TUCOM, NSUCOM, or AZCOM?

[Kevin Baker]

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I know osteopathic schools aren't really ranked, but it's time to make a decision and I want to make sure that picking one over the other won't drastically affect my future professional goals. NSUCOM is the oldest and seems to have the best rotations, TUCOM is really hard to get into and has perhaps the best match list for all osteopathic schools the last three years, AZCOM has the best board scores, or is always near the top.

Cost seems to be about the same when you factor in living expense.

I liked NSU and TUCOM best when I visited, but AZCOM had the best campus.

Any advice or tidbits on each college? I place a lot of importance on student culture and happiness, and didn't apply to a lot of schools where the culture seemed to be too competitive.

I've been doing searches for awhile, but figured I'd ask.

 

[PunkmedGirl]

I know osteopathic schools aren't really ranked, but it's time to make a decision and I want to make sure that picking one over the other won't drastically affect my future professional goals. NSUCOM is the oldest and seems to have the best rotations, TUCOM is really hard to get into and has perhaps the best match list for all osteopathic schools the last three years, AZCOM has the best board scores, or is always near the top.

Cost seems to be about the same when you factor in living expense.

I liked NSU and TUCOM best when I visited, but AZCOM had the best campus.

Any advice or tidbits on each college? I place a lot of importance on student culture and happiness, and didn't apply to a lot of schools where the culture seemed to be too competitive.

I've been doing searches for awhile, but figured I'd ask.

When you say TUCOM are you referring to Texas or Touro?

I guess I would personally rank these schools NSU, TCOM (Texas or Touro), AZCOM...

 

[Hottpants89]

When you say TUCOM are you referring to Texas or Touro?

I guess I would personally rank these schools NSU, TCOM (Texas or Touro), AZCOM...

You would put Touro ahead of AZCOM? I keep hearing bad stuff about Touro, especially CA and NY. I have an interview at AZCOM coming up, is there something bad I don't know about it?

 

[PunkmedGirl]

You would put Touro ahead of AZCOM? I keep hearing bad stuff about Touro, especially CA and NY. I have an interview at AZCOM coming up, is there something bad I don't know about it?

TUNCOM=Touro NV and no I wouldn't rank Touro CA or NY.
I think AZCOM is an awesome school but I'm not a big fan of big class sizes. I'm trying to stick to schools with 150 or less students per class.

 

[megathunder]

I know osteopathic schools aren't really ranked, but it's time to make a decision and I want to make sure that picking one over the other won't drastically affect my future professional goals. NSUCOM is the oldest and seems to have the best rotations, TUCOM is really hard to get into and has perhaps the best match list for all osteopathic schools the last three years, AZCOM has the best board scores, or is always near the top.

Cost seems to be about the same when you factor in living expense.

I liked NSU and TUCOM best when I visited, but AZCOM had the best campus.

Any advice or tidbits on each college? I place a lot of importance on student culture and happiness, and didn't apply to a lot of schools where the culture seemed to be too competitive.

I've been doing searches for awhile, but figured I'd ask.

Do you have a source for TUCOM-CA being the hardest to get into? And how did you judge it having the best match-lists. I found the other, more-established schools eg KCUMB to have better ones.

Also, AZCOM's campus might be the most modern but I found the surrounding areas lacking. Just food for thought.

You would put Touro ahead of AZCOM? I keep hearing bad stuff about Touro, especially CA and NY. I have an interview at AZCOM coming up, is there something bad I don't know about it?

The only thing I didn't like about AZCOM is that there's nearly nothing to do outside of campus. The neighborhood and non-academic life leave a lot to be desired.

TUNCOM=Touro NV and no I wouldn't rank Touro CA or NY.
I think AZCOM is an awesome school but I'm not a big fan of big class sizes. I'm trying to stick to schools with 150 or less students per class.

As far as I know NSU has a class size nearing 250, as well.

Honestly, I'd rank them AZCOM>NSUCOM>TUCOM-CA. AZCOM's location could be better and NSU's academics could be better. I haven't visited TUCOM-CA so I can't speak personally about them other than what I've read.

 

[Kevin Baker]

Do you have a source for TUCOM-CA being the hardest to get into? And how did you judge it having the best match-lists.

I just go by MCAT as GPA varies wildly based on what schools the students are coming from. I also saw a higher percentage of Ivy or top tier schools represented at TUCOM but that might just be since Stanford and the UCs are so close. I think Western and TUCOM-CA have an average matriculant MCAT above or at 28. As for the match lists, I just looked over them qualitatively and looked at the percentage of ROADS specialties. I figure that's a decent proxy, though I have no idea what particular hospitals are better than others.

 

[PunkmedGirl]

As far as I know NSU has a class size nearing 250, as well.

You're right, its 235. I've just assumed that NSU had a medium class size.

 

[TriagePreMed]

I was going through google images to see how AZ Midwestern looks. I ran into this babe that went there: http://www.modelfitness.com/gabrielle_resnick.html If she was in my class, no more discussion of where to go.

 

[PunkmedGirl]

I was going through google images to see how AZ Midwestern looks. I ran into this babe that went there: http://www.modelfitness.com/gabrielle_resnick.html If she was in my class, no more discussion of where to go.

She's pretty, but a little to muscular for my taste.

 

[MightyMoose]

I was going through google images to see how AZ Midwestern looks. I ran into this babe that went there: http://www.modelfitness.com/gabrielle_resnick.html If she was in my class, no more discussion of where to go.

Wow! So, I'm digging the pics, but damn... That doesn't speak well to her professionalism as a doc. She has patients who will google her and find that... I know it's ok to have outside hobbies, but with her population of patients... that could be asking for trouble...


OP, this is a personal question. You need to assess this one on your own. All three will get you where you want to go, but it's which one you prefer that matters.

 

[SFO-IST]

Wow! So, I'm digging the pics, but damn... That doesn't speak well to her professionalism as a doc. She has patients who will google her and find that... I know it's ok to have outside hobbies, but with her population of patients... that could be asking for trouble...


OP, this is a personal question. You need to assess this one on your own. All three will get you where you want to go, but it's which one you prefer that matters.

I think that threads like this focus too much on the surrounding area or match lists. Since a prospective candidate can easily gaguge the area during the interview ( assuming they take the time to look around) and they can look at the match list for themselves, this leaves curriculum style rotations, and academics. Could current students please comment on these?

 

[MossPoh]

Realistically, the surrounding area and price with making sure rotations are adequate is about all you need. Nobody knows what class style fits them best until they are damn near done with classroom work. I thought I needed a lecture based curriculum and now I rarely attend lecture.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

I think that threads like this focus too much on the surrounding area or match lists. Since a prospective candidate can easily gaguge the area during the interview ( assuming they take the time to look around) and they can look at the match list for themselves, this leaves curriculum style rotations, and academics. Could current students please comment on these?

Rotations are easily the most important factor. Academics are important, but that largely boils down to whether you want PBL or lecture, etc and other details like whether or not lecture is mandatory. However, the best academics won't compensate for lousy rotations, and this is where older, established campuses tend to have a massive edge.

BTW, I don't think highly of any of the Touro campuses and I'd rank Touro-CA behind everything else mentioned in this thread. Touro-CA's campus is literally a converted warehouse in an abandoned naval yard, and I've heard tons and tons of horror stories from the students I know going there. Plus, the Touro system in general been associated with a number of scandals and questionable decisions (one Touro branch in NY [not the med school, but still] was found to be handing degrees out to the highest bidder, Touro-NY supposedly fired all its black faculty members for no apparent reason, etc). There is just way too much sketchy stuff going on at Touro's campuses for me to advise anyone to go there. Plus, the only reason why Touro-CA's incoming stats are so good is that California is overrun with desperate pre-meds that will apply to literally anything in order to stay in-state.

For my money, NSU is probably the best of those 3...although AZCOM's match lists have been really good lately.

 

[futuredoc4432]

You're right, its 235. I've just assumed that NSU had a medium class size.

they told me 230 (not to be picky just making sure the info is correct)

 

[futuredoc4432]

Just as the point of undergrad is to get you into your ideal grad school, the point of med school is to get you into your ideal rotation site which gets you into your ideal job. that said, I believe that NSU has excellent rotations and will be able to set you up for your future as a physician. GL

 

[PunkmedGirl]

they told me 230 (not to be picky just making sure the info is correct)

I got the class size from the CIB.