2021-2022 A.T. Still University (Mesa, Arizona) ATSU-SOMA

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Has anyone who interviewed 11/12 heard back yet?
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guestuser5300 said:
Since the class is full, are they going to stop giving out interviews?
I have been complete since early to mid July and hear nothing at all. :/
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Wait for after 12/15. They’ll see how many accepted don’t commit and will probably invite more to come and interview.
 
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dark_chocolate_chips said:
At this stage in the cycle, do people think "accepted pending a spot" is a strong enough position to turn down other acceptance offers, if this is our top choice? From what I am reading it seems like it is, but if anybody thinks contrary I would be interested to hear
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In the email they sent me they said you are guaranteed the spot even if that means waiting until next year.
 
Just got a II! Very grateful, complete 11/24. It looks like they're accepting for alternates according to the past posts?
 
At this point in the game, would the hot spots for CHC like CA be full? I feel like a lot of the CHC's there resonates with me if accepted 🙂
 
njeg9 said:
Just received an acceptance pending a spot! I interviewed on 11/19. OOS
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Congratulations! I am a little worried on my part because I interviewed that day as well but have not received anything. Do I take it as a bad sign?
 
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Bcereus96 said:
At this point in the game, would the hot spots for CHC like CA be full? I feel like a lot of the CHC's there resonates with me if accepted 🙂
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if they are already giving out accepted pending a spot statuses, doesn't that imply all the CHCs are currently full?
 
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Bcereus96 said:
At this point in the game, would the hot spots for CHC like CA be full? I feel like a lot of the CHC's there resonates with me if accepted 🙂
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The following CHCs have a waitlist:
  • Mesa, AZ
  • Tuscon, AZ
  • Santa Maria, CA
  • Visalia, CA
  • San Ysidro, CA

The following CHCs are still open:
  • Ridgeland, SC
  • Brooklyn, NY (Platinum Group)
  • Brooklyn, NY (Silver Group)
  • Renton, WA
  • Mt. Orab, OH
  • Chicago, IL
  • Wichita Falls, TX
  • Flagstaff, AZ
  • Portland, OR
  • Alton, IL
  • Scranton, PA
  • Waianae, HI
 
YungRic said:
Congratulations! I am a little worried on my part because I interviewed that day as well but have not received anything. Do I take it as a bad sign?
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I don't think so? I don't think schools have been super linear about making acceptance calls on a specific day for one interview date.
 
njeg9 said:
I don't think so? I don't think schools have been super linear about making acceptance calls on a specific day for one interview date.
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Ok I hope so! I just called the admissions office and they said they will be finishing up today and tomorrow. So I guess I just have to wait and hope for the best.
 
II received and really excited/nervous at the same time. Long story short, I am non trad with very low stats but strong upward trend after earning a ~3.9 sGPA in my masters program with unbalanced MCAT score (above 50th percentile for BB and C/P). Basically, especially the class being full I just am nervous about the outcome for the interview...(I'm just in this weird funk thinking okay so many people have strong stats so why would they accept me?). This is one of my top choices so I just do not want to screw it up.

For those with low stats and accepted, what is your interview advice??
 
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Bcereus96 said:
II received and really excited/nervous at the same time. Long story short, I have very low stats but strong upward trend after earning a ~3.9 sGPA in my masters program with unbalanced MCAT score (above 50th percentile for BB and C/P). Basically, especially the class being full I just am nervous about the outcome for the interview...(I'm just in this weird funk thinking okay so many people have strong stats so why would they accept me?). This is one of my top choices so I just do not want to screw it up.

For those with low stats and accepted, what is your interview advice??
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First off - congrats on your II!!! You did something right that got you the II and they are fine with your stats. I know it seems like only people with high stats get IIs and As (no pun intended lol) but SDN is just a very small sliver of the whole applicant pool. It sounds like you and I are very similar - we both are "lower stats" people with strong upward trends especially in our masters with unbalanced MCATs. Cars I'm looking at you! It took me so long to get over the mindset that only high stat people get into medical school. While SOMA's 505 and 3.45 might be higher than yours, it also is for 50% of their class. I feel like most DO schools are forgiving for an unbalanced MCAT and they really look at your overall GPA trend. Never sell yourself short or feel inferior for having "lower stats!"

I'm not too sure how similar KCOM and SOMA are but I interviewed at KCOM a few weeks ago and they said they blind your MCAT score to everyone after your II. They use it in the decision to offer IIs but want adcoms to be unbiased when interviewing candidates and making decisions about acceptances. I know what I am about to say is going to make me sound extremely arrogant but please know that is not at all my intention. When I interviewed at KCOM they said they would get back to us between 2-4 weeks and I heard back in just over a week that I got accepted. I REALLY think it was because of my interviews. Like I said, I have average stats at best so I feel they really value your interview. My biggest piece of advice is know your app well and be prepared to talk about your experiences. They really just want to get to know you and see if you're a good fit. I would check out the SDN interview feedback page and use those questions to practice. If this is your first interview get a parent/sibling/SO/friend to ask you some questions so you have to say them out loud to hear what your answers sound like. If your interview is virtual wear your nice suite top but wear pajama bottoms. Make sure you're comfortable, smile a lot, and take a deep breathe. You got this!! Don't forget they already think you're qualified and like you enough to take the time to interview you. KCOM I know only interviews just over 10% of their applicants and I think that is pretty true across all schools. Now trust yourself and go kill your interview!!!!
 
Bcereus96 said:
II received and really excited/nervous at the same time. Long story short, I am non trad with very low stats but strong upward trend after earning a ~3.9 sGPA in my masters program with unbalanced MCAT score (above 50th percentile for BB and C/P). Basically, especially the class being full I just am nervous about the outcome for the interview...(I'm just in this weird funk thinking okay so many people have strong stats so why would they accept me?). This is one of my top choices so I just do not want to screw it up.

For those with low stats and accepted, what is your interview advice??
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SOMA wants to know if you are a good fit for their mission because they are highly focused on medicine for underserved communities. If you worked/volunteered in such areas, make sure you highlight that again in your interviews and show how that experience connects you to SOMA, and your future in medicine. Don’t forget to show them that your clinical experience in their CHC means a lot to you! If I can do it, you can do it too! I can’t tell you the questions I was asked but that’s how I prepared for my interview and I got in. Good luck.
 
Does anyone know when there is movement on the alternate list? I was told I was on it 12/8.

Also is being on the alternate list kind of mean it's over? How much of a shot do I still have?

I'm getting very anxious. I interviewed 11/10 and I thought it went fine, but I guess not? I have average stats and I thought my application aligned pretty well with their mission. Has anyone gotten off the alternate list?
 
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I just got the alternate status. A little bummed because I thought I meshed well with the school. But let us hope for the best!
 
For those of you who did your interview already or have one coming up soon, do you reply to the schedule email with the signed NDA? I dont believe its clear on where to send it off
 
Frijolitas said:
Send it to the general admissions email!
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Sent to general admissions! Do you expect a confirmation email of some sort?

Also, it says to have ready proof of identification....is this something they want us to email them during the interview? or flash it at the camera? I was a little confused by that
 
Bcereus96 said:
Sent to general admissions! Do you expect a confirmation email of some sort?

Also, it says to have ready proof of identification....is this something they want us to email them during the interview? or flash it at the camera? I was a little confused by that
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The proof of identification is just your ID,passport,etc shown to the camera during your interview.
 
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Hello, does anyone know the interview format on Zoom for 2022? Do we pick CHCs before or after acceptance? Thank you!
 
Just to let everyone know a couple more details about attending ATSU SOMA that relate more to 3rd and 4th year. I would have liked to know this before I attended ATSU.

1. If you get COVID-19 while rotating you have to take vacation time, instead of having the option to do online learning. This means out of the 4 weeks of vacay you get 3rd year, you have to use 10 days to quarantine. Most students use 2 of 4 weeks to study for boards, so if they got covid or already used their vacation before contracting it, they would lose additional board study time. This is not common practice for any other medical schools whose students I have spoke with.

2. If you are on an outpatient rotation and have a holiday where the clinic is closed and you are not scheduled to work, you have to complete a make up assignment for that day. This is also a thing that when talking to other students, no other medical school does (out of the students I talked to so not sure about every medical school in US). Also we do not get the day before the shelf off to study, which many other schools do give their students. But, we are given 3 personal days per year to use for whatever we need (i.e mental health day etc.)

3. During third year there are weekly assignments that you do during all core rotations that are time consuming and graded pretty carefully. These assignments are not board questions but often activities that course directors make. They can take anywhere from 1-7 hours to complete. These assignments count towards your grade. If you Honored an Eval and High passed a COMAT exam, you need at 99% average on these assignments to be able to pull up your grade to honors.

4. Some students at certain sites have to pay for core rotations and some students have to find their own electives. This is not paid for by SOMA and you take out additional loans to pay for these rotations (some students report paying 1000 for a 4 week rotation at some institutions but not sure how accurate this is so take this with a grain of salt). Electives you can find on your own or through VSAS - so this does not mean you will not be able to do electives but if a certain site does not have the elective you want, you may have to find it yourself.

5. I have seen some concern about PBL, not sure how good or bad it is because I started after this was decided. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing. SOMA's curriculum required a lot of teaching yourself before or using outside resources but this is not uncommon in medical school and you should get used to the idea of teaching yourself. This will require being proactive and learning what style works best for you (anki, concept maps, etc.)

6. OMM is generally taught pretty well at this school which is good for those wanting to do well on COMLEX. The written tests that are given by the school can be very challenging and one should expect to study accordingly.

This is just some information for those who are thinking of attending ATSU SOMA that I think would be helpful. I want to highlight that every school has positives and negatives. I think every student should be well informed about policies of a certain school, and some may not have found out about these policies until after they accepted. Congrats to all of those who have been accepted to medical school. You got this! 🙂
 
Thank you taking the time to write this. Just a few more things to add on to this:

  1. The class of 2024 recently had a meeting with one of the deans regarding board exams. The meeting consisted of:
    • The dean blowing smoke up his own ass by celebrating his success at another DO school.
    • Thirty minutes of him berating us for our poor boards performance.
    • Twenty minutes of convincing us that dedicated is unnecessary and being phased out.
    • Ten minutes trying to put a band-aid on the situation by announcing that we have free access to combank (which the majority of the class already bought).
  2. I was surprised to learn that ATSU-SOMA's performance has tanked in recent years. The school's performance in each subject (pathology, biochemistry, etc.) has been several points below the national average. In fact about 16 students have failed COMLEX 1 in the class of 2023. I believe the class size is 160 so that's about a 10% failure rate.
  3. Despite the declining board pass rate, the school is adamant about removing dedicated time. OMM, medical skills, and biostats classes extend into May which I find completely unnecessary. If our score is dropping, then why not give us the time to study for it...?

This school is starting to spiral downward. They constantly shift the blame on us and actively work against us by implementing ass-backwards policies.
 
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Has anyone gotten a rejection pre-II yet or is that reserved for later in the spring when interivew season is finished? Curious on whether no news yet means I should keep up hope. Also, last cycle I was put on pre-II hold but not this cycle so not sure if that means anything. Have submitted academic and clinical updates as well
stats: 504, cGPA 3.36 SGPA 3.22, current grad certificate GPA 4.0
 
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