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[deleted1190355]

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made decision

 

[DOcSto]

Don’t touch CNU with a 10ft pole

 

[bibo478]

OUWB all the way. It has a great affiliated hospital system, offers lower tuition, and is overall a well established school with plenty of opportunities. CNU has way too many issues to be worth considering unless it was your only option (and it isn't).

 

[WildWing]

California Northstate University College of Medicine(CNUCOM): Long road to accreditation

The LCME has recently denied CNUCOM full accreditation status and instead placed them on "provisional, on probation" status. I have been researching this school for months after multiple students and hundreds of Elk Grove residents were affected by this institution. I am posting this for the...

forums.studentdoctor.net

While there's a risk that you would not get a residency slot in California if you go to a school out-of-state, at CNU there's the risk that they lose accreditation and you're out many thousands of dollars with no degree and no way to get any residency slot.

 

[bibo478]

Thank you both for the advice! Ouwb seems like a great school. I definitely agree there are issues with cnu, the only reason I’m considering it is bc it’s a California md. I would really love to stay in state and do my residency in California. I’ve heard when you go to med school in the same state you have a better chance of matching in the state bc of the connections you make with local hospitals and programs. Do you all think that’s a valid reason to attend cnu?

I just don’t know if going to ouwb in Michigan will hurt my chances of coming back to California for residency. Or does this factor not even matter too much?

How much do you value location vs opportunity?
The only thing CNU offers you is a California residency. I could argue that isn't a guarantee either, given the shaky ground it's been on. If you are 100% certain that staying in California is what you need to thrive, then consider CNU.

Otherwise, OUWB is better in everyway. In fact, if you make the most out of the opportunities there, you would be a more attractive candidate then someone from CNU.

Also, it's not like going to OUWB will erase any prior connection you had to California... You were born there. You have family there. It's pretty clear there is a legitimate reason for someone like you to apply for residency from out of state. You can also pursue away rotations there to build connections and further cement your intention returning.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Subsidized loans and lower tuition.

 

[m1redsox]

Hey, I'm from the Sacramento area and made essentially the same decision about 4 years ago to come to the east coast for med school. I would highly recommend OUWB for the reasons most people have stated above: private loans do not qualify for PSLF, so if you happen to work for a non-profit hospital for 10 years (including residency), then attending CNU could be a mistake worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Additionally, federal loan income based repayment plans (ie the SAVE plan) are FAR superior to anything that a private loan company can offer.

For example, I have accumulated about $260k of federal loans, so interest is accumulating at about $1200/month at my low federal interest rate of 5.5% on average. When I start residency next month, I will begin making $0 monthly payments based on my 2023 $0 income. This is nice because these $0 payments qualify for PSLF and all interest that would have accumulated is forgiven while I am making payments. Once I report my 2024 income, I will start making payments of about $150/month. So, I will be saving over $1000/month in interest all 4-5 years of residency just because I have federal loans (to add up, this will be somewhere in the ballpark of $50-60k in interest).

At the end of the day, if you choose CNU, I am not a doomsday-ist who is going to tell you that you will lose your spot at med school, and I think CNU has actually had a decent match. However, based purely on money, you will save hundreds of thousands of dollars by attending OUWB and avoiding predatory private loans.

Additionally, having home residency programs is a game changer. It helps a ton with research, networking, and LORs. You are always most likely to match at your home program. CNU will not have their hospital and residency programs up and running by the time you graduate, if ever. If you want dermatology (in any state), the name of your school matters, and CNU's name is not good. OUWB has multiple associated derm programs. Meanwhile, CNU has never matched a derm applicant into a CA residency position, even though they are in CA.

 

[m1redsox]

Going ouwb definitely makes more sense from a financial perspective. It’s just intimidating to move to a new state, but it seems as though I will have better opportunities at this school. Thank you for the advice!

I would say it makes more sense from a financial perspective and a planning for your future perspective. There are simply more doors open to you at OUWB (or I guess no door is really *closed* at CNU since it’s still USMD, but maybe the door is substantially less open by comparison), especially in dermatology. The nice thing is that the Detroit airport has solid flights. When I interviewed there for residency, I think I saw that they fly direct into Sac, if that helps you at all.

Like I said, I came out east, and it has been a really positive experience. It is very doable to match back into California, and many of my classmates did, but it really depends how competitive you are for your specialty. CA derm literally could not be any more competitive haha.

 

[Cyla123]

CNUCOM
Pros

• in state
• close to family/friends
• Connections to ca hospitals
• Good match rate - a lot of ca residencies
• Building hospital - possible residency positions there
• Nmbe exams

Cons

• private loans (was able to get loan with okay interest rate)
• Higher tuition
• accreditation with probation

OUWB
Pros

• Full accreditation
• Takes fafsa
• Lower tuition ($15,000)
• Good match rate
• Has own hospital system

Cons

• Out of state
• Harsh weather
• Away from support system for the first time
• boring area
• Mandatory attendance
• No nbme exams

Hi, I’m a California resident and I was admitted to these two schools. Just got of the waitlist for OUWB. Does anyone have any feedback about each school (especially about research opportunities) or some advice on what to pick? I would like to match to California for residency, preferably for dermatology (can change bc I do want to explore more specialties in school). My main question is whether ouwb is a school that’s worth going oos for

Is the ouwb tuition based off a scholarship?

 

[gyngyn]

I see, thank you! The cnu admin is saying that if the school loses accreditation current students will still get their md degree at cnu, can take step, and be allowed to match per lcme bc cnu was accredited at the time of my acceptance. Idk how accurate that is tho. Do clinical sites allow students from unaccredited universities to rotate during m3 and m4?

You might want to check into what happened to San Juan Bautista seniors when their school lost accreditation.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

CA resident here, avoid CNU. Close to family is overrated. My n=1 is in east coast and doing fine.