2017-2018 Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine (MWU-CCOM)

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I got waitlisted at MWU AZCOM. But when I was rejected from RVU-CO, I was only notified for Colorado, later to find out in the portal that I was also rejected from Utah's campus. Am I also waitlisted from CCOM without being told like RVU did?
All the campuses have separate admissions processes and timelines. What one does won't necessarily impact what the others do.
 
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II! Stoked!
LizzyM 64-68; sGPA 3.8; MCAT 507; Complete 7/8; OOS
Can anyone who interviewed at CCOM provide a general rundown of what the interview entailed?
Thanks!
 
II! Stoked!
LizzyM 64-68; sGPA 3.8; MCAT 507; Complete 7/8; OOS
Can anyone who interviewed at CCOM provide a general rundown of what the interview entailed?
Thanks!
Congrats!!! I was complete 7/7, I think I should lose hope from CCOM. :(
 
Does anybody know about how long it takes before we'd hear back? I interview on 10/3, but I have to pay the fee for CUSOM (IF I get accepted) on the 15th...
 
Does anybody know about how long it takes before we'd hear back? I interview on 10/3, but I have to pay the fee for CUSOM (IF I get accepted) on the 15th...
You shouldn't have to pay the fee by then. The earliest you should have to pay a fee for any DO school is December 15th.

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You shouldn't have to pay the fee by then. The earliest you should have to pay a fee for any DO school is December 15th.

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I'm pretty sure at the interview yesterday they said Oct. 15, but maybe they meant December. At any rate, I might ask for an extension at that point

When were your complete?!

7/20
 
4d81a0421d1fde80074d254096d75075.jpg


December 14 is the deadline for the deposit, unless CCOM abides by rules separate from AACOMAS traffic guidelines.


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4d81a0421d1fde80074d254096d75075.jpg


December 14 is the deadline for the deposit, unless CCOM abides by rules separate from AACOMAS traffic guidelines.


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Thanks a lot for that! If CUSOM mentions the October deadline, I'll definitely try to extend it a little bit. I'd hate to interview at CCOM just to turn around and have to make a final decision before I hear back
 
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II! Stoked!
LizzyM 64-68; sGPA 3.8; MCAT 507; Complete 7/8; OOS
Can anyone who interviewed at CCOM provide a general rundown of what the interview entailed?
Thanks!

You start off in a small conference room in the library and hear from an admissions faculty member about certain aspects of the school, the dean or perhaps assistant/associate Dean will come in to talk to you, then interviews occur. I think 3 or 4 people interview at a time so you just rotate out until everyone has gone. While you're waiting you just sit in the room with fellow interviewees and students will randomly come in to talk to you. Interviews last 30ish minutes and you are interviewed by a basic science faculty member, 3rd or 4th year student and a community physician. After interviews is more presentations, tour, then lunch. You can leave anytime after lunch. I think I was out by 1:30. Feel free to PM me with any questions.
 
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Does anybody know about how long it takes before we'd hear back? I interview on 10/3, but I have to pay the fee for CUSOM (IF I get accepted) on the 15th...
The admissions committee meets the last Wednesday of each month (from what I remember) and you would find out the following day.
 
Sorry if this is asked elsewhere, but I wasn't able to find the answer. I know a panel interviews candidates, but are these formatted as group (multiple interviewees with panel) or individual (single interviewee with panel)?
 
You start off in a small conference room in the library and hear from an admissions faculty member about certain aspects of the school, the dean or perhaps assistant/associate Dean will come in to talk to you, then interviews occur. I think 3 or 4 people interview at a time so you just rotate out until everyone has gone. While you're waiting you just sit in the room with fellow interviewees and students will randomly come in to talk to you. Interviews last 30ish minutes and you are interviewed by a basic science faculty member, 3rd or 4th year student and a community physician. After interviews is more presentations, tour, then lunch. You can leave anytime after lunch. I think I was out by 1:30. Feel free to PM me with any questions.
Thanks, this is super helpful!
 
Sorry if this is asked elsewhere, but I wasn't able to find the answer. I know a panel interviews candidates, but are these formatted as group (multiple interviewees with panel) or individual (single interviewee with panel)?
Individual. They'll have your CV and PS, so be prepared to expand on anything you've written about. The interview is very lax though. They just want to get to know you as an individual and whether you'd be a good fit for the program.
 
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Does anyone know how long after being complete, do people generally find out about II? For AZCOM, it seems to be 2 weeks but haven't heard anything from CCOM yet!
 
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Does anyone know how long after being complete, do people generally find out about II? For AZCOM, it seems to be 2 weeks but haven't heard anything from CCOM yet!
It's rolling admissions. They'll compare your application with the current pool and determine whether or not you're competitive enough to send an II immediately or whether to hold onto your application until later on in the cycle when your competitiveness is on par with the remaining pool.

I've got classmates who were completed as early as August and didn't get an II until March. If you don't get a rejection, then you're still under consideration.
 
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Thinking of adding this school but unsure. I currently have three IIs lined up but I love chicago. My stats are 3.8sGPA, 3.8cGPA, 4.0 grad, 502 MCAT. I was waitlisted at AZCOM for an interview. Is this campus also MCAT heavy? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
 
Thinking of adding this school but unsure. I currently have three IIs lined up but I love chicago. My stats are 3.8sGPA, 3.8cGPA, 4.0 grad, 502 MCAT. I was waitlisted at AZCOM for an interview. Is this campus also MCAT heavy? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
im here with 504-507 MCAT, OOS, completed so early and havent heard anything. Avg is 505 for this school. You wont know until you apply
 
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hey guys, so I have an interview w/ AZCOM but have heard nothing from CCOM. Submitted secondary on 6/30...Heard right away from AZCOM. Can you only interview at one or the other?
 
hey guys, so I have an interview w/ AZCOM but have heard nothing from CCOM. Submitted secondary on 6/30...Heard right away from AZCOM. Can you only interview at one or the other?

No they are two separate schools, two separate admissions committees, etc
 
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Good luck guys! I am a MSII at CCOM - if you have any questions let me know :)
 
For CCOM, is it required to have a DO/MD LOR? On their website, it says it is strongly recommended, but states that a committee letter counts as one of the two LOR. I'm just a little confused by their requirements. Thanks!
 
For CCOM, is it required to have a DO/MD LOR? On their website, it says it is strongly recommended, but states that a committee letter counts as one of the two LOR. I'm just a little confused by their requirements. Thanks!

I think the committee letter would count as the professor letter, not the DO/MD letter. So if your school has a committee you will still need to send in a physician letter.
 
Good luck guys! I am a MSII at CCOM - if you have any questions let me know :)

What do you think the strengths of the CCOM program? And how bad are the winters? As someone whose lived in southern California all my life, an Illinois winter sounds painful :laugh:
 
What do you think the strengths of the CCOM program? And how bad are the winters? As someone whose lived in southern California all my life, an Illinois winter sounds painful :laugh:

If I'm being honest, the pre clinical years at will be mostly the same no matter where you go. It's a lot of book learning/studying. That being said, things change come year 3/4 and I think it's important to try to get the highest quality rotations possible. CCOM is a school that has a great reputation for this.

Although I have not been on rotations yet, CCOM's rotations are established, and are generally high quality. You won't have to move every 6 weeks. We are in hospitals with residents. We rotate through Trauma 1 centers. There can be bad apples in the bunch (like any medical school, regardless of MD or DO), but those are the minority. I've heard pretty much exclusively positive things from third years about rotations.

This is one of the main reasons I chose CCOM. I think it's a good reason. It's no secret that DO's aren't as competitive for residencies as MD's are, and I want to give myself every advantage I can get.

Other strengths: CCOM tries to select a collaborative group of students (minimal amounts of gunners), rotating through the Chicagoland area can facilitate making connections here (if you are interested in staying in Chicago), many exams vs 1 exam every month (taking a lot of exams can help hone study techniques, instead of taking one massive monster exam every 4-6 weeks), and easy access to Chicago.

I've lived in the midwest all my life, and the winters can be variable. A few years ago we had a winter that was RIDICULOUS (as in, ridiculously cold with a lot of snow), but the winters since have been milder. As long as you get a quality winter coat (north face, patagonia, etc), a good pair of boots and necessary accessories, you should be just fine. Driving in fresh snow/ice sucks though.
 
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What do you think the strengths of the CCOM program? And how bad are the winters? As someone whose lived in southern California all my life, an Illinois winter sounds painful :laugh:
Pretty much as stated above. Also, I'm from Florida and I've adapted to these winters. It's not terrible
 
If I'm being honest, the pre clinical years at will be mostly the same no matter where you go. It's a lot of book learning/studying. That being said, things change come year 3/4 and I think it's important to try to get the highest quality rotations possible. CCOM is a school that has a great reputation for this.

Although I have not been on rotations yet, CCOM's rotations are established, and are generally high quality. You won't have to move every 6 weeks. We are in hospitals with residents. We rotate through Trauma 1 centers. There can be bad apples in the bunch (like any medical school, regardless of MD or DO), but those are the minority. I've heard pretty much exclusively positive things from third years about rotations.

This is one of the main reasons I chose CCOM. I think it's a good reason. It's no secret that DO's aren't as competitive for residencies as MD's are, and I want to give myself every advantage I can get.

Other strengths: CCOM tries to select a collaborative group of students (minimal amounts of gunners), rotating through the Chicagoland area can facilitate making connections here (if you are interested in staying in Chicago), many exams vs 1 exam every month (taking a lot of exams can help hone study techniques, instead of taking one massive monster exam every 4-6 weeks), and easy access to Chicago.

I've lived in the midwest all my life, and the winters can be variable. A few years ago we had a winter that was RIDICULOUS (as in, ridiculously cold with a lot of snow), but the winters since have been milder. As long as you get a quality winter coat (north face, patagonia, etc), a good pair of boots and necessary accessories, you should be just fine. Driving in fresh snow/ice sucks though.


Thank you so much for the in-depth answer. I'm really excited for my interview this week and can't wait to tour the school. I like the multiple tests per month. I think that will help establish good study habits pretty quickly.
 
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Pretty much as stated above. Also, I'm from Florida and I've adapted to these winters. It's not terrible

That's great to hear. I live inland in the desert so it's regularly 105F during the summer. I'm ready to get out of the heat so hopefully I'll adapt quickly to the extreme opposite during winters
 
What do you think the strengths of the CCOM program? And how bad are the winters? As someone whose lived in southern California all my life, an Illinois winter sounds painful :laugh:

If I'm being honest, the pre clinical years at will be mostly the same no matter where you go.

Yes and no, to the pre-clinical years being the same. All osteopathic schools learn the same 99% of material. But, CCOM does not have mandatory attendance (besides labs), which is a huge advantage over schools that have mandatory attendance for ALL classes. There are a handful of schools that have a business professional dress code (which isn't that big of a problem but more a nuisance), and CCOM only requires class colored scrubs for labs. I have friends that attend other osteopathic schools, and a couple have told me that their administration constantly creates problems and makes basic processes more difficult than they need to be. We really don't have that problem at CCOM. Medical school is about being efficient, and an administration that gets in your way is not something you want. One last thing is CCOM has been quietly pushing for more students to do research, so there are plenty of research opportunities on and off campus 1st and 2nd year.
 
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Yes and no, to the pre-clinical years being the same. All osteopathic schools learn the same 99% of material. But, CCOM does not have mandatory attendance (besides labs), which is a huge advantage over schools that have mandatory attendance for ALL classes. There are a handful of schools that have a business professional dress code (which isn't that big of a problem but more a nuisance), and CCOM only requires class colored scrubs for labs. I have friends that attend other osteopathic schools, and a couple have told me that their administration constantly creates problems and makes basic processes more difficult than they need to be. We really don't have that problem at CCOM. Medical school is about being efficient, and an administration that gets in your way is not something you want. One last thing is CCOM has been quietly pushing for more students to do research, so there are plenty of research opportunities on and off campus 1st and 2nd year.

I totally forgot about schools with mandatory attendance/dress code!! It's easy to take for granted.

And yes, I agree, research opportunities were very accessible.


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anyone that applied around 6/3 still not hearing* anything like myself?
 
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