Advice needed: DO Interview at a school I'm not thrilled about.

[JessyBee]

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Update: Just wanted to thank everyone for their advice. I am going to the interview and am starting to get a bit excited about the opportunity! Thanks for being a great network of folks and helping me see the light!


Hey everyone, long time lurker, then something miraculous happened.

Backstory: I am a licensed Medical Laboratory Scientist, 30 years old, non-traditional applicant who was pretty ignorant to how extremely difficult and competitive getting into med school is. I have a 499 MCAT, 3.4 Gpa, 4.0 post-bac (at UCF college of medicine), 50 total volunteering hours and 35 total shadowing hours (try to contain your laughter). My strength is a ton of research hours, including a publication, I have years and years of clinical experience and am a licensed Medical professional. My passion and dream is pathology.
I applied to 17 MD and 5 DO. When February rolled around and I had no interviews I went back to my alumnus and met with a premed advisor. She was immensely helpful and we built a great plan for the next year to increase my volunteering hours, MCAT score and shadowing hours. Ive been putting all the gears into motion and am really excited about tackling the next year and reapplying in 2019.

Then I got an interview invitation from Burrell COM. This app was a little frustrating, being ignorant to what being a new school could mean (I thought the newer, the better) I filled out the secondary and paid the fee. Then at the submit section they mention that you can't get Federal loans yet due to their pre-accred status. I emailed and asked if I could have the secondary fee back since I hadn't submitted yet and they respectively said no. So, I figured I'd just apply.

Now I have an II and am really hesitant to accept. Here are my concerns:

Accreditation status: how likely is it that they would lose accreditation?

New school: no COMLEX or residency match data. Is this something I should be concerned about? Anyway to be confident I'll get a good education?

3rd and 4th year clerkship: I heard the students have to set all these up by finding physicians and just ask? Is this true? Or that the norm? Or will they assign my clerkships? I did email about this, waiting on a response.

Personal loans to pay for the first year: I'm not that crazy about the idea, but how bad can a personal loan be?

Location: my research shows the location isn't actually too terrible. It's a small town but beautiful. Anyone have any experience?

Going to an interview, rejecting acceptance and applying again next year looks bad: Right? I was thinking I could say that after putting a lot of thought into it, I was uncomfortable with personal loans and wanted to wait for federal.

Private for profit: I really didn't think anything of this, but it seems like a bad thing? Why?

Their newness means a lack of residency and research opportunities because they don't have great relationships with surrounding medical facilities: since no class has gone through the research or residency portion of the program, it's hard to say what opportunities I'll have in these areas.

Specialty: what could I hope to specialize in with this kind of education? Is pathology, ME, or ER physician a pipe dream as a DO/ as a DO from this school?
I'm going to keep seeing what I can figure out about clerkships and residencies. As far as residency is concerned, most I know is that I can get into any one I want, just as a DO I may not be their preference. How much are my chances more hindered with an education from a new school?

Better luck next year since I'll bolster not app this year: unless turning down my only interview would look really bad. How would other schools know?

I recognize that a lot of this is personal preference, but I'm at a loss and could use any advice.

Thanks guys!

 

[fourandtwo]

You should take the interview

 

[JessyBee]

You should take the interview

You think so? Any thoughts or responses to my concerns to back up your opinion?

 

[pedspedspeds18]

Accreditation status: how likely is it that they would lose accreditation?
Anyone can speculate on this, no one can be 100% certain. But if you go on the interview, I'm sure the program will discuss this situation.

New school: no COMLEX or residency match data. Is this something I should be concerned about? Anyway to be confident I'll get a good education?
See answer to first question. Research where they plan to do rotations and see what kind of residency programs those institutions offer.

3rd and 4th year clerkship: I heard the students have to set all these up by finding physicians and just ask? Is this true? Or that the norm? Or will they assign my clerkships? I did email about this, waiting on a response.
That would be very concerning if that was the situation for the CORE rotations. However, for electives, it would not be a big deal. Lots of schools have something similar for elective rotations.

Personal loans to pay for the first year: I'm not that crazy about the idea, but how bad can a personal loan be?
Discover student loans offers reasonable interest rates to medical professionals. Loans are loans are loans. Some suck more than others but choosing medical school means choosing student debt unfortunately.

Location: my research shows the location isn't actually too terrible. It's a small town but beautiful. Anyone have any experience?
No input on the location, never been there but if you looked into it and liked it then the next step would be to spend some time there before/after the interview and get a better feel.

Going to an interview, rejecting acceptance and applying again next year looks bad: Right? I was thinking I could say that after putting a lot of thought into it, I was uncomfortable with personal loans and wanted to wait for federal.
It's not an ideal situation, but you could attribute it to being hesitant about their accreditation status as well.

Private for profit: I really didn't think anything of this, but it seems like a bad thing? Why?
*shrugs*

Their newness means a lack of residency and research opportunities because they don't have great relationships with surrounding medical facilities: since no class has gone through the research or residency portion of the program, it's hard to say what opportunities I'll have in these areas.

Specialty: what could I hope to specialize in with this kind of education? Is pathology, ME, or ER physician a pipe dream as a DO/ as a DO from this school?
I'm going to keep seeing what I can figure out about clerkships and residencies. As far as residency is concerned, most I know is that I can get into any one I want, just as a DO I may not be their preference. How much are my chances more hindered with an education from a new school?
I think that being from an older school may help but not significantly. DO students tend to be looked at more from the USMLE/COMLEX scores perspective than the actual institution attended

Better luck next year since I'll bolster not app this year: unless turning down my only interview would look really bad. How would other schools know?

I recognize that a lot of this is personal preference, but I'm at a loss and could use any advice.

Thanks guys!

OMS4, matched pediatrics. I've given my $0.02 in the quote.

In summary, there's no guarantee that you'll be offered any interviews next season. None of us can know how much your application will improve because we don't know you. If I were you, I would take the interview and then see if you're even accepted. Because if you aren't, then at least you got interview practice and don't have to worry about even making a decision in regards to attending the school. Best of luck!

 

[Mr. Babe]

BCOM is brand new and that has turned a lot of people away. I interviewed there and was pleasantly surprised. It is honestly a great school and has great facilities. Also, you have access to NMSU so you get a free pass to their facilities and sporting events. The campus itself is top-notch and has everything you would need. The interview itself was very conversational and not scary at all. They go over all the options for loans and I feel like there were 3 different options that they went over. Finding a loan won be a huge issue. In terms of them being for-profit, they go over this in depth during the interview informational session. Las Cruces isn bad at all. The city is big and has everything you could ever need in terms of restaurants and shopping. It is just a very hot place so not much weather change. Their accredidation status is not in jeopardy so don't worry much about that. I have heard some things about faculty issues though and political drama type stuff, but students do not seem to care that much. Do some research, and definitely go to the interview because any interview is a chance.

 

[JessyBee]

BCOM is brand new and that has turned a lot of people away. I interviewed there and was pleasantly surprised. It is honestly a great school and has great facilities. Also, you have access to NMSU so you get a free pass to their facilities and sporting events. The campus itself is top-notch and has everything you would need. The interview itself was very conversational and not scary at all. They go over all the options for loans and I feel like there were 3 different options that they went over. Finding a loan won be a huge issue. In terms of them being for-profit, they go over this in depth during the interview informational session. Las Cruces isn bad at all. The city is big and has everything you could ever need in terms of restaurants and shopping. It is just a very hot place so not much weather change. Their accredidation status is not in jeopardy so don't worry much about that. I have heard some things about faculty issues though and political drama type stuff, but students do not seem to care that much. Do some research, and definitely go to the interview because any interview is a chance.

Thanks for the reply! Can you speak at all to their 3rd and 4th year clerkships? I read some where on here that the students have to figure all that out themselves.
Also, any thoughts on if Id have a hard time getting a residency mbein a graduate from BCOM? Probably impossible to answer, but what do you think? And where did you end up going if not BCOM?

Thanks again!

 

[JessyBee]

OMS4, matched pediatrics. I've given my $0.02 in the quote.

In summary, there's no guarantee that you'll be offered any interviews next season. None of us can know how much your application will improve because we don't know you. If I were you, I would take the interview and then see if you're even accepted. Because if you aren't, then at least you got interview practice and don't have to worry about even making a decision in regards to attending the school. Best of luck!

Thank you so much for the advice!

 

[bears1992]

Schools don't ask about if you've ever turned down an interview and I don't think there's anyway for schools to find out. Turning down a post interview acceptance is a different story. A 3.4 GPA and 499 MCAT is really going to limit you to applying to newer DO schools. If you turn down this interview, you need to be prepared to retake the MCAT. If you reapply next year, you might not get anything without raising your MCAT.

I applied to BCOM early this cycle and I didn't think it was a bad school at all. RVU in Colorado is a new for-profit DO school and they have fantastic board scores, so I don't think a new for profit DO school equates to poor education at all.

 

[Goro]

Hey everyone, long time lurker, then something miraculous happened.

Backstory: I am a licensed Medical Laboratory Scientist, 30 years old, non-traditional applicant who was pretty ignorant to how extremely difficult and competitive getting into med school is. I have a 499 MCAT, 3.4 Gpa, 4.0 post-bac (at UCF college of medicine), 50 total volunteering hours and 35 total shadowing hours (try to contain your laughter). My strength is a ton of research hours, including a publication, I have years and years of clinical experience and am a licensed Medical professional. My passion and dream is pathology.
I applied to 17 MD and 5 DO. When February rolled around and I had no interviews I went back to my alumnus and met with a premed advisor. She was immensely helpful and we built a great plan for the next year to increase my volunteering hours, MCAT score and shadowing hours. Ive been putting all the gears into motion and am really excited about tackling the next year and reapplying in 2019.

Then I got an interview invitation from Burrell COM. This app was a little frustrating, being ignorant to what being a new school could mean (I thought the newer, the better) I filled out the secondary and paid the fee. Then at the submit section they mention that you can't get Federal loans yet due to their pre-accred status. I emailed and asked if I could have the secondary fee back since I hadn't submitted yet and they respectively said no. So, I figured I'd just apply.

Now I have an II and am really hesitant to accept. Here are my concerns:

Accreditation status: how likely is it that they would lose accreditation?

New school: no COMLEX or residency match data. Is this something I should be concerned about? Anyway to be confident I'll get a good education?

3rd and 4th year clerkship: I heard the students have to set all these up by finding physicians and just ask? Is this true? Or that the norm? Or will they assign my clerkships? I did email about this, waiting on a response.

Personal loans to pay for the first year: I'm not that crazy about the idea, but how bad can a personal loan be?

Location: my research shows the location isn't actually too terrible. It's a small town but beautiful. Anyone have any experience?

Going to an interview, rejecting acceptance and applying again next year looks bad: Right? I was thinking I could say that after putting a lot of thought into it, I was uncomfortable with personal loans and wanted to wait for federal.

Private for profit: I really didn't think anything of this, but it seems like a bad thing? Why?

Their newness means a lack of residency and research opportunities because they don't have great relationships with surrounding medical facilities: since no class has gone through the research or residency portion of the program, it's hard to say what opportunities I'll have in these areas.

Specialty: what could I hope to specialize in with this kind of education? Is pathology, ME, or ER physician a pipe dream as a DO/ as a DO from this school?
I'm going to keep seeing what I can figure out about clerkships and residencies. As far as residency is concerned, most I know is that I can get into any one I want, just as a DO I may not be their preference. How much are my chances more hindered with an education from a new school?

Better luck next year since I'll bolster not app this year: unless turning down my only interview would look really bad. How would other schools know?

I recognize that a lot of this is personal preference, but I'm at a loss and could use any advice.

Thanks guys!

Beggars can't be choosy. Take the interview. Path and ER are DO friendly. Don't know what you mean by ME.

As a teaching moment, having a 499 MCAT score meant that your MD apps were all donations.

We have no way of knowing if you turn down IIs or accepts. We're not omniscient.

 

[Mr. Babe]

Thanks for the reply! Can you speak at all to their 3rd and 4th year clerkships? I read some where on here that the students have to figure all that out themselves.
Also, any thoughts on if Id have a hard time getting a residency mbein a graduate from BCOM? Probably impossible to answer, but what do you think? And where did you end up going if not BCOM?

Thanks again!

That's hard to pin down because their system isn't estabished. They haven't graduated a single class yet so they will have to work out the kinks with rotations. Students figuring out what to do and where to go can be good though if they want to go back home for rotations and especially audition rotations. Any smart student will make sure they do the work do get auditions rotations in their 4th year where they hope to do residency. Where you go to med school has a much lower priority than your board scores in terms of getting a residency. And where I'm going to med school.....just read my signature.

I agree with @Goro though, MD schools love your money. Don't apply MD with an MCAT that low. It's below average for DO as well so if things don't work out this cycle, you'll need to retake. Course there are probably other things that don't sit well in your application as well that could factor in.

 

[Laterthansooner]

Hey everyone, long time lurker, then something miraculous happened.

Backstory: I am a licensed Medical Laboratory Scientist, 30 years old, non-traditional applicant who was pretty ignorant to how extremely difficult and competitive getting into med school is. I have a 499 MCAT, 3.4 Gpa, 4.0 post-bac (at UCF college of medicine), 50 total volunteering hours and 35 total shadowing hours (try to contain your laughter). My strength is a ton of research hours, including a publication, I have years and years of clinical experience and am a licensed Medical professional. My passion and dream is pathology.
I applied to 17 MD and 5 DO. When February rolled around and I had no interviews I went back to my alumnus and met with a premed advisor. She was immensely helpful and we built a great plan for the next year to increase my volunteering hours, MCAT score and shadowing hours. Ive been putting all the gears into motion and am really excited about tackling the next year and reapplying in 2019.

Then I got an interview invitation from Burrell COM. This app was a little frustrating, being ignorant to what being a new school could mean (I thought the newer, the better) I filled out the secondary and paid the fee. Then at the submit section they mention that you can't get Federal loans yet due to their pre-accred status. I emailed and asked if I could have the secondary fee back since I hadn't submitted yet and they respectively said no. So, I figured I'd just apply.

Now I have an II and am really hesitant to accept. Here are my concerns:

Accreditation status: how likely is it that they would lose accreditation?

New school: no COMLEX or residency match data. Is this something I should be concerned about? Anyway to be confident I'll get a good education?

3rd and 4th year clerkship: I heard the students have to set all these up by finding physicians and just ask? Is this true? Or that the norm? Or will they assign my clerkships? I did email about this, waiting on a response.

Personal loans to pay for the first year: I'm not that crazy about the idea, but how bad can a personal loan be?

Location: my research shows the location isn't actually too terrible. It's a small town but beautiful. Anyone have any experience?

Going to an interview, rejecting acceptance and applying again next year looks bad: Right? I was thinking I could say that after putting a lot of thought into it, I was uncomfortable with personal loans and wanted to wait for federal.

Private for profit: I really didn't think anything of this, but it seems like a bad thing? Why?

Their newness means a lack of residency and research opportunities because they don't have great relationships with surrounding medical facilities: since no class has gone through the research or residency portion of the program, it's hard to say what opportunities I'll have in these areas.

Specialty: what could I hope to specialize in with this kind of education? Is pathology, ME, or ER physician a pipe dream as a DO/ as a DO from this school?
I'm going to keep seeing what I can figure out about clerkships and residencies. As far as residency is concerned, most I know is that I can get into any one I want, just as a DO I may not be their preference. How much are my chances more hindered with an education from a new school?

Better luck next year since I'll bolster not app this year: unless turning down my only interview would look really bad. How would other schools know?

I recognize that a lot of this is personal preference, but I'm at a loss and could use any advice.

Thanks guys!

You’ve gotten good advice from all the folks above. I think you might need to do a little more research (on SDN or on your own). Look in the DO forums, the nontrad forums, the reapplicant forums...there’s plenty of info out there to sift through that will suppprt the advice you’ve gotten here. In the meantime, a couple of thoughts for you.

-I agree with the above posters that you should attend the interview. At this late date, anyone who is offered an interview anywhere is lucky. There are hundreds of eager folks who would happily take that interview spot because they know how hard it is to get a single interview for med school. The harsh reality is that 60% of the people who apply to med school don’t get in the first time they apply, and that number decreases substantially for re-applicants. Turning down a single interview without a confirmed acceptance elsewhere is more than risky if you truly want to be a doctor.

-Attending the interview isn’t a guaranteed acceptance either. Sometimes it takes people awhile to get into the groove of interviewing. And honestly, sometimes personalities just don’t jive. As advised earlier, if nothing more, this is a chance to see how you do and gain experience. Maybe you will learn a single thing that helps you in residency interviews down the road. Why turn down a chance to gain experience?

-The common wisdom is that in order to reapply, you have to substantially bolster your current application. It seems you have a plan to do this, which is a good start. The thing is, nobody ever really wants to have to reapply of they don’t have to. Taking another year (or two, depending on which wisdom you follow in the reapp process) is also losing a year or two of a physician’s salary. Are you willing to forego that kind of money to risk a second application cycle? And what if you don’t get a better mcat score? Yes, volunteering and shadowing hours help, but there are appplicants right out of school who will be applying for the first time with more hours, better research, more publications and better stats ... and they will be flooding the pool and crowding you out.

-It’s uncommon for mcat scores to increase more than a couple of points. Even if you improve yours and add more hours, your stats are still better suited for DO than MD. If you are okay with DO, then take the bird in the hand and attend the BCOM interview. If you truly want to be a doctor, you have to be willing to go to any school that gives you the opportunity.

TL; DR. Go to the interview. It won’t be any easier as a reapplicant.

 

[Dullhead]

...Don't know what you mean by ME...

I think he means medical examiner or coroner. OP - I've seen a DO medical examiner on Forensic Files, so I don't see why not.