Campbell University (CUSOM) DIscussion Thread 2012 - 2013

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Middle tier here. I've heard that those who aren't pulled off the wait list this year will be given a spot for next year, does anyone know if this is true or is it just a select group, like top tier wait list?
 
At my interview they talked about that and said it would be just some people at the top of the list that met certain requirements.
 
In the bottom of my email it says that being in the top tier does not guarantee acceptance into the class of 2018. And that those candidates are picked at the discretion of the Dean for participation of next year's class.
 
Uh oh, I have not heard anything. Did you email someone to find out?
 
I found out I am in the Top Tier but the email went to my spam so make sure to check your spam. I wish I knew the exact number or position in the tier also 🙁 I have a week to send my deposit in at UNECOM, but I really like Campbell.
 
I thought I heard that there were about 90 people on the waitlist. To me, I just assumed that there would be 30 in each tier, but maybe that's not right.

Hoping to get a call this week! It would be great to have something to celebrate for MDW.
 
DOgood88 said:
I thought I heard that there were about 90 people on the waitlist. To me, I just assumed that there would be 30 in each tier, but maybe that's not right.

Hoping to get a call this week! It would be great to have something to celebrate for MDW.
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Good luck to you! Crossing my fingers that you get the big call! Probably one of the best feelings ever!
 
anyone notice any movement on/off the waitlist so far?
 
djsurf said:
anyone notice any movement on/off the waitlist so far?
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I haven't heard anything. I am in the top tier and am hoping to hear something soon! I am curious to know who they will offer seats to for next year and what criteria will be used.
 
anyone care to share what their stats are for those that are on the top tier? Also I know they will not tell us how many are in each tier, but do we know if they told anyone about a top ten? or did they just tell everyone they were in a tier? SIGH. so many questions. and it seems like so little movement
 
martian11 said:
anyone care to share what their stats are for those that are on the top tier? Also I know they will not tell us how many are in each tier, but do we know if they told anyone about a top ten? or did they just tell everyone they were in a tier? SIGH. so many questions. and it seems like so little movement
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there is a top 15 list
 
Hey everyone. I'm thinking about applying here for the 2014 cycle and I was just wondering what some of the GPAs and MCAT scores were for the people who were accepted during the 2013 cycle.
Thanks and good luck in your first year!
 
kdb0219 said:
Hey everyone. I'm thinking about applying here for the 2014 cycle and I was just wondering what some of the GPAs and MCAT scores were for the people who were accepted during the 2013 cycle.
Thanks and good luck in your first year!
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Sorry this isn't too specific but this may give you a better grasp than a couple specific ones (until our classes stats are published that is).
From interviews and meeting others from our class I know we really have a broad range of numbers, from the GPA mins 3.2 up to 4.0 and from MCAT low 20's to 32 (being the highest I've personally heard of yet).

What I'm getting at is CUSOM makes a strong effort to get those who are a right fit for our program. If your numbers are scratching the mins. you still have a chance but you have to interview strong and really sell yourself as a good fit. If you have really competitive stats AND are a good fit CUSOM has some AMAZING scholarships (10k to 20k a year, renewable) based on merit and the whole package. I promise you will not find another private DO school with such good scholarship opportunities, especially since they are renewable.
 
Thank you for the response. Good luck I the upcoming year!
 
kdb0219 said:
Hey everyone. I'm thinking about applying here for the 2014 cycle and I was just wondering what some of the GPAs and MCAT scores were for the people who were accepted during the 2013 cycle.
Thanks and good luck in your first year!
Click to expand...

I was accepted back in January and will be attending. I finished my undergraduate with approx. 3.4 overall GPA (3.1ish science), a 25 MCAT and strong resume/EC's. DO's tend to look at the whole package and not focus so much on the applicant's "stats," (or so I've heard/experienced.) So keep that in mind, and best of luck.
 
g24rayer said:
I was accepted back in January and will be attending. I finished my undergraduate with approx. 3.4 overall GPA (3.1ish science), a 25 MCAT and strong resume/EC's. DO's tend to look at the whole package and not focus so much on the applicant's "stats," (or so I've heard/experienced.) So keep that in mind, and best of luck.
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Congrats on being accepted! I am not sure if that's necessarily true, in regards to the whole package. I use to think that, and it use to be this way until DO applicants have significantly increased in the past five years. My sGPA and cGPA is slightly higher than yours and my MCAT is slightly lower. Additionally, I have a masters degree. I interviewed mid February and was stunned how I was "attacked" for having a lower MCAT the first time around and then improving on my re-take. I really like this school's philosophy, but I really don't understand what criteria the school uses to judge/pick applicants.

Currently, I am placed on the wait list in the middle tier. So, for those applying next year, apply early and make sure you assertively answer certain uncomfortable questions during your interview. Good luck.
 
mindbodyspirit said:
Congrats on being accepted! I am not sure if that's necessarily true, in regards to the whole package. I use to think that, and it use to be this way until DO applicants have significantly increased in the past five years. My sGPA and cGPA is slightly higher than yours and my MCAT is slightly lower. Additionally, I have a masters degree. I interviewed mid February and was stunned how I was "attacked" for having a lower MCAT the first time around and then improving on my re-take. I really like this school's philosophy, but I really don't understand what criteria the school uses to judge/pick applicants.

Currently, I am placed on the wait list in the middle tier. So, for those applying next year, apply early and make sure you assertively answer certain uncomfortable questions during your interview. Good luck.
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You were put on the spot at your interview at CUSOM for having a low MCAT? And it wasn't even the current (improved) score? Who interviewed you if you don't mind me asking?

I ask because I'm sure I had one of the lowest MCATs the school interviewed and it wasn't brought up once. Currently waitlisted as top tier.

Good luck to you and everyone else 🙂
 
mindbodyspirit said:
Congrats on being accepted! I am not sure if that's necessarily true, in regards to the whole package. I use to think that, and it use to be this way until DO applicants have significantly increased in the past five years. My sGPA and cGPA is slightly higher than yours and my MCAT is slightly lower. Additionally, I have a masters degree. I interviewed mid February and was stunned how I was "attacked" for having a lower MCAT the first time around and then improving on my re-take. I really like this school's philosophy, but I really don't understand what criteria the school uses to judge/pick applicants.

Currently, I am placed on the wait list in the middle tier. So, for those applying next year, apply early and make sure you assertively answer certain uncomfortable questions during your interview. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that. The "whole package" thing is definitely exaggerated, but it is true that the majority of DO students have a masters degree or are non-traditional (other prior professionals or majors like architecture, law, and engineering), and an average age is around 25 and most of them have extensive volunteering/extracurriculars. Even with all of this life experience and great ECs, however, some things cannot be overcome. You got a little less than a 25 MCAT which means its around 23/24. This score is a cutoff at most schools. Sooo although yes they do look at the whole person with emphasis on stats as most medical schools do, a 23/24 is hard to overlook especially with the national DO average of 27, and a higher GPA will rarely compensate for it. Just get a 28 on your retake and you'll be safe and sound.
 
playaodamonth said:
Sorry to hear that. The "whole package" thing is definitely exaggerated, but it is true that the majority of DO students have a masters degree or are non-traditional (other prior professionals or majors like architecture, law, and engineering), and an average age is around 25 and most of them have extensive volunteering/extracurriculars. Even with all of this life experience and great ECs, however, some things cannot be overcome. You got a little less than a 25 MCAT which means its around 23/24. This score is a cutoff at most schools. Sooo although yes they do look at the whole person with emphasis on stats as most medical schools do, a 23/24 is hard to overlook especially with the national DO average of 27, and a higher GPA will rarely compensate for it. Just get a 28 on your retake and you'll be safe and sound.
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I understand completely that my score is not the cream of the crop, but I know many people from being active on the forums who have been accepted with a lower or same MCAT score than me. I would like to re-take the exam, but I have no time to prepare fully due to my full-time job at a hospital and I am in the midst of completing my thesis. The only change I can make is applying very early this cycle. Thanks!
 
go1 said:
You were put on the spot at your interview at CUSOM for having a low MCAT? And it wasn't even the current (improved) score? Who interviewed you if you don't mind me asking?

I ask because I'm sure I had one of the lowest MCATs the school interviewed and it wasn't brought up once. Currently waitlisted as top tier.

Good luck to you and everyone else 🙂
Click to expand...

I just sent you a long PM 🙂
 
mindbodyspirit said:
I understand completely that my score is not the cream of the crop, but I know many people from being active on the forums who have been accepted with a lower or same MCAT score than me. I would like to re-take the exam, but I have no time to prepare fully due to my full-time job at a hospital and I am in the midst of completing my thesis. The only change I can make is applying very early this cycle. Thanks!
Click to expand...

You are right that it isn't guaranteed to be the end of the road with that score BUT you're margin for error is much smaller with it. Schools do accept with low MCATs like this but you will need to convince them that it isn't representative of your abilities... because if it is, that is a red flag. You improved your score so you obviously learned from your mistakes, this time around be sure to convey what you took away from it all, what you would do differently if you could do it again (and now that you technically have the time to it gets more complicated).

However, if CUSOM is where you want to be, I would be happy to help you as I can. PM me if interested, otherwise I wish you best and hope things work out for you, wherever that leads you.
 
mindbodyspirit said:
I understand completely that my score is not the cream of the crop, but I know many people from being active on the forums who have been accepted with a lower or same MCAT score than me. I would like to re-take the exam, but I have no time to prepare fully due to my full-time job at a hospital and I am in the midst of completing my thesis. The only change I can make is applying very early this cycle. Thanks!
Click to expand...

This is true, and what Mosonik said is what I was trying to say, your margin of error is small with a low MCAT, but its not impossible to get an acceptance especially since CUSOM is so new. The most important factor for those with borderline stats is time, make sure to apply as early as possible and interview before the rush. Can't stress that enough. I know first hand how un-correlated MCAT score is to being a great doctor, a 23/24 does not show your true potential. I wish you all the best this cycle and will hopefully see you in the halls of CUSOM next year.
 
Mosonik said:
You are right that it isn't guaranteed to be the end of the road with that score BUT you're margin for error is much smaller with it. Schools do accept with low MCATs like this but you will need to convince them that it isn't representative of your abilities... because if it is, that is a red flag. You improved your score so you obviously learned from your mistakes, this time around be sure to convey what you took away from it all, what you would do differently if you could do it again (and now that you technically have the time to it gets more complicated).

However, if CUSOM is where you want to be, I would be happy to help you as I can. PM me if interested, otherwise I wish you best and hope things work out for you, wherever that leads you.
Click to expand...

I was thinking that as well; if schools would question me not retaking my exam, and I am hoping my increase of GPA and 500+ hours of first hand emergency room exposure by the time I reapply will help me. I like CUSOM's mission of caring for the under served, so I will reapply. Thanks for offering to help! I'll PM you when I get closer to applying in the next couple of weeks.
 
playaodamonth said:
This is true, and what Mosonik said is what I was trying to say, your margin of error is small with a low MCAT, but its not impossible to get an acceptance especially since CUSOM is so new. The most important factor for those with borderline stats is time, make sure to apply as early as possible and interview before the rush. Can't stress that enough. I know first hand how un-correlated MCAT score is to being a great doctor, a 23/24 does not show your true potential. I wish you all the best this cycle and will hopefully see you in the halls of CUSOM next year.
Click to expand...

Thanks for having some faith in me. I understand the reality. It seems the most memorable components are the hard facts, one's numbers. I am hopeful, if not this year, then the next. Good luck in your endeavors!
 
I heard that CUSOM has a 3.2 c/sGPA requirement....Is that a hard-and-fast requirement? I would like to apply with 3.15 cGPA, 3.35 sGPA and 25+ MCAT based on my latest AAMC practice test so far but I don't know whether or not they are willing to bend that requirement... Can anyone confirm if they got accepted with a cGPA lower than 3.2?
 
Temperature101 said:
I heard that CUSOM has a 3.2 c/sGPA requirement....Is that a hard-and-fast requirement? I would like to apply with 3.15 cGPA, 3.35 sGPA and 25+ MCAT based on my latest AAMC practice test so far but I don't know whether or not they are willing to bend that requirement... Can anyone confirm if they got accepted with a cGPA lower than 3.2?
Click to expand...
I was accepted at Campbell, and my initial undergraduate GPA was 3.068 at Wake Forest University.
However, I did have 1 semester at UNCG, with a post-bacc program with a 4.15 GPA (out of possible 4.3).
So, yes they will accept you if you have less than a 3.2. I think the big thing they look at is the difficulty of courses you took and rather your GPA was ascending.

However, if you are going to have a lower GPA, you really NEED to bring up your MCAT. And expect your actual score to be 2-3 points below your practice score. I kept on scoring 30-32 on 5-10 practice exams I took and I made a 28 on the actual exam. I thoroughly recommend the Kaplan online course, man is it expensive, but it helped significantly (my first MCAT score was 24).

Good luck, and just remember patience, it takes the average applicant 3 cycles to get in. But if you really want it, you can do it 🙂
 
Amen to that last sentence. This was my second app. Cycle ready for a third. Was third on cusom wait list. Just got the call today!

If I had to re-do I'd apply much earlier.

Cusom focuses hard on the individual. My stats weren't good, 3.3 cumulative and a 22 Mcat (second time taking). But, I had great LORs, leadership, years of clinical experience and a genuine love and interest in primary care. Patience, perspiration and perceverence pays big.

I'm 28 and changed my focus later after realizing finance was not for me. There's no deadline. Bite the bullet and hit it hard while you can. Staying motivated for more than two app cycles is so hard.

Tonight is the best of my life. I will see my fellow inaugural class come August!
 
StPetebull said:
Amen to that last sentence. This was my second app. Cycle ready for a third. Was third on cusom wait list. Just got the call today!

If I had to re-do I'd apply much earlier.

Cusom focuses hard on the individual. My stats weren't good, 3.3 cumulative and a 22 Mcat (second time taking). But, I had great LORs, leadership, years of clinical experience and a genuine love and interest in primary care. Patience, perspiration and perceverence pays big.

I'm 28 and changed my focus later after realizing finance was not for me. There's no deadline. Bite the bullet and hit it hard while you can. Staying motivated for more than two app cycles is so hard.

Tonight is the best of my life. I will see my fellow inaugural class come August!
Click to expand...

Congrats! It really is one of the best feelings in the world. We all put so much work into these application cycles that it is always nice to not go home empty handed. See you in August!
 
I was accepted at Campbell today! I cannot wait to meet everyone for orientation in a few weeks!
 
I believe to the top 8 or 9 were called off the waitlist.
 
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Does anyone know if they will be having regular open houses like most schools do anytime soon?
 
Does anyone know if you can use a MD LOR instead of a DO reference? thanks in advance 🙂
 
Owl1414 said:
Does anyone know if you can use a MD LOR instead of a DO reference? thanks in advance 🙂
Click to expand...

I had an MD one. I also have a good knowledge of DO and they asked me straight up Why DO. Just be ready with your answer and you'll be fine.
 
OzelloPiRat said:
I had an MD one. I also have a good knowledge of DO and they asked me straight up Why DO. Just be ready with your answer and you'll be fine.
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I am having a hard time finding a chance to shadow a DO on base so I may have to wait to NC
 
Hey, I Submitted my Drug Screen, CBC, acceptance forms, deposit, transcripts - I was wondering if anyone heard back from Joy or the staff after getting accepted? I did get a deposit confirmation email but thats about it.

Thanks
 
A have a few general questions...

How is this DO school? I know it's fairly new, but is it considered a top DO school?
Plus, what MCAT score will be competitive for them?
And finally, is it still true that they prefer instate/nearby state residents than other ... for instance will being from PA hamper chances?

Oh and btw, the first time I heard of CUSOM (a couple of days ago) was here ... http://risingdoctor.blogspot.com/2013/04/which-osteopathic-medical-school-do-is.html
It's a decent read, and the author makes the school seem really nice, considering that like him, I too atm (initially) preferred PCOM-Philly as top choice.
So yeah, is this school indeed up there with the likes of PCOM?

Thanks!
 
DamanTHFC said:
A have a few general questions...

How is this DO school? I know it's fairly new, but is it considered a top DO school?
Plus, what MCAT score will be competitive for them?
And finally, is it still true that they prefer instate/nearby state residents than other ... for instance will being from PA hamper chances?

Oh and btw, the first time I heard of CUSOM (a couple of days ago) was here ... http://risingdoctor.blogspot.com/2013/04/which-osteopathic-medical-school-do-is.html
It's a decent read, and the author makes the school seem really nice, considering that like him, I too atm (initially) preferred PCOM-Philly as top choice.
So yeah, is this school indeed up there with the likes of PCOM?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Top DO school? It's brand new so no. The charter class just started the 2nd semester. Maybe in a few years though.

MCAT is hard to say. They've accepted low 20's and rejected 30s. It really depends on if they like you or not on paper as well as the interview.

Many students are out of state so being from PA won't hurt at all.
 
DamanTHFC said:
A have a few general questions...

How is this DO school? I know it's fairly new, but is it considered a top DO school?
Plus, what MCAT score will be competitive for them?
And finally, is it still true that they prefer instate/nearby state residents than other ... for instance will being from PA hamper chances?

Oh and btw, the first time I heard of CUSOM (a couple of days ago) was here ... http://risingdoctor.blogspot.com/2013/04/which-osteopathic-medical-school-do-is.html
It's a decent read, and the author makes the school seem really nice, considering that like him, I too atm (initially) preferred PCOM-Philly as top choice.
So yeah, is this school indeed up there with the likes of PCOM?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

As far as MCAT it depends on your GPA, ECs, etc, but I would say that our class average for the first class was probably around a 26. I think a 3.5+ and 26+ would be competitive here. However, if you are below that I would still apply if you are close, and if you are above that you aren't a "shoe-in" or anything like that, but you will at least have the numerical requirements to get an interview.
 
I have an interview for Campbell on the 10th and am wondering if any current medical students or students who have had interviews here, have advice for how to prepare. What sort of questions should I expect?

Thanks!
 
I formally gave up my seat today at Campbell after much consideration. I hope that one of you guys get it! This was a really great school, so good luck everyone!
 
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