Western Admissions

[Savethewhales]

Wondering if the western rep is still checking out this forum and answering questions....

If so, since the school is obviously very new, what is Western doing to establish a reputation as a rising vet school? I am sure I am not the only student that has been hesitant to apply because it is a new school with a bit of a tenuous reputation. However, the curriculum looks great and the location is great.

Also, I had read a couple reviews online...that students who attended western mentioned that there was a lot of cheating and the staff knows it and does little about it. Do you or any current western students have any response to this?

Thanks a bunch!

Any other pre-vets feel free to chime in with your opinions on Western. I would love to hear them...

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[squibby]

I had never heard of the cheating issue. Where did you get that info from?

 

[Savethewhales]

i read it on www.studentsreview.com I took it with a grain of salt because there are only 5 student reviews for western and people often only review things when they have a gripe. I mean, Cornell on this site has a B- for quality of education so I am pretty sure its a little bias

 

[squibby]

I took a look at that link and saw three reviews, none for the vet school. I've never heard of that website, but if you look at UC Davis even they have terrible ratings, so I would take what you read with a grain of salt. I've spoken with a few recent Western graduates who have had nothing THAT negative to say about the school.

 

[AuRevoirFinance]

I'd happily apply to Western myself. I work with a Vet Intern from there and she's great. Unfortunately, their list of prerequisite courses is about the most extensive, so that likely means I won't be able to include it in my list next year. I can't get them all done in time.

Of course, if I get to go back for round 2 a year later, they'll be on the list.

 

[Nissan]

Wow I haven't posted in this form since the last bit of my interviews.

Anyway, I'm currently at WesternU, and I think it's pretty hard to "cheat" with the way our curriculum is set up. I have exams coming up next week, so I guess I can tell you about that particular set up then. But the PBL curriculum success really depends on students sharing materials.

I'm sure you've heard of how we're set up: Each week you get a new case with a novel problem. You don't have the answer, but you and your group work up to a diagnosis and learn how to justify your plan. The "learning" part of this comes from identifying things you don't know but would need to solve the case (e.g. You have a limping dog; before you start, do you know what muscles are involved? What innervates it? What is the normal anatomy of the leg and what would happen if X is damaged?). Years before, 1st years and 2nd years had different cases, but because PBL scenarios are limited, they had to recycle old cases between class years. It used to be possible for a 1st year to get a case that the 2nd year students had already solved, which would then constitute cheating. Essentially, 1st years could be robbed of the process of deduction and the practice of justifying diagnoses and treatments. This isn't really true anymore.

They recently made changes to how they give us case disclosures so that 2nd year students can no longer provide us with "inside info" on cases they've previously solved. Both 1st and 2nd year students get the very same case, so the "trickling down" of information is actually encouraged. First year students are only expected to tackle the basic learning issues, whereas second year students are expected to know more in-depth information. It doesn't hurt for a first year to get a 2nd year's knowledge, but it might actually be detrimental if you're going too in-depth and neglecting the other basic sciences.

They encourage the circulating of info simply because you don't have a book list. There's theoretically very little competition because, hey guess what, you're doing group work every single day. You have to rely on other students to pass, and not in the sense that they do the work for you, but just in the sense that other students will have a different view point and use different resources on particular topics. It gives you a well-rounded approach to learning an issue from all different angles. We've even come across a few text books that contradict each other. We then turn to a faculty member (aka "content expert") to find the right answer. If they decide we've done enough leg work and are legitimately confused (and not lazy), they'll tell us what we need to know.

As for cheating on exams and such, they definitely are concerned, at least from what I can tell right now.

 

[Savethewhales]

Nissan, thanks so much for your input!