It seems like you're all grasping for early signs of inadequacy or failure in the program. There have been several other threads where people complain about new schools and what that will do for their employment prospects, and frankly the animosity towards the new schools is pretty ridiculous. Cutting down on the number of graduates isn't the only solution to veterinary economic problems, and the vet students on here that are vocal proponents of it seem to have a "screw you, I've got mine" mentality.
I think it's pretty obvious from some of the other posts that the people getting interviews are not "desperate" people with low stats. We are people who have ignored the doom and gloom crowd and done some research. People who graduate from MWU and LMU are afforded all the rights of graduates from any other school. Even if the person graduates from a school that fails to move from provisional to full accreditation, they are not given any more hoops to jump through. You're as much a DVM as anyone else.
No one here has a "screw you, I've got mine mentality"; you are reading too much into what people are saying. More graduates will further saturate the already over saturated job market and will further exacerbate the current veterinary economic problems... it is as simple as that. No one is saying that is the ONLY problem with veterinary economics, but it certainly is one of them. Personally, I don't give a rat's ass if you go to MWU... you will graduate a full 2 years later than me so you won't be graduating at the same time I am looking for job. I also do not believe, nor have I seen anyone say that everyone who has applied to MWU or the newer schools are "desperate" people with low stats.... nobody has said that. The only thing people mentioned was how quick MWU was to send out their interview invites, which could be a product of various factors: 1. They don't have other vet students to also attend to. 2. They have a much lower applicant load than other schools. Both of these combined could lead to them getting interview invites out faster... it just seems weird to those of us who have been doing and watching this process for years for a school to have interview invites out within such a short time.... that is all.
The person that hires you likely won't give too much thought to where you graduated from. They want you to have your DVM, to have passed your boards, and that people from your past experiences like you and find you valuable. If you're hedging your success on name value, it's not going to get you very far. The people looking down on any new program are under the impression that obtaining your DVM should be a sufficient mark of a quality hire, and that adding more graduates is somehow polluting that. In reality there are plenty of people bright enough and dedicated enough to get a DVM. It's a qualification. Not a meal ticket for a job. If you want a job, you have to show people how you can make your degree useful, because those are the people that will move the industry forward.
This is actually not looking or thinking about reality. If you are a veterinarian about to hire a new associate for your practice and you have two recent graduates sitting in front of you... one from say Kansas State (I just randomly picked a school) and one from MWU. You have interviewed both of them, they both have the same qualifications, interviewed well and seem to be good fits. Are you going to pick the one from KSU (a school that has been graduating vets for a while) or are you going to take the chance with the grad from the newer school? Yes, they will most likely both make good vets, but you are going to have some hesitations about the grad from the newer school until you hear via word of mouth as to how those students are doing. It will most likely have a slight impact on job prospects for you... whether you want to believe it or not. This isn't being pessimistic, this isn't saying "omg.. the school sucks, you will all suck." This is just looking at it from a reality stand point. Until the school has graduated enough students and enough students have shown that the school does produce good vets, there is a good chance that you will be dealing with this. Just look above at the post from the current WesternU student; we aren't trying to be mean, we are pointing out reality.
Now, to add to this.... I was born and raised in the exact area that MWU is located. I grew up there, I know the area, I know what is around and I know for a fact that this school is going to have a difficult time getting the vet students any experience with large animals... Arizona has to be the most spread out state, you could easily have to travel for an hour or two to get to a location. Many other states built their cities up... AZ spread its city out... and it is only continuing to grow like this. The city is slowly pushing any type of farm life/agriculture out to very far outlying areas; it is spreading to the east/west/north and south (with Surprise, Goodyear, Anthem, Norterra and a few other place being the newer areas). I had to travel an hour (1 way) just to get some equine experience and it was difficult to even find that equine vet. I talked to him about farm animal vets... his response, there are a few around, but they are not easy to find and you will have to drive considerably further to get to them. Yes, there are some people that own horses near the school, but it isn't many. Yes, there are still farms around AZ, but they are dying fast. Also to consider... where are the vets/professors coming from that will be teaching you? Have they had experience teaching before? Teaching isn't something that one can just leap into and be good at it; it takes time and practice to get it down. Are all the instructors going to be new? Did they find some from previous vet schools that are going to teach? Also, the animal hospital that they are building... that won't be ready for some time. I can tell you now that I desperately wish I could go into the hospital to just watch and observe like you can at some other schools, my school doesn't allow it, you won't be able to do this at MWU as the hospital isn't complete. I feel that this not only exposes you to good experiences and helps you learn, but it is a good way to, after a long day of lectures/studying, remind yourself of why you are here and doing what you are doing. Vet school is hard and occasionally you need that reminder as to why you are slaving away over lectures and notes. Also, think about having to travel for experiences... I know it doesn't seem like a big deal now and almost seems good that you will be able to view multiple clinics, BUT this will cost $$$$$ and it is hard enough to make ends meet during vet school without even throwing travel expenses into the picture.
Nobody is trying to be mean/rude/or discredit the school. We are being realistic. Being an AZ native, I still probably would not go to MWU because I know the area, the school and I know that there are many good reasons to be wary of it. We are all smart people here, all anyone is suggesting is that you do your research and really think about all the aspects/impacts that going to a new school will have and then to really think about it; be critical about it, that is my suggestion.
If you still feel that the school is the right fit for you and you want to go, great! I will still congratulate you for your acceptance and we will still be colleagues in the future.
🙂