I was recently accepted into NYCOM’s 7 year program in which i would spend three years a as a undergrad at New
Paltz and then take the mcat and only be guaranteed matriculation into NYCOM if i achieve the median mcat score of the previous entering class. On the other hand Vassar is a very prestigious college and if I do regular undergrad there and apply out to medical schools I could probably get into NYCOM anyways. My dilemma is that if I do the NYCOM program I wont be able to apply out to other better medical schools because I do not get my BS until after my first year at NYCOM. If i go to Vassar chances are that I may get into better medical school but it would take me 8 years instead of 7 to become a doctor. I also am unsure if I would be able to get into the type of residency i want as a graduate of nycom.
If you are a strong student (as is indicated by acceptance into a combined BA/DO program and to Vassar), then your chances of gaining an admission to medical school 4 years from now are good.
The question is: would you rather have 90-95% chance of becoming a DO 7 years from now or would you rather try for a MD admission with lower odds of gaining an admission 4 years from now?
This is decision only you can make.
Although less than than it was 10 years, there is still a lingering bias against DOs at many allopathic hospitals, and at residency & fellowship programs. DOs typically match into the less competitive specialties (FM, general IM, psych, geriatrics, peds) and match at less competitive residency programs than MD grads. Also DOs need to take 2 sets of board exams (COMLEX and USMLE) that don’t cover exactly the same material–so there will be an additional investment of time, energy and $$ involved. (Each board exam costs $2000+ plus you need different study materials.)
There are some negatives associated with NYCOM specifically: its entering class is over 300 students each year (which is HUGE) with an equally HUGE 10% attrition rate; there are rumors of some financial difficulties (its parent company recently sold the school the Catholic Health Services of NYC because the program was losing too much money); and the upcoming loss of many of its clinical rotation sites in NYC and Long Island.
See this thread over at SDN for a discussion of some NYCOM (also called NYITCOM) pros and cons. Includes comments from current NYCOM students.
https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/threads/nyitcom-ny-vs-touro-harlem.1242173/#post-19792304