AZCOM Discussion Thread 2010-2011

[Dyingduck]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Keeping up with the same discussion, I am driving to Arizona from LA in my small compact car, so I'll have to get all my furniture there for my on campus housing.

For current medical students, what's the best way to buy/deliver a bulky bed/desk in Glendale?

 

[Compwarrior]

How are you guys planning on moving out to Arizona? Are you planning on buying all new stuff when you get there?....

I'm going to try and sell everything I can here, then U-Haul everything that's left. You can also rent a little trailer that allows you to tow your car; then you really wouldn't need to have someone drive down with you. There's a U-haul drop-off pretty close to campus (just saw it last week). Once I get there, I'm going to shop around for some good used stuff. That's about it.

 

[randomusername]

Also, random do you know if they allow those PODs for moving into on campus housing?

Well, I know somebody had one of the small U-Haul containers sitting in a parking spot all week this past week. You can always email Jose to double-check though.

The schedule had appointments through May so I'd assume that'd be the end of AZCOM interview season.

Correct, I've always maintained that the interview season ends in May.

Keeping up with the same discussion, I am driving to Arizona from LA in my small compact car, so I'll have to get all my furniture there for my on campus housing.

For current medical students, what's the best way to buy/deliver a bulky bed/desk in Glendale?

I just drove down Bell Rd., found a few bed/mattress/furniture stores, found something not over-priced that I liked and had it delivered. Pretty much any of the "big items" can get delivered by the place you purchase it from and you'll see moving trucks and delivery trucks in and out of the complex for about a week or so after the regular move-in date. I came to town a couple of days early and got all of my big items purchased ahead of time and had absolutely no problem getting it all delivered on move-in day.

 

[nfsonpowday]

I was wondering if anyone knows where to look for information ragarding working in a rural area for a specified time in order to gain some type of debt repayment/forgivement. Any help would be fabulous!

 

[Compwarrior]

I was wondering if anyone knows where to look for information ragarding working in a rural area for a specified time in order to gain some type of debt repayment/forgivement. Any help would be fabulous!

Check out the NHSC (http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/). I believe the application just recently opened up. I was surprised to find that a clinic just down the street is an approved site for the program... I don't consider my area to be rural at all - we have two universities and a rather dense population. So I suppose you wouldn't have to be in the middle of nowhere at least.

 

[randomusername]

I was wondering if anyone knows where to look for information ragarding working in a rural area for a specified time in order to gain some type of debt repayment/forgivement. Any help would be fabulous!

Here's a great resource:

http://services.aamc.org/fed_loan_p...=public.welcome&CFID=1798086&CFTOKEN=21541314

 

[keepitREAL]

yes MWU is interviewing april 29 and a couple days May 2 an 3 if needed, if the applicants being interviewed drops below our minimum we can invite other students, sometimes the class will also go over, meaning we can have 253 seats taken and so if a student drops we won't call an alternate until we go below 250, not sure if this is really useful but just sharing...

 

[DbDan]

Seems that buying things once you get there is the popular choice. I think I'll most likely be renting a uhaul after looking at a few quotes on those shipping containers ($800 for the very cheapest i could find!) since I'm very particular about my matress. I'll be bringing mine with me from home. I'll likely have to buy a bed frame, desk, etc. once I get there though so I'll probably do some ikea shopping; maybe even before I come and throw it in the uhaul. I'd prefer not to tow my car behind since its too low to the ground (350z) and I'd actually have to get it up on a 4 wheel trailer. Plus my dad offered to help me and an extra set of hands is always useful.

 

[nfsonpowday]

Here's a great resource:

http://services.aamc.org/fed_loan_p...=public.welcome&CFID=1798086&CFTOKEN=21541314

Thank you Random and Compwarrior!! Those were super helpful sites and they give some home that if I do not do the military thing I can still find a program to help me with at least some or all of the debt. However, the only reservation I have is that those programs are always "provided they have the funds" and as we know the government and states aren't doing so well. I guess I'll just have to use my luck!

 

[randomusername]

Thank you Random and Compwarrior!! Those were super helpful sites and they give some home that if I do not do the military thing I can still find a program to help me with at least some or all of the debt. However, the only reservation I have is that those programs are always "provided they have the funds" and as we know the government and states aren't doing so well. I guess I'll just have to use my luck!

And bingo was his name-o. If I end up going the primary care route, I hope they still exist; if I don't, it's not really much of an issue because I'll likely be making $20-40k more anyway. Plus, if you decide to not go the military route right now, you can always do the FAP program during residency (for four years: $40k/year toward loans + ~$2000/mo in stipend on top of your resident salary).

 

[nfsonpowday]

And bingo was his name-o. If I end up going the primary care route, I hope they still exist; if I don't, it's not really much of an issue because I'll likely be making $20-40k more anyway. Plus, if you decide to not go the military route right now, you can always do the FAP program during residency (for four years: $40k/year toward loans + ~$2000/mo in stipend on top of your resident salary).

That's true -when I did my "tour" in San Antonio, there were others there that were doing the same thing. Plus there were actual physicians there that had been in practice for 10 yrs + that were looking to the reserves for some repayment (and diversity). With my situation I can't help but try to figure out how to get rid of the debt as fast as possible - AZCOM is an expensive school. I truly hope our country and the funds for all types of debt relief programs are still going when we graduate.

 

[Dyingduck]

Sorry if this is already been asked/answered, but how does AZCOM prepare you for the board exams?

 

[keepitREAL]

update, as of this morning we have 230 seats filled, this means that some alternates will be picked at some point prob after May decisions are made...

 

[drgioiadds]

update, as of this morning we have 230 seats filled, this means that some alternates will be picked at some point prob after May decisions are made...

We appreciate the information. Thanks.👍

 

[UBCvan]

update, as of this morning we have 230 seats filled, this means that some alternates will be picked at some point prob after May decisions are made...

so how big is the class? 250?

thanks for the info 👍

 

[Dyingduck]

so how big is the class? 250?

thanks for the info 👍

~250 yeah.

 

[randomusername]

Sorry if this is already been asked/answered, but how does AZCOM prepare you for the board exams?

At the top of this thread, where the page numbers are listed, there's a tab that says "search this thread." Just click that and type in "boards" and there should be a post close to the top of the results from Flushot that goes into detail about what's officially done at AZCOM.

*Also, this isn't me trying to be your typical SDN "let me Google that for you" or "use the search function" d-bag. I spend a lot of time on here and just recently discovered the beauty of that tab, as it's easy to overlook when there's also the forum-wide search box at the very top of the page.

 

[Dyingduck]

At the top of this thread, where the page numbers are listed, there's a tab that says "search this thread." Just click that and type in "boards" and there should be a post close to the top of the results from Flushot that goes into detail about what's officially done at AZCOM.

*Also, this isn't me trying to be your typical SDN "let me Google that for you" or "use the search function" d-bag. I spend a lot of time on here and just recently discovered the beauty of that tab, as it's easy to overlook when there's also the forum-wide search box at the very top of the page.

Awesome thanks. Didn't see that.

 

[fakeyellowlight]

R.U.N. - Thanks for that suggestion. I had been looking for a way to search this thread in particular!

 

[Umm]

For current medical students, what's the best way to buy/deliver a bulky bed/desk in Glendale?

There's an Ikea in Chandler, which is like 50 mins away, if you don't mind the cookie cutter stuff. They deliver to the area for free and you can have them deliver everything you buy there.

 

[Flushot]

At the top of this thread, where the page numbers are listed, there's a tab that says "search this thread." Just click that and type in "boards" and there should be a post close to the top of the results from Flushot that goes into detail about what's officially done at AZCOM.

*Also, this isn't me trying to be your typical SDN "let me Google that for you" or "use the search function" d-bag. I spend a lot of time on here and just recently discovered the beauty of that tab, as it's easy to overlook when there's also the forum-wide search box at the very top of the page.

Thanks for posting this feature. I've gotten a few PMs about this exact topic and I answered it on page 26. Here is the post:

I received a PM asking about how AZCOM deals with boards studying. Here's what is official:

Starting Spring quarter of your second year, you have 2 less classes and Path and Pharm are also reduced by 1 hour. The first half of the quarter will be Intro to Clinical Medicine (ICM) with two exams and that class will end. The second half will be a faculty led board review course.

Students are required to take a mock USMLE (not COMLEX) exam prior to the start of this board review course. At the end of the course, we are required to take a mock COMLEX exam in order to pass (the class is pass/fail). Failure to pass this class will prevent you from getting approved to take the COMLEX, as far as I know.

Kaplan Q bank is provided for all students, but many students have supplemented this with USMLE World and DIT.

The quarter still ends in typical fashion, so there is no "extra" vacation time per se to study for the boards. We are supposed to heavily integrate boards into our classes for the remainder of our time here.

Also, Path and Pharm have cumulative final exams from all 3 quarters, thus boards studying and reviewing all the material is kind of required in a way.

That's the official stuff. This may change when 2014 moves into position, but I do remember in the past that AZCOM did do screening tests for the COMLEX and it seems like that has not changed. There was a debate on whether or not it is a good idea, but I like it. I'd rather fail a mock exam than the real deal if it came down to that, so it is good that they do want to make sure everyone can demonstrate some ability before going in.

I took the practice USMLE thing two days ago and it is through the NBME (you have to make an account on their website). It isn't really a practice exam; it's a 4 block basic sciences review, but the questions are written in the test format, so you could say it is representative.

Most of the people I knew took it to get it out the way but it was not difficult to get a passing score at all. I was a little surprised considering how fast I was going and how I just wanted to get out of there to study on my own and for tests, but maybe I learned more than I thought. Who knows.

Anyhow, if I didn't answer any questions about it, please feel free to ask.

EDIT - I want to clarify one point: there is no cumulative path final. Only pharm has a cumulative final that encompasses the entire year.

 

[speedtoinfinity]

Hello guys. I will be interviewing on May 2nd. Does anyone know if AZCOM still accepts students or is this for the wait-list? Also, can anyone recommend an affordable + convenient hotel to stay for the interview? For those who have interviewed, how was your interview experience? What was the hardest q?

Thanks!

 

[randomusername]

Hello guys. I will be interviewing on May 2nd. Does anyone know if AZCOM still accepts students or is this for the wait-list? Also, can anyone recommend an affordable + convenient hotel to stay for the interview? For those who have interviewed, how was your interview experience? What was the hardest q?

Thanks!

A few posts up, somebody who works in Admissions said 230/250 seats are filled so far.

From what I can gather, most people's interview experiences are positive and that AZCOM's is a relatively relaxed interview. I'd suggest looking at the interview feedback section as far as questions go, as most of the questions mentioned there have decent likelihoods of being asked. Also, somewhere in this thread the hotels have been discussed, just use the thread-specific search tab.

 

[Dyingduck]

Hello guys. I will be interviewing on May 2nd. Does anyone know if AZCOM still accepts students or is this for the wait-list? Also, can anyone recommend an affordable + convenient hotel to stay for the interview? For those who have interviewed, how was your interview experience? What was the hardest q?

Thanks!

AZCOM interview was veryyyyy chill. It was my first interview and I did pretty well. Shoot me a PM if you have any question/concern.

 

[athadam]

AZCOM interview was veryyyyy chill. It was my first interview and I did pretty well. Shoot me a PM if you have any question/concern.

Not mine lol, I was drilled during my interview with ethical questions, medical dilemmas, and my research.
They did try their best to make me feel comfortable though.

 

[BDancerDoc]

Hello guys. I will be interviewing on May 2nd. Does anyone know if AZCOM still accepts students or is this for the wait-list? Also, can anyone recommend an affordable + convenient hotel to stay for the interview? For those who have interviewed, how was your interview experience? What was the hardest q?

Thanks!

Just wanted to share the link to the SDN interview feedback results by students. I had a hard time navigating on there (everything seem to be hidden away for me) so when people told me to check interview answers, I had no idea what they were talking about. hehe. Lucky for me, my mom figured it out. 😛 Make sure to open all the expandable headings (the + signs).

Good luck! 👍

http://www.studentdoctor.net/schools/school/azcom/survey/27

 

[Dyingduck]

Not mine lol, I was drilled during my interview with ethical questions, medical dilemmas, and my research.
They did try their best to make me feel comfortable though.

My friend told me the secret to not get these "ethical/medical questions" is to take up time 🙂

I don't mean to rant on and on and on but try to answer (the "non-ethical/medical" questions) as thoroughly as possible - put in details/history/events/etc. Like if they ask you to describe activity X and you give them a 2 sentences response; guess what kinds of question will follow?

 

[randomusername]

Not mine lol, I was drilled during my interview with ethical questions, medical dilemmas, and my research.
They did try their best to make me feel comfortable though.

I had the same experience, minus inquiries about research because I didn't have any. I actually loved it though; I guess different strokes for different folks.

 

[Sassinator]

The best thing for an interview in my opinion is to just be yourself, be professional, and answer from the heart. AZCOM was my first interview site (Sept 2009) and even-though I thought it was the hardest, it was also my first acceptance, and I was honest and didnt prepare for it. I was just myself. There are people that will tell you they made up answers and prepared alot for "standard" qustions, which can work, but I'm just trying to convey what worked for me. Hope this helped.

 

[Sassinator]

Also I can still remember most of my questions:

What's your biggest failure?

What qualities make a good leader?

What type of leader would you be and why?

If you couldn't become a doctor, what other profession would you enter into?

If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it and why?

If you had to choose 3 people to have dinner with, who would you invite and why?

I see here you went and did your masters at Saint Louis University, which has an allopathic medical school, and that you shadowed both MD and DO's, what are the biggest differences you've noticed between MD's and DO's in terms of interactions with patients? (follow-up: Why are you choosing to become a DO over an MD?)

That's all I can remember, but it has been a year and half.... Hope this helps as well.

 

[Dyingduck]

Also I can still remember most of my questions:

What's your biggest failure?

What qualities make a good leader?

What type of leader would you be and why?

If you couldn't become a doctor, what other profession would you enter into?

If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it and why?

If you had to choose 3 people to have dinner with, who would you invite and why?

I see here you went and did your masters at Saint Louis University, which has an allopathic medical school, and that you shadowed both MD and DO's, what are the biggest differences you've noticed between MD's and DO's in terms of interactions with patients? (follow-up: Why are you choosing to become a DO over an MD?)

That's all I can remember, but it has been a year and half.... Hope this helps as well.

Yeah, I was preparing for these same questions for my first interview, then when I got to it, all they did was asking me about my activities/ECs, they didn't even ask me about my 2 years research that I received two scholarships/presentations/internship.

However, another person whom interviewed the same day as me got a bunch of ethical questions like, "define humanity" or some weird stuff.

Anyway, don't worry, it won't be too "theoretical" unlike Western

 

[nfsonpowday]

Yeah, I was preparing for these same questions for my first interview, then when I got to it, all they did was asking me about my activities/ECs, they didn't even ask me about my 2 years research that I received two scholarships/presentations/internship.

However, another person whom interviewed the same day as me got a bunch of ethical questions like, "define humanity" or some weird stuff.

Anyway, don't worry, it won't be too "theoretical" unlike Western

I had the same experience as you! I have two years research and a publication. They asked almost entirely about my EC's -clinical and non-clinical. The only research related question was: tell me what "molecular" means to you; odd but fun. I have had the same experience in all of my interviews. I guess if one does't want to get all of the "hard" or ethical questions just make sure the EC part of your app is interesting!

 

[Dyingduck]

I had the same experience as you! I have two years research and a publication. They asked almost entirely about my EC's -clinical and non-clinical. The only research related question was: tell me what "molecular" means to you; odd but fun. I have had the same experience in all of my interviews. I guess if one does't want to get all of the "hard" or ethical questions just make sure the EC part of your app is interesting!

Yeah, totally. They ran out of time on my interview; they follow a very tight schedule during the interview day.

 

[UBCvan]

I got a question for AZCOM students or anyone with an answer:

what are the opportunities, as a med student at azcom, to get involved in the community and contribute? Things like giving presentations to high school kids, or helping the medical communities, help the homeless...

Are there clubs intended for this? all I saw form the list was clubs for different residencies.

ALSO what are the opportunities to help the under-served communities? are there any in Phoenix? DOES AZCOM LIKE TO PROMOTE THIS?

thanks in advance 👍

 

[randomusername]

I got a question for AZCOM students or anyone with an answer:

what are the opportunities, as a med student at azcom, to get involved in the community and contribute? Things like giving presentations to high school kids, or helping the medical communities, help the homeless...

Are there clubs intended for this? all I saw form the list was clubs for different residencies.

ALSO what are the opportunities to help the under-served communities? are there any in Phoenix? DOES AZCOM LIKE TO PROMOTE THIS?

thanks in advance 👍

Of course there are opportunities if you want them. Phoenix, like any major metropolitan area, has under-served communities. A big program that a lot of students like to participate in is H.O.M.E. which is a program where you help run a clinic for the homeless alongside upper-classmen and physicians. There are two or three different clinics with different populations they serve that are part of the program. Also, there's DOCARE. I'm not sure what all they do on-campus, but I do know that they do care. Also, a lot of the "just for residency" programs do a lot of community service as I think it's pretty much like a sorority/fraternity where your group has to do some community service to maintain official standing with the school. So you'll see a lot of these clubs helping out with various walks to cure X disease, running booths to promote awareness of or screen for X disease, etc. Then, the school is involved with a program called TOPS where students and physicians go to area high schools to perform sports physicals on students in low-income areas. So, for MS1's it's actually a requirement to do this for four hours and, coincidentally, that's what my colleagues and I will be doing all day this upcoming Saturday. Also, the Interdisciplinary Healthcare "class" requires you to do ~4 hours of community service at some point during your MS1 year in order to pass. Also, the school runs high school preview opportunities where current high schoolers interested in the healthcare field (or who have been drug here by their teachers) attend presentations and workshops done by various programs on campus and students who either volunteer their time or get paid work-study to do so. Finally, you can always pad your CV and start something yourself.

So with all of these opportunities, the student government also keeps track of "TOUCH" hours which are essentially what they call your volunteer time. It's some sort of volunteerism competition, more-or-less, between the various COM's and as far as I can tell, AZCOM typically kicks butt (I guess it's the by-product of having large classes with large numbers of Californians and Utahns/Utahans 😉).

Pretty much, if you find you have the time and desire to volunteer, there most definitely are ample opportunities to do so.

 

[BDancerDoc]

However, another person whom interviewed the same day as me got a bunch of ethical questions like, "define humanity" or some weird stuff.

"Define humanity to an alien." with a follow up question of "If we are a compassionate race, why do we have war? And does war occur because we want to help our kind?"

And "Define morality, and is it based on a higher power?"

I tried my best to talk about my qualifications and "lead" the interview, but maybe being the last interviewee, they needed to meet their ethics quota for the day (like police men ticketing at the end of the month 😛)

 

[Dyingduck]

"Define humanity to an alien." with a follow up question of "If we are a compassionate race, why do we have war? And does war occur because we want to help our kind?"

And "Define morality, and is it based on a higher power?"

I tried my best to talk about my qualifications and "lead" the interview, but maybe being the last interviewee, they needed to meet their ethics quota for the day (like police men ticketing at the end of the month 😛)

Ouch! I got none of that - it must have been your particular interview group 😛 but yeah, I definitely remember talking/sharing about those questions.

 

[UBCvan]

Of course there are opportunities if you want them. Phoenix, like any major metropolitan area, has under-served communities. A big program that a lot of students like to participate in is H.O.M.E. which is a program where you help run a clinic for the homeless alongside upper-classmen and physicians. There are two or three different clinics with different populations they serve that are part of the program. Also, there's DOCARE. I'm not sure what all they do on-campus, but I do know that they do care. Also, a lot of the "just for residency" programs do a lot of community service as I think it's pretty much like a sorority/fraternity where your group has to do some community service to maintain official standing with the school. So you'll see a lot of these clubs helping out with various walks to cure X disease, running booths to promote awareness of or screen for X disease, etc. Then, the school is involved with a program called TOPS where students and physicians go to area high schools to perform sports physicals on students in low-income areas. So, for MS1's it's actually a requirement to do this for four hours and, coincidentally, that's what my colleagues and I will be doing all day this upcoming Saturday. Also, the Interdisciplinary Healthcare "class" requires you to do ~4 hours of community service at some point during your MS1 year in order to pass. Also, the school runs high school preview opportunities where current high schoolers interested in the healthcare field (or who have been drug here by their teachers) attend presentations and workshops done by various programs on campus and students who either volunteer their time or get paid work-study to do so. Finally, you can always pad your CV and start something yourself.

So with all of these opportunities, the student government also keeps track of "TOUCH" hours which are essentially what they call your volunteer time. It's some sort of volunteerism competition, more-or-less, between the various COM's and as far as I can tell, AZCOM typically kicks butt (I guess it's the by-product of having large classes with large numbers of Californians and Utahns/Utahans 😉).

Pretty much, if you find you have the time and desire to volunteer, there most definitely are ample opportunities to do so.

Thanks for sharing the info. it really helps 👍

 

[lftbndlbrnchblk]

How easy is it to find a job at Midwestern so I can work while in school? Is that recommended? I'd be willing to do anything from tutoring to like, office work. Even just a few hours on the weekend would be okay.

 

[randomusername]

How easy is it to find a job at Midwestern so I can work while in school? Is that recommended? I'd be willing to do anything from tutoring to like, office work. Even just a few hours on the weekend would be okay.

You can get work-study, you just have to indicate that you want it when you fill out your financial aid application or get your financial aid adviser to alter your aid package. I don't think you'll be able to tutor anything as an MS1 though because you have to go through an application process that involves X department saying that you can in fact tutor their subject which means you need to have passed their class with an acceptable grade already. Office work and whatnot should still be an option but I personally don't know of DO students (though I guess it's always possible because I'm not exactly a mover and shaker when it comes to mingling with classmates regularly) that actually do this just because out of all the programs on campus, we are the only ones in class from 8-afternoon virtually every day of the week. It is possible to work a few hours on the weekends though as I do have some non-DO friends that work in the gym on the weekends and there might be other options available then too. If you're really interested in it, my best suggestion is to just shoot student services (I think) an email to ask about how common it is to have MS1s do work-study and what options are typically available to them given their schedules.

Personally, I wouldn't even think about doing work-study until after fall quarter was finished (which, in all honesty from what I can gather fall quarter of MS1 is the easiest quarter you'll have until you're an MS4, so I'm not even sure how great it is to contemplate it after fall quarter...maybe after winter quarter) just because you need to know how you'll handle the curriculum and workload, how you can work in some sanity time, and then figure out how you can toss in work-study without throwing off the other two things.

 

[lftbndlbrnchblk]

Thanks a lot for your help once again dude. And I'll definitely call student services towards the end of the summer to possibly set something up.

 

[faman17]

random user name, are your initials DL by any chance? I was browsing the boards here attempting to guess who was advising the incoming 1st years...(im azcom 2014 as well)

 

[Dyingduck]

Quick question, is the internet on campus apartment dsl or cable?

 

[randomusername]

Quick question, is the internet on campus apartment dsl or cable?

Not a clue, but it's been sucking a lot lately because we think IT finally started throttling the connection.

 

[randomusername]

random user name, are your initials DL by any chance? I was browsing the boards here attempting to guess who was advising the incoming 1st years...(im azcom 2014 as well)

I'll never tell, then I couldn't be random anymore.

 

[faman17]

makes sense to me! ill find out one day. For the azcom 2015 students i can also supply information on life as a 1st year, but from an off campus living and military pay perspective

 

[Compwarrior]

I'll never tell, then I couldn't be random anymore.

I know your secret, but don't worry, it's safe with me. 😉

makes sense to me! ill find out one day. For the azcom 2015 students i can also supply information on life as a 1st year, but from an off campus living and military pay perspective

Which branch did you go into? I applied for air force, they weren't very responsive. So I called and e-mailed, then called and e-mailed some more. They kept telling me I would hear from them soon, but never have. I've come to terms with the crushing debt, and after organizing my finances, I think student loans will be do-able. Military would have been a fun adventure though.

 

[faman17]

I was accepted into both the army and the air forces HPSP scholarships, and picked the army (while my brother did air force). the air force is never responsive, as they have a billion applicants due to the generally higher quality of life people have in the air force. what you wanna look at are residency options. i picked the army due to a much larger GME program, with alot more options/choice. I figured that was what was important to me, having the freedom to chose what specialty id be doing the rest of my life. Theres no need for crushing debt, infact you can even put away some savings while on HPSP if you play it right...but it really is trading time for money. some people are ok with it, and some people arent!

 

[Sloo0]

This blog has some good HPSP insight.

http://halfmd.wordpress.com/page/16/

 

[faman17]

yah, the halfmd guy has a bone to pick with HPSP, he's fixated on finances and not on the premise of HPSP, which is also country service. Also, as were in the DO schools...good luck match a RADs civilian spot unless your top of your class. But on a positive note, in the army, or any HPSP, you can do prior service and have priority to get a particular specialty. Also, when doing the mil match, its a smaller program, so fewer people competing for spots.

So you can get what you want specialty wise, and he is correct you dont get paid quite as well, but is that the whole point?