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Mr_Doc

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  1. Pre-Medical
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Anyone happen to know the stats for an interview at Western in CA? It's pretty much the only school I am interested in going to so I just wanted to see where i stand....thanks
 
check PM
 
dont know interview, I got in with a 3.5 and 29 but i hated the school
its by far the ugliest med school ive seen and the students were not very nice and somewhat cocky about how sweet they were. To me it felt like a corporation when I was there.
 
damn sucks to hear that you did not like the school. I havent seen it so i cant say anything about the appearance, but ive heard from many others that the school is great...
 
I like Western. Although the outer appearance can be much better, we're not going to medical school to enjoy the way the school looks. Besides, they are making improvements to outside. The inside of the building is wonderful.
 
i guess i'm confused as to what "how sweet they were" means? That and the whole "corporation" bit? How does a school feel like a corporation?
 
OP - I'm not sure about interview stats, but if you're invited for an interview you are basically accepted (something like 90% acceptance rate if you are given an interview).



And if school aesthetics is high on your priority list (as opposed to board scores, rotations, teaching faculty and facilities, location, etc...), you might have a problem. Besides, nobody really goes to school anyway; you may as well consider your house/apartment/condo to be the campus. Just my cocky/sweet(wtf?) $0.02... :laugh:
 
cyclohexanol said:
Besides, nobody really goes to school anyway; you may as well consider your house/apartment/condo to be the campus.
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So most classes aren't mandatory at WesternU? This sounds like great news. I hope they have video streamed lectures then.
 
Yeah, the school looks a lot like an abandoned strip mall and doesn't look like a school from the outside. I have visited the school a couple of times and it didn't impress me. Though, I've heard that the education is strong and graduates get good residencies (one girl matched into RadOnc at USC, I've heard).
 
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highballa33 said:
So most classes aren't mandatory at WesternU? This sounds like great news. I hope they have video streamed lectures then.
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You are required to go to tests, OP&P (class where we learn OMM for about 4 hours once a week), and ECM (class where we practice clinical medicine with standardized patients once a week). Every other class is optional. Many people find themselves to be more productive on their own, usually at a faster pace than if they went to class.

Audio is recorded automatically throughout the day. For certain courses, there is streaming video but not all courses are up to speed yet.

Western isn't unique in that regard, everyone else I know at different schools across the country all do the same thing.
 
cyclohexanol said:
You are required to go to tests, OP&P (class where we learn OMM for about 4 hours once a week), and ECM (class where we practice clinical medicine with standardized patients once a week). Every other class is optional. Many people find themselves to be more productive on their own, usually at a faster pace than if they went to class.

Audio is recorded automatically throughout the day. For certain courses, there is streaming video but not all courses are up to speed yet.

Western isn't unique in that regard, everyone else I know at different schools across the country all do the same thing.
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Thanks for the info. Hopefully my interview will go well and I'll get accepted. I'd love to try out the west coast.
 
I loved my interview experience at Western. I was really impressed with the school in general. Definite pros: faculty sponsored clubs already established for pretty much any medical interest, solid clinical rotations, systems based, and tons of residency matches on the west coast. Western's interior is nice and the exterior...well--it's not THAT bad. Don't believe the hype--I've definitely seen worse. Good luck to you, OP :luck:!

side note: In the end, I decided on AZCOM (funny story--at my COMP interview my interviewers' first question was: "you're from Phoenix--not to imply that we wouldn't want you, but wouldn't you want to go to AZCOM? it's a good school, maybe you've heard of it."), but I definitely lost sleep deciding between the two and let it be known: location and "both good schools" were the deciding points. "Prettier appearance" played no part in the decision (nor did equally "sweet (?)" students) 😉
 
sorry to enflame all you western lovers, but in my opinion the school was not
all that great. Yes, I know all the stats on it are good on paper and it has great clinical roatations, but my opinion on it is this. Its extreamly expensive, hense the corporate part. And my experience with the students were that they were very cocky and over confident. I asked several times why they choose western and the most I got for an answer was that Western produces the most caring Dos in the country unparralleled by other schools. This is first off a loaded BS statement and secondly really has no context in my comparisons of different med schools. Im not sure which of you western lovers have seen other schools, but there are much better places in the country for your money. The school looks like strip mall, and althought the staff was quite nice, I thought their intrepatation of Western being the Harvard of DO schools was a bit inflated. THIS IS MY OPINION OF THE SCHOOL. If you love it and are offended by my coments then you probobly should go there, but I think there is value in what Im saying. Ive interviewed at 8 DO schools from Cali to PCOM, and Western based on many factors was by far my least favorite of them all.
 
I also thought Id add this. Another interviewee and I ventured around campus before our interview and sopke with the head of security on Westerns campus. He informed us Pomona is gang infested and that the neighbor hoods just blocks south of campus are anything but safe for medical students, although he was pretty sure you would be alright if you were studying in the library.
 
miam042 said:
I asked several times why they choose western and the most I got for an answer was that Western produces the most caring Dos in the country unparralleled by other schools.
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I've never heard any of my classmates say that, but ok. Most of the ones I know (including myself) will say that they chose Western due to location, rotations, and california residency opportunities.

I will agree that there are many cocky students at the school, whats new? Medical schools anywhere are inevitably going to have a proportion of cocky students, it is the nature of the game. It is your choice whether or not you want to interact with them. I try to avoid them personally.

And you are right, the area around the school isn't the greatest in the world; it has a high crime rate and the majority of residents are impoverished minorities (which makes it great for community service projects btw).

These are factors everyone should consider. They should also consider that it is entirely possible for students live further away from campus in safer areas (and in fact most do). I know many that live as far away as West Hollywood, Pasadena, Santa Monica, etc... For those of you unfamiliar with California, those are all very nice areas. I should also note that even though I don't go to campus often, I have never felt unsafe when I am there.

All that said, you won't be able to determine if the school is a good fit for you unless you go there and get a feel for it. Western wasn't a good fit for miam042 and that is fine. I feel like I made a good choice; the weaknesses mentioned aren't all that important to me (but they may be to you).

Anyway, OP - good luck with everything!
 
It's fair to say that everyone has their own opinion. I've interviewed at 4 schools and found myself trapped btwn KCUMB and Western. Western won me over because of the location mainly. Each school actually has their own style. Both these schools were on very different ends of the spectrum. KCUMB gave me the impression that it was strict, with dress codes and professionalism..whereas Western gave the impression of independence. We could dress as we wish, go to class as we wish (aside from the mandatory ones)...lots of freedom to run my own life as I please. The interviews at both schools were fairly warm and inviting. When choosing your school, try not to let what others say get into your head too much and develop a feel for the school during your visit. KCUMB has a beautiful campus, but the weather was not appealing to me. Western's exterior was actually pleasing to me because I read so many negative comments, I expected the school to look like a mess. Nevertheless, my choice was Western.

I hope this helps!
 
do you know how western compares to other colleges in regards to COMPLEX/USMLEs?
 
cyclohexanol said:
OP - I'm not sure about interview stats, but if you're invited for an interview you are basically accepted (something like 90% acceptance rate if you are given an interview).



And if school aesthetics is high on your priority list (as opposed to board scores, rotations, teaching faculty and facilities, location, etc...), you might have a problem. Besides, nobody really goes to school anyway; you may as well consider your house/apartment/condo to be the campus. Just my cocky/sweet(wtf?) $0.02... :laugh:
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I really liked the school!, thanks for your help, the interview was definitely not stressful at all! It was my first interview so I was a bit nervous. I believe yall had an exam the day I was out there.
 
My class(2008) did well on COMLEX, and from what I hear, on the USMLE as well. I haven't heard anyone not passing the USMLE out of the ones that took it, and the great majority of us took it, but maybe I'm just not hearing enough and it's only anecdotal evidence.

According to the stats, we have a 94% pass rate on the COMLEX, so I think 12 people failed out of 186 students. Besides just passing, the majority of us got above the average.
 
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cyclohexanol said:
I've never heard any of my classmates say that, but ok. Most of the ones I know (including myself) will say that they chose Western due to location, rotations, and california residency opportunities.

I will agree that there are many cocky students at the school, whats new? Medical schools anywhere are inevitably going to have a proportion of cocky students, it is the nature of the game. It is your choice whether or not you want to interact with them. I try to avoid them personally.

And you are right, the area around the school isn't the greatest in the world; it has a high crime rate and the majority of residents are impoverished minorities (which makes it great for community service projects btw).

These are factors everyone should consider. They should also consider that it is entirely possible for students live further away from campus in safer areas (and in fact most do). I know many that live as far away as West Hollywood, Pasadena, Santa Monica, etc... For those of you unfamiliar with California, those are all very nice areas. I should also note that even though I don't go to campus often, I have never felt unsafe when I am there.

All that said, you won't be able to determine if the school is a good fit for you unless you go there and get a feel for it. Western wasn't a good fit for miam042 and that is fine. I feel like I made a good choice; the weaknesses mentioned aren't all that important to me (but they may be to you).

Anyway, OP - good luck with everything!
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Santa Monica to western thats one hell of a commute to be making everyday. Do people really live that far away? I don't even like commuting from west hollywood to santa monica.
 
socal78 said:
Santa Monica to western thats one hell of a commute to be making everyday. Do people really live that far away? I don't even like commuting from west hollywood to santa monica.
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I live in the San Fernando Valley. My commute to Western COMP is 52 miles one-way!
 
socal78 said:
Santa Monica to western thats one hell of a commute to be making everyday. Do people really live that far away? I don't even like commuting from west hollywood to santa monica.
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Yep, its a long way. Some people do it everyday, others do not. I would opt to not.
 
Where would you (anyone familiar with SoCal/Western) recommend living? I've heard that though Claremont is nice, it's extremely boring and can be expensive. I was thinking about Pasadena. With CalTech close by, there would be a little more culture, etc. What's an approx. daily drive time from here?

I'm the kinda person that needs more than just an apartment somewhere, I need a community. And since the Pomona area seems to be lacking this, I was hoping to find it somewhere close by. Any other recommendations with this in mind?
 
flabs said:
Where would you (anyone familiar with SoCal/Western) recommend living? I've heard that though Claremont is nice, it's extremely boring and can be expensive. I was thinking about Pasadena. With CalTech close by, there would be a little more culture, etc. What's an approx. daily drive time from here?

I'm the kinda person that needs more than just an apartment somewhere, I need a community. And since the Pomona area seems to be lacking this, I was hoping to find it somewhere close by. Any other recommendations with this in mind?
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Pasadena is great, but not because of the culture that CalTech provides :laugh: . I'd estimate it to be about a 30-45 minute commute. I wouldn't mind living there at all, but I don't care about commuting (refer to other posts about going to campus).

Might also want to check out Hollywood, Silverlake/Los Feliz in the very general vicinity of Pasadena (either would tack on at least 15 miles to commute). Also maybe Fullerton to the south, and any of the beach communities.
 
sliverlake/los fielez/echo park is nice area, i use to work there. full of cool restaurants, bars and cafes. the place tends to be pretty trendy and is full of urban hipsters. it's still kinda too far of a commute for my liking. u pretty much have to commute through if you want to live anywhere nice. the pomona area is kinda a depressing area to live around. i would proably live around the area for the first year or two and than move somplace nicer for the rotational years.
 
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