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Schools asking about other Schools?

Started by Just Joshin
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Just Joshin

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I'm reading over secondary prompts from other years and why is it that some schools want to know what other schools you're applying to? What if you don't want to answer that prompt? I don't know that it's a big deal but I'm just curious what difference it makes.
 
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This has only happened to me in interviews. Also, the TX application service TMDSAS has a box for you to list all schools you're applying to. I would just be honest about it and put them all down, because what else can you do?
 
I know OSU-COM asked this question on their 2008-2009 secondary but they didn't give you enough room to put all the schools.
 
During my DMU interview, the DO interviewer asks me what other schools in the mid west I interviewed at. I said KCUMB and told him I like DMU better because of the area... lol.
 
I just find it so rude. It's none of their business where else I apply. I don't see any point anyway. What good does it do them to know where I applied?
 
When I was at Touro NY and NV for interviews they both asked where else I had interviewed or planned to interview.
 
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yeah i don't know..I guess they are just curious sometimes. At my PCOM interview they asked me about LECOM. Probably b/c I did the postbac there and am from there lol. I guess there's not too much they can get from asking such things other than seeing where you are coming from and what possibilities you are weighing?
 
It's namely osteo schools that ask. They do it to help gauge whether you are someone who wants to get into an M.D. program and is only intending to go to D.O. school as a back-up, vs. someone who is only applying osteo. I applied to both Nova and UNECOM, among other osteo schools, and I told the truth about applying to M.D. programs (I was also asked at KCOM during the interview). I still got interviewed and accepted at a bunch of D.O. programs. It may impact the questions they ask you during the interview--if you are applying to both but can't give an explanation specific to "why osteo med?" vs simply "why medicine?" then you're probably not going to fair well.

And since you think it's none of their busines...D.O.'s who practice OMM are a dying breed, and if they just get classes full of students who really just want to be physicians rather than specifically osteopathic physicians, OMM is going to completely disappear. For the sake of patients who seek out manipulation, even though I'm going to an M.D. program, I sincerely hope this doesn't happen...then everybody seeking a manipulation will be relegated to chiropractic care, which can't offer the same medical expertise.
 
I stick by what I said. It's none of their business. OMM or not, a person who applies to 5 DO schools and 10 MD schools is no less worthy of admission than a person who applies to 15 DO schools. For some people, school reputation is important and funds are limited and there are much, much fewer DO schools so it makes sense to narrow down the list to only your top choices. For other people, location is important. There are all kinds of reasons that people make the choices they do. The only thing a list like that would be used for is to give preference to ones who only apply DO which I think is wrong.
 
I spoke with someone on an ad com from a DO school who mentioned that they don't specifically ask what other schools you apply to unless the applicant personally volunteers that info...I guess every school is different, and probably depends on the individual in the interview - are they just curious, making "small talk," or really interested in finding out where you've been.
 
If you think it is none of their business then don't put anything. I applied to 32 schools. A pretty even mix of both MD and DO. I got into Nova when I listed them all. It is pretty much a non-factor. A lot of the stuff on applications isn't necessary, but every metric gained can help make a decision. They really don't give a damn if you think it is wrong though. They have plenty of applicants as is that aren't turned off by it and don't care either.
 
Um, you'll be asked about your weaknesses at many interviews. It's a common question. I put discussed a weakness on the UNECOM application--it wasn't anything specific to osteo med vs. allo med--and I still got interviewed and accepted. I was also asked at KCOM and Nova to answer that question, and got into both of them. Pretty sure I was asked at keck, too.

You need to be insightful, and come up with a weakness that you want to and should overcome to practice medicine, and ideally one that you have already started overcoming and can explain how you've been successful at overcoming it thus far but still need improvment. Particularly think about weaknesses in the practice of medicine that aren't weaknesses to be a human being.
 
I don't care so much about the weakness question. That's standard. I think UNECOM is intrusive in asking you to list every single med school you've ever applied to and the date(s) of your application. So if you applied three years ago to SUNY, they want to know about it. Intrusive for the sake of intrusion in my book.
 
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I would just be honest. I dont think they can reject someone based on what other schools you applied to. Maybe its for informational purposes solely. when I went on interviews, they asked where else I applied and where I had interviewed. I told them, and I got in. They just want to know. You should not come across as feeling uncomfortable or trying to hide something.
 
I was asked on every interview day, but not at every interview. Some schools asked me for my ranking of schools and where they fit in....that was awkward. I answered honestly on where I had applied and lied through my teeth on the ranking (except at western, which was my #1)
 
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