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Discussion here for the new year!
Is anyone aware of when we will be able to fill out the secondary for LECOM-Bradenton?? Do we have to have our AACOMAS verified before we are able to do this? Thanks!
Does anyone know the average stats for LECOM-Bradenton? I tried looking it up on their website and go nowhere.
I know my reasons for wanting to attend but would like to here some of your reasons to make this your #1 pick?
Hey guys, I'm a rising 4th year LECOM-B student. I'm currently studying for Step 2, but I'll try and answer some questions here about the school if needed.
Keep in mind that anything I say may have changed since I did it, and may change in the future.
Please try and look in the same thread from prior years, as many of the questions have probably been answered.
Overall, it's a great school. PBL is not for everyone, but we have a pretty high success rate at school, so most people make it through it fine. It certainly prepares you well. I'm older (33) and married with kids, so Sarasota was a great town for us, but some of my younger, single classmates complained about it (although I think they're crazy). There's still lots of great bars and things. Impossible to beat Siesta Key Beach (#1 in the US this year, and my favorite spot on the entire planet.)
Clinical years are a mixed bag. You get a LOT of freedom in deciding what you want to do and where you want to go, but you do have to do a lot of the leg work yourself in setting up your rotations. Some people complain about school not helping them enough with this, but I haven't had any problems, but I've also set up most of my own back home in Virginia, where I'm from and where I've been most of this year. My Florida classmates have mostly had great experiences in Florida also, although the rotations that are actually in Bradenton/Sarasota are, for the most part, kinda meh, IMO.
People complain a lot about the LECOM "rules". No food or drink except in the cafeteria. Have to dress up during business hours. Have to swipe your ID badge to get in our out of the building. I never really had a problem with them. The longest you're in any 1 class is 2 hours, and you can always run to the water fountain if you need to. When studying there, it's a good idea to take a study break every hour or two and run to the cafe and get a drink or snack. Most people don't study at school though. Dressing up and badge swiping just prepares you for the real world. You have to do this at hospitals too. Can't be showing up in the OR in your PJ's, with no badge, and chowing down on a Pop-Tart.
Anyways, I've really enjoyed my time at LECOM-B. PBL is hard, but you can do things how you want. Bottom line: You have to do A LOT on your own at this school, but if you can handle that, it's great. If you want to be spoon fed, or have everything laid out for you all nice and neat, this may not be the best place for you.
I guess my only question would be are professors/administrators helpful if asked? Like if I want advice and some help planning rotations or what not, would they take the time to talk to me?
Can't be showing up in the OR in your PJ's, with no badge, and chowing down on a Pop-Tart.
We have a pretty good student run website with reviews of rotations, so you can have a pretty good idea what's good and bad based on that.
I think I may have chosen the wrong profession.
This is genius and, I would imagine, very helpful to future MS3/MS4
As a pre-med student how should we interpret these results for LE-Bradenton and what were your thoughts on the match? Also, how much emphasis should one put on a schools match list when choosing between schools? I know it shouldn't be the sole reason for attending and probably shouldn't weigh as much as other factors such as cost, location, learning style etc. but it should serve as some importance right?
Basically, the moral of the story is that match lists only reflect what they students in that class GOT. It gives you no information about what they wanted. If everyone got what they wanted, it's a great match list. If they didn't, sucks for them, but you'll never know it. The lists that are put out does not reflect who got their #1-5 choices, if that was the specialty they really wanted, or if they settled because they didn't think they could get into, say, ENT, or any other myriad of confounding factors.
Is anyone else obsessed with this whole process? Med school is all I can think about and I just want to get a move on with the app cycle....the days are ticking by slowly.
Yes, it is pretty much all I think about right now other than my CNA course I am taking.. so pretty much I am thinking about it all the time. Should start to get better soon though. I kinda think secondaries, specifically bradenton, will start coming out in the next week starting tomorrow. I guess only time will truly tell though and hopefully we do not get any surprise prompts which we have to write for this school.
a month away from starting!!
Can't wait to move to FL now (3 weeks )!!
Very short, basically check the boxes type of thing. Hopefully its the same for you guys!!
Yes, it is pretty much all I think about right now other than my CNA course I am taking.. so pretty much I am thinking about it all the time. Should start to get better soon though. I kinda think secondaries, specifically bradenton, will start coming out in the next week starting tomorrow. I guess only time will truly tell though and hopefully we do not get any surprise prompts which we have to write for this school.
How important is a LOR from a DO for LECOM-B? This is probably my number one choice but I don't have a LOR from a physician.
Still no secondary from this school, right?
Anyone who has already been accepted want to give me some advice? I'm kind of freaking. Got my MCAT score back and scored terribly. My practice exams were around a 30, but I just wanted a 26+ on the actual test. I ended up with a 22...I did the best in the section I thought I bombed [BS] (and remember ~6 questions post-test that I knew and didn't have time to do back in change...which means I should have scored even higher), but the big shocker was VB, in which I scored a 7, even though I NEVER scored below an 11 on even one practice verbal section...and I took ~12. I'm not sure what happened. To be truthful, it feels like I got someone else's score. Anyway, I think I am just having terrible test anxiety, but a score that low is obviously showing a fundamental lack of understanding of the material. I signed up for the July 28th retake and I plan on studying every second between now and then. This is the school for me, I know it...so I'm trying to do everything I can to get it together. My main concern is that on my AACOMAS I indicated I was retaking May 20th, but since I submitted weeks ago (and did not have my score yet), I obviously did not indicate the July retake. I do not want LECOM-B to reject me before seeing my July MCAT score. Does anyone know how I ensure they know I am retaking? I e-mailed Dr. Berezniak to make him aware that I am retaking, but I am not sure this is sufficient. Any advice would be appreciated. Has anyone heard of someone getting an interview at LECOM-B with such a terrible score? Man, this really feels like the end of the world right now. Just trying to keep my head down and push past this so it becomes a distant memory ASAP. Thanks.
Still no secondary from this school, right?
Correct. No secondaries yet.
What are you using to train for the MCAT?
ExamKrackers, but it is hard for me to study as much as everyone else simply because I work almost 50 hours a week at a hospital and I am taking a summer physics class at the same time (I need the job to live each month, so I can't quit or cut back). When I took this past exam I had been going to school full time at a top, competitive university (which studying for those classes took up all my time I wasn't working). But even still, I was scoring so well on verbal. I can believe the other two scores (PS and BS) simply due to gaps in my content knowledge due to shortened study time, but the VB I simply do not believe...that's my best section...I usually score 11-13 on AAMC practice tests (3-10, +EK verbal review). If I had scored an 11 on VB at least I would have had my 26. Anyway, I am going to study as much as possible between now and then and just make sure I turn my weak science topics into mastered science topics, that away my science scores can raise. Hopefully that will create more confidence going into VB so I am not so shaken coming off of PS. All I can do in the mean time with VB is continue to practice with the very few passages I have left that I haven't done already - and try and calm down next time I take it. Any other suggestions are def welcome.
Many people say that admissions people look for a more even MCAT score as well. It's not simply the total that counts.
For example: Let's say you got a V12 B7 P7 = 26. That's not going to look as good as someone who got a B9 P9 V8 = 26. Try and shoot for 10's on each section, but AT LEAST 8's. No number below an 8, MINIMUM. If anything, I'd focus on the Biology section the most. Many of the LECOM-B students I've talked to had weaker physics sections, but like me, their strong Bio and Verbal scores made up for it. The verbal scores might (this is pure speculation) be more important at LECOM-B than at some other schools, due to the group interaction and the PBL cases. During the interview, we were actually given a short 1-2 page article to read that we had to discuss with our interviewers 10-15 min after reading it...very low pressure though. It strikes me that this test of reading comprehension and ability to discuss what you've read may be important in a group learning environment like PBL.
Your low verbal score may have been a fluke. Keep doing practice tests on that and see how you're doing. Only do new questions, not ones you've seen before.
Finally, don't overlook the impact of true test anxiety on performance. Many people have real issues with this, especially surrounding such important tests as the MCAT and Board Exams. It could be worth talking to a psychiatrist about. Even something as simple as a sleep aid (if you medically need it, of course) in the nights before the test when you're having trouble sleeping could work wonders for your score.
Finally, I know it might not be ideal, but it might be worth considering getting a graduate degree first, and perhaps taking out a private loan, if you need to, so you can quit your job and do nothing but study. Many of my classmates came to school with Master's degrees (MPH, etc), although I did not.
Honestly, you're going to be so busy in medical school, that you won't really notice where you are. As long as you're not in the far north with blizzards, I'd tough it out and count yourself lucky.
It's funny, I have a classmate who is DYING to go home to TN, particularly Vandy. Maybe we could orchestrate a trade. Get some connections at Vandy Pediatrics and we'll talk.
How important is a LOR from a DO for LECOM-B? This is probably my number one choice but I don't have a LOR from a physician.
Another reason to attend LECOM-B is that they have the highest COMLEX scores among DO schools in the country. I think Erie/Seton Hill is 3rd.
Is there a place where you can see average board scores for different schools?? I've been wondering about this but haven't been able to dig anything up.
Hello possible future classmates!
Another reason to attend LECOM-B is that they have the highest COMLEX scores among DO schools in the country. I think Erie/Seton Hill is 3rd.
Now just gotta fill out my application.
But, we DO know that LECOM-B has the highest step 1 pass RATE for the last couple of years. The last 2 classes have had a 100% step 1 pass rate. That is, everyone who passed 2nd year also passed the boards. Which made us #1. I would assume that we also have a high mean score, but I haven't seen that particular piece of data.
There was a slide about this in one of our admin hours. It's an excel bar chart, so some of the numbers are hard to pin down exactly. The COMLEX level 1 national average is adjusted to have a mean of about 500 and a standard deviation of ~50 iirc. For the c/o 2012, Erie's mean was ~505, Bradenton was ~525-530. No clue about other schools. Incidentally, the national pass rate on level 1 (according to*the same presentation) is around 88%, which is surprisingly low.
Having just taken COMLEX 1 in the past month, I'd warn you against taking this kind of stuff too seriously. It varies from year-to-year, and comlex is (I think it's fair to say) an odd test.
With the benefit of hindsight, I'd say the most important things to consider are whether PBL will work for you, and (further down the line) whether you're confident the school will have quality rotations for you, especially given the recent expansion of the school.
Are you referring to Seton Hill?
No, although the expansion going on at all the campuses makes it hard to keep track! For all I know, they're expanding up there, too.
Each class at Bradenton from the c/o 2008 through the c/o 2014 started with right around 162 people per class. (150 approved spots plus an additional 8% allowed by the AOA to account for "attrition.") We also started with about 8 or 9 people originally from the class ahead of us who were repeating first year.
Starting this fall, with the c/o 2015, there are 182 AOA-approved spots per class at Bradenton. IF they carry over their previous practice of adding the 8% extra they're allowed, you're looking at 196 or 197 people per class, plus another 8 or 9 repeaters. (I don't know for certain that they'll add those extra people they're allowed, but given the school's obsession with growth, I'd bet that they will. Even if they don't, you're still up to 190 people per class, with repeaters.)
I've always wondered about medical school attrition. How many individuals have you lost?