2017-2018 Des Moines University (DMU-COM)

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Please post the essays or lack thereof (in addition to word or character counts) in this thread and tag one of the pre-DO mods (AlteredScale, bacchus, or chizledfrmstone) so we can update the OP.

Good luck to everyone applying!

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Good luck to everyone else applying!
 
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For the secondary question regarding activities leading up to potential matriculation, are you guys putting hobbies as well or only things like EC's?
 
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Hello all, I'm an upcoming oms-II. Feel free to pm me questions or ask here and I'll do my best to respond!

Have a great cycle!
 
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This might be a stupid question, but does Des Moines send a secondary or are the questions in the primary all the questions we have to answer?
 
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I can also answer questions (you could get 2 peoples insight) on the school. I dont remember much of the application so I prolly wont be much help there but I can try. I can definitely answer questions about school, Des Moines, or Iowa.
 
What's the area like? Cheap housing? Nice people? Diverse? Food? How crazy is the snow?


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Good luck to everyone applying! This would definitely be a great school to attend
 
I will preface this by saying that your impression of des moines is heavily dependent on where you are coming from. so I will give you my opinion in addition to facts about each topic.

What's the area like?
4 seasons. easily 0-30 degrees the entire winter (from November til early March). Hot and stupid humid in the summer. Spring and fall are the gem seasons. Fall its beautiful, on the colder side, but still manageable. Spring there is a lot of blooming going on and 60-75 degree weather so basically very nice. The airport is very close. There is a wide variety of markets and grocery you can choose from. From school, downtown is a hop a skip and a leap away so its nice going down there just to hang out after a tough exam. if you go west, you will hit a very nice suburb of des moines called *wait for it. drum roll please* West Des Moines. I didnt go there often but when I did go I really liked it a lot. The bus system is useful if you dont have a car... a lot of my colleagues used to take it if there was something going on in the downtown area.

Cheap housing?
This one heavily depends on where you came from. for me it was cheaper from where I used to live but for people from the coasts, it is way cheaper. I havent talked to anybody that has complained about living costs in des moines. Also you can have your pick of whether you want to live lavishly or simply. Lavish apartments close to school are scarce but I can think of a couple buildings. Not sure how much they cost but I would say in the neighborhood of 1100 for a 2 bedroom. There is a ton of medium quality housing where you can get like 700 or less for a one bedroom and 900 or less for a 2 bedroom. plenty of students also live in downtown Des Moines and I think that it is a good place to live if you like the hustle and bustle of a city (lol, who am I kidding. its more like a whisper of an occasional passing car). if you have a car you can migrate out west to the west des moines apartments which tend to be newer and nicer but you will have to think about the commute every morning. Once you fine people get accepted torwards the end of the year, you can hit me up and I will try to suggest specific apartment complexes that you can take a look at.

Nice people?
Des Moiners: absolutely. very nice group of people. Although like any other city, you can get some people that you will have to watch when being in close proximity to them, but that is a good habit to develop regardless.

Des Moines University-ers: they cool. people are mostly focused on their studies. There are parties that classmates will occasionally throw and then there are random mini meet ups at restaurants or bars especially after hard exam weeks.

Des Moines is as diverse as Iowa is gonna get. Its not diverse, per se. just more diverse than the more rural Iowa areas. the diversity of DMU is meh. not that diverse but I would give it a passing "Diversity Score". I just think that it is hard to convince people to move out to Des Moines from states that are way more diverse so I think, in my opinion, it is a self fulfilling prophecy.

The ethnic food in Des Moines has a reputation of being bland from people that have tried "the real deal". I think it is as good as you would expect from a city that is as diverse as Des Moines. not trying to throw any shade lol.

How crazy is the snow?
This winter was extremely mild in the state of Iowa. We had like 15 snowy days, if that. And when you wake up the next morning, most of it was gone. Last years winter was also mild but the 2017 one was exceptionally mild. Maybe by the time you folks show through, it will be nasty winters?
 
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Hm... just received an email to create a personal DMU Admissions account. And then it says to complete the items required for a completed application. But these items are just LORs.

It looks like there aren't any supplemental essay questions this year? Can anyone else confirm?


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Hm... just received an email to create a personal DMU Admissions account. And then it says to complete the items required for a completed application. But these items are just LORs.

It looks like there aren't any supplemental essay questions this year? Can anyone else confirm?


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But they should get the LORs from AACOMAS, so you're basically done?
 
But they should get the LORs from AACOMAS, so you're basically done?

I guess so? I'm waiting for someone to receive the same email so they can help me reach the same conclusion. The admissions office is closed today so they can't help me right now.

The website also doesn't say anything about a supplemental fee or application....

How to Apply - Des Moines University


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I never knew emails were sent over the weekend, but I haven't gotten an email yet.

I feel like that "Questions" tab thing for DMU on AACOMAS was the secondary.

Edit: It was LMU that had you pay a fee on the primary, not DMU*
 
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I never knew emails were sent over the weekend, but I haven't gotten an email yet.

I feel like that "Questions" tab thing for DMU on AACOMAS was the secondary since they had you pay a fee there.
Just called to confirm this. Damnit, I wish I tried harder on those questions now.
 
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So those questions on the primary were considered their secondary?

If so, will they still email us to pay the fee or whats the deal?


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Exactly, so there is no secondary essay or supplemental application fee. When you receive the email, simply go onto their website and complete your account.
 
I just got the link and created a profile. It's kind of interesting how they do it, but I like it.
 
Just created an account. I think the primary had all the secondary questions. Just have to create an account.
I will preface this by saying that your impression of des moines is heavily dependent on where you are coming from. so I will give you my opinion in addition to facts about each topic.


4 seasons. easily 0-30 degrees the entire winter (from November til early March). Hot and stupid humid in the summer. Spring and fall are the gem seasons. Fall its beautiful, on the colder side, but still manageable. Spring there is a lot of blooming going on and 60-75 degree weather so basically very nice. The airport is very close. There is a wide variety of markets and grocery you can choose from. From school, downtown is a hop a skip and a leap away so its nice going down there just to hang out after a tough exam. if you go west, you will hit a very nice suburb of des moines called *wait for it. drum roll please* West Des Moines. I didnt go there often but when I did go I really liked it a lot. The bus system is useful if you dont have a car... a lot of my colleagues used to take it if there was something going on in the downtown area.


This one heavily depends on where you came from. for me it was cheaper from where I used to live but for people from the coasts, it is way cheaper. I havent talked to anybody that has complained about living costs in des moines. Also you can have your pick of whether you want to live lavishly or simply. Lavish apartments close to school are scarce but I can think of a couple buildings. Not sure how much they cost but I would say in the neighborhood of 1100 for a 2 bedroom. There is a ton of medium quality housing where you can get like 700 or less for a one bedroom and 900 or less for a 2 bedroom. plenty of students also live in downtown Des Moines and I think that it is a good place to live if you like the hustle and bustle of a city (lol, who am I kidding. its more like a whisper of an occasional passing car). if you have a car you can migrate out west to the west des moines apartments which tend to be newer and nicer but you will have to think about the commute every morning. Once you fine people get accepted torwards the end of the year, you can hit me up and I will try to suggest specific apartment complexes that you can take a look at.


Des Moiners: absolutely. very nice group of people. Although like any other city, you can get some people that you will have to watch when being in close proximity to them, but that is a good habit to develop regardless.

Des Moines University-ers: they cool. people are mostly focused on their studies. There are parties that classmates will occasionally throw and then there are random mini meet ups at restaurants or bars especially after hard exam weeks.


Des Moines is as diverse as Iowa is gonna get. Its not diverse, per se. just more diverse than the more rural Iowa areas. the diversity of DMU is meh. not that diverse but I would give it a passing "Diversity Score". I just think that it is hard to convince people to move out to Des Moines from states that are way more diverse so I think, in my opinion, it is a self fulfilling prophecy.


The ethnic food in Des Moines has a reputation of being bland from people that have tried "the real deal". I think it is as good as you would expect from a city that is as diverse as Des Moines. not trying to throw any shade lol.


This winter was extremely mild in the state of Iowa. We had like 15 snowy days, if that. And when you wake up the next morning, most of it was gone. Last years winter was also mild but the 2017 one was exceptionally mild. Maybe by the time you folks show through, it will be nasty winters?



Hey thanks for the detailed responses....


How far is the hospital from the university? Is there travel required to other region of Iowa? I've never been to Iowa but does it get boring fast? I'm mostly worried about rotations during 3rd or 4th year and getting a good residency. Are the students easy to get along with and are the faculty supportive?
 
I got really confused with the application since it didn't say secondary


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Just called to confirm this. Damnit, I wish I tried harder on those questions now.
Got the email to sign up for an account today and was wondering where the secondary was. Totally wish I had known this beforehand-- I'm satisfied with my answers, but would have expanded a bit more on the "exposure to osteopathic medicine" one. Although, no extra secondary fee is nice!
 
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Really? No secondary fee and no extra questions? For some reason I have a feeling we'll be getting an email in a week about supplementary questions and a fee to submit. Fingers crossed this is all we had to do, though!

Really like this school based on what I've heard. How is the school atmosphere like? Is it fairly competitive or more collaborative and laid back?
 
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Just created an account. I think the primary had all the secondary questions. Just have to create an account.




Hey thanks for the detailed responses....


How far is the hospital from the university? Is there travel required to other region of Iowa? I've never been to Iowa but does it get boring fast? I'm mostly worried about rotations during 3rd or 4th year and getting a good residency. Are the students easy to get along with and are the faculty supportive?

We don't have a hospital associated with the university. We have a couple of "partnerships" (as far as I know, they are partnerships) with a couple of local hospitals in town. Those residency programs are filled with DMU alumni residents. for residency, do not be worried. by the time you get here, there will be more info out about the merger so you would be able to make a better decision about your future goals. DMU is a good school and they pride themselves in a 100% residency matching the past x number of years in a row.

Students are like at any other place. Im personally not here to make friends, so I dont really interact that much with classmates, but from what I have seen on the facebook group/on campus, people tend to get along and are pretty collaborative. On the flip side, there are a lot of people that give off a self-entitled vibe and there are students that tend to backstab one another by reporting them to admin in the hopes of getting them in trouble. But I would think thats everywhere. a bunch of people in medical schools "deserve to be in medical school because daddy or mommy are well established doctors". IDK. just be nice, tip toe lightly and you should be fine. there are plenty of chances to make friends here.

Faculty are great for the most part. No complaints there. If you don't understand something, they are usually more than happy to help out. Of course, there were courses that I thought were not taught efficiently or well, but thats a story for another day... plus those classes are few and far in between.

Edit: just realized I didnt answer your question about whether or not Iowa is boring. In my honest opinion, no. There is stuff to do as long as you are flexible. that being said, medical school is pretty busy, so alot of times you will have something that needs to get done, so no boredom haha
 
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I'm almost starting to wish there was a secondary for this school. It's one of my top choices and I really wish I had space to express that pre-interview.
 
Chiming in as another DMU student...

I have had a great experience with DMU thus far and I feel like what I saw on interview day, is pretty much what I'm getting as a student. Overall, my classmates are great. As @USMLE260BROOO mentioned, there is some petty drama here and there, but I think it has to do with the age and upbringing of certain classmates, rather than the school fostering such an environment. Friends at other schools have told me their class is the same or worse.

Our class is very collaborative and people tend to help each other out. I wouldn't say it's crazy competitive here, but it is med school so you do have some random gunners and people who just study all the time, like you do at any school. There are plenty of "normal" people here who get their work done and do well, but also hang out with classmates, have hobbies, etc. It's all about balance! I'm very laidback personality wise (competitive with myself but not others) and the school vibe suits me.

As far as medical opportunities outside of school, there is plenty to be had in Des Moines whether it's free clinic work, research, etc. If there's something you want to do, you can make it work!

Feel free to PM me with any questions. Good luck to those applying!
 
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Received a Des Moines University Application Complete e-mail today at 4:27 PM CST after creating a profile about a week ago. Only thing is my DO letter is still not in. She's struggling to get it to the right format :/ I've been texting her non-stop to get that in..am wondering if the letter will still be considered since it sounded like from the e-mail they have everything they need, haha!

Also chiming in about secondaries, DMU has a chat feature you can use to talk with admissions. I used that for a MCAT/GPA question back in May, and that's when they told me they aren't doing a secondary this year and the question in the primary is their secondary. I wish I was active here sooner so I could've let ya'll know...but I'm sure you all wrote great things on the primary!
 
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Received a Des Moines University Application Complete e-mail today at 4:27 PM CST after creating a profile about a week ago. Only thing is my DO letter is still not in. She's struggling to get it to the right format :/ I've been texting her non-stop to get that in..am wondering if the letter will still be considered since it sounded like from the e-mail they have everything they need, haha!

Also chiming in about secondaries, DMU has a chat feature you can use to talk with admissions. I used that for a MCAT/GPA question back in May, and that's when they told me they aren't doing a secondary this year and the question in the primary is their secondary. I wish I was active here sooner so I could've let ya'll know...but I'm sure you all wrote great things on the primary!
My response was alright...not terrible, but if I had known there wasn't a secondary I would've addressed the whole "why DMU" thing more because it's one of my top choices and I feel like I didn't get a chance to express that in the primary question thing.
 
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How long did it take for people's "account pending activation" emails to come in? I suppose I'm just used to making accounts on other websites cause this feels like its taking a bit.
 
Just got an II!!!! Super excited!
 
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When did you get the "application complete" email?

I'm looking through my email and I never appeared to have received one. I mean like, I got the application acknowledgement and invitation to create an account if that's what you're talking about, but after logging in, it says that DMU received all my stuff on 6/26.
 
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I'm looking through my email and I never appeared to have received one. I mean like, I got the application acknowledgement and invitation to create an account if that's what you're talking about, but after logging in, it says that DMU received all my stuff on 6/26.
Hey congrats leturbinator!
 
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Anyone else have everything as received except for the "Complete DMU Applicant File" in tab #4? Mine has said this same thing ever since everything has been received on 7/2.
 
Anyone else have everything as received except for the "Complete DMU Applicant File" in tab #4? Mine has said this same thing ever since everything has been received on 7/2.

I have that same issue. I was thinking about calling admissions tomorrow. I'll let you know what they say!
 
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Just got an II!!!! Super excited!
Congrats!! They're early this year, holy cow! My brother and two friends have interviewed there, all loved it and I hope you will too. I was complete 7/11, hoping for good news eventually!
 
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Yeah! It got sent to me last night at 9 PM via email.
So exciting!! I'm not complete at this school yet (waiting on committee letter) but it's a top choice for me. I'm sure you'll rock your interview!!!! Have fun!
 
I will preface this by saying that your impression of des moines is heavily dependent on where you are coming from. so I will give you my opinion in addition to facts about each topic.


4 seasons. easily 0-30 degrees the entire winter (from November til early March). Hot and stupid humid in the summer. Spring and fall are the gem seasons. Fall its beautiful, on the colder side, but still manageable. Spring there is a lot of blooming going on and 60-75 degree weather so basically very nice. The airport is very close. There is a wide variety of markets and grocery you can choose from. From school, downtown is a hop a skip and a leap away so its nice going down there just to hang out after a tough exam. if you go west, you will hit a very nice suburb of des moines called *wait for it. drum roll please* West Des Moines. I didnt go there often but when I did go I really liked it a lot. The bus system is useful if you dont have a car... a lot of my colleagues used to take it if there was something going on in the downtown area.


This one heavily depends on where you came from. for me it was cheaper from where I used to live but for people from the coasts, it is way cheaper. I havent talked to anybody that has complained about living costs in des moines. Also you can have your pick of whether you want to live lavishly or simply. Lavish apartments close to school are scarce but I can think of a couple buildings. Not sure how much they cost but I would say in the neighborhood of 1100 for a 2 bedroom. There is a ton of medium quality housing where you can get like 700 or less for a one bedroom and 900 or less for a 2 bedroom. plenty of students also live in downtown Des Moines and I think that it is a good place to live if you like the hustle and bustle of a city (lol, who am I kidding. its more like a whisper of an occasional passing car). if you have a car you can migrate out west to the west des moines apartments which tend to be newer and nicer but you will have to think about the commute every morning. Once you fine people get accepted torwards the end of the year, you can hit me up and I will try to suggest specific apartment complexes that you can take a look at.


Des Moiners: absolutely. very nice group of people. Although like any other city, you can get some people that you will have to watch when being in close proximity to them, but that is a good habit to develop regardless.

Des Moines University-ers: they cool. people are mostly focused on their studies. There are parties that classmates will occasionally throw and then there are random mini meet ups at restaurants or bars especially after hard exam weeks.


Des Moines is as diverse as Iowa is gonna get. Its not diverse, per se. just more diverse than the more rural Iowa areas. the diversity of DMU is meh. not that diverse but I would give it a passing "Diversity Score". I just think that it is hard to convince people to move out to Des Moines from states that are way more diverse so I think, in my opinion, it is a self fulfilling prophecy.


The ethnic food in Des Moines has a reputation of being bland from people that have tried "the real deal". I think it is as good as you would expect from a city that is as diverse as Des Moines. not trying to throw any shade lol.


This winter was extremely mild in the state of Iowa. We had like 15 snowy days, if that. And when you wake up the next morning, most of it was gone. Last years winter was also mild but the 2017 one was exceptionally mild. Maybe by the time you folks show through, it will be nasty winters?


And they have a tunnel system connecting the majority of their buildings. One of their slogans has been "It's always 72 at DMU" :)
 
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