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I have luckily been accepted into both of my top choices! Here is a little about me:
Pro:
Con:
ARCOM
Pro:
Like I said before these were my top two choices going into this cycle, I would be happy at either one but would love to hear from some students at each institution! Thanks for the help guys.
- I happened to grow up in Arkansas and am now finishing my undergrad in Colorado (I love both locations).
- I have family in Arkansas close to school
- I have a SO in Colorado as well as friends from undergrad
- Big outdoors/active person and have loved picking up snowboarding.
- Debating costs of medical school and how much it matters how much debt I have (I am interested in sports med, ortho, and have an open mind to pretty much anything)
- Both have federal loans available
Pro:
- Exceptional Board Pass rates (98%)
- Pass/Fail grading
- No mandatory attendance (I would probably be going anyway)
- Get to be in CO and Ski (Close to friends and SO from undergrad)
- Competitive Matching? (only 2 in Ortho, but they don’t focus on fam med)
- I enjoy the curriculum structure and think their surgery applications are amazing
- Seems to focus on STEP and LEVEL Exams
Con:
- Competing for rotations, does not seem you would stay in Denver area (Kansas and South Dakota)
- Does not seem to match students in CO, always seem to match out of state
- Pretty High cost of living (Parker outside of Denver, away from mountains)
- High Tuition ($64,254)
- Harder to find research opportunities (help me learn about this one!)
- For profit institution (I didn’t get a bad vibe but for sure have heard some rough things)
- Not a modern facility, somewhat small feeling
ARCOM
Pro:
- Established rotations, seems like lots of hands on experience
- Brand new research facility, 15 minutes from campus
- Low cost of living (Fort Smith is way cheaper)
- Lower Tuition ($55,775 first year and moves to $46,450 last two years)
- Match a lot of students to Arkansas, great if I plan to live there
- Close to Mom and Dad, good food/activities in the area
- Newer building and great technology
- One of the best conversations I have had with a Dean, open door policy.
- Some of the best contact from admin, made me feel at home
- Board Pass rates lower (93%)
- Mandatory class and dress code (did not seem too bad and after 1st semester not mandatory)
- Matching into less competitive specialties, most are family med (although surprisingly had more ortho thank RVU)
- Can be kind of boring in Fort Smith (how much free time will I actually have?)
- Letter graded
- Not 100% sure the curriculum is great
Like I said before these were my top two choices going into this cycle, I would be happy at either one but would love to hear from some students at each institution! Thanks for the help guys.
