COMP-NW vs RVU

[reiny16]

So I have 5 days to decide between these two great schools, and would appreciate anyone else's input on my thought process!

COMP-NW
pros: Great location in Oregon to other "things" (Portland>Denver, the coast, mountains, etc), Cost of living is low in Lebanon, Faculty/Students have a "family" environment, Great pass rates in step 1 and especially step 2 of boards, Established clinical rotations sites on the West Coast, Good reputation being a part of WesternU on the West Coast.
cons: Lebanon is very rural, not much to do in the town itself. The medical building is pretty small (no library, anatomy lab does not have windows). Streamed lectures (not all faculty is in-house).

RVU
pros: More to do in Parker. Integrated curriculum. The medical building is great (lots of windows to natural light, two lecture halls, windows in anatomy lab, big clinic area, surgical simulation lab). Excellent board scores (make you take USMLE and COMLEX because of how competitive they are). All faculty is in-house. Honors tracks.
cons: Cost of living is higher. Reputation (newer school). Residency placement... this concerned me because they said it's unlikely you stay in CO for residency unless you do Family Med.

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[luckyely91]

Congrats on getting accepted! I like COMP-NW more not only because I love Oregon, but I believe it is a bit cheaper than RVU. RVU is one of the more expensive medical schools, from what I read:

http://www.usnews.com/education/bes...dical-schools-where-students-pay-a-high-price

 

[reiny16]

Actually COMP-NW is about $55,000/yr while RVU is $50,000/yr, so price thankfully doesn't play into it for me at this point. Ultimately, my gut tells me to go with WesternU because of its reputation on the West Coast, whereas Rocky Vista is still building its reputation everywhere and has to compete heavily with the state schools in CO. Yet, the facilities at Rocky Vista were outstanding!

 

[Blessthefall]

So I have 5 days to decide between these two great schools, and would appreciate anyone else's input on my thought process!

COMP-NW
pros: Great location in Oregon to other "things" (Portland>Denver, the coast, mountains, etc), Cost of living is low in Lebanon, Faculty/Students have a "family" environment, Great pass rates in step 1 and especially step 2 of boards, Established clinical rotations sites on the West Coast, Good reputation being a part of WesternU on the West Coast.
cons: Lebanon is very rural, not much to do in the town itself. The medical building is pretty small (no library, anatomy lab does not have windows). Streamed lectures (not all faculty is in-house).

RVU
pros: More to do in Parker. Integrated curriculum. The medical building is great (lots of windows to natural light, two lecture halls, windows in anatomy lab, big clinic area, surgical simulation lab). Excellent board scores (make you take USMLE and COMLEX because of how competitive they are). All faculty is in-house. Honors tracks.
cons: Cost of living is higher. Reputation (newer school). Residency placement... this concerned me because they said it's unlikely you stay in CO for residency unless you do Family Med.

Oregon has some of the fewest residencies available to offer in the United States. Food for thought.


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[medschoolplease123]

Oregon has some of the fewest residencies available to offer in the United States. Food for thought.


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Yea but for residency... you can match anywhere depending on your board scores. right?

 

[tkim]

Yea but for residency... you can match anywhere depending on your board scores. right?

Multifactorial, but audition rotation are important. Logistically, the more audition rotations you can do in the places that you want to match at will be limited by your ability to travel to those sites and how much cost/effort it would take to get there. If you want to do residency and ultimately practice in one area, it would be best to be at the school that you can easily do audition rotations at. All other things being equal.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Reputation (newer school). Residency placement...

Why are you worried about their residency placement? They match as well as any other DO school.

this concerned me because they said it's unlikely you stay in CO for residency unless you do Family Med.

Well yeah seeing as most of the residency programs are controlled by CU and they are fairly anti-DO.

Actually COMP-NW is about $55,000/yr while RVU is $50,000/yr, so price thankfully doesn't play into it for me at this point. Ultimately, my gut tells me to go with WesternU because of its reputation on the West Coast, whereas Rocky Vista is still building its reputation everywhere and has to compete heavily with the state schools in CO. Yet, the facilities at Rocky Vista were outstanding!

Rocky Vista is the better school, and it's cheaper. Don't just pick a school for a "reputation". Almost single school has a good "reputation" in the immediate region around it.

Yea but for residency... you can match anywhere depending on your board scores. right?

No

 

[reiny16]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I know I will get an excellent education at either school and I understand how residency placements are more on you than on the school.

So essentially we're looking at a couple things: 1) where do you see yourself being geographically? 2) what does the school offer in your first two years? 3) how strong are the school's core clinical rotations? Taking that criteria into consideration, I'm leaning RVU.

1) I think I will appreciate being in a more busy suburban area vs rural.
2) Unique but board score proven curriculum. RVU's facilities are impressive. Lectures are in-house if you want to go, more space/study rooms in the building, anatomy lab has windows, surgical simulation lab, attached clinic.
3) Established rotations within reasonable distance from Denver.

 

[COQueen]

Residency placement... this concerned me because they said it's unlikely you stay in CO for residency unless you do Family Med.

This is untrue.
RVU has placed students in a variety of residencies in CO, from surgery, to IM, to OB, to Anesthesiology in Colorado and many of them in CU or at CU affiliate sites. RVU also rotates with CU students at many locations and certain core rotations could be completed at CU's main hospital. RVU is also expanding its GME in the state every year. New programs in neurology, surgery, psychiatry, family medicine, IM, and OB will be opening up within the next year. If you want to stay in CO for residency, it's very competitive but it's doable.
Feel free to send me a message if you have any other questions about RVU

 

[OregonDoctor]

I'm going to COMP-NW this year, but interviewed at RVU last year. I was really impressed with RVU's stats but at the end of the day it concerned me that it was "for-profit." I think that gives it (unfair) negative bias but it is what it is. Additionally, COMP-NW has name recognition and a good reputation being one of several WesternU schools along the western coast. Those are just my thoughts. I've heard great things about RVU's board scores and matches though!

 

[oldfartwithkids]

I'm going to COMP-NW this year, but interviewed at RVU last year. I was really impressed with RVU's stats but at the end of the day it concerned me that it was "for-profit." I think that gives it (unfair) negative bias but it is what it is. Additionally, COMP-NW has name recognition and a good reputation being one of several WesternU schools along the western coast. Those are just my thoughts. I've heard great things about RVU's board scores and matches though!

Umm, COMP - NW is totally for profit, rather they say it or not. I mean they seriously have a whole web page dedicated to explaining why they keep raising tuition every year.