Western University - Lebanon (COMP-NW) Discussion Thread 2016-2017

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Maybe there's another deposit we need to pay ;)
hahaha. I tried to use my phone... didn't work. Used my laptop and worked. basically put in your western email and then join, you'll get a notification in the western email and then confirm, from there just request to join the comp-nw class of 2021 page and now I'm awaiting confirmation from the admin. Never been this excited to go BACK to school...
 
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I contacted Student Affairs. She said they would drop the email confirmation after the last interview selections and final deposits are in.
 
for those of you accepted: have you guys started filling out your health forms? place to live? background check? FAFSA/scholarships? and other MISC stuff... lol. Lots to do, hopefully I'm not the only one who feels like that.
 
for those of you accepted: have you guys started filling out your health forms? place to live? background check? FAFSA/scholarships? and other MISC stuff... lol. Lots to do, hopefully I'm not the only one who feels like that.
I just scheduled my physical. Where did you get the background check request from? I did FAFSA back in December, you might want to get on this, as I think either this month or next is the deadline, and a lot of schools have a priority deadline much earlier (not sure if Western does).

Never been this excited to go BACK to school...

Me too, I will walk around my house sometimes and I just like to announce to my wife and daughter, "I'm gonna be a doctor." They both smile and say, "oh daddy, yes you will." :)
 
I just scheduled my physical. Where did you get the background check request from? I did FAFSA back in December, you might want to get on this, as I think either this month or next is the deadline, and a lot of schools have a priority deadline much earlier (not sure if Western does).

Me too, I will walk around my house sometimes and I just like to announce to my wife and daughter, "I'm gonna be a doctor." They both smile and say, "oh daddy, yes you will." :)

got fafsa done, here is the background check link http://prospective.westernu.edu/assets/prospective/osteopathic/comp-precheck-instructions.pdf. Have you found housing yet or are you a OR native? Can anyone comment on cheaper housing? FYI we got to get all the paperwork in by June 1 to register for classes for all you who are curious!
 
Have you found housing yet or are you a OR native?
I'm a WA native, and no housing yet, gonna head down with my wife in a month to check out the prospects, still trying to figure out how we are gonna pull off a move, her finding work, getting daycare set up, and me starting school....
 
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Has anyone on the wait/alternate list heard anything? I believe they said acceptances from the list would start in March.
 
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Can some current students, or anyone with good information, comment on how many days a week you have to be on campus? I will be living in Salem and while it's not a far drive it definitely isn't close. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
 
Looking at the lodges... Dang 1K for a 1 bedroom. Haha. I was hoping like 700ish max. But i mean super close to campus. Anyonr got any other cheaper recommendations (within 5-10min drive to campus).
 
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Looking at the lodges... Dang 1K for a 1 bedroom. Haha. I was hoping like 700ish max. But i mean super close to campus. Anyonr got any other cheaper recommendations (within 5-10min drive to campus).

I second this. And, does anyone know of family friendly housing that is on the cheaper side, but not so cheep I will be worried about my daughter's safety?
 
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Anxious for my FAFSA lol.
 
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I second this. And, does anyone know of family friendly housing that is on the cheaper side, but not so cheep I will be worried about my daughter's safety?

You should look into Albany! I just checked out some of the rentals. It's a 25 minute drive and you can get a very nice house. It'd be a good option for students too if they want to pool together and get something.


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You should look into Albany! I just checked out some of the rentals. It's a 25 minute drive and you can get a very nice house. It'd be a good option for students too if they want to pool together and get something.


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I second this. Just rented a 3 bedroom house in albany for only 1200. Good prices and short drive to school!
 
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For any current students reading this, is the school able to be flexible on the cost of attendance estimate for those with families?
 
do you think 1200 will be affordable from loans and a working spouse?
Maybe. I'm splitting the cost with my significant other. But I think it's a good price for 3 students looking for roommates.
 
Maybe. I'm splitting the cost with my significant other. But I think it's a good price for 3 students looking for roommates.

yeah I hear ya, trying to figure out what price range to shoot for, thinking 1000 max for just my wife and I
 
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Something single for 600 would be ideal... Like jaw dropping ideal haha
 
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Fourth year med student here....

Good news for those nervous about landing a solid residency position post-graduation --> today my classmates killed it in the MATCH. So moral of story: work hard and the doors will be open to you.

Check out COMP-Northwest's facebook page to see where everyone landed in a few days.
 
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Fourth year med student here....

Good news for those nervous about landing a solid residency position post-graduation --> today my classmates killed it in the MATCH. So moral of story: work hard and the doors will be open to you.

Check out COMP-Northwest's facebook page to see where everyone landed in a few days.
Do you happen to have a list? We have the the 2016 list but obviously not 2017...
 
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Interviewed 10-22-16, Waitlisted 11-2-16. Sent letter of interest 1-15-17. Hoping for a spot to open up in the spring/summer months. Travelled across the country to attend the interview and liked what I saw. Anyone know about waitlist movement at this school?
 
Interviewed 10-22-16, Waitlisted 11-2-16. Sent letter of interest 1-15-17. Hoping for a spot to open up in the spring/summer months. Travelled across the country to attend the interview and liked what I saw. Anyone know about waitlist movement at this school?
Almost all schools have a good amount of movement the end of april/beginning of may.
 
Do you happen to have a list? We have the the 2016 list but obviously not 2017...

We have a semi-list mixed with Pomona, but not too many CNW students have filled it out yet. So the easiest way will be to check out the facebook page once they post our sites next week.
Just off the top of my head we have students going to:
OHSU, Pitt, Cleveland Clinic, Georgetown, Mayo, UCSF, Loma Linda, Wake Forest, U of AZ, UNM, UNLV, and many great community based programs all over the US.
 
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We have a semi-list mixed with Pomona, but not too many CNW students have filled it out yet. So the easiest way will be to check out the facebook page once they post our sites next week.
Just off the top of my head we have students going to:
OHSU, Pitt, Cleveland Clinic, Georgetown, Mayo, UCSF, Loma Linda, Wake Forest, U of AZ, UNM, UNLV, and many great community based programs all over the US.
Awesome thanks! Do you happen to know if any of your comp nw classmates matched into say ob/gyn or gen surg?
 
what don't you like about this school? policies? attendance? rotation sites? can any current students comment? thanks! deciding between here and a couple other schools (lmu dcom and ACOM) so I'm trying to get a couple different perspectives.
 
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We have a semi-list mixed with Pomona, but not too many CNW students have filled it out yet. So the easiest way will be to check out the facebook page once they post our sites next week.
Just off the top of my head we have students going to:
OHSU, Pitt, Cleveland Clinic, Georgetown, Mayo, UCSF, Loma Linda, Wake Forest, U of AZ, UNM, UNLV, and many great community based programs all over the US.
Those are good, but what specialties? I'm looking at the 2015 Match List (http://opti-west.org/pdfs/2015_match.pdf), but a lot of those more prestigious residencies are in less competitive, primary care fields like family medicine. Saying the few who matched to these 'big name' residencies as a reflection of the class is misleading. A few students in the class of 2020 probably scored a 516+ on their MCAT, but the school's average is still below MD average (505).

I've heard very few of these other names. I assume they're Osteopathic programs? Will students who match into Osteopathic programs even have the opportunity to finish their program after the Osteopathic/ACGME merge? Why does the school have more Osteopathic matches than ACGME? On interview day, one of the presenters kept hammering the point that the school matches nearly 100% of the students, but it's not too difficult to match into less competitive, less prestigious programs.

It seems like there is a lot of missing information when I see posts on SDN saying this is a great school. There's no data to back up these claims - everything I see is about the few people who seemed to get lucky.
 
Those are good, but what specialties? I'm looking at the 2015 Match List (http://opti-west.org/pdfs/2015_match.pdf), but a lot of those more prestigious residencies are in less competitive, primary care fields like family medicine. Saying the few who matched to these 'big name' residencies as a reflection of the class is misleading. A few students in the class of 2020 probably scored a 516+ on their MCAT, but the school's average is still below MD average (505).

I've heard very few of these other names. I assume they're Osteopathic programs? Will students who match into Osteopathic programs even have the opportunity to finish their program after the Osteopathic/ACGME merge? Why does the school have more Osteopathic matches than ACGME? On interview day, one of the presenters kept hammering the point that the school matches nearly 100% of the students, but it's not too difficult to match into less competitive, less prestigious programs.

It seems like there is a lot of missing information when I see posts on SDN saying this is a great school. There's no data to back up these claims - everything I see is about the few people who seemed to get lucky.
I don't see how your classmates MCAT average has anything to do with your residency chances.
The summary of the residency merger is it'll probably be tougher to land a surgical residency, but for the rest it will be better. Sounds like you want to go elsewhere.
 
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Those are good, but what specialties? I'm looking at the 2015 Match List (http://opti-west.org/pdfs/2015_match.pdf), but a lot of those more prestigious residencies are in less competitive, primary care fields like family medicine. Saying the few who matched to these 'big name' residencies as a reflection of the class is misleading. A few students in the class of 2020 probably scored a 516+ on their MCAT, but the school's average is still below MD average (505).

I've heard very few of these other names. I assume they're Osteopathic programs? Will students who match into Osteopathic programs even have the opportunity to finish their program after the Osteopathic/ACGME merge? Why does the school have more Osteopathic matches than ACGME? On interview day, one of the presenters kept hammering the point that the school matches nearly 100% of the students, but it's not too difficult to match into less competitive, less prestigious programs.

It seems like there is a lot of missing information when I see posts on SDN saying this is a great school. There's no data to back up these claims - everything I see is about the few people who seemed to get lucky.

If you read the article I posted earlier in this thread, they name the specific specialties within the programs. You can look on their Facebook page, too. Some of the programs are family/internal medicine, but some of them are specialized too. I took the time to do my own research, which I'm not sure that you did. I'm really excited to go to a school that is able to match students at such prestigious schools and programs, regardless of the specialty. If you don't feel this way, I'm not sure why you applied.


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If you read the article I posted earlier in this thread, they name the specific specialties within the programs. You can look on their Facebook page, too. Some of the programs are family/internal medicine, but some of them are specialized too. I took the time to do my own research, which I'm not sure that you did. I'm really excited to go to a school that is able to match students at such prestigious schools and programs, regardless of the specialty. If you don't feel this way, I'm not sure why you applied.


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I'm not trying to start an online argument. The school sells itself on "we matched 100% of our students" and "our students got their top pick." The 2015 match list is lackluster. A few students matched good residencies, but others are from programs I've never heard of. I used the MCAT analogy to show that the few people who do well are not representative of the remaining students. The entering class statistics are still below nationwide average. That's the point I'm making here. The school, and the current students who represent the school, should share that the few people who matched at OHSU, Pitt, Cleveland Clinic, Georgetown, Mayo, UCSF, Loma Linda, Wake Forest, U of AZ, UNM, UNLV are not representative of the rest of the class. The people who matched at these programs were probably already great students, but didn't get into MD school during their own cycle.

Schools will only share their successes and not their shortcomings. I did my homework, and I think it's unfair for you to think I didn't. If you think you'll be the exception then you're out of touch. Everyone starting medical school thinks they'll be the best student and will get Dean's List every term. I know that was my thought when I started undergrad. It's no different in graduate school. Look at the average performance, and not what the school tries to sell you.

I applied here as a backup and because I'm from the area. I wanted to go here because it is close to home.
 
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@VW_01 you aren't trying to start an online argument, but you are saying some inflammatory things to anyone who is excited about attending this school.
First off, not everyone who attends a DO school is just longing to go to an MD school...if it wasn't for the tuition differences, I would be happy to make this school my first choice.
Second, anyone who gets into any kind of medical school (MD/DO) is a great student, and has put in a huge amount of effort to get to where they are at. This process weeds out a lot of students, and if you were accepted, you are great.
Third, I really doubt that you really know much about programs you have never heard of before, and whether or not they are producing good physicians. Most people are probably going to this school to practice medicine, not to obtain an ego boost and a prestigious certificate from a university everyone can envy on their wall. Nor do people who attend DO schools generally want to become super researchers that change the field of medicine with a new drug/technique/device. Personally, I feel like the country/world needs more practicing physicians--if you want to invent stuff go become a PhD or a engineer, but this is for another rant.
If this school talks too much about it's good qualities for you (I haven't been to a school that doesn't), and isn't going to get you to where you want to be, then maybe you should hold out for one of those MD schools, or try again next year when you have made yourself a "great student." No one needs a perpetual downer in their midst that thinks that she and all of her classmates aren't as good as MDs. Remember, "what does DO stand for?" is a question you will be asked, and either you need to come to grips with this, or keep holding out for something else.
 
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I know we are having a really intense conversation right now... but has anyone been accepted to the NW Facebook group? I am still pending the acceptance:(
 
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I know we are having a really intense conversation right now... but has anyone been accepted to the NW Facebook group? I am still pending the acceptance:(
I know a few of us have. It didn't take too long. I would message the admin :)
 
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