2024-2025 Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences (Kansas City) KCU-COM

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Calypsoo said:
Looking for some advice pwease 😢

I haven't submitted an app yet, got verified like last week ... it seems like KCU is pretty quick with filling out its class. Should I still send in a primary/ secondary in? My LM is 61 and I'm also Canadian 🙁
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It’s now or never.
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Haven’t had my interview scheduled yet due to no available dates…getting kinda nervous if they’re already filling a lot of seats 😢
 
infinitemusix said:
Haven’t had my interview scheduled yet due to no available dates…getting kinda nervous if they’re already filling a lot of seats 😢
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If it helps a physician I work with attended KCU. They missed their interview invite email in spam and did not interview until VERY late and got in and are currently post-fellowship killing it!
 
infinitemusix said:
Haven’t had my interview scheduled yet due to no available dates…getting kinda nervous if they’re already filling a lot of seats 😢
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There had many interviews in January and even after that. I know a handful of students who were accepted in May-June. It's mentally exhausting to wait but from my experience there will be spots that open up due to students deciding to go elsewhere.
 
MS7733 said:
For rotations, how likely is it that a KCU Joplin student would be able to do 3rd year rotations in KC? Besides KC and Joplin, how are the other rotation sites regarded? What are some of the best and worst? Thanks!
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It's very likely. The majority of rotation spots are in KC. Everybody has a personal opinion about the rotation sites, I wouldn't base your decision on opinions but rather where you want to live and what kind of education you want. When the time comes, you will get all the info you need on the different sites. Things change year to year - definitely not something to worry about until second year.
 
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MS7733 said:
For rotations, how likely is it that a KCU Joplin student would be able to do 3rd year rotations in KC? Besides KC and Joplin, how are the other rotation sites regarded? What are some of the best and worst? Thanks!
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They removed the requirement a few years ago. Prior to 2021 KC spots were open to KC students only and Joplin spots to Joplin. They no longer do that so Any student can go anywhere. You will rank your list of locations like you were during the match in 4th year, and then you get matched somewhere. No one knows how it works, but they say 90% of students get their top 3 choices. So if you want somewhere competitive (Florida, Colorado, Michigan, Cali), you may not get it. Keep in mind one issue that I know of is at many palces, your hospital might not be where you live. I have had peers who have had to commute 1 hour each way every day to go to rotations during some months.
 
MS7733 said:
For anyone who knows, how would research opportunities differ between the two campuses? KCU-COM has a great looking match list, is matching into competitive specialties even between the two campuses?
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The great matches are the work of the students, not the work of the school. These students will succeed anywhere and have great matches. One thing to note when you look through the data, you may see the phrase "Placement Rate". That is not the match rate. The placement rate includes all the people who have matched, soaped, taken transitional years, research years, etc. It is a very misleading number because that is not the "Match Rate." KCU does not publish the true match rate (which is the students who do not have to SOAP or anything), but that may be something you may want to inquire about.
 
weekendwarrior92 said:
The great matches are the work of the students, not the work of the school. These students will succeed anywhere and have great matches. One thing to note when you look through the data, you may see the phrase "Placement Rate". That is not the match rate. The placement rate includes all the people who have matched, soaped, taken transitional years, research years, etc. It is a very misleading number because that is not the "Match Rate." KCU does not publish the true match rate (which is the students who do not have to SOAP or anything), but that may be something you may want to inquire about.
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So would you characterize KCU as a place with more opportunities for success compared to other DO schools? Or are the great matches indicative of hardworking students that are not attending other DO programs? In other words, are you saying that KCU only matches better because it has better students? Thanks!
 
Not related to the current thread but, to the international students currently enrolled at KCU How have you been able to find an American Citizen as a cosigner for loans?As an international student who might be in such a situation soon, I'm wondering how I will be able to find one.
 
MS7733 said:
So would you characterize KCU as a place with more opportunities for success compared to other DO schools? Or are the great matches indicative of hardworking students that are not attending other DO programs? In other words, are you saying that KCU only matches better because it has better students? Thanks!
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IMO -where you match has little to do with what school you attend and everything to do with how much effort you're willing to put in to matching a top program. Your residency application consists of academic performance, scholarly activities, extracurriculars, LORs, and interviews - the only aspect of those that a school can contribute to is research and volunteerism opportunities, but you can get those with or without the schools help. If you want to be a neurosurgeon, where you go to school isn't going to make that happen - you'd need to do research in the field, volunteer with stroke victims, rotate and interview at neurosurgery programs, etc.
If you're looking to measure schools against each other I recommend focusing on board pass rates, as that is more of an indicator of what kind of academic success you may have there. You will be hard pressed to see me say anything negative about KCU, however, the board pass rates have been declining year to year at KCU and my class had the lowest Level 1 pass rate in decades - that's a red flag. I'd pick a school with a long history of high pass rates over one with good match stats any day 'cause you will not be matching well if you can't pass your boards.
 
MS7733 said:
So would you characterize KCU as a place with more opportunities for success compared to other DO schools? Or are the great matches indicative of hardworking students that are not attending other DO programs? In other words, are you saying that KCU only matches better because it has better students? Thanks!
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What DoctorSparkles said. KCU is a medical school that has over 100 years of history, so there are a lot of practicing alumni which can make the name more recognized. That said, a self driven student will succeed anywhere, so I suppose if you wanted to take that as we get better students, you can. But also keep in mind that not every KCU student graduates. This is not meant to scare you as this will happen at every school. We, like other schools, have our fair share of great students. What you put in is what you get out.

Like Doctor Sparkles also mentioned, I think board passing rates is a huge indicator. I have my issues with KCU, but also, keep in mind that the grass is not greener elsewhere. The boards pass rate is an alarming red flag. In a span of 5 years the school went from a 98% to almost an 88% boards pass rate. And i believe that the pass rate for this most recent class is just about the same at around 88-89%. Anomalies do happen, but when you trend downward for years with no signs of rebound, it does become concerning.
 
If you interview later in the cycle, do you have a higher chance of getting rejected? My interview is on 1/27/2025
 
Is the deposit actually 3k I notice there is a 1.5k due by the December deadline but ~1 month later is another 1.5k deposit aswell?
 
I got accepted into KCU Joplin, but I’m [emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6]]]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]][emoji[emoji[emoji6]][emoji[emoji6][emoji6]]]]]]]% sure I picked kcu KC, do I have to get accepted into both or since I got into Joplin I can’t go to KC
 
Hello! I have an interview with KCU coming up and I was wondering how people prepared for the interview and overall advice for the interview? Any questions that felt like a curveball? I know SDN has a page with some of the questions, but I have been hearing those questions are outdated, was that anyone else's experience as well? Any advice is appreciated! This is one of my top choices :')
 
MxgicAbby=u said:
sure I picked kcu KC, do I have to get accepted into both or since I got into Joplin I can’t go to KC
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From my understanding if you get into a specific campus, you are accepted to that campus and you cannot change the campus location.
 
Just wanted to chime in about the deposit. Its brutal and I hate that they have a high deposit, but they do like to fill up their class sooner than later so making sure people are committed with a deposit is their way of doing that. I will say, you do get the deposit back. I thought it would be applied to my tuition but we got it back just after orientation if I am remembering correctly. OMS1 here.
 
Justify2018 said:
From my understanding if you get into a specific campus, you are accepted to that campus and you cannot change the campus location.
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I think if you indicated KC in your primary app then you should let them know. Just check your accomas before to see if you had picked. From my understanding if you indicated a specific campus you are only considered for said campus, at least that’s what I was told on my interview day, and if they gave you the other campus I feel like that could potentially be an error on their part and doesn’t hurt to ask for a clarification
 
Withdrawing my acceptance here! Was scheduled to go to the Joplin campus, but another school was a better fit for me. Loved this interview... the school is incredible!
 
kcubonewizard said:
Yes, I'm a 3rd year in KC
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How long do you get for dedicated? What percent of students are able to stay in KC for clerkships? Do you feel supported in making your own 4th year schedule? How long is summer break between 1st and 2nd year? Does the school provide any 3rd party resources? Is the culture of the class more collaborative or competitive? What is your honest opinion of the school/curriculum?
 
greedysneeze said:
How long do you get for dedicated? What percent of students are able to stay in KC for clerkships? Do you feel supported in making your own 4th year schedule? How long is summer break between 1st and 2nd year? Does the school provide any 3rd party resources? Is the culture of the class more collaborative or competitive? What is your honest opinion of the school/curriculum?
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- Dedicated is roughly 2.5 months (May through mid-June).
- There's no exact percentage I can give but typically 90% of students get one of their top 3 choices of sites and there are 3 KC sites so the chances are high. The majority of spots are in KC so the majority of students end up there.
- We get a lot of guidance from the clinical clerkship and residency placement team for 4th year, but you have to schedule all your rotations yourself, they don't help with that.
- Summer between 1st and 2nd year is 2 months
- The school provides Boards & Beyond and Truelearn + Uworld for board prep
- The culture is generally collaborative, we hope to keep it that way but every class is different
- I am very happy with my decision to attend KCU and would highly recommend it. The curriculum is rigorous but does prepare you for boards pretty well
 
DoctorSparkles said:
- Dedicated is roughly 2.5 months (May through mid-June).
- There's no exact percentage I can give but typically 90% of students get one of their top 3 choices of sites and there are 3 KC sites so the chances are high. The majority of spots are in KC so the majority of students end up there.
- We get a lot of guidance from the clinical clerkship and residency placement team for 4th year, but you have to schedule all your rotations yourself, they don't help with that.
- Summer between 1st and 2nd year is 2 months
- The school provides Boards & Beyond and Truelearn + Uworld for board prep
- The culture is generally collaborative, we hope to keep it that way but every class is different
- I am very happy with my decision to attend KCU and would highly recommend it. The curriculum is rigorous but does prepare you for boards pretty well
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thank you queen
 
To current med students, do y'all have a laptop you recommend for med school? Is just an ipad okay to get through?
 
For any current students, how useful are the in-house residences?
 
greedysneeze said:
How long do you get for dedicated? What percent of students are able to stay in KC for clerkships? Do you feel supported in making your own 4th year schedule? How long is summer break between 1st and 2nd year? Does the school provide any 3rd party resources? Is the culture of the class more collaborative or competitive? What is your honest opinion of the school/curriculum?
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Maybe I'm jaded but to offer a different perspective, I don't really feel supported in making my own 4th year schedule lol. They had us go to some required zoom meeting about 4th year a few weeks ago and the first point they made was basically "we will support you but you will do everything yourself" so I guess I don't know what support means in that context. They sure don't mind charging $100k or whatever it is in tuition for 4th year though. This is a problem at a lot of DO schools though.

The curriculum is fine I guess. There's a little too much busy work and hand-holding at certain times. Any school with in-house exams is gonna have its fair share of being tested on random crap that isn't on boards and KCU is no different. The boards pass rate has apparently been going down for the past few years so something isn't quite right, but I have no idea what it is. I personally think that I prepared myself well for boards and that if I listened to the school's advice of focusing on lecture content over 3rd party then I could've been screwed. Overall though it's worth considering that KCU is pass/fail (well sort of, there are internal rankings based on quartile) and has less OMM than a lot of other DO schools. In general I think they do a decent job of respecting your time in the first 2 years in terms of not making you go to a bunch of required stuff. I would still choose to attend KCU over most other DO schools.
 
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