Western U - Pomona (COMP) Discussion Thread 2012 - 2013

[MedPR]

What can I say. It's so expensive it's causing a lot of friction between me and the parents.

yeah. just money problems. theoretical interview invites won't make this much easier, either.

i hope your luck is better than mine, my friend.

Yea, paying for these things is pretty damn ridiculous. Good luck.

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[HalfListic]

yes i was going to call.

but that it's a common email, maybe they've received and are just being lazy or something.

meh. i'll call anyway.

Probably a good idea...

 

[docmayer]

What can I say. It's so expensive it's causing a lot of friction between me and the parents.

yeah. just money problems. theoretical interview invites won't make this much easier, either.

i hope your luck is better than mine, my friend.

I feel ya man...it's bad as it is; once/if interviews start I will run into more trouble...

 

[Ost3oclast]

The main thing im stressing about is asking my parents to help drop the deposit to hold an acceptance spot if i get one. That can be expensive.

 

[abolt18]

.

 

[Ost3oclast]

Man I wish I had any help from my parents at all! I've been saving for like 8 months just to cover all the costs of apps, airfare/hotels for potential interviews, and the fat deposit...

Yea ive done most of it on my own up to this point but that deposit is another story....

 

[MedPR]

Man I wish I had any help from my parents at all! I've been saving for like 8 months just to cover all the costs of apps, airfare/hotels for potential interviews, and the fat deposit...

Only took you 8 months to save for all that? Must be nice.

 

[abolt18]

.

 

[JaBoomDay]

Man I wish I had any help from my parents at all! I've been saving for like 8 months just to cover all the costs of apps, airfare/hotels for potential interviews, and the fat deposit...

Must be nice huh? LOL

 

[JaBoomDay]

Finally got an email this morning saying they received my secondary. They said they will not review my application for an interview until they receive my LOR's and MCAT scores which I have to wait until the end of the month for.
Sigh...

 

[abolt18]

.

 

[JaBoomDay]

Same situation for me and my LOR's...

My scores are supposed to come back July 24th and what's even more lame is my committee will NOT draft my letter until they have my scores. So annoying. I'm guessing I won't be able to send this information until the first week of August.
Oh well. Deep breath.. lol

 

[WorldChanger36]

My scores are supposed to come back July 24th and what's even more lame is my committee will NOT draft my letter until they have my scores. So annoying. I'm guessing I won't be able to send this information until the first week of August.
Oh well. Deep breath.. lol

Its all good we have time....

 

[ModernAlchemist]

Secondary in and letters sent! I did this one first because it's my top choice!

How long did it take for your letters to get updated as received?

I'm anxious to hear about interview invites.

 

[MedPR]

Secondary in and letters sent! I did this one first because it's my top choice!

How long did it take for your letters to get updated as received?

I'm anxious to hear about interview invites.

Submitted 6/29. Still not received.

 

[ModernAlchemist]

Submitted 6/29. Still not received.

Thanks for the info! I emailed my adviser to make sure there weren't any other problems. I'll let you know if I get a response.

 

[CholeCystems]

Submitted! I took more than 10 days to submit, wonder how long that delays the processing...

 

[CholeCystems]

Also sent letters via Interfolio so should get sent electronically Monday. Sorry for double post, no edit option on phone app.

 

[dancindoc38]

Question on the prompt for the community service essay:

It says "Describe your participation in your community service activities and state why this experience was important to you." So does anyone know if they are looking for one community service activity mainly, since they state 'this experience?' Or is 'this experience' referring to all community service overall?

Maybe I'm over-analyzing the question.

Thanks in advance!

 

[JaBoomDay]

Question on the prompt for the community service essay:

It says "Describe your participation in your community service activities and state why this experience was important to you." So does anyone know if they are looking for one community service activity mainly, since they state 'this experience?' Or is 'this experience' referring to all community service overall?

Maybe I'm over-analyzing the question.

Thanks in advance!

I started it out by briefly stating what community service I have done and then chose one specific example to describe why it was important to me.

 

[ModernAlchemist]

Question on the prompt for the community service essay:

It says "Describe your participation in your community service activities and state why this experience was important to you." So does anyone know if they are looking for one community service activity mainly, since they state 'this experience?' Or is 'this experience' referring to all community service overall?

Maybe I'm over-analyzing the question.

Thanks in advance!

I started by explaining what sparked my interest in it, then said the kind of things I've done with focus on the impact it had on me and the community.

 

[docmayer]

I started it out by briefly stating what community service I have done and then chose one specific example to describe why it was important to me.

I just talked about the 2 or 3 things that had the greatest impact on me.

 

[Ost3oclast]

I started by explaining what sparked my interest in it, then said the kind of things I've done with focus on the impact it had on me and the community.

I did the same. Focused on two experiences.

 

[WorldChanger36]

Still working on this secondary

 

[MedPR]

I mentioned some specific service experiences, reflected on them, then reflected on service as a whole. I genuinely like service projects though, so it's really easy for me to answer those types of prmopts.

 

[dancindoc38]

Thank you everyone! Good luck!

 

[COMedic2Doc]

Thanks everyone for talking about the application process so far at Western Pamona. Western is definitely one of my top choices for schools this year, and I've been debating as to which schools would even consider me without my MCAT score. Good to know that Western will at least send me a secondary once they have my primary from my understanding, is this correct?

 

[angldrps]

Question on the prompt for the community service essay:

It says "Describe your participation in your community service activities and state why this experience was important to you." So does anyone know if they are looking for one community service activity mainly, since they state 'this experience?' Or is 'this experience' referring to all community service overall?

Maybe I'm over-analyzing the question.

Thanks in advance!

I also like prompts like this that are more specific than prompts such as "Why should we accept you?". I am tempted to answer these by saying you should accept me because I put through the hell of all the premed courses through under grad, took the mcat, put the work in for ECs, and paid the ridicuoulous app. fees. HAHA. obviously this is only how i would like to answer not how i am actually going to.

 

[COMedic2Doc]

I also like prompts like this that are more specific than prompts such as "Why should we accept you?". I am tempted to answer these by saying you should accept me because I put through the hell of all the premed courses through under grad, took the mcat, put the work in for ECs, and paid the ridicuoulous app. fees. HAHA. obviously this is only how i would like to answer not how i am actually going to.

Nahh just answer it with three words "I am awesome"

 

[WorldChanger36]

I also like prompts like this that are more specific than prompts such as "Why should we accept you?". I am tempted to answer these by saying you should accept me because I put through the hell of all the premed courses through under grad, took the mcat, put the work in for ECs, and paid the ridicuoulous app. fees. HAHA. obviously this is only how i would like to answer not how i am actually going to.

Do it....

















JK... Don't do it.

 

[JaBoomDay]

Thanks everyone for talking about the application process so far at Western Pamona. Western is definitely one of my top choices for schools this year, and I've been debating as to which schools would even consider me without my MCAT score. Good to know that Western will at least send me a secondary once they have my primary from my understanding, is this correct?

Yes, I got a secondary without an MCAT score and I have no idea how because I thought they screened their primaries.

 

[Quester]

Really dumb question here. What defines 'community service'? Does this include hospital volunteering?

 

[chiddler]

Really dumb question here. What defines 'community service'? Does this include hospital volunteering?

sure why not.

remember that, theoretically, hospital volunteering is not only to see the medical field but also to help people.

 

[virtuoso735]

What are the character limits for the research/teaching experience essays?

And does community service include clinical community service as well?

 

[JaBoomDay]

What are the character limits for the research/teaching experience essays?

And does community service include clinical community service as well?

I don't remember those sections having a character limit. I tried to be as brief, yet descriptive as possible. I think they would appreciate a short/to-the-point answer on those.

 

[virtuoso735]

I don't remember those sections having a character limit. I tried to be as brief, yet descriptive as possible. I think they would appreciate a short/to-the-point answer on those.

Do you think it would be a bad idea to write about the same experience in the "teaching" section and the community service essay? I really do want to write about my tutoring disadvantaged students in the community service essay but then I realized I could also write about it under the teaching experience (although I'm not sure if I write an essay there).

 

[ModernAlchemist]

Do you think it would be a bad idea to write about the same experience in the "teaching" section and the community service essay? I really do want to write about my tutoring disadvantaged students in the community service essay but then I realized I could also write about it under the teaching experience (although I'm not sure if I write an essay there).

I would talk about it from 2 different perspectives. It would be cool to show them the community outreach and educator perspectives of yourself using the same experience. It's a good way to give them a complete picture of who you are, IMO.

 

[COMedic2Doc]

I would talk about it from 2 different perspectives. It would be cool to show them the community outreach and educator perspectives of yourself using the same experience. It's a good way to give them a complete picture of who you are, IMO.

+1. Take two different approaches or tell about two different experiences.

 

[WildEMDoc]

Submitted! Had a really hard time with the community service essay for some reason, feeling like I should've talked about it in a clearer way than I did now. That was definitely my worst secondary essay I have submitted so far

 

[docmayer]

I sent my LORs via interfolio last week and on my application status for Western it says they still need the LORs. Should I assume they just haven't updated my status or should I call them and see if something went wrong during delivery?

 

[whatwhyhow]

Hi everyone, I just started doing the application today. Do you think it is too late???

 

[LawlasaurusRex]

Hi everyone, I just started doing the application today. Do you think it is too late???

Hardly. Secondaries just started rolling out for most students. At what step are you in the application process? As long as you get everything submitted by end of October'ish, you'll still be golden for DO schools. I wouldn't be as concerned for osteopathic schools as I would be for allopathic schools in terms of how quickly I get my application in.

 

[WorldChanger36]

Hardly. Secondaries just started rolling out for most students. At what step are you in the application process? As long as you get everything submitted by end of October'ish, you'll still be golden for DO schools. I wouldn't be as concerned for osteopathic schools as I would be for allopathic schools in terms of how quickly I get my application in.

Meh...partly true.... While DO school have trafic rules that make it a bit more friendly for people to apply later...You still really want to be marked complete by the end of August.

 

[drshark]

Does western send secondaries without having an mcat score??

 

[JaBoomDay]

Does western send secondaries without having an mcat score??

Yes. I got a secondary without an MCAT score.

 

[drshark]

time to apply !

 

[COMedic2Doc]

time to apply !

+1.

 

[bijoux22]

\

 

[ocbsyung6]

Hey you guys,

For the people who already submitted or recived a secondary,
do you guys mind sharing the prompts?
Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[virtuoso735]

Hey you guys,

For the people who already submitted or recived a secondary,
do you guys mind sharing the prompts?
Thanks in advance!!!!

Not the exact wording, but the the questions essentially were:

1) How did your shadowing experience solidify your decision to become an osteopathic physician? (1650 char)

2) Describe your community service experiences and explain why they were important to you. (1650 char)