Trying to find a solid pros and cons list?

[TylerGLee]

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So I am digging and trying to find some facts about various schools. Ideally I am looking for a school by school list of pros and cons (or a solid place for info to make my own). Obviously this probably does not exist. Not much information is posted on the school specific threads (mostly people just saying "yay got secondaries etc"). I know there was one pros and cons thread but it basically only covered PCOM and DMU and then I think it died off. Does anyone know of a solid thread/place to find some pros and cons of each school and/or a good way I can find some pros and cons about each school? The school's websites never give the information thats really important which only comes from current/past students. In a few threads people have mentioned "the procs and cons forum" but I have yet to find this?

Thanks a bunch!

 

[NurWollen]

So I am digging and trying to find some facts about various schools. Ideally I am looking for a school by school list of pros and cons (or a solid place for info to make my own). Obviously this probably does not exist. Not much information is posted on the school specific threads (mostly people just saying "yay got secondaries etc"). I know there was one pros and cons thread but it basically only covered PCOM and DMU and then I think it died off. Does anyone know of a solid thread/place to find some pros and cons of each school and/or a good way I can find some pros and cons about each school? The school's websites never give the information thats really important which only comes from current/past students. In a few threads people have mentioned "the procs and cons forum" but I have yet to find this?

Thanks a bunch!

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=407104

 

[TylerGLee]

Yea this is the one that really only covers several schools and its over 5 years old... The reviews for several of the schools are amazing! and very detailed. But especially with osteopathic schools I hear there is a lot of growth and change. Be nice to have more recent and relevant pros and cons no? If such a thing exists? I would hate to bug the crap out of a couple students from each school, seeing as they are probably busy and stuff.

 

[Postictal Raiden]

I agree with the OP. We need more current evaluations. I'm interest in reading comments by 3rd of 4th year students at LMU. The reviews were in the older thread were posted by graduates who had attended the school prior to its class size was increased. I hear and read great things about the school's pre-clinical years, but the issue in regards to its clinical affiliations is still nebulous.

 

[TylerGLee]

And the reality is that the pre-clinical years are more heavily weighed on your personal effort (from what I hear). So its like, its good to hear that stuff, but I want the meat which is the clinical years and residency connections. Also it would be good to get people's input on the location of the school etc.

On many of the schools websites they list rotation sites and such; however, they would not speak of the comparative quality of those rotation sites. Like for instance I hear that AZCOM pretty much has you set up your own sties if you are not happy with the lottery you get. <--- Very good to know, thanks Orthojoe. It would be nice to have this kind of information available in a more organized way.

Not that I think I am in way qualified to start something, but how would someone on SDN go about making a whole new folder for pros and cons? And having maybe an updated list every few years, similar to how there is a school specific folder with threads for each school. Who would one have to talk to to get that kind of ball rolling? I feel like once the folder is made, people would hopefully start tossing their information in? People throw their input into random threads which is great, but it takes A LOT of digging to just get nuggets of useful information.

 

[Elevencents]

Unfortunately you don't see many 3rd/4th years coming back to contribute to the pros and cons thread. I've basically spent countless hours digging through the school specific threads and just doing searches to accumulate as much info as possible on the schools I am most interested in. The info is there, just takes some effort to find.

 

[cliquesh]

I think match lists can give you some valueable information and they are published each year. Every school and every class will have some gunners. If you see zero competitive matches, like surgical subspeciality matches, year after year than I think something is probably wrong with the school.

Anyway, DMU, ccom, pcom and the state schools are all fine.

 

[TylerGLee]

I think match lists can give you some valueable information and they are published each year. Every school and every class will have some gunners. If you see zero competitive matches, like surgical subspeciality matches, year after year than I think something is probably wrong with the school.

I feel like I have read a dozen threads that argue about match list stuff... Now I have no clue if that is a way to go or not. Personally that is what I have done because for me, it would be good to know roughly how many competitive specialties are made at the school... However, as some argue, these numbers can also 100% be based on the class, you could just get a class that is really gunning for a ton of FM spots.

Long story short, I have for sure been doing that, but I am trying not to base most of my decision on that alone.

As for those schools, yea those are the core of my list. I have really heard only good things about those schools. I am now trying to get maybe 4 or 5 more. I think it would be worth me spending a couple hundred more to open up chances at some other schools. But I am finding really mixed things about some schools. I have my AACOM book and I have little sticky notes placed on the pages for the schools I like. If the sticky note is at the top, then its a 100% I am applying. If it is at the bottom, there is no chance. For some schools those sticky notes go up and down a lot based upon the collective points made on SDN. Partially because people simply have different views, but partially because the information is not organized so its like I will find some great information on a school only to find out it was from 2004 haha... is that still valid info? I would rather keep from 2010-ish.

 

[TylerGLee]

So I found a spot where reviews are. For the schools that people have reviewed, they are such a great help! So I guess I have found my answer, here it is, its just simply not enough people are coming back to the forums heh.

http://studentdoctor.net/schools/

 

[Anicetus]

I think match lists can give you some valueable information and they are published each year. Every school and every class will have some gunners. If you see zero competitive matches, like surgical subspeciality matches, year after year than I think something is probably wrong with the school.

Anyway, DMU, ccom, pcom and the state schools are all fine.

Except for the cost.