KCOM was my first interview, and I was wicked excited. I wound up spending a ridiculous amount of money just to get there (you can save some money if you fly into a nearby airport and rent a car and drive the 2+ hrs to Kirksville). In any case, the town is very small and very quiet, and it's one of these "micropolis" places that crop up in the midwest nowadays--it used to be heavy on industry, but most of that shut down and got outsourced, so it's in this awkward transition state between local-industrial-boomtown and find-a-new-identity.
As for the school, though, it seemed to be top notch. It was the best osteo school that I found, and I really liked the administration's/faculty's dedication to helping the students find the right path in medicine. The environment seemed like a great, laid-back, fun place to study medicine--but like you, I thought it a bit too isolated for me. I'm married, and my wife is in healthcare--so we needed to settle into a new place with a significantly larger healthcare infrastructure for her to go job-hunting and find something reasonable (KCOM is the only care center in Kirksville, unfortunately).
If you're not ready to marry your girl, you should think hard about the future, since med school is a pretty incredible, emotionally draining/changing experience that will inevitably draw you away from your significant other to *some* degree (each student's personality determines how much). Think about her, as well as yourself--and think about whether you want to put her through that and if she really wants to go through that. I'm not one of these, "Better break up before med school" jerk0ffs, but there is merit to the thought process if you aren't entirely sure if marriage is right for you at this point.
If you go to KCOM, and you love it, and you don't get any other interviews, will you go? Or will you be forced to wait another year? If you go, will your girlfriend go with you? Will she make that sacrifice? Would you want her to make that sacrifice for you, and then be in the position of not having enough time to spend with her b/c you have to study? Would she be able to find a job/go to school/have a life there while you're engaged in the most important academic/personal pursuit of your life--becoming a physician? You're always going to have to balance significant other/marriage with being a physician, and it starts now. You have to decide where this relationship is going, and who's going to make the sacrifices--you, her, or both--and also what those decisions mean in the long run (will you be resentful if you have to wait a year, will she be resentful if you choose KCOM and she has to move to such a small town, etc).
It's better to discuss the future now, decide if you want to take the relationship to the next step, and do it/don't do it. Don't rush into it or anything, but you should make a firm committment either way so you try not to waste anyone's time. Even if you find someplace close to home, it's going to be a very difficult experience because you'll have to divide your time/attention between coping with medical school and nurturing a healthy relationship with your girlfriend.
Good luck to ya. 🙂
