WVSOM vs. Marian (MUCOM)

[Formedschoolapps]

Marian (MUCOM)
Pros

• Closer to home (3 1/2 hour drive and close to airport < 10-15 mins)
• Tuition: ~$55k
• Won't have to move for rotations, they're within 15-30 minute radius of the school.
• Strong 3-4 clinical rotation sites.
• Better opportunity to get involved in research.
• Urban
• Early clinical exposure via Free Clinics
• Good residency match, competitive programs including academic centers (JHU for anesthesia!)
• I'm from Michigan, in the Midwest, so it would be easier to match in Michigan.

Cons

• On the waitlist, won't find out until May 1st.
• Newer school started in 2013. I heard they are establishing themselves well, but who knows?
• Building shared with the nursing school, fewer resources?
• Private school.
• Has had shakey board scores in the past 86.99% in 2021-2022 in comparison to WVSOM 92.53% in 2021-2022. This went up to 90.85% in 2022-2023. In the years prior to 2021-2022, the pass rate was >90%+.

WVSOM
Pros

• Well-established school, 50+ years.
• Very nice campus, dedicated solely to medical students.
• Very supportive staff and student body.
• Resources are amazing, huge cadaver lab and clinical skills building.
• Very solid 3-4 year rotation sites, if you get lucky and get CAMC.
• Already signed a lease for a place (Could easily break the lease).
• Built solid friendships with current 1st-year students that will be 2nd-years next year and are more than willing to help with adjusting to medical school.
• Public school
• Great match
• Good board scores

Cons

• Very far from home (7 hours car drive and the nearest airport is 1 1/2 hours away with no direct flights to Detroit)
• Rural
• Tuition is ~$53K but we are required to buy the school's insurance which is an additional $4.5K
• Will have to move to a different city for rotations in 3-4 years, Ideal rotation site would be in Charleston, WV, which is 2 hours away from Lewisburg, WV.
• Has had a history of matching in Michigan, but not nearly as much as MUCOM.
• Harder to get any research done, especially for 1-2 years.

Summary: Hey everyone, very grateful to have the opportunity to even hold 1 acceptance. Should I have the opportunity to be pulled from the waitlist at MUCOM, what do you think I should do? I've paid to 1st and 2nd deposits for WVSOM, $3k.... EEEEEK. I know this is a drop in the bucket of the loans that are yet to come, so I'm trying not to base my decision on how much I've invested to this point at WVSOM, but rather on which school is a better option for me moving forward. Thank you all for your time!!!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Dr. Al Koholic]

Hi! MUCOM BMS student here, I was also WL for this cycle. But currently, I am in their master's program. We interact with COM faculty and student body all of the time. Personally, I really like the faculty and atmosphere at MUCOM. Most professors have an open door policy and are at MUCOM bc they love teaching! The students all support each other and older classes even share resources for newer classes to use. As for the nursing school, they do share resources but I wouldn't say it lessens your opportunity to utilize them. If anything, you'll practice working around other healthcare workers in different scenarios.

I've also lived in Indy for majority of my existence, and everything is 10-15 minutes from campus (grocery stores, shopping outlets, coffee shops, food spots, etc).

I wish I could add onto WVSOM, but they actually lost my app. Which is such a bummer, bc it is a good school. But my experience with MUCOM would win over WVSOM. Whatever you choose, good luck to you!

 

[Formedschoolapps]

Hi! MUCOM BMS student here, I was also WL for this cycle. But currently, I am in their master's program. We interact with COM faculty and student body all of the time. Personally, I really like the faculty and atmosphere at MUCOM. Most professors have an open door policy and are at MUCOM bc they love teaching! The students all support each other and older classes even share resources for newer classes to use. As for the nursing school, they do share resources but I wouldn't say it lessens your opportunity to utilize them. If anything, you'll practice working around other healthcare workers in different scenarios.

I've also lived in Indy for majority of my existence, and everything is 10-15 minutes from campus (grocery stores, shopping outlets, coffee shops, food spots, etc).

I wish I could add onto WVSOM, but they actually lost my app. Which is such a bummer, bc it is a good school. But my experience with MUCOM would win over WVSOM. Whatever you choose, good luck to you!

Hey, thank you for your reply! I’m going to take all of that into consideration if I end up getting off the WL in May!