CCOM vs. Touro CA

[kranzama]

---

Members do not see this ad.

So I have an acceptance to CCOM and am contemplating withdrawing my upcoming interview at Touro CA. I'm pretty skeptical about my desire to go to Touro, but I want to make as informed of a decision as I can before withdrawing. If you guys could please answer any of these specific questions, I'd greatly appreciate it.

1) How much does prestige/alumni base really matter for residency matching? And does it matter more if one chooses to pursue an ACGME residency? Someone in another thread said that one particular PD commented that their program only considers DO applicants from 5 specific schools, and CCOM was one of them. Is this an actual thing or an obscure anecdote?

2) How do people generally feel about the quality of rotations at Touro? Do they stack up to CCOM's? I've heard mixed things about Touro's, whereas with CCOM the general consensus seems to be their rotations are top notch.

3) Does Touro emphasize primary care more than CCOM? From what I've read this seems to be the case, but I'm not sure exactly what that increased emphasis entails in the curriculum/rotations or how it would affect me, someone who most likely will pursue a specialty outside of primary care.

If you guys can't already tell, I fell in love with CCOM and the Chicagoland area during my interview trip. Main thing holding me back is that hefty, hefty price tag.

 

[tennerd]

you know that Vallejo has quite high cost of living in a ghetto area, right? compare both of the schools' fed aid calculated cost of attendance charts.
also consider that the 2 schools are located in different regions, so it may affect which general region you will attend residency.

 

[kranzama]

you know that Vallejo has quite high cost of living in a ghetto area, right? compare both of the schools' fed aid calculated cost of attendance charts.
also consider that the 2 schools are located in different regions, so it may affect which general region you will attend residency.

Ah good advice, thanks. The difference is about 3k/year less than I thought when only considering tuition. Yeah, I've considered the regional factor too.

 

[0dee]

CCOM all day, and yes even with that ridiculous tuition.

 

[Goro]

Here's what really important: deep dish pizza vs sourdough bread?

 

[DrPatriot]

Here's what really important: deep dish pizza vs sourdough bread?

I didn't apply to either of these schools but deep dish pizza all day hands down.

 

[kranzama]

Here's what really important: deep dish pizza vs sourdough bread?

Deep dish. End of thread?

 

[user3]

https://www.midwestern.edu/Document...ts/COA Forms/2015-16 IL/CCOM_IL1516 final.pdf

 

[deleted407021]

https://www.midwestern.edu/Documents/Financial Aid documents/COA Forms/2015-16 IL/CCOM_IL1516 final.pdf

 

[Henry101]

https://www.midwestern.edu/Documents/Financial Aid documents/COA Forms/2015-16 IL/CCOM_IL1516 final.pdf

This can't be real. Is this a joke? $63k for tuition alone? Are the textbooks printed on calf skin leather?
And, wth does "thrifty" mean? I've never seen that before on a COA sheet for a medical school. This can't be real.

 

[ananasmed]

This can't be real. Is this a joke? $63k for tuition alone? Are the textbooks printed on calf skin leather?
And, wth does "thrifty" mean? I've never seen that before on a COA sheet for a medical school. This can't be real.

I assure you, it's very real. But, for full disclosure, the calf skin leather textbooks are not included in the $63K.

 

[Henry101]

I assure you, it's very real. But, for full disclosure, the calf skin leather textbooks are not included in the $63K.

Dang. And I thought Nova's $52k was exorbitant.
But, seriously, is there any legitimate reason why it's that high?

 

[ananasmed]

Dang. And I thought Nova's $52k was exorbitant.
But, seriously, is there any legitimate reason why it's that high?

I suspect something to do with keeping their foot in the door at many of the area hospitals but I'm not sure how true that is. The facilities and campus in general are updated and pristine. I'm sure the administrators make a pretty penny, too 😉 I'm only a first year student but I do not have regrets about attending, despite the exorbitant tuition. I am so incredibly grateful to be where my support system is located, especially on the longest, most stressful days. So basically there's no one-size-fits-all model to school selection, despite how obvious it may seem for some to avoid attending certain schools based on any number of factors, including high tuition.

 

[mkhuc]

4th year from TUCOM-CA here.

Our core sites ranges in quality. We have a handful of hospitals in SoCal that are associated with the OPTI-West Consortium, and a handful of hospitals in NorCal as well. We are not as established as the Midwestern system, so we don't have as many contracts and residency programs associated. Most of my classmates chose Touro-CA because of our California affliations. If you dont have Cali ties, then I would stick with CCOM. Good luck!

 

[RavenclawMed]

This can't be real. Is this a joke? $63k for tuition alone? Are the textbooks printed on calf skin leather?
And, wth does "thrifty" mean? I've never seen that before on a COA sheet for a medical school. This can't be real.

I think "thrifty" referred to living with a roommate or cutting down expenses while at school a.k.a. living pretty frugally.

 

[kranzama]

4th year from TUCOM-CA here.

Our core sites are ranges in quality. We have a handful of hospitals in SoCal that are associated with the OPTI-West Consortium, and a handful of hospitals in NorCal as well. We are not as established as the Midwestern system, so we don't have as many contracts and residency programs associated. Most of my classmates chose Touro-CA because of our California affliations. If you dont have Cali ties, then I would stuck with CCOM. Good luck!

Great, thanks for that input!

 

[Henry101]

I think "thrifty" referred to living with a roommate or cutting down expenses while at school a.k.a. living pretty frugally.

Sooo the schools suggests that students could/should live frugally but the school charges $63k in tuition. Can the argument be made that the school should be more frugal and lower the burden on students?
Anyway, I didn't mean to hijack the thread.
To the OP, I live in CA. Many of my friends from Berkeley attend Touro-CA. The school attracts great students but, unfortunately, I don't think the school does a great job taking advantage of many of the resources of NorCal (i.e. research megacenters, medical centers, etc). Touro-CA is losing its affiliation with Dignity Health because CalNorthstate popped out and bought out the physicians from these medical centers. Touro students, however, do a great job in matching into primary care positions in NorCal. They always have a few students getting into the Stanford Peds program and may students match into Kaiser's Family Med Program. Most of CA's DO non-primary care residencies are located in the Inland Empire or the Valley where WesternCOMP students traditionally rotate at.
Also, CCOM isn't even in Chicago. It's a solid 45 minutes away with car to downtown Chicago. Besides CCOM, Chicago is home to UChicago, Northwestern, UIllinois@Chicago, Rush, and Rosalind Franklin medical schools. Something to keep in mind.
If you haven't applied yet, look into WesternCOMP. It's definitely not too late. It gives you the benefit of living decently close to home (about a 5 hour drive to the Bay) while giving you an excellent education that will open many doors locally and nationally.

 

[karnasty]

.

 

[kranzama]

Sooo the schools suggests that students could/should live frugally but the school charges $63k in tuition. Can the argument be made that the school should be more frugal and lower the burden on students?
Anyway, I didn't mean to hijack the thread.
To the OP, I live in CA. Many of my friends from Berkeley attend Touro-CA. The school attracts great students but, unfortunately, I don't think the school does a great job taking advantage of many of the resources of NorCal (i.e. research megacenters, medical centers, etc). Touro-CA is losing its affiliation with Dignity Health because CalNorthstate popped out and bought out the physicians from these medical centers. Touro students, however, do a great job in matching into primary care positions in NorCal. They always have a few students getting into the Stanford Peds program and may students match into Kaiser's Family Med Program. Most of CA's DO non-primary care residencies are located in the Inland Empire or the Valley where WesternCOMP students traditionally rotate at.
Also, CCOM isn't even in Chicago. It's a solid 45 minutes away with car to downtown Chicago. Besides CCOM, Chicago is home to UChicago, Northwestern, UIllinois@Chicago, Rush, and Rosalind Franklin medical schools. Something to keep in mind.
If you haven't applied yet, look into WesternCOMP. It's definitely not too late. It gives you the benefit of living decently close to home (about a 5 hour drive to the Bay) while giving you an excellent education that will open many doors locally and nationally.

Great info, thanks! I actually did apply to WesternCOMP, so am hoping to land an interview there.

 

[RavenclawMed]

Sooo the schools suggests that students could/should live frugally but the school charges $63k in tuition. Can the argument be made that the school should be more frugal and lower the burden on students?
Anyway, I didn't mean to hijack the thread.
To the OP, I live in CA. Many of my friends from Berkeley attend Touro-CA. The school attracts great students but, unfortunately, I don't think the school does a great job taking advantage of many of the resources of NorCal (i.e. research megacenters, medical centers, etc). Touro-CA is losing its affiliation with Dignity Health because CalNorthstate popped out and bought out the physicians from these medical centers. Touro students, however, do a great job in matching into primary care positions in NorCal. They always have a few students getting into the Stanford Peds program and may students match into Kaiser's Family Med Program. Most of CA's DO non-primary care residencies are located in the Inland Empire or the Valley where WesternCOMP students traditionally rotate at.
Also, CCOM isn't even in Chicago. It's a solid 45 minutes away with car to downtown Chicago. Besides CCOM, Chicago is home to UChicago, Northwestern, UIllinois@Chicago, Rush, and Rosalind Franklin medical schools. Something to keep in mind.
If you haven't applied yet, look into WesternCOMP. It's definitely not too late. It gives you the benefit of living decently close to home (about a 5 hour drive to the Bay) while giving you an excellent education that will open many doors locally and nationally.

I'm a first year at CCOM. Yes tuition is ridiculous but I'm from the area and want to ultimately practice here so there was a no brainer for me. Rents can be expensive because it's a nice affluent suburb. If the tuition is too much for you to attend the school, then you don't have to.

 

[Henry101]

I'm a first year at CCOM. Yes tuition is ridiculous but I'm from the area and want to ultimately practice here so there was a no brainer for me. Rents can be expensive because it's a nice affluent suburb. If the tuition is too much for you to attend the school, then you don't have to.

True. That's fair.
I mean, everyone knows the high level of excellence at CCOM. There's no doubt about it.
And I believe that it's the perfect school for some people, such as yourself. I was just a little shocked at the sticker.

 

[user3]

I'm a first year at CCOM. Yes tuition is ridiculous but I'm from the area and want to ultimately practice here so there was a no brainer for me. Rents can be expensive because it's a nice affluent suburb. If the tuition is too much for you to attend the school, then you don't have to.

henry101 is spot on. It is hypocritical for the school to encourage students to lower debt by maintaining "frugal" budget, but not reciprocating-- at all-- on their end. They can't even publish a 4 year tuition schedule for prospective students so they can see ahead of time exactly how much the program will cost. They also don't even attempt to estimate interest during school and residency in the link I uploaded.

 

[Henry101]

henry101 is spot on. It is hypocritical for the school to encourage students to lower debt by maintaining "frugal" budget, but not reciprocating-- at all-- on their end. They can't even publish a 4 year tuition schedule for prospective students so they can see ahead of time exactly how much the program will cost. They also don't even attempt to estimate interest during school and residency in the link I uploaded.

I've applied/been applying to 21 schools and CCOM was the first school that had a "thrifty" row in their tuition estimate.
But Chicago, especially the Downer's Grove area, is great. I'm not sure if it's a "medically underserved" area but it's an awesome place to live and study. Considering that they are one of the more competitive schools to get into, I guess the tuition isn't a main concern for many, many applicants because of the location, resources available, etc. To each their own.

 

[Seth Joo]

henry101 is spot on. It is hypocritical for the school to encourage students to lower debt by maintaining "frugal" budget, but not reciprocating-- at all-- on their end. They can't even publish a 4 year tuition schedule for prospective students so they can see ahead of time exactly how much the program will cost. They also don't even attempt to estimate interest during school and residency in the link I uploaded.

Schools overestimate their COAs mostly because many students do not know how to live within their means, so they do this because not everyone can fall back on their parents if they are low on money, so schools overestimate the COA. You would be surprised how students spend their financial aid money, I knew students who went on vacations to exotic places, bought brand new cars, etc. things you really do not need or should not be using your financial aid money for anyway.

 

[user3]

Schools overestimate their COAs mostly because many students do not know how to live within their means, so they do this because not everyone can fall back on their parents if they are low on money, so schools overestimate the COA. You would be surprised how students spend their financial aid money, I knew students who went on vacations to exotic places, bought brand new cars, etc. things you really do not need or should not be using your financial aid money for anyway.

according to that link, even if you have absolutely zero expenses besides tuition, you will still be looking at 272k, and that is without interest.

I've applied/been applying to 21 schools and CCOM was the first school that had a "thrifty" row in their tuition estimate.
But Chicago, especially the Downer's Grove area, is great. I'm not sure if it's a "medically underserved" area but it's an awesome place to live and study. Considering that they are one of the more competitive schools to get into, I guess the tuition isn't a main concern for many, many applicants because of the location, resources available, etc. To each their own.

what angers me is that if they simply cut tuition below 50k, they would likely be far more competitive...easily 3.6/31 average. That would make them look amazing.

so far Touro-Ca is the only confirmed DO school where the majority of entering students scored 30+. I would like to see more schools reach this...

 

[Henry101]

so far Touro-Ca is the only confirmed DO school where the majority of entering students scored 30+. I would like to see more schools reach this...

But, despite high MCAT/GPA of TouroCA students, they are average on COMLEX and the match. The OPTI that is associated with WesternCOMP and TouroCA has 4 orthopedic surgery residency programs and the largest Neurosurgery residency program in the country, but most of the students are from ATSU-Arizona or LECOM. TouroCA has only graduated 2 students in the past 3 years that have gone to do orthopedic surgery. They had 0 this past cycle. I'm not saying that matching into a surgery residency (or match lists) should reflect in any way on admission decisions. But, it should make one think about the plethora of awesome residency programs in CA that are not being filled by TouroCA (or WesternCOMP) students while simultaneously looking at average COMLEX scores, keeping in mind that many of these programs won't let you do an audition/elective rotation without a minimum 550 on COMLEX stepI.
I don't live in Illinois so I can't comment besides the Downer's Grove because I have visited the neighborhood twice before for weddings/family events.
Anyway, to the OP, both are great schools and you'll only go as far as your effort and determination takes you.

 

[IslandStyle808]

what angers me is that if they simply cut tuition below 50k, they would likely be far more competitive...easily 3.6/31 average. That would make them look amazing.

I highly doubt that. I recall a article done by NPR about undergrad tuition at Duke. They found out that decreasing it made the school less attractive. The main reason stated was due to both applicants and families thinking the value of the education went down.

Not sure how true that is, but I don't believe cost of be as big of a driving factor as people make it out to be. Schools like DMU and KCU have lower tuition and excellent education, yet they have less applications than AZCOM. I doubt lowering the cost would make such a substantial difference.

 

[user3]

I highly doubt that. I recall a article done by NPR about undergrad tuition at Duke. They found out that decreasing it made the school less attractive. The main reason stated was due to both applicants and families thinking the value of the education went down.

Not sure how true that is, but I don't believe cost of be as big of a driving factor as people make it out to be. Schools like DMU and KCU have lower tuition and excellent education, yet they have less applications than AZCOM. I doubt lowering the cost would make such a substantial difference.

Location may be more the issue with those 2 schools vs Phoenix and Chicago. And tuition can only go up so much before people start seriously considering it a negative. 63k crosses that line for many, I have come across numerous people who do not apply or turn down those schools solely due to that insane price.

 

[tennerd]

Location may be more the issue with those 2 schools vs Phoenix and Chicago. And tuition can only go up so much before people start seriously considering it a negative. 63k crosses that line for many, I have come across numerous people who do not apply or turn down those schools solely due to that insane price.

hundreds of thousands of US students pay ridiculous amounts of money, >30k annual tuition, for a measly bachelors many within the liberal arts. the same people who attended those schools are applying broadly to these medical schools. these medical schools aren't worried. no medical school is, really.

 

[IslandStyle808]

Location may be more the issue with those 2 schools vs Phoenix and Chicago. And tuition can only go up so much before people start seriously considering it a negative. 63k crosses that line for many, I have come across numerous people who do not apply or turn down those schools solely due to that insane price.

I agree, there will be a point where it will turn people off, but it is not at 63k. People will keep going to these schools until there is a point where what is gained through the degree is not worth the time and debt. So these prices will still increase and I bet their stats won't plummet just yet.