Hi all,
Thanks for reading, was recently accepted to CCOM and OU-HCOM. Currently on 2 MD waitlists, but will need to reserve a seat for one of the aforementioned DO programs in less than a week. Here are the pros/cons:
CCOM (Midwestern, Illinois campus)
+ Original 5 DO program with rotations in Chicago, residencies everywhere
+ Facilities like the library, cafeteria, and especially the anatomy lab really wowed me
+ Traditional recorded lectures with non-mandatory attendance; when I was in grad school, I found my grades improved when I skipped class and watched recordings at 1.5x
+ School's website disclosed their average board scores and pass rates (both of which were above the national average)
+ Administration seemed way more supportive/understanding about USMLE/Step prep and competitive specialties
+ Close to major airports (important since most of my family lives in North Carolina) and diverse/interesting things in Chicagoland
+ Lots of friends from college live within a 2-hour drive
+ Out of the 6 interviews I attended, this school "felt the most like home"; the students seemed laid-back and looked like they had a social life
- Cost! First-year cost-of-attendance estimated of $102K, 4-year COA ~$450K (might end up closer to $500K since CCOM likes to hike their rates by 4-7% per year)
- General cost-of-living is also quite a lot higher in Illinois as compared to Ohio
- Exams every week with a fast-paced curriculum
- A/B/C/F grading scale, including GPA calculations; the whole environment struck me as more individualistic and less collaborative
- No on-campus teaching hospital
- Would need to hustle for research opportunities
- I don't know anyone who goes to CCOM, so it would be a completely new start (for better or worse)
OU-HCOM (Athens campus)
+ In-state Ohio resident => much lower expenses. First-year COA of $68K, 4-year COA ~$320K (year-over-year rate increases are around 2-4%)
+ State-funded and well-established, with a solid residency director and good in-state placement
+ Plentiful research opportunities, especially in fields that interest me; one of my interviewers was someone I would genuinely love to have as a PI
+ Will be attending with several other people I know from grad school (mostly to commiserate)
+ Drivable distance to family (6 hours vs 13 hours in Chicago)
+ True pass/fail, no class rankings
+ Learning environment struck me as exceptionally collaborative, which the new curriculum seems to enforce
- However, the newly-instituted flipped classroom model has ~20 hours of mandatory class per week (which is definitely NOT my learning style); also a business casual dress code on campus
- School's SDN thread is full of concerns about the new curriculum, such as increased busywork compared to previous years, exams that test board-irrelevant minutiae, an administration that is slow to respond to feedback, and a reported 5% attrition rate among first-years (double the historic rate!)
- School's website states that Comlex pass rates are around average, but does not report average scores of their students
- Rural, non-diverse location with not much to do in town; Columbus is the closest place with decent shopping and an airport
- Huge undergrad population with a reputation of being the #1 party school in the country (also not my learning style)
- Rotations are all-over the state, with a big primary care and rural Appalachia focus
- The first-years I encountered, including tour guides, looked really stressed and miserable; gut reaction told me that "I wasn't going to fit here"
Thanks for reading, was recently accepted to CCOM and OU-HCOM. Currently on 2 MD waitlists, but will need to reserve a seat for one of the aforementioned DO programs in less than a week. Here are the pros/cons:
CCOM (Midwestern, Illinois campus)
+ Original 5 DO program with rotations in Chicago, residencies everywhere
+ Facilities like the library, cafeteria, and especially the anatomy lab really wowed me
+ Traditional recorded lectures with non-mandatory attendance; when I was in grad school, I found my grades improved when I skipped class and watched recordings at 1.5x
+ School's website disclosed their average board scores and pass rates (both of which were above the national average)
+ Administration seemed way more supportive/understanding about USMLE/Step prep and competitive specialties
+ Close to major airports (important since most of my family lives in North Carolina) and diverse/interesting things in Chicagoland
+ Lots of friends from college live within a 2-hour drive
+ Out of the 6 interviews I attended, this school "felt the most like home"; the students seemed laid-back and looked like they had a social life
- Cost! First-year cost-of-attendance estimated of $102K, 4-year COA ~$450K (might end up closer to $500K since CCOM likes to hike their rates by 4-7% per year)
- General cost-of-living is also quite a lot higher in Illinois as compared to Ohio
- Exams every week with a fast-paced curriculum
- A/B/C/F grading scale, including GPA calculations; the whole environment struck me as more individualistic and less collaborative
- No on-campus teaching hospital
- Would need to hustle for research opportunities
- I don't know anyone who goes to CCOM, so it would be a completely new start (for better or worse)
OU-HCOM (Athens campus)
+ In-state Ohio resident => much lower expenses. First-year COA of $68K, 4-year COA ~$320K (year-over-year rate increases are around 2-4%)
+ State-funded and well-established, with a solid residency director and good in-state placement
+ Plentiful research opportunities, especially in fields that interest me; one of my interviewers was someone I would genuinely love to have as a PI
+ Will be attending with several other people I know from grad school (mostly to commiserate)
+ Drivable distance to family (6 hours vs 13 hours in Chicago)
+ True pass/fail, no class rankings
+ Learning environment struck me as exceptionally collaborative, which the new curriculum seems to enforce
- However, the newly-instituted flipped classroom model has ~20 hours of mandatory class per week (which is definitely NOT my learning style); also a business casual dress code on campus
- School's SDN thread is full of concerns about the new curriculum, such as increased busywork compared to previous years, exams that test board-irrelevant minutiae, an administration that is slow to respond to feedback, and a reported 5% attrition rate among first-years (double the historic rate!)
- School's website states that Comlex pass rates are around average, but does not report average scores of their students
- Rural, non-diverse location with not much to do in town; Columbus is the closest place with decent shopping and an airport
- Huge undergrad population with a reputation of being the #1 party school in the country (also not my learning style)
- Rotations are all-over the state, with a big primary care and rural Appalachia focus
- The first-years I encountered, including tour guides, looked really stressed and miserable; gut reaction told me that "I wasn't going to fit here"
