chances at western?

[flowerpod]

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Hi everyone. For economical and personal reasons, I really want to go to Western's podiatry school. (If that doesn't work out, it's okay; I will apply elsewhere as well.) Here are my stats:

cGPA: 3.26, sGPA: 3.06, mcat: 23Q (P7, V8, B8)

What are my chances for Western? My file also won't be complete for awhile ... I'm still in the process of getting letter of recs.

 

[tedj]

With those grades and MCAT score, you should be pretty competitive as long as you have extracurricular activities to go with it all, and of course, have a good interview if it comes down to that. I met Dr. Harkless not too long ago and he mentioned their every GPA's and MCAT scores and yours fit right in. The school is new, but from what Dr. Harkless said, there is a lot going on for it in the next couple of years if things pan out the way they are hoping. Dr. Harkless is a really nice guy and has a the vision to really change things for podiatrists. I am also in the application process right now, so take my advice for what it's worth and hopefully you will get more responses soon. Hope that helps.

 

[flowerpod]

With those grades and MCAT score, you should be pretty competitive as long as you have extracurricular activities to go with it all, and of course, have a good interview if it comes down to that. I met Dr. Harkless not too long ago and he mentioned their every GPA's and MCAT scores and yours fit right in. The school is new, but from what Dr. Harkless said, there is a lot going on for it in the next couple of years if things pan out the way they are hoping. Dr. Harkless is a really nice guy and has a the vision to really change things for podiatrists. I am also in the application process right now, so take my advice for what it's worth and hopefully you will get more responses soon. Hope that helps.

Thanks tedj. Good luck with the apps process. 🙂

 

[Shireiqiang]

There are students at each school with similar undergrad grades. When I interviewed there they didn't talk to me about grades, they wanted to know what kind of person I was. Make sure you have a well rounded application it seemed to be more important than grades.

 

[flowerpod]

There are students at each school with similar undergrad grades. When I interviewed there they didn't talk to me about grades, they wanted to know what kind of person I was. Make sure you have a well rounded application it seemed to be more important than grades.

hmm good to know thanks!

 

[hematosis]

isn't western unaccredited? just curious as to why you would want to go to an unaccredited school? Also, since they are not accredited does anyone know if they are eligible for Federal loans or do you have to take out private loans?
thanks

 

[tedj]

Hematosis- You are correct. Western is not fully accredited right now. They just recently made another step in the process though. There are things they need to work out but they are well on their way. I personally think that it will happen soon. Dr. Harkless seemed confident that it will happen soon when I talked to him about it. It may be a risk, but I am not really sure how the whole process works. That is something that you would probably want to talk to the school about.

 

[itswiggles]

- There were be no accreditation problems with Western. I have visited this school multiple times, and the faculty is top notch. The new Patient Care Center is truly amazing. After shadowing a Pod there, everything is brand new and there really is no better time to attend WesternU for Podiatry than right now. You will get great general medicine education since you take the same classes (majority) with the DO students and their Osteo program is ranked #1 by admission criteria (i.e. MCAT/GPA). Also they have a future oriented focus on the direction of the program, Podiatry is changing and they understand that. Therefore, I think the future students that graduate from their Pod program will be ready to practice in the current medical environment and will no have problem adjusting with the new health care reform that is happening under the Obama Admin (not a political bash by any means).
- Yes, there will always be a "risk" going to a school that is not fully accredited, but they are aiming to gain full accreditation by 2012 which is only two years away. They have 9 different colleges all accredited and have great reputations, I am sure their Podiatry program will follow suit.

 

[flowerpod]

isn't western unaccredited? just curious as to why you would want to go to an unaccredited school? Also, since they are not accredited does anyone know if they are eligible for Federal loans or do you have to take out private loans?
thanks

I want to go there because of its location. I've been away from home for about a year or two, and I'd prefer to be situated in southern Cali permanently again. I know that Western isn't fully accredited yet, but it's a reputable school, and I don't doubt at all that it will eventually get accredited. It's just a matter of when. Asides for the biased opinion, I've talked to the faculty there, and their explanations seemed promising as well.

 

[hematosis]

Does anyone know about the loan process with western? will the students qualify for government loans? That is perhaps one of the bigger concerns i have with the school. If you have to take out private loans, due to the school not being accredited, then that would be very detrimental since some of the private loan rates are ridiculously high (not to mention you will be good credit scores and cosigners..)

 

[darazon]

Does anyone know about the loan process with western? will the students qualify for government loans? That is perhaps one of the bigger concerns i have with the school. If you have to take out private loans, due to the school not being accredited, then that would be very detrimental since some of the private loan rates are ridiculously high (not to mention you will be good credit scores and cosigners..)

Western University is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and is therefore eligible for government loans -any program.

The College of Podiatric Medicine at WesternU is not yet FULLY accredited, it has Candidate Status from the CPME. Full accreditation cannot come until 2012 when the first class is in their final year -that is the way CPME does things. This has no effect on government student loans.