Midwestern-AZ SMP Discussion

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chief0523 said:
I know I have been posting a lot, but I had a question about the lecture style of Midwestern. I was wondering if they had online access to their lectures. I understand attending class is important and I will be there however, these help so much when it comes to studying and reviewing notes. Also do the professors supply notes for students via powerpoint etc. I know some schools such as USC have both and following their site helped a lot with my undergrad Immunology course.

Thanks for the help.
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They post lectures in PDF or PowerPoint format on Blackboard. You will also get a hand out of the lectures in class so you don't have to use up all your ink. The only class that didn't print out the notes for us was histology and anatomy. Those 2 classes only gave us an outline of the notes with no pics (however they still do post the powerpoints on blackboard so you could choose to print them yourself). Btw, every single class is pretty much PowerPoint. I think the dry erase board might have been used like 2 and a half times this year.
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jslo85 said:
I appreciate the time you took to write out a well thought response of how you feel the situation is so I'll respond. I respect your viewpoint and feel that it is a good mindset to go into the graduate program with, but I do feel that you are somewhat misinformed. I just ask that you read the entire response before commenting because I'll try to answer potential questions about certain statements I make throughout the post.

Osteopathic "SMPs" or certificate programs can't be compared to allopathic equivalent programs because osteopathic schools have no formal ranking nor do their programs have a great reputation (possible because of the former) outside of their own school. Everyone recognizes Georgetown SMP and programs such as Tufts MBS or BU MAMS as top tier SMP programs for the reason that they are widely recognized by Adcoms and school officials across the nation. Unfortunately for osteopathic programs, this is not the case because most osteopathic schools, if their name is not KCOM/PCOM/CCOM or DMU-COM, are mainly recognized/reputable within their own region. Just the same, students who are aiming for allopathic schools generally stay away from osteopathic SMPs and choose to attend allopathic SMPs for the general reasoning that Adcoms will not place as high of an emphasis on their graduate grades/coursework since osteopathic schools are generally not as well known.

Thus the question is raised why would someone choose to attend an osteopathic SMP? Osteopathic SMPs in general have traditionally been regarded as offering a strong linkage into their medical school off of their Masters/certificate programs by using it as a screening/stepping stone program.

Examples below:
Excerpts from ATSU KCOM Handbook

http://www.atsu.edu/kcom/admissions...on/pdfs/BMS Admissions Process_1, 11.7.08.pdf
"In addition, the prescreening process will attempt to ascertain your suitability for the program. Since the majority of applicants aspire to move from the Masters program to the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program (or another professional program, such as dental), it is important to discern your potential to move into such programs at the conclusion of the Masters program."

"Graduate students who are interested in applying for admission to either the DO program or another post-graduate program, are encouraged to submit their application at the conclusion of the spring quarter. At this time, the student’s DO courses and most of the Graduate Program courses have been completed, which helps ensure that the Admissions Committee will have a good sense of the student’s academic ability, as well as their personal and professional characteristics." (During interviews, this was translated into "we treat the program as a year long interview")

Touro NV
E-mail correspondence with the Director of Admissions

4. Q: Is the program relatively new because I would like to learn about
Touro-NV MHS' acceptance rate into medical school if such a thing were
available.
A:Out of the last class, five out of the seven were admitted into our DO class of 2014.

"We like to keep our students" ~ Oscar Parra

Nova Southeastern University MBS
Not faculty or handbook but from "credible sources" who are all MBS students or D1-D3s at Nova
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=8127304&postcount=124

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=8342475&postcount=139

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=8523600&postcount=142

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=8352289&postcount=140

**************************************************

I cited those messages/excerpts/quotes above to show a very common trend that osteopathic SMPs are catered and predisposed to accept back their own students. I don't see why this is so hard of a concept to grasp. They take the same classes/courses as the medical/dental students, the same exams, and the same instructors and are required to score an 80% or better. This translates into they have to score just as well if not better than the current medical school class that was accepted. The whole purpose of the application process and having a complete application is to allow Adcoms to predict/gauge as accurately as possible whether an applicant is capable of successfully making their way through medical school. I can understand that there may be some questions raised about that if you apply to other institutions but not the same medical school where you took the equivalent coursework as their accepted medical students and scored just as well as their current average if not better. You just proved you can be successful and excel and have solid evidence of a year's worth of grades.

You made a point of asking "when is it AZCOM's responsibility to accept students from their master's program." AZCOM's MA program tuition is:

Biomedical Science M.A. $31,421

I don't know about you, but that's a hell of a lot of money in my opinion for a "formality interview" and a 20% acceptance rate (read on to find out where the 20% came from and yes I know this is only at the minute and there may/probably will be mobility on the list in the future). I know of many schools who have an equivalent tuition cost if not cheaper for their medical students. The class size of the MBS program is said to be 17 on their website for Glendale and TheCloser just commented that about 20 people in his class applied. I'll estimate that to be roughly 1/2 of the students in the MA program (forgive me if I'm wrong in this assumption). Of those 20 students, 4 were accepted and 16 waitlisted. Out of 20 who applied (i'm assuming they qualified for the "formality" interview), 20% were accepted. That's saying you at the very least met the medical school average (80%) if not exceeded and had 1 full standard deviation on the MCAT above that of the accepted students. Really? Only 20% for doing that well in an intensive program that costs about 31,000 in tuition? I really do hope that everyone that does qualify ends up getting accepted (even if they got in elsewhere and would rather go elsewhere).

The whole point of my complaint about AZCOM waitlisting students that got into other schools (NSU/CCOM being better schools and yes I do stand by this statement) is very wrong in my opinion. If the students did just as well if not better for a year's worth of medical school classes from AZCOM, possesses as a full standard deviation higher on the MCAT than the accepted students, and takes into consideration that the class size has increased from 150 -> 250 medical students, (breathe for air, long sentence I know), why are proven students being waitlisted yet attending equivalent if not better schools? They paid 31,000 dollars on top of having very valid credentials, this just is hard for me to comprehend the logic behind this.

I am not going to go into detail why these schools are better. If you want to read some "interesting things", here is a link. (again, my point is not to stir up controversy, I just don't want to outline all of CCOM and NSU's board scores, 3rd/4th year rotations, etc):

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=403336

The last point I'm going to address is the one about "schools not having SMPs or people not getting into them." Yes you are absolutely right, not all osteopathic schools have SMPs. The thing is the a large portion of them do.

LECOM-> Biomedical Certificate/ M.S
PCOM -> MBS (GA) MBS (PA) Certificate (PA)
NSU -> MBS
TCOM - GSBS
UMDNJ -> MBS
VCOM -> Biomedical Certificate
Touro NY -> M.S.
Touro NV -> M.H.S
KCUMB -> MBS
WCOMP -> M.H.S
ATSU-KCOM-> MBS
LMU-DCOM -> Medical Sci. post bacc

There's probably more but that's all I could come up off the top of my head for osteopathic SMPs and not osteopathic pre-req post-bacc programs (NYCOM/UNECOM/etc).

In response to your other point of "maybe they didn't get into another SMP." I kind of question how they would get into a program (AZCOM) that has a larger acceptance class and a required phone interview and not any others. It's definitely possible but just perusing through the PCOM thread and of those that posted their stats, I'm seeing people with a 2.8 getting in and on PCOM's website, they state their average for those admitted in 2008-2009 as being:

MCAT: Physical = 6.88 Verbal = 7.01 Biological = 7.48

I would like to think that the AZCOM MA students who passed the "formality interview" requirements having a full standard deviation above the accepted medical school average MCAT as being higher than a 20-21 that PCOM has stated here. Then there's LECOM's 1 year program, KCUMB's program etc. who all have roughly equivalent applicant stats. Oh yes, PCOM only accepts 17 in their MBS class as well according to their website. That's already less than the 50% of the MA class that TheCloser estimates applied to AZCOM. None of the other 1 year programs require a phone interview either :( They're all substantially cheaper than 31,000 as well.

What's the point I'm trying to get across over this all? It really doesn't seem like AZCOM's MA/MBS program is any easier to get into than its osteopathic counterparts. It's substantially more expensive as well. So it brings me to wonder why would people want to attend AZCOM's MA program if not for the reason that they like the school and want to go there? There may be those who live in the area and wish to stay close to home but I can't seem to imagine there being a majority of these people. TheCloser already stated that many of his fellow students are angry because they thought that their performance on the program would at the very least carry some weight into the admissions process. I think from the very beginning of this incredibly long post, that these programs are regarded very highly by the same school and apparently this is echoed in the sentiments of TheCloser's classmates.

I apologize again for the long post. These are my own viewpoints/opinions that I have gained from spending way too much time on these boards and researching other programs and if you wish to respond, I would very much like to hear your input, but please at least read through my post and provide some concrete/credible evidence if you wish to respond against it.
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I just wanted to bump this post up because it was very good (I'm guessing it wasn't copy or pasted anywhere else) and I would like to address a few things.

First off, it is a new program so there are kinks to be worked out. It is fairly expensive, but again, hopefully you did your research before coming out. I applied to 4 SMPs and this one was the best option out of the acceptances.

As for what is happening with TheCloser and others who are waitlisted at AZCOM, you must remember that very few SMPs have guaranteed acceptances and not all even have guaranteed interviews. It's unfortunate that there are still many MA students on the waitlist, but there are still other facts like gpa and MCAT.

As for the weight of the program adding to the application, it helps but again, it's not going to help in the empirical way that taking another MCAT and scoring higher will. I visited admissions near every week and reminded them that I was in the MA program until my interview and mine was also very early (September). Before I had any grades in the SMP, I got the interview and was accepted a month later. I used the SMP to improve my chances at other schools, but the 'weight' was much less significant.

I believe that choosing this SMP means you mainly want to go into MWU-AZ Dental, Pod, Opt, or AZCOM. I can't argue that this program will help you in a broader sense, because for me, it didn't and I hope I didn't claim that it did. If you're down with VCOM or LECOM-E, go to their SMP. It makes a lot more sense.

Unfortunately, the power of the SMP can vary and in some cases can be a product of sheer luck and/or timing. Very few schools guarantee anything (ex. Temple and their dental program) but have specific pre-reqs and tend to be fairly competitive. There is no easy "back-door" method, so think hard before doing any SMP.
 
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Flushot said:
I just wanted to bump this post up because it was very good (I'm guessing it wasn't copy or pasted anywhere else) and I would like to address a few things.

First off, it is a new program so there are kinks to be worked out. It is fairly expensive, but again, hopefully you did your research before coming out. I applied to 4 SMPs and this one was the best option out of the acceptances.

As for what is happening with TheCloser and others who are waitlisted at AZCOM, you must remember that very few SMPs have guaranteed acceptances and not all even have guaranteed interviews. It's unfortunate that there are still many MA students on the waitlist, but there are still other facts like gpa and MCAT.

As for the weight of the program adding to the application, it helps but again, it's not going to help in the empirical way that taking another MCAT and scoring higher will. I visited admissions near every week and reminded them that I was in the MA program until my interview and mine was also very early (September). Before I had any grades in the SMP, I got the interview and was accepted a month later. I used the SMP to improve my chances at other schools, but the 'weight' was much less significant.

I believe that choosing this SMP means you mainly want to go into MWU-AZ Dental, Pod, Opt, or AZCOM. I can't argue that this program will help you in a broader sense, because for me, it didn't and I hope I didn't claim that it did. If you're down with VCOM or LECOM-E, go to their SMP. It makes a lot more sense.

Unfortunately, the power of the SMP can vary and in some cases can be a product of sheer luck and/or timing. Very few schools guarantee anything (ex. Temple and their dental program) but have specific pre-reqs and tend to be fairly competitive. There is no easy "back-door" method, so think hard before doing any SMP.
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Thank you this was what I was trying to address in that long post of mine.

I felt that the point of this all was not to paint the MA program in a negative light nor point fingers at the AZCOM administration but I was surprised that they accepted so few (only 20% of the MA class that applied) of their own successful students. I've posted again and again in this forum that osteopathic SMPs are strongly linkage based and I was appaled that the numbers for the MA program were so low to enter the Fall MS class when they've had to do so much (tuition, classes, etc). SDN members disagreed and we had a small argument and that was that.
 
I just graduated from the MA program and am on the alternate list as well. I am posting this because I have some books from first quarter for sell. PM me if you are interested.
 
Hey so do you feel like you are a lot more ready for med school? what is your overall feeling on the program now that you are done?
 
When is the best time to retake the MCAT before the program starts, during the program like in January, or after? I asked this question during my interview and they recommended that students should wait until after the program is complete to retake the MCAT. I haven't decided when I will apply to the DO program, but in the mean time I am studying for the MCAT. I have read in this thread that its best to do the mcat before the MA program starts but I wanted to take advantage of the MCAT prep the program offers, so I am just weighing all of the options. So I just wanted to know for the student who applied to their professional program while in the MA when did you retake your MCATs ?
 
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Taking the MCAT during the program is a difficult choice. If you're hoping for AZCOM or AZPOD acceptance during your term there, I would recommend before this year is over, i.e., before January. If you are applying for the next cycle, April-summer is fine.

I would base it off of your application time, not the prep course the MA program offers unless this is the first time you are taking the MCAT or you have no formal preparation (no Kaplan or TPR). Then, I might consider waiting until after the course to take it but early applications tend to be in better positions.

Don't underestimate the value of an early application. If you want examples, take a look through the current AZCOM 09-10 discussion thread and you will find all of the current waitlisters finished their application and interviewed after January. There's only 2 people I can think of that go waitlisted or rejected before then and they have offers at other schools, so they'll be fine.

tl;dr - Take the MCAT at a time that allows you to apply early, if possible. Applying early in the cycle is extremely important.
 
I'm just curious, are there opportunities for pre-med biomedical students to get involved with campus activities such as different clubs etc as a way of boosting EC/resume..I'd appreciate if past MA students could comment and tell me about their non-academic experience.
Thanks
 
jmkgoll said:
I'm just curious, are there opportunities for pre-med biomedical students to get involved with campus activities such as different clubs etc as a way of boosting EC/resume..I'd appreciate if past MA students could comment and tell me about their non-academic experience.
Thanks
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Yes, you are allowed to join all student run groups and organizations. A few people were in the sports medicine club, OB/GYN club...etc. Also, there are elections at the beginning of the quarter and you can run for class pres, vp, sec, treasurer and representative. I held office and didn't have to do all to much but got to add one more thing to my app. The college of health sciences (the one the biomed program is in), puts on a couple of events where you can rack up some community service hours (for example: safe halloween, easter fest, a night around the world, cuts for kids...). There are plenty of opportunities so take advantage of them b/c only a couple of my classmates did.
 
So I am thinking about doing the Midwestern SMP program to boost my chances for dental school. Have anyone heard anything about the percentages of getting into dental school after finishing the program? I know that the program itself is not as well known as the others out their and it pretty much only helps with getting into MWSOD, but has anyone out heard of any other successful applicant that went elsewhere or thought the year is worthwhile?
 
TheCloser said:
Yes, you are allowed to join all student run groups and organizations. A few people were in the sports medicine club, OB/GYN club...etc. Also, there are elections at the beginning of the quarter and you can run for class pres, vp, sec, treasurer and representative. I held office and didn't have to do all to much but got to add one more thing to my app. The college of health sciences (the one the biomed program is in), puts on a couple of events where you can rack up some community service hours (for example: safe halloween, easter fest, a night around the world, cuts for kids...). There are plenty of opportunities so take advantage of them b/c only a couple of my classmates did.
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Thanks for the info. I know of similar opportunities at other schools and just wanted to see if as biomeds we would have a chance to do things outside of classroom at MWU.
 
danny0316 said:
So I am thinking about doing the Midwestern SMP program to boost my chances for dental school. Have anyone heard anything about the percentages of getting into dental school after finishing the program? I know that the program itself is not as well known as the others out their and it pretty much only helps with getting into MWSOD, but has anyone out heard of any other successful applicant that went elsewhere or thought the year is worthwhile?
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I am not seeking admission to dental programs but I've heard the following schools people have gotten into this year: Western, UNLV, USC, Oklahoma, and of course Midwestern-AZ (keep in mind Midwestern-IL is opening a dental school next year I believe so people will have a chance there also). And a 2 year MBS got into Baylor and a couple of other schools. Again, I'd only recommend this program if your MCAT/DAT is solid and ONLY your GPA needed work. Everyone getting into programs had solid test scores and only needed a little boost in their GPAs.
 
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danny0316 said:
So I am thinking about doing the Midwestern SMP program to boost my chances for dental school. Have anyone heard anything about the percentages of getting into dental school after finishing the program? I know that the program itself is not as well known as the others out their and it pretty much only helps with getting into MWSOD, but has anyone out heard of any other successful applicant that went elsewhere or thought the year is worthwhile?
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The previous poster already covered most of it, but the only thing I would add is that there really is no reliable data because the MA-biomed program is only entering it's third year of existence. A good number of people apply after the program so it takes two years to even come up with a single set of numbers from one class as to how successful the program was.

From my experience as a pre-dental person that has just finished the program, it seems as if the people who got in this year didn't really need the program as they already had GPAs above a 3.2 and DAT scores in the 20s. The people who have actually needed this program to have a shot at getting in to dental school, those success stories have not been written yet.
 
For those interested: Today was the first day the alternate list for AZCOM opened up and a few of the MA students were accepted including myself.
 
Does anyone know if its possible to transfer your MA application to the MBS application? Or is it too late in the cycle to even consider applying to MBS. I'm placed on the alternate list for the MA program so I was just wondering what my options were.
 
Isn't the MA class a bit less than twice the size of the MBS class though?
 
Lucky98 said:
Does anyone know if its possible to transfer your MA application to the MBS application? Or is it too late in the cycle to even consider applying to MBS. I'm placed on the alternate list for the MA program so I was just wondering what my options were.
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You should be able to do this. I'd call or email Dr. Bell and ask him the specifics though. They accept people all the way up until the week before orientation so there is still lots of time left. You just can't switch from the MA to the MBS once you start because both programs take different classes and the MBS kids start their research stuff during year 1.
 
jslo85 said:
Isn't the MA class a bit less than twice the size of the MBS class though?
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Class of 2010:

MA - 65 graduates
MBS - 15 graduates

Note that this is not the amount that were accepted. People have dropped out due to grades, getting in to professional school somewhere else mid-program, etc.
 
Oh I see okay thanks Divided.

I was looking at the MBS websites for both AZCOM and CCOM and didnt' see the class size for AZCOM but saw the 25 for CCOM and did a guesstimate.

On a side note, the MA class seems to have grown in size to graduate 65 students. I remember reading a past (a while ago) post that had the MA class at 40 some.
 
So how are the classes like for the MBS programs? I have seen in the previous posts that you have to be prepared to work hard and stuff. Is it really that hard to get a good grade since its designed to help students get into professional school? Anyone have a real concrete example on the grading scheme, level of difficulty, and what it is like being a student in the program?
 
jslo85 said:
Oh I see okay thanks Divided.

I was looking at the MBS websites for both AZCOM and CCOM and didnt' see the class size for AZCOM but saw the 25 for CCOM and did a guesstimate.

On a side note, the MA class seems to have grown in size to graduate 65 students. I remember reading a past (a while ago) post that had the MA class at 40 some.
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No problem, man. The program is only entering its third year so it must have been last years class, if that. It seemed to function just fine with 70+ people in it though so I wouldn't worry about class sizes too much.

Danny: The courses for the MBS program are basically the same as the MA program but you guys take a few more extra courses in the first year and you have a whole second year of research.

As for the difficulty, it is definitely not undergraduate level kind of work. Just because it's designed to get students into professional school does not make it easy, rather you have to be wiling to work for it to prove you belong in professional school. All courses follow a standard grading scheme with no curve: >93% = A, 90-93 = A-, so on and so forth. It is difficult to get good grades, but if you study hard enough there shouldn't be too much trouble.
 
Hey everyone

I am renting out a large 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, and a walk - in closet in a 2 bedroom/ 2 bath house near MWU. It is in a great, safe neighborhood near shopping (close to Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Fries, Dollar stores, everything you can think of).

House is only 3 miles (7 minute drive from campus) and I am asking for only 400 dollars to move in a month. This includes your rent. A parking spot is offered on the driveway. You will be asked to submit a 200 dollar refundable security deposit for a 12 month lease. Move in will be around August (we can decide this together).

Compare this to 600+ rent for living on campus.

Includes: washer, microwave, refrigerator (all new). You will be room-ing with me, a student at MWU. I'm really chill, will let you do about anything, and will give you the peace and quiet you need to study.

Call me at 323-475-8628 if you are interested.
 
Hey, classes start in like a month and a half, I don't know anybody (obviously), but I am thinking that I'd rather have a roommate and pay 400-500 a month than pay 900 a month. I'm flying to Glendale sometime next month to look for places, but I'm thinking San Prado or San Lagos are the obvious choices. Anybody interested? Not a big time partier (at least not trying to be in Glendale), I'm planning on rocking this program and staying focused as best I can. Very clean, easy to get along with. Shoot me a PM and maybe we can exchange some info. See everyone in a few months!
 
Hi everyone. I was put on the alternate list after my interview at MWU for the biomedical sciences program. I was just wondering what are my chances of getting off the alternate list? Are there any people who were taken off the list in the last year class? Thanks!
 
Hey guys,

I just got accepted today into Midwestern's MA Program.

Is there a facebook group we can all join so we can get to know each other, talk about classes, housing, etc?

If not, I'll make one and post it up here!

Congrats to everyone else! :)
 
Thanks!! More people have to join!

Has everyone figured out their living situations yet? Based on what I've been reading from these posts, I think the majority of people are planning on living in San Prado or San Lagos?

I think San Prado is a lot closer to the Midwestern campus, even though San Lagos is a 12 minute drive with the freeway.

Is anyone looking for roommates?
 
khentoog182 said:
Thanks!! More people have to join!

Has everyone figured out their living situations yet? Based on what I've been reading from these posts, I think the majority of people are planning on living in San Prado or San Lagos?

I think San Prado is a lot closer to the Midwestern campus, even though San Lagos is a 12 minute drive with the freeway.

Is anyone looking for roommates?
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Both San Lagos and San Prado are equally as close. The only difference is that people living in San Prado go into campus using the front entrance and people living in San Lagos use the back entrance via swipping their ID card. (Both are literally right across the street)
 
I'm just going to offer my opinion here as a third party.

You shouldn't be going to an SMP and focusing solely on your MCAT. If as you say, your goal is an MD school, your cGPA isn't stellar but with your sGPA, you still fall within the lower end of the competitive range with a strong MCAT (34+).

Generally speaking, people who aim for an SMP have a serious deficiency in their application either in GPA or MCAT (usually the latter) of which you fortunately don't qualify for (yet). I'm guessing you haven't submitted your AMCAS either and though the verification process is generally fast (compared to AACOMAS from what I've heard), by taking the MCAT in August you would be getting your score back in September putting you midway into the cycle for applying which is a bad thing. Obviously you probably know to submit as early as possible.

Another thing to know as well which you can verify from other posts in this thread especially by Flushot, Midwestern's MBS is generally not widely known in the past outside of MWU thus most of their students go back into their school (again this is my opinion based off what I've read). Thus, if you really wanted to go into allopathic school if you had to attend an SMP, I would make the sacrafice to attend an allopathic SMP (Gtown, BU MAMS, VCU CERT, RFU MBS, UCinn, EVMS, etc) instead. But as I had said before, imo you do not need an SMP and you'd be far better off studying and doing well on your MCAT and continuing E.Cs.
 
No that's fine, it makes things alot more clear that way.

The benefit that you'd get from AZCOM's SMP does not equal the risk/cost/time with your current stats in my opinion, especially not if you're aiming for allopathic school.

To speak generally, osteopathic SMPs are known for their linkages back to their own medical/dental school for successful students and outside of only a few (2-3), most are only well known within their immediate region. This means you go to an osteopathic SMP to attend their medical school realistically or another osteopathic school. Specifically, MWU's MBS programs (CCOM and AZCOM) are also not "known" for sending most of their students elsewhere either (someone can correct me on this if they have substantial evidence) as compared to traditionally more established programs such as PCOM-PA's MBS. Are there people who get into allopathic school each year coming out of osteopathic SMPs? Absolutely but the number is very low compared to allopathic SMPs. More often than not, you can talk to admissions counselors at an allopathic school about such and such osteopathic SMP and they'll be like "William Carey University? What? Where's that???" Point is allopathic schools don't recognize many osteopathic schools by name and at the end of the day, the fact that you took courses at AZCOM won't have much basis. The reputation of a school/program goes a long way in helping admission and attending an osteopathic SMP for allopathic school, especially AZCOM isn't going to help much. I am not trying to put down any school in any manner, this is simply my thoughts. That said, I honestly believe I know more about osteopathic programs than most in this subforum so i'll just put that out there whether you want to listen to it or take it witha grain of salt.

Then you throw on the cost which is also substantial for AZCOM's MBS program. It's 26,866/year according to the MWU Glendale website. That's significant for a program which is 2 years whose efficacy for someone with your GPA is so dubious. You'd be sitting at roughly 54,000 when it's all said and done, not counting other COA. But that might not be substantial because it sounds like you're living around that area.

Then finally your GPA is higher than any would suggest to attend an SMP. It's just not worth the risk. Currently when Adcoms will look at your appliation (i'm not considering trends or whether you had bad grades in crucial pre-req classes but your GPA in general), they see an applicant with a 3.75 sGPA and a 3.45 cGPA. Why would you want to tamper with that? Unless you were assured (somehow) that you would obtain a 4.0 in the program, it would not even be an improvement. You can read anywhere in these forums, no senior SDN member will tell you with a GPA higher than a 3.6 to attend an SMP. Generally we don't even tell members with a 3.5 and over to attend one much less a lesser known expensive osteopathic SMP for allopathic school.

Study hard for your MCAT and continue to gather more E.Cs. and LOR and apply right out next June, early and broadly. Save your money for an medical school interview book and travel plans or buy your wife something nice, I don't know. But you stand to lose far too much to possibly gain something quite minimal by attending an osteopathic SMP.
 
So for the personal statement applying to the MA program, is that really important and what do you guys write in it? Do you just write about your experiences, and maybe explain about your low gpa, and the reasons why I want to get into professional school, in my case dental? Thanks.
 
jslo85: Thanks a lot for your feedback. I am contacting the schools I'm interested in to see if they have any thoughts on the program. $30,000 is a lot to spend without knowing the benefits it will provide.

danny: I explained to them any negative stats (eg. low GPA) and explained exactly why I will be very successful through their program and how certain I am that I will do whatever it takes to get into my professional program of choice.
 
You need to fill out the application, it tells you as you go through. I think it had to be less than 500 words.
 
It doesnt say in the online application specifically how many words or how long. Are you sure its only 500 words? It seems rather short to me.
 
I just double checked my personal statement, and it was 340 words. If it doesn't specify on the application then I can't be sure of their cap.
 
Does anyone know if there are still available apartments on campus? Jose, the person in charge of student housing is out of the office for the next two weeks, and student services is pretty much clueless in terms of housing info.
 
Just wanted all you future prospects to know that about 14-16 MA students have gotten into AZCOM for this upcoming year out of the 20ish that have applied (5 got in outright, and about 10 have been moved off of the waitlist). I expect that the above 80% notion will most likely hold true.
 
Would you know how many students from the MA program got into Midwestern's dental school as well?
 
khentoog182 said:
Would you know how many students from the MA program got into Midwestern's dental school as well?
Click to expand...

6 of the 16 people I know got in this year from the MA program who applied this year, which puts it at about 37% (4 are actually attending, the other two are going someplace else). However, of the 10 people who got rejected, 5 are on the wait-list and 4 got accepted somewhere else while being rejected from their own school.
 
Last edited:
DividedByZero said:
6 of the 16 people I know got in this year from the MA program who applied this year, which puts it at about 37% (4 are actually attending, the other two are going someplace else). However, of the 9 people who got rejected, 5 are on the wait-list and 4 got accepted somewhere else while being rejected from their own school.
Click to expand...

Sounds about right. I am not that in tune with the status of the dental kids but it is definitely harder to get into the dental program than AZCOM. This is probably due to the sheer size of the two classes (AZCOM-250, dental-100).
 
It seems like a couple of you are alumni. Can you give any feedback on the 'do-ability' of studying for the MCAT during the first two quarters?

Looking at the course list, I see a lot of classes that will really help with Bio content. I just have no idea how many hours will be required to keep a good (perfect?) GPA in the program.

Also, I see that I can register for an MCAT prep course through Midwestern. Any feeedback?
 
rjns11 said:
It seems like a couple of you are alumni. Can you give any feedback on the 'do-ability' of studying for the MCAT during the first two quarters?

Looking at the course list, I see a lot of classes that will really help with Bio content. I just have no idea how many hours will be required to keep a good (perfect?) GPA in the program.

Also, I see that I can register for an MCAT prep course through Midwestern. Any feeedback?
Click to expand...


It can be done, but I wouldn't recommend it. While you are in the program you should focus on doing well and getting good grades. With that said, the MCAT class requires a lot of work and time and you actually get a letter grade for it. I think like 6 people out of the 65 that graduated actually completed the 2 full quarters of it. If you think you can handle all the work I'd sign up for the MCAT class and then drop it within 2 weeks if it's just too much work.
 
I had my phone interview with Dr. Sudhindra on 7 July and was admitted to the M.A. program on 9 July. I'm really looking forward to starting! :) I have lived in AZ since 2005 and know a fair amount about the best places to live, eat, shop, etc... If there's anyone that will be attending MWU this year and is in need of info about where to live or whatever, send me a note. See yall in August!
 
I'm going to be in Glendale next Friday-Monday (23rd-26th). I am looking for a male roommate, however I don't want to room with someone I don't know unless they are in the M.A. or go to MWU (aka will be studying all the time). SO, anybody else in the same boat, and wanna take a look at some places next weekend? I just figure a roomie will help me to live closer for less. PM if you're interested or post something on the FB group wall.
 
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