ARCOM vs ACOM vs Western Pomona

[popoon]

I have been fortunate enough to receive a few acceptances thus far and need to make a deposit decision soon. Hoping you guys can help me decide.


ARCOM

Pros

• Cheapest school (46k tuition and fees)
• Rural location
• About 2 months of dedicated board prep time

Cons

• Newest school, first class will be graduating this spring
• Business casual dress code
• Mandatory attendance

ACOM

Pros

• Appears to have the strongest network of clinical rotation sites thanks to their affiliation with Southeast Health
• Rural location

Cons

• Tuition is 55k and also seems to be rising by a significant amount every year
• Business casual dress code
• 60% mandatory attendance

Western Pomona

Pros

• Most established school
• Has a department of population health which may be of interest to me
• No mandatory attendance

Cons

• Most expensive. 60k in tuition plus increased COL
• In an urban area, would rather be somewhere more rural
• I’ve heard this school has a large focus on OMM that can be detrimental when trying to learn other material

Right now I'm leaning towards ACOM because of their location and clinical affiliation. Would love to hear other people's opinions though. Thank you.

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[drstranger]

I am an ACOM student so let me know if you have any questions. I would be between ACOM and Western, ARCOM has not graduated a class yet, I think their first is this next year

 

[popoon]

I am an ACOM student so let me know if you have any questions. I would be between ACOM and Western, ARCOM has not graduated a class yet, I think their first is this next year

Do you feel like the affiliation with Southeast Health provides ample opportunity in clinical rotations and residency opportunity in ways that schools without that type of connection couldn't match? How do you like living in Alabama, I've never been there? Thank you.

 

[drstranger]

Do you feel like the affiliation with Southeast Health provides ample opportunity in clinical rotations and residency opportunity in ways that schools without that type of connection couldn't match? How do you like living in Alabama, I've never been there? Thank you.

Is it a good resource to have? yes, but SEH is not a program you should be aiming for. they have an IM program and are starting up an EM program but aim a lot higher for residency, but could be a fallback option. It will be good in the fact it will give some students experience of rotating with residents which is a big benefit when applying to other programs, but its, not a huge advantage. I have lived in CA, ID, AZ, FL so I have lots of experience in different places. I will say though that Dothan while similar in size to Ft smith but is 1.5 hrs from the beach, 3 hrs from Pensacola, atl, Jacksonville, and a few more hours away from NOL. So you have a lot more to do if you want a weekend away or go to the beach for a few hours. There is enough to do to keep you from dying of boredom but not too much to keep you away from studying.

 

[sevenout]

For anyone who may scroll this, I am in a similar situation and something that is leaning me towards western over acom is the rotations. ACOM most likely sending me to a new location for third year, and then who knows where for electives was not a strong selling point.

That being said the col is very significant, apartments are more than twice the price in the pomona area.

 

[drstranger]

For anyone who may scroll this, I am in a similar situation and something that is leaning me towards western over acom is the rotations. ACOM most likely sending me to a new location for third year, and then who knows where for electives was not a strong selling point.

That being said the col is very significant, apartments are more than twice the price in the pomona area.

I am a Southern California native and you will most likely have to move if you are at most of the sites unless you want to spend hours in traffic each day. Also not sure what you mean about who know where for ACOM electives. Most sites have all electives with a few exceptions, if you mean sub-I's then yeah any school you go to you do Sub-I's all over at residencies you might want to attend because that is more like an extended interview. ACOM actually has pretty established rotation sites, that were set up years before the school

 

[sevenout]

Im not debating ACOM's
well established rotation sites, for some staying in one spot for third year and potentially some of fourth may be a draw as opposed to moving month to month.

I just see more oppurtunites to stay in one spot at western with the options there, though im sure you are correct some of the sites would be too far to stay in the same apartment you had for the pre clinical years.

 

[drstranger]

Im not debating ACOM's
well established rotation sites, for some staying in one spot for third year and potentially some of fourth may be a draw as opposed to moving month to month.

I just see more oppurtunites to stay in one spot at western with the options there, though im sure you are correct some of the sites would be too far to stay in the same apartment you had for the pre clinical years.

Im not sure the info you are getting, the only people that move 4th year are the ones who want to live close to home. No one moves month to month. all rotations are at your core site, unless a student wants to go somewhere else.