenses? I think KCOM is like $81k/year, which is a lottttttt for a small town in Missouri
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If you are smart about your money you do not need to take out your full living expenses that they say you can have. I would honestly say the only people who really need the full amount are the ones who are supporting a family off loans. My husband and I live off his salary alone and we have a house and 3 dogs. He makes less than the living expenses that are included in the COA so it is definitely possible to cut that down quite a bit.
 
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jef5678 said:
Are thank you cards appreciated here? Were those that were accepted send in any after their interview?
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Honestly, I never sent any thank you cards after my interview. I was never even aware that anybody did that nor have any of my classmates mentioned having sent them either. I have not heard of anyone sending thank you cards either, so it is entirely up to you!
 
For those of you who interviewed or got accepted to KCOM, would you mind sharing your stats please?
 
akg46 said:
For those of you who interviewed or got accepted to KCOM, would you mind sharing your stats please?
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GPAs 3.7+ MCAT 500/499. Clinical volunteering 300 hrs, non-clinical volunteering 50 hrs, shadowing 120 hrs. Research on Herpes simplex virus for 1 year.

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Thanks!! Similar stats except for a slightly lower GPA. Have solid ECs and LORs. Sent them an update letter about a month ago expressing my interest in the school, hoping to hear something good soon.
 
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akg46 said:
Thanks!! Similar stats except for a slightly lower GPA. Have solid ECs and LORs. Sent them an update letter about a month ago expressing my interest in the school, hoping to hear something good soon.
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Good luck, I might be declining my acceptance soon though. I'm still debating it. Gotta weigh in all my options.

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I just interviewed on 1/22/18. I loved the school!!! About how long do they take to get back to you?? They said about 2-4 weeks.
 
Drgal said:
I just interviewed on 1/22/18. I loved the school!!! About how long do they take to get back to you?? They said about 2-4 weeks.
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I heard back in a week. Phone call.
 
Just don't have a heart attack when you get the email for the survey about your interview experience. Got that email about 4 days later and hesitated to open it as I was in the Schrodinger moment.

I interviewed there on 1/12 and have yet to hear anything; Friday will be two weeks of waiting.
 
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lenspx said:
I heard back in about a few days shy of 2 months later.

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Were you interviewing for an alternate spot or for this year? What is the percentage of acceptance for those that interview?
 
REI212 said:
Were you interviewing for an alternate spot or for this year? What is the percentage of acceptance for those that interview?
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I believe all interviews are for a spot which may or may not be a Waitlist spot, but nonetheless for a possible spot in this year's class eventually. I don't know the exact number for the post-interview acceptance rate, but I think it was greater than 60% at the very least.

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For those accepted, was there a certain time in the day that you received a phone call?
 
I interviewed back in October and was put on hold, but I just got the acceptance pending a seat email as well!
 
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akg46 said:
For those of you who interviewed or got accepted to KCOM, would you mind sharing your stats please?
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OOS 3.18 overall GPA (crazy upward trend), 3.3 GPAs, interviewed 2x, waitlisted last cycle, accepted this year, 200+ volunteer hours, 501 MCAT, no research, strong LOR's. 2 years work exp. as a medical assistant.

Good luck!
 
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jt.farmer said:
3.18 overall GPA (crazy upward trend), 3.3 GPAs, interviewed 2x, waitlisted last cycle, accepted this year, 200+ volunteer hours, 501 MCAT, no research, strong LOR's. 2 years work exp. as a medical assistant.

Good luck!
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Congrats on your acceptance!!! I'm OOS with a similar MCAT, 3.65-3.7 GPAs, strong EC's and LOR's. I sent them an update letter about a month ago expressing my interest in the school as well and still haven't heard anything. Patiently waiting....
 
akg46 said:
For those of you who interviewed or got accepted to KCOM, would you mind sharing your stats please?
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GPA: 3.6 overall, 3.45 science; MCAT: 505; 200+ hours shadowing and clinical experience, 200+ hours volunteer in rural health clinics as a Spanish translator and triage, 3 years of research in undergrad, strong LOR including 2 from DO, a lot of EC, clubs, sports, etc. I will say that this school seemed to be a bit more interested in me as a person and why I thought KCOM is a good fit. I remember in my interview, they were really interested in my background, how I got interested in medicine, and what I've done since then to show that I'm "walking the talk". They didn't really ask why I didn't do well freshman year of college or why my verbal mcat score was so low. I think if you get an interview, then they've already decided you meet their minimum stat requirements (GPA, MCAT) and now they want to see if you fit in with their school. I just incorporated my experiences in medicine with how I can bring that to KCOM, the community, etc. Hope this helps! :)
 
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REI212 said:
Hi. Just got an email to interview. Do you think it is for a spot or for wait list? What kind of interview do they give?
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When did you submit your secondary?
 
Goofy13 said:
GPA: 3.6 overall, 3.45 science; MCAT: 505; 200+ hours shadowing and clinical experience, 200+ hours volunteer in rural health clinics as a Spanish translator and triage, 3 years of research in undergrad, strong LOR including 2 from DO, a lot of EC, clubs, sports, etc. I will say that this school seemed to be a bit more interested in me as a person and why I thought KCOM is a good fit. I remember in my interview, they were really interested in my background, how I got interested in medicine, and what I've done since then to show that I'm "walking the talk". They didn't really ask why I didn't do well freshman year of college or why my verbal mcat score was so low. I think if you get an interview, then they've already decided you meet their minimum stat requirements (GPA, MCAT) and now they want to see if you fit in with their school. I just incorporated my experiences in medicine with how I can bring that to KCOM, the community, etc. Hope this helps! :)
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Thank you so much!!

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abolt18 said:
Indeed. But with those opinions come consequences and in this case those can be very significant financial ones. You do what you want, but I am just inviting you to consider future you and how you are going to feel in 4 years when you are starting to have to figure out what to do with your student loans.

Just wanted to provide the perspective of someone who has been through it. The actual differences between DO schools are smaller than you'd imagine. Not enough to justify paying that much more in tuition. The best advice I could give you is to go to the least expensive med school you can get into.

I graduated with $380K and that's coming from a school with substantially lower tuition than CCOM. You're likely to 500K by the time you finish your residency!

My only regret is that I didn't apply to any cheaper schools (like Texas) because I planned on using the military to pay for school, making tuition cost a non-issue initially. In the end though, I decided not to do the military.

Good luck with your decision and with school.
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agree completely with this. it's hard to change the mind of a pre-med though. a lot of people on this site preach ccom as being a "top tier" DO school, whatever that means. the extra tuition at ccom is quite literally a waste money in my eyes, but to each their own.

for anyone who is willfully going to kcom, you won't regret your decision in terms of your education and you will come out thousands of dollars ahead of the ccom graduate with the same (if not better) qualifications.
 
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Mbeas said:
agree completely with this. it's hard to change the mind of a pre-med though. a lot of people on this site preach ccom as being a "top tier" DO school, whatever that means. the extra tuition at ccom is quite literally a waste money in my eyes, but to each their own.

for anyone who is willfully going to kcom, you won't regret your decision in terms of your education and you will come out thousands of dollars ahead of the ccom graduate with the same (if not better) qualifications.
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Nobody needs to drive a Porsche. It is well established that there are more reliable cars that are much cheaper and offer a lot more utility than luxury cars. People pay for things they want, even if it doesn't make sense financially. Granted this is a much bigger debt than something like a car, but the principle is the same. I could go to a state school for medicine at under half the cost, but I prefer KCOM for the staff, community, and curriculum. Generally speaking, it doesn't matter what US school you attend; they will all provide you with a good education. I am a huge proponent that education is only as good as the effort you put into it. If someone's heart is set on CCOM, then there is intrinsic value beyond that of CoA. No matter what school your heart is set on, or what school actually accepts you: Congrats! Enjoy! Study Hard!
 
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MDWannabe417 said:
Nobody needs to drive a Porsche. It is well established that there are more reliable cars that are much cheaper and offer a lot more utility than luxury cars. People pay for things they want, even if it doesn't make sense financially. Granted this is a much bigger debt than something like a car, but the principle is the same. I could go to a state school for medicine at under half the cost, but I prefer KCOM for the staff, community, and curriculum. Generally speaking, it doesn't matter what US school you attend; they will all provide you with a good education. I am a huge proponent that education is only as good as the effort you put into it. If someone's heart is set on CCOM, then there is intrinsic value beyond that of CoA. No matter what school your heart is set on, or what school actually accepts you: Congrats! Enjoy! Study Hard!
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I completely agree with this.

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jef5678 said:
Any news recently?
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I just got a call saying a seat opened up for July. So looks like they didn't get some reservations and they are actively pulling people from the waitlist. I obviously wasn't told any specifics as to seat numbers or what not, but I interviewed in mid-January if that helps. With that said, I was thinking about getting a roommate; anyone else looking?
 
JG1706 said:
I just got a call saying a seat opened up for July. So looks like they didn't get some reservations and they are actively pulling people from the waitlist. I obviously wasn't told any specifics as to seat numbers or what not, but I interviewed in mid-January if that helps. With that said, I was thinking about getting a roommate; anyone else looking?
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I interviewed 01/12 and haven't heard anything from them yet.

EDIT: just got an email on being accepted pending seat!!
 
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jef5678 said:
Morning. You?

Also, when were you given your acceptance pending seat??
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Oddly enough I was 1/12 morning group as well. I got a call Wednesday offering me a seat this year.
 
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jef5678 said:
CONGRATS!! Were you ever acceptance pending?
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Yep! I was accepted about a week prior 'pending a seat' and then they called the following week saying that a seat opened up. Keep your head up! Their schedule of going through applicants is impossible to follow. The only thing I can say is to prepare like you are going this summer. There is so much time left for people to take seats other places. So if this is your top choice, you probably still have a really great chance of attending. Make sure to let them know if this is your top-choice school. Not sure if it changes anything, but they specifically asked me that.
 
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