Western/COMP Discussion Thread 2008-2009

Started by mshheaddoc
BU Medical Sciences
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DreamPills said:
I interviewed at Western on the 11 and at Touro-CA on the 16. The one thing I really did not like about Touro-CA is that they didn't really try to sell themselves. They pitched their new cancer center, but it won't be built for awhile. They didn't mention their curriculum at all. I got the feeling that Western students are more open and friendly. Everyone was telling us "good luck" during the tour. I don't think any students even said hi to us at Touro-CA..but then again, it was exam day when I went. Also, Touro-CA is fairly isolated from everything. Western is more open and integrated into the community.
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AMEN. I chose not to interview there, and that was one of the main things I had problems with concerning their website. Their website literally tells you nothing about the school and doesn't try and convince you to attend whatsoever. It is very dissapointing.

Seriously, compare Touro-CA's website to Des Moines. It is night and day. Des Moines website was so convincing that I considered applying early decision. I'm still impressed every time I look at it and have yet to find another school's website that sells their program any better.

Touro-CA: http://www.tu.edu/departments.php?id=48&page=737

Des Moines: http://www.dmu.edu/com/
 
I see. Thanks. Yeah, I decided not to interview at Touro CA. I keep hearing that the campus is no good.
 
I interviewed there because I have friends who attend the school. Also, my family is 45 mins away. Their facility is not as bad as people say. On the outside, it looks old and run down because it is. But, they have got funding for automatic OMM beds (no one else has them, if I remember what they said). They are in talks to buy the surround land to build new dorms, a village, and a high-tech cancer center. But, as ryserr said, you wouldn't know by the website..
 
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I didn't interview... I work at Western so I was hoping to bump into you guys. LOL
 
DreamPills said:
I interviewed there because I have friends who attend the school. Also, my family is 45 mins away. Their facility is not as bad as people say. On the outside, it looks old and run down because it is. But, they have got funding for automatic OMM beds (no one else has them, if I remember what they said). They are in talks to buy the surround land to build new dorms, a village, and a high-tech cancer center. But, as ryserr said, you wouldn't know by the website..
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Cool, they didn't mention that (or I didn't pay attention about the two new buildings...)

I enjoyed the interview day. It was well run. However, the lunch.... 👎
Interview was good. Interesting to have three people. The students were open, honest, and supportive. And very proud of their school.

The insides of the buildings were nicer than the outside, so there is that. Some very good rotation sites and residency matches as well.
 
Yeah lunch everywhere that I remembered was too small and I basically just used it as a snack. All I know is whatever you guys don't eat, the rest of us fight to get lol. Free food is absolutely awesome.
 
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MrMattOglesby said:
I'm going to ask them during my interview day what it means when you get a pre-secondary interview...and if it has any influence on decisions. I just want to know why some people get that and others don't.
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Ive aksed that question before and i received a pretty vague answer....she said they give auto invites to applicants who meet "specific criteria." She didnt really explain what that meant, whether it be a certiain gpa/mcat cut off or something ike that, or if you are just deemed a highly competitive applicant based on the entire application. Maybe if you ask at interview she'll give you a more explanation of "specific criteria."
 
Does anyone know if Western speeds up decisions if you are holding another acceptance? I don't have the money to be throwing around on multiple deposits.
 
redrumi said:
Does anyone know if Western speeds up decisions if you are holding another acceptance? I don't have the money to be throwing around on multiple deposits.
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I dont know if they speed up decisions, but once they are made, you can call and ask what the decision was on the basis that you need to know because the deposit deadline for your other acceptance is coming up. They will ask for proof of the acceptance and the deadline, of course.

The admissions committee meets every Wed (usually the one directly after the Thursday interview). So try calling Wed afternoon or Thursday.
 
Does anyone know what is the max amount of characters for the secondary questions are? I want to start working on the questions even though I haven't received a secondary yet.
 
Dr V said:
Does anyone know what is the max amount of characters for the secondary questions are? I want to start working on the questions even though I haven't received a secondary yet.
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You have to fit into the space. It takes about 5000 characters.
 
I interviewed yesterday (10/2) and I must say I am impressed!
I went into the interview thinking that the school wasn't going to be as good (in terms of location and facilities) based on some of the things I have read around here on SDN.
However, I was pleasantly surprised with the campus! I want to make a special mention of my appreciation for the students who talked with us during the interview day--that was very kind and informative.
I didn't know that Western had a 222 class size...and at first that deterred me. However, after speaking with a lot of students, that fact didn't really bother me. I just got the impression that everyone was really happy with the education they were receiving.
It certainly stepped up on my personal list of school rankings. 👍
 
FiLLiBEANO said:
does western email out secondary requests?
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yes, you will be notified by email. However, when your secondary is complete you must print it out and snail mail it to the campus. It is a pdf file that you can type on.
 
I think we're at a sweet spot in terms of class size. Any smaller and you'd get sick of the people you're around (let's take John Burns as an example class size of 60). If it were larger such as St. Georges (400+), then the education would suffer quite poorly. Perhaps a little smaller could be good, but I'm completely fine with the amount of students.
 
Dakayus said:
I think we're at a sweet spot in terms of class size. Any smaller and you'd get sick of the people you're around (let's take John Burns as an example class size of 60). If it were larger such as St. Georges (400+), then the education would suffer quite poorly. Perhaps a little smaller could be good, but I'm completely fine with the amount of students.
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have you ever been a small class size environment? Its unfair to assume you will get sick of the people you are around. Will you not like some people? Sure, its possible, but the same thing will happen in a class of 400. If you are both mature adults, it wont really make a difference and you will handle it civilly. On the flip, a small class size allows you to make friendships/relationshiops with your classmates and professors that really are on a different level than any school with a large class size. One example... dartmouth has a class size of about 70, and as a class they celebrate each persons birthday, whehter it be going out to dinner, going on a trip, whatever it may be. Thats pretty bad ass if you ask me.

Of course, it takes a certain personality to be in such a small environment, but still I dont think you can just assume everyone will get sick of the people they are with.
 
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I prefer a larger class since there's usually a few people you don't get a long with. In a smaller group, you really can't avoid them whereas in a larger group you can decide who to befriend. Perhaps I worded that statement a bit harshly, but in my opinion my current class size is ideal.
If you're speaking of class size as in a single class then yes I've been in some as small as 12 and as large as about 500. You also can't assume everyone will all get a long.
 
Western really impressed me, so far it is at the top of my list as far as DO schools go. Before the interview it wasn't really on my radar.
 
Most of the time I tend to steer clear of this website due to frustrations of hearing mainly about all the great candidates. However, Saturday I received an invite to interview. 😱

I can now hardly contain myself. 😍WESTERN😍 is my DEFINATE #1 choice.
 
Vooodooo said:
Most of the time I tend to steer clear of this website due to frustrations of hearing mainly about all the great candidates. However, Saturday I received an invite to interview. 😱

I can now hardly contain myself. 😍WESTERN😍 is my DEFINATE #1 choice.
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congrats! welcome to our western groupie lounge!
 
Vooodooo said:
Most of the time I tend to steer clear of this website due to frustrations of hearing mainly about all the great candidates. However, Saturday I received an invite to interview. 😱

I can now hardly contain myself. 😍WESTERN😍 is my DEFINATE #1 choice.
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Congrats!!!
 
Vooodooo said:
Most of the time I tend to steer clear of this website due to frustrations of hearing mainly about all the great candidates. However, Saturday I received an invite to interview. 😱

I can now hardly contain myself. 😍WESTERN😍 is my DEFINATE #1 choice.
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Welcome. We don't bite! This is a very supportive group.

Congrats on the invite--hope you get in very soon!
 
Chocolate Bear said:
Welcome. We don't bite! This is a very supportive group.

Congrats on the invite--hope you get in very soon!
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Sorry to call you out on this C-bear, but I have to do it.

To all Western Groupies:

Cbear has received an interview invite from Western, but is still contemplating whether or not he should visit! IMO that is LUDICROUS.

1) he claims to be a part of the western groupies but is not sure if he is willing to show them any love

2) Western is bad ass, and he will most definitely love it when he visits and it is our duty as western groupies to convince him to at least attend his interview invite!!! It would be a shame if he did not.

So now that you have learned of his blasphemy, it is time to tear him apart to the point where he caves and decides to visit Western.
 
Vooodooo said:
Most of the time I tend to steer clear of this website due to frustrations of hearing mainly about all the great candidates. However, Saturday I received an invite to interview. 😱

I can now hardly contain myself. 😍WESTERN😍 is my DEFINATE #1 choice.
Click to expand...

Congrats!👍 When are you interviewing?
 
Western seems like a great place. Mr. Oglesby hit the nail on the head. It's a matter of cost:benefit at this point. I still have time to decide, but it probably won't be for 11/6. Sorry, SITHR.
 
Well I replied as soon as I read the email asking for me to give my top two of four date choices. My first choice was 11/13 and my 2nd choice was 11/20. I just sent them my availabilities yesterday. Hopefully they will confirm tomorrow.
 
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congrats on the interviews, guys! :hardy:

and C-Bear, i'm sure you know better than to miss out on that interview. 😛
 
wow... i submitted like beginning of August, had my primary verified by mid-September and I still haven't heard anything.
 
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