Thanks

[fluffyquail]

for your help

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[theoceanman]

Although I am only an incoming medical student, this is a really tough decision for you, but given that WesternU is more established, I probably have to support that decision. Also, I rather not have you suffer constantly throughout the year during allergy season, etc., but your significant other is near KansasCOM so I am assuming they would be prefer that option.

I wonder if any current KansasCOM students could input on the cons listed for this poster...

 

[theoceanman]

My partner will not/has not put input to sway/influence my choice. They just want to make sure I make the best choice for myself.

WesternU is my opinion then. More established is better.

 

[tzuyu&yuqi]

Also incoming med student, This is really tough, but I agree with aquafied, especially since I believe kansasCOM will be all private loans, versus federal loans for westernU, I’d go with the more established school. I think comp NW would also be better for ur body physically as you say you have pretty bad allergies - with med school being pretty hard, the physical has to be good to go for any studying to be done

Is there any way your partner could move with you to comp NW? Again tough decision :/

 

[chilly_md]

Yeah, with KansasCOM being all private loans still, it doesn't make sense from a financial perspective as well as for stability. Being knocked down during the whole allergy season would not be conducive to success either.

 

[chilly_md]

My concerns would still be curriculum stability, residency match (especially to the areas you are interested in for couples match) and the ragweed.

 

[theoceanman]

Thanks for your responses. KansasCOM is FAFSA certified and the incoming class will not need to take private loans. I will not be taking any loans. WesternU COMP-NW is actually about 8k more expensive per year.

Although I am unaware of your personal circumstances, regardless of specialty you choose, 8K per year more for WesternU is still relatively negligible; if it were to be 20K more or something larger, then it would sway the decision a bit.

Regardless, going to a DO school that is more established will give you the best chance of doing well on the COMLEX (and USMLE if you choose to take that, too), and having more resources and opportunities that a newly established school may not have, especially with alumni connection and program connections. Matching is the biggest end-result to consider and WesternU guarantees you will match, especially with its 100% match rate this year for the regular and NW campuses.

 

[anonymous426]

I have to disagree strongly with other commenters. My long-term partner and I also applied together and fortunately got into the same school, but we were prepared to potentially be apart during medical school. Looking back, that would have been the biggest mistake of my life. Medical school gets really, really hard and I can’t imagine how tough it would have been alone.

The schools really aren’t that different, and I can say pretty confidently you’ll come to regret your decision if you choose Western from an emotional well-being perspective. If you are interested in EM or primary care, you will be just fine in Kansas. As for the allergies, can you see a specialist? They have options like allergy shots (I’ve personally done this and it helped a lot).

Please, please do not voluntarily choose to be away from your partner if this is a relationship you value. Reasons for choosing Western over Kansas seem minimal to me, and I think your mental health will suffer horribly being away from your only support. Support is huge in med school!

 

[anonymous426]

Thanks for your response. I am up to maintenance on my allergy shots after 2.5 years of building (2 additional vials diluted d/t severity). While better, it's not great. I cannot use flonase or azelastine d/t increased IOP. Do you have any other advice on allergy management and couples matching if you did?

We will be couples matching this cycle so I don’t really know too much about it yet. As far as allergy management, the best thing would be to follow an allergy specialist’s recommendations as they can evaluate you personally. It sounds like you are already seeing one. It’s hard for me to imagine that you couldn’t manage them well enough to function for medical school. Good luck!

 

[chilly_md]

I imagine if you already describe the allergies as significantly debilitating and this is without being in a top area for the allergen, then it would get significantly worse. You will have to use your best judgement for how your symptoms have been.