^ I do what I can 
one other thing…there is no intersection of Broadway with Volker…I’m having serious doubts that you have ever attended UMKC…were you mad about being rejected?
Powerofprocrastination…
UMKC medical was indeed put on probation a few years ago. Of course they would scramble to do the bare minimum to get accredited during the latest accreditation period
was it really? i never heard anything about it, but i can understand how they might want to keep it quiet…where did you find this out?
Take into account that accreditation means you have met the very bare minimum of standards to qualify as an LCME accredited U.S. Medical school. It’s not some type of honor or accolade. All U.S. Medical Schools should be meeting basic accreditation standards. [Liaison</a> Committee on Medical Education Home Page](<a href=“http://www.lcme.org%5DLiaison”>http://www.lcme.org)
Bragging about being LCME accredited (I’m not saying you, specifically, are doing that) is like schools bragging that they have a 98-99% passing rate on the USMLE exams, when that should be the standard that most schools have with respect to passing or not. If it isn’t, then that should be a huge red flag for that particular school. Much more meaningful for prospective students is looking at the mean/average score of students on the USMLE Step exam (whether that is USMLE Step 1 or USMLE Step 2 CK) over several years.
Also PowerofProcrastination, if you look at HighHope’s post history, you’ll see he or she is in fact in the program. I’m not taking sides here, just bc you mentioned that HighHope may not even be attending the school. Also with incidents that happen, assuming that the assault HighHope talked about happened on campus, if I’m not mistaken, it only makes the Police Blotter in the university paper if someone reports it to UMKC police - if the victim even thinks anything will be done.
meh i guess i got a little carried away…but i don’t see any correlation between what was stated by HighHope and reality, hence my statement that he/she may not actually be a UMKC student. i do wish we could get some info on how people are doing on USMLEs…my year 4 friends seem to be getting good results but that may not be representative of the class as a whole.
It’s ok, it happens. I just wanted to be fair to both sides.
Usually schools when they do really well on the USMLE, esp. on Step 1, they brag about it in interviews or even tell it on their school webpages. I think if you hunt through this thread, I think OldDominion brought up the USMLE Step 1 score averages and someone maybe OldDominion posted links to schools - who posted up their score reports.
If schools are not in the above category of their students doing very well on the USMLE on average (beyond just passing), then usually they keep those numbers to themselves, and will only tell you that most of their students pass on the first try, and you’ll have to try very hard to hound and investigate, to get them to tell you what the actual average score is.
yeah the only info i’ve seen is from umkc marketing stating that umkc students do about average on step 1…i guess thats better than being below average, though
For those who are interested, here are OldDominion’s posts on that issue:
UMKC: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1061508764-post1747.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1061508764-post1747.html</a>
Other places: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1061554320-post1754.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1061554320-post1754.html</a>
To all the current members in the program out there, which major is the best to pursue…biology, chemistry or the liberal arts?
There is no major at UMKC…there simply isnt enough time to finish all of the requirements like in a normal undergrad. You will just learn the basic material required as background knowledge for medical school.
@Bluegrn6,
You are limited in the program to about 5 semesters for undergrad requirements - unless you’re coming with massive amounts of credit, you will be unable to complete a B.S. degree and only able to do certain B.A. degrees. There are several majors for your Bachelor’s degree that you choose from: [choosing</a> a major](<a href=“http://www.med.umkc.edu/prospective/sections/program/choosingamajor.html]choosing”>http://www.med.umkc.edu/prospective/sections/program/choosingamajor.html)
The major maps for Biology, Chemistry, and the Liberal Arts degree in the 6 year program are are here: [Major</a> Maps : University of Missouri - Kansas City](<a href=“http://www.sfa.umkc.edu/majormaps/index.cfm?alpha=M&academic_year=2009-2010]Major”>http://www.sfa.umkc.edu/majormaps/index.cfm?alpha=M&academic_year=2009-2010)
If you’re 100% sure as you are about primary care and sticking with the program - Liberal Arts is fine. For others who are thinking of the option of transferring out at the end of the 1st year then the Biology BA is the way to go. I think they will allow you to take Biology and Chemistry together at the same time, if you don’t happen to come in with credit.
i’m not sure that doing anything other than the BLA will help you unless, as Roentgen stated, you are planning to transfer out. But if you’re planning to transfer out, there are better ideas than paying $60,000 for a year of education at what is not a very good undergraduate institution.
PowerofProcrastination is right. Obviously there are better ways and no one should go into the program already ready to transfer out from the get go. That would be real dumb.
However, for some/many of you, you may not know what you’re really getting into, no matter how many people you may ask from Years 1-6, bc you are going based off of someone else’s specific experience, not your own. You’ll obviously find out much more about the school and Kansas City, once you do enroll, meeting with upperclassmen, living at the dorms, finding out what facilities and/or resources are available to you or lacking. This is when you may consider transferring out of the 6 year program either to another university or stay at UMKC and get your Bachelor’s there for undergrad (I don’t recommend the latter).
You could go for the BLA (instead of the B.A. in Biology) and still transfer out after the Year 1 is over, it’s just that you may need to take a lot more makeup credits over the summer to catch up on credits, when you do transfer somewhere else.
To High Hope and any readers:
Seriously?? UMKC really isn’t as bad as he is making it out to be. I’ve lived in Kansas City North for all of my life until I came down to Volker this past fall. Currently a year one student. High Hope is definitely exaggerating… Crime really isn’t that bad on campus. I don’t know how long it has been since you were last at UMKC, but they have several UMKC police cars constantly circling the campus. Homeless people don’t come on campus. They stand on a few of the intersections several blocks from campus, but they haven’t caused much of a disturbance. As for cars getting broken into and people getting mugged - yes, it has happened. Cars get broken into BY OTHER STUDENTS because they have GPSs or other expensive gadgets sitting out in the open. Be smart - take it inside with you or hide it in your car. Muggings - happens to people who walk on darkened streets late at night ALONE. Buddy system anyone?
And getting beaten up for an A? We aren’t in junior high school anymore. Everyone here is competitive and trying to aim for an A in their classes. No one gets beat up anymore…
Please, to anyone reading this, disregard the slander by High Hope.
UMKC is a few blocks away from a part of town that isn’t the greatest, but is also a couple blocks from one of the nicer parts of Kansas City South. Just be smart about what you do and you’ll be fine!
@ powerofprocrastination: “UMKC medical school was put on probation” - Please check your facts before attacking other people. No reason to personally attack anyone with words like “you’re smoking a little too much crack”, “you were rejected/failed/are doing poorly”, “were you mad about being rejected” negative personal attacks like that just because you disagree with another person’s oberservations or you do not know the facts about UMKC medical school. Please. Let’s respect each other even when we disagree.
“Intersection of Broadway & Volker” - Sorry, I meant intersection of Brookside & Volker. My fault, I mistyped Broadway instead of Brookside. You will find homeless people there anyday anytime. Anyone can drive by and see that.
“eastern border of UMKC is basically the ghetto” good that we agree on this point.
Regarding the crimes that I was talking about please read MaJaHa’s post # 2214 above where he says “As for cars getting broken into and people getting mugged - yes, it has happened.” Just because you are not aware of them does not mean they did not happen. Please know your facts before accusing anyone of lying.
The other things I mentioned are my personal experiences and you can take it as you will. Please understand that two different people can have two different experiences, observations, and conclusions. There is absolutely no reason to personally attack anyone with words like “you’re smoking a little too much crack” just because their knowledge, experience and observations are different than yours. Let’s respect each other even if we disagree on every point and try to resolve our differences through discussions and not negative baseless personal attacks like “you’re smoking a little too much crack”.
@ MaJaHa: Thank you for telling the truth “As for cars getting broken into and people getting mugged - yes, it has happened.” I did not see anyone breaking into the cars so I did not know who were responsible for those incidents so I assumed they were done by those homeless people. Now I know “Cars get broken into BY OTHER STUDENTS”. That actually scares me even more. I am sorry that you felt I exaggerated anything but those have been my experiences and the facts that I know.
@ Roentgen: My hats off to you. Thank you for showing so much compassion to everyone on this board and carefully analyzing all the facts for all of us. I wish everyone on this board and at UMKC could learn how to communicate from you.
@ PhattySpins: Thank you for verifying the fact “UMKC medical was indeed put on probation a few years ago.” for those who did not know this, or, knowingly pretend it did not happen for the sake of arguments.
Finally, I apologize to anyone who has been offended by any of my posts. I was simply stating the facts that I know about UMKC and my personal experiences that’s all. I was not looking for any sort of arguments. I am sorry if it did not come accross that way. PEACE.
High Hope, thank you for your posts. Don’t worry about the haters on here, some people just get very defensive when you question or mention weaknesses of their program. It’s hard for some people who are in a state of denial, and refuse to admit they made a mistake in choosing their BA/MD program. Even worse, you were accused of not attending the program, which any dolt can search your post history to see when you entered, or making up things, found to be true in later posts.
Will the school work for some people? Sure it will. It is at the very least a U.S. medical school - so for many people that reason alone is enough. I read this thread from page 1 like Blugrn6 did, and actually asked real people about them. That’s how you get a full, real picture of the program. I want to go into Radiation Oncology vs. Blugrn6, who wants to do primary care. Our goals are different, so the qualities we want in our school will be different.
Some people who post here are in the first year are ecstatic about the program when it’s really too early to tell (after all, it’s the first time you’re in college, not living with parents, meeting new people, etc.) and then others, not all though, who post here are in the later part of the program and are stuck, and they’re more interested in trying to glam up their school’s rep, and sound more like brochures, rather than be a truthteller for other applicants who come to CC. And then you have people like crdnlsfan314 who aren’t even in the program yet, and try to malign people for any criticism. It’s pitiful.
Who cares if I’m not in the program yet I’ve done the research and almost everything high hope says is a complete exaggeration. I don’t know why for some reason you think I ‘malign’ other people for their ‘criticisms’ if none of them are constructive…it’s all propaganda.
If HighHope’s points were all positive things with no negatives, you would not have labeled it propaganda. You would have been giddy about it.
You happen to disagree with it (and you immediately say, “The program is phenomenal and if you can stick with it it will definitely provide you with a vast amount of benefits.” — when you haven’t even stepped foot in the program and repeating probably the talking points you heard on interview day). If anyone is spewing propaganda, it’s you. Did UMKC give you a BA/MD cheerleading scholarship or something? I must have missed signing up for that on the FAFSA.
Whether a criticism is “constructive” or not, is not the point - as if a person can do anything to fix a valid criticism of the school as a student.
“it’s people like you that make the program have a bad rep”
“you need to calm down and go suck on a pacifier”
“obviously there’s no idiot who will believe half the things you write, so stop wasting your time”
Oh yes, no maligning at all, esp. when HighHope is IN the program!!! Irony is lost on you.
I graduated high school in 2004 and attended UMKC for the 6-year. I dropped out after one (costly) semester and transferred to my native state to re-evaluate what I wanted to do with myself. Looking back on it, it has been the most crucial, best-made decision of my life, which is hard to do at 18. Unfortunately, my mother was heartbroken, but that’s another story. I want to make it clear that I have no ill-blood towards KC and I am far removed, so I feel I can give an honest assessment.
What it comes down to is that you must have some sort of perspective on a handful of variables:
<ul>
<li>Do you really want to be a doctor and why? </li>
</ul>
Note that blind commitment is not a good reason. I liked the idea of immediate respect, prestige and stable earning potential…all while I would be “helping” people. I realized I really disliked being in the hospital (I volunteered in high school but never saw an inner city one like Truman).
<ul>
<li>What are your expectations? Do you want to match at Mass Gen/Hopkins/Stanford in a competitive sub specialty or are you grateful to do internal medicine in Independence, MO?</li>
</ul>
Pedigree, which HIGHLY UMKC lacks, is very important here. Step 1 Board scores are extremely important. And even with a 240+, it’s an up-hill battle versus going to a better known school. Everyone thinks that UMKC is KU (the Jayhawks) when you go on interviews in Year 6.
<ul>
<li>Is the unearthly high tuition cost worth the financial risk? This is an aspect that is most neglected by the idea that “oh you’ll be a doctor and make a ton of money, so view this as the last 2 years of your career that you save (if you don’t extend a year), so don’t worry about it”. This applies to both in-state and out-of-state. </li>
</ul>
Conclusion: If you are 100% certain that you want to be a physician, and you are willing to accept the negatives that come from going to an un-esteemed institution (there is absolutely no recognition outside of Misery, tougher to get competitive residency matches, extremely high debt that will take years to pay off), then you should consider the program.
I want to make it clear that people can attend this school and be very successful - I know this because I have friends who are…this just happens not to be the common occurrence. But I also know plenty who struggled and didn’t live up to the expectations they had for themselves.
I am still good friends with people who graduated from UMKC the year before my class and remember many of my former classmates. For my friends who were very successful coming out of there (ENT residency match at a top 10 hospital and a radiology match) and they agree with my assessment. I remember we were all fearful of the MCAT and thought we wouldn’t get into med school the normal route…which was likely incorrect. Then again, it is hard to recognize your own limitations without selling yourself short when you are young.
As for me, I transferred to FL and did an undergraduate degree in business. I was able to go to Johns Hopkins for a bio master’s and then worked at a biotech venture capital firm in San Francisco. I’m currently working at a MIT biomedical startup company in Boston, really enjoying what I do. It has been on heck of a journey, but one interesting ride.
abc…bbd
Very well said Johnny H. It’s rare that a student acts on his/her feelings/gut instinct after the first semester of the program. I’ve seen too many former classmates who end up extending or failing out deep into the program. They all had reservations about the program early on, but ignored it. It’s sad bc they would have more likely succeeded if they had done a traditional 4 year undergrad instead of running year round.
Even with out of state tuition, other people and friends would always say, “Oh, but you’re saving 2 years!” as if the $321,554 + interest could be easily paid in 2 years or something lol.