Herpeto,
It really depends on your interests in a school and if you like it once you visit and hear about it from friends(and other applicants who have interviewed there). What I really enjoyed was talking with other interviewees at many of the med school interviews while waiting to get interviewed and get kind of a "recon" report on other school and whether they liked the campuses or if it was worth even attending. I applied to 9 DO schools(AZCOM, CCOM, Touro, Western-COMP, LECOM, UHS-COM, Nova, KCOM, and Des Moines)...now that I've visited almost all of them and heard about the rest through interviewees and friends who have been to the other schools...I wished I declined to go to interviews at LECOM, KCOM, Des Moines, Western and Touro. I think UHS-COM is real nice, CCOM is good in terms of reputation in the midwest(esp. chicagoland area..you can rotate alongside UIC, Loyola, Rush students at times).....but overall I finally accepted the offer at Nova because(personally) I thought it was an AMAZING school for me, in terms of reputation, facilities, core rotation sites, reputable hospitals, and awesome technology and innovative-integrated curriculam....bonus: WEATHER! BEAUTIFUL CAMPUS! Lined with palm trees...not a bad complimentary gift!
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Secondaries varied, I dont have the exact numbers but it went from about $50-$90 per secondary for each school. The expenses on flights(went from around $150-$200+), hotels(about $59-$89...but this also depends on when you interview cuz hotel rates do go up...just like airline rates as well..make sure you book far in advance..i always used a minimum 2 week advance booking), transportation(minimal cab rides, tagged along with interviewees who had rentals, or usually some of the nice schools had their own shuttle to and fro the hotel and sometimes even the airport
🙂 ). Other than that I dont think I'm forgetting anything else other than food and your suit ofcourse. But its nice when u got choices though...I definitely chose not to attend some interviews based on the fact that I know I wouldnt like a certain type of campus environment if I had seen a better one before on an interview(so that saves insane amounts of moeny..especially when you're trying to get to Kirksville by flight...you'll see how much that hits your pockets when u check airfare and transportation to that place!! Yikes!)...but it is a really good school is what I heard(awesome reputation).
Again...this is all my personal opinion...med schools are a match to YOUR interests and people have different opinions obviously. But this is just my 2 cents on things...hope this helps out!
Most of all...GOOD LUCK and Keep asking around...fellow students and future M-1's are the best resource!!!!
Take care,
Mani
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