What do you like about Western, Cheska?
Actually its funny that Western is my first choice now, I had originally written it off completely because of how non-traditional the program is. Now that is the reason why I am so interested in the program!
My first big concern was that they did not have a major, established teaching hospital- now, I really like that, as a fourth year you can go anywhere in the world for your rotations. I can think of endless places I would love to spend time at, when in a traditional program you are anchored in one place with the exception of only a couple of externship opportunities.
I have always been interested in their problem based learning system, since I have been a veterinary technician going on 9 years now (wow, doesn't seem like that long!), for me it is easier to learn when I can identify with a patient. I also hate sitting in lectures all day, I would much rather be in smaller groups talking over a case than fidgeting in a lecture hall (their website has the "typical schedule" for each year).
My other concerns were the location and price. This forum made me feel better seeing how many others will be 200K in debt, we are definitely not going into the profession for the money! But it is a small price to pay for being happy. And there are fantastic job offers in AZ and So. Cal, so while it won't be easy to pay off, it is certainly not impossible. And as for it being near LA, yuck, but at least there is plenty to do, lots of baseball to watch
😀 , and it is within a 5 hour drive of my family in AZ (and some of the best mexican food ever!).
Oh yeah, my biggest reason- the gorilla troop I work with in Denver belongs to the LA Zoo, and they will be moving back soon so the thought of getting to see them occasionally pleases me

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Hope this makes some sense, it is just a lot of small factors that add up to the big realization that I could be really happy there.