Kansas City University (KCU-COM) Discussion Thread 2015 - 2016

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AlteredScale

AlteredScale

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  1. Describe your motivation for applying to KCU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine (specifically our institution).
  2. Describe a time when you had to prioritize multiple obligations in order to be successful.
  3. Describe a time when you experienced failure. What did you learn about yourself from this experience?

Each is 2500 characters

Good luck to everyone applying! :cat:
 
mamit1001 said:
Cat people are always welcome! As long as my cat approves of you, I approve hahaha. My cat has good judgement

And I'm also free for questions as I'll be matriculating in the fall and am happy to help potential new KCU students!
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Hi there! Mind sharing your prospects? 😍
 
AwayFromReality said:
Im interested in applying here this cycle, but I'm a little wary because of the requirement that LOR must be written within 2 years of applying. I graduated in 2013 and my science professors all wrote their letters in 2012. According to KCUMB, they will accept employer LOR instead of science professor LOR if it has been over two years, but wouldn't that make me less competitive? How serious are the adcoms here about the 2 years LOR requirement?
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Often times you can just ask the writer and have them change the date on the LOR to be current
 
arodr030 said:
Hi there! Mind sharing your prospects? 😍
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If by prospects you mean what specialty I'm aiming for... well, at the moment I'm super focused on specializing somewhere in pediatrics. It's been a sort of recent development for me but I decided I really like working with kids and for now looking to go into oncology/hematology.

AwayFromReality said:
yes but, is that ethical? Their site says, it must be "written" within two years of app, not "dated" within two years.
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I wouldn't phrase it as just changing the date, but yes you can do this. What I did when I applied a year later is emailed the professors asking if they'd be willing to update my letter with a current resume. 4 out of 5 said yes to this by the way so as long as you have/had a good relationship with them, they should be understanding! IF that doesn't work out, I don't think an employer would be any less significant than a professor. If anything, an employer (assuming they only have positive things to say haha) could actually be more beneficial since they work so much closer to you than a professor typically does. Hope that helps!
 
Love this school.. applying again after I apparently applied too late last cycle and they stopped reviewing apps. Will make sure that doesn't happen this time 😉
 
AlteredScale said:
Introduction may not be necessary since y'all see me in every other thread but I'll be matriculating here this year. Feel free to ask me any questions.
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what is the vibe of the city and the medical students/faculty you met on your interview please?
 
Hey guys! Quick question, for the Biology requirement it says 13 semester units. I'm quarter system with 12 quarter units of BIO 1,2 and 3 plus labs which is equivalent to 8 semester hours. Does that mean KCU requires further bio classes?
 
Oh_Gee said:
what is the vibe of the city and the medical students/faculty you met on your interview please?
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Even though this was aimed towards @AlteredScale , I'm going to give my two cents really quick haha. I applied to KCU mostly because I have a family friend there and figured why not. By time I arrived in Kansas City for the first time for my interview, I fell in love with the city AND the school! Everyone was super friendly and helpful (in the city and at KCU) - it was seriously all good vibes and really helped make my decision to go there much easier. 😀
 
Oh_Gee said:
what is the vibe of the city and the medical students/faculty you met on your interview please?
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Let's just say when we were leaving after the interview, medical students were saying hi to us, asking if we needed a ride back, and essentially telling us that we would love it here. That sense of genuine community was amazing. I didn't get to interact much with faculty but the one person I did interview with on faculty was amazingly laid back and friendly.

Can't say too much about the city since I spent essentially 8 awake hours there and only went to Which Which for dinner in terms of exploring the city hahaha.
 
PathoTurnUp1865 said:
Do I have a chance? 3.3sGPA 3.55cGPA 25 MCAT (7,8,10) OK resident?
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This is what they list as their minimum requirements: (link has more info)
  • 24 MCAT (no less than a 7 in any one subject)
  • 3.25 Science GPA
  • 3.25 Overall/Cumulative GPA
As long as you have other strong parts of your application and you apply the first day the application opens, I would say you at least have a shot.
 
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Applying here! Based my decision purely off their website, but after reading above, safe to say this place would be a fit for me!
 
There's a campus coming to my hometown of Joplin, MO. I am deeply rooted to this area, and until hearing KCU will have campus nearby, I never thought I could still chase my dream of doing primary care. This will be my first and only choice.

I've noticed that I will have the required chem credits, so I got an override of ochem2 to take biochem (to be specific for this school). In addition I will take medicinal chem, & immunology this fall, my last undergrad semester, yet I will be graduating lacking only 3 credits of physics (KCU wants 8?). I guess I'll just have to earn them after graduation, but which courses in physics will suffice? Will I have to take the 2nd version of the 5hr elementary college physics course?
 
bmw1216 said:
There's a campus coming to my hometown of Joplin, MO. I am deeply rooted to this area, and until hearing KCU will have campus nearby, I never thought I could still chase my dream of doing primary care. This will be my first and only choice.

I've noticed that I will have the required chem credits, so I got an override of ochem2 to take biochem (to be specific for this school). In addition I will take medicinal chem, & immunology this fall, my last undergrad semester, yet I will be graduating lacking only 3 credits of physics (KCU wants 8?). I guess I'll just have to earn them after graduation, but which courses in physics will suffice? Will I have to take the 2nd version of the 5hr elementary college physics course?
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That is very awesome to hear regarding your dedication to Joplin. I'm sure you would be a wonderful fit to the first class!

As for the physics, I would go ahead and call admissions to see what they say that way you get the answer from the primary source.
 
AlteredScale said:
That is very awesome to hear regarding your dedication to Joplin. I'm sure you would be a wonderful fit to the first class!

As for the physics, I would go ahead and call admissions to see what they say that way you get the answer from the primary source.
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Thanks! & I reckon I will call to ask, although I begin to have doubts about acceptance, my GPA is 3.14c, 3.2s, I need to really bump it up as much as I can my last semester and I'm studying for mcat for a year to ensure an awesome score. I wish I hadn't switched majors!
 
Hi everyone, I have two questions.

1. Ok so I know that they have a cut off for a 25 MCAT with no less than a 7 on any section.
I currently fulfill that MCAT requirement, but I plan on retaking the MCAT in July. Do you know if they will review my application before my new MCAT score comes out, or will they review my application as soon as they get it, since I fulfill the minimum requirements?

2. I saw their match list for previous years, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of students matching to residencies in California. Is this because KCUMB doesn't have a lot of students from CA? Do you think that there's a good chance that I might be able to come back to CA for residency(assuming good Step 1 score)?
 
hu2992 said:
Hi everyone, I have two questions.

1. Ok so I know that they have a cut off for a 25 MCAT with no less than a 7 on any section.
I currently fulfill that MCAT requirement, but I plan on retaking the MCAT in July. Do you know if they will review my application before my new MCAT score comes out, or will they review my application as soon as they get it, since I fulfill the minimum requirements?

2. I saw their match list for previous years, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of students matching to residencies in California. Is this because KCUMB doesn't have a lot of students from CA? Do you think that there's a good chance that I might be able to come back to CA for residency(assuming good Step 1 score)?
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1. I retook my MCAT in June the year I applied but if I remember correctly, KCU gave me their secondary before getting my results back. It was however discussed in my interview (taking the MCAT again) so it's not any less important than your first test.

2. I think you have to take everyone's match list with a grain of salt. I'm from Florida and as of now, I'm looking to come back and do my residency somewhere here. While there are a few matches from KCU in Florida, it's definitely not a lot, but I think that has to do more with interest in the state than not being able to match here. I imagine the same would hold true for California - you may have a better chance of matching in CA if you attend a school there (just because majority of students at any school seem to stay within the state or neighboring states), but I don't think attending KCU will hinder you from it, especially if you do well 😀
 
mamit1001 said:
1. I retook my MCAT in June the year I applied but if I remember correctly, KCU gave me their secondary before getting my results back. It was however discussed in my interview (taking the MCAT again) so it's not any less important than your first test.

2. I think you have to take everyone's match list with a grain of salt. I'm from Florida and as of now, I'm looking to come back and do my residency somewhere here. While there are a few matches from KCU in Florida, it's definitely not a lot, but I think that has to do more with interest in the state than not being able to match here. I imagine the same would hold true for California - you may have a better chance of matching in CA if you attend a school there (just because majority of students at any school seem to stay within the state or neighboring states), but I don't think attending KCU will hinder you from it, especially if you do well 😀
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thanks!
 
Getting a residency in cali as a DO is damn near impossible it seems. There is definite DO discrimination and also EVERYONE wants to go to cali! Hell even the not so good community programs are filled with people from prestigious programs. I saw a particularly bad community IM program that only considered DOs with a 250 step 1. No thanks, I'll apply to Brown instead.
 
tom10 said:
Getting a residency in cali as a DO is damn near impossible it seems. There is definite DO discrimination and also EVERYONE wants to go to cali! Hell even the not so good community programs are filled with people from prestigious programs. I saw a particularly bad community IM program that only considered DOs with a 250 step 1. No thanks, I'll apply to Brown instead.
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The emergency DO I shadowed went to Touro - Cali, and was accepted to a UC school (I believe Davis) but was also accepted to OHSU for residency. My guess is because he went to a Cali school, not because he was a DO. From what I understand, the Cali residencies are difficult if you do not go to med school in Cali,
 
schlitter22 said:
The emergency DO I shadowed went to Touro - Cali, and was accepted to a UC school (I believe Davis) but was also accepted to OHSU for residency. My guess is because he went to a Cali school, not because he was a DO. From what I understand, the Cali residencies are difficult if you do not go to med school in Cali,
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That is interesting. Admittedly, I don't know a whole lot about this as an insider. As an outsider applying for residency, I didn't even bother applying to Cali as it looked like a giant waste of money.
 
tom10 said:
Getting a residency in cali as a DO is damn near impossible it seems. There is definite DO discrimination and also EVERYONE wants to go to cali! Hell even the not so good community programs are filled with people from prestigious programs. I saw a particularly bad community IM program that only considered DOs with a 250 step 1. No thanks, I'll apply to Brown instead.
Click to expand...

It's pretty hard down here in SoCal that's for sure. UCSD took their first DO into their EM program. Scripps Green doesn't even accept DO's for their IM program.

USC, UC Irvine, UCLA-Harbor, UCSF Fresno take DO's yearly into some non-PC programs like GenSurg.
 
AlteredScale said:
It's pretty hard down here in SoCal that's for sure. UCSD took their first DO into their EM program. Scripps Green doesn't even accept DO's for their IM program.

USC, UC Irvine, UCLA-Harbor, UCSF Fresno take DO's yearly into some non-PC programs like GenSurg.
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This **** legit makes me mad. That is blatant discrimination. A guy in my class scored in the 270s on step 1 and 2 yet he isn't good enough for Scripps Green? I mean he went to Mayo, so I guess this means Scripps Green is just way better than Mayo. I just don't understand this ****. I get that as far as stats go, MDs are going to have better stats in general but when you say NO DO's that is just wrong imo.
 
tom10 said:
This **** legit makes me mad. That is blatant discrimination. A guy in my class scored in the 270s on step 1 and 2 yet he isn't good enough for Scripps Green? I mean he went to Mayo, so I guess this means Scripps Green is just way better than Mayo. I just don't understand this ****. I get that as far as stats go, MDs are going to have better stats in general but when you say NO DO's that is just wrong imo.
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No I completely agree. It makes absolutely no sense IMO and as the ACGME/AOA merger occurs I would like to see these types of programs picked out for blatant discrimination to DO grads.

Probably the worst one I've seen is the NYU-Langone IM residency FAQ which blatantly said "sorry, we do not accept DO's".

Edit: looks like NYU is changing their webpage a bit as I wanted to link you to the FAQ. Perhaps for the better.

BTW @tom10 are you a KCU grad?
 
Drexel had the exact same statement as I was applying last year. Yes, I am a KCU grad.
 
tom10 said:
Drexel had the exact same statement as I was applying last year. Yes, I am a KCU grad.
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As a KCUMB grad, could you share your experience at KCU, especially your experience with rotations?
I've been hearing mixed reviews about the clinical rotations about KCUMB, and I was wondering how your experience compared to other grads?
thanks!
 
hu2992 said:
As a KCUMB grad, could you share your experience at KCU, especially your experience with rotations?
I've been hearing mixed reviews about the clinical rotations about KCUMB, and I was wondering how your experience compared to other grads?
thanks!
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Concerning the first two years, I loved it other than path practicals which I thought were unnecessary. My view really doesn't matter much now in that aspect as they took the best part about the school (the curriculum) and changed it all around. That's another rant for another day.

As far as rotations go, my view really doesn't matter here either as my core site is not available anymore. We were having some major issues because the coordinator at the site was flat out lazy, spiteful and terrible at her job. We raised hell and the contract was terminated. Then they brought in another girl who busted her ass for the medical students and all of the problems were solved, but it was too late. However, my experience was top notch. All of fourth year I was 1 on 1 with my attending and most of third year as well. I got to do everything. On my gas rotation, I put in art lines, central lines, intubated obviously, did some blocks including spinals without assistance toward the end. I was running simple cases by myself toward the end while my attending checked his stocks haha. I had issues with some attendings and was failed a couple times due to a FM resident hating me ("you should go into obgyn because that requires no medical knowledge which is perfect for you.") as well as a surgeon who hated me from the get go (got honors on the shelf). The school passed me as they understand there are quite a few dinguses out there.

EDIT: The FM resident asked me what the three most common organisms for typical pneumonia and the top 3 for atypical pneumonia. Very common question of course, but it was my first day of medicine ever. I had psych and obgyn before that so I had no clinical experience in hospital medicine. I had no idea, couldn't even guess. I told him this, but said I would look it up and get back to him. He threw his hands up in the air in disbelief and said, "That has got to be the most basic question I could possibly ask and you don't know it. How did you get this far?" Aaaaaaand that's the bull**** I had to deal with on almost a daily basis for about 6 months out of my third year.
 
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AzizImSorry said:
Hey all,

From what I've read on previous threads about KCUMB, they screen pretty heavily pre-interview and have a high interview-acceptance rate as a result. The minimum GPA requirements on their website = 3.25cGPA and sGPA. Although I have slightly higher GPAs (3.3 and 3.35, respectively), I was wondering if this would prevent me from a secondary and a potential interview invite.

I had assumed my 31 (11/10/10) MCAT would compensate for the low GPA but am now a little wary after doing more research on schools that screen heavily. Would someone who has been through the application process at this school (@AlteredScale and @mamit1001 ) mind telling me if this is something I should worry about? I'm generally not concerned about these things but KCUMB is one of my top choices at the moment.

Thanks for your help!
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I wouldn't be too worried about the cutoffs. I had a 3.21 science gpa with a 3.3 cGPA and was still offered an interview in early September. My MCAT was a 33 (10/13/10). Will be attending here this August, moving to KC in July. This next year will go by pretty fast for all of you applying! Enjoy it and try not to stress too much!!
 
AzizImSorry said:
Hey all,

From what I've read on previous threads about KCUMB, they screen pretty heavily pre-interview and have a high interview-acceptance rate as a result. The minimum GPA requirements on their website = 3.25cGPA and sGPA. Although I have slightly higher GPAs (3.3 and 3.35, respectively), I was wondering if this would prevent me from a secondary and a potential interview invite.

I had assumed my 31 (11/10/10) MCAT would compensate for the low GPA but am now a little wary after doing more research on schools that screen heavily. Would someone who has been through the application process at this school (@AlteredScale and @mamit1001 ) mind telling me if this is something I should worry about? I'm generally not concerned about these things but KCUMB is one of my top choices at the moment.

Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...


You'll be fine especially with that mcat score if yours! Congrats and good luck this cycle!
 
Thanks for the reassurance 🙂. Good luck to everyone applying this cycle and to those just starting their first year, let me know how it goes haha
 
Good luck to everyone applying this cycle. Hopefully we see lots of you have the opportunity to matriculate here !

I'll echo the sentiments of my future class mates and say that KCU has a awesome student centered feel. Kansas City itself looks like an exciting place to be and I can't wait to get started !

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
 
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