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aspiring_physician123

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Hey guys!! So I've recently been accepted to three pretty amazing schools, feeling incredibly blessed, but the first deposit is dawning on me, and I'd greatly appreciate y'alls insight on how to best go about choosing between these schools:

KCU-COM (Joplin)
Pros
  • P/F Curriculum
  • No mandatory lecture nor a mandatory dress code
  • High match rate (100% apparently)
  • Wider array of matches in non-primary care specialties
  • 96-99% 1st attempt COMLEX pass rate (8-10 week dedicated board studying)
  • Anatomy Fellowship opportunity
  • Has one of the least amounts of OMM required compared to other DO schools
  • The student body is awesome

Cons
  • Location (10 hours away)
  • Tuition is a little on the expensive side but not too bad ($49,888)
  • Not many core clinical rotation sites in the southeast (However, this isn't that big of a big deal to me)


WVSOM
Pros
  • P/F Curriculum (But, still get a letter grade/percentage for the class)
  • No Mandatory lecture nor a mandatory dress code
  • Happy student body and beautiful campus
  • Anatomy Fellowship opportunity
  • Great SIM and Anatomy Lab
  • Large stand-alone campus

Cons
  • Location (15 hours away, holy ****)
  • Tuition is the most expensive out of the three ($49,950)
  • 86-90% 1st attempt COMLEX pass rate
  • Rural state with small hospitals for clinical rotations, HUGE emphasis on primary care (Especially in WV)

VCOM - Louisiana
Pros
  • Location (Only 3 hours away)
  • Cheapest tuition of the three ($47,800) not a significant difference though
  • 94-99% 1st attempt COMLEX pass rate (according to other VCOM campuses)
  • Full block dedicated to board studying
  • Core clinical rotation sites all around the southeast
  • P/F Curriculum

Cons
  • Mandatory Attendance and mandatory dress code
  • 64-70% enter primary care (I'm not against primary care or anything, but I'd like to keep my options open)
  • No anatomy fellowship opportunity
I am potentially interested in specializing in something like Anesthesiology, Internal Medicine, Ortho, Gen Surg, or even something crazy like Urology. So I don't want to close the door on any specialty just yet because I'm pretty open-minded. However, now that the USMLE Step 1 is now pass/ fail, which school would make me a more competitive applicant in the future if I don't want to rule out specialization just yet? Where can I stand out for residency, do well and then potentially come back to practice in a city that's preferably more urban?

Thank you for y'alls help!!

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Last edited:
I would also go with KCU as it is your best option of the three. I would be between WVSOM and KCU if you are still deciding. Also tuition for WVSOM is $52,720 and KCU is $49,888 so KCU is also the slightly cheaper option.
 
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