Liberty University COM (LUCOM) Discussion Thread 2013-2014

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Sternocleidomastoid said:
Any advice on this issue would be greatly appreciated. I was accepted to LUCOM (my top choice school). I received their acceptance letter and declined to go to other schools because I got in to my dream school. I also began to apply for scholarships and an apartment. However, this week they forfeited my own acceptance because they basically accepted too many students for their first class. My deposit was not due until way later, which I was going to pay as soon as I had the means. Only people who had the means to pay their deposits way before our deadlines are now still in. Isn't this a breach of contract? How is this legal? 🙁
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Go to another school. That's ridiculous. It's a blessing in disguise. You should at least get a deferred acceptance.
 
Sternocleidomastoid said:
Any advice on this issue would be greatly appreciated. I was accepted to LUCOM (my top choice school). I received their acceptance letter and declined to go to other schools because I got in to my dream school. I also began to apply for scholarships and an apartment. However, this week they forfeited my own acceptance because they basically accepted too many students for their first class. My deposit was not due until way later, which I was going to pay as soon as I had the means. Only people who had the means to pay their deposits way before our deadlines are now still in. Isn't this a breach of contract? How is this legal? 🙁
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Uhh...I don't think they can do that. I would call them and speak with the dean. Only speak with him. Tell him you passed up others to come here after you received your acceptance. Did your letter say your acceptance was contingent upon anything? Tell him you already told your whole family that you were accepted and that to have this happen is completely humiliating. I had this happen to me with a different school, so this is what I did and they changed their minds. Slightly different circumstances. But then I got another acceptance and told them I wasn't going anyways lol. If you want to pm me I can try to give more advice :/
 
Sternocleidomastoid said:
Any advice on this issue would be greatly appreciated. I was accepted to LUCOM (my top choice school). I received their acceptance letter and declined to go to other schools because I got in to my dream school. I also began to apply for scholarships and an apartment. However, this week they forfeited my own acceptance because they basically accepted too many students for their first class. My deposit was not due until way later, which I was going to pay as soon as I had the means. Only people who had the means to pay their deposits way before our deadlines are now still in. Isn't this a breach of contract? How is this legal? 🙁
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I would definitely call and mention your scenario to them. That is very unfortunate. If anything, ask to have a deferred acceptance like victoriah said. Someone on here has already done that for personal reasons (earlier posts). If this is the school you really want to get into, there has to be something that they can do for you. There is still time for some people to drop for whatever reason. I mentioned in earlier posts, I know an interventional radiologist who was accepted to med school 2 weeks after they started.
 
I think the best to do here is to contact the dean directly instead of discussing it further on SDN. We won't be able to help with this. Hopefully it all works out for you. If you're comfortable discussing the outcome, let us know how the school handles the situation. Good luck!
 
Sternocleidomastoid said:
Any advice on this issue would be greatly appreciated. I was accepted to LUCOM (my top choice school). I received their acceptance letter and declined to go to other schools because I got in to my dream school. I also began to apply for scholarships and an apartment. However, this week they forfeited my own acceptance because they basically accepted too many students for their first class. My deposit was not due until way later, which I was going to pay as soon as I had the means. Only people who had the means to pay their deposits way before our deadlines are now still in. Isn't this a breach of contract? How is this legal? 🙁
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Did they say if you on the wait list? Because if so there's usually enough movement to give you a spot but you may have to wait a few weeks to find out. Talking to the dean is definitely a good idea.
 
Sternocleidomastoid,

Echoing what EH123 said, definitely talk to Dr. Martin and don't stop until you have him on the phone. I'm sorry they put you in this position...bring up the fact that LUCOM highly values professionalism and the professional thing to do would be to at LEAST give you a seat in the Class of 2019. Assuming you did everything you were supposed to do, you deserve a seat in the inaugural class just as much as anyone else. Good luck!
 
I interviewed on 3-17 and have not heard back anything either. They said they were going to contact us on 3-31. If anyone else from the 3-12 or 3-17 interview group has heard back, please let us know.
tornado2 said:
Anyone who interviewed on 3/17 received any news?
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They did not review my file from 3-13 interview because I did not have a DO letter (I had two MD's) but it was a requirement for admission...as far as I was told that was their last adcom meeting for this year. Call in, that is what I did.
 
ryanc6060 said:
They did not review my file from 3-13 interview because I did not have a DO letter (I had two MD's) but it was a requirement for admission...as far as I was told that was their last adcom meeting for this year. Call in, that is what I did.
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Ridiculous. They accepted me without a DO letter. Id get one ASAP and send it in
 
She was pretty adamant when I called in about it, so I just sent Mr Cook an email and I will call him thursday. I think its after hours there now, and I have a bacterial pathogenesis exam at 7pm my time.
 
It was quite disappointing as I really liked the area, the school and the staff. > Oh not to mention the 1000.00 it cost me to attend the interview...
 
Do you know any DOs? I used my orthopedic surgeon. We hadn't seen each other in almost 10 years but he was more than happy to write the letter for me.
ryanc6060 said:
She was pretty adamant when I called in about it, so I just sent Mr Cook an email and I will call him thursday. I think its after hours there now, and I have a bacterial pathogenesis exam at 7pm my time.
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I don't believe the story with a person getting an acceptance and then getting it revoked. There is something he or she is not telling us. They could have easily granted you the acceptance since there will be a lot of movement closer to summer or simply placed you on priority wait list. I know if I was moved from wait list and granted and acceptance that deposit would be in their hands in 1 minute flat. There are many reasons for why a medical school can revoke an acceptance. Not paying the deposit on time is one, lying on your app, and many many more reasons. Instead of posting on sdn and complaining how horrible your whole ordeal turned out to be and if what they did was legal? Try to resolve that issue by yourself and start calling non stop. Remember they also read SDN and you should watch what you say. Just saying. Its mature to approach your problems head on and not vent about them publicly.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
 
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Sternocleidomastoid said:
Hi msmm. I am curious on what you decided to do? It's a lot of money to re-apply within one year and residencies may not look favorably on your having transferred. Either way, what did you do?
I hope that you are at peace with your situation. I didn't get accepted to my top choice, but I may end up at a school I wasn't expecting to go to and in the end I hope it is all a blessing in disguise. However, I would never consider transferring once I am in. I have to stay committed to the decisions I make.
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You made the above quoted post in another thread back on March 4th saying you did not get accepted to your top choice school. Also, from reading your post, it seems like you had not been offered an acceptance anywhere else either.

I am not really sure what the situation here is, but what you are saying does not add up. If something happened this cycle and you ended up losing an acceptance somewhere, I am really sorry to hear that. What you are saying is not consistent with how I have been treated by LUCOM. LUCOM has been very respectful and acted with total professionalism throughout this process. It is hard for me to imagine that what you say happened, unless there is more to the story.

Either way, there is no help for you on this thread. I do not say this in a mean way, but advice from people on this forum really is not going to get you anywhere. You need to deal with the situation directly, and not come to a public forum describing your side of the story to people who have no say in your situation.
 
Here are my two cents:

I asked for a deferment about two weeks ago. I was giving one while simultaneously giving someone a spot in the 2018 class. I was made aware that I would have to give $4,000.00 before January 2, 2015 in order to save my seat. I've been in contact with Mr. Cook, which by the way is out in a conference this week. He has been amazing, going above and beyond, answering my emails and calls even after 8 p.m. I have consistently kept an honest and truthful conversation with everyone at LUCOM and it has been reciprocated in every aspect of the application, interview and post-interview. Ms. Mendez, Mr. Smith and Mr. Cook are genuinely concern for every student and their application. I am 100% sure of this through my experiences. I politely asked for an extension for the secondary deposit and was given 5 business days. Mr. Cook said there were already several students deferring for next year, to be in the class of 2019 (To those of you that were accepted and deferred your acceptance for a year, I'll see you guys cheerfully next Fall!!!!!) I went to pay it and the access for the website was denied. I freaked out and in less than 24 hours, the school had clear all of the glitches. If this school is going above and beyond its way for a single applicant like me with nothing special on his resume, why in the world would they denied an acceptance? This completely makes no sense. However, the school does reserve the right to revoke the acceptance of any student they might considered to have lied or change something in their application, i.e. background check or drug testing. The acceptance is always provisionary; there is always something that can cause an acceptance to be revoked.

I hope the best for Sternocleomastoid and that everything gets resolved soon.

To the entire class of 2018, my sincere wishes for your success and go and kick some ass this fall!!!!! (I will be needing you as upper classmen for year one 🙂

Have a great one!
 
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Sternocleidomastoid said:
And humiliating to have to tell everyone oh nevermind something I've been working on for the last 4 years and 12 months just got taken away even after I worked hard and got accepted. Its like a cruel joke I can't comprehend. F it doesn't make sense to us somehow it does to them 🙁((((
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Wow I am so sorry this happen to you. I would call the Dean of LUCOM and explain your situation and ask for a deferment.

Also I would call schools you declined to interview at and ask if they would still be willing to interview you.

If all else fails, work on improving your app for next cycle.

Again, I'm sorry, I can't imagine how devastated you must feel.
 
Donkk said:
Facebook for accepted students is: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LUCOM2018/

Facebook for accepted students family, spouses, girlfriends/boyfriends, life partners etc. is at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LUCOMspouses/

Let us start to mingle and communicate as a solid community, so we can make this a successful class full of tight connections and friendships.
Click to expand...

Those with small children there is this page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1479742555578250/
so you can discuss daycare, schools etc.
 
dresden62 said:
Here are my two cents:

I asked for a deferment about two weeks ago. I was giving one while simultaneously giving someone a spot in the 2018 class. I was made aware that I would have to give $4,000.00 before January 2, 2015 in order to save my seat. I've been in contact with Mr. Cook, which by the way is out in a conference this week. He has been amazing, going above and beyond, answering my emails and calls even after 8 p.m. I have consistently kept an honest and truthful conversation with everyone at LUCOM and it has been reciprocated in every aspect of the application, interview and post-interview. Ms. Mendez, Mr. Smith and Mr. Cook are genuinely concern for every student and their application. I am 100% sure of this through my experiences. I politely asked for an extension for the secondary deposit and was given 5 business days. Mr. Cook said there were already several students deferring for next year, to be in the class of 2019 (To those of you that were accepted and deferred your acceptance for a year, I'll see you guys cheerfully next Fall!!!!!) I went to pay it and the access for the website was denied. I freaked out and in less than 24 hours, the school had clear all of the glitches. If this school is going above and beyond its way for a single applicant like me with nothing special on his resume, why in the world would they denied an acceptance? This completely makes no sense. However, the school does reserve the right to revoke the acceptance of any student they might considered to have lied or change something in their application, i.e. background check or drug testing. The acceptance is always provisionary; there is always something that can cause an acceptance to be revoked.

I hope the best for Sternocleomastoid and that everything gets resolved soon.

To the entire class of 2018, my sincere wishes for your success and go and kick some ass this fall!!!!! (I will be needing you as upper classmen for year one 🙂

Have a great one!
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thank you
 
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prowd2beloud147 said:
Does anyone know how many people are on the wait-list?
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^ They don't release those numbers...if another school is pressuring you to put down a deposit you can give Ms. Mendez or Mr. Cook a call and ask them to realistically tell you where you stand on the list. There will be wait-list movement between now and May 15 as other applicants receive/accept offers at their preferred schools. Write a Letter of Intent if you are so inclined 😉
 
Can you update us on what happened? I heard a similar story from a friend who doesn't use SDN.

Sternocleidomastoid said:
Any advice on this issue would be greatly appreciated. I was accepted to LUCOM . I received their acceptance letter and declined to go to other schools because I love LUCOM. I also began to apply for scholarships and an apartment. However, this week they forfeited my own acceptance because they basically accepted too many students for their first class. My deposit was not due until way later, which I was going to pay as soon as I had the means. 🙁
Click to expand...
 
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Pretty impressed with the faculty and staff of the school. They keep getting really top notch professors with multiple degrees (PharmD, PhD's, DO's, MD's, and a decent amount of masters degrees). The latest recruit is the AOA Speaker of the House... not too shabby!
 
CaptainDO said:
Pretty impressed with the faculty and staff of the school. They keep getting really top notch professors with multiple degrees (PharmD, PhD's, DO's, MD's, and a decent amount of masters degrees). The latest recruit is the AOA Speaker of the House... not too shabby!
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There a lot of faculty repping my soon to be alma mater, UNTHSC... Including the most recent professor you're referencing.

It says a lot that faculty are willing to leave secure positions to join this new school. They must be doing something right!
 
Good afternoon LUCOM Class of 2018. First let me congratulate those preparing to matriculate into the inaugural class. You all should be aware by now that there were a many great people that interviewed for this class. The quality of applicants produced an environment in which the Admissions Committee did not have an easy time selecting students to be admitted from among the diverse candidates. A summary review would reveal that our applicants were overall highly qualified, talented, professional, quality individuals who demonstrated a servant’s heart for helping and healing. At LUCOM, we have been blessed in overabundance with qualified applicants.

We acknowledge that we had some challenges during this inaugural year, among which is the fact that we over extended offers to be members of the class, largely based on a lack of history in how students would respond to offers from our new COM. We have taken positive steps to correct our mistakes and move forward. There were originally eight students that received an offer of deferment. We know how disappointing and difficult it was for those students to receive this notification because it was disheartening for us to issue it. With commitment to do the right thing for our students, we have been able to extend acceptance and retain a position in the class for all eight of those students we thought we would have to defer.

This challenged has been met, and we are anxiously looking forward to an exciting year. We know there will be other challenges as we go forward and we will face them in just as transparent, honest and student centered manner as we did this one.
It is our policy to not respond to individual statements that are opinion, since we strongly support an individual right to express their opinion freely.Every individual is entitled to their opinion and personal position, positive or negative concerning Liberty University, LUCOM, the late Dr. Falwell, or to speculate on how the university and college teach science or theology. However, we feel obligated to comment when an individual’s postings are factually wrong or an individual is utilizing opinion as fact in an attempt to agitate others to join in their personal position of animosity.

One of our principle distractors on this forum was accepted into our inaugural class, but has forfeited his seat after making it clear that he did not feel that he wanted to be, belonged at or fit in at Liberty and failing to complete his obligations for enrollment. We wish him the best in his career and hope he receives the blessings that life can offer to us all. We are grieved by his current response to this phase of his life and his expressions of hostility and bitterness toward Liberty. We hope that he finds peace and success in his life founded on those lessons taught by Christ; examples of optimism, grace, confidence, faith and most of all love of God and love of Man.

We admit that we enjoy reading the variety of comments produced on Student Doctor Net, both those that criticize and those that praise us. We know that we have much to learn, much growth and improvement to achieve and many present and future mistakes to overcome in our walk toward being the excellent institution we envision. We encourage discourse and we take comments and information we review here seriously and learn from that critique a well as those complements that are posted. We have the fullest intent to remain transparent in our actions. We will make mistakes, but we will own them and we will fix them when they occur.

To all of you who participate in this forum, thank you for allowing us to comment. We wish all of the participating schools and Student Doctors success and happiness in the year to come! Congratulations.

Humbly,
Director of Admissions
 
I love the fact that LUCOM takes the initiative to comment and follow the sdn thread. Another reason why this school is my number one choice. Can't wait for the wait list to start moving after May 30th.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
 
Although I did decide not to attend LUCOM, I have to commend LUCOM as an institution for their response above. They have absolutely been transparent in the application process from the start, and I admire that they are able to address applicants and members of SDN. Their staff truly was made up of individuals of great quality and big hearts. It was an honor meeting them, and I know we can all appreciate a staff that takes time out to listen and respond to those who hold interest in their school. I think it is pretty 'cool' for them to reach out to connect with us on here, and have a say in the truth of the matter. Best of luck for all of the applicants, matriculants, and LUCOM staff out there. I hope you have a wonderful year!
 
Does anyone know if LUCOM is planning on expanding in the next couple years from 150 seats to something bigger?
 
What a great response from the admissions committee. I hope 4 years from now the class enjoys success in the match and that the curriculum goes smoothly. Some, including me, had and still have reservations of the school, but I am glad to see the administration being so open. I hope success for the graduates in the future.
 
Giving up my spot here today. It was a very tough decision. Good luck to all going to LUCOM!
 
Just FYI here are the stats of the 162-student inaugural class:

"The inaugural class features a median MCAT score of 25 and a median GPA of 3.5. It represents 30 universities, 25 states, and two countries, with 35 percent of its students from Virginia or an adjacent state. The class is 52 percent male and 48 percent female."

From the article: "Ronnie B. Martin, D.O., dean, said more than 50 percent of the applicants who were offered admission decided to come to Liberty.

“In launching the first year of a new medical school, it is expected that only 30-40 percent of the students who are offered admission will accept — a level you would anticipate when competing for quality students with other established institutions,” he said. “As a new medical school, we had no track record or reputation that students could depend on to predict their potential for professional success. The fact that more than 50 percent chose Liberty is a blessing and shows the high regard that people across the country have for the university.”"

Just from personal experience, when my husband and I bought a house here in VA, we had about 20 people show up to help us unload the moving truck. Students and their families, professors and their families, and even the dean showed up to help us unload! All I can say is WOW what a group of people! If they're so eager to help us unload our stuff, how much more are they willing to help us succeed in and out of med school?! I am so truly blessed to have made it past the 3500 other applicants, past the 500 interviews and into the wonderful group of 162. SDN may bash this school, but I'd love to hear your story about how the doc that developed the cochlear implant, your genetics prof, and the dean of the med school hauled YOUR dresser up the stairs! 🙂

Here are the links to the two articles I've mentioned:

http://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?PID=18495&MID=121228


http://www.liberty.edu/lucom/index.cfm?PID=28248&MID=120584

Enjoy!! And CONGRATS CLASS OF 2018!!!!
 
So no more people getting accepted? Wait list is not moving?

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Dimatchka said:
So no more people getting accepted? Wait list is not moving?

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Click to expand...
Not sure. Sounds like they're done but there's still 2 more months before classes start.
 
There is a lot that can happen in people's personal lives over the next 6-8 weeks.

While I wouldn't expect to see significant waitlist movement, as they've seated the entire class and deposit dates have passed, life circumstances could force some people to take a late deferrment or even change their decision all together. I honestly would not be surprised to see a few people pulled from the waitlist between now and the start of class for reasons like this. I certainly don't wish this kind of situation on anyone, but it is a fact of life.

As a side note, TCOM has been known to pull students from the waitlist all the way up to second day of new student orientation. Not extremely common, but any spots that come open have a chance at getting filled somehow.
 
I will be applying here this year. They are using the same secondary as last year. I was just wondering how you guys approached first part of the question. I am not exactly sure what they are looking for on "what is you personal philosophy on the practice of medicine?" Can anyone shed some light or hint. I might just be thinking too hard.
 
I just answered with what came to heart after working with people in a clinical setting. I don't think there's a recipe of things that they are looking for.

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Fedxup said:
I will be applying here this year. They are using the same secondary as last year. I was just wondering how you guys approached first part of the question. I am not exactly sure what they are looking for on "what is you personal philosophy on the practice of medicine?" Can anyone shed some light or hint. I might just be thinking too hard.
Click to expand...

This isn't an exam where there is a correct or incorrect response, so I think trying to figure out "what they are looking for" is a bad strategy.

You would be better served to consider why they would ask this question. What would they be trying to figure out about an applicant when they look at the response to this question?

The application process is as much about getting into the RIGHT school as it is about just getting into ANY school. When a school asks a question like this, they want an open, honest and thoughtful response based on self reflection.

Trying to give a school what you think they want in an open response is a bad idea. Admissions tends to be able to see through this, and worse yet, you could end up at a school that isn't right for you.
 
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