2018-2019 University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNECOM)

Applying to Med School? Get In Or Your Money Back
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PopeKnope98 said:
Just got an email saying they received my application and will begin preliminary review. And that the review can take up to 2 weeks. But I haven’t been invited to pay the fee yet?

Do they review our apps before sending out a secondary invite?
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Yes they review your application before inviting you to pay for the secondary. The secondary was filled out when you submitted a primary for the school.
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Just received an email saying my app is complete and ready for review!
 
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Members don't see this ad :)
I got an email saying that I am not invited for a supplemental payment yet, but I may be invited later in the cycle. Is this a "hold", or a soft rejection? Feeling pretty bumped but it's better than a pre-secondary rejection.
 
Hopefully we'll get some interview invites next week considering it'll be Aug 1 :bow:
 
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DameJulie said:
I got an email saying that I am not invited for a supplemental payment yet, but I may be invited later in the cycle. Is this a "hold", or a soft rejection? Feeling pretty bumped but it's better than a pre-secondary rejection.
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I would assume it’s a hold.. what are your stats?
 
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kc887 said:
Tbh it was a gut feeling that UNECOM would be the school for me, supported by an impressive track record for producing good doctors and a really good curriculum. Walking around a school campus (I went to a middle-of-nowhere liberal arts school so I felt right at home), talking to faculty who genuinely want you to succeed, and interacting with students who are so uniformly enthusiastic about the school and promote a family-like environment convinced me to take the plunge.

Not sure what you mean specifically by 'special opportunities' but I'll say a couple of highlights:

The anatomy program here is really notable (some people say 'it's one of the best in the country'), as we have a full year of anatomy. So that's 6 hrs of donor (cadaver) lab, 2 hrs of lecture, 2 hrs of radio, and 2 hrs of histo. each week. My friends from other MD and DO schools have significantly less anatomy exposure, ranging from a couple of weeks of anatomy (including radio and histo), to just one semester. Some schools don't even have donor labs, only virtual ones. This is apparently backed by great board scores (mid to high 90s first pass rate I think for both USMLE and COMLEX in a class ~180 students) especially on the anatomy sections. This extensive knowledge is great because it usually ties in well with medical knowledge and clinical skills.

The school spends a large amount of time teaching OMM and clinical skills. Combined, you're looking at around 6 hrs per week. You're highly encouraged to practice outside of school because every block (an integrated section of topics) you have a week of exams that covers all of the OMM, clinical skills, anatomy, radio, histo, and medical knowledge you learned in that block, with some throwbacks too. I was pleasantly surprised when a patient complimented my clinical skills once during a preceptorship (shadowing as a medical student), so I'm happy to vouch for their quality.

The school wants to foster a collaborative environment, not one that is aggressively competitive and cutthroat. They do their best to emphasize that understanding and knowing how to use the material matters more than getting a good grade. On day one, you're assigned to both a CBL (case-based learning) group with 4-5 other people, and a donor group with 2-3 other people. These are not only your first study groups, but also an easy opportunity to make new friends. Having a good social life is essential for medical school, so I'm really glad that the school provides this resource. I'm still great friends with the people in both of my groups to this day.

Hope that helps, and let us know if you have other questions.
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Hi! Thank you for this awesome post! I really want to apply, but I am doubting my chances. I have a 3.59 gpa and 3.45 science gpa with a 501 on the MCAT. With the class avg MCAT being 505, do you think that I have a chance of getting in?
 
Finally got the invite to pay the supplemental fee today
 
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Do you think that answering essay questions with 1500 characters out of 2500 will be good??
 
Good luck everyone with the cycle. Current OMS-1 here, happy to answer any questions you have.
 
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Octossy said:
Good luck everyone with the cycle. Current OMS-1 here, happy to answer any questions you have.
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Hi, do you know the approximate time frame when you paid your supplemental app to when you received the II?
 
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Takeshiwarrior said:
Hi, do you know the approximate time frame when you paid your supplemental app to when you received the II?
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Here's my entire timeframe if you were curious: My app was received on morning of July 28th, and I got the supp fee email in the afternoon of the same day. App complete on 08/02 and II on the 22nd of the same month. Interviewed early October and was accepted mid-Oct. Hope that helps!
 
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It seems there is a heavy emphasis on having connections to the school in their preliminary questions. Do you think it's still worth it to apply without a personal connection?
 
seattle555 said:
It seems there is a heavy emphasis on having connections to the school in their preliminary questions. Do you think it's still worth it to apply without a personal connection?
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I think it depends. I had zero connection to this school or Maine or the entire New England area but I still got in fairly early in the cycle.
 
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Octossy said:
I think it depends. I had zero connection to this school or Maine or the entire New England area but I still got in fairly early in the cycle.
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What were your stats if you don't mind?
 
seattle555 said:
It seems there is a heavy emphasis on having connections to the school in their preliminary questions. Do you think it's still worth it to apply without a personal connection?
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I think you know the answer to this question. Are you interested in this school? Are you interested in interviewing at this school should they be interested in interviewing you? The key is - if you're not interested in the school but you're interested in interviewing at the school, you need to be able to fake an interest in the school. And show you're a good fit. In any case, you aren't invited to pay until they have deemed you worthy, so it's actually a safe bet! Just a time investment! EDIT: actually...I wonder what they are screening for at that point....

I have submitted many primaries to many schools only to realize - (1) I don't want to be there even if I can get my medical degree there or (2) I'm 1000% sure they have no interest in my GPA/MCAT. I know people (okay...n<5) who have dropped out of med school or pharm school because they didn't like where they were. Meanwhile, the rest of us are like....uh, that spot could have gone to me.

Or you can spend some time learning about the school. I'm sure other schools do this too, but I am actually interested in UNECOM and I found that their staff went above and beyond to accommodate my needs. If you can't go in person, at least make the first step of asking the recruitment people to get in touch with a student who is interested in the same weird things you're interested in, medically speaking. I have heard they have a list of students who have agreed to be contacted. If you don't currently have a personal connection, go make/ask for one.

I'm from Seattle as well. So, if you get in and I don't, I'll be as fresh and salty as Puget Sound!
 
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Rn2MD93 said:
Is the Selective Community Health rotation still a requirement in year 3? Because if that's the case, it screws up your away rotations timeline. There is no way you can get in your LORs in ERAS from your aways in time. Please correct me if I am wrong.
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Yes, it is. Supposedly it used to be a 4th year rotation until there were complaints about it being 4th year so they shifted it to the 3rd year. It is 4 weeks long but part of a 2 week block, so you have those two weeks to do what you will. There is an option to do your community selective during the July between 2nd and 3rd year (at least there was just a couple of years ago), as long as you have your passing COMLEX score in by then. That usually means taking it by the end of the 1st week of June. This way you might be able to do a rotation elsewhere.

TBH, its very feasible to get good LORs from your 3rd year site, especially if you work well with the attendings. Same with that 2 week block.
 
Can anyone give me some advice on the secondary. I am a reapplicant and one of my answers for the secondary hasn't really changed much (the one about a challenge and how I overcame it). Is it okay to reuse most of it or do I need to write a brand new one? It's just that this particular challenge is so close to my heart, I feel like not using it doesn't really tell my story properly...
 
Question about the primary application:

How did you guys answer this question about how many DO and MD schools I am applying to this cycle?
I feel like this is a trick question :rolleyes:
 
NABIHANA said:
Question about the primary application:

How did you guys answer this question about how many DO and MD schools I am applying to this cycle?
I feel like this is a trick question :rolleyes:
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I was just honest. We are all encouraged to apply broadly. I was invited to complete a secondary after the initial review so I really don’t think they care.
 
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c_yang said:
Would you be able to give some pros and cons of the school?
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So this is a tricky question to answer because a pro for me could be a con for you and everyone else. For instance, we have one year of anatomy instead of 2 months like all other schools, this may or may not be a pro for you. It's probably easier for me to answer if you have any specific things that you wanna know.
 
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One pro is the Maine LOBSTAH. In all seriousness though, hoping for the second wave of IIs tomorrow. :shifty:
 
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c_yang said:
Would you be able to give some pros and cons of the school?
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Octossy said:
So this is a tricky question to answer because a pro for me could be a con for you and everyone else. For instance, we have one year of anatomy instead of 2 months like all other schools, this may or may not be a pro for you. It's probably easier for me to answer if you have any specific things that you wanna know.
Click to expand...

Here are some pros I can think of:

1) Emphasis on clinical skills and assessments: The school does a great job at integrating the anatomy, clinical labs, and OMM together to improve your clinical skills and assessment. You have lots of opportunity to practice, and you get very comfortable approaching a patient to attempt a clinical assessment.
2) The year-long anatomy is, personally, a plus. As said before, the anatomy is integrated with the clinical skills and OMM, and they do their best to integrate with the medical knowledge too. As a second year, one technique we use to think of a differential diagnosis is to think of what would the imaging look like for the area of dysfunction? Since we know the anatomy so well, it's not that hard to recall the structures in the area and propose diagnoses to consider. The familiarity with the anatomy, along with the high emphasis on imaging and histology, really helps in the long term, imo. Apparently really helps on the boards too, which the school has great stats for both COMLEX and USMLE.
3) Family-like environment: Everyone here cares. It's not hard to find friends. On day one you'll be put in 2 study groups, one for medical knowledge and another for your anatomy lab. Obviously you don't have to be friends, you need to at least work with them for the rest of the year, but it's really nice for the school to give you those opportunities to find people you can connect with. Med school is hard, and objectively terrible, so a healthy social life is almost essential to help you get through it. The school is a tight-knit community, and each class is a large, (in some ways dysfunctional) family. UNECOM students really like UNECOM, and they show that.

Here are some cons I can think of:

1) Lots of change happens at the school. I wouldn't label them as dramatic curriculum changes, but a combination of a lot of small curriculum and quality-of-life changes that are notable. For example, the Class of 2021 is the first year that the medical knowledge class adopted the Exceeds/Meets/ Needs Improvement/Unstatisfactory competency sub grades that was already used in the anatomy/clinical skills section, and an enforced mandatory attendance policy for 2nd years. The Class of 2022 is the first year that they have to take a Histology, Embryology, Radiology, Pathophysiology and Exam Studies (HERPES; yes, the name is terrible), on top of the exams they are already taking. Some of these changes are good, others are much more debatable. If you enroll here, there is a good chance that the school will change something else that none of the current students have any experience with. I'm personally glad that the school is willing to change, but sometimes the changes don't always follow through as intended.
2) No clinical rotations near the school. The closest clinical rotation during your 3rd year from school is Lewiston, which requires a 2 hr round trip. The vast majority of students move away from school for their clinical rotations, which are focused in the New England area, and nothing farther south than NY. The quality at each of these locations is really good, it just lacks in location diversity imo. I personally think it is unfortunate there aren't more sites in Maine closer to campus like in Portland, but it's only for a year, and then 4th year you can go wherever you want.

Hope that helps! And feel free to ask for something more specific!
 
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kc887 said:
Here are some pros I can think of:

1) Emphasis on clinical skills and assessments: The school does a great job at integrating the anatomy, clinical labs, and OMM together to improve your clinical skills and assessment. You have lots of opportunity to practice, and you get very comfortable approaching a patient to attempt a clinical assessment.
2) The year-long anatomy is, personally, a plus. As said before, the anatomy is integrated with the clinical skills and OMM, and they do their best to integrate with the medical knowledge too. As a second year, one technique we use to think of a differential diagnosis is to think of what would the imaging look like for the area of dysfunction? Since we know the anatomy so well, it's not that hard to recall the structures in the area and propose diagnoses to consider. The familiarity with the anatomy, along with the high emphasis on imaging and histology, really helps in the long term, imo. Apparently really helps on the boards too, which the school has great stats for both COMLEX and USMLE.
3) Family-like environment: Everyone here cares. It's not hard to find friends. On day one you'll be put in 2 study groups, one for medical knowledge and another for your anatomy lab. Obviously you don't have to be friends, you need to at least work with them for the rest of the year, but it's really nice for the school to give you those opportunities to find people you can connect with. Med school is hard, and objectively terrible, so a healthy social life is almost essential to help you get through it. The school is a tight-knit community, and each class is a large, (in some ways dysfunctional) family. UNECOM students really like UNECOM, and they show that.

Here are some cons I can think of:

1) Lots of change happens at the school. I wouldn't label them as dramatic curriculum changes, but a combination of a lot of small curriculum and quality-of-life changes that are notable. For example, the Class of 2021 is the first year that the medical knowledge class adopted the Exceeds/Meets/ Needs Improvement/Unstatisfactory competency sub grades that was already used in the anatomy/clinical skills section, and an enforced mandatory attendance policy for 2nd years. The Class of 2022 is the first year that they have to take a Histology, Embryology, Radiology, Pathophysiology and Exam Studies (HERPES; yes, the name is terrible), on top of the exams they are already taking. Some of these changes are good, others are much more debatable. If you enroll here, there is a good chance that the school will change something else that none of the current students have any experience with. I'm personally glad that the school is willing to change, but sometimes the changes don't always follow through as intended.
2) No clinical rotations near the school. The closest clinical rotation during your 3rd year from school is Lewiston, which requires a 2 hr round trip. The vast majority of students move away from school for their clinical rotations, which are focused in the New England area, and nothing farther south than NY. The quality at each of these locations is really good, it just lacks in location diversity imo. I personally think it is unfortunate there aren't more sites in Maine closer to campus like in Portland, but it's only for a year, and then 4th year you can go wherever you want.

Hope that helps! And feel free to ask for something more specific!
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HERPES today was so much different than we thought :( I guess it is a good thing that they are changing as focusing on HERPES will help us in the long run when it comes to boards.
 
II just now!
 
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Takeshiwarrior said:
Congrats! When we’re you complete? I’m so nervous, been complete since 7/23 and nothing yet. Hope for good news soon!
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Complete 07/23 as well! Be patient! Seems like Friday's are the days they send them out
 
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