RVU-CO vs OUHCOM

[tripler8910]

Edit: Do any current/former students, admins, or admitted applicants have any pros, cons, or experiences to add?

Hi all, I have been lucky enough to be accepted to a few of my top choice DO schools and need help choosing between RVU-CO and OUHCOM-Athens.

Both schools cost about the same over four years, appear to support their students well, have new facilities/equipment, and both match at or close to 100%.

RVU-CO
Pros:

• Top COMLEX scores / good Step scores
• Non-mandatory lectures, curriculum seems to set students up for success
• Location (love the outdoors, snowboarding, etc. and my SO will be able to find work)
• Students seemed happy, cooperative, and active outside of school
• Felt good "fit" here

Cons:

• Far away from friends and family (Although my SO will be moving with me and we are excited about living in Colorado)
• relatively new school (reputation seems to be growing tho with their board scores though)
• Cost of living higher in Colorado than Ohio
• For-profit school (although it doesn't seem to affect students much)

OUHCOM-Athens
Pros:

• Close to family and friends
• Great reputation in Ohio
• Associated with the Cleveland Clinic
• State-school
• From personal experience, students and alums are awesome and speak highly of their education
• is P/F if I remember correctly

Cons:

• Athens location (does not offer job prospects to my SO so she would have to live 2-3 hours away. Athens is also a huge party/college town which I am ready to move on from)
• board scores and pass rate aren't as high RVU
• they are introducing a new flipped curriculum for our class (I like the curriculum, but not the idea of being guinea pigs)

I am leaning towards RVU at the moment but would like to hear other people's opinions, thoughts, and/or concerns. Thanks!

*Note* If it changes anything, I am also waitlisted OUHCOM's Cleveland campus which would allow my SO to live with me and find work.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[libertyyne]

Remove board scores from evaluation, there are many confounders to that and people tend to cheat when reporting them. See if that makes a difference in your decision.

 

[tripler8910]

Remove board scores from evaluation, there are many confounders to that and people tend to cheat when reporting them. See if that makes a difference in your decision.

True, but I would still be pretty torn. I am very familiar with OU and their quality of education and because of that, it was my top DO program going into the cycle. However, after interviewing, I was thoroughly impressed with RVU, and after doing more research, the high board scores and first-time pass rates seemed to offer me a somewhat objective way to view RVU's quality of education vs OU's.

Edit: I definitely appreciate the insight and will definitely keep that in mind!

 

[libertyyne]

True, but I would still be pretty torn. I am very familiar with OU and their quality of education and because of that, it was my top DO program going into the cycle. However, after interviewing, I was thoroughly impressed with RVU, and after doing more research, the high board scores and first-time pass rates seemed to offer me a somewhat objective way to view RVU's quality of education vs OU's.

Edit: I definitely appreciate the insight and will definitely keep that in mind!

I guess what I am trying to say is that board scores are not an objective way to determine differences in quality since MCAT scores of matriculating classes may differ, they may report them differently, they may discourage people from sitting for boards and hold people back and any number os statistical games that can be played with reporting board scores.

That being said, what sort of cost difference is there?

Which school will make your SO happier?

DO both schools have residency programs associated with them that you are interested in ?

 

[tripler8910]

I guess what I am trying to say is that board scores are not an objective way to determine differences in quality since MCAT scores of matriculating classes may differ, they may report them differently, they may discourage people from sitting for boards and hold people back and any number os statistical games that can be played with reporting board scores.

That being said, what sort of cost difference is there?

Which school will make your SO happier?

DO both schools have residency programs associated with them that you are interested in ?

Tuition/fees is negligible (OU tuition is ~$208,000 and RVU tuition is about ~$214,00), but cost of living in CO will be higher.

We are both very excited about the possibility of living in Denver(or nearby) and experiencing something new outside of Ohio, but we both want to make sure we are not blindly jumping at the new and "shiny" location. We know regardless where we go, we would always have places to come back to in Ohio.

I am familiar with many of the Ohio residency options, but not so much with RVU. I guess thats one of the things I am hoping to learn more on from this thread! I do know that RVU has matched 7-8 people last class to Ohio residencies, though in case CO doesn't work out.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

I think having your SO close by and able to find work speaks bigger volumes than a lot of people would understand. You need a solid support system in med school; will you be happy living 2-3 hours apart from your SO? Both are great schools. Normally, the advice is to stick with a state school if you have the chance. But, I think the situation with your SO changes things for you. Personally, I would rather pick the school that allowed me to be closer to my SO, especially when it is one that you liked and are excited about.