I have been accepted to a couple DO schools and am still deciding primarily between NYCOM and UNECOM. One thing I have been wondering about is the academic culture at NYCOM. I am wondering what type of relationships the students have with their professors/faculty/administration. At my undergraduate college there was little regard for students. Classes and tests were formulated to divide students and made the class more about the testing statistics. Tests would include material not convered in class or not assigned for reading, and questions would be formulated in a convoluded fashion. Ultimately it was a very effective "weeder system" for lack of a better term; classes were more about battling for a grade than about comprehending material. Is this the situation at nycom? I am asking b.c i have read stories regarding change in grading policy (making it harder to pass), as well as a high drop out/dissmissal percentage at nycom.
As far as the change in grading policy... I read somewhere on here people complaining that they changed it so you can no longer fail lab, but make up for it in written (or vice versa). This was NEVER the policy. You always had to pass both individually. So this is nothing new.
As for the professors, imo... when you have a class of 300, you need to make yourself stand out. If you want help from the professors, you have to go to them, they are all very nice and approachable and receptive if you go to them, but none of them are going to come find you because you aren't doing well on their questions. They are very busy, and don't need to do this. They won't test you on stuff that isn't in either the lecture or the reading. Most of the stuff is straight from the lectures, because the lectures come from the readings, leaving out the stuff they didn't feel was important (so they probably won't test on it).
Although we are graded Pass/Fail/Honors, I really don't find that our class is "cut-throat" at all. You find your group of friends, set up some study groups, and work hard. The tests definitely don't divide us as a class.
Finally, as for the drop-out/dismissal rate... The test are not easy by any means, but they are doable for anyone who has made it this far. Some people may not have to work so hard, and some (like myself) may have to work harder than you ever have before, but as long as you are willing to put in that effort, you don't need to worry about failing out. If you have a bad day (which everyone does) and do poorly on a test, then you work your butt off to do better on the next one. The way it works is that you have 2 or more tests per system with the grades averaged. So as long as your average is a 70, you're fine.
That's all, if you have any more questions, you can pm me.
...it seems like it's going to be really hard to find a place with a yard for my dog 
