Western/COMP Lebanon Discussion Thread 2010-2011

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mechanictodr

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I decided to start a Western COMP Lebanon, Oregon thread so that we can all post stuff as the campus developes. From what I have heard they plan to accept applications for students matriculating in Fall 2011.

I really hope this school opens on time because it will be nice to have an alternative to OSHU for applications come this summer for those set on staying in Oregon.

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I'm excited about this school opening! My first choice is OHSU but this will give us Oregonians another option for staying in-state. I know that Samaritan in Corvallis offers a few DO residencies, so that will be a great combination.

Does anybody know or think (not sure how one would know) admissions will be as competitive as Western COMP's main campus? Do you think first year schools such as this will have stronger or weaker applicants?
 
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I would imagine that the stats of nearly all of the classes for Western Lebanon will be much lower than Western in Pomona. California has many more schools and applicants than Oregon so the stats at Western are a little inflated from people who really want to stay in warm Southern Cali.

Lebanon, OR will be a different beast altogether. Ever been there? OHSU gets about 400 odd Oregon applicants yearly and keeps about 1/8 of those with an average MCAT of 31+. The campus in Lebanon will most likey model more closely with PNWU as UW has similar stats to OHSU and WA has a similar population size to pull from. I would guess MCAT scores of 23 and up will be considered no problem.

My biggest question about this school is the tuition. Western has really high tuition and I wonder if they will try to compete with OHSU and stay in the low 30's or if they will push the mid 40's like their Cali campus.
 
I bet this school will be extremely in-state friendly! A campus just for Northwestern Track perhaps?
 
I would imagine that the stats of nearly all of the classes for Western Lebanon will be much lower than Western in Pomona. California has many more schools and applicants than Oregon so the stats at Western are a little inflated from people who really want to stay in warm Southern Cali.

Lebanon, OR will be a different beast altogether. Ever been there? OHSU gets about 400 odd Oregon applicants yearly and keeps about 1/8 of those with an average MCAT of 31+. The campus in Lebanon will most likey model more closely with PNWU as UW has similar stats to OHSU and WA has a similar population size to pull from. I would guess MCAT scores of 23 and up will be considered no problem.

My biggest question about this school is the tuition. Western has really high tuition and I wonder if they will try to compete with OHSU and stay in the low 30's or if they will push the mid 40's like their Cali campus.

That's exciting. I really wish I was gonna have my pre-reqs and MCAT done in time to apply for the first class!
 
I just heard about this campus not to long ago. I only wish I would have heard about it earlier so I could have applied this year. I think it would be a much better fit for those looking into rural health than OHSU even though OHSU is supposed to be ranked 3rd in the country. Rural health at OHSU is mostly a joke. Just have to wait for the application to open on May 1...
 
Hey
I just wanted to add some stuff about the new school. I have talked with admission people and they will be charging the same tuition fees for Western Lebanon as they do Western Pomona. The advantage to choosing Lebanon is that the cost of living will be a lot cheaper there. Also they said they will have the same curriculum as Pomona does.
 
Anyone give any insight on the Lebanon area, as far as cultural goes?
 
Is anyone that is applying to COMP-Northwest going to apply for ISAC (Intensive Summer Anatomy Course)?

Also, I don't know if any one else has noticed but the slab is poured for the building and it looks like they are getting the structural components all ready! I'm ready for this cycle to begin! My app is done. AACOM has all of my transcripts. Why doesn't June 1st just get here?
 
Anyone give any insight on the Lebanon area, as far as cultural goes?

Hey I'm been to Lebanon a couple of times and it is somewhat of a farm town but somewhat a small town too. It is really nice that it is only a little over an hour away from Portland where there is always something to do.
 
Lebanon Oregon is a small town, but it has a main strip with a WalMart and such things for basic needs. It's 10 miles off of I-5, which makes it 35 minutes to Salem, 20 minutes to Corvallis (Home of the Beavs... good if you love great football and baseball, food, and micro brews.), 60 minutes to Eugene (home of the Ducks... eh... decent football :laugh: track basketball food entertainment... and hippies/alternative lifestyle folks...a serious amount of crazy hippies), and about 90 minutes to Portland which has everything you could really ever want in a big city during medical school. Also you're about 90 minutes from the coast and a little more to the mountains. So great skiing at Bachelor and Hoodoo (sometimes) is just a short drive away.

If I go here I will commute from Corvallis because to me it's worth it. Corvallis is just that much better.
 
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Exciting time in Oregon because there will be a new osteopathic medical school in Lebanon, Oregon. Western University in SoCal understands the need of the physician shortage in the PNW. Hence, in my opinion they are doing it right as compared to other DO schools. They started out with clinical rotations throughout Oregon and Washington for their NW Track students. Then they started residency spots in the valley with collaboration with Samaritan Health Systems. They started with FP, IM, and Psychiatry residencies and this year they will add Ortho and general surgery residencies. Now Western has placed the final piece and that is a medical school which will accept 100 students from the PNW in August 2011. They will be very Oregon and PNW friendly when accepting students. I expect their criteria for accepting students will be similar to their school in SoCal. The academic standards will be similar to SoCal. The difference will be the leadership of the Lebanon school will be from Oregon!
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The building is taking shape really fast. The frame was set up in just two weeks.
 
I sent in my app here, I am o.o.s but really like Portland and I hear lebanon is not too far from there.

i just don't know how o.o.s friendly this campus is gonna be.
 
I was interested in applying here since I have family in the area, but on their site it says:

"In response to the need for physicians in the northwest, we created the Northwest Track; a program for 30 qualified students who are residents of, or graduates from colleges in six states: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington or Wyoming."

http://prospective.westernu.edu/osteopathic-northwest/welcome

So I guess no application for me :(
 
I was interested in applying here since I have family in the area, but on their site it says:

"In response to the need for physicians in the northwest, we created the Northwest Track; a program for 30 qualified students who are residents of, or graduates from colleges in six states: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington or Wyoming."

http://prospective.westernu.edu/osteopathic-northwest/welcome

So I guess no application for me :(

The program that you are quoting is from previous years when they didn't have the school in Oregon. It was the northwest track and only students from the northwest track could get into it. However with the new school, they will probably favor people from the six states but will not automatically turn you down if you aren't from there.

I say if you are interested in the school and the area, then apply but be sure to let them know why you want to practice in the northwest.
 
Interesting, do you know how big their class size will be? and/or the intended percentage IS/OOS breakdown?
 
Its supposed to be a 100 students. I think the Admissions counselor said that they were aiming to get 60-70 students from the Northwest.
 
Looking through the news archives it looks like they'll be building a VA on school property...this can only be a good thing. I would love the chance to go to COMP-Lebanon, do a residency across the street then jump back into the federal system at the VA there.

Also I wonder if they'll have any clinicals at the VA
 
do we send our signature page and letters to the california address?
 
anyone receive a secondary yet??? and do you know if Western screens prior to sending out secondaries?

Thanks
 
do we send our signature page and letters to the california address?

Yes. The OR campus is nowhere close to being finished. Read the Western Pomona thread.

anyone receive a secondary yet??? and do you know if Western screens prior to sending out secondaries?

Thanks

Yes they do screen, but just really low cut offs. I received (and returned) my OR campus secondary yesterday.
 
Yes they do screen, but just really low cut offs. I received (and returned) my OR campus secondary yesterday.

Did you receive a separate email from them inviting you to fill out the OR campus secondary. I received one from Western last week but it didn't specify which campus, but I have access to both secondaries online.
 
Did you receive a separate email from them inviting you to fill out the OR campus secondary. I received one from Western last week but it didn't specify which campus, but I have access to both secondaries online.

Yes, I received on last Wednesday, and then another yesterday. The first one not specifying which campus was for Pomona. The other email read Lebanon Campus. To be honest, if they sent you the secondary for the Pomona, I would just go ahead and fill out the Lebanon campus one as well.
 
FYI for everyone: They are apparently having "technical difficulties" with the Lebanon application and expect to have it fixed in a few weeks. They received all my materials for both campuses but have yet to confirm the Northwestern app because of this technical difficulty.
 
FYI for everyone: They are apparently having "technical difficulties" with the Lebanon application and expect to have it fixed in a few weeks. They received all my materials for both campuses but have yet to confirm the Northwestern app because of this technical difficulty.

Did you call or email? They seem to not respond to my emails.
 
Hey guys, here's a few updates I've received from an admissions counselor!

"The Northwest interviews will be held on Saturdays Oct. 9, Nov. 6, Dec. 11, Jan., 8, and Feb. 12." "...we have not offered any applicants an invitation to interview. It is my understanding that it will be a few weeks before the committee will be doing such. "

Yay!
 
Hey guys, here's a few updates I've received from an admissions counselor!

"The Northwest interviews will be held on Saturdays Oct. 9, Nov. 6, Dec. 11, Jan., 8, and Feb. 12." "...we have not offered any applicants an invitation to interview. It is my understanding that it will be a few weeks before the committee will be doing such. "

Yay!

I don't like this at alllll lol... what if you can't make a date, you have to wait a whole month for the next interview? That kind of sucks. :(
 
I don't like this at alllll lol... what if you can't make a date, you have to wait a whole month for the next interview? That kind of sucks. :(

Srsly...only five interview dates? The candidates must be thoroughly checked and must have large interviews, perhaps group I guess. It struck me as very odd.
 
Even though I'm in mondo early, when they give the invites guess I'll have to go for Nov 6th since I'll be in FL on Oct 9th. The one interview a month thing is kind of lame, it doesn't seem very well thought out.

I hope this isn't a sign of things to come with this school.
 
So what were the questions on the secondary, I won't be getting mine for a few weeks and I want to have them ready to go :)
 
So what were the questions on the secondary, I won't be getting mine for a few weeks and I want to have them ready to go :)

Prompt 1: While shadowing a physician, what did the experience do to solidify your desire/ambition to become an osteopathic physician?

Prompt 2: What criteria did you use to select a medical school and why does WesternU/COMP meet your high level of expectation?

Prompt 3: Describe your participation in community service activities in a medically underserved or economically disadvantaged community.

Prompt 4: Explain why the opportunity to study and participate in clinical experiences in the Pacific Northwest appeals to you.
 
For the essay questions on this app it says to please limit comments to one page...when i first read this I took it as one page per question, but now i'm over-thinking and am wondering if it's one page total for all answers? what do you guys think?
 
For the essay questions on this app it says to please limit comments to one page...when i first read this I took it as one page per question, but now i'm over-thinking and am wondering if it's one page total for all answers? what do you guys think?

One page per essay.
 
Has anyone contacted either campus lately with an update for interview invites? The admission counselor told me 8/18 they were reviewing in 2 weeks, and others said early September- I'm impatiently waiting.

This school is a top choice for me, but if I haven't even heard from them by the time I get other acceptances, I'll be entre la espada y la pared.
 
They've started handing out Pomona interviews...has anyone received a Lebanon invite yet? I'm slowly getting excited...
 
Has anyone else had trouble getting letters received? Mine were sent as a packet from my advisor and only one letter (a doc letter) was marked as received. I emailed, but I was wondering if this had been a problem for anyone else.

thanks
 
WOOOO!!! INTERVIEW INVITE!!! October 9th.
 
Has anyone else had trouble getting letters received? Mine were sent as a packet from my advisor and only one letter (a doc letter) was marked as received. I emailed, but I was wondering if this had been a problem for anyone else.

thanks


It was a problem for me. I sent a committee letter (included all of my letters) and they said it was incomplete. I called them and she said "oh, we have it right here, we must have lost it, your file is now complete"

So, I suggest calling them.
 
Interview invite for Oct 9th! They called me! I was complete early August..
 
I'm interviewing Oct. 9, just got the call. I am so excited :)!! I'll see everyone there.
 
I'm interviewing Oct. 9, just got the call. I am so excited :)!! I'll see everyone there.

on a saturday?

I didnt' think schools admission offices were open on the weekend.

For those of you getting interviews, where are you from?
 
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