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Hey guys,
I have been accepted to AZCOM, A T Stills Arizona and NSUCOM and I am currently waitlisted at two allopathic schools. I have turned down A T stills and am deciding between AZCOM and NSU. The 1000+ deposits are due in a week and I am really torn! I am a CA resident, but I would like to attend med school school on the east coast and do residency, on the east coast or west coast. As of right now, I think I want to go into ortho or a surgical specialty and eventually work at a teaching hospital in an underserved area. I come from a strong research background (2 years in undergrad, and 3 years of working full time in clinical research) and would like to continue to do research in medical school. Here's the pros and cons of each school:
AZCOM-
pros-
-high COMLEX 1 scores
-great match list for primary care (Yale, Vanderbilt, Hopkins, GW, Georgetown, UCD, UCSF to name a few)
-actual campus dedicated to only health professional schools
-sister school to CCOM, so has the recognition and affiliation
-my aunt and uncle live about 2 hours away from Phoenix so there is support
-close to home, if I wanted to ever drive home for a long weekend
-rotation sites in California
-very low cost of living
-on campus housing, convenient option for studying and first year housing
cons-
-high tuition (almost 60K a year, estimated cost of attendance is about 400,000 for 4 years)
-weekly quizzes during 1st year, and 2nd year up to two quizzes each week
-not connected to a larger institution, so you don't get the benefit of having undergrad resources around (gyms, more libraries etc.)
-no actual patient contact the first 2 years, standardized patients and stimulated experiences only
-0 placement into allopathic ortho residencies, 5 placing into DO ortho residencies
-1/3 of the class moves outside of the Phoenix area 3rd and 4th year to do rotations so this could making setting up sub-internships a challenge 4th year
-only rotation sites for ortho are in central California
-match lists have a lot of people matching into California, so if I decide I want to do residency in CA, I have a better shot than coming from Florida
-very hot hot summers, but at least it is dry heat
my hesitation for AZCOM is that a) I am not a fan of taking tests, so taking a quiz every single week would make for a really stressful two years. b) The board scores are solid for the first one (top 3 of all DO schools), but for the 2nd and 3rd tests, they fall in the rankings of DO school average scores. They have an amazing matchlist into big named allopathic residency programs for primary care, however if I end up wanting to match into a surgical specialty I would probably be limited to applying to DO residency programs. I am not sure that looks when applying to fellowships, and later attending positions.
NSU-COM-
pros-
-well established program
-part of a large institution which provides additional resources and opportunities
-preceptorships during preclinical years, so you get to see patients in addition to working with standardized patients
-great match list for primary care and for some specialties (GW, Albany, Wake Forrest, Cleveland Clinic Florida, University of Chicago, Yale, Georgetown)
-7 matched into ortho last year, in addition to NSU mentioning that they were setting up more NSU ortho residencies within the next few years
-constant expansion of the program (building a research building and surgical center)
-research oriented, which is rare for a DO school
-lower tuition (estimated cost of attendance 71K a year, tuition is almost 50K)
-location- Ft. Lauderdale which is a great city
-rotations, mainly done in southern florida, some of the class will have to move but it's not as extreme as AZCOM
cons-
-they do not release their board scores (just pass rate), so it's hard to judge where they rank in comparison to other DO schools
-not many people matched into California, so if I decided that later on I want to try and match into California it could be tough (granted there are probably less people applying for CA residencies than at AZCOM)
-they go back and forth between mandatory class, so it is possible that all of the classes will be mandatory when I start
-strict dress code policy, even in the library (professional or scrubs with white coat, no gym close or jeans)
-humid weather instead of really dry heat...
-higher cost of living
-high deposit that is non refundable (2K by march 15th)
My hesitations for NSU is that they don't realize their average board scores so I have no idea how prepared their students are for boards b)possible mandatory class is something that I would not like about a school because I know that for some classes I definitely learn better using lecture capture. c)if i were to change my mind regarding residency location and wanted to go back to CA then is going to be difficult. Also, something that I am thinking about is how I have to make a second deposit before I hear back from the two schools I am waitlisted at- if I end up at NSU it's not a big deal because it goes towards tuition, but if not it's a decent loss of money that could have gone towards tuition. :/
Each school is a great school, however I am not sure which is better and is a better fit for me. Is there anything else I should be considering before I make a decision? Thanks!
I have been accepted to AZCOM, A T Stills Arizona and NSUCOM and I am currently waitlisted at two allopathic schools. I have turned down A T stills and am deciding between AZCOM and NSU. The 1000+ deposits are due in a week and I am really torn! I am a CA resident, but I would like to attend med school school on the east coast and do residency, on the east coast or west coast. As of right now, I think I want to go into ortho or a surgical specialty and eventually work at a teaching hospital in an underserved area. I come from a strong research background (2 years in undergrad, and 3 years of working full time in clinical research) and would like to continue to do research in medical school. Here's the pros and cons of each school:
AZCOM-
pros-
-high COMLEX 1 scores
-great match list for primary care (Yale, Vanderbilt, Hopkins, GW, Georgetown, UCD, UCSF to name a few)
-actual campus dedicated to only health professional schools
-sister school to CCOM, so has the recognition and affiliation
-my aunt and uncle live about 2 hours away from Phoenix so there is support
-close to home, if I wanted to ever drive home for a long weekend
-rotation sites in California
-very low cost of living
-on campus housing, convenient option for studying and first year housing
cons-
-high tuition (almost 60K a year, estimated cost of attendance is about 400,000 for 4 years)
-weekly quizzes during 1st year, and 2nd year up to two quizzes each week
-not connected to a larger institution, so you don't get the benefit of having undergrad resources around (gyms, more libraries etc.)
-no actual patient contact the first 2 years, standardized patients and stimulated experiences only
-0 placement into allopathic ortho residencies, 5 placing into DO ortho residencies
-1/3 of the class moves outside of the Phoenix area 3rd and 4th year to do rotations so this could making setting up sub-internships a challenge 4th year
-only rotation sites for ortho are in central California
-match lists have a lot of people matching into California, so if I decide I want to do residency in CA, I have a better shot than coming from Florida
-very hot hot summers, but at least it is dry heat
my hesitation for AZCOM is that a) I am not a fan of taking tests, so taking a quiz every single week would make for a really stressful two years. b) The board scores are solid for the first one (top 3 of all DO schools), but for the 2nd and 3rd tests, they fall in the rankings of DO school average scores. They have an amazing matchlist into big named allopathic residency programs for primary care, however if I end up wanting to match into a surgical specialty I would probably be limited to applying to DO residency programs. I am not sure that looks when applying to fellowships, and later attending positions.
NSU-COM-
pros-
-well established program
-part of a large institution which provides additional resources and opportunities
-preceptorships during preclinical years, so you get to see patients in addition to working with standardized patients
-great match list for primary care and for some specialties (GW, Albany, Wake Forrest, Cleveland Clinic Florida, University of Chicago, Yale, Georgetown)
-7 matched into ortho last year, in addition to NSU mentioning that they were setting up more NSU ortho residencies within the next few years
-constant expansion of the program (building a research building and surgical center)
-research oriented, which is rare for a DO school
-lower tuition (estimated cost of attendance 71K a year, tuition is almost 50K)
-location- Ft. Lauderdale which is a great city
-rotations, mainly done in southern florida, some of the class will have to move but it's not as extreme as AZCOM
cons-
-they do not release their board scores (just pass rate), so it's hard to judge where they rank in comparison to other DO schools
-not many people matched into California, so if I decided that later on I want to try and match into California it could be tough (granted there are probably less people applying for CA residencies than at AZCOM)
-they go back and forth between mandatory class, so it is possible that all of the classes will be mandatory when I start
-strict dress code policy, even in the library (professional or scrubs with white coat, no gym close or jeans)
-humid weather instead of really dry heat...
-higher cost of living
-high deposit that is non refundable (2K by march 15th)
My hesitations for NSU is that they don't realize their average board scores so I have no idea how prepared their students are for boards b)possible mandatory class is something that I would not like about a school because I know that for some classes I definitely learn better using lecture capture. c)if i were to change my mind regarding residency location and wanted to go back to CA then is going to be difficult. Also, something that I am thinking about is how I have to make a second deposit before I hear back from the two schools I am waitlisted at- if I end up at NSU it's not a big deal because it goes towards tuition, but if not it's a decent loss of money that could have gone towards tuition. :/
Each school is a great school, however I am not sure which is better and is a better fit for me. Is there anything else I should be considering before I make a decision? Thanks!
