Tell me about Western?

[skatertudoroga]

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Is it really a school I should apply to? I applied to about 20 MD and 8 DO schools. Western has the most annoying secondary out of all of them. I bet it's too late to apply now anyway... And I want to be done with all my applications by today. I already quit on several applications because they are either too long or a number of other reason. Mainly dont want to fill out a long application just to get rejected by a school that i did not like anyway.

But western is the only school that I was going to apply to that's located in California. Seems like I could do my homework on Newport beach? But that alone would not sell it for me. Is there any reason why it is at least better than some of the other DO schools? Based in previous posts it seems that Western is much more competitive than schools like Erie college, NYCOm? So what does it have that those schools do not have?
Assume I want to do internal medicine in the navy afterwards.

 

[kuanileqa]

" already quit on several applications because they are either too long or a number of other reason."

Really? Seems like you are not really motivated. I would have did a bit of research before forking over $50 just to not want to fill them out because it is too much work. If you would have done your homework, you would also have found out that Pomona is about an hour inland (or 2 depending on traffic) and is hot as hell.

Anyway, spend a few minutes on their website you can learn a lot about the school.

 

[NurWollen]

I grew up in Southern California, and I think it is the most overrated place in America. Pomona is 45 minutes away from Newport Beach. If you want the beach, go to UC Irvine or UCSD (easier said than done, I know.) Seriously though, if I were you, I would get as far away as you can from SoCal. Overrated, overpriced, overcrowded...

 

[skatertudoroga]

I grew up in Southern California, and I think it is the most overrated place in America. Pomona is 45 minutes away from Newport Beach. If you want the beach, go to UC Irvine or UCSD (easier said than done, I know.) Seriously though, if I were you, I would get as far away as you can from SoCal. Overrated, overpriced, overcrowded...

Thank you. I did not complete their application and not going to.

 

[angryazn88]

Thank you. I did not complete their application and not going to.

I'm from NY, I haven't gotten an invite for their secondary yet but im sure they will be sending one to me soon. So the only thing bad about Western is that its in Southern Cali? I'm pretty sure its not as overpriced or as crowded as the big apple lol... whats your opinion?

 

[DbDan]

I'm from NY, I haven't gotten an invite for their secondary yet but im sure they will be sending one to me soon. So the only thing bad about Western is that its in Southern Cali? I'm pretty sure its not as overpriced or as crowded as the big apple lol... whats your opinion?

Its just as overpriced, not as crowded. Pomona is not a nice area but its a half hr from some nice places. I'm from Southern Cal and Western is still my top choice. For most the #1 turnoff about Western is its CoA is not so slowly creeping up towards 80k/yr

 

[NurWollen]

I'm from NY, I haven't gotten an invite for their secondary yet but im sure they will be sending one to me soon. So the only thing bad about Western is that its in Southern Cali? I'm pretty sure its not as overpriced or as crowded as the big apple lol... whats your opinion?

Haha, I guess got a little overzealous. I'm sure Western is great; I might even apply there. I just think SoCal is over-hyped. Not to mention, Pomona is one of the smoggiest places in the US. If when I apply, I find Western is a good fit for me, I will apply. I just wouldn't choose it for its location NY is a place I would love to visit, and if say, Touro-NY turns out to be my dream school, I wouldn't mind living there for a few years. I just think all the excitement of living somewhere like that wouldn't be worth the $$$ unless there is some kind of huge educational benefit (or, of course, it's the only place I get in)

 

[megathunder]

Lol you kids are crazy, Western is an AMAZING school. One of the 5 best in the country in my eyes, and not just because I'm from SoCal because I actually want to get out. Oh well, less competition for me 😉..

 

[DbDan]

I know what you mean. I would rather go to Touro if I had to go for a California campus.

Touro isn't exactly cheap either nor is its location much better (CoA is ~72k/yr). Vallejo isn't exactly the nicest of areas. Its also not as established as Western is. Either way I'd love to attend either one of them. Staying in California would be awesome 👍 I've lived in NY and FL, I prefer CA to both of them.

BTW, pretty big rise in the #s for class of 2013 -> 2014.

C/O 2013 Averages: sGPA 3.34, cGPA 3.42, MCAT 27.9
C/O 2014 Averages: sGPA 3.39, cGPA 3.47, MCAT 28.9

Full point rise in the MCAT in a year and .05 in both cGPA and sGPA is pretty significant. Regardless, I still haven't heard from Touro or Western thus far 🙁

Lol you kids are crazy, Western is an AMAZING school. One of the 5 best in the country in my eyes, and not just because I'm from SoCal because I actually want to get out. Oh well, less competition for me 😉..

Truth. I <3 Western. Show me some love and gimme an interview! I'm regretting not taking that linkage seat in the SMP since I don't have an acceptance yet 🙁 haha

 

[Sinfest]

Lol you kids are crazy, Western is an AMAZING school. One of the 5 best in the country in my eyes, and not just because I'm from SoCal because I actually want to get out. Oh well, less competition for me 😉..

No doubt. I love Western

 

[angryazn88]

Haha, I guess got a little overzealous. I'm sure Western is great; I might even apply there. I just think SoCal is over-hyped. Not to mention, Pomona is one of the smoggiest places in the US. If when I apply, I find Western is a good fit for me, I will apply. I just wouldn't choose it for its location NY is a place I would love to visit, and if say, Touro-NY turns out to be my dream school, I wouldn't mind living there for a few years. I just think all the excitement of living somewhere like that wouldn't be worth the $$$ unless there is some kind of huge educational benefit (or, of course, it's the only place I get in)

I went to the City College of New York (in harlem), pretty close by to Touro-NY and I didn't apply there because of what my premed advisor told me. She said most of the professors quit and plus have you seen the location?? that place is super ghetto. I've been outside and its not pretty. I wouldn't wanna be there haha

 

[DbDan]

Yeah, but the question is, do I want to pay 32k more over 4 years to go to Western? No way. Either way, cost of living can be significantly lower if you hook up with the right people.

Well right now Western is only 4k a year more, the difference is they've talked openly about their plans to potentially raise tuition, where Touro seems to make an effort to keep it about the same. For me, I would pay the extra to go to Western over Touro. Western's foothold in SoCal is too much for me to pass up. Its well established. There are alot of "issues" with the 3/4 clinical years at Touro that to date haven't been confirmed to be resolved. If the SMP program wouldn't have cost me an extra 43k plus the tuition of Western for 4 years, I'd have gone.

Plus it'd be nice to stay in SoCal. I love it here. I could keep my UCLA season tickets and be able to see my 5 year old brother grow up. 👍 Too bad their stats are so high, I don't anticipate getting anything from Western unfortunately.

 

[skatertudoroga]

I'm from NY, I haven't gotten an invite for their secondary yet but im sure they will be sending one to me soon. So the only thing bad about Western is that its in Southern Cali? I'm pretty sure its not as overpriced or as crowded as the big apple lol... whats your opinion?

No, I would have to attend an interview to really answer that question. But considering their 2ndary is so annoying and it is rolling admissions and they might not even offer you an interview... Well make your own decision. Either way my life sucks.

 

[DbDan]

No, I would have to attend an interview to really answer that question. But considering their 2ndary is so annoying and it is rolling admissions and they might not even offer you an interview... Well make your own decision. Either way my life sucks.

Why is there secondary so annoying 😕 It wasn't difficult to me.... They have like 3 essays, big deal. Some MDs have 5-10 essays. If you haven't worked with underserved and have nothing to write in that question than you may be screwed in applying anyway. That is the only way I could see the application really becoming difficult. Is it really hard to talk about why you like the opportunities in Southern California?

 

[megathunder]

Yeah, Western's was probably the most lengthy DO secondary but have you seen some of the MD's? Loyola killed my soul. Having to spend an hour or two extra on a longer secondary should never be the reason to not apply to a good school you would like to go to.

My honest advice: suck it up and quit being lazy. I submitted 29 secondaries within a 1.5 month span and I'm one of the laziest people I know.

 

[DbDan]

Yeah, Western's was probably the most lengthy DO secondary but have you seen some of the MD's? Loyola killed my soul. Having to spend an hour or two extra on a longer secondary should never be the reason to not apply to a good school you would like to go to.

My honest advice: suck it up and quit being lazy. I submitted 29 secondaries within a 1.5 month span and I'm one of the laziest people I know.

Truth.

The only secondary of the 28 schools I applied to I didn't submit out of choice was USC. Not because it was longer or harder than any other (which it actually was) but because I came to the realization i was throwing away 90 dollars by submitting it and I wasn't working as often.

 

[wolverinepwns]

I wrote the Western essays first thing and then used that for the rest of my secondaries actually, and while we're on the topic of annoying secondaries, MSUCOM!!!!

 

[DbDan]

I wrote the Western essays first thing and then used that for the rest of my secondaries actually, and while we're on the topic of annoying secondaries, MSUCOM!!!!

MSUCOM is the worst secondary in the world. I refused to fill it out so I didn't apply there to begin with. Im' not jumping through that many hoops, sorry lol

 

[wolverinepwns]

MSUCOM is the worst secondary in the world. I refused to fill it out so I didn't apply there to begin with. Im' not jumping through that many hoops, sorry lol

yeah! that app combined with the OOS tutition made it a really easy choice to avoid!

 

[PunkmedGirl]

MSU is that way because they don't interview students so its really kind of a fair trade off.

 

[DbDan]

MSU is that way because they don't interview students so its really kind of a fair trade off.

If it was just alot of essays to get to know you I'm perfectly fine with that. But to have to ask your letter writers to fill out forms specific to a single school for people like me who have now been out of school over a year and has lost contact with their letter writers is a bit ridiculous.

 

[wolverinepwns]

MSU is that way because they don't interview students so its really kind of a fair trade off.

As mentioned the whole letter of reference thing is inconvinient and kinda dumb, since LOR serve the same exact purpose! and although they ask us to write more essays, I still don't agree with the whole no interview thing! there are people that look incredible on paper but once you talk to them you realize they are not who you pictured them to be! and for a field like medicine how you look on paper is not a good representation of how you will be as a future healthcare provider! but thats just my opinion.