Which would you do In State DO or Out Of State MD?

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Ahmed786

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THIS IS NOT AN MD VS DO THREAD so lets not make it into one. Thanks.

This is where I will undoubtedely find myself (in state acceptance at a DO school and an OOS acceptance at an MD school)

My question is, is it worth paying double to go out of state for the MD or should I suck it up and pay half that amount and do DO? What is your reasoning for what you choose?

Assume the Out of State MD is around $55,000-$60,000
Assume the Instate DO school is around $30,000
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Ahmed786 said:
THIS IS NOT AN MD VS DO THREAD so lets not make it into one. Thanks.

This is where I will undoubtedely find myself (in state acceptance at a DO school and an OOS acceptance at an MD school)

My question is, is it worth paying double to go out of state for the MD or should I suck it up and pay half that amount and do DO? What is your reasoning for what you choose?

Assume the Out of State MD is around $55,000-$60,000
Assume the Instate DO school is around $30,000
Click to expand...

Depends on how important location/cost are to you, and which school you feel more comfortable with.

Personally, I chose the DO school closest to where I lived because location was huge for me, and I also found that the school's "fit" for me was better all around. It's a really personal decision, so you ultimately have to weigh the pros/cons of the two on your own.
 
Half the tuition at the DO school = major win factor.
If it was a dif of 5-10k i'd go to the MD. But yah, unless the MD school is really high up (top tier) i'd be thinking DO.
 
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Ahmed786 said:
THIS IS NOT AN MD VS DO THREAD so lets not make it into one. Thanks.

This is where I will undoubtedely find myself (in state acceptance at a DO school and an OOS acceptance at an MD school)

My question is, is it worth paying double to go out of state for the MD or should I suck it up and pay half that amount and do DO? What is your reasoning for what you choose?

Assume the Out of State MD is around $55,000-$60,000
Assume the Instate DO school is around $30,000
Click to expand...

I think that depends on what you want to go into. If you just want to do internal medicine or family medicine DO is fine, any program you get into should serve you well to go into private primary care practice.

Problem is if you want to do Rads, Plastics, or Derm, or even cardio/GI in internal medicine, you are better off going to the MD, since you have a better chance of getting it than at a DO school.

The amount of more money you make in the ones I stated above if thats what you want will offset the extra debt 10+ fold.
 
i very recently made this decision (as in today haha)
i personally chose the expensive private md school (tuition about 48k :() over the in-state do school with tuition around 30k

it is a huge price difference and many people think i'm crazy, but i fell in love with the md school and truly feel that i would be thinking "what-if" the entire time if i didn't go there

will i regret this decision later down the road because of the huge amount of debt, maybe, but for me it was the right decision

take a lot of time and weigh all the pros and cons of each program....best of luck with your decision

-x
 
OOS MD, but I'm not as paranoid about debt as SDN is.
 
Ahmed786 said:
THIS IS NOT AN MD VS DO THREAD so lets not make it into one. Thanks.

This is where I will undoubtedely find myself (in state acceptance at a DO school and an OOS acceptance at an MD school)

My question is, is it worth paying double to go out of state for the MD or should I suck it up and pay half that amount and do DO? What is your reasoning for what you choose?

Assume the Out of State MD is around $55,000-$60,000
Assume the Instate DO school is around $30,000
Click to expand...
I'd choose instate DO if it meant paying less and being closer to my friends.
 
If I was in that situation it would really just come down to how I felt about osteopathy. Thats just me because Ive already accepted that becoming a doctor will almost gurantee that I will have to leave my home state. Also huge debt is something Ive just come to terms with as something that goes with the whole process.
 
Planet Ocean said:
If I was in that situation it would really just come down to how I felt about osteopathy. Thats just me because Ive already accepted that becoming a doctor will almost gurantee that I will have to leave my home state. Also huge debt is something Ive just come to terms with as something that goes with the whole process.
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There's really no difference in the curriculum aside from the addition of OMM. Location and cost are huge factors in most students' decisions when it comes to choosing a medical school.

Hence why I said its a hugely personal decision - everyone's list of priorities is very different, it just depends on how high location and cost are up on OP's list. I just know location was probably my top priority, hence why I chose NYCOM.
 
Gahhh ... I know exactly where this thread is headed, but I just have to throw in my two cents for the cheaper school.

Honest to god, unless the DO school just blows, or it's been your life long goal to go the OOS MD, I would chose a 25-30k tuition break ANY day of the week.

Just for transparency sake ... I'm going DO, but I'd 100% advise people to take the cheaper school in any situation (no matter the letters).
 
christina30 said:
There's really no difference in the curriculum aside from the addition of OMM. Location and cost are huge factors in most students' decisions when it comes to choosing a medical school.

Hence why I said its a hugely personal decision - everyone's list of priorities is very different, it just depends on how high location and cost are up on OP's list. I just know location was probably my top priority, hence why I chose NYCOM.
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Oh I completely agree. As of now, when my time comes to apply, I will probably apply to both allo and osteo schools.
 
gonnif said:
My Rule Two in Life is : "Trust Your Gut"

The school, the program, the location, the debt, the degree, the desire, all those factors matter but in the end, as Christina from NYCOM said, it is a personal decision.

Trust your gut on this.
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:thumbup:
Awesome advice.
What's rule one?
 
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Just go to the MD. Most people that go DO, do so as a backup. There are those that choose DO based on the location of school, but to those people, location means everything and it isn't something they are second guessing. However, if you have to come to an internet forum to ask which one you should choose, then it's obvious "location" is really not as important to you as you think.
 
In state DO. The difference in two letters is absolutely not worth the extra weight in debt on your shoulders once you get out of school. It's true that you have to accept the fact that you are going to owe money, but if you have the option not to dig yourself into a hole of $120K extra, don't do it!
 
GMed said:
I think that depends on what you want to go into. If you just want to do internal medicine or family medicine DO is fine, any program you get into should serve you well to go into private primary care practice.

Problem is if you want to do Rads, Plastics, or Derm, or even cardio/GI in internal medicine, you are better off going to the MD, since you have a better chance of getting it than at a DO school.

The amount of more money you make in the ones I stated above if thats what you want will offset the extra debt 10+ fold.
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Tell me then, what if the DO does an allopathic residency? A DO not getting an IM residency is like the butcher not selling any meat... there has to be something wrong.
 
For me, HPSP negated that decision. :)

If I were not doing HPSP, I would chose the In-State DO. That's a big, big tuition difference.
 
GMed said:
I think that depends on what you want to go into. If you just want to do internal medicine or family medicine DO is fine, any program you get into should serve you well to go into private primary care practice.

Problem is if you want to do Rads, Plastics, or Derm, or even cardio/GI in internal medicine, you are better off going to the MD, since you have a better chance of getting it than at a DO school.

The amount of more money you make in the ones I stated above if thats what you want will offset the extra debt 10+ fold.
Click to expand...

I see cardio's competitiveness going down judging by the recent reimbursement cuts. You also forget there are AOA residencies in plastics, derm and rads. Not to mention DO students can still match both ACGME derm and rads; plastics not so much.

Go to the cheap school.
 
This has been a big question for me, too.

If it were me, this would depend on:
1) amount of outstanding educational debt
2) how much I value the location of the schools
3) gut feeling - how much did I LOVE the school?

With that said...

I'm a huge proponent of DO schools. I wish at least half of the doctors in the US were DOs. I love DO long time. But I'm also a realist, and I know being a DO is not going to do you many favors because people are stupid and cling to their traditional allopathic-centrist view of medicine (from the mouth of a very good DO who went to CCOM). I work with an attending right now who flat-out told me he'd rather hire MDs because he's an MD, he thinks MDs are better, and tells his med students to be very proud to be going to an allopathic school (he admitted he had no objective reasoning for any of this, and I proceded to ask him if he'd prefer to hire white people, or men, etc...he did not have good answers). For clarity, this is someone who works alongside very competant DOs on a daily basis. In all fairness, for every doc like him there's probably a doc who doesn't give a crap about which degree you have. I've had ED MDs tell me to go to the DO school I got into over the MD program because it's in sunny Florida and will cost me 60k less over 4 yrs. I had an ED DO tell me to go to the MD program. I had an MD at a large academic institution tell me to go MD without caring to hear anything about the attributes of the schools. My point is, opinions vary, but the DO stigma does still exist within some physicians and, likely, departments/programs.

Anyway, the DO I mentioned above flat out said "some doors will be closed to you because you're a DO. I found that out." Now, please don't misunderstand, I fully believe that a DO can go anywhere and be any type of doctor he or she wants. This year's match lists prove it. But there will be some doors closed, and whether or not that matters to you is a completely personal decision. Maybe you don't WANT to work anywhere that would discriminate against you for being a DO. If that's the case, more power to you. Take some time to reflect on what's important to you.
 
Before I decided to go to med school, I was a Surgical Tech and the one piece of advice every resident gave me was... pick the CHEAPEST school!! The reason being, med school is med school... we all take the same boards and have the same standard material to learn. Yes, some might be "better" than others so to speak, but really, it all comes down to where you want to be for residency and what clinical clerkships your school is associated with.

I had the choice between in state or out of state DO schools, and I chose out of state because it was cheaper (believe it or not!). And on a side note... I know it's not MD vs DO, but there are quite a few excellent DO residencies out there (especially new programs opening), some in competitive fields- so don't underestimate what you can do at a DO school. If you would like to see what DO residencies are available, go to www.opportunities.osteopathic.org to see if there's anything that strikes your fancy. And, of course, you can always apply to allopathic residencies if there is not a DO residency in your area. More DO programs are becoming dual accredited, so you can do either DO or MD fellowships, and many programs accept COMLEX only, although some still require USMLE in addition to COMLEX.

Most DO and MD programs are literally identical in material except the addition of OMT in DO school. At my school, we have several MD professors and some previously taught at an MD school. I personally would have gone to a DO school even if I got accepted into an MD school because the atmosphere is just incredible. It's really up to you though, if your guts are telling you the MD school is a better fit, then go for it.

Out of curiosity, what state is the DO school in? If it's PA or OH, definitely go DO because there are TONS of programs available in almost every field.

P.S.- just recently learned that if you are considering surgery, there are actually more DO residency spots available than MD so you have a better chance of matching :) Not interested in surgery, but just thought I'd throw that out there!
 
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I would advise you to go to the cheaper school.

But, honestly, I would probably go to the MD school. I have no logical reason for it, but I'm about 100% sure that's what I would do.
 
I'd take the MD if its a decent school and will provide you with an equivalent education as the DO school.

As counter-intuitive as that sounds, I have my reasons. I have nothing against DO programs. I'm in Texas and we have one of the best DO programs in the nation (UNTHSC). DO's are equally as competent as MD's and make equally good doctors. However, the difference between people on SDN giving you advice and the general public (including your superiors and peers in the future) is that people here are informed about DO programs, whereas the general public may not be. There is still a slight negative stigma associated with being a DO vs an MD, and that may effect your career. For me, the MD would be a much safer route. People on here have said that the opportunities to DO's are almost identical to those of MD's, and while that may be true...the difference of two letters may close some doors for you.

Essentially...if you know exactly what your career goals are you are certain that being a DO will not hinder those goals in any way, pick the cheaper school. However, if there is any uncertainty, take the safer, MD route.

Just my opinion....
 
illegallysmooth said:
I proceded to ask him if he'd prefer to hire white people.
Click to expand...
Having elected a black man into the highest office of the land(president of the United State) and seeing what it has done regarding prejudice against colored people...Maybe we need a surgeon general with a D.O. to finally end this prejudice of D.O. vs M.D.
 
Slack3r said:
The problem is most people don't know (and don't care!) who the surgeon general is besides the guy chastising them on their boxes of cigarettes.
Click to expand...

But C. Everett Koop says that all senior citizens should have Life Alert!!!
 
Planet Ocean said:
Having elected a black man into the highest office of the land(president of the United State) and seeing what it has done regarding prejudice against colored people...Maybe we need a surgeon general with a D.O. to finally end this prejudice of D.O. vs M.D.
Click to expand...

hes also half white, i am pretty sure.
 
I think I would make the same decision as the OP for the same reason too, which really wasn't a reason but it would be the same one I'd give.

Unless the two schools differed in a drastic way besides tuition, such as: class size, way of teaching, match lists, and location (big city? small town? family? solitude?)
 
Bacchus said:
Tell me then, what if the DO does an allopathic residency? A DO not getting an IM residency is like the butcher not selling any meat... there has to be something wrong.
Click to expand...

CapnCrunch said:
I think I would make the same decision as the OP for the same reason too, which really wasn't a reason but it would be the same one I'd give.

Unless the two schools differed in a drastic way besides tuition, such as: class size, way of teaching, match lists, and location (big city? small town? family? solitude?)
Click to expand...

Things to take into account:
1) What you want to do- MD will open more doors because DOs often are stigmatized. Look at the places various schools match their students for IM. Big difference between the 2 groups. This matters for fellowships.

If you want general peds, general IM, FP, psych or to some extent EM don't worry about the stigma much.

2) Location/curriculum- is it a fit? Are you close to family?

3) Cost- 20K/year is a lot. Does this include any scholarships from both schools?
 
Bacchus said:
Tell me then, what if the DO does an allopathic residency? A DO not getting an IM residency is like the butcher not selling any meat... there has to be something wrong.
Click to expand...

You are basically just repeating what I just said. I said if you were doing IM as a general practitioner, then it does not matter, because any community program will suffice.

IM in and of itself is not very hard to get, if you want to get into IM. The biggest problem with IM is if you want to go to Cards or GI. The best bet is to get into a top IM program ~ JHH, MGH, Brigham, etc... in order to that. At the major top academic programs, I have not seen really any DOs at all in their residency programs. There are only a handful that did that I remember when I was interviewing that included cleveland clinic and a few others.

Thats not to say that someone who does not get into a top program cannot make into cards, but the chances are more stacked against you. At these top programs, cards application vs acceptance rate is 100% almost. At some of the less prestigious but still great academic places like cleveland clinic, Tufts, BU, etc... their acceptance vs application rates vary ~ 80% or less. At community programs, they are much lower.

Thus getting into an MD school, would position you better assuming you do equally well as compared to a DO school simply because program directors look more favorably on people with MDs than DOs. If you are from a lower tiered MD and you do badly compared to doing very well in a DO school, I'm not saying that you would get more interviews than the DO, but if you do equally well, I'm pretty confident that you would get more with the MD.
 
Ahmed786 said:
THIS IS NOT AN MD VS DO THREAD so lets not make it into one. Thanks.

This is where I will undoubtedely find myself (in state acceptance at a DO school and an OOS acceptance at an MD school)

My question is, is it worth paying double to go out of state for the MD or should I suck it up and pay half that amount and do DO? What is your reasoning for what you choose?

Assume the Out of State MD is around $55,000-$60,000
Assume the Instate DO school is around $30,000
Click to expand...

Agree with Bacchus, we need some school names here.
 
Slack3r said:
I see cardio's competitiveness going down judging by the recent reimbursement cuts. You also forget there are AOA residencies in plastics, derm and rads. Not to mention DO students can still match both ACGME derm and rads; plastics not so much.

Go to the cheap school.
Click to expand...

Seriously? You can tell cardio's competitiveness is going down because of the decrease in Echo reimbursement? I'm going to leave that one alone.

Here's a nice thread about DO in derm http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=30865
 
Thus getting into an MD school, would position you better assuming you do equally well as compared to a DO school simply because program directors look more favorably on people with MDs than DOs. If you are from a lower tiered MD and you do badly compared to doing very well in a DO school, I'm not saying that you would get more interviews than the DO, but if you do equally well, I'm pretty confident that you would get more with the MD.[/QUOTE]

- Not true, it depends where you are... I know in OH, at Cleveland Clinic they love DO's, especially in certain fields like IM, FM, anesthesia... and if you do equally well on COMLEX and USMLE, they will hold you to the same standards as MD's. And by the by, some programs with DO's on the residency board LOOK for competitive DO's to be in allopathic programs. Times are changing, DO's are starting to get the credit they deserve!
 
Michigan has a great DO school, I personally would go there. It's a DO friendly area too, so there should be some great opportunities for you!

PS- I checked the AOA website to see what kind of residencies are available in MI, there are 181 DO residencies available there... including several plastic programs, GI fellowships, CCM, derm, rad onc, a slew of IM and FM, basically anything you could possible want to go into.

I think you would be foolish not to go to the DO school in MI... with that many residencies available, you wouldn't have to jump through ANY hoops to get where you want to be :)
 
I pretty much need to stay in Philly due to my husband's job. However, if he hadn't gotten this new position, I was going to apply more broadly, but I still would have chosen PCOM over any OOS MD school (or an in-state MD school that was farther away, like TCMC or Penn State). The fact that it's almost half the price would be icing on the cake for me. We have a daughter, though, and we really don't want to leave our family support system, so YMMV there.
 
In my opinion OOS MD for a number of reasons, but having school names would help.
 
...
 
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Questions: Can you get in state tuition at the MD school after the first year? Do you know what your financial aid packages look like at this point? Fin.aid can have a huge impact. If the state MD school receives generous state funding (although highly unlikely in this economy), its possible that the tuition could be comparable.

I would say pick the DO school if the tuition difference is really going to be 25-30K. If tuition at the MD school is 55-60K and you add the cost of living (15-20K per year) you could potentially be paying $80,000 per year. That is absolutely unfathomable. You would owe over $300,000 by the time you're finished versus $200,000 at the DO school. 100K is a HUGE difference when you account for interest.

Everyone says "being a DO can be limiting." Okay, maybe you might have a hard time snagging a dermatology residency at Hopkins, but the truth is the odds of getting one of those residencies are INCREDIBLY slim no matter where you come from. Its a number game. There are 130 MD schools and I think 28 DO schools. Did anyone every think that perhaps that could account for why we see so few DOs in some specialties? In general there are always going to be far fewer DOs in every area of medicine.

What hasn't been brought up too much is the idea that debt can be limiting? What happens if you graduate with $300,000 of debt and you find yourself absoultely in love with the idea of being a pediatrician in an underserved area, or going to Haiti to do medical missions? If you're patients can't pay you, then you can't pay your loans. You might be forced to pick a higher paying specialty that you don't like as much becuase you're so in debt.

In the end, however, money is just money, and letters behind you name are just letters. Most patients have no idea what MD vs. DO even means, they just know if you make them feel better or not. Similarly, creditors don't usually hold educational debt against you, if you make enough money to pay your loans you can still get that benz.

Just please don't pick a school based on some stigma. If some particular hospital/discipline/practice feels so strongly that DOs suck, would you really want to work with such ill-informed, discriminating jerks? As someone else brought up, next thing they'll hire only MDs with blonde hair that can juggle.
 
MedMan25 said:
I'd say out of state MD. Even if it isn't a top tier school, just coming from an MD program in the US gives you a HUGE advantage when it comes time to apply for residency. See page 8 of the 2009 match data compiled by NRMP:
http://www.nrmp.org/data/resultsanddata2009.pdf

Notice that US allopathic grads have a success rate >90% in the match while osteopathic students hover around 70%. In my opinion, it's not worth taking that kind of a risk to save $10K or so a year. If you have the option of going MD over DO, take it.
Click to expand...

Very valuable data. But don't forget DOs have their own match. Only some DOs go through NRMP as independent students. This data is for DOs matching to allopathic residencis, which as MedMan pointed out can sometimes be difficult. However, one caveat: Its hard to make generalizations without knowing what specialties the DOs were trying to match to, it could be said that bc DO residencies spots don't exist for the uber competitive specialities in some states that they are forced to go outside of the DO match. Therfore their match statistics would be lower overall because the large majority of DOs are attempting to match to more competitive specialties. I wonder if there is data on this??

Statistics can really create very circular arguments...:confused:
 
MedMan25 said:
I'd say out of state MD. Even if it isn't a top tier school, just coming from an MD program in the US gives you a HUGE advantage when it comes time to apply for residency. See page 8 of the 2009 match data compiled by NRMP:
http://www.nrmp.org/data/resultsanddata2009.pdf

Notice that US allopathic grads have a success rate >90% in the match while osteopathic students hover around 70%. In my opinion, it's not worth taking that kind of a risk to save $10K or so a year. If you have the option of going MD over DO, take it.
Click to expand...

I don't believe this includes the osteopathic match, correct? Please don't publish this without explaining. It's very misleading. In case you don't understand, DOs have their own residency programs that don't get matched through the allopathic matching process. There is a separate match.
 
Kb041 said:
What hasn't been brought up too much is the idea that debt can be limiting? What happens if you graduate with $300,000 of debt and you find yourself absoultely in love with the idea of being a pediatrician in an underserved area, or going to Haiti to do medical missions? If you're patients can't pay you, then you can't pay your loans. You might be forced to pick a higher paying specialty that you don't like as much becuase you're so in debt.
Click to expand...

What happens then? You do IBR with public service loan forgiveness and likely have a ton of money forgiven. Or you get loan repayment for doing underserved work through NHSC.

This situation is actually not a problem.
 
Absolutely agree that the stats are misleading for DO's matching allopathic residencies...

Just another thing to consider, the DO match is BEFORE the MD match, so if you are competitive in the DO match, you will probably match into a competitive field before you go through the MD match. Only the people who do not match into a DO residency (or those who don't want a DO residency) will go into the MD match. So, chances are, if you didn't match into a competitive DO program, you won't match into an MD program, and you probably weren't a competitive candidate to begin with.

I guess what I'm saying is, there are some fields you will just not match into regardless if you went to an MD or DO school. If you are not competitive in either school, your decisions on a specialty will be limited.
 
illegallysmooth said:
I don't believe this includes the osteopathic match, correct? Please don't publish this without explaining. It's very misleading. In case you don't understand, DOs have their own residency programs that don't get matched through the allopathic matching process. There is a separate match.
Click to expand...

True, and in 2010 the match rate for DO programs was 78% (source: Medical News Today).

There were 1,896 participants in the 2010 DO match, which is just under 50% of the total number of DO graduates. If past trends continue this year, over 2,000 DO students and graduates participated in the NRMP match.

In years past a fairly high proportion of DO students enter residency training through the military, and many others take positions outside the match. I do not know how much of that went on this past year.
 
Kb041 said:
Everyone says "being a DO can be limiting." Okay, maybe you might have a hard time snagging a dermatology residency at Hopkins, but the truth is the odds of getting one of those residencies are INCREDIBLY slim no matter where you come from. Its a number game. There are 130 MD schools and I think 28 DO schools. Did anyone every think that perhaps that could account for why we see so few DOs in some specialties? In general there are always going to be far fewer DOs in every area of medicine.
Click to expand...

Agreed. There's definitely a bit of naivete among premeds on SDN when thinking about where you will do your residency training. There are TONS of hospitals and programs out there that aren't at the "big name" universities you're used to hearing about for undergrad, and in reality, that's where most students will do their residencies - that's the norm.


What hasn't been brought up too much is the idea that debt can be limiting? What happens if you graduate with $300,000 of debt and you find yourself absoultely in love with the idea of being a pediatrician in an underserved area, or going to Haiti to do medical missions? If you're patients can't pay you, then you can't pay your loans. You might be forced to pick a higher paying specialty that you don't like as much becuase you're so in debt.
Click to expand...

Again, agreed. And in various other aspects of your life, that debt will limit you. What happens when you want to remodel a house? Buy a car? Just have a comfortable life in general? Almost all of us are going to have some debt, but the reality is, $30,000 a year WILL make a negative difference in the long run. $150k is not at all the same as $300k.

I think, besides factors like family and location, the only sure thing you can know at this point is how much debt you'll have in the end, not that you'll be doing an IM residency at MGH or whatever. Go the cheaper route.
 
illegallysmooth said:
What happens then? You do IBR with public service loan forgiveness and likely have a ton of money forgiven. Or you get loan repayment for doing underserved work through NHSC.

This situation is actually not a problem.
Click to expand...

Good points. NHSC pays only $25,000 per year of loan repayment. Although that is a huge help and would def be worth it. NHSC scholarships pay for everything if you agree to it before you start med school, but that can be impractical.

IRB is an option if you do end up practicing in a third world country, or for no income somewhere else. However, you still have to make payments for 25 years if you have some income above 150% of poverty, and your spouses salaray is used to calculate your possible loan payment. Could suck bc your honey might end up paying off your brain.

You do make a good point that there are def ways to get around the money. But the money is still something that would influence your decision of what and where to practice, which is what I was trying to convey.
 
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SurgGal128 said:
Absolutely agree that the stats are misleading for DO's matching allopathic residencies...

Just another thing to consider, the DO match is BEFORE the MD match, so if you are competitive in the DO match, you will probably match into a competitive field before you go through the MD match. Only the people who do not match into a DO residency (or those who don't want a DO residency) will go into the MD match. So, chances are, if you didn't match into a competitive DO program, you won't match into an MD program, and you probably weren't a competitive candidate to begin with.

I guess what I'm saying is, there are some fields you will just not match into regardless if you went to an MD or DO school. If you are not competitive in either school, your decisions on a specialty will be limited.
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Is the DO match really before? Hm. I didn't know that.
 
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Do I qualify for in-state tuition and/or in state admissions preference?
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