DO schools with most resources to place students into competitive residencies?

[EnigmaticScale]

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Sounds to me like the schools that have the best success in placing students to competitive residencies are:
1. PCOM = KCU = NSUCOM
2. UNECOM = NYCOM = LECOM = DMU
3. CCOM = AZCOM (due to cost), OSUCOM = MSUCOM = OUCOM = ROWAN (IS preference)
4. RVU (profit schools...still do well though)
5. all the other schools
6. NY TOURO and MUCOM and LUCOM.


What do you guys think?

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

What is it with you and being determined to rank schools? There is no reasoning behind this list, or the ones you have previously made.

If you want to make a list then pick ONE criteria. You say it's a list of which schools are most successful at competitive residency matches but then include stuff like "for-profit" and "IS bias" and then "cost" which have nothing to do with your original criteria. You also need to define "competitive residency" like competitive fields? Top programs? What?

Also if you are going to make a new account and don't want to get banned this time then stop using the same phrases and doing the exact same things.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

The determinant of where and what you match is mostly your board scores and your performance on audition rotations. Your list is pre-med fantasy.

 

[779663]

KCU is where I think I will be going so with that in mind, your post is 100% accurate

 

[WhereMyLiberalsAt]

Sounds to me like the schools that have the best success in placing students to competitive residencies are:
1. PCOM = KCU = NSUCOM
2. UNECOM = NYCOM = LECOM = DMU
3. CCOM = AZCOM (due to cost), OSUCOM = MSUCOM = OUCOM = ROWAN (IS preference)
4. RVU (profit schools...still do well though)
5. all the other schools
6. NY TOURO and MUCOM and LUCOM.


What do you guys think?

MSUCOM, and OSUCOM at #3....

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

MSUCOM, and OSUCOM at #3....

No kidding. He has LECOM on par with DMU Then MUCOM and LUCOM are equals? It's pre-med 101.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

No kidding. He has LECOM on par with DMU Then MUCOM and LUCOM are equals? It's pre-med 101.

Where have we seen this kind of logic before?.....

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...nitely-a-pecking-order.1216546/#post-18044285

 

[MADD!!!]

Some opinions are better left to thyself...

 

[779663]

The determinant of where and what you match is mostly your board scores and your performance on audition rotations. Your list is pre-med fantasy.

No kidding. He has LECOM on par with DMU Then MUCOM and LUCOM are equals? It's pre-med 101.

I've got a quick question, since I'm personally not well versed on the ins and outs of all these schools. You guys saying that he has some schools incorrectly ranked on the same tier as others sort of implies that there is a correct ranking (at least in your opinions) for all the DO schools in different tiers.

What would you say those rankings look like?

 

[MADD!!!]

By OP's rationale, by the end of this cycle it will be:

1) LUCOM
2) all other schools
3) all schools that didn't accept me

 

[MADD!!!]

I've got a quick question, since I'm personally not well versed on the ins and outs of all these schools. You guys saying that he has some schools incorrectly ranked on the same tier as others sort of implies that there is a correct ranking (at least in your opinions) for all the DO schools in different tiers.

What would you say those rankings look like?

A few basic principles do apply. My opinion but I believe it carries weight:

1) Public schools (i.e MSUCOM, OSU-CHS, OU-HCOM, and Rowan) (WVSOM doesn't count, unfortunately)
2) long-standing DO schools (PCOM, KCU, and DMU) that have been around for 100 years or so. (From 2 and on it starts to get more and more hazy)
3) schools with large OPTI's like NYIT, LECOM, NSU, and WesternU COMP
4) schools that are newer like CUSOM, ACOM, VCOM, PNWU, etc.

2 major things to look at are clinical partners and establish residency positions.

What makes 2) so hazy for me is DMU. I just can't get over the fact that a school that's been around for so long has such a weak OPTI and almost no residency positions of their own. And therein lies the problem that although DMU is so old and well-established, one would assume that they should easily have more affiliated residencies than CUSOM, which opened a whopping 3 years ago vs 100+ years, but that's not the case.

Which is more important? I don't know

 

[779663]

A few basic principles do apply. My opinion but I believe it carries weight:

1) Public schools (i.e MSUCOM, OSU-CHS, OU-HCOM, and Rowan) (WVSOM doesn't count, unfortunately)
2) long-standing DO schools (PCOM, KCU, and DMU) that have been around for 100 years or so. (From 2 and on it starts to get more and more hazy)
3) schools with large OPTI's like NYIT, LECOM, NSU, and WesternU COMP
4) schools that are newer like CUSOM, ACOM, VCOM, PNWU, etc.

2 major things to look at are clinical partners and establish residency positions.

What makes 2) so hazy for me is DMU. I just can't get over the fact that a school that's been around for so long has such a weak OPTI and almost no residency positions of their own. And therein lies the problem that although DMU is so old and well-established, one would assume that they should easily have more affiliated residencies than CUSOM, which opened a whopping 3 years ago vs 100+ years, but that's not the case.

Which is more important? I don't know

What's OPTI? I have no clue?

 

[DNC127]

I have seen a lot of dumb things posted on here.... but this one might take the cake. Do some research, ranking DO schools doesn't matter, but if we were to do it your list is WAY off base.

 

[MADD!!!]

I have seen a lot of dumb things posted on here.... but this one might take the cake. Do some research, ranking DO schools doesn't matter, but if we were to do it your list is WAY off base.

What would be your way?

For me, I think ultimately how I would rank would be on how many residencies each school has established to ratio of students they have. And no, I know I'm not way off, especially with saying that public DO schools are at the top.

 

[MADD!!!]

What's OPTI? I have no clue?

OPTI is basically a group of hospitals that have residency programs affiliated with a specific school. So the bigger the OPTI is, the more residency programs and hospitals are affiliated with your school. Today though it's been watered down dramatically because new schools that are opening up are just joining a school's pre-existing OPTI rather than making their own.

 

[Mr. D.O.five]

What's OPTI? I have no clue?

Osteopathic Postdoctoral Training Institution

 

[EnigmaticScale]

No kidding. He has LECOM on par with DMU Then MUCOM and LUCOM are equals? It's pre-med 101.

1. LECOM might possibly partnering with a large hospital system...not my fault you're not in the know.
2. Marian (MUCOM) professor was recently fired for something very damning...i think that puts the school in the same caliber as LUCOM.

 

[EnigmaticScale]

I have seen a lot of dumb things posted on here.... but this one might take the cake. Do some research, ranking DO schools doesn't matter, but if we were to do it your list is WAY off base.

it's not that dumb.

a lot of the schools I personally ranked lower have significant instate bias, some limit residency choice and further limit by restriction of state of residency and practice, some have outrageous tuition.

 

[DNC127]

it's not that dumb.

a lot of the schools I personally ranked lower have significant instate bias, some limit residency choice and further limit by restriction of state of residency and practice, some have outrageous tuition.

right. You said this thread was about RESOURCES. The only schools with "great resources" are schools with teaching hospitals devoted (and full wards based rotations), REAL RESEARCH, and residencies that actually favor the home team (basically DO schools that operate like low tier MD schools)

Only schools I can think of in the DO category that fit this are OSU, PCOM, and MSU (possibly Rowan / OU???).



and @MADD!!! I was referring to the thread not what you said.

 

[acapnial]

I do hope that someday I get to be around to watch the first time someone says they go to a top tier do school in an academic clinical setting

 

[pseud0]

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

it's not that dumb.

a lot of the schools I personally ranked lower have significant instate bias, some limit residency choice and further limit by restriction of state of residency and practice, some have outrageous tuition.

No one limits residency choices, only the applicant's application does. No one restricts state of practice or residency, OU has the 5 year contract POST residency and seeing as they are a STATE school for Ohio it is a completely reasonable contract for OOS students. Instead of having a contract like this MSU has crazy high OOS tuition to compensate for OOS people who probably won't stay in Michigan. Having in state bias or high tuition has nothing to do with residency placement, hence why your list is dumb. The state schools and PCOM have the most resources by far. Other schools like KCU and RVU compensate by having great board scores and taking high caliber applicants.

 

[68PGunner]

No one limits residency choices, only the applicant's application does. No one restricts state of practice or residency, OU has the 5 year contract POST residency and seeing as they are a STATE school for Ohio it is a completely reasonable contract for OOS students. Instead of having a contract like this MSU has crazy high OOS tuition to compensate for OOS people who probably won't stay in Michigan. Having in state bias or high tuition has nothing to do with residency placement, hence why your list is dumb. The state schools and PCOM have the most resources by far. Other schools like KCU and RVU compensate by having great board scores and taking high caliber applicants.

I honestly think your board score is 90% based on your determination and effort in medical schools. The first couple of RVU graduating classes had solid board scores but incoming admission stats were subpar.

 

[Marrowist]

I like how this thread started out as a "WHY YOU RANK DEM SCHOOLS???" thread, and then quickly turned into a "I RANK DEM SCHOOLS YO!" thread. RIP SpaceHamsterBoo...

 

[750335]

Why are DO students/premeds so touchy and defensive about tiers or ranking DO schools? Granted there are no hard limits but some schools are better than others.

 

[LutGholein]

Sounds to me like the schools that have the best success in placing students to competitive residencies are:
1. PCOM = KCU = NSUCOM
2. UNECOM = NYCOM = LECOM = DMU
3. CCOM = AZCOM (due to cost), OSUCOM = MSUCOM = OUCOM = ROWAN (IS preference)
4. RVU (profit schools...still do well though)
5. all the other schools
6. NY TOURO and MUCOM and LUCOM.


What do you guys think?

Spaceboo is that you?

Looks like the man can't keep a Hamster out!

 

[redsox93]

Why are DO students/premeds so touchy and defensive about tiers or ranking DO schools? Granted there are no hard limits but some schools are better than others.

Because it's mostly arbitrary once you get past a few schools. There are "tiers" but after a certain point most DO schools are pretty equal, and it really depends more on how well you do on boards.

 

[MADD!!!]

I used to have the same mentality that all DO schools are equal... until I started interviewing and visiting them.

Schools vary dramatically in terms of resources, residencies, geographical location plays a PIVOTAL role for DO programs, and the caliber of students do vary dramatically based on the school.

People do get hyper-sensitive because no one likes to be in the "bad school" and categorized as lower compared to someone else. And it is true that the school doesn't make the student, the student does (hence why even at "crap schools" there are always a few really awesome matches and always crappy matches at the best institutions). But on an average as a whole, generalizations could be made with schools, but students tend to think it's about them individually.

With more and more schools opening up, geography is going to play a much bigger role soon. A school like DMU that is in a crappy state for residencies and as historically depended on other states to accept their students will face a tougher time when they have to compete against a new local DO school in that region for those same spots.

Will the PD prefer the DMU applicant with the higher board score or the new local DO program student with a lower board score but grew up there and is committed to living and practicing in the region? Who knows....

Some regional schools are MUCOM, where many DO students would match into IUSM but now that MUCOM is right there, I believe they will take preference.

Other schools: UIW for Texas residencies, ACOM, and a few others will benefit from a regional advantage.

CUSOM won't because their MD schools are top-tier and still unlikely to admit DO's for many residencies, so the school anticipated this and created their own programs.

BCOM won't have much to offer, and schools like LMU-DCOM will really struggle. Michigan has been a life-string for these DO programs that aren't creating enough of their own programs for too long, and it's going to bite them in the ass soon.

 

[LutGholein]

BCOM won't have much to offer,

I think that BCOM is in a strategic position-- UNM has many IM slots filled with IMGs and DOs so I expect BCOM to funnel their grads there hopefully. That university program seems pretty DO-friendly.

 

[EnigmaticScale]

I used to have the same mentality that all DO schools are equal... until I started interviewing and visiting them.

Schools vary dramatically in terms of resources, residencies, geographical location plays a PIVOTAL role for DO programs, and the caliber of students do vary dramatically based on the school.

People do get hyper-sensitive because no one likes to be in the "bad school" and categorized as lower compared to someone else. And it is true that the school doesn't make the student, the student does (hence why even at "crap schools" there are always a few really awesome matches and always crappy matches at the best institutions). But on an average as a whole, generalizations could be made with schools, but students tend to think it's about them individually.

With more and more schools opening up, geography is going to play a much bigger role soon. A school like DMU that is in a crappy state for residencies and as historically depended on other states to accept their students will face a tougher time when they have to compete against a new local DO school in that region for those same spots.

Will the PD prefer the DMU applicant with the higher board score or the new local DO program student with a lower board score but grew up there and is committed to living and practicing in the region? Who knows....

Some regional schools are MUCOM, where many DO students would match into IUSM but now that MUCOM is right there, I believe they will take preference.

Other schools: UIW for Texas residencies, ACOM, and a few others will benefit from a regional advantage.

CUSOM won't because their MD schools are top-tier and still unlikely to admit DO's for many residencies, so the school anticipated this and created their own programs.

BCOM won't have much to offer, and schools like LMU-DCOM will really struggle. Michigan has been a life-string for these DO programs that aren't creating enough of their own programs for too long, and it's going to bite them in the ass soon.

It's that ugly DO sense of inferiority rearing its head again.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

It's that ugly DO sense of inferiority rearing its head again.

Boo wut? You're the one who insists on making rankings...

 

[EnigmaticScale]

Boo wut? You're the one who insists on making rankings...

I don't know who you are.
Please stop stalking me, please stop name calling me. Please stop insulting me.
PLEASE STOP HARASSING ME.

Some DO schools are in fact better than others. This is just a discussion to assess which ones are agreeably better.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Let's see,

It's that ugly DO sense of inferiority rearing its head again.

Makes insulting post to another poster for no reason.

Boo wut? You're the one who insists on making rankings...

I call him on it.

I don't know who you are.
Please stop stalking me, please stop name calling me. Please stop insulting me.
PLEASE STOP HARASSING ME.

Some DO schools are in fact better than others. This is just a discussion to assess which ones are agreeably better.

And then this?

No one is stalking you. You made the thread, I even gave you suggestions on how to actually turn it into a mild discussion in my first post. No one is harrassing you. I never insulted you. You are on your third account so there is that. The only reason I respond to you is because naive pre-meds might read your nonsense and put some stock into it, and because you make jerk comments to other posters and deserve to be called out.

Some DO schools are in fact better than others. This is just a discussion to assess which ones are agreeably better.

I will say the same thing I said in my first post: Then make 1 criteria, use all of the schools, and define exactly what you mean by your criteria.

 

[pseud0]

how are you coming to the conclusions you are coming to when ranking...? it just seems random and silly.

 

[EnigmaticScale]

how are you coming to the conclusions you are coming to when ranking...? it just seems random and silly.

In my opinion, top do schools have: good board scores, residency placement, good rotations in urban centers, and are not biased to IS students and have reasonable tuition (CCOM, MSUCOM, AZCOM...outrageous tuition).

 

[68PGunner]

Sounds to me like the schools that have the best success in placing students to competitive residencies are:
1. PCOM = KCU = NSUCOM
2. UNECOM = NYCOM = LECOM = DMU
3. CCOM = AZCOM (due to cost), OSUCOM = MSUCOM = OUCOM = ROWAN (IS preference)
4. RVU (profit schools...still do well though)
5. all the other schools
6. NY TOURO and MUCOM and LUCOM.


What do you guys think?

You're a premed. That means that you have zero credibility in term of offering advice. Be quiet and listen more instead of yapping like a ball boy.

 

[EnigmaticScale]

You're a premed. That means that you have zero credibility in term of offering advice. Be quiet and listen more instead of yapping like a ball boy.

reported for harassment.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

In my opinion, top do schools have: good board scores, residency placement, good rotations in urban centers, and are not biased to IS students and have reasonable tuition (CCOM, MSUCOM, AZCOM...outrageous tuition).

How does being biased to IS applicants do anything for quality? UNC is a top MD school and takes mainly people from North Carolina... doesn't affect its topness... your factors mean nothing to the quality of school.

If this list is "Best DO schools for ME" then you need to specify that, because in that situation your specifications fit better.

reported for harassment.

 

[MADD!!!]

@EnigmaticScale your comments about the top DO schools and your rankings are wildly inaccurate, and you're being called out on it. Please don't take it offensively, but rather question why we are saying your rankings don't make sense and learn from it.

Like @AnatomyGrey12 said, we are here on SDN because we like having discussions about these things, even if at times it's not "right" to make rankings we like to do it because it helps make more sense for us personally to make school decisions when we have options and for general discussion.

And I agree, others on SDN could be nicer to you by not just calling you a pre-med and attacking you, but rather taking the time to educate you more. But thus is life, and you're gonna need tough skin if you want to make it in this field.

 

[femmegoblue]

In my opinion, top do schools have: good board scores, residency placement, good rotations in urban centers, and are not biased to IS students and have reasonable tuition (CCOM, MSUCOM, AZCOM...outrageous tuition).

Why exactly is it not appropriate for a publicly funded state school to be biased toward in-state students in order to fill a very real physician shortage in said state?????????????

 

[EnigmaticScale]

@EnigmaticScale your comments about the top DO schools and your rankings are wildly inaccurate, and you're being called out on it. Please don't take it offensively, but rather question why we are saying your rankings don't make sense and learn from it.

Like @AnatomyGrey12 said, we are here on SDN because we like having discussions about these things, even if at times it's not "right" to make rankings we like to do it because it helps make more sense for us personally to make school decisions when we have options and for general discussion.

And I agree, others on SDN could be nicer to you by not just calling you a pre-med and attacking you, but rather taking the time to educate you more. But thus is life, and you're gonna need tough skin if you want to make it in this field.

@MADD!!! I have tough skin...some of the board members of the hivemind have skin so thin that air passes through it, evidenced by any dicussion of DO school comparisons brings up pent up fire and hostility.

 

[EnigmaticScale]

Why exactly is it not appropriate for a publicly funded state school to be biased toward in-state students in order to fill a very real physician shortage in said state?????????????

I never said it was wrong. I just said I think they should be ranked lower.
It's tough to get into this schools, not because of stats, but because of mandated limits on OOS students. For this reason I believe the difficulty of getting into these "GREAT" schools is artificial and "luck of the draw"

 

[WhereMyLiberalsAt]

Why exactly is it not appropriate for a publicly funded state school to be biased toward in-state students in order to fill a very real physician shortage in said state?????????????

Forget physician shortages, or any other argument. The bolded part of your comment is reason enough!

The only reason I respond to you is because naive pre-meds might read your nonsense and put some stock into it

I remember a year or so ago not being able to find clear info on DO grade replacement. Came on SDN, and found a horrible post about how there wasn't grade replacement. Advisers had no idea either.... I was depressed for MONTHS thinking all of my hard work was for not!!! Keep protecting innocent pre-meds like me from BS info like this!!!

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I never said it was wrong. I just said I think they should be ranked lower.
It's tough to get into this schools, not because of stats, but because of mandated limits on OOS students. For this reason I believe the difficulty of getting into these "GREAT" schools is artificial and "luck of the draw"

This has nothing to do with your thread though... literally nothing..

Are you asking what we think would be the best schools for you?

 

[acapnial]

Why are DO students/premeds so touchy and defensive about tiers or ranking DO schools? Granted there are no hard limits but some schools are better than others.

The idea that there are tiers to DO schools is about 10% truth and 90% premed neuroticism. Premeds want so badly to be part of the "best" DO schools that they will force an artificial tier system onto themselves, and make mostly bogus reasons to justify their list. They talk about "resources", but never pinpoint what resources are so important to them. They talk about having a strong alumni base and don't ever quite realize that having a lot of alumni from your school out there doesn't mean squat in terms of quality of the school, or any kind of benefit to you, the student.

There ARE differences in quality in schools, but it's nearly impossible to evaluate it from a premed standpoint. And there's quality variations within schools. The most important factor that makes a school good or bad is the quality of its clinical education. Unfortunately pretty much all schools have at least one or two great rotation sites and at least one or two piss poor ones, so no matter what tier list you make, you WILL encounter students from the "worst" DO school that are much better prepared for residency than students from the "best" DO school. This is a major issue in our education and it's the chief reason why residencies hesitate to load up their rosters with DO's. But if you can't consistently produce a better product than your peer schools you have no right to call yourself a tier above your peer schools.

In substitute of real measures of quality, people tier up the schools based on random personal preferences/neuroses. It's a better school if it's cheaper! It's a better school if they have an IS/OOS balance I like! It's a better school if it's affiliated with a real university because it makes it sound more legitimate to laypeople! It's a better school if it's not a dirty, evil for profit school! It's a better school because one year someone went to Mayo! This is why tier lists are a joke and some of us are "touchy" about it.

 

[68PGunner]

And I agree, others on SDN could be nicer to you by not just calling you a pre-med and attacking you, but rather taking the time to educate you more. But thus is life, and you're gonna need tough skin if you want to make it in this field.

He's not coachable. He's already has traits of a primadonna while being a nobody. I have completely taken him off my draft board. Late 7th rounder at best. High potential of being a bust.

 

[750335]

The idea that there are tiers to DO schools is about 10% truth and 90% premed neuroticism. Premeds want so badly to be part of the "best" DO schools that they will force an artificial tier system onto themselves, and make mostly bogus reasons to justify their list. They talk about "resources", but never pinpoint what resources are so important to them. They talk about having a strong alumni base and don't ever quite realize that having a lot of alumni from your school out there doesn't mean squat in terms of quality of the school, or any kind of benefit to you, the student.

There ARE differences in quality in schools, but it's nearly impossible to evaluate it from a premed standpoint. And there's quality variations within schools. The most important factor that makes a school good or bad is the quality of its clinical education. Unfortunately pretty much all schools have at least one or two great rotation sites and at least one or two piss poor ones, so no matter what tier list you make, you WILL encounter students from the "worst" DO school that are much better prepared for residency than students from the "best" DO school. This is a major issue in our education and it's the chief reason why residencies hesitate to load up their rosters with DO's. But if you can't consistently produce a better product than your peer schools you have no right to call yourself a tier above your peer schools.

In substitute of real measures of quality, people tier up the schools based on random personal preferences/neuroses. It's a better school if it's cheaper! It's a better school if they have an IS/OOS balance I like! It's a better school if it's affiliated with a real university because it makes it sound more legitimate to laypeople! It's a better school if it's not a dirty, evil for profit school! It's a better school because one year someone went to Mayo! This is why tier lists are a joke and some of us are "touchy" about it.

As fair as this is, this is one school of thought in a situation where there is no right or wrong, and people who subscribe to the other school of thought should be allowed to voice that as well. MD schools have tiers; in fact forget medicine for a second, pretty much everything in life where there is more than one option is tiered regardless of personal opinion. Time after time, these tier lists come up and it is just shot down without anything constructive really added to the discussion. I don't agree with OPs list but there are DO schools working day and night to be better for their students, more so than others and their results reflect this, and just from the interview trail you can tell those schools. So to just lump all schools in one giant pile because of our insecurities is just ridiculous, especially since this is something we need to do for ourselves as DO students. The best anyone can really say is I don't think DO schools have tiers, not DO schools don't have tiers.

 

[AlteredScale]

Reminder to keep the discussion professional and civil. Thanks all.

 

[acapnial]

As fair as this is, this is one school of thought in a situation where there is no right or wrong, and people who subscribe to the other school of thought should be allowed to voice that as well. MD schools have tiers; in fact forget medicine for a second, pretty much everything in life where there is more than one option is tiered regardless of personal opinion. Time after time, these tier lists come up and it is just shot down without anything constructive really added to the discussion. I don't agree with OPs list but there are DO schools working day and night to be better for their students, more so than others and their results reflect this, and just from the interview trail you can tell those schools. So to just lump all schools in one giant pile because of our insecurities is just ridiculous, especially since this is something we need to do for ourselves as DO students. The best anyone can really say is I don't think DO schools have tiers, not DO schools don't have tiers.

People are allowed to voice their opinions of tiers and boy do they. The reason there's not a great deal of discussion about the subject is because there's not much to discuss. I'll be blunt- it only seems like there's no way someone could confidently say that there are no tiers to osteopathic schools and that it's a topic worth a lot of discussion when you're very early in the medical education system because you don't know that much about it yet. Sure, people have perceptions about how much a school will bend over backwards for their students but schools lie, applicants misinterpret things, applicants place lots of importance on some really weird things, so it's an extremely unreliable way to make some definitive list that ranks schools by quality. People should walk out of interviews and say "Boy, I think that school was great!" "I felt like a good fit there!" "That school seems like they fight hard for their students!", not "This school is objectively better than other schools". And we really, really don't need to make a tier list for ourselves. MD school tiers formed naturally from graduates shaped by consistent, centralized education by school. DO schools pretty much all have 5+ different sites of varying quality and are often in different states. If you applied it to MD schools it would be like trying to rank a whole city/region of schools. You certainly don't see people saying the city of Chicago is a higher tier medical education city than LA.

PS- I don't mean what I said in a 'stfu premed' kind of way

 

[750335]

People are allowed to voice their opinions of tiers and boy do they. The reason there's not a great deal of discussion about the subject is because there's not much to discuss. I'll be blunt- it only seems like there's no way someone could confidently say that there are no tiers to osteopathic schools and that it's a topic worth a lot of discussion when you're very early in the medical education system because you don't know that much about it yet. Sure, people have perceptions about how much a school will bend over backwards for their students but schools lie, applicants misinterpret things, applicants place lots of importance on some really weird things, so it's an extremely unreliable way to make some definitive list that ranks schools by quality. People should walk out of interviews and say "Boy, I think that school was great!" "I felt like a good fit there!" "That school seems like they fight hard for their students!", not "This school is objectively better than other schools". And we really, really don't need to make a tier list for ourselves. MD school tiers formed naturally from graduates shaped by consistent, centralized education by school. DO schools pretty much all have 5+ different sites of varying quality and are often in different states. If you applied it to MD schools it would be like trying to rank a whole city/region of schools. You certainly don't see people saying the city of Chicago is a higher tier medical education city than LA.

PS- I don't mean what I said in a 'stfu premed' kind of way

Exactly, we are premeds or med students (for the most part) and we shut down people's thoughts and perceptions here like our word is law. It isn't. Many of us here speak in such absolutes, and it is like dude, you are a premed. Help the fellow premed, not make them feel stupid because they think one way. We can agree to disagree on the subject without being mean.