Many problems at Western University of Health Sciences Osteopathic COMP Pomona

[brosephlol]

Threads like this are helpful to see insights of current students but man.....everyone seems to be hating on their schools. Last week it was azcom (the same week i interviewed there) and now its western (where i interview next week). Its bumming me out. I used to be pumped for these interviews but these posts leave me jaded....

I feel the same way...

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[84kizpce]

Threads like this are helpful to see insights of current students but man.....everyone seems to be hating on their schools. Last week it was azcom (the same week i interviewed there) and now its western (where i interview next week). Its bumming me out. I used to be pumped for these interviews but these posts leave me jaded....

I feel the same way...

Take everything with a grain of salt. Medical school is really what you make of it. If it makes it any better, I think the support that WesternU is getting from the responses to the OP's post shows quite the opposite.

 

[abolt18]

Threads like this are helpful to see insights of current students but man.....everyone seems to be hating on their schools. Last week it was azcom (the same week i interviewed there) and now its western (where i interview next week). Its bumming me out. I used to be pumped for these interviews but these posts leave me jaded....

I think OP's post can make you feel that way, but there are more than enough OTHER COMP students contesting most of the things she ranted about to make me feel good about this school.

 

[angldrps]

Threads like this are helpful to see insights of current students but man.....everyone seems to be hating on their schools. Last week it was azcom (the same week i interviewed there) and now its western (where i interview next week). Its bumming me out. I used to be pumped for these interviews but these posts leave me jaded....

I agree. I wish current AZCOM students would have also come to defense of their school the way so many of the current Western students are doing so in this thread. Maybe' the fact that AZCOM's negative reviews are mostly all in the application specific thread as opposed to being in a thread of their own had something to do with this.

 

[engin33ring]

As a current first year medical school and a TA (ISAC student). I also have a different perspective. I feel a strong sense of community and like I am a part one big family.

Professors: There may be one professor that I don't feel should be teaching, but for the most part I can't complain much. In fact, the professor that is teaching now is probably the BEST PROFESSOR I HAVE EVER HAD and many of us feel the same way.

Most professors are wiling to help and take the time to explain things. I have never emailed them so I don't know about that. A few of us have even meet with them outside of class (we took anatomy over the summer so we are no longer their student)

TA's: As a TA, I try to do all that I can to help out. I am not a teacher and if I knew as much as they did, I would be getting paid a lot more. I even meet with my groups outside of class and practice on the weekends. Saying that we don't take the time to do our job is really a shot in the face because for the mockpracticals we get to the lab at 6 AM to set it up.

If anyone is having trouble and doesn't want to wait for the LEAD office, PM me and I wil be glad to help. I don't need to get paid through the university and will be willing to help out for free.

ALSO, If anyone is interviewing and would like to chat before their interview, feel free to PM and I will be glad to meet up with you guys.

 

[iatrogen]

I am also a 1st year at Western, and I have to respectfully disagree with the original post. I knew going in that Med School was going to be unlike any experience I have ever had - and I was VERY correct. Sifting through confusing and contradictory statements, having to find information on your own, time management under a suffocating work load? I don't know, sounds like skills it would be good for a DOCTOR to possess! The author neglected to mention that the one class where computers are prohibited is our clinical skills class. (kind of important to be there mentally as well as physically!) Additionally, no mention was made of the emergency town hall meeting held the day after the windows were shot - a meeting consisting of school officials and local police. I have found the administration to be very receptive (if bureaucratic) to issues I have had. I will agree with the author of the original post that the video learning of anatomy sucks - but I am dealing with it and doing well in the class without losing TOO much sleep.

I realize that one's "fit" into a school is entirely subjective - I'm sorry that you are having such a bad experience - but maybe use the entire med school experience as a learning opportunity; not just what is explicitly "taught" in the classroom. A change in perspective might make your time at Western a lot more bearable.

Regarding campus safety, campus is safe - surrounding area is not.

Would I still attend Western if I could do it over? Yes.
Is Western perfect? Of course not.
Is the experience I am having at Western comparable to what my friends are going thru at UCLA, UCI, LLU, and Ross? We bitch about the same things, so I would say yes.

Just my opinion.

 

[488677]

after reading SDN for quite some time, i think there are two schools of thought about medical school amongst medical students:

some medical students place the majority of their faith in their medical school to get them into the residency they desire and make them successful physicians. instead of intensively researching certain medical schools, these students put more effort into researching US News rankings and the perspectives from members of SDN (mostly pre-meds). unarguably, they think that US MD is always better than DO and DO is always better than foreign MD. "the grass is always greener on the other side" for these medical students. i feel that the OP falls into this category.

the medical students who seem to be the most successful think the opposite. these medical students believe they are responsible for acing their boards, fighting tooth and nail during rotations, landing the residency they are seeking, and ultimately becoming successful physicians. i find that these students know every single detail about the medical school they matriculate into in order to most effectively utilize every opportunity to achieve their goals.


i think i endorse both schools of thought 10:90, respectively. i think a school's reputation may be somewhat helpful in landing a particular residency. although if you do not have the board scores or grades, reputation becomes irrelevant.

i mostly believe that i--not my medical school--am responsible for my own future. i am choosing the medical school that i am choosing not because it is a DO or because of its ranking or because of what some SDN dork once heard someone's cousin who is in podiatry school say, i am choosing it because it appeals to my career goals and learning style. i think my residency placement is just as dependent on my medical school choice as my high school was on my college choice or my middle school was on my high school choice.

i highly suggest you guys all view "Doctors' Diaries" (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/doctors-diaries.html) if you haven't already yet.

i am sorry your experience at your medical school hasn't been what you were expecting, but i think a lot of your problems are common amongst many medical students. i think this is an excellent opportunity to stress the importance of researching medical schools before matriculating into them.

hope it gets better for you.

 

[FutureDoc1988]

Please for the people reading this, do NOT take western off your list just because of a few peoples opinions, because this is not shared by a lot of people.

I'm a 2nd year up at COMP-NW and I actually like the school and think its a great program, but yeah there are some issues with it just like there are with every other school they just don't have one person who hates it trying to discourage everyone else.

Yes medical school is hard, I think we all expected that but truthfully this years anatomy class is way easier than it was last year. Also as far as organization goes, it also has improved a lot too. For some reason this school lacks organization for anatomy and its hard because that's the first class that you do start with and it gives you a bad view of the school. But after that it does improve a lot, you just have to make it through anatomy.

As far as streamed lectures, this was made clear to everyone when interviewed and I don't think that its impacted my learning at all. Most people don't go to school so it doesn't matter where the lecture is streamed from. For getting questions answered, most professors have link set up and if not, many professors on your own campus know the information and can explain it to you. For example our anatomy professors are amazing and were there pretty much every night for us. Its the same with all the professors at the school.

All I can say is to the rest of the 1st years who are reading this and to those that are applying, it does get easier. Anatomy is the one of the harder courses and part of that is because you are just beginning medical school and may not have found a good way to study. If you are failing, go talk to the professors of the class and see how they can help you, and they won't talk to you then talk to Dr. Thrush because he will go out of his way to make you succeed. There are a lot of great professors on both campuses and sometimes its hard to get to know them because of the size of the class, but if you make the effort they will help you through this.

 

[zoner]

wow

i think the op's post was extremely helpful and valid and i didn't see it as "venting" frustration. after seeing CCOM and UMDNJ, I am so pissed that my number one choice school which was Western so pales in comparison in every aspect to those two schools.

this clearly isn't the case of people bashing one school after another, but this goes deeper than that. is it any wonder that the two most bashed schools on this DO forum is AZCOM and Western which are the two most expensive schools among the DO schools? CCOM is understandable because its reputation and its godly awesomeness, but how can the other school have that kind of tuition rate without the quality to show for it? as someone replied in my other thread, they are banking on the fact that they are in socal and that many uninformed people would love to be in socal. sure, if you are going to be practicing family medicine, go right ahead, you will be fine here in socal, but if you have any inkling desire to do anything else, statistically you are at such a huge disadvantage by attending a DO school in cali since most of specialties residencies are done way outside of cali

does it also make much sense to spend that kind of money on tuition when you are coming out to be a family med or internal med? and what right minded school that really stressed family medicine dare charge ~50k a year and be one of the most expensive medical school in the country? idk. if i knew clearly that i wanted to be a family med doc, i think Lecom 3 year program would be my number one choice. ( 15k times 3 = 45k total medical school tuition which is less than one year tuition at western. this is what doesn't make sense to me. the cost at these two schools and the reputation that follows them. if you follow closely, those who say that those two schools have a good reputation can't really say how that is so and why they think that.

let me give you an example of how one great do school takes care of an issue raised by the op's post. they pay student tutors. the tutors teach the students for free. anyone can get tutoring at any time even if you are a number one in class or have a high honors. and the tuition is ~32k. how about that for a school? and that schools has its own teaching hospital freaking on their campus. gawwddddd... whats so good about cali? believe me, i love cali and i really wished that this wasn't so, but it is painfully panning out to be so.

 

[ILikeFood]

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[Siggy]

· Some classes are a waste of time. We have been told to watch prerecorded lectures then in class they go over almost all of that information anyways in the next class. Unfortunately in this class, we are not able to have electronics out where we could study for other classes.

You don't know the definition of "useless" until you start IPE.

 

[Siggy]

Yeah it's unfortunate, but there are facilities nearby. And who has time to work out anyway haha

It's much easier to fit a 20-30 minute workout session into your day if you don't have to leave campus while studying.

My undergrad parking was $600 a semester haha. $480 for the year doesn't seem too bad to me. However the breakin thing is an issue. Again, I think we need to be more diligent about how we leave our cars. Don't part on the street that goes over Towne. Try to park in the parking structure. A lot of what we need to learn as a student body is to how to minimize our chances of becoming a victim. Even if we had more patrols by the Pomona PD, I don't know if that would solve this problem.

I know students who've had their cars broken into while parked in the parking structure. Personally, I'd say that the lots immediately in front of (the one being turned into student housing eventually) and the one immediately behind the HEC (the one that is now staff only) are probably the safest lots because it's easier to have eyes on them constantly. Of course now you can't park in them until what, 7pm?

 

[Siggy]

For $50,000 a year I'd expect more service than the bare minimum. Unfortunately this is not an uncommon scenario in the DO world. Where does the extra money go? Western is especially unique because I've spent extended time on their campus before med school and have rotated at their hospitals NOT named Arrowhead, one of which still lives in the 1990s and another which is laughably poor in teaching and training and have come to the conclusion that their administration charges a $10,000-$15,000 premium for the privilege of attending school in the ******* of Southern California. Can't blame them for doing so, they regularly get some of the highest quality applicants based on location alone.

Pacific Hospital and Chino Valley?

 

[sector9]

· [FONT="]We DO NOT have enough teacher assistants or tutors. Many students who are failing anatomy asked for a tutor right away and still have not been given one or assigned to a group even after 5 weeks of the 10 week anatomy course. Even students with a documented disabilities have not had access to tutors they were told they could have before school started. A lack of tutors and instructors has been a known problem in the past with this school and we can only hope this changes. In the meantime, we make friends with smart friends or pay for tutors (like 50K a year isn’t enough!). .

We have enough TA's... one for every two dissecting tables. They even give review sessions and meet with students ON THEIR OWN TIME FOR FREE to help us all out. I suggest you take advantage of these things... they're usually posted on the facebook group.

I can't really take the OP seriously after this... 1 TA for every 2 tanks is a ridiculously high number. My school has 2 TA's for the whole class, and I haven't heard anyone complain that there aren't enough. People come prepared for lab and figure it out at their tank. I guess the OP thinks that she needs her own private TA provided by her school

 

[ModernAlchemist]

wow

i think the op's post was extremely helpful and valid and i didn't see it as "venting" frustration. after seeing CCOM and UMDNJ, I am so pissed that my number one choice school which was Western so pales in comparison in every aspect to those two schools.

this clearly isn't the case of people bashing one school after another, but this goes deeper than that. is it any wonder that the two most bashed schools on this DO forum is AZCOM and Western which are the two most expensive schools among the DO schools? CCOM is understandable because its reputation and its godly awesomeness, but how can the other school have that kind of tuition rate without the quality to show for it? as someone replied in my other thread, they are banking on the fact that they are in socal and that many uninformed people would love to be in socal. sure, if you are going to be practicing family medicine, go right ahead, you will be fine here in socal, but if you have any inkling desire to do anything else, statistically you are at such a huge disadvantage by attending a DO school in cali since most of specialties residencies are done way outside of cali

does it also make much sense to spend that kind of money on tuition when you are coming out to be a family med or internal med? and what right minded school that really stressed family medicine dare charge ~50k a year and be one of the most expensive medical school in the country? idk. if i knew clearly that i wanted to be a family med doc, i think Lecom 3 year program would be my number one choice. ( 15k times 3 = 45k total medical school tuition which is less than one year tuition at western. this is what doesn't make sense to me. the cost at these two schools and the reputation that follows them. if you follow closely, those who say that those two schools have a good reputation can't really say how that is so and why they think that.

let me give you an example of how one great do school takes care of an issue raised by the op's post. they pay student tutors. the tutors teach the students for free. anyone can get tutoring at any time even if you are a number one in class or have a high honors. and the tuition is ~32k. how about that for a school? and that schools has its own teaching hospital freaking on their campus. gawwddddd... whats so good about cali? believe me, i love cali and i really wished that this wasn't so, but it is painfully panning out to be so.

Honestly, I'm really disappointed at the tone of your post. I can understand other med students from western and other osteopathic schools voicing their experiences, but this bashing is really in poor form. You can see people that love and don't love western from these posts. Make your decision, but don't make accusations about things you don't know about. I didn't get the feeling that they stressed family med anymore than any other school. In fact, they seemed to be stressing radiology on my interview day.

As an adcom member from another DO school told me, "No school is perfect. They might seem perfect on interview day, but every school has problems. You have to decide which school fits you based on all of the information you can get." So, make your choice, but as a pre-med, please don't try to make the choice for others too.

 

[84kizpce]

wow

i think the op's post was extremely helpful and valid and i didn't see it as "venting" frustration. after seeing CCOM and UMDNJ, I am so pissed that my number one choice school which was Western so pales in comparison in every aspect to those two schools.

this clearly isn't the case of people bashing one school after another, but this goes deeper than that. is it any wonder that the two most bashed schools on this DO forum is AZCOM and Western which are the two most expensive schools among the DO schools? CCOM is understandable because its reputation and its godly awesomeness, but how can the other school have that kind of tuition rate without the quality to show for it? as someone replied in my other thread, they are banking on the fact that they are in socal and that many uninformed people would love to be in socal. sure, if you are going to be practicing family medicine, go right ahead, you will be fine here in socal, but if you have any inkling desire to do anything else, statistically you are at such a huge disadvantage by attending a DO school in cali since most of specialties residencies are done way outside of cali

does it also make much sense to spend that kind of money on tuition when you are coming out to be a family med or internal med? and what right minded school that really stressed family medicine dare charge ~50k a year and be one of the most expensive medical school in the country? idk. if i knew clearly that i wanted to be a family med doc, i think Lecom 3 year program would be my number one choice. ( 15k times 3 = 45k total medical school tuition which is less than one year tuition at western. this is what doesn't make sense to me. the cost at these two schools and the reputation that follows them. if you follow closely, those who say that those two schools have a good reputation can't really say how that is so and why they think that.

let me give you an example of how one great do school takes care of an issue raised by the op's post. they pay student tutors. the tutors teach the students for free. anyone can get tutoring at any time even if you are a number one in class or have a high honors. and the tuition is ~32k. how about that for a school? and that schools has its own teaching hospital freaking on their campus. gawwddddd... whats so good about cali? believe me, i love cali and i really wished that this wasn't so, but it is painfully panning out to be so.

Lecom's tuition is 28k, not 15k.

 

[thecgrblue]

"*****" was a bit harsh/unnecessary. What I was trying to get at is that I dont think the theory "complain less, study more" is true. You can do both...... I am in the top quartile of my class and bitch all the time

However, its completely different to continually fall below class averages and blame that on the school. In that case, yes that person needs to complain less and study more. Everyone is in the same boat at that school though

I complain as well. The OP listed so many complaints that it made me feel like I never complain...plus it was really obnoxious.

 

[zoner]

Honestly, I'm really disappointed at the tone of your post. I can understand other med students from western and other osteopathic schools voicing their experiences, but this bashing is really in poor form. You can see people that love and don't love western from these posts. Make your decision, but don't make accusations about things you don't know about. I didn't get the feeling that they stressed family med anymore than any other school. In fact, they seemed to be stressing radiology on my interview day.

As an adcom member from another DO school told me, "No school is perfect. They might seem perfect on interview day, but every school has problems. You have to decide which school fits you based on all of the information you can get." So, make your choice, but as a pre-med, please don't try to make the choice for others too.

thats's fair, but i think i was just expressing my opinions about the schools after having seen them. also, those that you said "love" western doesn't really seem like they love it but it seems they were more defensive about their own school. all their replies to the op's post seems seems to be "get over it" instead of no, that is not that case because of x, y and z. at least that's the impression i got from reading those their replies.

as i said, facts are facts. it is a fact that ccom and azcom have a great work out facility right on their campus. it is a fact that umdnj and msu have teaching their own teaching hospital right on or very near the campus. it is a fact that most of other schools have far less tuition rate than others. it is a fact that graduates of ccom, umdnj, d/m, pcom have extremely high competitive residency match rate in par with md counterparts in the region. it is a fact that azcom, ccom, umdnj, d/m, pcom, and many others are in an extremely safe neighborhood with FREE parking. i figured out not too long ago, that if you are planning to live in la and commute, you can't even take the metro since they don't run outbound during the morning.

i wasn't trying to have a spiteful tone, but with all that other schools have offer with far less tuition, i can't help but have a dubious tone to my voice regarding western.

i understand that for some being in socal is important and it is what is going to guarantee their medical school success. but more and more i think about it, not even a significant other can make up for the differences in the quality and the fees.

oh yeah, did i mention umdnj offers free tutoring to anyone and gives you a free laptop?

 

[michow87]

thats's fair, but i think i was just expressing my opinions about the schools after having seen them. also, those that you said "love" western doesn't really seem like they love it but it seems they were more defensive about their own school. all their replies to the op's post seems seems to be "get over it" instead of no, that is not that case because of x, y and z. at least that's the impression i got from reading those their replies.

as i said, facts are facts. it is a fact that ccom and azcom have a great work out facility right on their campus. it is a fact that umdnj and msu have teaching their own teaching hospital right on or very near the campus. it is a fact that most of other schools have far less tuition rate than others. it is a fact that graduates of ccom, umdnj, d/m, pcom have extremely high competitive residency match rate in par with md counterparts in the region. it is a fact that azcom, ccom, umdnj, d/m, pcom, and many others are in an extremely safe neighborhood with FREE parking. i figured out not too long ago, that if you are planning to live in la and commute, you can't even take the metro since they don't run outbound during the morning.

i wasn't trying to have a spiteful tone, but with all that other schools have offer with far less tuition, i can't help but have a dubious tone to my voice regarding western.

i understand that for some being in socal is important and it is what is going to guarantee their medical school success. but more and more i think about it, not even a significant other can make up for the differences in the quality and the fees.

oh yeah, did i mention umdnj offers free tutoring to anyone and gives you a free laptop?

Many DO schools come with a laptop that you pay for with your tuition along with the free tutoring. Also, what I find really interesting is how so many people gauge their potential success on the school itself. A majority of your success will be on you and not the school.

And I think it's really ridiculous when people gauge a school on the percentage of people that get into their residency of choice. You need to also consider which specialties, ACGME or AOA, quality of the actual residency, etc. If 98% of the last class get into their residency of interest and they all want family practice, I find that significantly less impressive than a class where 40% get into their residency of interest and they all want surgery/radiology/etc. Given that this example is a bit extreme, I think you understand my point.

In short, just like what everyone else said, at the end of the day, your success is based on your own personal efforts. You get out of medical school what you put into it.

Lastly, I guarantee you that there are a handful of students from every school that are bitching about this and that. There always will be.

 

[zoner]

Many DO schools come with a laptop that you pay for with your tuition along with the free tutoring. Also, what I find really interesting is how so many people gauge their potential success on the school itself. A majority of your success will be on you and not the school.

And I think it's really ridiculous when people gauge a school on the percentage of people that get into their residency of choice. You need to also consider which specialties, ACGME or AOA, quality of the actual residency, etc. If 98% of the last class get into their residency of interest and they all want family practice, I find that significantly less impressive than a class where 40% get into their residency of interest and they all want surgery/radiology/etc. Given that this example is a bit extreme, I think you understand my point.

In short, just like what everyone else said, at the end of the day, your success is based on your own personal efforts. You get out of medical school what you put into it.

Lastly, I guarantee you that there are a handful of students from every school that are bitching about this and that. There always will be.

i doubt with umdnj's tuition, the students are "paying" for their tutoring and laptops.

another thing people might not understand is that as a californian myself, we are a scared bunch. most of us can't imagine living somewhere else. i think this is where most people justify their school choices and the tuition rate. of course i am not 100 percent sure since i am not a medical school student, but this is the general feeling i got from talking to many many medical students at various institutions. it feels like most of westerns students are there because they have to due to various extrinsic factors. but of course i could be totally wrong. i am not stating all this as a fact. its all just a mere impression and feeling. but as premed what else can we all go by if not the impressions and the feelings? i think this is why it is so important for schools to keep up with facilities and programs (such as tutoring, free parking and etc... ) unless they are in California and have no worries about attracting a ton of competitive applicant purely based on their location alone. i used to think this way, but the more i find out and each school and more i think critically about the amount of money and time i will be spending, more cautious i get and think perhaps that location isn't everything.

golly, ccom and umdnj just ruined everything for me for other schools

 

[DrBumblebee]

thats's fair, but i think i was just expressing my opinions about the schools after having seen them. also, those that you said "love" western doesn't really seem like they love it but it seems they were more defensive about their own school. all their replies to the op's post seems seems to be "get over it" instead of no, that is not that case because of x, y and z. at least that's the impression i got from reading those their replies.

as i said, facts are facts. it is a fact that ccom and azcom have a great work out facility right on their campus. it is a fact that umdnj and msu have teaching their own teaching hospital right on or very near the campus. it is a fact that most of other schools have far less tuition rate than others. it is a fact that graduates of ccom, umdnj, d/m, pcom have extremely high competitive residency match rate in par with md counterparts in the region. it is a fact that azcom, ccom, umdnj, d/m, pcom, and many others are in an extremely safe neighborhood with FREE parking. i figured out not too long ago, that if you are planning to live in la and commute, you can't even take the metro since they don't run outbound during the morning.

i wasn't trying to have a spiteful tone, but with all that other schools have offer with far less tuition, i can't help but have a dubious tone to my voice regarding western.

i understand that for some being in socal is important and it is what is going to guarantee their medical school success. but more and more i think about it, not even a significant other can make up for the differences in the quality and the fees.

oh yeah, did i mention umdnj offers free tutoring to anyone and gives you a free laptop?

1) C'mon now! Have you been interviewed at any of the COMP campuses, yet?
I was interviewed on 9/24, and had a generous time to talk to applicants, students, and profs. All in all, this school has a high-scale-brained human population. Period.

2) COMP has been exposing extremely competitive match rates that you can also realize if you dare to check their match lists for at least the last 2 years. (I think most of the WesternU graduates opt-in ACGME residencies, which are "MD ones", if you will.)

3) List the other DO med schools' current tuition rates, or that you're telling that COMP charges more than all the rest is flat out a lie (yes, I, too, AM freaked out about the high tuition rates at all med schools in this country, having been an immigrant from a European country. But, hey, this is the name of the game, and you're free to bail out from applying to them. Nobody points a gun to your head to attend to them, but you wanna attend, right? I'd assure you that med schools will find hundreds of others to pay for this fee. Do you wanna challenge them doing that, go ahead and try your lucky charms..)

4) After living and working in many of the metropolitan urban locations in this country, I can all tell you that there's no guarantee that you're gonna be totally safe at anywhere. You're only living in a dilusion to think about that NJ, PA, or NY is safer than So-Cal. On the other hand, what I know is that Californian police departments are only so much diligent to act to resolve as well as prevent any crime, even given that huge and diverse a population that can only be seen in CA and NY but nowhere else. I'd like to celebrate those heroes out there, by the way.

5) Free parking? Man we're talking about at most a $500 per year.

6) Gyms!?. I'm not a body-builder, neither do I have any plans to waste my precious time by working out like crazy in the midsts of all of my highly precious healthcare career initial steps as a medical school student. I own my own dumbles, exercise table, and jump-rope to exercise 2-3 times before I sleep. That's been working at its best until now in my whole life. Besides, I don't wanna catch several different types of yiests in the gym. My apartment complex's threadmill and the surrounding neighborhood are enough to run for 3-4 miles a week, too. So, I'm fine all over, at anywhere...

7) And, hell yeah... Living in so-cal is important. Only NYC can beat it on par.

8) Last, I think you have some bitter feeling that you haven't received an interview from COMP, yet, which makes you a little bit nervous, which is understandable.

Good luck in your quest to find a place to land your roots as a medical school student, and please come back to here and add your experiences there as well later on.

 

[zoner]

1) C'mon now! Have you been interviewed at any of the COMP campuses, yet?
I was interviewed on 9/24, and had a generous time to talk to applicants, students, and profs. All in all, this school has a high-scale-brained human population. Period.

2) COMP has been exposing extremely competitive match rates that you can also realize if you dare to check their match lists for at least the last 2 years. (I think most of the WesternU graduates opt-in ACGME residencies, which are "MD ones", if you will.)

3) List the other DO med schools' current tuition rates, or that you're telling that COMP charges more than all the rest is flat out a lie (yes, I, too, AM freaked out about the high tuition rates at all med schools in this country, having been an immigrant from a European country. But, hey, this is the name of the game, and you're free to bail out from applying to them. Nobody points a gun to your head to attend to them, but you wanna attend, right? I'd assure you that med schools will find hundreds of others to pay for this fee. Do you wanna challenge them doing that, go ahead and try your lucky charms..)

4) After living and working in many of the metropolitan urban locations in this country, I can all tell you that there's no guarantee that you're gonna be totally safe at anywhere. You're only living in a dilusion to think about that NJ, PA, or NY is safer than So-Cal. On the other hand, what I know is that Californian police departments are only so much diligent to act to resolve as well as prevent any crime, even given that huge and diverse a population that can only be seen in CA and NY but nowhere else. I'd like to celebrate those heroes out there, by the way.

5) Free parking? Man we're talking about at most a $500 per year.

6) Gyms!?. I'm not a body-builder, neither do I have any plans to waste my precious time by working out like crazy in the midsts of all of my highly precious healthcare career initial steps as a medical school student. I own my own dumbles, exercise table, and jump-rope to exercise 2-3 times before I sleep. That's been working at its best until now in my whole life. Besides, I don't wanna catch several different types of yiests in the gym. My apartment complex's threadmill and the surrounding neighborhood are enough to run for 3-4 miles a week, too. So, I'm fine all over, at anywhere...

7) And, hell yeah... Living in so-cal is important. Only NYC can beat it on par.

8) Last, I think you have some bitter feeling that you haven't received an interview from COMP, yet, which makes you a little bit nervous, which is understandable.

Good luck in your quest to find a place to land your roots as a medical school student, and please come back to here and add your experiences there as well later on.

wow you are so wrong in all your presumptions about me and what i know. its laughable. also if you yourself do any kind of research you will find that you are wrong about the tuition.

[search for this file on some thread Osteopathic Reference 2-14-12 and you will that there are huge difference in the tuition prices

i never said that their residency wasn't good, but what i did say was that good luck matching into any specialized residency spot in california. there is a reason why most of them end up matching into residency spots outside california and people who do stay in cali as i said many time if you cared to read carefully what i wrote all match into family med or internal med. don't get me wrong, if this is your thing go right ahead. western is a great place for that, just that i don't want to have that kind of debt hanging over my head as a family med doc.

 

[michow87]

i doubt with umdnj's tuition, the students are "paying" for their tutoring and laptops.

another thing people might not understand is that as a californian myself, we are a scared bunch. most of us can't imagine living somewhere else. i think this is where most people justify their school choices and the tuition rate. of course i am not 100 percent sure since i am not a medical school student, but this is the general feeling i got from talking to many many medical students at various institutions. it feels like most of westerns students are there because they have to due to various extrinsic factors. but of course i could be totally wrong. i am not stating all this as a fact. its all just a mere impression and feeling. but as premed what else can we all go by if not the impressions and the feelings? i think this is why it is so important for schools to keep up with facilities and programs (such as tutoring, free parking and etc... ) unless they are in California and have no worries about attracting a ton of competitive applicant purely based on their location alone. i used to think this way, but the more i find out and each school and more i think critically about the amount of money and time i will be spending, more cautious i get and think perhaps that location isn't everything.

golly, ccom and umdnj just ruined everything for me for other schools

I'm a Californian myself and I chose to leave Cali because I wanted to experience something outside of the OC bubble. Now I'm in Iowa and to say that I miss the food and culture of Cali would be an understatement. Anyways, that's besides the point.

I get where you're coming from and I appreciate your opinion. I know from interviewing at the Cali schools that a huge reason for matriculation is location and at the end of the day, it's all about personal preference.

FYI, CCOM is one of the more expensive DO schools.

And I'm 100% confident that your tuition will be paying for your laptop. Trust me when I say that nothing in med school is truly free.

 

[zoner]

I'm a Californian myself and I chose to leave Cali because I wanted to experience something outside of the OC bubble. Now I'm in Iowa and to say that I miss the food and culture of Cali would be an understatement. Anyways, that's besides the point.

I get where you're coming from and I appreciate your opinion. I know from interviewing at the Cali schools that a huge reason for matriculation is location and at the end of the day, it's all about personal preference.

FYI, CCOM is one of the more expensive DO schools.

And I'm 100% confident that your tuition will be paying for your laptop. Trust me when I say that nothing in med school is truly free.

but have you been to ccom? their tuition is worth all you get as a ccom student!!! most of students live in the Chicago city duriing their clinical years becaues that's where they mostly rotate along with UC med, northwester, univ ill and other md students.... um.. i will pay more if i had to go to CCOM. also, ccom has their own affiliated ortho residency.

 

[michow87]

but have you been to ccom? their tuition is worth all you get as a ccom student!!!

I can't say that I have and thus, I don't really want to give an opinion about something I know nothing about. I'm glad that you are so infatuated with that school and hope that you get in. It's important to love where you're going in order to maintain your pre-med enthusiasm because once school starts, the pace and work load hit is a bit discouraging.

I can say this, though. As a DMU student, I'm envious of the fact that midwestern students get macbooks pros

 

[zoner]

I'm a Californian myself and I chose to leave Cali because I wanted to experience something outside of the OC bubble. Now I'm in Iowa and to say that I miss the food and culture of Cali would be an understatement. Anyways, that's besides the point.
.

'

i am very scared of this,,, lack of good ethnic food in des moine. i am so sorry about that michow

 

[DrBumblebee]

but have you been to ccom? their tuition is worth all you get as a ccom student!!! most of students live in the Chicago city duriing their clinical years becaues that's where they mostly rotate along with UC med, northwester, univ ill and other md students.... um.. i will pay more if i had to go to CCOM. also, ccom has their own affiliated ortho residency.

Guess what... it's gonna be huge day for you when you match to a family practice residency at the end.

Ortho is a huge fight to pick for anyone even from the MD world. Unfortunately, it hasn't anything to do that your "future" school-to-be has its own affiliated ortho residency because everyone interested in ortho from all over the country would most probably be applying there along with yourself. It's a matter of a mixture of numbers, personal relations, and a huge amount of luck/destiny... Good luck my "future" orthopaedic surgeon pre-med friend in the SDN world.

P.S.: CCOM has also its own affiliated chunks of snow and breeze for long winters to come, too... SoCal?.. umm.. nah!..

 

[zoner]

Guess what... it's gonna be huge day for you when you match to a family practice residency at the end.

Ortho is a huge fight to pick for anyone even from the MD world. Unfortunately, it hasn't anything to do that your "future" school-to-be has its own affiliated ortho residency because everyone interested in ortho from all over the country would most probably be applying there along with yourself. It's a matter of a mixture of numbers, personal relations, and a huge amount of luck/destiny... Good luck my "future" orthopaedic surgeon pre-med friend in the SDN world.

P.S.: CCOM has also its own affiliated chunks of snow and breeze for long winters to come, too... SoCal?.. umm.. nah!..

wow, you really don't know much do you. things are very different for DOs in the midwest. you really need to learn more about this profession around the country than keep paying attention to the weather. this is your career/life and not a vacation destination

 

[DrBumblebee]

wow, you really don't know much do you. things are very different for DOs in the midwest. you really need to learn more about this profession around the country than keep paying attention to the weather. this is your career/life and not a vacation destination

Know what? That you were "pre-matched" to CCOM's ortho residency program even before starting to medical school?

Anyone keeps you applying to residencies in the midwest after medical school from anywhere in this country?

Pal, I'd first try my best chances in SoCal by being a SoCal medical school resident, and then may think beyond it. For me there's AZ, NV, and even TX and FL to look into residency programs after a medical school in CA.

This is only after your several bashes to COMP at this and several other threads. I understand you didn't receive an invitation at COMP, thus the nerve. But, why so hate it? Leave to its lovers man... and I'm in that group of people, too.

 

[zoner]

Know what? That you were "pre-matched" to CCOM's ortho residency program even before starting to medical school?

Anyone keeps you applying to residencies in the midwest after medical school from anywhere in this country?

Pal, I'd first try my best chances in SoCal by being a SoCal medical school resident, and then may think beyond it. For me there's AZ, NV, and even TX and FL to look into residency programs after a medical school in CA.

This is only after your several bashes to COMP at this and several other threads. I understand you didn't receive an invitation at COMP, thus the nerve. But, why so hate it? Leave to its lovers man... and I'm in that group of people, too.

do you have an innate inability to read properly or understand what you are reading? my issue with western is the lack of what they have to offer in relation to their one of the most expensive tuition.

and how do you know about that? you sure about that?

what other schools have you interviewed at? do you have any other schools to compare this school too? i have been to western MANY MANY times. how many times have you been to it? oh sorry, just once...

 

[DrBumblebee]

do you have an innate inability to read properly or understand what you are reading? my issue with western is the lack of what they have to offer in relation to their one of the most expensive tuition.

and how do you know about that? you sure about that?

what other schools have you interviewed at? do you have any other schools to compare this school too? i have been to western MANY MANY times. how many times have you been to it? oh sorry, just once...

Sheesh... Sorry brother, I can't go beyond that line. Good luck with your conquest in this cycle.

 

[zoner]

Sheesh... Sorry brother, I can't go beyond that line. Good luck with your conquest in this cycle.

sorry, i didn't want to come across as being an a$%*. i am cheap. i am one of those people that will drive the extra 10 minutes to go to an asian market to buy cheaper grocery. and i hate companies that monopolize. its against ethics. and i have a feeling that azcom and western do this because they have a monopoly in the america's mediterranean region without trying very hard to provide the best quality. yeah, i would choose to live in socal over south jersey in any life time. but if i keep thinking about having to drive an hour or two in socal traffic vs walking over to rotations sites or driving a mere 10-20 minutes in southern new jersey traffic for our clinical rotation years, i will easily pick the latter.

i am not trying to be a snob or just a plain a @#$#. i am just trying to find the best school for myself and help others to be informed critically than just ah, socal = nice weather and nice life

 

[DrBumblebee]

sorry, i didn't want to come across as being an a$%*. i am cheap. i am one of those people that will drive the extra 10 minutes to go to an asian market to buy cheaper grocery. and i hate companies that monopolize. its against ethics. and i have a feeling that azcom and western do this because they have a monopoly in the america's mediterranean region without trying very hard to provide the best quality. yeah, i would choose to live in socal over south jersey in any life time. but if i keep thinking about having to drive an hour or two in socal traffic vs walking over to rotations sites or driving a mere 10-20 minutes in southern new jersey traffic for our clinical rotation years, i will easily pick the latter.

i am not trying to be a snob or just a plain a @#$#. i am just trying to find the best school for myself and help others to be informed critically than just ah, socal = nice weather and nice life

Bashing COMP on any thread just doesn't (and won't) help that goal in any way, at all.

Do you have some serious insider information about the future of the school, share it with the SGA members who have already identified themselves in this thread. You should have known that spreading a word-of-mouth info or your paranoid assumptions about the school just can't help your fellow pre-meds on SDN to decide.

 

[zoner]

Bashing COMP on any thread just doesn't (and won't) help that goal in any way, at all.

Do you have some serious insider information about the future of the school, share it with the SGA members who have already identified themselves in this thread. You should have known that spreading a word-of-mouth info or your paranoid assumptions about the school just can't help your fellow pre-meds on SDN to decide.

why is that bashing? i wasn't giving an opinions, but telling the facts based on numbers, facilities, programs, residency match list and tuition rate. how is that just a word of mouth info or a paranoid assumption? i was comparing A to B, C, D and E. i didn't make all gloom and the world is coming to an end post. again, you might be confusing me to the op

btw, whats sga?

 

[HalfListic]

And don't forget...at AZCOM you'll get screwed on rotation sites, while at Touro-CA you'll live in a hell hole and in LECOM you'll be scorned and at PCOM you'll be just a number, but at PNWU you'll be trained by monkeys and at Marian you'll be converted to creationism, while at RVU you'll be denied PG training and DMU you'll live without commodity and at NYCOM you'll get mugged and MSU you'll be broke and and and and and and and

 

[thecgrblue]

And don't forget...at AZCOM you'll get screwed on rotation sites, while at Touro-CA you'll live in a hell hole and in LECOM you'll be scorned and at PCOM you'll be just a number, but at PNWU you'll be trained by monkeys and at Marian you'll be converted to creationism, while at RVU you'll be denied PG training and DMU you'll live without commodity and at NYCOM you'll get mugged and MSU you'll be broke and and and and and and and

Oh the shame!!!

 

[selttiks288]

And don't forget...at AZCOM you'll get screwed on rotation sites, while at Touro-CA you'll live in a hell hole and in LECOM you'll be scorned and at PCOM you'll be just a number, but at PNWU you'll be trained by monkeys and at Marian you'll be converted to creationism, while at RVU you'll be denied PG training and DMU you'll live without commodity and at NYCOM you'll get mugged and MSU you'll be broke and and and and and and and

Nice.

 

[Ost3oclast]

And don't forget...at AZCOM you'll get screwed on rotation sites, while at Touro-CA you'll live in a hell hole and in LECOM you'll be scorned and at PCOM you'll be just a number, but at PNWU you'll be trained by monkeys and at Marian you'll be converted to creationism, while at RVU you'll be denied PG training and DMU you'll live without commodity and at NYCOM you'll get mugged and MSU you'll be broke and and and and and and and

Solid post man. Exactly.

 

[ModernAlchemist]

And don't forget...at AZCOM you'll get screwed on rotation sites, while at Touro-CA you'll live in a hell hole and in LECOM you'll be scorned and at PCOM you'll be just a number, but at PNWU you'll be trained by monkeys and at Marian you'll be converted to creationism, while at RVU you'll be denied PG training and DMU you'll live without commodity and at NYCOM you'll get mugged and MSU you'll be broke and and and and and and and

 

[Kevin Baker]

OP, I'm a second year who struggled a lot in anatomy. If you need someone to talk to or want advice on current or future classes, COMP, or just life in general, feel free to PM me.

 

[pseudoMCAT45]

And don't forget...at AZCOM you'll get screwed on rotation sites, while at Touro-CA you'll live in a hell hole and in LECOM you'll be scorned and at PCOM you'll be just a number, but at PNWU you'll be trained by monkeys and at Marian you'll be converted to creationism, while at RVU you'll be denied PG training and DMU you'll live without commodity and at NYCOM you'll get mugged and MSU you'll be broke and and and and and and and

and now this is bashing... read this and go back and read zoner's posts again to see the difference

zoner is the good guy here

just saying

 

[timmaycakes]

And don't forget...at AZCOM you'll get screwed on rotation sites, while at Touro-CA you'll live in a hell hole and in LECOM you'll be scorned and at PCOM you'll be just a number, but at PNWU you'll be trained by monkeys and at Marian you'll be converted to creationism, while at RVU you'll be denied PG training and DMU you'll live without commodity and at NYCOM you'll get mugged and MSU you'll be broke and and and and and and and

oh...my sides

 

[ModernAlchemist]

and now this is bashing... read this and go back and read zoner's posts again to see the difference

zoner is the good guy here

just saying

I think you missed the satirical nature of this post.

 

[brosephlol]

i think you missed the satirical nature of this post.

+1

 

[abolt18]

I think you missed the satirical nature of this post.

Agreed. Zoner has been more of a d-bag than a good guy in this thread. But hey that's up to him to insult the intelligence of people left and right (including every person attending Western U, when he isn't even in med school yet).

 

[thatguyfromutah]

Just apply to the DO Lebanon campus of WesternU. We love it up here! No shootings, fresh air, free parking, not crowded, and the list goes on. Good luck to everyone applying!

 

[superfan56]

And don't forget...at AZCOM you'll get screwed on rotation sites, while at Touro-CA you'll live in a hell hole and in LECOM you'll be scorned and at PCOM you'll be just a number, but at PNWU you'll be trained by monkeys and at Marian you'll be converted to creationism, while at RVU you'll be denied PG training and DMU you'll live without commodity and at NYCOM you'll get mugged and MSU you'll be broke and and and and and and and

i'm a 4th year, I barely look at these boards but I'll give you my 2 cents.

Medical students have so much entitlement in medical education it's pretty sickening. You'll soon realize this when your attendings pimp the **** out of you and the only one to blame is yourself, NOT your school. I hate to say this, but if you're having trouble with anatomy, it only gets harder. Speaking as someone who did average in the subject, 1st year continues to get more difficult, and yes, 2nd year is even worse. 3rd is even more so. But I believe the school gives you 3 remediations per year before you even repeat the year....so no one is trying to kick you out, if anything, they're keeping their 200k investment. If you fail 3 classes, then you need to think about what you're doing wrong vs what the school is doing to hold you back.

Didactics: That BS speech the dean gives every year saying if you do well in school you'll do well in boards is pretty true. It's not a rule, but if you're an average student, you can expect to at least do average or better on boards. Our school does pretty well in the USMLE, comlex as you will learn is another beast. there is no way to study for that test, so just deal with it. basic sciences, you can learn anywhere. Don't expect to be spoon-fed board questions, or anything at all other than the ER doc's questions. Find a first aid book, look at uworld, try to synthesize the answer from presentations other than vomit out what you think might be important. Across the board, the first 2 years at all medical schools are basically the same, hence why the MSU DO and MSU MD school actually combines the school. Also, double time that appreso.

Clinical: this is where it gets a bit nasty. But in saying that there is not 1 DO school I've encountered that doesn't have the same issues mainly because there are no dedicated teaching hospitals attached to the schools. It is a **** show, yes, what you learn will always be grossly different than the next person, that being said, I did fine on shelves and boards. Comlex PE, I will say that is the best thing our school prepared us for. I didn't even study for it, and had no question I passed when i left. It's literally autopilot after years of the ladies beating it into your head. As far as scheduling rotations, this is where I've had some hiccups, like seriously. That being said, there are a lot of people in that office that genuinely care and will help you succeed, you might have to put a bit more leg work in, but yeah, it could use some work.

if you look at the match list last year, you'll see some awesome matches. AOA and ACGME. I knew a lot of people with awesome interviews and amazing choices. Is it due to the school? no, but I'll say this, I was at the AAFP meeting this year and spoke with a bunch of cali residencies and yes, the reputation of Western (due to the grads) really speaks for itself. Outside the state? not sure.

I hate when people complain about the price of school. we chose this. do i want to save money and live in new jersey? no. do I want to live in Erie? hell no. I lived in LA for 3 years (i'm not from here orginally), and loved it.

 

[kdavidlee25]

enjoyed reading your post.

 

[brosephlol]

i'm a 4th year, I barely look at these boards but I'll give you my 2 cents.

Medical students have so much entitlement in medical education it's pretty sickening. You'll soon realize this when your attendings pimp the **** out of you and the only one to blame is yourself, NOT your school. I hate to say this, but if you're having trouble with anatomy, it only gets harder. Speaking as someone who did average in the subject, 1st year continues to get more difficult, and yes, 2nd year is even worse. 3rd is even more so. But I believe the school gives you 3 remediations per year before you even repeat the year....so no one is trying to kick you out, if anything, they're keeping their 200k investment. If you fail 3 classes, then you need to think about what you're doing wrong vs what the school is doing to hold you back.

Didactics: That BS speech the dean gives every year saying if you do well in school you'll do well in boards is pretty true. It's not a rule, but if you're an average student, you can expect to at least do average or better on boards. Our school does pretty well in the USMLE, comlex as you will learn is another beast. there is no way to study for that test, so just deal with it. basic sciences, you can learn anywhere. Don't expect to be spoon-fed board questions, or anything at all other than the ER doc's questions. Find a first aid book, look at uworld, try to synthesize the answer from presentations other than vomit out what you think might be important. Across the board, the first 2 years at all medical schools are basically the same, hence why the MSU DO and MSU MD school actually combines the school. Also, double time that appreso.

Clinical: this is where it gets a bit nasty. But in saying that there is not 1 DO school I've encountered that doesn't have the same issues mainly because there are no dedicated teaching hospitals attached to the schools. It is a **** show, yes, what you learn will always be grossly different than the next person, that being said, I did fine on shelves and boards. Comlex PE, I will say that is the best thing our school prepared us for. I didn't even study for it, and had no question I passed when i left. It's literally autopilot after years of the ladies beating it into your head. As far as scheduling rotations, this is where I've had some hiccups, like seriously. That being said, there are a lot of people in that office that genuinely care and will help you succeed, you might have to put a bit more leg work in, but yeah, it could use some work.

if you look at the match list last year, you'll see some awesome matches. AOA and ACGME. I knew a lot of people with awesome interviews and amazing choices. Is it due to the school? no, but I'll say this, I was at the AAFP meeting this year and spoke with a bunch of cali residencies and yes, the reputation of Western (due to the grads) really speaks for itself. Outside the state? not sure.

I hate when people complain about the price of school. we chose this. do i want to save money and live in new jersey? no. do I want to live in Erie? hell no. I lived in LA for 3 years (i'm not from here orginally), and loved it.

Thank you

 

[tkim]

Western 2007 grad.

Pretty much the same complaints in most ways that my class had, though some obviously not because of the changes in administration and physical plant.

My advice since graduation has been - go to the cheapest school that will get you where you want to go.

I have a feeling that I could have stomached four years in dreary Erie and saved about $60K. That would have been super cool.

But price aside, I got to where I wanted to go, and Western was the vehicle.