DD from East Cost is attening Rhodes College in Memphis TN, and was accepted to DO LECOM program. I am not sure how merit is done for RD. She applied EA last year… So far solid school with good students but maybe not for everyone due to location and core requirements (biblical based).
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The smartest kid in my class went to CUNY. The first person to drop out went to Yale. YMMV.
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@momsearcheng Could you please clarify a bit: your DD is attending Rhodes having applied EA last year? So she’s first year or a sophomore?
Wondering how one would apply to LECOM so early
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She is first year. You can apply to LECOM 5 different ways:
- Using SAT as High School student and attending school in agreement with LECOM. This is what my daughter did.
- Attend school in agreement with LECOM and apply while you are a freshman or sophomore using your SAT score and GPA. This is what DD’s friend did and got accepted too during the first semester at Rhodes.
- Apply from any school as freshman or sophomore (again you need SAT during HS + College GPA), but then you need to transfer to school that is in agreement with LECOM and take all required premed classes in that school.
- Apply after graduation from any college using SAT scores (taken prior to HS graduation) and GPA in college + rest of application + interview to LECOM. No MCAT is necessary. The acceptance rate is low.
- Apply after graduation using MCAT and rest package as any other normal medical application process.
Note, there is a catch.
LECOM has agreement with MANY schools. Most schools are small and religious.
Because there are so many schools there is a cap for the number of seats per school per year. For example, you want to attend Juniata. You applied late in the process and got accepted to LECOM. Ups, all seats for your year are already reserved at Juniata. You cannot attend Juniata and get to LECOM. In that case, you either do not go to LECOM or find another school on the list that still has spots for your graduation year…
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Wow, thank you for this. I have family that went to DO school but didn’t see this option way back in the day. Could work great for the right students!
Yep, if student is absolutely sure about the medical route, fine with DO and LECOM, and fine with list of schools that LECOM works with. At some schools like Binchampton or St. Bonaventure, or many PA schools LECOM is very popular. At others like Rhodes in TN which is very far from LECOM (with DO locations in FL, PA or NY) are not popular among students. Also, most students in Rhodes are dreaming about Georgetown or some top schools and do not consider LECOM attractive.
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@RWatterson, another big problem for the majority of students is that 90% of schools from the LECOM list are private (very few public schools have fierce competition for LECOM spots). Therefore, unless you are an extremely smart low-income student who agrees to go in the middle of nowhere or can score top scholarship somewhere, you need to pay for both undergrad and medical school. Undergraduate schools on the list are not loan-free or generous for full ride, so students can’t count on it. As a result, this route may be cost-prohibitive for most students. In addition, ambitious students with high GPA, top SAT scores, and ton of clinical volunteer hours (the ones that LECOM takes) are not very much interested in attending small religious schools in the middle of nowhere… Furthermore, LECOM does not care will you be able to register for the required classes (some are constantly overbooked by premeds in small schools) and will they be offered or not. You have to take them in your school or you are out or take them in another affiliated school (during summer if they are even given) for extra money on top of your tuition in your current school. How can you do it nobody cares - no exceptions. DD already facing that issue with Rhodes. We probably will need to file appeals at Rhodes and go through a bunch of fights. Another icing on the cake, you have to take science majors only. No Psychology or Anthropology. Now, imagine the level of stress to fit the requirements of the school (that does not care about LECOM), major, and LECOM with limited seats in classes that are sometimes given once a year or once in 3 quarters! And nobody warns you about it. You are on your own…
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Thrilled my S19 went to our local uni Pitt and not surprised to see it made it into the top Med school feeder list. Excellent education, his MCAT is top 1% score and graduated with zero debt!
Pitt offers nice merit to a lot of top OOS students making it an attracive OOS option.
My S19 roommates were all OOS. Access to hospitals and research is insane and abundant at Pitt.
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Good to know, thanks. The details are very important indeed!
I think it depends on the student and situation. Friend’s child OOS at Pitt. Got only 6k scholarship. They pay for Pitt more than we do for Rhodes. That student studies also very hard (and is very smart and capable) and does not have a top GPA. That student’s roommate dropped from premed when was almost on the finish line from burn down. I think we need to be very careful from any generalizations.
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Pitt is most definitely a sink or swim school. It is NOT easy. My son was able to get a 4.0 in 2 degrees and was part of the Honors College. But he knows sooo many who did not and failed out also. Very lack of advisement at Pitt, you’re on your own.
OOS merit is becoming more scarce at Pitt. Back in 2018-2019 it was not uncommon for OOS students to get $20-25K a year. My S19 received a lot being in-state with no financial aid.
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Thanks for the honest review. Many parents and students come to this and different boards with unrealistic expectations. The same mentioned hard working student did not expect Pitt to be so hard… Also, many people do not realize how hard some premed classes or MCAT. Many believe that if a student has 4.0 GPA in HS he or she will be a top student in any college…
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For the real record, they absolutely do. They understand the grading and rigor at most of the schools that they get applications. Is v there a difference between a school “ranked” 50 vs 100, not really. But 50 vs 500, absolutely. This is from my BIL who was the chair of a medical school admissions committee (the person that signs the acceptance letters) at one of the better public medical schools.
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@WayOutWestMom can you please comment on how medical schools view the name of your undergrad school?
Afaik the algorithm that makes the 1st cut doesn’t even have the name of the college (nor the major.) Excellence is excellence anywhere (and there are buckets, especially wrt “under represented in medicine” and regional groups plus of course In state v. Out of state at public med schools).
Then, once the application reaches human eyes, it’s not so much the name of the college as the general understanding of its rigor, understood broadly and NOT in the USNWR sense. The top applicant from Shawnee State or Chadron State or St LocalSomething (basically open admission colleges) has the same chance as the top applicant from Bowdoin or Duke or Iowa State or Truman State. But the 5th ranked applicant from Shawnee State or Chadron or St LocalSth definitely does NOT have the same odds as the 5th from Bowdoin or Duke or Iowa State or Truman State.
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My daughter with a 3.9+ uw (one B) 33 act got $8000 a year from Pitt. She’s a junior at Clemson ($10,000 a year, also one of her lowest merit awards) with a 4.0. She applied to 20 schools, was planning on basing her decision on merit, but fell in love with Clemson (most schools were in the northeast where we live). I think they’ve started to focus more on financial aid.
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High school is a lousy time to be thinking about medical school. That’s why I’m not a fan of BSMD programs. Of all the “premed” kids coming out of high school, very few actually go through with medical school. This is because they find that they have a passion for computer science, interior design, business, etc.
My advice, NEVER choose a school based on “premed.” Chances are, you won’t go into medicine and if you’re committed to a BSMD program, you could be in a world of hurt if you find you like something else. I would recommend just choosing your state university and going the traditional route. You seriously can’t go wrong. If you decide medicine, you have low debt. If you DON’T choose medicine, you’re not committed to anything. Your best shot at medical school is in your home state anyway.
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I agree it’s too early to make a decision, but the way that high school is often overshadowed by the college admissions process, college can be overshadowed by med school admissions process.
A person could do a lot more interesting stuff in college and maybe bring more curiosity and experience to medicine if not constantly concerned with getting into to med school. And unlike college admissions, where everyone will get in somewhere (obviously money and other stuff can make it inaccessible) med school is not a guarantee at all. If you are not worried about getting into med school, there is a good chance you don’t get in.
There are 2 sides to this…. Is an imperfect process either way
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Well… I am sure that 4.0 from Harvard is more impressive than 4.0 from “Random School”, but if you have 4.0 from “Random School” and someone has 3.7 from Harvard, then you are better off.
I agree with being at least top 25% if you have high hopes for medical school. But the best peer fit is often found in target (not safety) schools. School where you are top of the class academically is often not the best place for a student socially. How do you combine both?