Which DO schools to avoid if you're a decent applicant?

[Daiichi]

I'd like to think/hope I'm a decent applicant. My stats are okay, 3.5 cGPA/509 MCAT, but I have a great deal of EC's in both volunteering, shadowing, and healthcare-related employment that I'm hoping might win me some interviews.

One of the DO docs I shadowed told me her only word of caution with DO school was making sure you went to one with decent clinical sites, and that when she went to school many years ago, there were several schools people avoided if they could as you were just going to get sub-par rotations. Which schools would you recommend avoiding, and/or which schools should be my main priority of focus?

So far I'm planning on applying at DMU, KCU, Western U (pomona), and LECOM. Thanks for any advice

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[Cath Up]

Are you applying to allopathic schools as well? Medical school admissions can be a crapshoot- great applicants are overlooked every year and you may not get into schools where you feel that you are a shoe-in. If you are applying only DO and your school list is 4 schools, I would encourage you to expand your school list. I apologize for not answering your question. There certainly are some DO schools that are often reported as having questionable rotations, but I do not know them off the top of my head. Hopefully someone else can help with that.

 

[bengirlxD]

Touro NY, LUCOM, LECOM-Bradenton (Not the Erie campus though)

 

[Wjldenver]

It's pretty obvious that you should avoid all new schools. Simply too much uncertainty in regard to curriculum quality, rotation quality and board score performance. All of the schools you listed above are fine. But in my opinion, you should focus more on what schools you should target rather than avoid. (i.e., Apply to more schools than you listed.) Pick schools which do not have mandatory attendance and have a curriculum which parallels the boards. RVU--CO should be high on your list in this regard. With the upcoming ACGME/AOA residency merger, you want to do as well on the USMLE as you can, and attending a school which has the proper curriculum in place will go a long way in regard to facilitating your success.

PS) Definitely rule out LUCOM. Do a search on this site and you will see why.

 

[Daiichi]

Thanks for the advice so far. Ideally, I would like to apply to 10 or so schools. I may throw in a few allo schools, but the resounding zero interviews I got last year when I applied only to allo schools is making that a hard decision. Not much has changed from my previous app other than more shadowing in a DO setting, and some more work experience.

 

[mfrey28]

I would suggest looking in to AZCOM, CCOM, PCOM, Western OR campus, KCOM

 

[sdhere1234]

My suggestion- apply to every school you can afford to apply to. If you get lucky and have choices of where to matriculate to, then that's the time to be picky. Too much uncertainty with your stats to pick and choose this early on, IMO.

Only exclude schools that you would 10000% not matriculate to.

 

[Coltuna]

If you're willing to spend 50k+ on tuition, CCOM

 

[Peach Newport]

Do not discount DO schools because you think you're too good for them. Only discount DO schools that you actually wouldn't attend if they were your only option. For me, LUCOM was the only school that fit that description.

I had a 4.0 grad GPA and a 34 mcat, with awesome ECs/LORs. I applied early. I had a fighting chance at MD, though I only applied DO because I underestimated my chances. Applied 16 schools. Got 7 interviews. I interviewed well enough but in the end my only acceptance was at Touro NY, a school SDN will now tell you to avoid. If I had listened to that advice, I wouldn't have been accepted anywhere, despite being a strong applicant.

 

[Coltuna]

Do not discount DO schools because you think you're too good for them. Only discount DO schools that you actually wouldn't attend if they were your only option. For me, LUCOM was the only school that fit that description.

I had a 4.0 grad GPA and a 34 mcat, with awesome ECs/LORs. I applied early. I had a fighting chance at MD, though I only applied DO because I underestimated my chances. Applied 16 schools. Got 7 interviews. I interviewed well enough but in the end my only acceptance was at Touro NY, a school SDN will now tell you to avoid. If I had listened to that advice, I wouldn't have been accepted anywhere, despite being a strong applicant.

How does one underestimate their chances with that high of an MCAT and GPA? lol

 

[Peach Newport]

How does one underestimate their chances with that high of an MCAT and GPA? lol

Because my undergraduate GPA wasn't great (3.2) and I was under the impression that most MD schools didn't care about my grad GPA. Also, some credits were in progress at the time.

 

[fourandtwo]

Touro NY, LUCOM, LECOM-Bradenton (Not the Erie campus though)

What's special about the Erie campus? Genuinely wondering because I'm interviewing there soon and really considering Early Acceptance


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[fourandtwo]

But in my opinion, you should focus more on what schools you should target rather than avoid.

I think this is good advice


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[bengirlxD]

What's special about the Erie campus? Genuinely wondering because I'm interviewing there soon and really considering Early Acceptance


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Erie campus has far better rotation spots while bradenton is at risk of losing and have lost some. It does have its flaws but you will still get a good medical education from there.

 

[GypsyHummus]

What's special about the Erie campus? Genuinely wondering because I'm interviewing there soon and really considering Early Acceptance


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Great Facilities, good faculty, lots of the health stuff is all LECOM associated, very active in the community.

If you can be an adult and get past the dress code, you will find LECOM to be something very special.

 

[Mr. D.O.five]

Well, if anything, the LECOM-B ladies are pretty hot.

 

[Daiichi]

Do not discount DO schools because you think you're too good for them. Only discount DO schools that you actually wouldn't attend if they were your only option. For me, LUCOM was the only school that fit that description.

I had a 4.0 grad GPA and a 34 mcat, with awesome ECs/LORs. I applied early. I had a fighting chance at MD, though I only applied DO because I underestimated my chances. Applied 16 schools. Got 7 interviews. I interviewed well enough but in the end my only acceptance was at Touro NY, a school SDN will now tell you to avoid. If I had listened to that advice, I wouldn't have been accepted anywhere, despite being a strong applicant.

Believe me when I say I don't think I'm some massive swinging dick of an applicant. That said, I have no interest in paying hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of my life to go to a school that has low-quality rotations and things of that nature. At that point, I'd rather just not go to medical school than get sub-par training. There aren't that many DO schools to begin with, so my plan from the beginning was to weed out the few that appear to be risky moves and then apply to the rest. I think it's a fair tactic, but we'll see how it goes.

Also, with a 34/4.0, I could see you getting rejected simply because schools might think you're applying to them as a backup. A personal friend of mine was rejected from a low-tier allo school pre-interview with a 4.0 and 40 MCAT because they did not believe he was interested in underserved family medicine with those stats. So, I suspect my 3.5/509 is probably more in the meat of what DO schools expect their applicants to look like. Just a hunch as your stats are more than fantastic for DO schools.

 

[Peach Newport]

Believe me when I say I don't think I'm some massive swinging dick of an applicant. That said, I have no interest in paying hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of my life to go to a school that has low-quality rotations and things of that nature. At that point, I'd rather just not go to medical school than get sub-par training. There aren't that many DO schools to begin with, so my plan from the beginning was to weed out the few that appear to be risky moves and then apply to the rest. I think it's a fair tactic, but we'll see how it goes.

Also, with a 34/4.0, I could see you getting rejected simply because schools might think you're applying to them as a backup. A personal friend of mine was rejected from a low-tier allo school pre-interview with a 4.0 and 40 MCAT because they did not believe he was interested in underserved family medicine with those stats. So, I suspect my 3.5/509 is probably more in the meat of what DO schools expect their applicants to look like. Just a hunch as your stats are more than fantastic for DO schools.

You're describing a concept known as "yield protection" (the idea that schools won't accept an applicant they think is too good). This rarely occurs in practice and doesn't play nearly the role in medical school admissions as you might think - it's more of a college thing, and even then it's not a huge thing.

What's far more likely is that the student failed to convince the admissions department that he/she was serious about attending the school (often because of the interview). The question "why do you want to go to this school?" Is almost always asked in nearly every interview for a reason - it's a question that applicants should take VERY seriously.

You should go where you can get accepted. You MUST apply broadly. Your stats are good for DO, but that means that statistically you'll probably get at least one acceptance... not necessarily at a school you prefer.

AFTER you get accepted to multiple schools, THEN you have the luxury of choosing based on which has the best rotation sites.

 

[ortnakas]

 

[Goro]

I'd like to think/hope I'm a decent applicant. My stats are okay, 3.5 cGPA/509 MCAT, but I have a great deal of EC's in both volunteering, shadowing, and healthcare-related employment that I'm hoping might win me some interviews.

One of the DO docs I shadowed told me her only word of caution with DO school was making sure you went to one with decent clinical sites, and that when she went to school many years ago, there were several schools people avoided if they could as you were just going to get sub-par rotations. Which schools would you recommend avoiding, and/or which schools should be my main priority of focus?

So far I'm planning on applying at DMU, KCU, Western U (pomona), and LECOM. Thanks for any advice

I recommend avoiding the new schools, LUCOM, Touro-NY, and any school with required lecture attendance and/or dress codes. You're an adult learner.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Schools to apply to if you are only applying to ten:

KCOM
RVU-CO
CCOM
AZCOM
KCU
WESTERN
LECOM
DMU
NOVA
PCOM

 

[SBA Watney]

I recommend avoiding the new schools, LUCOM, Touro-NY, and any school with required lecture attendance and/or dress codes. You're an adult learner.

Hey Goro do you know where we can find a list of those schools who require lecture attendance and/or dress codes? I tried doing a quick search and didn't really see anything super recent. Thanks in advance.

 

[Goro]

Hey Goro do you know where we can find a list of those schools who require lecture attendance and/or dress codes? I tried doing a quick search and didn't really see anything super recent. Thanks in advance.

Inquire in the school-sepcifc threads.

Two that I know of are:
CUSOM
LECOM