Western University

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catnips

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Hi all!

First of all, good luck to everyone who applied this cycle and congrats to those who got in!

I hope to apply this fall cycle (and oh my god am i freaking out already...) and I would like to hear about some students from Western University. As I was searching for schools, Western University really caught my eye. I haven't considered it before because of expense, but it sounds like it may be worth it. I have read pretty much everything on their internet site but I would love to hear from some current students. What do you like about it? Pros and cons? It sounds like a great school and I like the idea of PBL based learning as well as their Reverence-for-Life Philosophy. Having said that, the GPA does seem just a little lower than usual. (not that I am complaining about this at all, lol) but seeing that, how can I then increase my chances to get in? What do they look into more, experiences? GRE?

I have searched the forums before but couldn't find the info I am looking for. I would appreciate any insight and sorry if this has been posted before.

Thanks!

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No it is not worth it. Please take the advice of every graduated veterinarian here, and go to the cheapest school possible. 4 years of vet school program is not worth 30 years of financial slavery. Minimize loans. A caveat being, of course, if you are wealthy and can pay tuition upfront.
 
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Hmm, oh god. I was definitely considering money issue before but as I see all the awesome stats of successful applicants, it feels like I should consider all the options and be thankful if i get in anywhere. My state school being Cornell, I feel like I might not get in there. Thank you for the advice tho! Loans scare me as much as the next person :bang: I'm not particularly wealthy unfortunately but was lucky enough to finish college without loans at least...
 
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'Be thankful if I get in anywhere' I hear that a lot from prevets. And TBH it is what the schools prey on. They make you feel honoured to gain admission and give them the right to take $50,000/yr off you. Its predatory in my opinion. I'm not bitter, I'm really not. But please go talk to at least 10 recent grads with significant student loan debt before jumping in. It'll be an eye opener.
My advice - move somewhere with the cheapest in state tuition, work so you can get In state tuition (Oklahoma, Georgia etc) and only apply to that school. That's what I would do.
 
I'm a WesternU student and it comes down to what you're willing to give up and what makes it worth it for you. Yes, I will be owing a lot of money at the end but realistically, what student won't be? I have no loans from my undergrad, which seems to set me apart from most veterinary and pre-veterinary students and makes it a little easier for me to manage. When looking into how much a school will cost you, you need to look into the cost of living and not just the cost of tuition. Some guy hands out cool little info sheets at the annual pre-vet symposium (last year at UF, this year at Iowa I think) and WesternU is NOT at the top when factoring in cost of living -- although California definitely isn't a cheap place to live!
I do like WesternU's WAVE program and reverence for life philosophy and that's one of the things that sold me on the school. I do not agree with performing terminal surgeries or having pets bred and euthanized solely to serve as our cadavers. All of our specimens are donated, and that includes ones used for club wet labs and clinical skills activities. If we can have MDs, DOs, and PAs graduate without having to kill a person for them to practice on, it should be the same for vet med. Yes, we graduate practice ready and they don't, but maybe that needs to change.
I love the PBL program. I love the professors here. I love the entire school and I love the area (not that I get to explore much of it during school). I've always been the kind of person who would go home and teach myself the material regardless of what the professor did, so PBL really works for me. Some people don't realize that not every class is PBL. We have lectures and we have hands-on activities. I like that we get clinical experience so early. As a first year, I have three rotations every eight weeks in which I'm expected to perform physical exams, grab samples and interpret labwork as well as come up with differential diagnoses and answer questions that clinicians may have. On Thursday, I was able to find and diagnose mature cataracts as well as a gd. 2 mitral valve murmur -- pretty good feeling!
I try to update my blog more often, especially this block (okay, maybe I'm procrastinating a little more...) so feel free to check that out and let me know if you have any more questions.
 
Thank you both for awesome advice! I am considering both advices - I do want to get in to a cheap IS school (I am likely to move out of NY next year anyway due to my husband's grad school choices) and if I get into a cheaper IS school that fits me, I will go that route. However if I don't get in, I don't want to limit myself to one school especially seeing I don't have too good of a GPA (not bad either, but definitely not awesome - 3.5 with a bad orgo 1 grade) and I don't know if my experiences are enough. After all, it is my fault that I have average stats and not stellar 4.0. You definitely don't sound bitter mjf981. I completely understand and appreciate the honest advice. The reality of loans suck...

Thank you so much for great insight Rwwilliams! This is great insight, so it really is as good as it sounds :) Great pics, I'll definitely read your blog - such helpful insight! I have no loans from undergrad too, so I hoped I could be a little more comfortable taking out loans. I am aware I will probably have to live not at all luxuriously at vet school and beyond, but it doesn't bother me much although of course, I am worried. If it doesn't happen at a cheap IS school that I like, I am not willing to give up on being a veterinarian because of that. I am not comfortable going to a school where I know I will have to terminal surgeries to get my degree and Western's philosophy was definitely one of the things that sold it to me immediately too! The fact that you got to have such hands-on experience early on is amazing! Seems like Western will be top choice OOS school for me :) Most OOS, combined with living expenses come up to be the same price from what I have seen anyway...

Thank you both!
 
I'm a WesternU student and it comes down to what you're willing to give up and what makes it worth it for you. Yes, I will be owing a lot of money at the end but realistically, what student won't be? I have no loans from my undergrad, which seems to set me apart from most veterinary and pre-veterinary students and makes it a little easier for me to manage. When looking into how much a school will cost you, you need to look into the cost of living and not just the cost of tuition. Some guy hands out cool little info sheets at the annual pre-vet symposium (last year at UF, this year at Iowa I think) and WesternU is NOT at the top when factoring in cost of living -- although California definitely isn't a cheap place to live!
I do like WesternU's WAVE program and reverence for life philosophy and that's one of the things that sold me on the school. I do not agree with performing terminal surgeries or having pets bred and euthanized solely to serve as our cadavers. All of our specimens are donated, and that includes ones used for club wet labs and clinical skills activities. If we can have MDs, DOs, and PAs graduate without having to kill a person for them to practice on, it should be the same for vet med. Yes, we graduate practice ready and they don't, but maybe that needs to change.
I love the PBL program. I love the professors here. I love the entire school and I love the area (not that I get to explore much of it during school). I've always been the kind of person who would go home and teach myself the material regardless of what the professor did, so PBL really works for me. Some people don't realize that not every class is PBL. We have lectures and we have hands-on activities. I like that we get clinical experience so early. As a first year, I have three rotations every eight weeks in which I'm expected to perform physical exams, grab samples and interpret labwork as well as come up with differential diagnoses and answer questions that clinicians may have. On Thursday, I was able to find and diagnose mature cataracts as well as a gd. 2 mitral valve murmur -- pretty good feeling!
I try to update my blog more often, especially this block (okay, maybe I'm procrastinating a little more...) so feel free to check that out and let me know if you have any more questions.
May I have the link to your blog? I'd love to check it out! :)
 
Thank you so much for great insight Rwwilliams! This is great insight, so it really is as good as it sounds :) Great pics, I'll definitely read your blog - such helpful insight! I have no loans from undergrad too, so I hoped I could be a little more comfortable taking out loans. I am aware I will probably have to live not at all luxuriously at vet school and beyond, but it doesn't bother me much although of course, I am worried. If it doesn't happen at a cheap IS school that I like, I am not willing to give up on being a veterinarian because of that. I am not comfortable going to a school where I know I will have to terminal surgeries to get my degree and Western's philosophy was definitely one of the things that sold it to me immediately too! The fact that you got to have such hands-on experience early on is amazing! Seems like Western will be top choice OOS school for me :) Most OOS, combined with living expenses come up to be the same price from what I have seen anyway...

Of course! Let me know if there's any other questions you have. They really drill it into us that we have to be super careful about what we share on the Internet pertaining to the school -- particularly our cadavers, so I don't go into a ton of detail on my blog but I'd be happy to go into more detail privately.
 
Of course! Let me know if there's any other questions you have. They really drill it into us that we have to be super careful about what we share on the Internet pertaining to the school -- particularly our cadavers, so I don't go into a ton of detail on my blog but I'd be happy to go into more detail privately.

Hi Rwwilliams! Thank you for your blog! It really gives me a great insight on how vet school is like. :) I'll be attending WesternU in the fall and I was wondering if you have any recommendations on what I should review or study before school starts. Do you have any suggestions on what textbooks I should get now to prep for school? Also, is your typical school day schedule from 8-5? If so, does that time frame include time being spent at your clinical rotations?
 
I don't go to Western, but my recommendation about what to study/review before you start vet school is to enjoy your last few months before you begin school and don't spend it trying to study things that will be taught to you later.
 
Hi Rwwilliams! Thank you for your blog! It really gives me a great insight on how vet school is like. :) I'll be attending WesternU in the fall and I was wondering if you have any recommendations on what I should review or study before school starts. Do you have any suggestions on what textbooks I should get now to prep for school? Also, is your typical school day schedule from 8-5? If so, does that time frame include time being spent at your clinical rotations?

Glad you like it! So, everyone is going to tell you not to study and not give you any hints -- as someone who wanted to, that made me so mad! I studied during the summer anyway. Did it help? Not really, but it made me feel a little more useful. So, I would study whatever subject you feel is your weakest (or will be). I'd never taken an anatomy class in my life, so I read through an anatomy book. Don't get any textbooks. PM me for more information. People told me this and didn't tell me why, so I bought a couple anyway...
School schedule is stated as 8-5, but it depends on the day. My Thursdays don't start until 1 this month because anything before then would be clinical skills and I don't have any clinical skills on a Thursday this month. Your classes that are always the same are PBL 10-12 MWF, vet issues 1-3 on Wednesdays, MCB 1-3 on Fridays, and then MDC/BSL from 1-5 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Anything else to fill in the 8-5 gaps would be clinical skills which you may or may not have that day. Rotations for first year are 8-12, so it does include that time.
Also, congratulations on your acceptance! :)
 
No it is not worth it. Please take the advice of every graduated veterinarian here, and go to the cheapest school possible. 4 years of vet school program is not worth 30 years of financial slavery. Minimize loans. A caveat being, of course, if you are wealthy and can pay tuition upfront.


Do you currently go to Western U, or did you go there? Is that why you say it is not worth it?
 
Glad you like it! So, everyone is going to tell you not to study and not give you any hints -- as someone who wanted to, that made me so mad! I studied during the summer anyway. Did it help? Not really, but it made me feel a little more useful. So, I would study whatever subject you feel is your weakest (or will be). I'd never taken an anatomy class in my life, so I read through an anatomy book. Don't get any textbooks. PM me for more information. People told me this and didn't tell me why, so I bought a couple anyway...
School schedule is stated as 8-5, but it depends on the day. My Thursdays don't start until 1 this month because anything before then would be clinical skills and I don't have any clinical skills on a Thursday this month. Your classes that are always the same are PBL 10-12 MWF, vet issues 1-3 on Wednesdays, MCB 1-3 on Fridays, and then MDC/BSL from 1-5 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Anything else to fill in the 8-5 gaps would be clinical skills which you may or may not have that day. Rotations for first year are 8-12, so it does include that time.
Also, congratulations on your acceptance! :)


So I have a question, I will be applying next year.. is there anything in particular Western U likes? Such as certain types of experiences (like do they want to see research or wildlife, or anything specific), really high gre score or gpa, etc.? Do you know what the majority of your entering class had, or this year's class? The "successful stats" forums are for all schools, so I was just wondering for Western U in particular since they don't have their own page. Thanks!
 
Do you currently go to Western U, or did you go there? Is that why you say it is not worth it?
I think it's your personal decision if it's worth it. If it wasn't worth it, period, then no one would go ;) Yes, minimize loans as possible and go IS if you can! However, I think assuming you'll get into your IS or moving to a state with cheap IS tuition and trying to attain residency is not the best plan for everyone.

So I have a question, I will be applying next year.. is there anything in particular Western U likes? Such as certain types of experiences (like do they want to see research or wildlife, or anything specific), really high gre score or gpa, etc.? Do you know what the majority of your entering class had, or this year's class? The "successful stats" forums are for all schools, so I was just wondering for Western U in particular since they don't have their own page. Thanks!
Not really? Western posts all their stats each year on their website, so you could hunt those down. Average GPA is rising, at least according to what I'm told. We have a super diverse class and actually a ton of large animal/equine people compared to other classes but I wouldn't say the school sought that out. Don't cater your resume or CV to one school. Make yourself a diverse and strong applicant.
 
I think it's your personal decision if it's worth it. If it wasn't worth it, period, then no one would go ;) Yes, minimize loans as possible and go IS if you can! However, I think assuming you'll get into your IS or moving to a state with cheap IS tuition and trying to attain residency is not the best plan for everyone.


Not really? Western posts all their stats each year on their website, so you could hunt those down. Average GPA is rising, at least according to what I'm told. We have a super diverse class and actually a ton of large animal/equine people compared to other classes but I wouldn't say the school sought that out. Don't cater your resume or CV to one school. Make yourself a diverse and strong applicant.


Thanks for the feedback. My IS is UC Davis, but I don't want to go there. I would love to attend Western because of the great PBL program but would still be paying the same tuition since it's private.
 
MONEY ASIDE,

Is WesternU a good school to go to? How does it being private seem to affect you as a student? Positively or negatively?


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Anyone interested in applying to Western can read this interview with Christine, and there are 2 more interviews lined up with Western students waiting to be uploaded. See what it takes to get into Western University Vet Med.
She will be graduating soon, so she would have a good perspective on what life is like as a Western student. At the end of the interview, there is a way to email her.
 
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