2018-2019 Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences (Kansas City)

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@Magus5454: KCU likes to keep us on our toes, eh? It gets better next year when you don't have practicals. But it's worse because the material is a lot harder + boards.
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I'm a bit confused about how the rotations work 3rd and 4th year... so we potentially move to a new location for both years or is it only for third year? Also, how many elective rotations do you get each year?
 
Applicant5678 said:
I'm a bit confused about how the rotations work 3rd and 4th year... so we potentially move to a new location for both years or is it only for third year? Also, how many elective rotations do you get each year?
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3rd is all at one site.
 
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Is it possible for Joplin students to do rotations in KC? At my interview in KC the students mentioned that they were told whoever wants to stay in KC will have a spot. I don't know if this applies to Joplin too.
 
Anyone from 1/29 interview feeling super anxious?? Also, does our decision letter come by mail/email/phone?
 
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mcsteamy13 said:
Anyone from 1/29 interview feeling super anxious?? Also, does our decision letter come by mail/email/phone?
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Check your email! I interviewed 1/29 and got my decision like 30 minutes ago! Accepted to KC campus!
 
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Applicant5678 said:
I'm a bit confused about how the rotations work 3rd and 4th year... so we potentially move to a new location for both years or is it only for third year? Also, how many elective rotations do you get each year?
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Third year is at one core site with 2-3 electives depending on the site. If you're in an honors track, those are chosen for you and you will be in KC. Fourth year you go wherever you want, mostly where you potentially want to go for residency ("audition rotations").

Catsfordays said:
Is it possible for Joplin students to do rotations in KC? At my interview in KC the students mentioned that they were told whoever wants to stay in KC will have a spot. I don't know if this applies to Joplin too.
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Definitely not true, plenty of people who wanted to stay in KC didn't get it. There is an appeal process, however. Joplin students can rotate in KC during fourth year, and in third year only if they are a part of an honors track, at least as it stands now. There are also a handful of other sites exclusive to each campus, fully detailed on the school website under Clerkships.
 
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indiRanger said:
So I heard you need health insurance during orientation. I turn 26 right in the middle of orientation so I will lose my health insurance. Do you think that will be enough to suffice until I can buy the school health insurance?
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Not sure the date when you actually need to obtain insurance by, but last year, if you signed up for the school plan by August 1, it retroactively covered you from July 1. Not entirely sure how this works, but I'm assuming the insurance company would reimburse you if something happened.
 
My friend who is in his second year in Joplin, told me there are currently (they had to fight for the spots) 60 rotation positions at Freedom in Joplin and 30 at Mercy in Joplin. The others are in surrounding cities, while the KC spots are for honors track as someone mentioned above.
 
Is credit score a factor for getting federal loans? Or is it factored into grad plus loans? I think I read something about credit score before and now I’m confused and hoping that’s not the case.. I’m in debt lmao my credit score is not the best
 
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noisepollution said:
Is credit score a factor for getting federal loans? Or is it factored into grad plus loans? I think I read something about credit score before and now I’m confused and hoping that’s not the case.. I’m in debt lmao my credit score is not the best
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+1 lol
 
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noisepollution said:
Is credit score a factor for getting federal loans? Or is it factored into grad plus loans? I think I read something about credit score before and now I’m confused and hoping that’s not the case.. I’m in debt lmao my credit score is not the best
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It isn’t necessarily your score, but rather your history. If you have an adverse credit history (I’ll attach the link for the description of adverse history as stated by the government) you cannot get grad plus loans without a co-signer.

You can still get direct subsidized and unsibsidized loans regardless of your credit history.

Additional information: there is not maximum aggregate limit on grad plus loans. You can borrow all the way up to the cost of attendance. However, as a medical student you can only borrow up to $224,000 in direct loans or 40,500/year. Anything over those limits will be grad plus loans.

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/plus-adverse-credit.pdf

Edit:

Example: I have $105,000 in direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans. I still qualify for $119,000. Therefore, I will receive $40,500 each year until I reach $224,000. I will also need grad plus loans to cover anything above $40,500 (tuition, living, etc). After 3 years I’ll be at $224,000 in direct loans. So my 4th year I will have to use grad plus loans for everything, as I will have reached the aggregate limit for medical students. I hope this helps!
 
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Pharmd2MD92 said:
It isn’t necessarily your score, but rather your history. If you have an adverse credit history (I’ll attach the link for the description of adverse history as stated by the government) you cannot get grad plus loans without a co-signer.

You can still get direct subsidized and unsibsidized loans regardless of your credit history.

Additional information: there is not maximum aggregate limit on grad plus loans. You can borrow all the way up to the cost of attendance. However, as a medical student you can only borrow up to $224,000 in direct loans or 40,500/year. Anything over those limits will be grad plus loans.

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/plus-adverse-credit.pdf

Edit:

Example: I have $105,000 in direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans. I still qualify for $119,000. Therefore, I will receive $40,500 each year until I reach $224,000. I will also need grad plus loans to cover anything above $40,500 (tuition, living, etc). After 3 years I’ll be at $224,000 in direct loans. So my 4th year I will have to use grad plus loans for everything, as I will have reached the aggregate limit for medical students. I hope this helps!
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Bless your soul :bow: this helps tremendously! I legit started getting worried like oh hell, do I need to be trying to get my score up before June?? lmao thank you for putting me at ease. Bring on the (extra) debbtttt, yyeeaahhhh
 
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Pharmd2MD92 said:
It isn’t necessarily your score, but rather your history. If you have an adverse credit history (I’ll attach the link for the description of adverse history as stated by the government) you cannot get grad plus loans without a co-signer.

You can still get direct subsidized and unsibsidized loans regardless of your credit history.

Additional information: there is not maximum aggregate limit on grad plus loans. You can borrow all the way up to the cost of attendance. However, as a medical student you can only borrow up to $224,000 in direct loans or 40,500/year. Anything over those limits will be grad plus loans.

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/plus-adverse-credit.pdf

Edit:

Example: I have $105,000 in direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans. I still qualify for $119,000. Therefore, I will receive $40,500 each year until I reach $224,000. I will also need grad plus loans to cover anything above $40,500 (tuition, living, etc). After 3 years I’ll be at $224,000 in direct loans. So my 4th year I will have to use grad plus loans for everything, as I will have reached the aggregate limit for medical students. I hope this helps!
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I think with my undergrad loans I'll just skate under the limit for the 4 years. Grad Plus have higher fees and interest.
 
Magus5454 said:
I think with my undergrad loans I'll just skate under the limit for the 4 years. Grad Plus have higher fees and interest.
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Yeah I just try to not look at my current grad plus loans. They’re around 7%? interest right now. Fortunately my wife is a pharmacist and can support us while I’m in school so I only need loans for tuition, but I’ll still graduate ~$350K in debt. :oops:
 
noisepollution said:
Bless your soul :bow: this helps tremendously! I legit started getting worried like oh hell, do I need to be trying to get my score up before June?? lmao thank you for putting me at ease. Bring on the (extra) debbtttt, yyeeaahhhh
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Haha. You’re all good. Per the financial aid office, I went ahead and applied for the grad plus loan and sent them the approval. I’m just putting my student debt blinders on until I get out of residency. At that point, I will cry every night when I think about the house I could buy with my student loans, and even worse, the interest.
 
Pharmd2MD92 said:
It isn’t necessarily your score, but rather your history. If you have an adverse credit history (I’ll attach the link for the description of adverse history as stated by the government) you cannot get grad plus loans without a co-signer.

You can still get direct subsidized and unsibsidized loans regardless of your credit history.

Additional information: there is not maximum aggregate limit on grad plus loans. You can borrow all the way up to the cost of attendance. However, as a medical student you can only borrow up to $224,000 in direct loans or 40,500/year. Anything over those limits will be grad plus loans.

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/plus-adverse-credit.pdf

Edit:

Example: I have $105,000 in direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans. I still qualify for $119,000. Therefore, I will receive $40,500 each year until I reach $224,000. I will also need grad plus loans to cover anything above $40,500 (tuition, living, etc). After 3 years I’ll be at $224,000 in direct loans. So my 4th year I will have to use grad plus loans for everything, as I will have reached the aggregate limit for medical students. I hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Thank you for the info, that answers many of my questions. However, I do have one more. Is this $40,500/year limit ($224,000 total) independent of undergraduate loans? I was under the impression that it is, but follow up comments made me question that assumption.
 
Dr.Nursekat said:
Thank you for the info, that answers many of my questions. However, I do have one more. Is this $40,500/year limit ($224,000 total) independent of undergraduate loans? I was under the impression that it is, but follow up comments made me question that assumption.
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Yes, undergraduate and graduate direct loans contribute to the $224,000. The only undergraduate loans that would not contribute would be loans like Perkins loans, etc. if you login to your student loan account, you can see how much you’ve borrowed in sub and unsub so far.
 
Pharmd2MD92 said:
Haha. You’re all good. Per the financial aid office, I went ahead and applied for the grad plus loan and sent them the approval. I’m just putting my student debt blinders on until I get out of residency. At that point, I will cry every night when I think about the house I could buy with my student loans, and even worse, the interest.
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I’m guessing I’ll probably end up doing the same and just applying for the grad plus. And yeah I can’t abuse my mental health like that by constantly checking that number lol I’ll wait till the end. Just know while you’re crying at night, I’ll be in an apartment somewhere crying with you (in spirit) hahah
 
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What are the core rotations to complete in 3rd year. And then how do 4th year rotations work, are we on our own to try and get audition rotations or does the school aid with that as well?
 
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LebronDaGoat said:
What are the core rotations to complete in 3rd year. And then how does 4th year rotations work, are we on our own to try and get audition rotations or does the school aid with that as well?
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FM, IM, gen surg, psych, OBGYN. EM is 4th year
 
kthals123 said:
Definitely not true, plenty of people who wanted to stay in KC didn't get it
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Yeah, was super surprised by this as before results were released everyone was saying that there were more than enough spots for people who wanted KC to get it. Makes me nervous.
 
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fldoctorgirl said:
Yeah, was super surprised by this as before results were released everyone was saying that there were more than enough spots for people who wanted KC to get it. Makes me nervous.
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When do we find out for the rotations?
 
fldoctorgirl said:
Yeah, was super surprised by this as before results were released everyone was saying that there were more than enough spots for people who wanted KC to get it. Makes me nervous.
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Remember, there are 165-180 KC spots and it's flexible. There are 245 people from the KC campus right now with some current fellows who are joining in. After the strawpoll results were released, a lot of people changed their mind from popular sites out of state to KC. In the strawpoll results, there were enough seats for everyone at KC and that caused a lot of people to switch to KC. The florida sites went unfilled in the 1st and 2nd round as well. People who put them as 4th got them. Then there were the Michigan sites where everyone wrote DME's and only people who wrote them got it so even if you ranked it you weren't going to get it. In the end, put what site you want to go to as #1 since the majority of people got their #1 and don't be nervous. There is also a trading period.
 
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PorkChopsOG said:
Remember, there are 165-180 KC spots and it's flexible. There are 245 people from the KC campus right now with some current fellows who are joining in. After the strawpoll results were released, a lot of people changed their mind from popular sites out of state to KC. In the strawpoll results, there were enough seats for everyone at KC and that caused a lot of people to switch to KC. The florida sites went unfilled in the 1st and 2nd round as well. People who put them as 4th got them. Then there were the Michigan sites where everyone wrote DME's and only people who wrote them got it so even if you ranked it you weren't going to get it. In the end, put what site you want to go to as #1 since the majority of people got their #1 and don't be nervous. There is also a trading period.
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Is this similar to Joplin as well?
 
Catsfordays said:
Is this similar to Joplin as well?
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Joplin and KC students' preferences are all put into the same algorithm and are ranked together. There are just certain sites that only KC can apply to (like KC) or certain sites that only Joplin can apply to (like joplin)
 
Interviewing at KC in 2 weeks? Y'all think its for a waitlist spot?
 
fldoctorgirl said:
Yeah, was super surprised by this as before results were released everyone was saying that there were more than enough spots for people who wanted KC to get it. Makes me nervous.
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The lesson I learned from the whole process is to write a DME letter (letter you submit with your rankings to explain why you particularly want your top spot) no matter how small the reasoning may seem relative to others'. I feel like you said at one point your SO moved here with you, so that's definitely something to include. And then if you don't get what you want and aren't able to trade, go ahead and write an appeal too. They said those are strictly for people with extenuating circumstances (like financial and family stuff), but I know multiple people who did not have those factors to support their appeal, and still got it approved.
 
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kthals123 said:
The lesson I learned from the whole process is to write a DME letter (letter you submit with your rankings to explain why you particularly want your top spot) no matter how small the reasoning may seem relative to others'. I feel like you said at one point your SO moved here with you, so that's definitely something to include. And then if you don't get what you want and aren't able to trade, go ahead and write an appeal too. They said those are strictly for people with extenuating circumstances (like financial and family stuff), but I know multiple people who did not have those factors to support their appeal, and still got it approved.
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Thanks! Yep, definitely would write a letter about my SO. Just hoping they care enough haha
 
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futuredoctor007007 said:
Still waiting what day did you interview and what were your stats like?
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I interviewed on Jan 24th. They said to expect to hear back about 6-8 weeks after, so I was surprised it was such a quick turnaround. I didn't preference either location over the other.
3.6 graduate school GPA, 504 MCAT, 300+ volunteer hours, 130 shadowing hours, strong and genuine emphasis on rural primary care that I was able to prove through my shadowing locations and future goals.

Hopefully you hear back soon! This sit and wait is pure torture.
 
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sigthecat610 said:
I interviewed on Jan 24th. They said to expect to hear back about 6-8 weeks after, so I was surprised it was such a quick turnaround. I didn't preference either location over the other.
3.6 graduate school GPA, 504 MCAT, 300+ volunteer hours, 130 shadowing hours, strong and genuine emphasis on rural primary care that I was able to prove through my shadowing locations and future goals.

Hopefully you hear back soon! This sit and wait is pure torture.
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It is absolute torture! What was your undergrad GPA like (please feel to PM me this information)
 
Little delayed but ya boi got admitted to the KC campus! Interviewed at Joplin end of January. Kinda surprised, also kinda nervous because I have no idea what the campus is like lol
 
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Kiwi95 said:
Little delayed but ya boi got admitted to the KC campus! Interviewed at Joplin end of January. Kinda surprised, also kinda nervous because I have no idea what the campus is like lol
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**** yeah congrats! please tell me you're the same kiwi from reddit?
 
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Kiwi95 said:
Little delayed but ya boi got admitted to the KC campus! Interviewed at Joplin end of January. Kinda surprised, also kinda nervous because I have no idea what the campus is like lol
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noisepollution said:
**** yeah congrats! please tell me you're the same kiwi from reddit?
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Kiwi got that admitted-do flair on Reddit! Can it be true? Will I get to go to school with THE kiwi?!?!
 
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Kiwi95 said:
Little delayed but ya boi got admitted to the KC campus! Interviewed at Joplin end of January. Kinda surprised, also kinda nervous because I have no idea what the campus is like lol
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Congrats future classmate Kiwi! I only lurk on the premed subreddit but I know about your legendary status there lol.
 
Kiwi95 said:
Little delayed but ya boi got admitted to the KC campus! Interviewed at Joplin end of January. Kinda surprised, also kinda nervous because I have no idea what the campus is like lol
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The KC campus is nice, and KC is a great city, but I’m from here so I might be biased.
 
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