Rolen,
I had to turn up this program, and I still want to be a doctor. If you’re out of state, it doesn’t make sense to go that far into debt when the probability of dropping out is so high. In the BS/DO program I’m doing, I’m going to end up having less then 1/3 of the debt I would have had if I went to UMKC. So, it’s situational. If you can afford it and know you’ll be able to stay in for all 6 years, then it would be stupid to pass up. If you can’t afford it, it would be stupid to attend, because so many people drop out.
Can I get a BA in anything? How exactly does that part work?
rolen you can get a ba in bio, chem, communication, philosophy, psych, and sociology. also their is the BLA option that u might be interested in. As far as debt goes, I think its not much of a problem. I will be attending the program and I am out of state and I’m not rich myself; I’m taking out loans to pay for it. But the way i see it, you will be a doctor and you will save two years. Also, keep in mind doctors get paid a lot and I don’t think paying back that loan will be that burdensome.
cold - I think you’re delusional. You’re going to be paying off loans for close to thirty years. That’s not a burden? Keep in mind the economy is crashing, interest rates are soaring, and both of the most-likely presidential candidates want to socialize healthcare (aka drop the salaries of health care workers). Also, keep in mind, that if you match into Emergency or Family or the like, you won’t really be making that much money when it comes down to having to afford the cost of living combined with paying off your student loans. The argument isn’t if the loans are a burden, because they definitely are. The question is, “is it worth it?” I personally believe it IS worth it, but loans are just not being given out as frequently any more. I thought I was going to UMKC on loans, but recently found out that the money just isn’t available for me to loan-out. That’s the economy.
kylek if you have any clue about what the presidential candidates healtcare plans are then you would know that they are not socialized medicine i.e not government run. The status quo of how much doctors make will be the same. The difference will be who will pay the doctors either the patients or the government. Their will still be a private healthcare system in America regardless of which president’s healthcare plan is executed.
Also, for college students, inflation is a good thing because the x amount of money taken out on loans today will be depretiated in the next 5 to 10 years and saleries will go up as the economy rebounds. For example 10 years ago, college costs were significantly less than what they are today and we laugh at these numbers. Thats because inflation adjusted the costs to what they are now as a result of a depretiation of the value of that money. This will the case in the future as well.
Another thing that determines how much you get paid is your residency. Sure your speciality will play a large part but if you matriculate into an outstanding residency for that speciality then you will make a lot of money to pay of that loan. Compared to other jobs, paying of loans for medical school is not THAT burdensome.
I think before you make blanket statements like that you need to understand the dynamics of the economy and the facts about politics. Please don’t take this as a smear or insult. I am just giving you some information.
PS Try citibank…
I have a question about the Recommendations. In the online application it has 3 Reference Forms for me to hand out to individuals. I would like to hand these forms out to them before my junior year is over so I can give them the summer to fill out the form for me. The problem is on the form it says the deadline is November 15, 2007 so these forms are from last year. I had UMKC mail me the application and those to had the 2007 dates on them. Would it be ok to have them fill out these forms?
[FinAid</a> | Saving for College | Tuition Inflation](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org/savings/tuition-inflation.phtml]FinAid”>http://www.finaid.org/savings/tuition-inflation.phtml)
General inflation is completely useless because college cost inflation is always higher than it. Inflation is hardly a good thing. It sucks for college students who have to pay higher prices in addition to higher college costs.
Illinois: Its true that college cost inflation is much higher than econoimc inflation but now you are talking about something different. I’m talking about the effect of general inflation on the value of a loan and how the value will go down. Good point though.
You won’t be making enough during your residency years even if you get a top notch residency to be paying off your med student loans sufficiently. It WILL take you years and years to pay them off.
and with mandatory insurance/more people on govt sponsored plans/ more readily available insurance with a push for cheaper insurance…etc. the wages of people in the medical field WILL go down, or at least will not rise as much as people in other fields. I still support the Democrats’ plan for health care, but to claim that the wages of doctors will not be negatively affected with the changes in health insurance that are going to happen is straight up untrue.
do you know if it is harder to get into umkc if out of state?
After reading many of these posts I felt compelled to comment.
DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE DIFFICULTY OF THIS PROGRAM. I don’t care how smart you think you are, you will have a great deal of study time ahead of you. I have seen many well educated students leave the program… broken in spirit and financially.
Second…The cost is very expensive. Many students only qualify for private loans and interest rates are above 11 percent. That means for each and every $32-35,000 dollars you borrow you will owe over $70,000 over the life of the loan. Your looking at a loan growing from several hundred thousand dollars to over 3/4 of a million. I believe that private loans can’t be consolidated and the interest can’t be deducted on taxes.
Third… The violence in the area is growing at an alarming rate. Gangs have moved into the Hyde Park area and no one seems to be doing anything about it. Shopping on the Plaza is no longer safe. You are advised not to walk to you car alone and people are being robbed at gun point while eating out on the terraces.
Simply warning that this education is about as difficult as it gets on many fronts.
Almost forgot one other point. The support system “Sold” to you during the tours to families is absolutely NOT there. The “Staff Member” assigned to help you and monitor your academic situation for a two year term have too many students, do not stay on the job long enough to be familiar with your situation or to support a student. Docent experiences can be shortchanged (i.e. canceled) depending on who your DR. is. This component really is one of the major selling points of the program… interacting with patients from the onset. Developing the skill early on in assessing patients well.
why are you hatn man…i have a bro in the program and he said its nice and relaxing. Also he’s paying the full out of state tuition and now ill be paying the out of state tuition (and our family is middle class)…we still got it covered, you just gotta be smart about loans and think about the long run. Your too close minded.
Also, the kids in the program support you so much the yrs older then you give you all the notes and tips for the tests. Its all good bro…dont be so up tight.
I’m not “hatn man”! I find your “bro’s” usage of the words “nice and relaxing” just plain insulting and absolutely the farthest thing from the truth. How dare he give future students such false sense of expectations.
If sibling/you are from the same family and are paying out of state tuition x 2 then I doubt you are “MIDDLE CLASS”! Since when can a middle class family afford that kind of tuition per student x 6 years x 2. Think you need to go back and look at a tax chart. Hardly too-close minded. As far as my knowledge about practicing physicians, we have family friends that are in every specialty. Their salaries range from $180,000 - one million plus a year. We know the how’s and why of expenses, how one runs a practice indep. or under the umbrella of a hospital system picking up the entire cost of staffing, insurance, etc. We have friends that more recently went through school who are now practicing Anesthesiologists (residency finished 2 years ago) and they went that route to afford paying off their loans and having a profession with reasonable insurance premiums. Yes they had interest in the field but loans ultimately dictated the direction.
I know that many who attend UMKC come from families that pay right out of their pocket change. The families that we have personal knowledge about have family incomes over $400,000 a year. That is the reason why one of the most expensive medical schools in the country has such a low debt rate when students graduate. Per capita income of families there is NOT the norm. During our orientation it was mentioned more than once NOT TO ASK your peers how they are financing their education.
As far as support, I stand by my earlier comments. FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE! Yes some students are very friendly, but more are not.
If there was a DO-OVER…would have gone the 4-4 route, but in the program to stay and hopefully practice in a field I enjoy. One of the more fortunate ones to be suceeding. Advised my siblings to go another route and they are.
man im sorry you had bad experiences at umkc…i just wish you don’t continue this pessmisitic tione throughout your life man. Have a little fun 
my request is open your mind to the possibilties you have with this program instead of regretting your own decision.
I find you commentary on the program to be lacking in specifics of any kind. My effort in commenting is to give students thinking about the program a realistic, honest view… No white washing of reality.
I suggest you lay off the lazy speak and offer better advice than the program is a breeze. When these students go through orientation, they will be told repeatedly by staff/instructors the exact opposite. Hard work like they have never had to do before and they will no longer be the “smartest kid in the class” like they were in high school… because in their future classes - EVERYONE IS SMART!
Hard work and lots of it is what lies ahead. As far as financial issues. Loans are serious business and those who enter into them better have a solid plan. Unfortunately just because you want to be a physician doesn’t mean you will be.
What fallback plan as a student do you have if after the first, second or even third year you are out. What job can you get with no degree and a debt of $35 - $100,000.00 to pay back. Trust me it happens every year in this program.
Think it would be a wise move for each and every future student to meet with a practicing doctor and actually discuss the industry in depth.
The unfortunate thing is DON’TUndrEstimat isn’t entirely wrong. He/she does exaggerate some things. The Plaza is a nice place. Hyde park already looks suspicious. You literally cross the street in KC and you’re in an area that isn’t all too safe. Trust me, my friends and I spent forever trying to find places to live next fall that are close to the med school but in safe areas (and affordable). There are a lot of pros and cons about UMKC.
Making the decision to go here is a big one. Once you’ve devoted pretty much a year to the program, you’re kind of stuck in it. You will study like you never have before. People who are incredibly intelligent find themselves taking the boards over and over–facing separation and having to leave w/ incredible debt and no degree.
There are few staff members that understand what it is like to be in this program. You really have to learn to be proactive from the beginning. Join some sort of organization with older med students, APAMSA, AMA, AMSA, MSAC, Globe Med, SNMA, etc. Make friends with older students and learn how you can get involved. Learn what you can fight in the school. Your advisors, are working for a business. It’s hard to believe but schooling is a business in the United States. They will follow the protocal for how to deal with a situation. You have to be proactive in this program. Learn what a CV (Curriculum Vitae aka Resume that you present to residency programs w/ research, clubs/organization, skills, honors, etc.) is now. Work to build your CV in the six years you are here. Make sure your professor knows who you are (sometimes it helps at the very end when you need it). Seek help immediately if you need it!! Make friends with plenty of your classmates, you never know who could potentially help you with something.
If your docent is not rewarding, make noise about it! You pay too much in tuition to not have a docent that shows you things. Basically, UMKC teaches you to grow up FAST.
People try to paint a picture that this program is all rainbows and sunshine, but it is tough. You have to be motivated. You cannot afford to slack off. Completely forget about your senior year of high school. Enjoy your last summer because vacation will soon be over. Anatomy may be easy, orgo may be easy, micro may be easy, but somewhere along the path of this program you’ll find a point that things get challenging. It might be early or it might be later on, but be prepared.
Cliff notes:
- Study hard
- Work hard
- Be proactive
- Do your best
- Best of luck!!!
Okay, so I’m in off the waitlist and have a question…is it possible to minor in Theatre?
I sent them an email with a couple other questions, but they didn’t bother responding…
hi,
i have a quick question…
i got into the umkc 6 year and also a eight year with west chester and drexel, and i’m not too sure which one to pick. it just depends on what i want from college, but i’m very confused about what i want. so, i just keep going back and forth between the two. anyway, i was just wondering how much of a break the students get at umkc, i heard that you get about a week for summer, is that right?
I have a little question/comment. Don’t Underestimate is saying that UMKC is very tough and many people are forced to drop out with a lot of money in loans. At the same time, all medical schools in the nation are immensely tough, and if a student has to drop out, he or she loses a great amount of money. How is UMKC any different?