Please help! Really really struggling. COMP Pomona, Midwestern or NOVA

[Nickk449]

Hey everyone. I've been blessed to have been accepted to 3 schools this cycle. However, I have seriously been struggling with my decision on which program to attend. I am from San Diego and always believed that if I got into COMP Pomona I would definitely attend their program, but I fell I love with the campus of NOVA during my interview. I loved the vibe I got from the students and loved how it was a big campus with all of the cool amenities. Plus I saw a ton of women I wouldn't mind taking out on dates haha. The downside to NOVA is that it is literally on the other side of the country away from all of my family and close friends. I was also surprised when I saw their board scores, as they were below average. With all of that said, I really think it would be an amazing experience to live in a new city for a few years. I feel if I went to Pomona I would still be hanging out with a lot of the same old high school friends from San Diego on my free weekends, and I would love to branch out and make new meaningful connections with others. As far as WesternU goes, it seems that a lot of students were very disappointed that they attended WesternU after reading through this forum, although this was a few years ago before they made their curriculum change. This is contrary to what I have heard from friends who know people that attend WesternU. At the end of the day I would really love to attend whatever program is going to give me the best education and the best chance to achieve all of my goals. I would love to do my residency in CA and definitely have not ruled out surgery as a possible option for me. As for AZCOM, I liked it just about as much as WesternU as far its campus, but it also has the upside of leaving Southern California. Its also close enough to San Diego that I could come back occasionally relatively easily (5 hour drive, 50 min flight).

Basically what I would love to know from anyone who has been through this process is:
1. How important is it to have close friends/family nearby for support?
2. Do you feel I would be missing out on anything by staying close to home and not "spreading my wings"? Or am I going to be so tied up with studying that my experience will be relatively the same anywhere regardless of if I am in a new town/setting?
3. How much importance should I place on the lower exam scores at NOVA?
4. If I want to be in CA for residency, does that automatically exclude NOVA?
5. Can anyone who currently attends WesternU tell me how they like the curriculum change and if they are happy with their decision to attend WesternU?
6. Based off of your knowledge, which program do you believe will provide me with he best education/rotation sites?


Thank you all so much!
Have a blessed day!

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[Cornfed101]

@Goro doesn't recommend Nova due to declining board scores

 

[DrStephenStrange]

@Goro doesn't recommend Nova due to declining board scores

And Midwestern is insanely expensive. Not worth it in my opinion.

 

[DO2015CA]

COMP Pomona it is; no brainer. Don’t go to NOVA. Declining board scores mixed with NOVA opening an MD school they are more invested in. Midwestern is too high of tuition.

 

[Goro]

Concerning Nova, here's why they are on my Bad Boy list. Some of the info may need to be updated, but the worrisome signs are still there. Everything I'm seeing is that this is a school that put way too much resources into opening a new branch campus as did LMU) to the detriment of the parent school.

: three of the four last years have declining first-time COMLEX pass rates. They're now at ~85% and on top of this, some 7% of their 2018 grads failed to match. This was the second worst match rate among all the COMs (only WCU did worse). They also have yet to post their 2018 COMLEX results, even though they’ve had a full year to mull them over. This is NOT a good sign. These are all things you expect from a new school, not a veteran one. Something is very wrong there.

 

[hallowmann]

COMP. As others have said, the answer is obvious. If you want to do residency in CA, you should go to COMP. You can branch out by hanging out with people in LA or IE if you really want a change from your SD friends. If you want to match CA, COMP will give you an advantage. AZCOM is ridiculously expensive for no clear reason. NOVA has terrible board pass rates, and honestly, going to school across the country will hurt your ability of matching in CA.

I wouldn't put much into the campus. You're there to study. At best you're talking about 1.5 yrs of actually experiencing the campus. You'll be too busy the first few months learning how to learn, you'll be too busy the second half of 2nd year studying for boards, and you'll be who knows where for rotations. Its really not worth it to base a big part of your decision on the campus itself. All else equal, sure pick the nicer campus, but that's not the case here.