2021-2022 Western University of Health Sciences (Pomona, California)

Applying to Med School? Get In Or Your Money Back
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student premed said:
II received.

For those who scheduled their interviews, the email said we will be able to schedule the pre-interview social and also receive a confirmation email for the additional MMI interview. I did not see either. I was wondering if you all also did not see the option to schedule the pre-interview social or the second confirmation email or if I should send an email.
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I just received one email confirming the first interview, not the MMI. And I wasn't able to schedule the pre-interview either
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JulesHir said:
Hi guys, looking for some thoughts. I received my secondary about 3 weeks ago and am just wrapping it up now. Hopefully it should be ready by the end of this week. I realize I am miles out past their 7-10 day turnaround time. However, I'm working full time at a hospital and it's just been tough trying to get any of my secondaries done amidst the fourth wave panic and overtime shifts. I loved western and I'm wondering if you guys thing my application is DOA or if it may be a good idea to send an email to admissions just acknowledging the delay and expressing sincere interest.
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It is definitely not DOA. I submitted my secondary 4 weeks later (submitted last week) and I received an interview invite today. Western is at the top of my list, but work/life demands get in the way. I think you should still submit
 
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student premed said:
II received.

For those who scheduled their interviews, the email said we will be able to schedule the pre-interview social and also receive a confirmation email for the additional MMI interview. I did not see either. I was wondering if you all also did not see the option to schedule the pre-interview social or the second confirmation email or if I should send an email.
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When scheduling the interview, options for the pre-interview social and MMI come up as well!
 
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How have people gotten interviews when I haven’t even gotten a secondary.. feeling super bummed since this is one of my top schools and I completed my app in May
 
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futuremd2125 said:
How have people gotten interviews when I haven’t even gotten a secondary.. feeling super bummed since this is one of my top schools and I completed my app in May
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I'm in the same boat. I got a secondary from COMP-NW so i definitely thought i would get one from Pomona
 
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premed0516 said:
Thank you for this!
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Hey so what ended up happening with your letter requirement? Im actually in the same boat now, reapplicant, paid for secondary then they hit me with that email that I need a new letter despite being out of school for 2 years.
 
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clinical999 said:
Hey so what ended up happening with your letter requirement? Im actually in the same boat now, reapplicant, paid for secondary then they hit me with that email that I need a new letter despite being out of school for 2 years.
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Someone sent me a confirmation that this was actually the case so I guess I’m just not considered anymore. I’m doing a masters so maybe I can send them a letter after fall
 
I heard some schools inform the students beforehand about who their interviewers are. Anyone know if Western does this?
 
Does anyone know how long an admission offer would be valid for, if you were given one post interview? Wondering for rolling admissions.
 
Help! I am currently doing the II and I have shadowed a DO physician (no MD shadow). What should I write where it says "if you have not shadowed DO..." and "if you have not shadowed a physician"? It feels weird to leave 2 whole secondary questions blank? Should I just elaborate more on my DO shadow experience under "if you have not shadowed a physician" prompt? Thanks in advance!
 
jennniffer said:
Help! I am currently doing the II and I have shadowed a DO physician (no MD shadow). What should I write where it says "if you have not shadowed DO..." and "if you have not shadowed a physician"? It feels weird to leave 2 whole secondary questions blank? Should I just elaborate more on my DO shadow experience under "if you have not shadowed a physician" prompt? Thanks in advance!
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II is interview invite and not secondary..
No, just put NA if it asks if you have not shadowed DO
 
Hi, for people that have received IIs, what was the first date available (aka first day of interviews)? I kind of want to get an idea of Western's current interview timeline. Thanks!
 
surprised I never received a secondary from here IS, 511 mcat
 
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caviar19 said:
Hi, for people that have received IIs, what was the first date available (aka first day of interviews)? I kind of want to get an idea of Western's current interview timeline. Thanks!
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Mine says the earliest is Sep 14th
 
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caffeinatedbiochemist said:
If I work as a medical assistant with a DO, would that count as shadowing?
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Yes, I believe you should. The advice that I've been given is take out a subset of your work hours and put them as your shadowing, so no double counting. I did that for two of my entries. So if you work a 7 hour day and only about 3 of them are spent with the doctor actively observing patient care while the rest is administrative or operational list 3 hours as shadowing and 4 as work hours. I did this with two of my entries.
 
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Would it be inappropriate/a conflict of interest to have a DO advising appointment? I may be late to this, but Western has advising programs that you can sign up for. Not sure if it will be even helpful since I'm currently in the cycle right now, but do you think they would look unfavorably if I were to schedule one?
 
hopeful_future_med said:
Does anyone know how long an admission offer would be valid for, if you were given one post interview? Wondering for rolling admissions.
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you have 2 weeks to pay deposit (1k up front and another 1k somewhere down the line) to hold your seat which is non-refundable if u decide to go elsewhere and give up your seat.
 
bluemorpho888 said:
Is anyone still waiting on a secondary? I'm really not sure why I didn't get one. In-state and meet their stat requirements/averages of accepted students. Is this a soft R?
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I am in the same boat. I am IS and meet their stats. I’m hoping that they are behind this cycle. I am also in the same boat with Touro CA and they informed me they are short staffed and have a higher number of applications. I am assuming Western is going through the same thing. Has anyone emailed admissions who hasn’t received a secondary?
 
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Recent grad here (PGY1). AMA

my advice that i cannot stress enough to any interviewers: read the interview feedback page thoroughly.

area is relatively safe, but low SES. Lived at associated housing for preclinical and never felt unsafe except once, but then a security guard arrived and it was cool.

staff are nice. i like my classmates (surrogate for selection criteria). With 200+ students, you can really select your people.

i did ~70th percentile for STEP when my goal and preparation was aimed at 50th-60th both times. I didn't invest heavily in the curriculum and felt that it didn't get in the way of my life or board prep anymore than any other school.

Rotation sites are probably a bit lacking and i'm not sure if it's a western issue or a DO issue. I'd definitely be on the lookout for the site crunch as arrowhead is taken over by CUSM and other sites like the kaisers are taken over by their own med school. I thought that it was already really tight on high quality rotations when I was rotating, and it should be even worse now with a bunch of new allopathic med schools and covid causing us to lose a lot of our slots. You *will* be rotating heavily with random private practice docs. Some teach well, many others do not. You will get less exposure to the typical residency style of medical education. At a floor, the DO accrediting body requires that there be like ~1.2 rotation sites per student. Honestly, Western has decently solid rotations for like mayyybe 100-150 students. But the class is 230 students... (FOR PREMEDS, THIS IS PROBABLY ACTUALLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN SELECTING A SCHOOL ASIDE FROM THEIR MATCH LIST. NOBODY ACTUALLY GIVES A FORK ABOUT PRECLINICAL CURRICULUM. ESPECIALLY NOW THAT STEP1 IS DEAD.)

I don't know your preclinical curriculum. They switched to a new curriculum for the class below me. Modeled after RVU which is evidently a high boards performing school.

I ended up matching at my #1 and had a great selection of programs to interview at for my specialty.

overall, some minor misgivings (eg didn't enjoy mandatory small groups), but no regrets. honestly, quite happy with my life and choice.
 
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BlueBleck said:
Recent grad here (PGY1). AMA

my advice that i cannot stress enough to any interviewers: read the interview feedback page thoroughly.

area is relatively safe, but low SES. Lived at associated housing for preclinical and never felt unsafe except once, but then a security guard arrived and it was cool.

staff are nice. i like my classmates (surrogate for selection criteria). With 200+ students, you can really select your people.

i did ~70th percentile for STEP when my goal and preparation was aimed at 50th-60th both times. I didn't invest heavily in the curriculum and felt that it didn't get in the way of my life or board prep anymore than any other school.

Rotation sites are probably a bit lacking and i'm not sure if it's a western issue or a DO issue. I'd definitely be on the lookout for the site crunch as arrowhead is taken over by CUSM and other sites like the kaisers are taken over by their own med school. I thought that it was already really tight on high quality rotations when I was rotating, and it should be even worse now with a bunch of new allopathic med schools and covid causing us to lose a lot of our slots. You *will* be rotating heavily with random private practice docs. Some teach well, many others do not. You will get less exposure to the typical residency style of medical education. At a floor, the DO accrediting body requires that there be like ~1.2 rotation sites per student. Honestly, Western has decently solid rotations for like mayyybe 100-150 students. But the class is 230 students... (FOR PREMEDS, THIS IS PROBABLY ACTUALLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN SELECTING A SCHOOL ASIDE FROM THEIR MATCH LIST. NOBODY ACTUALLY GIVES A FORK ABOUT PRECLINICAL CURRICULUM. ESPECIALLY NOW THAT STEP1 IS DEAD.)

I don't know your preclinical curriculum. They switched to a new curriculum for the class below me. Modeled after RVU which is evidently a high boards performing school.

I ended up matching at my #1 and had a great selection of programs to interview at for my specialty.

overall, some minor misgivings (eg didn't enjoy mandatory small groups), but no regrets. honestly, quite happy with my life and choice.
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Amazing! Thank you for sharing!!
 
Hi all, I'm trying to watch the Office of Career and Professional Development video required before the interview but the link just shows that it's an error for me. Anyone having the same problem?
 
I just received my MCAT back (515) and finally was able to finish my primary application. Am I too late to apply to Western? It appears there's a lot of interest in this school.
 
sirromta said:
I just received my MCAT back (515) and finally was able to finish my primary application. Am I too late to apply to Western? It appears there's a lot of interest in this school.
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do it. I applied in late November in the last cycle. Current oms-1 here.
 
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sirromta said:
I just received my MCAT back (515) and finally was able to finish my primary application. Am I too late to apply to Western? It appears there's a lot of interest in this school.
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its late for MD, but on time for DO. Just try to submit primary soon because it does take a week or so for verification.
 
sirromta said:
I just received my MCAT back (515) and finally was able to finish my primary application. Am I too late to apply to Western? It appears there's a lot of interest in this school.
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No it’s not too late for DO
 
To anyone who's already interviewed, is it 2.5 hrs long, mine is coming up and I have to schedule something right after, so need to know..Thank you
 
wanttobeamd22 said:
To anyone who's already interviewed, is it 2.5 hrs long, mine is coming up and I have to schedule something right after, so need to know.. Thank you
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Ok, so found out that the interview is 1 hr. Just had to read the packet.
 
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If I never received a secondary is it still too early to reach out (primary submitted in June)
 
RubberLlama said:
What are you hoping for them to tell you by reaching out though?
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Just want to make sure that if they were planning on sending one/wouldn't be opposed to it, that my app didn't fall through the cracks due to a clerical error or something similar. Obviously if I've been screened out it's no big deal! But can't hurt to make sure
 
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brockhamptonfanacct said:
Just want to make sure that if they were planning on sending one/wouldn't be opposed to it, that my app didn't fall through the cracks due to a clerical error or something similar. Obviously if I've been screened out it's no big deal! But can't hurt to make sure
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in the exact same boat as you, I was marked complete a very long time ago and others I know got secondaries within days. I wonder what their screen-out criteria may have been? Institutional actions? Lower than 125 in one MCAT section? OOS? I'm not sure.
 
I have a question about the "MMI exam"... anyone know if we will be required to act out the scenario?
 
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For the MMI, does anyone know if we have to prep for current ethical issues or is it more of a scenario?
 
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