Could you elaborate on why? I do have another offer, but this place surprised me by jumping to the top of my DO list after the interview. Really hoping for an acceptance here.
Just in case anyone else needs help thinking about this school, I'll list my pros and cons here.
Pros:
- 98% COMLEX level 1 first time pass rate last year (not on website yet, so not verifiable AFAIK)
- 18 different hospitals available for third-year rotations; all within a 35 minute drive of the school so you don't have to move
- The clinical track program with extra experience in your preferred specialty before taking specialty exams (do they use the NBME exams? I didn't ask)
- Friendly faculty, students we interacted with reported a true open door policy where faculty will go out of their way to help you
- Looks like people match all over the country; not regionally limited
- They don't push primary care... my other DO interviews did
- More matches in non-PC residencies than my current acceptance
- It seemed like a great area to live with a lot of things to do and a reasonable cost of living compared to other places I interviewed and liked almost as well
Cons:
- The building is a butt ugly warehouse
- Very limited study spaces; will need to study at home
- Do they call those food options? Really? Would have to bring my own food every day or plan on going off campus to eat
- The anatomy lab was a bunch of cadavers in body bags on stretchers
- Higher tuition than my current acceptance
What am I missing?
You have to remember that what you see on interview day is just a snapshot of what is to be the next 4 years of your academic and literal life. Not only that, everyone you interact with you that day is on their best behavior and will only relay the highlights of the school. Admissions departments are the PR of schools and their sole job is to get students to apply and accept, whatever it takes.
The pass rate and etc. really should only be a factor if you see a school that has anything below a 90%, then there may be some signs that the curriculum is a little off. With that being said, most schools that are and have been accredited for any number of years are going to get you to pass the boards as needed. You've gotten as far as getting accepted, so you more than likely have what it takes to pass the board exams. Whether you do or not is really up to you and relying on a school passing 98% first time takers is more a testament to the class itself than the actual curriculum. Most schools will have similar looking curriculum and as long as it is not something drastically different, you will do fine where ever you go.
The clinical tracks have been more or less a waste of time. Some students are having to take their shelf exams with a shorter turn around than the norm because a lot of their courses are backloaded in the year. Would you like to take your general surgery shelf that normally is an 8-week rotation in 3-weeks? I personally wouldn't. How about for IM? The trade off you make with doing a clinical track is that you give up your electives to do whatever specialty you have expressed interest in and running the risk of being screwed for one of the advanced shelf exams. You would be better off scheduling the specialty you want during your normal elective month and essentially receive the same amount of exposure. There was a significant drop in the number of students who expressed interested/applied to clinical tracks because of information and experiences that were passed down from previous years. I would be careful, where ever you interview, with taking new and shiny as being better and equivalent.
The comment about faculty is spot-on. They try their best to help you and teach you. There is some discord between faculty and administration with regards to the new curriculum, but maybe it will be resolved.
They don't push primary care...if you have the board scores. There were 20+ 4th years that matched into psych this year, why? Sudden interest in psych as the new frontier for future DOs? Maybe, but probably not. When you take your boards and don't receive the highlight, banner worthy score that schools want you to have, they will recommend psych, family, or IM. Remember it's a business, the higher the match rate, the more they can advertise this. We have a 95% match rate, okay, but how many students truly matched in what they wanted to versus what was "strongly recommended" to them. It's a numbers game that both sides have to play so please keep that in mind. Another note on this, matching is really up to you. How you do on boards is not the curriculum, is not the school, is not the environment, it's 100% you. If you put the time in and figured out the ins and outs of how you study/learn, hone that and push yourself, you will match where ever you want. If a program doesn't accept you for whatever reason (e.g. because you have D.O. after your name), then you probably didn't want to end up there anyway. It's your name that goes at the end of each examination, note, script, etc. so own it.
Cost of living is great/cheap/etc. First should be your support system, do you need one? Is it close? Second should be airports, is it an international or regional? Can you get home when you need to at a reasonable price? Henderson is fine, but you'll be studying. Strip visits go down to maybe 2x/year towards the end of your education.
You are very keen on your cons. The amount of money that goes towards student services is...nil. They did relocate the IT department so you didn't have to physically go outside of the building and re-enter through another door. The computer lab is updated and in a quieter part of the building. As far as that goes, that's it. Currently the campus is undergoing construction, but little to nothing is going to actual student-dedicated space. I would imagine they haven't really mentioned anything about the construction because there isn't much you will be offered. 180 students for the incoming class, the plan was to connect the 2 lecture halls, but those plans have been cancelled. What happens the first few weeks when you are all dedicated to coming to class will be that some of you will need to sit on the floor and take notes. Welcome to medical school. The library that they wanted to update or rebuild, nope. Rumor is that someone higher up thought the "homey" atmosphere would be missed. So please continue to enjoy the drab and dreary "library". If you get a chance to talk to anyone about the construction going on at the school, most student spaces are being "updated", but the administrative offices are being "built". Old versus New. Administration tends to look out for themselves when it comes to allocating resources. Please ask about the parking debacle of 2016. Before it was open parking for anyone and everyone, then they decided to make a "Parking Committee". Administration decided to start charging for parking passes, but all the prime spots in the front of the school were dedicated to faculty and administration, while student spaces were essentially reduced. Someone thought the walk across American Pacific was just a little too far. They did away with the passes this last year, segregated spots intact, and now are giving away the money they collected as a "Parking Scholarship".
The one thing you will experience without fail, almost a rite of passage, is 1 of 3 things. The first is that everything will be fine, no problems, administration will create a problem, charge you for it through tuition or some kind of fee, and try and fix the problem they created themselves. The second is something will be wrong, and the school will take the absolute minimum amount of money necessary in order to do a patch job. Finally, there will be something wrong and suggestions will be made, but for some reason the ultimate resolution that is chosen is something so far removed from what was suggested by the students that it will leave you dazed and confused.
At least you will have 4 students to a live cadaver... until you won't and it will all be virtual so they won't have to keep paying for cadavers. Not confirmed, but hey, you never know.
