Making a final decision

[WAgirl94]

Hello!
I was accepted to 5 DO programs and without being able to visit them I am a little lost on how to pick
RVUCOM, CUSOM, WVSOM, COMP-NW, and DMU
Obviously residency match rates and comlex scores are some of the most important factors, but I was curious if anyone could offer any insight beyond that? Reputations of the schools, how students like going there, students relationships w faculty, staff & other students, etc. Without being able to visit the schools during interviews I feel like I don't have a very good sense of the "vibe", so any insights/opinions from current students or ppl who interviewed would be very helpful!
Thanks!

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[lumya]

Can you provide a bit more information? It's hard to give any overarching advice without knowing if the location matters to you, if you got financial aid that changes tuition, what you want to do, ect. They're all valid schools and what you value is going to help make your decision.

 

[GAMING4FUNN]

I can't necessarily say what I would pick but here are a couple of things I would look into for each school.

• Curriculum Style
• First Time Board Exam Pass Rate
• Mean Board Exam Scores
• Tuition
• Clinical Rotation Sites & Preceptor to Student Ratio
• Research Opportunities
• On-site vs Off-site Housing
• Rural vs Urban Setting
• Whether a Simulation Lab is Present
• Does the school provide early clinical exposure? If yes then how? If not then why?

 

[Newyorkgirl24]

Do you mind sharing your stats? That’s some impressive A’s! Congrats !!

 

[WAgirl94]

Can you provide a bit more information? It's hard to give any overarching advice without knowing if the location matters to you, if you got financial aid that changes tuition, what you want to do, ect. They're all valid schools and what you value is going to help make your decision.

Very true!
Location: I have from Washington State, but location is not very important to me. I would be happy to be at COMP-NW (5 hr drive from my hometown) or all the way over at WVSOM.
Financial aid: I do not have my fafsa financial aid packages back from the schools yet so I unfortunately don't know that part of it yet. I am considering participating in the HPSP though, so cost is not my number 1 consideration at this time.
Career goals: Currently I am interested in OB/GYN, but I want a school that matches in a variety of competitive specialties. I want my options to remain open if I change my mind down the line.
Top criteria: From what I can glean online/during advising appts, the schools are relatively similar in their standings/graduate success. What I am trying to do is find the institution that will be the best match for me personally. I am looking for an inclusive, supportive student and faculty community. I went to a large undergrad (40,000) and felt very disconnected from my school. I am hoping to find a school that intentionally puts forth effort to create a strong community (by automatically assigning student/faculty advisors, involvement in the surrounding community, having relationships with faculty to the pt that students can go to them with specific career questions or for career opportunities). Is this too vague to expect to learn before I choose a school?

 

[WAgirl94]

Do you mind sharing your stats? That’s some impressive A’s! Congrats !!

sGPA:3.27, GPA:3.55, MCAT 510 (chem: 127, CARS 127, bio/biochem: 127, psych: 129)

 

[drstranger]

Very true!
Location: I have from Washington State, but location is not very important to me. I would be happy to be at COMP-NW (5 hr drive from my hometown) or all the way over at WVSOM.
Financial aid: I do not have my fafsa financial aid packages back from the schools yet so I unfortunately don't know that part of it yet. I am considering participating in the HPSP though, so cost is not my number 1 consideration at this time.
Career goals: Currently I am interested in OB/GYN, but I want a school that matches in a variety of competitive specialties. I want my options to remain open if I change my mind down the line.
Top criteria: From what I can glean online/during advising appts, the schools are relatively similar in their standings/graduate success. What I am trying to do is find the institution that will be the best match for me personally. I am looking for an inclusive, supportive student and faculty community. I went to a large undergrad (40,000) and felt very disconnected from my school. I am hoping to find a school that intentionally puts forth effort to create a strong community (by automatically assigning student/faculty advisors, involvement in the surrounding community, having relationships with faculty to the pt that students can go to them with specific career questions or for career opportunities). Is this too vague to expect to learn before I choose a school?

DMU would most likely keep the most doors open out of the schools that are listed, it is generally respected as one of the better DO schools. As far as Aid most medical schools do not off scholarships and the majority of students take out loans to cover the cost of attendance. But ultimately if you want a competitive specialty and not OB it will 100% be on your individual effort.

 

[zNoodlez]

COMP-NW would most likely be the one to go if you ever want to rotate in WA in the 3rd/4th years and potentially apply for residencies within the Pacific NW region.

 

[drducky.]

Board scores and pass rates are individual dependent and not reflective of the school for the most part.

As a current student, if I had to do it all over again, I would look for:
1) Mandatory attendance or too much PBL is bad
2) Too much focus on OPP is bad. Some schools pass everyone without even studying, some force you to spend hours and hours on it, taking away time from real medicine.
3) Any other useless mandatory stuff is bad.

 

[Doc_Ock]

Focus on as little mandatory attendance and omm as possible. COMP-NW doesn't have their act together imo. I would try to get as much detailed info as possible because my school is super shady, they advertise that "class" attendance isn't mandatory but have a bunch of crap every week that they don't consider "class" but is mandatory. The devil is in the details.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

A couple comments.
1. What type of learner are you? Visual? Auditory? Independent learner?
Choose a curricula that suits your learning style. There are tests on the internet to help identify which curriculum you would flourish in. PBL, TDL Lecture.
2. Where in the country would you like to do your residency? Most DO schools have a regional reputation and you might have a better chance to match if your residency is familiar with students from your school.
3. You are looking at it as a customer and that is the correct approach.
4. OB is not a super competetive field. To get in a good program, you will need a good app.
A lot of matching is on the student and not the school. So attend where you think you will do the best and where you might receive support if you require it.
Good luck and best wishes!

 

[hungrydoc710]

sGPA:3.27, GPA:3.55, MCAT 510 (chem: 127, CARS 127, bio/biochem: 127, psych: 129)

Coulda swung MD

 

[Ho0v-man]

A couple comments.
1. What type of learner are you? Visual? Auditory? Independent learner?
Choose a curricula that suits your learning style. There are tests on the internet to help identify which curriculum you would flourish in. PBL, TDL Lecture.
2. Where in the country would you like to do your residency? Most DO schools have a regional reputation and you might have a better chance to match if your residency is familiar with students from your school.
3. You are looking at it as a customer and that is the correct approach.
4. OB is not a super competetive field. To get in a good program, you will need a good app.
A lot of matching is on the student and not the school. So attend where you think you will do the best and where you might receive support if you require it.
Good luck and best wishes!

The bolded is super important. As an M4 applying right now, I wish I took this into consideration.

 

[Calizboosted76]

The bolded is super important. As an M4 applying right now, I wish I took this into consideration.

So if someone wanted to do residency in Florida, going to ACOM would be a good choice 👀👀👀?

 

[Angus Avagadro]

The bolded is super important. As an M4 applying right now, I wish I took this into consideration.

It's not too late. This is my actual advice when I was counseling our residents. Residency is just a few years, mostly, so you still have time. Get the best training you can to help find the job you want, even if it is in a crappy location.. After residency, where do you want to live, how do you want to live? If you have to live in CA, consider the cost of living and housing. You may be a renter or only affording a modest home. If location is not as important, you can afford a much nicer home and car in Nebraska where the cost of living is less. With more disposable income, student debt is easier to pay off.

 

[Ho0v-man]

It's not too late. This is my actual advice when I was counseling our residents. Residency is just a few years, mostly, so you still have time. Get the best training you can to help find the job you want, even if it is in a crappy location.. After residency, where do you want to live, how do you want to live? If you have to live in CA, consider the cost of living and housing. You may be a renter or only affording a modest home. If location is not as important, you can afford a much nicer home and car in Nebraska where the cost of living is less. With more disposable income, student debt is easier to pay off.

Oh yeah I ain’t complaining about the quality of invites. My main gripe is that I wish I realized that most of my invites would be regional to my school. I would have applied to more programs in the region. My home state isn’t a “desirable” place like CA. But I applied broadly to it and mostly got ghosted.

So if someone wanted to do residency in Florida, going to ACOM would be a good choice 👀👀👀?

Absolutely. My schools region is Midwest. I’ve gotten an interview at almost every Midwest program I applied to. Outside the Midwest? 2 interviews.

Your school and desired location is southeast so you’re good my man.

 

[Calizboosted76]

Oh yeah I ain’t complaining about the quality of invites. My main gripe is that I wish I realized that most of my invites would be regional to my school. I would have applied to more programs in the region. My home state isn’t a “desirable” place like CA. But I applied broadly to it and mostly got ghosted.



Absolutely. My schools region is Midwest. I’ve gotten an interview at almost every Midwest program I applied to. Outside the Midwest? 2 interviews.

Your school and desired location is southeast so you’re good my man.

Awesome!

 

[Rogue42]

Just my two cents:

Everything everyone has asked you are important concepts to consider; however, in terms of rank of best schools - ask 10 people and you'll get 12 different answers, and this one is mine.
1. DMU
2. Campbell / WVSOM
3. RVU
4. Western

 

[meijihellopanda]

Just my two cents:

Everything everyone has asked you are important concepts to consider; however, in terms of rank of best schools - ask 10 people and you'll get 12 different answers, and this one is mine.
1. DMU
2. Campbell / WVSOM
3. RVU
4. Western

Why would you consider WVSOM over RVU? Admittedly idk anything about any of these schools, but from what I understand, RVU has a better match overall in regards to competitive matches compared to WVSOM

 

[Rogue42]

Why would you consider WVSOM over RVU? Admittedly idk anything about any of these schools, but from what I understand, RVU has a better match overall in regards to competitive matches compared to WVSOM

Yeah, so it is all dependent on what you want / are looking for out of your medical education.

WVSOM is a well established, state supported medical school that puts out consistent results. There is no hidden agenda at the school. RVU is a relatively new and privatized school that is for-profit. For me, nothing about for-profit medical education sits right. - especially ethically. Furthermore, I just checked the match lists, and it truly doesn't appear to be significantly different. Guess it depends on the eye of the evaluator.

I would always choose state-supported, consistent results with no *known* hidden agenda over a new, privatized for-profit school with relatively equal match stats.

 

[m1redsox]

I think that DMU would pretty unanimously be considered the “best school” of your options, but the rest is up to you. Do you care about where you live? Where you match? They put a big emphasis on OMM over there, do you care? Rural vs urban? Des Moines isn’t usually considered a “big city”, but it’s on the bigger side compared to the rest of your schools (other than Denver-area) with almost 1 million people in the metro area.

 

[DOctor2be95]

I’m a current student at DMU! Feel free to pm me with any questions!!