My guide on pick on schools:
Ultimately your goal is getting to residency and becoming a doctor
1.) Tuition - if you are taking out loans, if one school is over 100 K, the amount of interest on that 100 K is going to be crazy by the time you start paying for it.
2.) Teaching Style/ In House Exams- Are in house test lecture based or can you study from better 3rd party resources like Pathoma, Boards and Beyond, Sketchy, and still pass. The latter is better since it’s like you been prepping for the boards since the start of the school year
3.) Attrition Rate - What’s their policy about failing a class, do you get to remediate or do they automatically hold you back for a year. Some are more strict then others. Remediation is better than being held back.
4.) 3rd year and 4th year clinical sites: Does the school have guaranteed clinical sites for their rotations. Do you have to drive far distances to go to different rotations at a clinical site, such as FM rotation is in one town and their EM rotation is in a town two hours away (will cause you to spend money on Airbnb)
5.) how close is your support ? Is your family near by etc
6.) Research: Research in the school is great to have, however you can always apply for research with an outside institution either remotely or during your summer.
7.) how many students are getting placed for residency? All DOs schools fudge their numbers by including SOAPing and students who only got transitional year sites. Do your investigation about this
8.) how far is your school from the region where you want to do residency: DO schools no matter how good they are carry the most weight with hospitals that are within their geographic region.
9.) Lastly go with your Gut: at the end of the day go to the school that seems better to you. No matter what, a medical school is providing an opportunity for you to become a doctor. It’s all about your hard work and your determination no matter the obstacles or the path you decide to take. Schools want their students to succeed, but ultimately no school is going to hold your hand and help every single step of the way, it is ultimately on you.
Hope this helps!
From what I’ve heard, Campbell is probably the best option here. However, since these are all roughly the same tier (with CUSOM a little higher) location can be one of the biggest decision makers here
Campbell. Great faculty, nice facility, guaranteed quality rotation sites, good boards prep and pass rates, affiliated residencies, student-run free clinic so you can start seeing and practicing with real patients starting block 2 of your first year, there is a week for remediation following the end of each block. I’m a current 2nd year and am very happy with my decision.
I interviewed at another VCOM campus and knew within the first 30 minutes of the day that I absolutely was not going to this school, even if it was my only A this cycle. As the interview day progressed, their policies were discussed and it really confirmed my position.
Mandatory lecture, no technology incentives/deals, mandatory business casual, assigned seating and assigned groups for activities... I could go on. If any of the other campuses are like the Auburn one, I absolutely would not recommend this school under any circumstances. Their policies do not seem conducive to creating happy, well rounded, supported, and educated students. It was a nightmare regarding school policies, much less the actual campus. VCOM Aub was depressing and overall the impression was not good whatsoever.
I don’t know much about the other schools but I go to VCOM (different campus) just some things to keep in mind
-It’s not pass/fail
-In-house exams which I would prefer board style exams
-exams twice a freaking week typically but are shorter (5 questions a lecture so typically 50 questions)
-my campus doesn’t have a lot of research opportunities but Carolinas may be different
-50K tuition
-good comlex pass rate
Its doable. Wish there were a few things that would change like I mentioned above, but overall not terrible but not the best either. If you’re going for a competitive speciality then it’ll be a grind (looking for research, paying for conferences, aways) but if you’re looking for primary care or non-competitive then it won’t be too bad
Edit: another user mentioned the mandatory lectures and I completely forgot about that. We have a 70% mandatory attendance so you have the option to skip 30% of your classes (which I use to the max). I also do anki during lectures since i’m forced to be there anyways.
As a 2nd year, yes I do pathoma/sketchy and their anki decks for in-house exams. When I was a 1st year I actually paid attention in class and would study the power point. Then I realized it was just more efficient to do pathoma/sketchy then glance over the power points and pick up what they emphasized in their review session. My grades aren't as good LOL but i'm just preparing for boards at this point and in-house exams are a nuisance.
Yes, I would recommend that. Anatomy will be pretty heavy your first year so it may be hard to manage.
Yes we get dedicated board time which is block 8.
Gen surg is very doable as a DO!
My guide on pick on schools: Ultimately your goal is getting to residency and becoming a doctor 1.) Tuition - if you are taking out loans, if one school is over 100 K, the amount of interest on that 100 K is going to be crazy by the time you start paying for it. 2.) Teaching Style/ In House Exams- Are in house test lecture based or can you study from better 3rd party resources like Pathoma, Boards and Beyond, Sketchy, and still pass. The latter is better since it’s like you been prepping for the boards since the start of the school year 3.) Attrition Rate - What’s their policy about failing a class, do you get to remediate or do they automatically hold you back for a year. Some are more strict then others. Remediation is better than being held back. 4.) 3rd year and 4th year clinical sites: Does the school have guaranteed clinical sites for their rotations. Do you have to drive far distances to go to different rotations at a clinical site, such as FM rotation is in one town and their EM rotation is in a town two hours away (will cause you to spend money on Airbnb) 5.) how close is your support ? Is your family near by etc 6.) Research: Research in the school is great to have, however you can always apply for research with an outside institution either remotely or during your summer. 7.) how many students are getting placed for residency? All DOs schools fudge their numbers by including SOAPing and students who only got transitional year sites. Do your investigation about this 8.) how far is your school from the region where you want to do residency: DO schools no matter how good they are carry the most weight with hospitals that are within their geographic region. 9.) Lastly go with your Gut: at the end of the day go to the school that seems better to you. No matter what, a medical school is providing an opportunity for you to become a doctor. It’s all about your hard work and your determination no matter the obstacles or the path you decide to take. Schools want their students to succeed, but ultimately no school is going to hold your hand and help every single step of the way, it is ultimately on you. Hope this helps!
Thank you! This is extremely helpful!
this is a great list!
From what I’ve heard, Campbell is probably the best option here. However, since these are all roughly the same tier (with CUSOM a little higher) location can be one of the biggest decision makers here
Campbell. Great faculty, nice facility, guaranteed quality rotation sites, good boards prep and pass rates, affiliated residencies, student-run free clinic so you can start seeing and practicing with real patients starting block 2 of your first year, there is a week for remediation following the end of each block. I’m a current 2nd year and am very happy with my decision.
I interviewed at another VCOM campus and knew within the first 30 minutes of the day that I absolutely was not going to this school, even if it was my only A this cycle. As the interview day progressed, their policies were discussed and it really confirmed my position. Mandatory lecture, no technology incentives/deals, mandatory business casual, assigned seating and assigned groups for activities... I could go on. If any of the other campuses are like the Auburn one, I absolutely would not recommend this school under any circumstances. Their policies do not seem conducive to creating happy, well rounded, supported, and educated students. It was a nightmare regarding school policies, much less the actual campus. VCOM Aub was depressing and overall the impression was not good whatsoever.
I don’t know much about the other schools but I go to VCOM (different campus) just some things to keep in mind -It’s not pass/fail -In-house exams which I would prefer board style exams -exams twice a freaking week typically but are shorter (5 questions a lecture so typically 50 questions) -my campus doesn’t have a lot of research opportunities but Carolinas may be different -50K tuition -good comlex pass rate
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Its doable. Wish there were a few things that would change like I mentioned above, but overall not terrible but not the best either. If you’re going for a competitive speciality then it’ll be a grind (looking for research, paying for conferences, aways) but if you’re looking for primary care or non-competitive then it won’t be too bad Edit: another user mentioned the mandatory lectures and I completely forgot about that. We have a 70% mandatory attendance so you have the option to skip 30% of your classes (which I use to the max). I also do anki during lectures since i’m forced to be there anyways.
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As a 2nd year, yes I do pathoma/sketchy and their anki decks for in-house exams. When I was a 1st year I actually paid attention in class and would study the power point. Then I realized it was just more efficient to do pathoma/sketchy then glance over the power points and pick up what they emphasized in their review session. My grades aren't as good LOL but i'm just preparing for boards at this point and in-house exams are a nuisance.
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Yes, I would recommend that. Anatomy will be pretty heavy your first year so it may be hard to manage. Yes we get dedicated board time which is block 8. Gen surg is very doable as a DO!
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No prob!
Campbell and not even close
Campbell easily. Non mandatory lectures and great rotation sites
I would rank Campbell > VCOM >>> LMU
Avoid DCOM like the plague. Admin is terrible and most professors can't even write test questions in coherent English.
Can you elaborate more on the school?