Deposits due soon! CCOM or RVUCOM.

[Dr.LeeuwenhoekJr]

Hello friends,
First post!

I have deposits due in 9 days and I need to make a decision fast and thought some of the upperclassmen and faculty here could help out. I was accepted to a couple of schools and have narrowed my decision to either CCOM or RVU. I thought a comparison chart would be easier to read than paragraphs so I have attached an image with details.

About me: 21 year old, male from Sacramento, CA.
Career Goals: hoping to do surgery, coauthored publications on accuracy of ultrasound diagnostics on shoulder replacement orthopedic surgeries (the redic amount of time I have spent in labs is probably the reason why I have a mediocre GPA but high MCAT). But, in all honesty, I would probably be happy being a hospitalist or community internist if it comes to that.

(Refer to attached chart for details)

Summary: CCOM is one of the oldest DO schools in the nation with, arguably, the best clinical curriculum of any DO school and, even, most MD schools. I can easily continue my research interests here. Although I thought the preclinical curriculum wasn’t innovative at all (lots of interprofessionalism, required seminars, classes broken down into quarters, 2 years of psychology classes, little clinical elective time, etc.), the students match very well, especially in Chicago. BUT, I am terrified of the tuition and insane cost of living. If I end up doing primary care (like 50% of the school), I don’t know how I would live while paying back the insane debt. I want to be a smart borrower. Am I overthinking this?

I really, really liked RVUCOM. Before the interview, I had no intentions of attending the school but I was so impressed with the school, faculty, and students. The school felt very different, in a good way. The Dean knew many of the OMSI students by their first name and the community felt very tight-knit. I think the school’s curriculum is very forward-thinking and students match into incredible programs because of their high board scores (higher than state MD school). RVUCOM requires students to take the USMLE which opens up many doors for the students. Also, the school gives students great freedom/flexibility to schedule auditions and electives which, I believe, opens more doors (because most competitive programs require students to rotate through to be considered for an interview).

What are your thoughts? My brain is telling me to follow the money and board scores and say yes to RVUCOM while my heart is telling me to go live in Chicago (!!!) and attend CCOM.

---

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[Petypet]

Go where it is cheaper. You are looking at a 60-70K minimum plus interest according to your costs to attend CCOM. Don't do that to yourself.

 

[sandstone]

RVU fourth year here, so a little bias. If you liked RVU and it's cheaper, just go there! I've been happy with the school and I matched into my top choice ortho program. We should have an epic match list this year. I know 9 matched ortho (7 AOA, 1 military, 1 ACGME), as well as some other great matches in other fields. It is true that it's a little harder to do research, but it is possible and plenty of people have gotten projects going. Plus, Colorado is awesome!

 

[ortnakas]

I don't have a strong opinion on these two but can point out a few things:
--CCOM is in the suburbs of Chicago, not "CHICAGO!!" Similar to how RVUCOM is in the suburbs. I'm guessing the "things to do" is about the same in both cities.
--Other than research, most of your pros lean toward RVUCOM and most of your cons lean toward CCOM.

Also-- do you have a source on RVU's USMLE average being higher than CU-Denver's? Not saying I don't believe you, but that's surprising (and impressive).

 

[Dr. Death]

As @Goro would ask, Do you prefer deep dish pizza or Rocky Mountain oysters?

Go RVU much cheaper, Denver and the surrounding area > Chicago and surrounding area

 

[deleted564680]

Clinical curriculum is really important.
CCOM allowing 4 auditions...is that 4 months or 4 rotations total (some people do 2 week rotations but I wouldn't recommend those)? The reason I ask is because pretty much every medical student on the MD side does 2-3 Sub-I/audition rotations, so 4 months is more than enough. RVU allowing 11 months actually is a con in my mind because they are basically saying they are providing you with 3 years of medical school and 4th year is left all to you. This would have a much higher chance of leading to poor 4th year rotations after the audition season. It sounds like in general they don't have their clinical education as structured as it needs to be.

DO schools are constantly knocked down by the MD side because of our poorer clinical rotations and the schools like RVU that leave most rotations up to the student are a big part of that. Some schools are even worse and the DO student has to set up all rotations.

There is a modern obsession with written Step 1 scores, but as far as making a good physician, that's usually pretty far down the list. Which again is why the MD side doesn't look at just that piece, otherwise they'd be taking the high score Carib people/FMG/etc. as well.

I wish they would make all the written exams pass/fail so we could move past this nonsense and be judged more on our clinical behaviors, audition rotations, LoRs, interviews, etc. The "doctors" that are being trained out of 2nd year these days are honestly pitiful and more trained to be a Ph.D than MD/DO with the emphasis on the written board exams. And, I say this as someone who scored very highly on them (so it's not sour grapes or anything).

But, back to my main point - don't discount a good clinical curriculum. It's something you can't change. You can score well on boards from any school.

 

[HappyKitten]

RVU hands down. Ignore your heart and do what your brain says. 13 grand a year in tuition is a significant difference. CO is closer to cali too. I would pick rvu if i were you.

 

[acapnial]

Hello friends,
First post!

I have deposits due in 9 days and I need to make a decision fast and thought some of the upperclassmen and faculty here could help out. I was accepted to a couple of schools and have narrowed my decision to either CCOM or RVU. I thought a comparison chart would be easier to read than paragraphs so I have attached an image with details.

About me: 21 year old, male from Sacramento, CA.
Career Goals: hoping to do surgery, coauthored publications on accuracy of ultrasound diagnostics on shoulder replacement orthopedic surgeries (the redic amount of time I have spent in labs is probably the reason why I have a mediocre GPA but high MCAT). But, in all honesty, I am a very low maintenance dude and would probably be happy being a hospitalist or community internist if it comes to that.

(Refer to attached chart for details)

Summary: CCOM is one of the oldest DO schools in the nation with, arguably, the best clinical curriculum of any DO school and, even, most MD schools. I can easily continue my research interests here. Although I thought the preclinical curriculum wasn’t innovative at all (lots of interprofessionalism, required seminars, classes broken down into quarters, 2 years of psychology classes, little clinical elective time, etc.), the students match very well, especially in Chicago. BUT, I am terrified of the tuition and insane cost of living. If I end up doing primary care (like 50% of the school), I don’t know how I would live while paying back the insane debt. I want to be a smart borrower. Am I overthinking this?

I really, really liked RVUCOM. Before the interview, I had no intentions of attending the school but I was so impressed with the school, faculty, and students. The school felt very different, in a good way. The Dean knew many of the OMSI students by their first name and the community felt very tight-knit. I think the school’s curriculum is very forward-thinking and students match into incredible programs because of their high board scores (higher than state MD school). RVUCOM requires students to take the USMLE which opens up many doors for the students. Also, the school gives students great freedom/flexibility to schedule auditions and electives which, I believe, opens more doors (because most competitive programs require students to rotate through to be considered for an interview).

What are your thoughts? My brain is telling me to follow the money and board scores and say yes to RVUCOM while my heart is telling me to go live in Chicago (!!!) and attend CCOM.

Where did you hear we have a higher USMLE average than CU? That would be nice but I doubt it.


Also you might be overrating CCOM's clinical curriculum.

 

[acapnial]

Clinical curriculum is really important.
CCOM allowing 4 auditions...is that 4 months or 4 rotations total (some people do 2 week rotations but I wouldn't recommend those)? The reason I ask is because pretty much every medical student on the MD side does 2-3 Sub-I/audition rotations, so 4 months is more than enough. RVU allowing 11 months actually is a con in my mind because they are basically saying they are providing you with 3 years of medical school and 4th year is left all to you. This would have a much higher chance of leading to poor 4th year rotations after the audition season. It sounds like in general they don't have their clinical education as structured as it needs to be.

DO schools are constantly knocked down by the MD side because of our poorer clinical rotations and the schools like RVU that leave most rotations up to the student are a big part of that. Some schools are even worse and the DO student has to set up all rotations.

There is a modern obsession with written Step 1 scores, but as far as making a good physician, that's usually pretty far down the list. Which again is why the MD side doesn't look at just that piece, otherwise they'd be taking the high score Carib people/FMG/etc. as well.

I wish they would make all the written exams pass/fail so we could move past this nonsense and be judged more on our clinical behaviors, audition rotations, LoRs, interviews, etc. The "doctors" that are being trained out of 2nd year these days are honestly pitiful and more trained to be a Ph.D than MD/DO with the emphasis on the written board exams. And, I say this as someone who scored very highly on them (so it's not sour grapes or anything).

But, back to my main point - don't discount a good clinical curriculum. It's something you can't change. You can score well on boards from any school.

It's not really that RVU leaves the rotations up to the students in the sense that you're calling up doctors and asking if you can rotate with them. You don't have a rigid schedule in 4th year, so you can schedule it however you want. You still use rotations established by the school, unless you WANT to go out and set up your own community rotations.

 

[sharpstickie]

Going to RVU next year. I loved the atmosphere and cancelled all interviews after my acceptance. Go where you feel you'll be able to best succeed. Environment is everything.

 

[deleted564680]

It's not really that RVU leaves the rotations up to the students in the sense that you're calling up doctors and asking if you can rotate with them. You don't have a rigid schedule in 4th year, so you can schedule it however you want. You still use rotations established by the school, unless you WANT to go out and set up your own community rotations.

I see. I figured it was like some other DO schools and it was all left to the student.

 

[Bea5T]

how many audition rotations do you think you need?

 

[Ioannes Paulus]

Few things:
- Love the chart. I hope more people copy this format. I think it makes this post much easier to read.
- Unless you are a lower-than-average candidate, 4 audition months should be enough. There is no point in doing elective rotations in February through April. The class of 2015 at RVU abused the elective freedom with some students were doing "global" rotations in Februaary, March, April and basically going on vacation for a month or so and the school caught on. That's what caused them to change some of their elective policies this year.
- @acapnial and @ortnakas , I also interviewed at RVU and can vouch for the OP's claim of the school's USMLE score. Dean Told told us that they have always been a few points below CU but, last year, the Class of 2017 scored 3 points higher than CU. He made it clear though that the following classes aren't expected to pass CU and doesn't want the classes to compete with each other.
- The tuition and COL difference, with the proposed tuition increase of 5% for CCOM and 3% for RVUCOM (just being conservative), with the interest, would account for a year's salery for a GP in Chicago, post tax. That is not something to take lightly.

 

[Dr.LeeuwenhoekJr]

RVU fourth year here, so a little bias. If you liked RVU and it's cheaper, just go there! I've been happy with the school and I matched into my top choice ortho program. We should have an epic match list this year. I know 9 matched ortho (7 AOA, 1 military, 1 ACGME), as well as some other great matches in other fields. It is true that it's a little harder to do research, but it is possible and plenty of people have gotten projects going. Plus, Colorado is awesome!

Wow. Congrats dude! You probably worked your butt off. And, ummm, 9 people going to Ortho from your class that has 150 graduating seniors? That's very impressive. Congrats to all of you!

There is a modern obsession with written Step 1 scores, but as far as making a good physician, that's usually pretty far down the list. Which again is why the MD side doesn't look at just that piece, otherwise they'd be taking the high score Carib people/FMG/etc. as well.

I COMPLETELY agree and think it is going to get worse for everyone, MD/DO/etc, in the coming years with an even larger overemphasis on board scores in all specialties. I interviewed at a few other programs that seemed to have, basically, a 2 year "self-study" USMLE/COMLEX prep-course as a pre-clinical curriculum.

 

[NontradCA]

Plan C: Wait another year and go to GayCOM

 

[deleted564680]

There are many DO schools and even some MD schools now that are solely focused on the Step 1/Level 1 scores. What makes them any better than the Caribbean? And, in some cases, the Carib. schools at least provide rotations for their students....

I'm hoping that as the USMLE scores continue to creep up and up that they will eventually become meaningless and a serious discussion about pass/fail will happen.

 

[sandstone]

It's not really that RVU leaves the rotations up to the students in the sense that you're calling up doctors and asking if you can rotate with them. You don't have a rigid schedule in 4th year, so you can schedule it however you want. You still use rotations established by the school, unless you WANT to go out and set up your own community rotations.

This is a good point. I've had a good fourth year in Denver, and all of it was set up by my rotation coordinator. You tell them either the doc you want to work with or the specialty you want and they'll set it up for you. Along with auditions, I did a couple more excellent ortho rotations in Denver, and awesome EM, IR, and anesthesia rotations. I think it's pretty nice that you can do whatever you want fourth year so that you can really tailor your education to what you want and do as many auditions as you want which is really helpful for some specialties.

RVU rotations in general are good, although it all depends on who your preceptor is. That is the problem with preceptor-based education in general (which I think most DO schools have), it's a mixed bag and it's not standardized. Most of my third year rotations were awesome with preceptors that like to teach and some were at Denver residency programs where things were more standardized. I had great experiences, learned a lot, and got to do a lot of cool procedures and such.
Some weren't great though, for example my OBGYN preceptor was not that cool and not into teaching or letting me do anything. The month was all shadowing, minimal educational value, and I didn't do anything hands-on. Luckily I had an FM rotation with a lot of OB so I got good OB experience through that.
I think the lack of rotation standardization is an issue at any DO school. At least at RVU there's lots of good options in Denver, lots of docs, lots of big hospitals and level 1 & 2 trauma centers. There's also some great rotation sites in other Colorado cities, and a lot of cool rural sites where people had some great experiences.
Aside from audition rotations, all rotations are set up by the school for you unless you want to find your own. You can pick a lot of great rotations for third year too, for example one of my gen surg months was trauma surgery at a level 1 center, and I had a FM month at an all-spanish speaking community health clinic.

 

[megatomotagem]

Go RVU. DO is a DO unless you really want to be in Chicago. And even still, if you do well at RVU there'd be nothing holding you back compared to CCOM. The cost difference will be very significant. You'll realize this once you get to the end of 4th year and going forward.

 

[Yadster101]

Hello friends,
First post!

Do many students really commute from the loop? Isn't that a 30 minute commute each way 5x a week (5hrs/wk)??

 

[RavenclawMed]

Hey, current CCOM first year here. At our lunch with the dean, by the time my class (2019) hits 4th year, we'll have 7 elective months, increased from 6 months. There's a 4 rotation limit in one specialty, where I think a lot of people get the numbers mixed up. But a current 4th year at Second Look mentioned how as someone pursuing EM, she found "rotations" that weren't directly EM but were basically EM auditions.

Best of luck with your decisions! Make sure you go for where you think you'll succeed and have the best fit; med school is stressful enough without having to hate where you are. If you have any other questions, PM me and I'll try my best to answer.

Do many students really commute from the loop? Isn't that a 30 minute commute each way 5x a week (5hrs/wk)??

I would say a decent number commute, but the majority live around school. Traffic from the city could be up to an hour sometimes. We commuters are taking out less in loans, though!

 

[Yadster101]

I would say a decent number commute, but the majority live around school. Traffic from the city could be up to an hour sometimes. We commuters are taking out less in loans, though!

I believe CCOM pretty much has mandatory stuff Mon-fri? So do you find that ~7hrs of weekly travel doesn't take away too much study time?

 

[RavenclawMed]

I believe CCOM pretty much has mandatory stuff Mon-fri? So do you find that ~7hrs of weekly travel doesn't take away too much study time?

Classes aren't mandatory and lectures are recorded. The only truly mandatory classes are OMM and our clinical class. But even for those, most of the time people only go to the lab on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. I would say more than half (maybe even 2/3 of the class) don't go to lecture regularly. There is no class on Friday during first year. We'll occasionally have an exam or other obligation but those aren't too common.

And yeah, commuting sucks, but I like being at home. The time I spend driving I can save in doing housework like cleaning or cooking. It depends on what kind of environment/conveniences you want as a student. Some use the time to listen to lectures, but I just chill and listen to music to un-wind after a day of class.

 

[AlteredScale]

Please keep posts professional and respectful. Thanks.

 

[DoctorSynthesis]

Hello friends,
First post!

I have deposits due in 9 days and I need to make a decision fast and thought some of the upperclassmen and faculty here could help out. I was accepted to a couple of schools and have narrowed my decision to either CCOM or RVU. I thought a comparison chart would be easier to read than paragraphs so I have attached an image with details.

About me: 21 year old, male from Sacramento, CA.
Career Goals: hoping to do surgery, coauthored publications on accuracy of ultrasound diagnostics on shoulder replacement orthopedic surgeries (the redic amount of time I have spent in labs is probably the reason why I have a mediocre GPA but high MCAT). But, in all honesty, I am a very low maintenance dude and would probably be happy being a hospitalist or community internist if it comes to that.

(Refer to attached chart for details)

Summary: CCOM is one of the oldest DO schools in the nation with, arguably, the best clinical curriculum of any DO school and, even, most MD schools. I can easily continue my research interests here. Although I thought the preclinical curriculum wasn’t innovative at all (lots of interprofessionalism, required seminars, classes broken down into quarters, 2 years of psychology classes, little clinical elective time, etc.), the students match very well, especially in Chicago. BUT, I am terrified of the tuition and insane cost of living. If I end up doing primary care (like 50% of the school), I don’t know how I would live while paying back the insane debt. I want to be a smart borrower. Am I overthinking this?

I really, really liked RVUCOM. Before the interview, I had no intentions of attending the school but I was so impressed with the school, faculty, and students. The school felt very different, in a good way. The Dean knew many of the OMSI students by their first name and the community felt very tight-knit. I think the school’s curriculum is very forward-thinking and students match into incredible programs because of their high board scores (higher than state MD school). RVUCOM requires students to take the USMLE which opens up many doors for the students. Also, the school gives students great freedom/flexibility to schedule auditions and electives which, I believe, opens more doors (because most competitive programs require students to rotate through to be considered for an interview).

What are your thoughts? My brain is telling me to follow the money and board scores and say yes to RVUCOM while my heart is telling me to go live in Chicago (!!!) and attend CCOM.

I hate RVU because it's for profit. I don't believe in for profit education. Even with my strong bias against RVU I would recommend going there over CCOM. The cost of CCOM is insane and its not justifiable over RVU. If cost was similar I would say CCOM. Both of these schools are in suburbs. The only DO schools that are physically in a major city are:

TCOM (Fort werth)
Touro NY harlem campus (NYC)
PCOM (Philadelphia)

 

[deleted158872]

CCOM is amazing! one of the top 3-5 DO schools for sure!

 

[IntheClouds4ever]

Saving 20K a year in tuition? No brainer.

 

[Dr.LeeuwenhoekJr]

I hate RVU because it's for profit. I don't believe in for profit education. Even with my strong bias against RVU I would recommend going there over CCOM.

It didn't seem to affect the day-to-day life of the students. In my opinion, the only way that could affect student life in any way is gainful employment rules (i.e. school losing federal funding in the future if it sees graduates unable to pay back feederal loans) but the school has a record to actively lobbying in D.C. to gain an exemption from the rules because of the unique nature of medical education (i.e. students don't make a full salery until 4-10 years after graduation) and 100% residency placement rate. I'll message you some interesting information that was shared with us on interview day.

CCOM is amazing! one of the top 3-5 DO schools for sure!

I know! That's what's making this decision so difficult.

 

[surfguy84]

Denver >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Baghdad>Chicago

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

CCOM is a great school but that tuition does not make it worth it, especially seeing as we aren't comparing CCOM to GayCOM here. RVU holds its own against any of the other DO schools. Take the money and run.

 

[deleted564680]

I firmly believe in not making decisions based on money at this stage of the game because even 20k x 4 = 80k total which may end up being about 200k extra when it's paid off unless you're smart and do a loan forgiveness plan. That may seem like a lot of money but most physicians should expect to earn anywhere from 8-30 million gross during the length of a career.

That being said, I would only advocate paying more money if you were getting a superior product, which I believe in the case of CCOM you are, but perhaps not enough to justify the extra cost UNLESS you want to end up in the Chicago area.

CCOM is arguably a top 5 DO school and while RVU has had some good numbers so far on written board exams, they cannot compete with CCOMs alumni network, name recognition, clinical rotations, etc. I'd place RVU in the average DO school category (but that's up from 4-5 years ago when it was the butt of all the jokes like Liberty is now).

 

[acapnial]

I firmly believe in not making decisions based on money at this stage of the game because even 20k x 4 = 80k total which may end up being about 200k extra when it's paid off unless you're smart and do a loan forgiveness plan. That may seem like a lot of money but most physicians should expect to earn anywhere from 8-30 million gross during the length of a career.

That being said, I would only advocate paying more money if you were getting a superior product, which I believe in the case of CCOM you are, but perhaps not enough to justify the extra cost UNLESS you want to end up in the Chicago area.

CCOM is arguably a top 5 DO school and while RVU has had some good numbers so far on written board exams, they cannot compete with CCOMs alumni network, name recognition, clinical rotations, etc. I'd place RVU in the average DO school category (but that's up from 4-5 years ago when it was the butt of all the jokes like Liberty is now).

Ahh the good old days

 

[Goro]

CCOM

Hello friends,
First post!

I have deposits due in 9 days and I need to make a decision fast and thought some of the upperclassmen and faculty here could help out. I was accepted to a couple of schools and have narrowed my decision to either CCOM or RVU. I thought a comparison chart would be easier to read than paragraphs so I have attached an image with details.

About me: 21 year old, male from Sacramento, CA.
Career Goals: hoping to do surgery, coauthored publications on accuracy of ultrasound diagnostics on shoulder replacement orthopedic surgeries (the redic amount of time I have spent in labs is probably the reason why I have a mediocre GPA but high MCAT). But, in all honesty, I am a very low maintenance dude and would probably be happy being a hospitalist or community internist if it comes to that.

(Refer to attached chart for details)

Summary: CCOM is one of the oldest DO schools in the nation with, arguably, the best clinical curriculum of any DO school and, even, most MD schools. I can easily continue my research interests here. Although I thought the preclinical curriculum wasn’t innovative at all (lots of interprofessionalism, required seminars, classes broken down into quarters, 2 years of psychology classes, little clinical elective time, etc.), the students match very well, especially in Chicago. BUT, I am terrified of the tuition and insane cost of living. If I end up doing primary care (like 50% of the school), I don’t know how I would live while paying back the insane debt. I want to be a smart borrower. Am I overthinking this?

I really, really liked RVUCOM. Before the interview, I had no intentions of attending the school but I was so impressed with the school, faculty, and students. The school felt very different, in a good way. The Dean knew many of the OMSI students by their first name and the community felt very tight-knit. I think the school’s curriculum is very forward-thinking and students match into incredible programs because of their high board scores (higher than state MD school). RVUCOM requires students to take the USMLE which opens up many doors for the students. Also, the school gives students great freedom/flexibility to schedule auditions and electives which, I believe, opens more doors (because most competitive programs require students to rotate through to be considered for an interview).

What are your thoughts? My brain is telling me to follow the money and board scores and say yes to RVUCOM while my heart is telling me to go live in Chicago (!!!) and attend CCOM.

 

[Rajayray2019]

MUCH cheaper? Okay...you're talking about the difference between a TON of debt and a TON+a bit more... (I'm in a similar situation, I get it, but money is not how I made my decision)

 

[Rajayray2019]

CCOM is a great school but that tuition does not make it worth it, especially seeing as we aren't comparing CCOM to GayCOM here. RVU holds its own against any of the other DO schools. Take the money and run.

GayCOM?

 

[Mad Jack]

CCOM. The better rotations are worth it.

 

[Rajayray2019]

I hate RVU because it's for profit. I don't believe in for profit education. Even with my strong bias against RVU I would recommend going there over CCOM. The cost of CCOM is insane and its not justifiable over RVU. If cost was similar I would say CCOM. Both of these schools are in suburbs. The only DO schools that are physically in a major city are:

TCOM (Fort werth)
Touro NY harlem campus (NYC)
PCOM (Philadelphia)

Calling Fort WORTH a major city is a bit of a stretch...especially given that UTSW is 30 minutes away in Dallas (the ACTUAL major city).

 

[DoctorSynthesis]

Calling Fort WORTH a major city is a bit of a stretch...especially given that UTSW is 30 minutes away in Dallas (the ACTUAL major city).

800k people live there. Its the only med school in Fort Werth.

 

[Mad Jack]

Calling Fort WORTH a major city is a bit of a stretch...especially given that UTSW is 30 minutes away in Dallas (the ACTUAL major city).

Fort Worth is a decent enough sized city. It's got a population that's bigger than the five biggest cities in Connecticut combined, and we've got three allopathic schools lol.

 

[Rajayray2019]

Fort Worth is a decent enough sized city. It's got a population that's bigger than the five biggest cities in Connecticut combined, and we've got three allopathic schools lol.

Three? I'm sorry...

UTSW...and...who?

 

[Rajayray2019]

Fort Worth is a decent enough sized city. It's got a population that's bigger than the five biggest cities in Connecticut combined, and we've got three allopathic schools lol.

For those of us that live in the area...

TCU isn't open yet, Baylor isn't in the metroplex.

 

[Mad Jack]

Three? I'm sorry...

UTSW...and...who?

Connecticut has three medical schools. Despite the fact that our five biggest cities combined have a population less than Fort Worth.

UCONN, Yale, and Quinnipiac. And Quinnipiac is like, eight exits away from Yale lol- it's basically in the same ballpark as New Haven, population <150k between the two of them.

 

[Dr.LeeuwenhoekJr]

I got a few messages so I decided I'll just post it here. I've paid my deposit to both schools. I will be visiting both campuses in the next two weeks and withdraw an application before May 15 when all the schools get the deposit notification.
Thankfully, I travel to Chicago often with work so it will not be an inconvenience or added expense.
Thanks for the help everyone! I really appreciate it!

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I got a few messages so I decided I'll just post it here. I've paid my deposit to both schools. I will be visiting both campuses in the next two weeks and withdraw an application before May 15 when all the schools get the deposit notification.
Thankfully, I travel to Chicago often with work so it will not be an inconvenience or added expense.
Thanks for the help everyone! I really appreciate it!

After you visit come give us all a run down on your thoughts and opinions. Could be helpful to others as well who might have to make this decision in the future

 

[Kateb4]

Late to the party, glad to hear that you put both deposits in to keep your options open. I'm going to chime in with a CCOM vote. I was at LECOM - Bradenton when it was still fairly new (I think we were 5th graduating class) and we had a huge problem with clinical rotations. I had to set up most of my rotations on my own and feel like I really missed out on audition rotations at the sites that I was interested in residency because my school did not have affiliations. I don't know much about RVU as it was brand new when I was in school, but I know CCOM and have had many of their students rotating with me. I worked with many residents from there and can tell you that they have a very good system in place to help you succeed in getting a residency spot at a competitive program. Ask RVU where they have best affiliations for rotations and see if you are interested in staying in that area. Ask where their students place. You don't want to shoot yourself in the foot for a good residency spot to save money.

 

[sharpstickie]

Late to the party, glad to hear that you put both deposits in to keep your options open. I'm going to chime in with a CCOM vote. I was at LECOM - Bradenton when it was still fairly new (I think we were 5th graduating class) and we had a huge problem with clinical rotations. I had to set up most of my rotations on my own and feel like I really missed out on audition rotations at the sites that I was interested in residency because my school did not have affiliations. I don't know much about RVU as it was brand new when I was in school, but I know CCOM and have had many of their students rotating with me. I worked with many residents from there and can tell you that they have a very good system in place to help you succeed in getting a residency spot at a competitive program. Ask RVU where they have best affiliations for rotations and see if you are interested in staying in that area. Ask where their students place. You don't want to shoot yourself in the foot for a good residency spot to save money.

RVU has had some impressive residency placements these last few years. Multiple in orthopedic surgery (a current student told me about 7 for this years class)

 

[Dr.LeeuwenhoekJr]

Thank you everyone, I'll take all these into account. I'm now enjoying the beautiful island of Hawaii and don't want to think about med school for another week until I go to Denver for my visit haha
Also, I'm not really looking at match lists because I recognize that, by the time we start that process, the match process will be totally different for DO students. But thanks for the info @bon22

 

[ortnakas]

Also, I'm not really looking at match lists because I recognize that, by the time we start that process, the match process will be totally different for DO students.

Smart choice-- hopefully the match list thread taught us all we can't glean any useful data out of them, anyway.

I don't think you can make a bad decision between these two schools.

 

[Ioannes Paulus]

OP, where will you be going in the fall?

 

[jw3600]

I hate RVU because it's for profit.

I like how you think this matters lol.
I'm sure administrators at CCOM and other "not for profit" schools line up for food stamps every week.

http://www.aacom.org/docs/default-source/data-and-trends/fy2013-RevandExpbyCOM.pdf?sfvrsn=36


Eductate yourself man.

 

[Ioannes Paulus]

I like how you think this matters lol.
I'm sure administrators at CCOM and other "not for profit" schools line up for food stamps every week.

http://www.aacom.org/docs/default-source/data-and-trends/fy2013-RevandExpbyCOM.pdf?sfvrsn=36


Eductate yourself man.

It looks like, according to this data, AZCOM, CCOM, and Touro-NY have the largest proportion of excess of revenues. A little surprised to see NYITCOM and NSUCOM have ~0 excess considering that they have the largest class sizes of all the DO schools.