Actually Lecom made it pretty clear that they didn't just want to take our money and gave us the option to defer notification until December to push the 1500 back to January.
As I understand it from last cycle, this means they won't even look at your application/review your interview until December which really meant that interviewing early does nothing for you since they will continue to accept students and put you on hold essentially. Like neurotic pre-meds are going to do that?
dudeliness said:
So yeah, big explanation. I just want to feel like the school really cares about me, my family, and our success as students there.
As you said, most schools are like this. It's mostly a show they put on to attract you to their school just like the show they put on about their stats and curriculum, etc. just like the technology they present to you and say "we have the best stuff." At AZCOM orientation, we were told like 200x that if we ever needed help with anything ever, come talk to someone about it. We have free tutoring going on now and a heavy emphasis on "Open Door" policy which I imagine most schools have as well. Like you said, a failing student is a poor reflection on the school, especially with COMLEX pass rates, etc.
We have "Big Sibs" assigned to us who are 2nd years that take us under their wing and answer any questions we may ever have. Just today during our Histology exam, all the Big Sibs dropped off packages of goodies in bags with our names on it right outside the exam hall. I got 5 cans of Monster and Rohen's Anatomy Flash Cards. There's very much a "family" atmosphere.
That being said, I don't feel a personal connection to people at my school. With a class of 250, I know maybe 6 people. I study on my own, and I do extremely well. Medical school is very much an individual thing (for me at least).
Anyway, the point is that since I've always been in large class sizes, the personal or impersonal feel of a school didn't factor into my criteria for selecting a school. It might be your top criteria which is definitely ok. I would choose your school based on what you feel is most important to your success and if that is the small personal feel of LECOM-Erie, then that's great and I wish you the best of luck. I looked at more objective things like desired location, 3rd and 4th yr rotations, COMLEX/USMLE Pass Rates and Mean Scores, and lastly, Match List (in that order).
Edit: Another thing I loved about AZCOM was that they encourage taking the USMLE. Some D.O. schools do not do this, and even outright discourage you from taking it.
