Western U

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zoner

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Hello

I went to visit Western U recently and I absolutely loved it. I LOOOOOOVED t

But before I get all high on my love for Western, I wanted to hear from the students who are actually attending there. I couldn't get a real inside scoop while I was there, and would love to hear some from people that actually knows.

Thanks everyone

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The pros and cons of every school are in the thread below your post.
 
Please refer to this video for more information:

[YOUTUBE]RbcAbKHuy5U[/YOUTUBE]
 
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I think one of the guys in the white T-shirts interviewed me.
 
forget it, not applying
 
forget it, not applying

Aww, come on. Just because of my smart-ass reply?

If you're asking for some balance to your positive experience here's something since now I feel bad - WesternU is among the top 5 medical schools nationwide in regards to debt burden. Other than that it's fine.
 
whatever, i was just kidding anyways
 


Also, take into account that the figure ($203,430) is an average, which takes into account the kids with military scholarships that have $0 of debt as well as people who get help from parents and/or had savings before med school. A lot of folks I know (me included), will be graduating with around $280k in debt. The tuition will only be going higher and higher with each progressive year, so think long and hard before you decide upon going to Western (or any of the other schools on this list). Is the education worth the price..? I hope so...
 
yeah, but listen,, everyone keeps saying debt this and debt that, but come on, you will be making money after four years and after 7-9 years, you will be making 200k to 400k a year. There is no reason why you can't live on 15k a year for a year or two while paying back a good portion of your loan. That way, you will only be paying off for a few years, so don't be silly
 
yeah, but listen,, everyone keeps saying debt this and debt that, but come on, you will be making money after four years and after 7-9 years, you will be making 200k to 400k a year. There is no reason why you can't live on 15k a year for a year or two while paying back a good portion of your loan. That way, you will only be paying off for a few years, so don't be silly


Wow.... smh.

Please come back in 10 years and read this comment, I'm sure you'll have the same response as I did when I read it. I'll let it slide.... since I assume 1/2 of the premeds on here have the same mentality as you when it comes to this.

If your indebtedness doesn't factor into your decision making at all, then by all means come to Western, it's a decent enough school.
 
Wow.... smh.

Please come back in 10 years and read this comment, I'm sure you'll have the same response as I did when I read it. I'll let it slide.... since I assume 1/2 of the premeds on here have the same mentality as you when it comes to this.

If your indebtedness doesn't factor into your decision making at all, then by all means come to Western, it's a decent enough school.

was that too high of a guess?

do you go to western U? i get the feeling that students that attend Western U do'nt really seem to like it too much

sure, i understand that not all docs makes a lot, but a friend of mine just finished anesthesiology fellowship two years ago and currently making around 400k in S/D. He finished with 300k debt.
 
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I'm going to Western this August and it was my top choice (given my choices). In fact I picked this school over several other top DO schools and a few MD schools from the East Coast. There were a lot of factors in picking this school, but honestly location was the number one reason since I grew up right around there. It is expensive, there's no way around that fact. But compared to most private schools, the tuition should not be shocking to anyone. It's right where it's supposed to be unfortunately. Try to get into your state public medical schools. That's the best option if money is the biggest concern (and rightfully so). But most DO schools are private anyways and state MD schools in CA are no walk in the park either. Good luck!
 
anyone who is currently attending Western U wanna chime in?
 
I'm going to Western this August and it was my top choice (given my choices). In fact I picked this school over several other top DO schools and a few MD schools from the East Coast. There were a lot of factors in picking this school, but honestly location was the number one reason since I grew up right around there. It is expensive, there's no way around that fact. But compared to most private schools, the tuition should not be shocking to anyone. It's right where it's supposed to be unfortunately. Try to get into your state public medical schools. That's the best option if money is the biggest concern (and rightfully so). But most DO schools are private anyways and state MD schools in CA are no walk in the park either. Good luck!

First of all you are not a medical student until you have your white coat ceremony. You are still a pre-med. Dont mean to be an ass, but its false for you to make your status "medical student".

I am almost certain you will be like most people in my class who chose Western over MD schools out East: They regret their decision

Western (pomona) has one, literally one thing going for it: Location.

The education you will receive is subpar at best. They will not go out of their way to prep you for board exams. So why do Western students generally do OK on boards? Location. People are attracted to Western because of the location. Thus many people in SoCal who are too afraid to leave the area, apply to MD schools in Cali and Western. Most who do not get into California MD schools come to Western and seeing as how there is so many pre-meds graduating from UC schools, the competition to get into Western is higher by default and by location. As a result, decently intelligent people are getting into Western. Like I said, the school has subpar teaching and board prep too. The only reason students do OK on boards is because its a bright group of people to begin with who are able to teach the info to themselves.I honestly believe your pathway to getting a good board score and residency would be MUCH EASIER at an MD school out east.

(for the record, im talking about USMLE boards as I know most people going DO have the intention of doing an MD residency. Western actually does well on the COMLEX)

In my opinion, $50k a year at Western is not worth it. If tuition here was $30k I would consider it if I had to do it again. For $50k a year you can get much more bang for your buck at one of those MD schools out East. A huge chunk of my class hate OMM so the whole DO thing is kind of pointless when you consider that it has limits as to what fields you can go into, but thats a whole other discussion.

Generally my class seems pretty split: some people love western, some people hate it (although to me it seems like more people complain about it than complement on how good it is). However most people seem to agree that the cost of Western simply is too much for what we get in return.

The good: We have some decent rotation sites around LA. We do many rotations at Arrowhead, which is a major trauma center. However I have heard we may lose our rotations to UC Riverside but there is no evidence to back this up. We do have a small handful of really good professors who are well connected. The handful is even smaller when you exclude the profs who just practice OMM.

There is some reviews of Western somewhere on SDN made by students this year that I read a few months ago. Search for them, its a detailed evaluation of Western (although just one or two peoples opinions)
 
Wow.... smh.

Please come back in 10 years and read this comment, I'm sure you'll have the same response as I did when I read it. I'll let it slide.... since I assume 1/2 of the premeds on here have the same mentality as you when it comes to this.

If your indebtedness doesn't factor into your decision making at all, then by all means come to Western, it's a decent enough school.

:laugh: I see you share most peoples frustration towards our school

Zoner: Would like to add that everyone claims to know someone who comes out of residency making $400k. The reality is that most doctors dont make that amount. There is a DO from Western who owns a practice out in Beverly Hills?, I think, and he makes $500 an hour just doing OMM and he is booked for months ahead. He IS the exception.

At the beginning of first year we had a financial guy come in and talk about loan repayments. Some people will be looking at paying $800,000 by the time they pay it back. I feel like more premeds need to consider tuition when choosing a school, especially Western
 
Thanks for that, but could you go into a little more details about what about the school you think is sub par compared to other MD schools?

Only comments I've read so far are all praises.
 
Thanks for that, but could you go into a little more details about what about the school you think is sub par compared to other MD schools?

Only comments I've read so far are all praises.

Well subpar compared to most, but not all MD schools. Its still one of the best DO schools.

Again, most of our profs just have no clue how to teach relevant info and do it in an effective manner. You will understand how important this is when you start med school. When you study for an exam and have hundreds of powerpoint slides to go through, the last thing you want is to be scrambling to figure out whats relevant and important, and what is not. You figure out what is important based on what the instructor stresses. However many of our profs dont stress the importance, and if they do, they test on something different. I understand no school has perfect teaching, but our school is questionable at teaching. Does this mean you cant learn the info on your own? No. But for $50k a year I expect a more than a few profs who can deliver material properly.

Many MD schools do not have class sizes as big as Western. Our school is heavily diluted in our faculty: student ratio. We have 200+ students in Pomona and another 100 in Lebanon sharing many of the same profs.

In the entire year we had multiple "Dean town hall meetings" where faculty come in and listen to our complaints/requests. They are great at giving us small things (microwaves) but when a major concern is brought up they simply make excuses and ensure their way is the best way. This mentality is not acceptable for $50k a year.

Western has good things too. However most pre-meds and students interviewing only see the good, and not the bad or ugly. The students who give you tours are the students who love our school and represent only a portion of the class. I would say 50% of my class have stopped caring about the school as there is nothing to do but ride it out, 25% love it, and 25% hate it.

When you come to Western, you will still end up a doctor. Just expect the path to be less nicely laid out than some other schools and the path to cost you an arm and leg.

Does that help?
 
Many MD schools do not have class sizes as big as Western. Our school is heavily diluted in our faculty: student ratio. We have 200+ students in Pomona and another 100 in Lebanon sharing many of the same profs.
Did you ever attempt to schedule a meeting during office hours with any of the professors? I always find the faculty to students ratio to be a rather funny metric since it really doesn't matter for lectures, and most people end up just using Echo360/Apreso anyways.
In the entire year we had multiple "Dean town hall meetings" where faculty come in and listen to our complaints/requests. They are great at giving us small things (microwaves) but when a major concern is brought up they simply make excuses and ensure their way is the best way. This mentality is not acceptable for $50k a year.

Yet when the people who are actually in charge (like when the Facilities Manager, the guy who is in charge of security, brought in Pomona PD) have a meeting to discuss the actual issues, almost no one shows up. Furthermore those that do get fixated on non-issues. It's not all hunky dory and I agree that there are problems, yet people tend to expect the entire staff to be at their beck and call. It doesn't work that way no matter where you are.

When you come to Western, you will still end up a doctor. Just expect the path to be less nicely laid out than some other schools and the path to cost you an arm and leg.

...because Western, like most schools, don't use First Aid as a lesson plan for the first 2 years?
 
Please refer to this video for more information:

[YOUTUBE]RbcAbKHuy5U[/YOUTUBE]

Aww, come on. Just because of my smart-ass reply?

If you're asking for some balance to your positive experience here's something since now I feel bad - WesternU is among the top 5 medical schools nationwide in regards to debt burden. Other than that it's fine.


I trololol'd
 
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