Why is CCOM so competitive when it is so expensive?

[geretts]

Hi all,

I have an interview with CCOM coming up, and I'm wondering why it is one of the most competitive DO schools (if we are going by GPA/MCAT) when tuition is insanely expensive ($57,000 a year). Factoring in the cost of living of Chicago, you'll be dropping close to $80,000 a year to attend. Why is it more competitive than say, KCOM?

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[EMDO2018]

CHICAGO!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Elevencents]

Kirksville vs Chicago. End of story.

 

[happypremed1]

Kirksville vs Chicago. End of story.

LOL KCOM tuition is not cheap either.

 

[JDMcNugent]

It's a private school and it is in chicago. Also, they know that students want to be in the area so they can charge whatever they want because students will find it hard to turn down a school with a great reputation in a great city.

 

[alpinism]

2 main reasons: location and its one of the few DO schools with great clinical rotations (Cook Co, Resurrection, Advocate Christ, etc…) near the school.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

2 main reasons: location and its one of the few DO schools with great clinical rotations (Cook Co, Resurrection, Advocate Christ, etc…) near the school.

Has pretty bad boards tho.

LOL KCOM tuition is not cheap either.

He's referring to you probably being able to buy a house in Kirksvile for the same price as a year's rent in a decent part of Chicago.

 

[GLaDOS]

Time out. CCOM is about an hour outside of Chicago (on a good day) & is located in a sh*tty Southwestern suburb. I don't see the appeal at all.

 

[JDMcNugent]

Time out. CCOM is about an hour outside of Chicago (on a good day) & is located in a sh*tty Southwestern suburb. I don't see the appeal at all.

Yeah that is true. Maybe it is the draw of being close to the city and having the option to explore chicago when students have free time. It is a great campus and in a very nice suburb.

 

[coolingglasses]

Time out. CCOM is about an hour outside of Chicago (on a good day) & is located in a sh*tty Southwestern suburb. I don't see the appeal at all.

I didn't think Downer's was that bad. Expensive as hell to rent though, and traffic totally blows. I love being able to walk a few minutes to campus.

 

[GopherMD]

For me, it was the location and clinical rotation sites. I would have attended, but I got into my top choice (state school).

 

[Mehd School]

Time out. CCOM is about an hour outside of Chicago (on a good day) & is located in a sh*tty Southwestern suburb. I don't see the appeal at all.

Thank you.

I have friends that go there. Downers grove is a far cry from Chicago.

 

[Mad Jack]

Probably a good thing it isn't actually in Chicago. They'd probably charge you nearly 400k to spend four years in the south side of Chiraq if it were.

 

[EMDO2018]

DG is nly about 22 miles from Chicago, Im guessing the traffic makes it an hour commute.

 

[alpinism]

Lol would you rather live in kirksville MO, Erie PA, or Harrogate TN?

Its more like a 40min commute. An hour would be during rush hour.

 

[notbobtrustme]

Downers Grove is a pretty nice suburb, tbh. Some parts are ****ty, but that's true of any neighborhood.

Traffic is awful, especially in the main arterials. The roads weren't designed for today's population. They are still 2 tiny lane roads when it should be at least 3 big lanes to accomodate the population growth.

 

[Mehd School]

Lol would you rather live in kirksville MO, Erie PA, or Harrogate TN?

Its more like a 40min commute. An hour would be during rush hour.

Personally, yes. But I understand that I am in the extreme minority. Living in Chicago is my idea of hell.

 

[StudyShy]

Personally, yes. But I understand that I am in the extreme minority. Living in Chicago is my idea of hell.

+1

 

[coolingglasses]

Lol would you rather live in kirksville MO, Erie PA, or Harrogate TN?

Its more like a 40min commute. An hour would be during rush hour.

As someone who was originally aiming to go to school in a big city, I'll say Kville is a pretty good environment for pre-clinical years. Not because there's nothing to do, but because everything is easily accessible. And unless you opt to do rotations at NRMC, you'll be out of the town in two years and you can move on to do your rotations in a number of big cities. It's one of the reasons I justified my coming here.

 

[Fedxup]

Nobody cares about the cost when it comes to admissions.

+1

 

[NontradCA]

They're expensive because they can be. They're older and pull a greater applicant pool than most DO schools, so they have a ton of bankrolls out there waiting to be pocketed.

 

[user3]

I wouldn't be surprised if CCOM posts 3.6/30 average for its next class. Here are some stats of people rejected from CCOM pre-interview this year: 3.6/29, 3.5/30, 3.4/30, 3.5/31, 3.5/27, 3.5/28, 3.75/29, 3.63/29 and 3.6/26. The lowest stats I have seen accepted are 3.7/3.6/27.

 

[sylvanthus]

I lived on campus for a year, was a pretty decent place.

 

[scoKraz4]

I was rejected pre-interview last cycle with 3.3 and 33 and solid ec's, letters, etc. 🙁

 

[Haxx]

Rejected pre-interview this year as well with 3.7 and 29. But accepted elsewhere, so I'm not broken up about it.

 

[bawkbawkcluck]

i was rejected with a 32 and 3.8. but i'm also a dick.

 

[user3]

i was rejected with a 32 and 3.8. but i'm also a dick.

pre-interview?

 

[bawkbawkcluck]

no. not preinterview. They couldn't tell that I was a dick just from my app.

 

[aspiring20]

I wouldn't be surprised if CCOM posts 3.6/30 average for its next class. Here are some stats of people rejected from CCOM pre-interview this year: 3.6/29, 3.5/30, 3.4/30, 3.5/31, 3.5/27, 3.5/28, and 3.7/26. The lowest stats I have seen accepted are 3.7/3.6/27.

jesus! 3.6/30 ?!?!

that's the average of some MDs!

 

[EMDO2018]

My state MD has 3.6 28 MCAT averages. The MidWest is cold though, couldn't live there.

 

[aspiring20]

My state MD has 3.6 28 MCAT averages.

wow...

my state med schools average 3.7+/33+

 

[MedWonk]

I had an interview scheduled a while back and promptly withdrew when I got into a cheaper school. CCOM looked really nice, but I wasn't willing to drop 80k minimum to attend a school in the burbs.

 

[JimmyB123]

I'm actually pretty shocked that CCOM's average this year is basically a 3.6/30.

How can a DO school have such a high average? The reason why I point this out is not to sound condescending but because there are MD schools with 3.5-3.6/27-28 averages still out there, and graduating from one of them still gives you a huge leg up come residency time than graduating from CCOM. How can this school still expect such high performance from applicants?

 

[67552931811]

I'm actually pretty shocked that CCOM's average this year is basically a 3.6/30.

How can a DO school have such a high average? The reason why I point this out is not to sound condescending but because there are MD schools with 3.5-3.6/27-28 averages still out there, and graduating from one of them still gives you a huge leg up come residency time than graduating from CCOM. How can this school still expect such high performance from applicants?

It's in chicagoland and, for the most part, people here could care less about MD/ DO- they just want to stay locally. Plus, there are a crap ton of residencies in and around the city that love CCOM grads.

 

[sundancing]

I withdrew from my interview at CCOM because a) it's not REALLY in Chicago, so the location isn't all that appealing to me and b) the price.

I'm sure it's a good school and all, but think of it this way: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine's tuition is $45k/year. Is there any reason CCOM's should be $10k+ more than that?

 

[JimmyB123]

I withdrew from my interview at CCOM because a) it's not REALLY in Chicago, so the location isn't all that appealing to me and b) the price.

I'm sure it's a good school and all, but think of it this way: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine's tuition is $45k/year. Is there any reason CCOM's should be $10k+ more than that?

Yeah, I agree. Also there are 6 MD schools in the Chicago area. That's way too much competition for a DO school in the area.

 

[sundancing]

Who said it was?

Also, your tuition point is misleading as it isn't exactly an apple to apple comparison.

Plenty of people earlier in this thread listed the fact that it's in Chicago as a selling point. And I was just trying to make the point that higher tuition cost is not necessarily indicative of a better education, so that doesn't explain the high tuition cost either.

It's just my opinion and yours may differ.

 

[ananasmed]

I withdrew from my interview at CCOM because a) it's not REALLY in Chicago, so the location isn't all that appealing to me and b) the price.

I'm sure it's a good school and all, but think of it this way: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine's tuition is $45k/year. Is there any reason CCOM's should be $10k+ more than that?

Yeah, I agree. Also there are 6 MD schools in the Chicago area. That's way too much competition for a DO school in the area.

Agreed that the higher price is not necessarily justified in some higher educational quality. I wish CCOM did not cost so much, but I'm still choosing to matriculate here because it's close to home for me. I want to stay in Chicago for residency and I believe attending here will give me the best shot at this, not to mention being close to my family was a critically important factor in my choice. (N.b.: I will be commuting to school, so won't be paying for living expenses on top of tuition, which does make a slight different in the long run... although still incredibly expensive). I am not competitive for MD schools, so CCOM was my best/only shot at staying here. As a suburbanite, the location being outside of Chicago-proper is actually a bonus for me, LOL. I don't mean that any of these reasons make CCOM a good choice for you, or certainly for EVERYONE, just trying to illustrate why CCOM may be a good choice for some individuals.

You mention the surplus of MD schools in the area... while that's true that it does make for plenty of "competition," there are also TONS of hospitals in Chicagoland. CCOM students actually share many core rotation sites with CMS (Rosalind Franklin) and UIllinois med students in the suburbs and the city.

Edit: Fun random fact for those who are interested, CCOM actually used to be located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood before being acquired by Midwestern.

 

[VanEman]

I know some people would rather die than live in a suburb, but Downer's Grove made Forbes' list of America's 10 friendliest town, with a highly educated population, lots of restaurants and lots of green space. I've never been there, but the description made it sound pretty nice:
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mhj45mdme/8-downers-grove-il/

 

[crazy87]

Yeah I think it's the location. Especially makes sense for locals who already have ties to the area and want to stay in Chicagoland for residency and work. Big city nearby, lots of opportunities.

 

[user3]

I'm actually pretty shocked that CCOM's average this year is basically a 3.6/30.

How can a DO school have such a high average? The reason why I point this out is not to sound condescending but because there are MD schools with 3.5-3.6/27-28 averages still out there, and graduating from one of them still gives you a huge leg up come residency time than graduating from CCOM. How can this school still expect such high performance from applicants?

the better question is why their average is so high when their tuition and COA is vomit-inducing.

 

[Mr.Happy]

The OOS tuition for MSUCOM students is $80,000. COA can easily be $110,000 per year when you include additional fees. Compared to that, CCOM is cheap. Plus CCOM is an established medical school with a good reputation. Lot of residency PDs (in Illinois and elsewhere) are comfortable with accepting CCOM grads. Also, location. Lot of applicants from the Chicago area will choose CCOM over medical schools that are out of state. They can easily save 15,000-20,ooo dollars on living costs per year by living with family.

 

[Bea5T]

I had an interview scheduled a while back and promptly withdrew when I got into a cheaper school. CCOM looked really nice, but I wasn't willing to drop 80k minimum to attend a school in the burbs.

Yeah I think it's the location. Especially makes sense for locals who already have ties to the area and want to stay in Chicagoland for residency and work. Big city nearby, lots of opportunities.

People here must live in the heart of NYC to be able to hate on DG. ~30 minutes from downtown chicago, safe, and plenty of restaurants, bars, and shopping within 10 minutes of the school. What more do you want? Not too mention 3rd and 4th years are mostly in the city and the first two years mostly consist of you know...studying

The cost is a valid complaint, but I really don't understand the hate for DG. As if any DO schools outside of Touro Harlem and PCOM is in an actual "city".

 

[MedWonk]

People here must live in the heart of NYC to be able to hate on DG. ~30 minutes from downtown chicago, safe, and plenty of restaurants, bars, and shopping within 10 minutes of the school. What more do you want? Not too mention 3rd and 4th years are mostly in the city and the first two years mostly consist of you know...studying

The cost is a valid complaint, but I really don't understand the hate for DG. As if any DO schools outside of Touro Harlem and PCOM is in an actual "city".

Yeah, I don't care anymore. I just care about doing well in med school now. I still wouldn't shell out 80k for CCOM unless I were from the area or I really wanted to live in the Chicago area. I don't hate Downer's Grove, I just prefer a more urban location. After living in a city of 1.5 million people for a few years, I find myself preferring it over a suburb.

 

[pattr]

CCOM has been around since 1900. It has a great reputation especially in the Midwest and is one of the only DO schools that has clinical rotations on par with most MD schools. It's basically run like an MD school.

I'm not at all surprised it's as competitive at is is.

 

[user3]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/dmu-vs-ccom-cost-of-attendance-issue.1063927/#post-15104265 (FWIW)

 

[mek117]

I was born and raised in the area, so I applied to CCOM, but have yet to hear anything. I've already been accepted to LECOM. And to be honest, as nice as it would be to be near my entire family and fiancé here in the burbs, I personally can't shell out that kind of money. I'm already 90k in debt from grad school, so for me, it just wouldn't be practical.

That being said Downers Grove is a great area! I live down the road and have worked for one of CCOM's rotation sites for years. So of course it would also be great to network more in rotations, but I'm just hoping some of the physicians I already work w will still be around by the time I graduate LECOM lol.

Oh and it is so NOT an hour to Chicago. Okay Maybe if you're stupid enough to do it at peak rush hour, but in that case take the metra. Non-peak hours I guarantee you can make it in 40min (I commuted to grad school downtown for 2yrs, trust me).

Point is, everybody's financial situation is different. So if you're rich or at least not already in student debt, and if you actually plan to stay in the Chicago area, you will be amazed w some of the clinical sites! And you can do Chicago life w/ no problems, at the very least by taking the metra.

 

[Doctor Bob]

As if any DO schools outside of Touro Harlem and PCOM is in an actual "city".

NSU is in Ft. Lauderdale...

But yes, it's not in the downtowny part...

 

[jqueb29]

People here must live in the heart of NYC to be able to hate on DG. ~30 minutes from downtown chicago, safe, and plenty of restaurants, bars, and shopping within 10 minutes of the school. What more do you want? Not too mention 3rd and 4th years are mostly in the city and the first two years mostly consist of you know...studying

The cost is a valid complaint, but I really don't understand the hate for DG. As if any DO schools outside of Touro Harlem and PCOM is in an actual "city".

OSU is definitely right smack dab in the middle of Tulsa.