Can some people give me a rough tier list of DO schools?

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LuluLovesMe

LuluLovesMe

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I don't see anything like the MSAR published anywhere. I know this is controversial, but surely there must be some widely agreed upon rough tier list.
 
LuluLovesMe said:
I don't see anything like the MSAR published anywhere. I know this is controversial, but surely there must be some widely agreed upon rough tier list.
Click to expand...

Tis a very ruff list and many will disagree but here you go, from top tier to bottom:

KCUMB

TCOM/OUHCOM/CCOM/MSUCOM

ROWAN/OSUCOM/AZCOM/PCOM/AZCOM/Western/Touro

DMUCOM/RVUCOM

The rest
 
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AlteredScale said:
Tis a very ruff list and many will disagree but here you go, from top tier to bottom:

TCOM/OUHCOM/CCOM

ROWAN/OSUCOM/AZCOM/PCOM/AZCOM/Western/MSUCOM/Touro

DMUCOM/KCUMB-COM/RVUCOM

The rest
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! I live in MA so I'm looking at nearby schools. How would you compare PCOM, Rowan and Touro NY?
 
LuluLovesMe said:
Thanks for the reply! I live in MA so I'm looking at nearby schools. How would you compare PCOM, Rowan and Touro NY?
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I personally would consider any of the three. It would be neck and neck in all of them since their locations are good for me. At that point it would come down to tuition which I do not know their breakdowns for it.
 
AlteredScale said:
Tis a very ruff list and many will disagree but here you go, from top tier to bottom:

TCOM/OUHCOM/CCOM

ROWAN/OSUCOM/AZCOM/PCOM/AZCOM/Western/MSUCOM/Touro

DMUCOM/KCUMB-COM/RVUCOM

The rest
Click to expand...


What is this according to you or something? I would highly disagree with this list. First off MSU is ranked 9th in the nation by US news for best primary care. To put it in perspective Harvard is ranked 11th.
 
LuluLovesMe said:
Thanks for the reply! I live in MA so I'm looking at nearby schools. How would you compare PCOM, Rowan and Touro NY?
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I'm a PCOM student so i'm biased towards PCOM. But personally if I had the choice of the 3 I would go 1. PCOM 2. Rowan SOM 3. Touro NY
 
TopTomato said:
OP this is the best advice you can get for a DO school's ranking.
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Thanks! This is pretty much the conclusion I came to as well based on the old threads. So Rowan has a public university affiliation and PCOM is one of the original 5. Touro doesn't fit either? It seems to have the highest MCAT average.
 
LuluLovesMe said:
Thanks! This is pretty much the conclusion I came to as well based on the old threads. So Rowan has a public university affiliation and PCOM is one of the original 5. Touro doesn't fit either? It seems to have the highest MCAT average.
Click to expand...

Yes Touro NY is a heavy-MCAT school. NYCOM is another NY DO that averages a 3.6/28 (higher GPA than touro but not as high MCAT average)
 
LuluLovesMe said:
Thanks! This is pretty much the conclusion I came to as well based on the old threads. So Rowan has a public university affiliation and PCOM is one of the original 5. Touro doesn't fit either? It seems to have the highest MCAT average.
Click to expand...

That's true. But judging a school based on MCAT scores is a horrible way to look at it. You can't go wrong with picking PCOM or Rowan, both are solid institutions. At that point it's going to come down to personal preference. Personally I like living in Philadelphia.
 
TopTomato said:
That's true. But judging a school based on MCAT scores is a horrible way to look at it. You can't go wrong with picking PCOM or Rowan, both are solid institutions. At that point it's going to come down to personal preference. Personally I like living in Philadelphia.
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PCOM also has great residencies. However, I'm not sure if they give preference to their students.
 
Dreamstoo said:
PCOM also has great residencies. However, I'm not sure if they give preference to their students.
Click to expand...

I know for a fact they do. Which is also a reason why I chose to come here. I've heard good things from PCOM residencies. Also just from speaking to other docs in the Philly area we also have a solid reputation.
 
Dreamstoo said:
PCOM also has great residencies. However, I'm not sure if they give preference to their students.
Click to expand...

I would definitely agree based on my research that PCOM>Rowan>Touro. But how big is the difference? If I really like living in New York, would it be foolish to go there instead of PCOM?

I don't know how many DO schools I should apply to since I'm also applying to around 20 MD schools. Is 3 enough?
 
LuluLovesMe said:
I would definitely agree based on my research that PCOM>Rowan>Touro. But how big is the difference? If I really like living in New York, would it be foolish to go there instead of PCOM?

I don't know how many DO schools I should apply to since I'm also applying to around 20 MD schools. Is 3 enough?
Click to expand...

Hard to say not knowing your stats. I'm applying this June most likely and will have far more DOs than MDs on my list.
 
Dreamstoo said:
Hard to say not knowing your stats. I'm applying this June most likely and will have far more DOs than MDs on my list.
Click to expand...

cGPA 3.56 sGPA 3.41 MCAT expecting around a 37
 
LuluLovesMe said:
Thanks for the reply! I live in MA so I'm looking at nearby schools. How would you compare PCOM, Rowan and Touro NY?
Click to expand...

All I can say is that RowanSOM has a grad at UCSD ER residency and PCOM has a grad doing a EM peds fellowship at an affiliated UCSD hospital. Let that speak for itself and you can take it anyway you want 🙂. Can't speak much for Touro-NY.
 
AlteredScale said:
All I can say is that RowanSOM has a grad at UCSD ER residency and PCOM has a grad doing a EM peds fellowship at an affiliated UCSD hospital. Let that speak for itself and you can take it anyway you want 🙂. Can't speak much for Touro-NY.
Click to expand...

Wow and UCSD hospitals are VERY prestigious (highly ranked MD school). Most DO graduates I know have been able to get primary care residencies at MD universities.
 
Dreamstoo said:
Wow and UCSD hospitals are VERY prestigious (highly ranked MD school). Most DO graduates I know have been able to get primary care residencies at MD universities.
Click to expand...


Mhmm this looks like a gradual shift towards taking DO applicants seriously. Albeit these are DO grads coming from extremely strong institutions (PCOM and Rowan). You can also check out KCUMB grad Sarah Parks, DO who is now a professor of cardiology at Massachusetts general (did her residency and fellowship at Cooper).

Really cool to meet with some of these guys at UCSD (my undergrad). But these n=1 examples don't remove the fact that PDs can and will still put precedence to MD applicants if the program is very competitive.
 
AlteredScale said:
Mhmm this looks like a gradual shift towards taking DO applicants seriously. Albeit these are DO grads coming from extremely strong institutions (PCOM and Rowan). You can also check out KCUMB grad Sarah Parks, DO who is now a professor of cardiology at Massachusetts general (did her residency and fellowship at Cooper).

Really cool to meet with some of these guys at UCSD (my undergrad). But these n=1 examples don't remove the fact that PDs can and will still put precedence to MD applicants if the program is very competitive.
Click to expand...

Very true, there's also a DO doing a trauma surgery fellowship at Brigham and Women's right now. While i'm sure a lot of these are n=1 examples. I think it's a good sign of the times to come
 
TopTomato said:
Very true, there's also a DO doing a trauma surgery fellowship at Brigham and Women's right now. While i'm sure a lot of these are n=1 examples. I think it's a good sign of the times to come
Click to expand...

Yes, exactly. I wouldn't be surprised if 10 years from now, D.O.s are neck and neck with M.D. on statistically for admitted students
 
Dreamstoo said:
Wow and UCSD hospitals are VERY prestigious (highly ranked MD school). Most DO graduates I know have been able to get primary care residencies at MD universities.
Click to expand...

Realize that some of the "primary care" residencies are going to go on to sub specialize

Internal Medicine may mean a hospitalist or outpatient pcp on a match list, but it could also mean a future cardiologist/gastroenterologist/pulm-ccc
 
AlteredScale said:
Tis a very ruff list and many will disagree but here you go, from top tier to bottom:

TCOM/OUHCOM/CCOM/MSUCOM

ROWAN/OSUCOM/AZCOM/PCOM/AZCOM/Western/Touro

DMUCOM/KCUMB-COM/RVUCOM

The rest
Click to expand...

You see the problem with this, is that "The rest" includes a lot of schools that are also not equal. For one example, you do not have places like ATSU-KCOM (admittedly near and dear to my heart...lol) and UNECOM listed, however they do not belong lumped in with schools like KYCOM, LMU-DCOM, ACOM, WCU etc that fall in the 3.4/24-25 range...This is the problem with the whole tier thing.
 
AM508 said:
You see the problem with this, is that "The rest" includes a lot of schools that are also not equal. For one example, you do not have places like ATSU-KCOM (admittedly near and dear to my heart...lol) and UNECOM listed, however they do not belong lumped in with schools like KYCOM, LMU-DCOM, ACOM, WCU etc that fall in the 3.4/24-25 range...This is the problem with the whole tier thing.
Click to expand...

I agree. I was super lazy to tier the rest.
 
LuluLovesMe said:
What are the bottom tier ones just out of curiosity?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't consider them "bottom" but anyone's that haven't matched anywhere (the new DO schools) are in the unknown and basically unranked. I do think Marian University and Campbell University will do very well.
 
AlteredScale said:
Tis a very ruff list and many will disagree but here you go, from top tier to bottom:

TCOM/OUHCOM/CCOM/MSUCOM

ROWAN/OSUCOM/AZCOM/PCOM/AZCOM/Western/Touro

DMUCOM/KCUMB-COM/RVUCOM

The rest
Click to expand...

Yea altereds list shows why it is super hard to do this. Its not really worth it. Also it all really depends on how you're judging a school. If you use gpa/MCAT (altered seemed to weigh this alot) then you may not actually get a good representation of schools. Altered ranked touro ahead of nyit. I have a fair amount of experience of each school and I would say nyit has better clinical education then touro (even with touros high MCAT). I also have heard some bad things about certain schools on here and I visit them and leave very impressed. My advice is to go to visit the schools and ask good questions and judge for yourselves.

Also one school might be better for one person then another depending on your individual situation. For example some may love LECOM for their pathways others might not. Best to see what fits you. If you are from Michigan then its a great option since you get instate tuition but if you're out of state then its a bad option.


As far as generalities go this is my opinion.

Certain school are highly regarded (been around awhile/state schools/desirable locations etc) for example
Ccom
Nsucom
PCOM
Nyit
Western
Dmu
Msucom
Azcom
Osucom
Rowan
Kcumb
TCOM
Oucom (contract makes it questionable)

Certain school are meh (not as well established pretty stable will get you where you need to go) for example
Lecom
RVU
Touro
Vcom
Cusom
Certain schools are newer less stable and have more questionable admissions/rotations/quality

Lmu
Wcu
Lucom
Kycom
Pcom ga
Touro nv


But overall the biggest difference in my opinion is the education you get. As far as outcomes or difference it makes in your life it is very small the difference. 99% you 1 % the school
 
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DoctorSynthesis said:
Yea altereds list shows why it is super hard to do this. Its not really worth it. Also it all really depends on how you're judging a school. If you use gpa/MCAT (altered seemed to weigh this alot) then you may not actually get a good representation of schools. Altered ranked touro ahead of nyit. I have a fair amount of experience of each school and I would say nyit has better clinical education then touro (even with touros high MCAT). I also have heard some bad things about certain schools on here and I visit them and leave very impressed. My advice is to go to visit the schools and ask good questions and judge for yourselves.

Also one school might be better for one person then another depending on your individual situation. For example some may love LECOM for their pathways others might not. Best to see what fits you. If you are from Michigan then its a great option since you get instate tuition but if you're out of state then its a bad option.


As far as generalities go this is my opinion.

Certain school are highly regarded (been around awhile/state schools/desirable locations etc) for example
Ccom
Nsucom
PCOM
Nyit
Western
Dmu
Msucom
Azcom
Osucom
Rowan
Kcumb
TCOM
Oucom (contract makes it questionable)

Certain school are meh (not as well established pretty stable will get you where you need to go) for example
Lecom
RVU
Touro
Vcom
Cusom
Certain schools are newer less stable and have more questionable admissions/rotations/quality

Lmu
Wcu
Lucom
Kycom
Pcom ga
Touro nv


But overall the biggest difference in my opinion is the education you get. As far as outcomes or difference it makes in your life it is very small the difference. 99% you 1 % the school
Click to expand...

Completely agree. Quick question can you explain the contract for OUCOM?
 
No, OP, no one can give you more than opinion.

And numbers alone do not make for the "best" doctors. And, to further introduce you to the muddy waters you attempt to navigate, some people by choice want to practice family med in rural Arkansas, so match lists are a tricky thing to weigh. Some people choose to slack off, some choose to gun for plastic surgery; it all depends on soooo many factors, that any created list will incite havoc for others.

Do your own research, browse the hundreds of posts on this site. It will be worth it for your own informed understanding.
 
DocWinter said:
No, OP, no one can give you more than opinion.

And numbers alone do not make for the "best" doctors. And, to further introduce you to the muddy waters you attempt to navigate, some people by choice want to practice family med in rural Arkansas, so match lists are a tricky thing to weigh. Some people choose to slack off, some choose to gun for plastic surgery; it all depends on soooo many factors, that any created list will incite havoc for others.

Do your own research, browse the hundreds of posts on this site. It will be worth it for your own informed understanding.
Click to expand...

This is a common misconception. KCUMB is the best.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
DoctorSynthesis said:
Yea altereds list shows why it is super hard to do this. Its not really worth it. Also it all really depends on how you're judging a school. If you use gpa/MCAT (altered seemed to weigh this alot) then you may not actually get a good representation of schools. Altered ranked touro ahead of nyit. I have a fair amount of experience of each school and I would say nyit has better clinical education then touro (even with touros high MCAT). I also have heard some bad things about certain schools on here and I visit them and leave very impressed. My advice is to go to visit the schools and ask good questions and judge for yourselves.

Also one school might be better for one person then another depending on your individual situation. For example some may love LECOM for their pathways others might not. Best to see what fits you. If you are from Michigan then its a great option since you get instate tuition but if you're out of state then its a bad option.


As far as generalities go this is my opinion.

Certain school are highly regarded (been around awhile/state schools/desirable locations etc) for example
Ccom
Nsucom
PCOM
Nyit
Western
Dmu
Msucom
Azcom
Osucom
Rowan
Kcumb
TCOM
Oucom (contract makes it questionable)

Certain school are meh (not as well established pretty stable will get you where you need to go) for example
Lecom
RVU
Touro
Vcom
Cusom
Certain schools are newer less stable and have more questionable admissions/rotations/quality

Lmu
Wcu
Lucom
Kycom
Pcom ga
Touro nv


But overall the biggest difference in my opinion is the education you get. As far as outcomes or difference it makes in your life it is very small the difference. 99% you 1 % the school
Click to expand...

I like this post. I feel NYITCOM doesn't get the love it should at times
 
Dreamstoo said:
I like this post. I feel NYITCOM doesn't get the love it should at times
Click to expand...

Nyit gets a bit of a bad rep for high attrition but things have changed and it really isn't a problem anymore. I think NYIT is the most under rated DO school IMO.
 
Nobody is going to be amazed by your Osteopathic degree, so rank is fairly dumb. What you want to do is find the schools with best rotations. Typically the best schools are the public ones followed by the more established private schools. Then at the complete bottom it's LUCOM.
 
I have to agree with albinohawk above, you really should place weight on the established schools/private schools. I can easily tell you that MSUCOM is better than KYCOM, if you were were to offer a compare, or that you should choose PCOM over TouroNV. However, it is often apples to oranges if you want to live in Nevada or learn rural medicine (KYCOM)

Unfortunately, LUCOM does rank at the bottom of many learned pre-meds list, and there is not a close grouping of 2nd place at this time.
 
Tier 1a: the school you decide to attend
Tier 1b: the other schools that accept you

Tier 2a: the schools that interview, but don't accept you.
Tier 2b: the schools that invite you to interview but you decline.

Tier 3: the schools that didn't invite you for interview.

Tier 4: the schools you didn't apply to.

Tier 5: LUCOM (even if it falls in tier 1a above).

As a soon to be DO grad I'm here to tell you that where you go doesn't matter much at all. On the interview trail you're a DO applicant whether you are from PCOM or PNWUCOM it will not matter. What will matter is your board scores, your ability to make a positive impression on the faculty and house staff on residency interview day, and your performance in M3. Research comes in for some specialties, but the other 3 things are much more important.

So go where ever you want (unless it's LUCOM 😀) and do your very best. This is not the place to worry too much about how "good" your school is. You learn to be a doctor in residency not medical school, so be very selective then.
 
SLC said:
Tier 1a: the school you decide to attend
Tier 1b: the other schools that accept you

Tier 2a: the schools that interview, but don't accept you.
Tier 2b: the schools that invite you to interview but you decline.

Tier 3: the schools that didn't invite you for interview.

Tier 4: the schools you didn't apply to.

Tier 5: LUCOM (even if it falls in tier 1a above).

As a soon to be DO grad I'm here to tell you that where you go doesn't matter much at all. On the interview trail you're a DO applicant whether you are from PCOM or PNWUCOM it will not matter. What will matter is your board scores, your ability to make a positive impression on the faculty and house staff on residency interview day, and your performance in M3. Research comes in for some specialties, but the other 3 things are much more important.

So go where ever you want (unless it's LUCOM 😀) and do your very best. This is not the place to worry too much about how "good" your school is. You learn to be a doctor in residency not medical school, so be very selective then.
Click to expand...


hahaha i basically wrote that ranking on SDN last year (modified from someone elses ranking). very cool. seriously though, it would be nice to finally have some kinda official ranking. maybe someday in the next couple of decades. in the meantime, if you like your school and its professors then it's #1

guylewis said:
Ok everyone once and for all here is the offcial DO school ranking. my momma agrees and she will be publishing it on her blog, so you know it's legit:

1. The school you're matriculating at
2. The other schools that also accepted you
3. The schools that offered you an interview but you withdrew from
4. The schools that waitlisted you
5. The schools that rejected you
6. The schools you didn't even bother applying to
7. Liberty

*youre an idiot if you think there are any official rankings of DO schools
**these official rankings like all the others were pulled out of someones ass
Click to expand...
 
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