r/LECOM

I’m in LDP. If someone finished a course with an 89.58%, would that normally get rounded to a 90/A, or does LECOM strictly leave it as a B unless it’s already at 90?

I’ve heard mixed things about whether professors/course directors round borderline grades (like x.5 and above) or if it depends entirely on the syllabus/course.

Just trying to understand what the usual practice is for LDP. Thanks! 🙏

This summer final application will open up for college seniors enrolled in LECOM EAP. I know they need official transcripts from all colleges attended and finalize your campus/pathway selection. What else does the process include?

Sent my letter of intent last Tuesday. Been calling the office to confirm but been leaving voicemails. Any next steps anyone can educate me on?

Hi all! Incoming OMS1 at Bradenton this summer. I was curious if any current or previous Bradenton students can give me some input on the dress code - I’d love to hear any recommendations for clothes to buy, shoes to buy, etc before classes start. TIA!

Can anyone attest to whether or not LECOM really upholds their dress code for graduation? They sent an email saying students will not wear anything form fitting, sleeveless, no high heels, and must wear black shoes. They made students send in photos of their “professional attire” to be approved to wear under their graduation gown. Will they turn you away if you show up wearing something “unapproved” at the actual ceremony?

Anyone hear back after the 48hr email so far? I know someone says the enrollment fee was delayed, causing a delay in WL movement. Anyone have info on this? Holding hope for all of us!

Everyone hears horror stories about LECOM, but they're usually centered around the Erie campus. Before enrolling at the Seton Hill campus, I heard it was more relaxed but that's definitely not the case anymore. The current dean, who is new this year, has significantly worsened the environment here. He's repeatedly invoked the hierarchy to remind everyone that he's in charge, and frequently tells students that because they aren't 25 their brains aren't fully developed yet. This is his most popular reason for justifying the insane rules on campus. He spent an entire 10 minutes of an admin meeting talking about students sticking gum under desks, and saying that if gum can't be trusted, neither can drinks. They (admin) also threatened punishment for gum found under desks despite the fact that people share desks.

Speaking up essentially impossible, because doing so will probably get you written up for "professionalism" violations. Formal complaints require students to attach their name, and retaliation is a very real fear. The admin preaches professionalism constantly while never adhering to the same standards. They're constantly late to meetings and change student schedules with little notice. The dean belittles students and tries to dictates how they behave even off campus, citing community trust. Accountability is a one-way street here. When 2nd year students were told about a comprehensive exam on a Sunday (two days before it was scheduled) and pushed back saying they hadn't been warned, admin just insisted they had been notified in advance, even though there no Canvas messages or emails to back that claim up. Professionalism is used as a fear tactic, not as an actual standard.

The PBL program is also misrepresented during admissions. Prospective students are told they'll only be on campus a few hours a week and can study independently. The reality is that you're expected to be available Monday-Friday, 8am to 5pm, regardless of whether or not you have scheduled classes in case a faculty member might want to meet. Even appointments that don't conflict with class require an excused absence form. Students who fail an exam are placed into a mandatory study hall that's a minimum of eight hours on campus per day. None of this is disclosed upfront. The program is marketed as flexible to prospective students, but it clearly is not.

The curriculum itself is poorly structured and subject to mid-semester changes at admin's discretion. Anatomy is a reasonable class, but there is no cadaver lab at Seton Hill. Instead, students learn through digital labs consisting of PowerPoints made by classmates. So basically students are teaching other students on material they themselves are still learning. In PBL, students are handed 50 to 60 chapters with no learning objectives or study guides and are expected to master all of it by exams. Applicants are told they'll have access to recordings from Erie lectures, but since the Erie curriculum doesn't align with PBL, these recordings are not particularly helpful for studying. Previous classes received a 20–30% curve on exams. That curve no longer exists. As a result, nearly 1/3 of 1st year students failed their most recent exam. Raw exam scores are no longer shared, and when questions are challenged and removed, students aren't told which ones or how many. They are also not allowing students to review their individual exams anymore to see what they got wrong and right, it is a group review session with just the correct answers. This is another way that student learning is negatively impacted, people can't see their own answers to exam questions to see if it was a misunderstood concept or a test taking error. About 10% of the first-year class has already dropped out for various reasons, and the year isn't even over. The 2nd year class is now below 75% of its original size. They've also masked the attrition rate by combining Erie, Elmira, and Seton Hill as a single campus, so no one really knows just how bad it is here. But instead of examining why students are struggling and offering meaningful support, admin simply blames students for not understanding the material.

This pattern extends to board exam prep. There's no dedicated board study period! Instead, 2nd year students have a course called Convergence (see: https://www.reddit.com/r/Osteopathic/comments/1kt44mu/updates_on_the_lecom_drama/). This was never disclosed during admissions. Convergence is essentially busywork consisting of TrueLearn quizzes that students must complete on campus and it actively interferes with actual board studying. It's now a graded course with oral exams added in, with no clear explanation of how any of that prepares students for boards. A ton of students would not have chosen LECOM had they known there was no real board prep period. Students were also told that all the issues that occurred with Convergence last year would be fixed for this year, but nothing changed, and the course was made worse. There are still a lot of 2nd year students getting screwed over by this "course."

There are also no breaks between blocks throughout the academic year. So no spring break, no downtime at all. Classes resume the day after unit exams. And this has lead to severe burnout and basically means that remediation for all courses are stacked at the end of the year rather than following individual units.

2nd year students were also not told until after submitting their location preference list that a GPA under 2.7 would result in being assigned to a clinical rotation site near Erie or Elmira which effectively nullifies the entire reason that many students choose the Seton Hill campus in the first place. On top of that, students were essentially told in a meeting that a poor match outcome would be their own fault.

During a meeting, the dean used part of that time to brag about the campus's match rate without mentioning how many students matched into their preferred specialty, only highlighting a few ortho matches. And then he went on to praise the education students receive here (what education?? we just read textbooks with very little course instruction). At the same time he criticized duty hour restrictions during residency saying that limiting the number of hours worked per week reduced the amount of training doctors receive.

LECOM does not care about you as a student or as a person. They only care about their statistics, meaning that you pass boards and that you match. Your aspirations do not matter to them. Within your first few months during first year, they tell you to be realistic with your expectations (in terms of speciality and location of matching). They do not allow research years to help bolster your application. They believe their responsibility to you is to make sure you match somewhere, even if it's not what you want. That is the bare minimum expectation from a medical school, not a standard that should be normalized.

This school is much worse than the dress code, no food or drinks in classrooms, and mandatory lectures. Those are the most manageable parts of this place. LECOM deliberately withholds important information from prospective students, and once enrolled, students have no real recourse. Admin's priorities are board pass rates and match statistics, not student wellbeing. Rather than supporting struggling students, they strongly "recommend" leaves of absence to avoid dealing with the problem. There is absolutely no transparency from administration about changes that are made, and when feedback is provided, students are told that their perspective is wrong. Feedback (even when they solicit it) is used as a way for them to justify their actions, not to actually listen to students. It's a genuinely terrible situation, because there are faculty here who are talented, caring, and invested in student success, but the admin is malignant. If you're considering a Northern LECOM campus, the Elmira location has a better reputation than either Erie or Seton Hill. Bradenton is also considered a better option.

Just as a note: This is being posted as a warning for prospective students. I don't expect any change to come from this, but I wish I had heeded the prior warnings posted before attending here. Hopefully this helps someone make an informed decision about coming here.

Everyone hears horror stories about LECOM, but they're usually centered around the Erie campus. Before enrolling at the Seton Hill campus, I heard it was more relaxed but that's definitely not the case anymore. The current dean, who is new this year, has significantly worsened the environment here. He's repeatedly invoked the hierarchy to remind everyone that he's in charge, and frequently tells students that because they aren't 25 their brains aren't fully developed yet. This is his most popular reason for justifying the insane rules on campus. He spent an entire 10 minutes of an admin meeting talking about students sticking gum under desks, and saying that if gum can't be trusted, neither can drinks. They (admin) also threatened punishment for gum found under desks despite the fact that people share desks.

Speaking up essentially impossible, because doing so will probably get you written up for "professionalism" violations. Formal complaints require students to attach their name, and retaliation is a very real fear. The admin preaches professionalism constantly while never adhering to the same standards. They're constantly late to meetings and change student schedules with little notice. The dean belittles students and tries to dictates how they behave even off campus, citing community trust. Accountability is a one-way street here. When 2nd year students were told about a comprehensive exam on a Sunday (two days before it was scheduled) and pushed back saying they hadn't been warned, admin just insisted they had been notified in advance, even though there no Canvas messages or emails to back that claim up. Professionalism is used as a fear tactic, not as an actual standard.

The PBL program is also misrepresented during admissions. Prospective students are told they'll only be on campus a few hours a week and can study independently. The reality is that you're expected to be available Monday-Friday, 8am to 5pm, regardless of whether or not you have scheduled classes in case a faculty member might want to meet. Even appointments that don't conflict with class require an excused absence form. Students who fail an exam are placed into a mandatory study hall that's a minimum of eight hours on campus per day. None of this is disclosed upfront. The program is marketed as flexible to prospective students, but it clearly is not.

The curriculum itself is poorly structured and subject to mid-semester changes at admin's discretion. Anatomy is a reasonable class, but there is no cadaver lab at Seton Hill. Instead, students learn through digital labs consisting of PowerPoints made by classmates. So basically students are teaching other students on material they themselves are still learning. In PBL, students are handed 50 to 60 chapters with no learning objectives or study guides and are expected to master all of it by exams. Applicants are told they'll have access to recordings from Erie lectures, but since the Erie curriculum doesn't align with PBL, these recordings are not particularly helpful for studying. Previous classes received a 20–30% curve on exams. That curve no longer exists. As a result, nearly 1/3 of 1st year students failed their most recent exam. Raw exam scores are no longer shared, and when questions are challenged and removed, students aren't told which ones or how many. They are also not allowing students to review their individual exams anymore to see what they got wrong and right, it is a group review session with just the correct answers. This is another way that student learning is negatively impacted, people can't see their own answers to exam questions to see if it was a misunderstood concept or a test taking error. About 10% of the first-year class has already dropped out for various reasons, and the year isn't even over. The 2nd year class is now below 75% of its original size. They've also masked the attrition rate by combining Erie, Elmira, and Seton Hill as a single campus, so no one really knows just how bad it is here. But instead of examining why students are struggling and offering meaningful support, admin simply blames students for not understanding the material.

This pattern extends to board exam prep. There's no dedicated board study period! Instead, 2nd year students have a course called Convergence (see: https://www.reddit.com/r/Osteopathic/comments/1kt44mu/updates_on_the_lecom_drama/). This was never disclosed during admissions. Convergence is essentially busywork consisting of TrueLearn quizzes that students must complete on campus and it actively interferes with actual board studying. It's now a graded course with oral exams added in, with no clear explanation of how any of that prepares students for boards. A ton of students would not have chosen LECOM had they known there was no real board prep period. Students were also told that all the issues that occurred with Convergence last year would be fixed for this year, but nothing changed, and the course was made worse. There are still a lot of 2nd year students getting screwed over by this "course."

There are also no breaks between blocks throughout the academic year. So no spring break, no downtime at all. Classes resume the day after unit exams. And this has lead to severe burnout and basically means that remediation for all courses are stacked at the end of the year rather than following individual units.

2nd year students were also not told until after submitting their location preference list that a GPA under 2.7 would result in being assigned to a clinical rotation site near Erie or Elmira which effectively nullifies the entire reason that many students choose the Seton Hill campus in the first place. On top of that, students were essentially told in a meeting that a poor match outcome would be their own fault.

During a meeting, the dean used part of that time to brag about the campus's match rate without mentioning how many students matched into their preferred specialty, only highlighting a few ortho matches. And then he went on to praise the education students receive here (what education?? we just read textbooks with very little course instruction). At the same time he criticized duty hour restrictions during residency saying that limiting the number of hours worked per week reduced the amount of training doctors receive.

LECOM does not care about you as a student or as a person. They only care about their statistics, meaning that you pass boards and that you match. Your aspirations do not matter to them. Within your first few months during first year, they tell you to be realistic with your expectations (in terms of speciality and location of matching). They do not allow research years to help bolster your application. They believe their responsibility to you is to make sure you match somewhere, even if it's not what you want. That is the bare minimum expectation from a medical school, not a standard that should be normalized.

This school is much worse than the dress code, no food or drinks in classrooms, and mandatory lectures. Those are the most manageable parts of this place. LECOM deliberately withholds important information from prospective students, and once enrolled, students have no real recourse. Admin's priorities are board pass rates and match statistics, not student wellbeing. Rather than supporting struggling students, they strongly "recommend" leaves of absence to avoid dealing with the problem. There is absolutely no transparency from administration about changes that are made, and when feedback is provided, students are told that their perspective is wrong. Feedback (even when they solicit it) is used as a way for them to justify their actions, not to actually listen to students. It's a genuinely terrible situation, because there are faculty here who are talented, caring, and invested in student success, but the admin is malignant. If you're considering a Northern LECOM campus, the Elmira location has a better reputation than either Erie or Seton Hill. Bradenton is also considered a better option.

Just as a note: This is being posted as a warning for prospective students. I don't expect any change to come from this, but I wish I had heeded the prior warnings posted before attending here. Hopefully this helps someone make an informed decision about coming here.

125 AIS, no MCAT yet. 3.58 GPA (science & overall) from UGA. Major in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 4000 clinical hour working with IDD (Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities)750 hours of Volunteering with Special Needs Kids. A little research in undergrad. Goal is to do FM taking care of IDD/Transitional patient population. Bradenton, Jax, Erie (Primary Care Scholars Pathway). 2027

Hi! I submitted a message on the Lecom Bradenton website a few days ago about the possibility of visiting/touring. Has anyone done this before and can tell me how quickly they responded? Obviously I don’t expect them to respond right away, but since it was sent through the website and not just through email I don’t have a way to see that it actually went through or sent. Was just wondering if anyone could tell me how long it took so I know if I don’t hear back by a certain time I should send again

Hi everyone,

I'm considering preferences for LECOM campuses and am looking for some insight from current DO students.

My #1 priority is geographic stability. I have a spouse and a young child, and my goal is to move only once for medical school. I want to avoid having to switch my child's school during clinical years. I am open to any of the four locations (Erie, Bradenton, Seton Hill, Elmira), but I want to rank them based on where I have the highest statistical chance of staying local for core rotations.

Which campus is the easiest to secure a local, commutable rotation hub where you don't have to relocate during clinical years?

I also heard that LECOM has a policy where if a student's GPA falls below a certain threshold (like a 2.7), they are restricted to specific academic support tracking sites rather than the general lottery. If that happens, which specific cities/hospitals are those support sites located in for each campus? I want to make sure even my worst-case fallback option doesn't force a massive move.

Any insight on how the EVOS lottery/matching system plays out practically for families would be incredibly helpful for my rankings. Thank you so much!

Can any current or past students who attend(ed) the Seton Hill location comment on the research opportunities there? Is it common to find your research opportunities to other schools like University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie, etc?

Received and email today saying that

• I will be spending the first two time slots of your OMS 4 academic year attending the CCK rotation. 
• The CCK rotations will use my CCD rotation and will take up my vacation. 
• I will be tested on the last week of this 8-week in-person rotation with a COMSAE Phase 2 that must meet a score of at least 450 to be approved to take COMLEX Level 2CE.

 

There is COMSAE phase 2 schedule for next week.

My question is: If I score more than 450 next week, will they still make me to attend the 8 weeks in person rotation OR they will give me the permission to appear in board exam?

I got the 48 hr deposit email on 4/9 and have not heard anything back yet. I have another A but LECOM remains my top choice if I get off the waitlist. Does anyone know about movement for the PCSP. Any updates would be greatly appreciated, I am frantically checking my email every hour >_<

Could current LECOM students share your experience on your pathway? If you can choose again, would you change your mind?

LDP: do you really have to be in class every day from 8am - 5pm?
How much materials can you retain from lecture? Do you have enough time to study outside of the classroom?

PBL: how often do you have in person class? How much support do do get from professors? Is there any guidelines on what you need to study? How often is the tests? Quizzes?

Thank you for your time.

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Has anyone gotten off the WL for LECOM Erie (LDP) since the 48 hour deposit email?

posting again…. still no info on pck at lecom. trying to figure out if it’s in person on campus or not in May. kinda weird they haven’t said anything about the course.

title

Hey all - how long from seeing that a "decision has been made" in the portal to actually being informed what that decision might be?

can’t decide both have so many pros and cons