RVUCOM-SU vs KCUCOM-Joplin

[medmiao]

Hi all,

I'm in a predicament about where to put all my deposit money into for a DO school -- if I end up getting an MD acceptance, I'll prob go with that, but for now I'm just trying to stick to one DO so I don't waste all my money on holding both acceptances.

KCU-Joplin:
Pros:

• one of the original DO schools; more established
• apparently good match lists (although I looked at both the KCU and RVU match lists, and they look very similar--maybe I'm looking at them wrong?)
• tuition is $48,910, which is slightly cheaper than RVU
• a non-profit school (which I'm getting mixed opinions about from others, some saying it doesn't matter, some saying it does)
• cost of living in Joplin is cheap
• given an iPad
• good board scores, not sure if better than RVU bc both schools mention having the top board scores

Cons:

• living in Joplin seems pretty boring--also tornadoes are a thing here
• They have an actual grading system, with average curved to 85%
• only expected to take DO boards (con for me, because if I'm not forced to do something like taking the USMLE, I probably won't)
• far from home and getting to/from Joplin is more expensive/convoluted bc of the regional airport
• some lectures are broadcasted from main campus

RVU-Southern Utah:
Pros:

• just made an agreement with Intermountain hospital system in Utah
• good board scores (required to take both COMLEX and USMLE)
• matches into specialties other than FM more often. I'm guessing it's because everyone also takes the USMLE
• there's a dorm on campus making it easy to go to and from school, and works well with student loans
• closer to home (from SLC, Utah)
• possibility of rotating in SLC
• great location in Southern Utah, also 1.5 hrs from Vegas
• already paid first deposit of $250
• grading system of pass with honors/pass/fail

Cons:

• higher tuition cost of $56,630
• higher cost of living
• for-profit school
• some lectures are broadcasted from main campus
• good stuff from main campus, but RVU-UT hasn't really graduated their own class yet

If I'm missing anything, please let me know! I feel like I'm still stumbling throughout this whole process and I'm not sure what to look for

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[DrStephenStrange]

KCU

 

[weekendwarrior92]

I'm a current student at Joplin, so if you have questions or want to hear about my experience, feel free to DM me.

Just a couple of thoughts-

Yes, we do get graded, but I don't think a lot of people mind. Really, what we do here is just try to pass all our classes and get 70%- it really isn't as terrible as it seems.

Also, yes, joplin is small, but I've found plenty to do here. There's 50k people in this city, so youll have everything you need. Plus were not too far from KC or Tulsa.

 

[Woodstatic]

I'm interested in this as well, I have an II at RVU, but I've already got accepted into KCU-joplin... I reallyyy liked KCU, but Im from NM and that means either living 14 hrs from home, vs 6.

However, RVU is like overall gonna be like 70k+ more expensive...

What is the real benefit of P/F vs the traditional abc grading scale?

 

[Coltuna]

What is the real benefit of P/F vs the traditional abc grading scale?

I go to KCU. I can tell you that a majority of my classmates treat classes as P/F even with us having an ABC grading scale lol. I don't really hear anyone agonizing about grades. The thing about class average being curved to an 85 is you're really graded against your peers. Despite this, there's no real competitive atmosphere at all.

 

[Woodstatic]

I go to KCU. I can tell you that a majority of my classmates treat classes as P/F even with us having an ABC grading scale lol. I don't really hear anyone agonizing about grades. The thing about class average being curved to an 85 is you're really graded against your peers. Despite this, there's no real competitive atmosphere at all.

Thank you! this is how I viewed it, I've never even used p/f as a decision-maker for my school choice. Ultimately it's the same, and I think it would be nice to actually have abc grades to hold me more accountable and show me where my weaknesses are. I was just curious if it was more beneficial when applying to residencies.

 

[dohopeful13]

If streamed lectures are a con for you, I would honestly say the content lectures are 80% from KC this year. On the flip side, almost all the clinical med lectures are from Joplin. I stream all my lectures so it doesn't matter to me, but it's something to keep In mind if you find streamed lectures disengaging.

I will co-sign the atmosphere here is not cutthroat at all. It's almost a little too supportive, haha.