How many people interviewed you?
| Response Average | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 1.86 | 325 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Positively | 229 |
| Negatively | 34 |
| No change | 64 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 3.69 | 318 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 7.69 | 255 |
| Response Avg | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 6.87 | 227 |
No responses
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 1 |
| 10 minutes | 1 |
| 15 minutes | 2 |
| 20 minutes | 13 |
| 25 minutes | 24 |
| 30 minutes | 175 |
| 35 minutes | 48 |
| 40 minutes | 36 |
| 45 minutes | 18 |
| 50 minutes | 9 |
| 55 minutes | 0 |
| 60+ minutes | 5 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| At the school | 323 |
| At a regional location | 0 |
| At another location | 2 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| One-on-one | 253 |
| In a group | 71 |
| Response | # Responders |
|---|---|
| Open file | 303 |
| Closed file | 17 |
| Response Average | # Responders |
|---|---|
| 1.86 | 325 |
"Questions about my application and suitability for medicine."
"Why medicine? Why osteopathic medicine? Have you shadowed or observed a DO physician while at your clinics?"
"Tell them about yourself, particularly the experiences that made you want to do medicine"
"What do you look for in a medical school?"
"Tell me about your hospital volunteer experience."
"Why Western over all of the other schools you applied to"
"Name the Osteopathic tenets."
"What is an osteopathic physicians role in the future of medicine"
"Where have you been accepted/where did you apply/did you apply MD as well"
"What factors did you consider when deciding which schools to apply to? Did you apply to MD and DO? Regionally?"
"When did you fail?"
"Where else have you applied? MD/DO? Interviewed? Accepted? If you are accepted into both an MD school and here, where would you go?"
"Define diversity."
"Why WesternU and Osteopathic medicine?"
"Why Medicine? Why DO? Why COMP?"
"How many schools did you apply to? How many DO? How many accepted, interviewed?"
"What do you think you regret about not doing something in your life?"
"Why are you interested in medicine and specifically osteopathic medicine?"
"Why D.O.?"
"What makes a good leader?"
"Explain your journey to osteopathic medicine and what attracted you to WesternU"
"Talk about any leadership roles."
"Where do you stand in the current political debate on health care?"
"Had to read a paragraph and answer a multiple choice question. Critical thinking/MCAT type but very easy"
"What is one bad decision you've made recently, and what did you learn from it?"
"How did you come to osteopathic medicine from being an English major?"
"Why physician, do, and western?"
"Why medicine, and why DO?"
"What was your favorite pre-med course? Why?"
"Tell me about how you came to wanting to be an osteopathic physician."
"Tell us what has brought you to want to practice medicine. Why osteopathic medicine? Why Western? All at once."
"What events brought you to this point in your life?"
"Why medicine, why DO, why Western? (all in one question)"
"Explain your research."
"What would you do for healthcare with $100 million?"
"Why Medicine? Why Osteopahtic medicine? and Why Western?"
"See above"
"What would I do to improve health care with 100 million dollars?"
"Why med, why DO, why Western"
"How did your life experiences lead you to applying for medical school?"
"How did you arrive to wanting to practice medicine?"
"The big 3 that you should all be able to answer. Why medicine? Why DO? Why Western?"
"Why medicine, why western, why DO?"
"Why DO, Why Western"
"Why DO, Why Western."
"How did you hear about Osteopathic Medical School?"
"How did you arrive to a career in medicine? What have you done to confirm your interest in medicine? Why DO?"
"Why Doctor, why DO, why Western."
"Why go into (osteopathic) medicine? Do you know what field you want to go into?"
"Have you shadowed a DO? (No) Then explain your exposure/experience/knowledge of osteopathic medicine."
"The big 3. Why medicine, Why DO, why WesternU. (in exact order)"
"What experiences made you interested in medicine?"
"1st: Tell us about yourself. Why medicine, why osteopathic medicine. Why Western. Why should we take you."
"Tell me about your research? Do you want to do research while you are a student? Do you think it is important for physicians to be involved in research? How important is it to you that the future school you go to has research opportunities? A lot of stuff on research."
"Asked about my opinions regarding about health care reform "
"Why Medicine? Why DO in particular? Why COMP in particular?"
"Did you do research, did you have publications?"
"How did you choose medicine? DO?"
"what are your strengths/weaknesses? and then at the end, what skills will you bring to our school? YEAH basically the same question, plus it didnt help that the interviewer had an accent that was difficult to understand...ugh"
"What inspired me to embark on a career in medicine? Why DO? Why Western?"
"Why Medicine, why DO, why Western, What schools I have applied to and where I've gotten an acceptance from."
"Path to medicine: osteopathy: Western U"
"Tell us about yourself, what lead to you medicine? Why DO? Why Western? Everyone should know these 3 questions!!! It's a guarantee. "
"Tell me about your self. Why medicine? Why DO?"
"Talk about yourself, your journey toward medicine and osteopathic medicine in particular. <--practice that one."
"Tell us about yourself, specifically how you ended up in medicine/osteopathic medicine/westernu."
"Why medicine, how you found out about osteopathic medicine, and westernu?"
"Why medicine, why DO, & why Western. This is the basic, everyone gets asked this! "
"If you were accepted to both DO and MD schools, which would you choose?"
"Why Medicine? DO? Western? Handle Conflict in a group?"
"Tell me more about your volunteering experinces. What science volunteering have you done? (weird because I have been working in research for 3 years) "
"If the government gave you money for research, what would you choose Cancer or AIDS?"
"Tell me about yourself, why do you want to be a doctor, why DO?"
"Why medicine, why osteopathic medicine?"
"How are you? How has your day been? Why do you like it here? "
"Why DO? Why medicine? nothing special"
"Why Western, Why DO, Why medicine?"
"A student from my undergrad's rival school comes in to the ER with a gun shot wound, what would you do?"
"Why did you choose medicine, why osteopathic Medicine, Why Western? What do you know about our curriculum. What are your strengths and weaknesses. "
"Interview was scheduled for 30 minutes, but we went 45 minutes...so there was no strict time limit. "
"why doctor, why do, why western"
"Why medicine? Why DO?"
"How will you handle so much Bio classes at once? (because I'm a math major)"
"Faculty member: Why medicine? Why DO? Why WesternU? What was your first experience with osteopathic medicine? Doctor/Faculty member: Tell me about your research. What is your job?/What do you do? Doctor/Faculty member: Tell me about your research. What do you do/what is your job? Doctor: "
"Why medicine, why DO, why Western?"
"Why medicine? Why DO? Why Western? "
"Expect these three wherever you interview: 1) Why this school, 2) Why medicine 3) Why Osteopathic medicine"
"Why do you want to be a physician. Why a DO, and why Western?"
"Why did you take the MCAT so many times? (I only took it once.)"
"Conversational"
"tell me about yourself"
"Tell us about volunteer experiences"
"How did you learn about DOs and Western?"
"Why a DO and why Western?"
"Why medicine, DO, Western?"
"The one about residency."
"Explain your jr. year grades (they were lower than other years)"
"Why medicine, why osteopathic medicine, and why Western COMP?"
"Why Western & Why DO (one question) ?"
"Explain your leadership experience and how it relates your choice to apply for medical school."
"why medicine? why DO? why PCOM?"
"Why med? why DO? why PCOM?"
"Why Western? Why DO?"
"How did you prepare for this interview?"
"why do? why western? tell us about yourself."
"Name 2 strengths and 2 weaknesses."
"Tell us about yourself"
"see above..."
"why do you like organic chemistry?"
"Why medicine? Why DO? Why Western? (all at once!)"
"Tell me about yourself, why do you want to be an osteopathic physician, and what about osteopathic medicine do you like? (one question). This took the bulk of my interview."
"Why doctor/why D.O.? Describe leadership experience..."
"Were you applied math? How does being in applied math apply in the real world and in the medicinal world? Did you actually do any research with this type of math? Tell us about your school and if you enjoyed the education there. "
"Have you done any shadowing, and what was the most interesting thing you saw?"
"Explain Grades."
"Why DO? Why Western?"
"What do you think is a makor problem in healthcare today?"
"Tell me about yourself, why you want to be a physician and why are you interested in osteopathic medicine? (all at once)"
"What do you know about osteopathic medicine?"
"Why do you want to become a doctor?"
"Why should we even bother with helping third world nations if they will be afflicted by factors other than medicine?"
"If I got accepted to Harvard, would I choose that over an osteopathic program?"
"Specifics in reference to my personal statement (questions about my car accident, air evac, and living in a nursing home), my high gpa, and my average mcat score."
"Describe your background and how you came to osteopathic medicine."
"So what brings you here?"
"Why Medicine, why Western? How do you deal with conflict? Strengths and Weaknesses?"
"Why osteo?"
"Why medicine? Why osteopathic medicine?"
"Why medicine? Why DO? Why not PT? What were you favorite college courses? How do I know you're responsible? When have you been responsible amongst your family? (yeah...really)"
"General stuff, why med, why osteo, tell me about your research, any leadership experience?.. why ... from my file... et.c.."
"the med mary-jane question"
"Why medicine, why osteo?"
"why doc? why osteopath?"
"Why medical? Why Osteopathic?"
"Why do you want to be a doctor? Why osteo?"
"Why osteopathy?"
"Why medicine, why osteopathic, why Western? All one question"
"What is one negative factor about medicine? and why do you still pursue medicine knowing this? "
"Why did you only get an xx on your MCAT?"
"Tell me about yourself, how you learned about osteopathic medicine, why you have chosen to study it, and why you would like to attend Western."
"If I ask your best friend to describe you. What three adjectives would they use to describe your good points?"
"Tell me about yourself and how you came to medicine and specifically osteopathic."
"Why did you choose Western U?"
"What are your weaknesses?"
"Assisted suicide question."
"What brought you here to Western?"
"why medicine/why DO? "
"Tell me about yourself and incorporate how you decided to pursue osteopathic medicine."
"Tell us about yourself. Why medicine? Why DO? Why Western?"
"Tell me something about yourself."
"You have a kidney for transplant. How do you pick between a 24yo and a 60yo with lots of family? What criteria do you use and who would you pick?"
"How does quality of life increase with better health?"
"What do you do to deal with stress?"
"you have worked with both m.d.'s and d.o.'s - why did you choose osteopathy? what's the difference?"
"They asked many questions about my experiences...work and educational"
"What things about being a doctor make you apprehensive?"
"tell me about yourself, why medicine, why D.O., why COMP?"
"Tell me about your research? Strengths and weaknesses? What was the saddest part of medicine that you observed while volunteering?"
"tell me about yourself, why medicine, why do, why comp?"
"Why Western? "
"What are you doing now?"
"The three positive and negative attributes question...yuck!"
"Tell me something about your health-related volunteer experiences."
"Why do you want to be a doctor, and what made you choose DO? He noticed I had applied to a lot of schools, both DO and MD, and asked if I could go to any medical school I wanted to, what would it be and why? (this question made me nervous, since Western is not my first choice, but I answered honestly and it couldn't have mattered too much because I was accepted). "
"Tell me about your research."
"What's OMT?"
"Specific application questions."
"a question about my personal statement concerning why medicine"
"What three words would your friends use to describe you?"
"You are administering a grant. Where would you send the money? AIDS or cancer."
"Tell me about yourself and what led you to Osteo Med."
"What would you do if you weren't accepted this year?"
"difficult event, how dealt with it?"
"tell me about your self"
"Why do you want to be a Doctor?"
"How is your experience working at ____?"
"Tell me about how you found your interest in medicine?"
"Why DO over MD?"
"Tell me about yourself. "
"Why western, what organizations have you been part of and why, how did they help you get to this point. What has been the most difficult situation you have faced with these organizations and how did you solve them?"
"How did you end up choosing osteopathic medicine? Why do you want to come to Western? Did you apply to MD schools as well? Explain your research and volunteer activities."
"Explain your line of reasoning from medicine, to osteopathic medicine, to this school"
"Summarize the events that led up to you deciding to apply to osteopathic school. "
"What was your favorite science course and why?"
"Tell us how your experiences as a bioethicist have helped you develop as a person."
"What do you do for work now? How long have you done it? Do you work there full time? Do you work with DOs? What do you do with pts?"
"strengths and weaknesses of app"
"Gives a scenario where there are 2 patients that need an organ transplant, which one would I pick and why. "
"AIDS or cancer: which one would i fund as a researcher and why?"
"see interesting question above"
"why western, and would you choose DO over MD? what schools did u apply to?"
"Why did you choose your undergraduate degree? (BA-Communications0"
"Tell me about yourself/your background"
"why DO"
"ethics, about me, about my views on medicine etc"
"What do you think about stem-cell research?"
"Why osteopathy, and what do your parents think of you becoming a DO? (they are MD's)"
"Why Osteo, why medicine, why Western U, what other schools are you applying to, what interviews have you had/will have, and where would you most likely go?"
"Why did you choose the profession you are in? If you caught a fellow student doing drugs, what would you do? If you caught a fellow student with a hangover, what would you do?"
"Explain (one of my community service)"
"tell us about your decision to pursue medicine"
"Why medicine?"
"Tell me about yourself."
"How do you feel about your MCAT?"
"What are your opinions on stem cell research and why? If you had a terminally ill patient that was adamantly against stem cell research and stem cells were a viable treatment option, would you offer it to him? Why or why not?"
"Explain you bad MCAT verbal score. Explain all low grades."
"What was the best Philosophy course you've taken?"
"Tell us about yourself."
"Tell us about your life to this point. Why Osteopathy and how did you learn about it. "
""Tell me about yourself" Make sure to decide ahead of time how you wish to direct the discussion."
"why osteopathy"
"The interview was very relaxed and the interviewer just wanted to get to know me. One interesting thing, however, was that when he got to my MCAT scores and grades, he did something weird. He told me that my MCAT scores were only average for the school, when I know they are WAY above average (in the 30's). That struck me as being odd. Then he went on to say that he would have a hard time explaining to the admissions committee that my course work was acceptable because I hadn't taken prerequisites for almost a decade. I graduated from CU in 1996. But within the last two years, while working as a full-time hospital attorney, a part-time professor, and a part-time military magistarte, I completed 30 semester hours of prerequisites (a year each of chem, o chem, graduate-level biochem; and a semester of physiology and physics) with a gpa of 3.95. Then he told me that my MCAT scores were higher than his. Who cares? Like I said, it was weird..."
"Do you feel osteopathic medicine is more a science or a philosophy?"
"why medicine"
"How did you get involved in medicine? Why DO?"
"Why doctor? Why DO? Why Western?"
"your 2 strengths and weaknesses"
"Why DO?"
"why medicine, DO specifcally"
"Describe a person who is very different from you but has influenced you in some way. "
"Strengths/Weaknesses"
"Good conversation"
"What do you do for fun?"
"Tell me about yourself i.e. what do you do for fun?"
"Why this school?"
"Tell me about yourself and why you are interested in osteopathy and in COMP."
"why med and why do? "
"Why DO? Why COMP?"
"Tell about yourself."
"How did you deal with a situation in which someone disagreed with you."
"A player comes to you asking for a "fix" before a big game...what do you do?"
"Tell us about how you first started helping people and why?"
"Tell me about your background. - Very broad question. I asked the interviewers, where should I begin. They said tell us a synopsis of your life. "
"How would your friends describe you?"
"What classes did you take in undergrad. to prepare you for medical school."
"Why did you choose your undergraduate college?"
"Tell us an over view of what you have done in your life?"
"have you ever dealt with conflict?"
"why DO? Why Western? What are the strengths and weakness of you application? Tell me about yourself? What volunteer work have you done? What did you learn from shadowing a physician?"
"Why Osteopathic Medicine?"
"Describe your personality"
"What other medical schools did you applied to? Why osteopathic medicine? Name your strengths/weaknesses. "
"Why have you chosen Osteopathic medicine? Why Western over Touro?"
"Why DO? What have u been doing since you graduated? "
"why do you want to be a doctor"
"Why do you want to become a D.O."
"why do you want to be a DO?"
"When and why did you decide to practice medicine? and when did you decide to be a DO? (followed up with questions on OMM)"
"Tell me about yourself. Name three positive personality traits. "
"Why do you want to be a physician--give us a story of when/how you decided to become a DO?"
"What specialty are you interested in right now?"
"my religious convictions- I think this line of questioning is inappropriate (you want a doctor with moral fiber and good sense of ethics right?). However, the underlying concern is that you will take advantage of others in compromising situations- so I spoke to that concern, and how I respect those of other backgrounds, beliefs etc. If you have strong religious convictions be prepared to answer this concern/question of how you deal with those of other faiths/backgrounds- 5 of the 7 interviews I did at various schools asked me about this "
"Why Western"
"Tell me the strenghts and weaknesses in your application and explain the weakness."
"Tell us about yourself, who you are, what have you done and why do you want to be a D.O. at western?"
"Tell me about yourself, why Western and why DO?"
"Tell me about yourself, specifically why and when did you decide to pursue medicine, osteopathy, and Western."
"why do? why western?"
"Weaknesses? Strengths? "
"What have you been doing for the last two years?"
"Tell me about yourself?"
"Why COMP?"
"What are your strengths and weaknesses?"
"What was your favourite non-science class?"
"Why Medicine? Why Osteopathic medicine? Why Western?"
"why do you want to be a doctor, stuff you would expect.. no ethical questions.. "
"What do you see as the biggest challenge facing medicine today?"
"How did you hear about Osteopathic medicine? "
"How did you learn about osteopathic medicine?"
""If you couldn't be a doctor, what would you be?" "
"why do you want to become a doctor, specifically a DO?"
"Strengths and weaknesses"
"Why do you want to go to Western"
"You scored well on the MCAT. How did you study?"
"Why this school"
"How do you know you want to become an osteopathic physician?"
"Tell me about your interest in tennis and multilingualism."
"You find out your friend in medical school is cheating, what do you do?"
"Why are you a good fit for this school"
"Describe a time when someone challenged you"
"What factors do you consider important in choosing which school to attend?"
"Why DO? Why Western?"
"If a friend of yours turned in the same paper as you and you were both charged with plagiarism, what would you do?"
"How would you deal with the challenges of medical school?"
"Define diversity and provide an example."
"Why haven't you shadowed a D.O.?"
"What does diversity (in medicine) mean to you?"
"Define accountability and describe a situation where you held yourself and someone else accountable."
"What does accountability mean?"
"Can you tell us about a time where you disagreed with someone you worked in a team with? How did you approach this situation?"
"Why WesternU?"
"Why medicine?"
"List some strengths/weaknesses and how they will influence you as a DO"
"Strength and weaknesses -- how will they play out when you're a physician"
"What leadership opportunities have you had?"
"What is your motivation for pursuing osteopathic medicine?"
"How many MD/DO schools did you apply to?"
"Tell us about research"
"What separates and average doctor from a great doctor"
"In your opinion what is the difference between general chemistry and organic chemistry?"
"A multiple choice question regarding patient attitudes toward treatment."
"Tell me a strength and weakness and an example of each. How do you deal with your weakness?"
"Tell us about an event where you've had to be an advocate for someone other than yourself."
"where did you volunteer?"
"What are your greatest weaknesses and your greatest strengths?"
"You've applied only to the two DO programs in california. Why? ..and...What will you do *if* you don't get into either school this year? (re-apply!)"
"Tell us about your early life, schooling, college, decision to pursue medicine, why osteopathic medicine and why our school? (Yes, all in one question!)"
"Describe your community service?"
"tell us about yourself."
"Personal conflict I've faced."
"Lots of research questions- I work in a developmental bio lab. They were interested in what I was doing and had a lot of questions to learn more about it- they did not grill me"
"Why do you want to be a physician?"
"What is your strategy for getting into med school (#MD apps, # of DO apps, etc)"
"Interviewer had a phd in biochem so he asked me a lot of questions about my research. Make sure you are familar with your research. Also other app specific questions, like my favorite class, what i like to do for fun, and if I have traveled before. "
"Tell us about teaching... "
"How many medical schools did you apply to, what schools do you have interviews at....If your aunt were to give you money to attend only an MD school, what school would you choose to go to?"
"We take pride in teaching disadvantaged students, what do you think?"
"Specific Application Questions. "
"Do you have any leadership experience?"
"Do you have any clinical experience in addition to the research you've mentioned? What did you learned about working with patients?"
"What experiences have you had that require you to be culturally sensitive?"
"Explain EC and what I have learned from them - hospital volunteers, school organization etc"
"Why Western U?"
"Where else did you apply/interview, status at those schools. Tell us about your research, which turned into a grill session on my research by one of the interviewers... Luckily I had my stuff down cold, but as I kept answering the questions w/ correct answers, the questions kept coming. I felt as though the one interviewer wanted me to trip up... But I guess it was just good cop baaaaaad cop stuff."
"If your friend's girlfriend came into your clinic for STD testing would you tell your friend?"
"Asked me to tell them about my research."
"Scenario question: You are walking down the street with your 9 year old niece and she runs out into the street and gets struck by a car. There is a pool of blood forming below her. Outline what you do step by step."
"Explain how you decided to pursue medicine"
"Talk about your research, volunteering, work, etc."
"if you couldnt be a doctor, what would you do?"
"What about you (potential weakness) could possibly create a medical liability for yourself or your patients?"
"When I decided to enter medicine. I was asked about my research and one of my interviewers was very interested in mass spectrometry for protein analysis....he had to stop himself so the other interviewers could ask questions. I was asked what advantages I think research has on the future of medicine."
"What are some of your hobbies?"
"Please explain your research! Please explain your volunteer! Community Service! Tell us how you study for the MCAT since you had made a big jump on your verbal reasoning section! "
"Tell me about your leadership experience. What was your most fulfilling class in undergrad? Most stressful?"
"Talk about your volunteer experiences. Tell me more about your research. Talk about cultural diversity you have experienced during your volunteer experiences."
"tell us about research experience, and what you do at work right now (I am working for a year between undergrad and med school). Do you want to do research in the future?"
"If you were giving 100 million dollars by the government and had to justifity how to spend that money between aids or cancer what would you do?"
"Since this is a change in career, how do you know that a year from today you will not miss the money and regret your decison to go back to school?"
"If a 14-year-old girl came to you "Dr. _____" asking for birth control, what would you do? What are your responsibilities?"
"Strengths and weaknesses? Any interviews or acceptances elsewhere?"
"tell me about your low science GPA Tell me more about being a car mechanic (specific to my application"
"Why medicine? Why osteopathic med?"
"Asked about my (low) MCAT score and how i prepared"
"Talk about how you worked through an interpersonal conflict. "
"Why do you want to come live in the desert? What do you do to relax, de-stress? How many other schools have you applied to, both allo and osteo, and what is your status?"
"about my research and my background"
"Tell us about your research, volunteer experience"
"Greatest strength and most concerning weakness."
"Did you do research and if so, please talk about it. Where do you see yourself in ten years. "
"Why medicine? Why osteopathy? "
"leadership experience, tell us about your research, tell us about your volunteering"
"If doctors are using too many CAT scans, etc. to keep from getting sued (and padding their wallets) how can we solve this problem?"
"Student: what was your favorite class in undergrad? What did you dislike? (I actually couldn't think of anything I hated, and they just laughed at that.. made me feel better.) Describe a conflict you have dealt with. personal or work-related. How would you change how you studied in undergrad to studying in medical school?"
"Tell me about an experience that demonstrates your cultural sensitivity."
"I see you have done a lot of shadowing, what leadership roles have you held? She also asked me to talk about the research I did."
"What is the structure of succinate and tell me what Krebs Cycle intermediate comes after it (prompted because I had straight A's in my undergrad science courses, including Biochem, and both interviewers were Biochem professors). Answer: I drew succinate for them; fumarate"
"Tell me more about your research activity? Describe your role in this community service activity? "
"What's to say you come here, then leave the medical profession in ten years? (Whaaat?)"
"why medicine, why DO, why western?"
"How did you prepare for the MCAT? Which prep course did you use?"
"What leadership roles have you held in the past?"
"Explain how your volunteer work has led to your understanding of other cultures?"
"If I was the advisor the the governor and he had $100,000,000 to spend on healthcare what would I advise him to spend it on?"
"specific questions regarding research"
"What are some of your strengths and weaknesses that could help or hinder you for medical school?"
"Tell me about activity x?"
"Explain that one C your freshman year of college? aka be able to justify discrepancies in your own file."
"hardest class and why"
"A question about my undergrad research."
"Tell me about yourself."
"What are your goals in life?"
"have you had any experience with people from diverse backgrounds?"
"Why medicine? Why osteopathic medicine?"
"Act of Compassion Question"
"what exactly is ultimate frisbee?"
"Explain your leadership experience. What do you want to do in the future?"
"Describe a time in which you had great responsibility."
"What would you do if you didn't get into any med. schools this time around?"
"Tell me about your MCAT scores. If you aren't satisfied and think you can do better, then why are you applying now and why don't you take it again? Also tell me about your service to the community"
"Why are you interested in medicine?"
"What MD and DO schools did you apply to and which is your top choice?"
"Why be a doctor?"
"What do you think about the healthcare system in the US? If you think there are problems, offer solutions."
"How would you describe what a DO is? "
"How does osteopathic medicine differ from allopathic medicine?"
"Why would you come here if you are from the east coast? (I am a NY resident)"
"Tell them about my volunteer experiences"
"Lots of ethical questions: coworkers on drugs, assisted suicide, abortion, feelings on drug companies advertising on television, illegal immigration...to name a few"
"What do you think the weaknesses of your application are?"
"If you're interested in pathology, why are you studying psychology? Would you say your cousin's death at a young age caused your interest in forensic pathology?"
"What was your favorite class? What other schools have you applied to? If you got accepted to Western and other schools, where would you go? "
"In your opinion what is the major problem facing health care today?"
"Thoughts on drug companies' advertising to the general public?"
"How will you deal with not being able to travel? How will you deal with difficult things you see in the hospitals? Question about AIDS/Cancer. What research experience do you have? Explain the Wada Test. "
"What do you think about stem cells? That was sweet because on the plane ride down I read about how there is a fancy new way to harvest embryonic stem cells w/o destroying the blastocyst."
"What do you want to accomplish before you die?"
"tell about research and ethics of doing animal research"
"Have you taken any leadership role in medicine? (i didn't, so I honestly told them no. I then told them that I have leadership experience else where, and they followed a question about that)"
"As a physician you can expect to meet people from various cultures...tell us about a time you've had to deal with cultural differences."
"Tell us about a time you dealt with confrontation."
"Tell me about your research."
"An issue in Health Care? What do you think the strengths and weaknesses of your application are? "
"What have you been doing since graduating from college?"
"If you had the choice to fund HIV or Cancer research what would you fund."
"Describe your 3 best qualities and your 3 worst qualities."
"If I ask your best friend to describe you. What three adjectives would they use to describe your bad points?"
"Tell me about someone in your life who is different from you who you learned something from."
"Why do you want to Go to Western University of Health Sciences?"
"Since you are from Ohio will being away from home affect your desicion to come here?"
"Do you have any hobbies?"
"what sets you apart from your friends? "
"What are the most important quality for physicians to possess?"
"What does your family think about you going back to school for medicine?"
"when do you think you were the most responsible?"
"How would you describe MD vs. DO is a sentence to someone who doesn't know?"
"Explain your interest in osteopathic medicine."
"Is health care about quality of life or quantity? If you feel it is about quality of life, how do you feel about Doctor assisted suicide? Explain Oregon's Doctor assisted suicide Law."
"What happened in a time where you were challenged?"
"Tell me more about your activities. I did so many extracurricular activities so that's why."
"Would you give a "morning after pill" to a young teen who is known to be pregnant?"
"Why do you want to become a DO not an MD."
"Where do you see yourself in 10 years?"
"strengths and weaknesses? - i think they want to hear a good story that shows these qualities?"
"What kind of practice interests you?"
"What do you do for fun?"
"Why and what is a doctor of osteopahtic medicine? What is the definition of Primary Care? "
"what are you doing now?"
"You are given a million dollars to start your own medical project--what will you do?"
"If the physician's salary was capped at 150,000 dollars would you still pursue a career in Medicine?"
"Why Medicine? Why Western? etc."
"Tell me about an issue in medicine today related to your field of undergrad study."
"Tell me a little about your research (we didn't really talk about this for very long and he asked no follow up questions)."
"Explain your upward grade trend."
"Why here, why DO, why medicine."
"Describe clinical experience."
"Have you ever been in a situation were you had to get a job done as a team and everyone had different ideas on how to do the job? How did you handle that?"
"Explain Osteopathy and why you want to be a DO?"
"If you are accepted to both an MD program and a DO program, which would you accept?"
"What are the positives and negatives of healthcare today?"
"What was your motivation for medicine/osteopathy?"
"i was interrogated a bit on my academic past. first years of college from more than 5 years ago was a focus point. he wanted me to explain or prove that i would have the perserverance for four years of medical school."
"If you got accepted to both a DO and an MD program, which would you choose and why?"
"why are you interst in pharmacy tech"
"Tell me about foreign languages."
"What can you bring to Western U?"
"Your personal statement says _____, how you do propose we fix that problem?"
"What would your friends say about you, positive and negative?"
"adjectives that my friends would use to describe me, 4 good, 2 bad"
"Why DO"
"How did you like [sic] get your expertise in spanish?"
"How do you handle conflicts? What did you do in the military? "
"What kind of volunteer experience have you had?"
"If you were accepted to both D.O. and M.D. programs, where would you go?"
"The first question they asked when I sat down for the interview: "Why are YOU here?""
"why DO and why Western?"
"Asked about stem cell research and how I felt about it."
"why DO?"
"tell me about your research"
"why medicine and what are some of your strengths and weaknesses?"
"What qualities do you feel that you bring to Western?"
"How would you decide who recieves a liver transplant--23 yr old drug addict or 68 yr old alcoholic?"
"Why osteopathic medicine?"
"why medicine"
"Why DO? What schools did you apply to? Is this your first year applying to schools? Why western?"
"what are your best qualities that will allow you to contribute positively to the class, and what are your worst that could retract from that contribution?"
"How do you feel about stem cell research?"
"Tell us about the science research you did (10 years ago). Why DO? Why Western? Where will you attend? What would you do to improve Western."
"How did you hear about our school?"
"why osteopathic?"
"Tell us about working in a mental health facility"
"How do you feel about medical marijuana?"
"How many schools did you apply to?"
"If a patient that was terminally ill, cognitively stable, emotionally sound, and physically functional approached you and asked to help him die, what would be your response? Treatment plans? Would you refer him to another doctor?"
"Stem cells."
"How can regulating the gene you work on in your lab affect a patient clinically."
"If you got into a quarter of your MD schools and half of your DO schools, which one would you go to? What would make you decide to attend a certain school?"
"Do you feel now (after having taking some time off of school to handle family affairs) that you are ready to go to medical school?"
"Why were you not more involved in research during your undergrad?"
""What medical specialty do you see yourself choosing""
"why major (mine was anthropology)"
"If you were the head of the NIH and had $10 to spend, would you put it towards HIV/AIDS or diabetes research?"
"why osteopathic"
"Tell me about your volunteer experience."
"Research/teaching/work experience"
"why western university, why DO? "
"What do you want to specialize in/ where do you see yourself in 10 years?"
"why psychiatry ? (thats wat i want to specialize in)"
"Why do you want to be an Osteopathic Physician?"
"How did you get to this point?"
"Name someone who is totally different than you and describe how knowing them has affected your life?"
"What would your friends say are your stengths and weaknesses?"
"Why be a doctor right now in your life?"
"What are your strengths and weaknesses?"
"describe a time of conflict and how you resolved it."
"What ethical dilemna have you faced and how did you respond?"
"Tell me about your reasearch projects."
"You are administrating a foundation for medical research funding. You need to divide funds between cancer research and AIDS research. How do you divide it?"
"You were a science major and didn't have a very high GPA. How do you explain this? "
"Why doc/DO?"
"Tell us about the clinical experiences you have had. They were asking that I detail what was in the secondary."
"Relating to my volunteer experience"
"Have you had any experience doing community based work?"
"Question about discrepancy between my GPA and MCAT"
"Do you remember any specific patients from you volunteer work at hospital?"
"why medicine and why osteopathic medicine in particular?"
"Why doesn't your GPA reflect your MCAT scores?"
"What will you do if you don't get in this year? (they will also ask you what your number one choice is)"
"Explain your local verbal scores. How studied for mcat? what school did u go for undergraduate? Where are you from (where living now)?"
"Describe a difficult situation in which you didn't know how to handle it, and tell us what happened"
"What did u experience in your trip to Kenya? How do you feel about prescribing Marijuana?"
"you applied to so many schools; why western"
"Explain your low verbal scores."
"About my low verbal MCAT score"
"Tell me about your shadowing experiences. about your research."
"Why DO? (they knew from my file that I had applied to MD schools) "
"Are you satisfied with your low MCAT scores (this caught me off my guard as it was the only question that was asked from my file--before this question was asked, I thought the interview was closed file)?"
"Do you think numbers are the right way to judge applicants?"
"my grades- Of the 7 interviews I did, this is the only one that asked about my grades. I got a low grade in Soc. almost 14 years ago (nevermind graduating cum laude after going back school...) and they asked me about it "
"Why D.O"
"Tell me about your research project."
"Why western?"
"Elaborate on your clinical experiences and shadowing a DO."
"What do you feel in a problem facing medicine today?"
"tell me about yourself....how did you chose your undergrad school?"
"Tell me about your job? Thesis work?"
"What is a weakness you have? Will your weakness affect your academics at Western?"
"Do you have any questions for me? (Have some questions prepared!)"
"What are your strengths/weaknesses?"
"As a physician if you came across an accident on the freeway with two people injured, one a child and one a mother, and you could only save one of them, who would you help?"
"Describe a time when you had a conflict with someone on an ethical issue. "
"Have you ever faced a moral dilema? If so, how did you handle it?"
"what is primary care to you?"
"Are you presently taking any courses? (I graduated in May)"
""How do you deal with stress?""
"tell me of a time you had to be a leader, and the challenges you faced"
"Tell us about DO philosophy"
"What is it about osteoathic medicine that interests you?"
"You find out your best friend cheated on an exam what would you do?"
"Ethical dilemma (ex. what would you do if something bad happened to a patient and it was your fault)"
"Tell me about your medically related experiences."
"Your friend is really sick during finals week, what do you do?"
"How do you feel you improved your med school application since you last applied"
"Greatest weakness"
"Schools applied/ Interview/acceptance"
"What is the biggest problem facing physicians today? How would you handle it?"
"What kind of doctor do you see yourself as in 10 years?"
"What other schools have you applied to? Interviewed at? Accepted at?"
"Give me an example of diversity."
"Could you tell me about your research and if you've published or done a poster presentation?"
"Define diversity."
"Any leadership experience?"
"What other schools did you apply to? How many other interviews? What criteria did you use in applying?"
"Why medicine?"
"How realistic is that you would move across country to go to school?"
"What research were you involved with?"
"What are you strengths and weaknesses? / Tell us about your leadership roles and the positive and negative things about being a leader."
"If a baby has fever and there is an md and do doctor, which would you go to and why?"
"They had a role play where you are working with a classmate in a group but they are not showing up and doing their work so you have to confront them."
"Do you think that we should accept you? Why?"
"How do you feel about the HPV vaccine?"
"Tell us about a leadership experience. What was one positive and one challenging part of it?"
"How were you exposed to osteopathic medicine?"
"When was a time in your life that you felt you had the most responsibility?"
"What do you do for fun? What community service have you done?"
"Have you read Mountains beyond Mountains (by Tracy Kidder)? in regard to my Global Health research and five-months living in Africa. (answer definitely!--this is a seminal non-fiction very inspiring book! and I spoke about it and Tracy Kidder's new book, What Strength Remains)"
"Things about my research"
"What are your strength and weakness?"
"Why do you like the military?"
"Background information on my research."
"If you won 100million dollars what would you do with it? I said I would still become a doc, but instead of settling down and building a practice I would travel the world and provide care to underserved communities, like, and such as, the Iraq such as"
"Why do you want to go to WesternU?"
"AACOMAS app specific questions"
"Health care reform questions. Who should pay? (i supported a government controlled type of plan.) If I were a wealthy person, what benefit would i gain for paying health insurance for the poor and indigent? If health care reform is so expensive that it bankrupts the system would you still do it? "
"How would you draw out classmates who are introverts?"
"What are 2 social issues facing healthcare today? "
"Do you think your GPA/MCAT scores reflect you well?"
"You come upon a car accident. There is a mother and her 2 y.o. son. They are both going to die. You can only save one of them. Who do you save and why?"
"How would your family/friends describe you in terms of strengths/weaknesses"
"Tons of questions on my primary and secondary application. "
"Why western? Why should we accept you?"
"What kind of leadership experiences have you had? Have you done anything else besides study and volunteer?"
"Weakness and Strength"
"Name one characteristic about you that is a reason why Western U should select you."
"Explain your MCAT score (even though it was a good score?!?!?) Asked by the grillmaster :/"
"If you were in charge of a clinic and given a large donation how would spend it?"
"A 14-year-old girl comes to you asking for a prescription for birth control. What do you do?"
"There was a rather specific question that was related to my major. "
"Nothing too special"
"where else did u apply? how many md and how many do? (they actually wrote down the numbers! =-o)"
"How did you study for the MCAT? (I had to take it over---did better the second time around)"
"They asked me an ethics question about respecting religion in medicine. Finally they asked what accomplishment I was most proud of."
"How will you handle the rigorous curriculum?"
"What do you do for fun? How many schools did you apply to?"
"Explain grades before trend. Asked about my experience prosecting cadavers and the region of region of the body I was intersted in."
"App-specific stuff, blah blah. Tell me about what communities you want to serve. Want to specialize?"
"what do you do for fun? Tell us about a failure in your life and how you handled it. Do you want to specialize? Where do you want to practice in the future? Ethics question."
"Tell about the research that you have been involved in."
"Since you been out in school for a while, do you think you can handle going back to school? How do you think you will relate to the younger students? Will you be a loner because you are more mature than them?"
"What is primary care?"
"Explain science GPA? A few question related to my experiences.."
"what specialty do you want to do? would you like to do research in the future?"
"Strengths and Weaknesses and how would they help or hinder your medical school experience and career as a physician?"
"If you dont get in this year what will you do?"
"General questions about my path to applying to med school (career path, decision process, etc)"
"How did you prepare/study for the MCAT? Aside from OMM, what distinguishes osteopathic medicine? Strengths and weaknesses?"
"about universal healthcare"
"If you do not get into medical school what will you do? What are your strengths and weaknesses? "
"Why medicine? Why DO? Why Western?"
"What do you like to do for fun. What are you currently doing? What is an issue that doctors face in today's society. Please give an example relating to that issue (I brought on the ethical talk by mentioning ethical dilemmas such as physician assisted suicide)"
"Do you have any research experience? Do you have any teaching experience?"
"how would a friend describe u, weakness"
"What are your strengths and weaknesses? Tell me about the differences in your first two years GPA and the last? Why so different?"
"Why Doctor? Why Western? Why DO? "
"Doctor: What do you do for fun? Faculty Member: Do you believe a physician should be culturally/religiously/socially sensitive? "
"If two patients arrived at the same time, both needing an emergency organ transplant, one African and one Caucasian, which would you give it to?"
"Describe a conflict that you or someone else was in and how did you resolve it. If it was someone else, explain what you would have done. Followed by, tell me some of your strengths and weaknesses. "
"Please explain to me how NMR works and the current hyperpolarization technologies used to enhance signal/imaging (don't worry about this one, it was directly related to my research)."
"Can you explain your lower academic performance in your sophomore year?"
"Give me an example of a cultural challenge you've experienced."
"Why COMP? - questions were all really straight-forward. I prepared for some ethical questions but I did not get any. If you want to interview well, say more than they ask you. This is your chance to shine, take the opportunity."
"Have you done research, explain, any leadership experience or work in underserved areas. "
"Tell us about what you did as a TA"
"What will happen if you get into Western and your husband can't relocate?"
"Questions pertaining to my current job."
"Do you have any questions for us?"
"Why Western, Why DO, Why medicine. I have found that it's good to try to find common ground with the school (like you have family in CA, etc.)"
"give an example of a leadership role you have taken on, and how you used problem solving abilities"
"Your father is an MD, how does he feel about you applying to osteopathic medical school? (trick question, don't think of it as an MD vs. DO question b/c it's not)"
"Where do you see yourself in 10 years? (very open ended with no direction implied)"
"List 3 strengths and 4 weaknesses. "
"A question about my volunteer work."
"Where do you see yourself in 10 years?"
"Tell me about your research?"
"what is a leader?"
"You ''only'' have three jobs listed on your application. Why?"
"Have you ever met anyone like yourself?"
"what is the role of a DO as opposed to that of an MD within society today?"
"What do you do for fun?"
"Strength & weakness question"
"What are key differences that you noticed between allopathic and osteopathic doctors."
"How many M.D. and D.O. schools did you apply to and what has been the outcome?"
"If you had $100,000,000 to spend on any healthcare problem, which would it be and why?"
"Have you ever dealt with conflict in your line of work? Describe a particular instance."
"What does primary care mean to you?"
"Your numbers are good, what are your weaknesses?"
"What is the biggest issue in healthcare right now? "
"Why are you interested in primary care?"
"Name one major health care problem"
"other general things"
"What if you get into both here AND Midwestern? "
"What would you bring to this community and the school?"
"What did you learn during volunteer experiences? Questions about research?"
"If you got into multiple schools, how would you make your decision?"
"Strengths and Weaknesses?"
"What have you learned from your travels? Also more questions about the physician I shadowed (a Western grad) and probably heaps of others I've forgotten."
"Why DO? why Medicine? Questions about my app? About paragliding? About strengths and weaknesses?"
"Leadership question from above."
"ethics of prescribing anti-biotics when you know that this will lead to emergence of resistant bacteria"
"Questions regarding my research. Then they asked about my choice of not going to grad. school and why med school. Then they asked what would I do next year if I didn't get in. (don't freak out if you get this question, this is not a rejection, don't be too defensive, just be honest)"
"How will you handle the stress of being a med student?"
"Tell us about something in one of your science classes that you found particularly fascinating."
"What are your goals?"
"What other schools did you apply? If you get accepted to all of them, how will you make your decision? Did you apply to Allopathic schools? Adjectives to describe yourself?"
"What do you think about Animal research?"
"I won't give a direct answer here, but all the questions they gave were ethical type questions. Very, very difficult questions."
"Describe your volunteer experiences, include any leadership roles you had in them."
"Why do you want to be an osteopathic physician?"
"Tell me about your research."
"Why are you working in research rather than in patient care, since you have a license to practice?"
"Why do you want to become an osteopathic physician?"
"What is one characteristic that would make you a good physician?"
"Explain your research"
"Where do you see yourself in ten years?"
"what are your study habits?"
"Only got to 2 questions...he like had a lot to say and I kept on asking questions."
"Describe something from one of your premedical classes that really impressed you. "
"specific Q's on my research"
"What are your strengths and weaknesses? Classic question."
"Explain the variance in your MCAT scores."
"Tell me about an event where you had to make a difficult decision."
"How would you fix the health care system? Where will you be in 10 years? Pick an ethical problem anmd discuss it. Tell me about your speeding tickets. Tell me about your three C's."
"See most difficult and interesting questions."
"I got a not good grade in a pre-med class I was asked how that happened and what I did to remedy it."
"Why osteopathic medicine?"
"as a resident of XX state, your medical education would be dramatically cheaper if you were accepted there. If you were accepted to both us and them who would you choose? after all, money must be a big factor in your decision."
"Why this school? Why osteopathy?"
"Strengths?Weaknesses?"
"Have you taken any microbiology? What will you do if you dont get in this year? You haven't taken anatomy, how will you survive it in med school?"
"Which schools have you applied to, which did you get interviews for, and when are those interviews?"
"Why Medicine? Why Osteopathic medicine?"
"Tell us about your research and how it applies to your interest in medicine."
"Are you sure that you will graduate in June?"
"What do you do for fun, what books do you like, do you have questions for me, etc.? I felt the questions were standard, and I had read most of them on SDN already. "
"What do you think about physician assisted suicide, about medicinal use of marijuana and about the woman who killed her 3 kids by throwing them off a bridge?"
"Please choose an ethical issue in medicine today and discuss it briefly."
"What are you doing now?"
"Tell me about being a firefighter?"
"what i would do if i had a huge grant that i could devote to any health care issue"
"Describe my research."
"How can you justify your academic record?"
"Tell me about your research"
"What kind of dog is Snoopy? (snoopy is my dog, apparently my interviewer reviewed my application thoroughly)"
"what community service have you participated in?"
"What are your strengths and weaknesses?"
"tell my your strength"
"What would you do about AIDS in Africa? (Teach them and educate them so they know the consequences of their actions! You can give them a fish (money, cure, etc) or you can teach them how to fish(no need for $ or a cure it is self curable)."
"Why did you choose Western U?"
"What ethical issues do you follow?"
"see most difficult question above"
"Tell me about your volunteer and clinical experience."
"what are you strengths and weaknesses?"
"Were you happy with your MCAT scores? How do you explain your grades? (I told them that there's an upward trend, to which one interviewer interjected "NO THERE'S NOT!" There actually is, but since they didn't have a class-by-class list, they couldn't see that.)"
"What do you think about this thing with Terri Schiavo. Its a medical thing but its also a ethical and religious thing."
"What do you want to specialize in? Do you want to do research (I'm currently a research tech.)? "
"Would you testify in court if you positively knew that someone had blatantly been cheating in the classroom?"
"You have a philosophy degree. How do you plan to succeed in medical school? Do you think that you will struggle?"
"Tell me about your research experience and its relation to health"
"what's my favorite class in college and why?"
"why do you prefer DO to allopathic?"
"how would you contribute as a student at western. how do you handle stress"
"Why D.O.?"
"Why Western? Why did you not participate in any research during your undergrad?"
"why western"
"Why western."
"where have you interviewed and were you accepted?"
"How do you define primary care? What do you think about primary care physicians? what role do they play? - something of that sort"
"They asked how many schools I applied to, which ones I had already interviewed at, and which ones I had gotten in. Thought that was quite rude."
"What is your strength and weakness, and with your weakness how do you deal in some hypothetical situation? "
"Do you have any questions for us? I asked about their experiences at Western. They told me that it's a fairly new school. It used to be just a DO school. Then, more and more disciplines were added: nursing, public health, veterinary."
"Why are more students applying to DO schools than they have in the past?"
"(my parents are MD's) -- do you think your parents practice holistic medicine?"
"Tell us about your tutoring a boy in English while in Hong Kong"
"What do you feel are your biggest strengths and weaknesses?"
"What would your best friends say were your strengths/weaknesses?"
"Why osteopathy? Explain your research. If you got into 2 DO schools and 2 MD schools, which would you choose and why?"
"Clarify some grades. "
"See interesting question above."
"Why did you get involved in EMS and paramedicine."
""How did you study for the MCAT?""
"clinical experiences, research etc."
"Would you ever refuse treatment to an illegal alien?"
" why western U."
"one strength and weakness."
"Above interesting question followed by a child presenting with suspicious bruises (suspect abuse) what do you do? "
"which area of research to put money into?"
"Why did you pick (above person from interesting question)?"
"tell me of a time you had conflict with coworker or teacher how did you handle it "
"What other schools and programs did you apply to? (This was on my secondary)"
"Why do you want to be a doctor?"
"Tell me about all your volunteer work."
"When did you decide on DO? What was your favorite class in college and why?"
"Would you give a neighbor's daughter an exam if she was rapoed by the neighbor (who's your friend)?"
"What was the purpose of your research on X? What chromosome is the gene on? (He was very interested in the research bc it was in his area of expertise and lucky me, forgot the details of what I did my research on.)"
"what is an important issue in healthcare?"
"What is your favorite musical?"
"How did you learn about osteopathic medicine and why osteopathic?"
"You see someone possibly cheating on an exam. What do you do?"
"Tell me about your graduate research...why is it important?"
"You are a doc, what would you do if a pregnant 14 year old girl walked into your office wanting an abortion?"
"Do you have any questions for us? I said i had a whole list, but being an afternoon interview, they were all answered except stuff about being in residency and at work with MD's and is there a negative aspect to that (ie do the MDs give DOs a hard time etc)"
"Why DO?"
"Do you want some water? "
"Why didn't you apply to medical schools sooner? Why now?"
"how many schools and programs have you applied? any interviews yet? which one will you choose if you get accepted to more than one?"
"what do you think the differences are between DO and MD. How are you going to handle the workload and stress level. What kind of research do you do."
"What are your strengths?"
"Why do you want to be an osteopathic physician? What work have you done for the disadvantaged?"
"How hear about Western? describe your clinical experiences. What class did u dislike the most. Tell me about your research experience. What do you look for in a school?"
"What have u done outside the sciences? what are your strengths/weaknesses/hobbies?"
"what do your parents do"
"What class did you hate the most. why don't keep your occupation of being a nurse."
"hypo-type questions. (see above)"
"What are some of your weaknesses? Tell me about a time when you were placed in a position of responsibility?"
"Explain gpa/mcat discrepancies and courses from my application."
"What have you done outside of school during college (be specfic)?"
"why do you want to be a doctor"
"Tell me about your background"
"How do you manage your time and stress."
"Do you think you communicated effectively with the patients you've treated so far (teenagers and adults)? How are those two things different?"
"What sets you apart from other applicants?"
"you seem to have really enjoyed your research experience.... why D.O. and not Ph.D.?"
"Why did you not go to medical school directly out of college if you have know it is what you wanted to do for so long?"
"Have you shadowed any physicians? What things did you notice with the way the MD practiced and the way the DO practiced?"
"What hobbies (music, art, etc.), if any, do you have? (It seemed that they were very interested in my outside interests)"
"What was a hard decision you made even though it may have been controversial?"
"Tell me when you decided to become a doctor, why you decided to become an osteopathic doctor, and why you want to go to COMP?"
"What do you anticipate the biggest challenge you'll face as a medical student?"
"How did you prep for the MCAT?"
"Have you had any previous interviews? Where?"
""What are your motivations to be a doctor?""
"various ethical questions "
"Many of my questions were related to my responses to other questions or off my secondary Hope this helps!"
"What have you heard about our school?"
"Your best friend is diagnosed with a serious illness during finals. What would you do?"
"The ethical dilemma questions"
"How do you feel social media plays a role in your job as a physician?"
"Does the region you are from speak this language?"
"What are the 3 things you want your patients to leave your clinic feeling?"
"The questions were not interesting or unique"
"What is one thing you would you change about yourself and why?"
"What is a time you experienced failure and what did you do?"
"How do you think physicians learn to be compassionate?"
"Why do you think you can handle medical school"
"Name a time when you had a difference with someone. The difference could be about anything."
"MMI questions-- sworn to secrecy!"
"How do you approach a situation where people on your team are falling behind on their obligations?"
"Recall and elaborate on a situation in which your role as a leader came into play."
"Application specific questions"
"Why would you choose Western over [other school i had an interview scheduled for]?"
"Where do you stand in the current political debate on health care?"
"Act out this scenario..."
"Role playing: One interviewer is a student in a group project that is worth 25% of your grade. He hasn't done any work and the project is due in 5 days. Act out how you would handle this situation."
"Scenario: Roger has terminal cancer and had a surgery but feels weaker and is in more pain. His friend thinks the surgery was a mistake, but you and Roger think it was the right move. How do you address Roger's friend's concerns?"
"role playing about freidn pissing you off bc doesnt do work and you have to confront them."
"They have a multiple choice question about a man who had surgery and has more pain after the surgery and you have to decide on an answer"
"I was asked to read a paragraph out loud and then answer a question from a list of options and then explain my answer."
"Role playing."
"They gave us a multiple choice question regarding a patient's friend's reaction to a surgical complication and how we would address the concern."
"A question about team work."
"2 million dollars to fund hiv or cancer, which one?"
"Why did I go to prep school for high school? They were very interested in the details of my life and my path. I wasn't expecting it to go back this far, but they were genuinely interested because it is a unique aspect of my life path. Focus on these points in your interview."
"$100 million one"
"How many tennis ball is equivalent to the volume of a blue whale?"
"How do you view your religion (I'm Christian non-denom) both helping you as a physcian and causing difficulty?"
"What was a topic in a science class that really excited me?"
"Give us an example of a recent conflict you've had with a boss. How did you handle it?- I explained my super senses and how I avoid conflicts by sensing these them before they begin. Its true."
"As a member of an ethics committee, what criteria would you use to validate revoking a doctor's license to practice?"
"As a student-athlete, did you have to deal with teammates using illegal substances?"
"The ama thinks its unethical for physicians to inject lethal injections to prisoners and to use psychiatrists in interrogations of criminals. What do you think? (i disagreed) He followed up with, so you basically think the ama is full of bs? (i didn't know what to say lol)"
"the introvert one"
"Is a microRNA chemically different than any other RNA? (I do research involving miRNA)"
"If you had a million dollars and were to donate it to HIV/Cancer research, how would you decide how much to give each?"
"You come upon a car accident. There is a mother and her 2 y.o. son. They are both going to die. You can only save one of them. Who do you save and why?"
"none really"
"What would you do if being a doctor wasn't an option? I said I would try again next year. I would do everything possible to make myself more competitive. The interviewer then asked what if becoming a doctor is not possible WHATSOEVER... GEEEEEEEEZ "
"Why are people more friendly in England than in the US? (i mentioned studying abroad there and such)"
"You're at the gym and you see an elderly gentleman fall down the stairs. He is unconscious. What do you do?"
"How many tennis balls would be a good representation of a blue whale's body volume?"
"The AMA has just publicly spoken out against the use of doctors in the administration of lethal injection and psychiatrists in interrogation. What are your thought?"
"If you were in charge of a clinic and given a large donation how would spend it?"
"What can be done to reform the health care system?"
"Nothing really."
"What is an ethical issue that you have heard about that is facing medicine today"
"What is the most exciting thing you've ever done in your life?"
"asked about my volunteer experiences"
"What about you (potential weakness) could possibly create a medical liability for yourself or your patients?"
"The mass spectrometry discussion....getting an interviewer on a tangent really made me feel that they were interested in what I was saying."
"specific to my background"
"I didn't really have any interesting question."
"You are walking along the street when your 9-year-old niece runs into traffic and is hit. She is knocked unconscious and is lying in the street, a pool of blood forming around her upper thigh. Detail what you do, step by step. (no joke, weirdest question ever. <nerd alert> i approached it like a d&d scenario)"
"Tell us about a failure in your life."
"Tell me about the most interesting community service project that you have been appart of."
"The problem I had was that everytime I was trying to answer a question, one of the interviewee kept on cutting me off 1/2 way thru my answer and I never was able to finish answering his questions. Very frustrating because I did have answers to all his questions."
"Where are Hmong people from? (I volunteer with this population of people and the interviewer had never heard of this background before)"
"None."
"maybe the car mechanic one"
"What non-science class did you most enjoy as an undergraduate?"
"About my research. They asked a lot of people about research"
"nothing especially interesting or difficult. Very conversational. "
"Is healthcare a right, privilege, or responsibility (from the latest presidential debate!)?"
"If you found out a colleague was doing drugs, what would you do?"
"Have you ever been placed in charge of a group of a people? How do you deal with problems when supervising these groups?"
"If a caucasion and an african american came into your practice with the same illness how would you treat them? (its more complicated than "the same, I'm not racist)"
"Questions about health care reform including universalizing."
"Doctor: Are you happy with your MCAT score? What other schools are you applying to? Are you applying to MD schools as well? - i just didn't think they would actually ask these questions. "
"Some general research methods questions about my evolutionary biology research (the interviewer was a biochemist, so the questions were pretty basic)"
"What do you think are the major problems with our health care system and tell me which presidential candidate you think has the best plan to fix these problems. "
"How do you think you will fair coming from a small private school with a larger body of more competitive students from many top universities? Answer: Very well. My success academically speaking is not dependent on my classmates, but on my determination and personal commitment to achieving my goals."
"If you were given 300 million dollars how would you spend it?"
"Why doctor, why DO, why Western? You can expect this question to be asked in every interview. Describe your role in your community service activity?"
"No interesting or hard questions. The thing that was nice about this interview was that they really are just trying to get to know you as a person. At a previous interview, they were a bit more probing."
"I noticed you have an MD program listed in your application, how do you reconcile that with the fact that you are applying to DO school?"
"Do you feel like being a liberal arts major makes you less competitive than someone who majored in biology?"
"How does the show Survivor influence children?"
"What do you think about drug companies advertising on television?"
"How were you able to improve your college grades so well?"
"If I were in a residency with a fellow doctor and I noticed that he made an error regarding the patient's condition/chart, what would I do?"
"regarding cognition skills of chimps vs. humans"
"If you were given $100 million, how would you use it towards healthcare?"
"What leadership experiences do you have?"
"Your a physician in a clinic- a 15 year girl comes to you asking for an abortion and/or a reference for an abortion. What do you do and why? Explain in detail your rationale. "
"if you had 10 million dollars would you use that money to help cure AIDS or Cancer "
"Have you ever demonstrated leadership? If so when/where?"
"What do you think about the healthcare system?"
"How did you prepare for this interview?"
"If you were given 100 million dollars to spend on healthcare, where would you spend it?"
"Have you ever missed a deadline?"
"Have you ever met anyone like yourself?"
"greatest weakness? hobbies? tell me about ___ experience/research? view of DO philosophy?"
"what exactly is ultimate frisbee? (im on the school frisbee team)"
"Unfortuanately none really...they just sort of asked me about myself and activities they saw on my application. "
"What do you think about underserved areas due to the decline of hospitals in that region? How would you solve it."
"The questions were pretty standard. Nothing really interesting."
"Why did I choose my major if I knew I was interested in medicine?"
"How does being a major in applied math apply in life and medicine?"
"What is wrong with health care today and what can you do to fix it?"
"Explain why there is a large discrepency in your grades from freshman year through senior year."
"How would you describe DNA to a pre-school kid?"
"Should Medical Marijuana be legal?"
"Since you mentioned stem cells (I had, but in the context of adult stem cell transplants, not a controversial topic), what do you think about stem cell research?"
"How would you explain to someone what a DO is?"
"How comfortable would you feel prescribing medical marijuana in the state of California?"
"Why should we even bother with helping third world nations if they will be afflicted by factors other than medicine?"
"Whether or not I would feel comfortable prescribing medicinal marijuana to a cancer patient in great pain"
"Why not Midwestern? (location) Lots of ethical questions."
"nothing very interesting was asked"
"Nothing."
"So if you want to be a pathologist, why are you studying psychology [as an undergrad]?"
"How do you deal with conflict? What was the most important thing you learned during your volunteer experiences? What are your strengths & weaknesses?"
"What is the major issue facing health care today?"
"You were accepted to other schools, why do you want to come to COMP?"
"What are your opinions on pharmaceutical companies' drug advertisements geared toward the general public?"
"If you had to choose between funding HIV and Cancer Research, how would you make that decision?"
"A question asking why the allopaths do not subscribe to a more similar philosophy if the osteo philosophy makes so much sense."
"The state of CA allows the use of medical mary-jane, however, the feds dont. If a suffering cancer patient asked for a Rx for mary-jane, would you give it to her or would you worry about the feds knocking on your door?"
"What would you do if a fellow physician/med student became addicted to drugs?"
"What do you think about pharmaceutical companies spending money on advertising?"
"would I report a colleague for using illegal drugs"
"What would my father (a M.D.) say about me applying to a D.O. School?"
"What would you do if you discovered a physician friend of yours was forging patient information?"
"Questions about my previous profession. I enjoy talking about it and it seems to be universally interesting to others."
"Honestly, there were no interesting questions. The interviewer seemed bored (nice guy, just very "standard" and not interested in me personally)."
"Name and discuss and issue in health care today?"
"Was there a time in your life where you had to make a decision and would you change your decision now that you look back? "
"None. This was a stress interview."
"Describe a specific situation in which you were pressed for time and had a lot to accomplish. Describe how you handled it and what you learned from it."
"You are a physician. A 12 years-old girl came to see you seeking an abortion. The father of the baby is her stepfather. What do you do?"
"To give an example of conflict-resolution."
"How do you feel about your major given your MCAT score?"
"Knowing that you could potentially loose your license if you prescribed lethal doses of medication, would you do it if your patient requested it under your assisted suicide law?"
"Discuss an area in ethics that you closely follow and what your views are towards that issue"
"Tell me about your family."
"What would your peers say set you apart from them?"
"Nothing unusual"
"Does your family support you in your decision?"
"when do you think you were the most responsible?"
"What are your thoughts on bioengineered organs?"
"an ethics question about who to give a kidney to, a older person or a younger person"
"No interesting questions. Sounds bad, but it's true."
"Do you believe that illegal immigrants deserve health care even at the high cost to society? Do you feel it is society's responsibility to provide health care/food/housing to those that can't afford it? "
"Just talking about my research, it was like giving a mini-presentation"
"Nothing.No interesting question. The interviewer just wanted to find out more about me. Basically, he was asking more about me and my experiences and did not ask me any ethical questions."
"Why do people have different tolerances for pain? "
"How does column chromatography work?"
"If you were accepted to Touro and Western, which school would you go?"
"How does quality of life increase with better health?"
"Let's say you get accepted to this school as well as such and such school. How will you base your decision in determing which school to attend?"
"how do you feel about assisted suicide? They recently legalized it in Oregon, and I'm curious how you feel about it. He went on to give an example of a patient with 3 months to live, afraid of pain, and asking for death."
"W/ all the problems w/ health care...how does a young person still want to go into the field?"
"Considering the nature of your job while in college, were there any situations that were significant to you and how did they affect your decision to become a doctor? (I worked for a blood bank supplying blood products to hospitals)"
"Who was someone that is an opposite of yourself and how have they impacted you?"
"A 56 year old man with two children and a 24 year old man need a liver transplant. Both are eligible for the transplant, etc. . . Who would you choose and why?"
"What do you like to do for fun?"
"what other schools do you have interviews for?"
"ethical question on stem cells and genetic testing"
"What I would do if I was accepted to every school I applied to, and what I would do if I was not accepted to any schools I applied to."
"Why did you choose your particular major?"
"Three people need a liver. One is a 27 year old doctor, another is a 37 year old alcoholic and the third is a 57 year old doctor. Who do you choose and why?"
"What is your opinion of physician assisted suicide?"
"Would I give a 14 year old girl contraceptives."
"If you were on a panel that decided who received organ transplants what criteria would you take into consideration and why?"
"do i think it's more important for a physician to be highly technically skilled or to have great interpersonal skills?"
"What three words would your friends use to describe you?"
"What have you done in your life that would indicate you know what true responsibility is?"
"What is your most memorable clinical experience?"
"If your roomate was an animal rights activist what would you do if he/she was threatening a research facility on campus?"
"all kind of standard boring"
"Unfortunately, it was "tell me about a stressful time or obstacle and how you dealt with it""
"Two patients need a liver transplant. One is 54, has children, and insurance, and the other is 24, no children, and no insurance. Both were alcoholics. Who gets the liver and why?"
"tell me about your self"
"why osteopathic medicine?"
"If I was in charge of a research found and had to decide which research to support, who would you give the funds to, Cancer research or AIDS research? Easy Cancer. AIDS is easily curable. (it is called abstinence). He also asked me why I would consider myself as having more responsibility than any other 24 year old. (I didn't consider myself as havingmore responsibility but I guess I do having a wife and Child on the way)."
"What kind of support do you have at home?"
"If two people needed a liver transplant-- your best friend (age 23) and a potential nobel prize winner (age 60)--who would you give the liver to? (I brought this question up with my interviewer, and then he decided to ask me my opinion)"
"If you could spend half of Bill Gates' money in any health-affirming way, what would you choose to spend it on?"
"6 adjectives that a friend would use to describe me, 4 good, 2 bad"
"To explain my lackluster collegiate performance in the early 1990s."
"nothing too interesting, I prepared alot so I was expecting ethical questions, but they were all straightforward questions- like why western, why do, etc."
"All the questions were pretty basic. Why DO, why Western, what are your strengths and weaknesses."
"none were interesting"
"How is your experience in the military going to make you a better physician? "
"If you're friend was abusing drugs and you knew about it, what would you do/say to your friend? What current ethical issue have you been following and why is it an interesting one?"
"Tell us how your experiences as a bioethicist have helped you develop as a person."
""Twin babies are born weighing ~6oz. They leave the hospital months later at 5lb. Millions of dollars were spent. How do you feel about that?" I stated I was for giving the babies a chance at life if that's what their parents wanted. Their response,"That money could have been used for vaccinations for thousands of children. Are you still ok with your decision?""
"How did you come to know about osteo med?"
"Ethical questions"
"name experiences when i have felt excited, afraid, and humiliated"
"How would you advertise yourself and your practice in comparison to an allopathic physician?"
"would you prescribe medicinal marijuana knowing the feds might come after you?"
"All the questions were very typical. Nothing out of the ordinary."
"what is the CA law on contraception and teenagers with regard to informing parents? "
"Describe an instance where you were faced with a difficult decision. What did you decide and any regrets?"
"Why DO and why medicine"
"having worked in so many different fields, why would we be convinced that you wouldn't drop medical school for another option?"
"What do you think about stem cell research? "
"Would you prescribe birth control pills to a 14 years old girl?"
"we wound up talking about my brother for a bit, who is in canada studying music...go figure."
"How do you feel about stem-cell research?"
"What's an ethical issue that you've been studying? (I said Stem Cell research, gave my opinion. I got a long soliloquy from my interviewer who was an embryologist and staunch supporter of embryonic research)"
"2 ethical questions (1) A prisoner is on death row. You,a doctor, are told to cure him by making him sane again. If he is becomes sane, he will be executed. What do you do? (2) A health man in his 20s and and an alcoholic man in his 50s. Both need a new liver. You are given the authority to decide who gets the new liver. Who do you give it too? and why?"
"do you think your parents practice holistic medicine?"
"What do you think of the Supreme Court wanting to overturn the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes?"
"How did I feel about medical marijuana?"
"If you had a part of Bill Gates's money, how would you use it to fix healthcare?"
"What would your friends say about you? 1 good thing, 1 bad thing"
"Stem cells: What do you think about the gov't funding this research?"
"Should we do animal research? Why or why not?"
"What do you think of Sammy Sosa? (this was in the context that I told him I was from Chicago and I wrote about professional sports)"
"Since you are so intimately involved with medicaid and it's policy, tell us how you believe we should resolve issues stemming from over-use of our health care system by illegal immigrants who cross the border just to get health care?"
"Being from Las Vegas, had I toured the new TUCOM-NV campus and what had I heard about it."
""Given that you have had an interest in computers, how do you manage to remain personable at the same time?""
"What would you do if a 14 year-old patient of yours came to asking for birth control."
"same question someone posted about last week-if you had $1million to give away to HIV or cancer which would you choose and why?"
"Same as most difficult. There really wasn't too much to this interview."
"Name a person who is opposite you but has had a positive impact on your life."
"If you were the head of the NIH and had $10 million at your disposal would put the money towards HIV/AIDS research or diabetes research? (money could only go towards one or the other)"
"clinical exp "
"They presented with a story, and than asked what would I do? For example, they gave me a story of a schizophrenic guy who was taking his meds on a regular basis, but one day he forgot to, and ran over a bunch of junior high students. The jury later found him guilty and gave him the death penalty. However, they could not execute him because he had turned insane due to lack of meds. Hence they bring you in as the prison pscychologist and ask you to fix him up so that they can execute him......What would you do?"
"What would you do if a husband contracts AIDS but does not want to tell his wife?"
"If a child needed a blood transfusion and his parents didn't believe in medical intervention, what would you do?"
"The hardest science class is?"
""If I had never heard of osteopathic medicine, how would you explain it to me.""
"Explain your grades.."
"Who is a person who has a personality opposite of yours who has a great impact on you? (I knew this was one they asked but it still stumped me a little!)"
"ethical question about a psychiatric patient who wanted to harm antoher person, wat would you do with the information"
"Describe a person who is very different from you but has influenced you in some way. "
"Tell me about your research. What did you find?"
"use of marijuamna"
"What was your favorite science class? Tell me something interesting you learned in it?"
"A year or two ago President Bush made an announcement about what should be done with the embryos created for stem cell research. What are your thoughts on that?"
"Why did you choose Economics as your major?"
"if you had a patient who tested positive for HIV and you knew he/she was sexually active and that patient refused to divulge that info to partners and practice safe sex, what would you do?"
"How would respond to X ethical dilemna?"
"Tell about a person who influenced your life"
"nothing really, just stuff off of my application"
"Quesion #3 below."
"What is your position on the federal government legislating the use of medical marijuana?"
"No interesting questions"
"how did you first get involved with helping people?"
"What is it SPECIFICALLY about osteopathic medicine that really makes you want to be a DO?"
"Related to my volunteer work"
"What are some of the problems that your home-town faces?"
"Will your family move here with you? ( I am married with 3 children)"
"what was your favorit class and what was the most not favorit one!"
"have you ever dealt with conflict?"
"What are the most important issues in public health"
"What was so significant about the Rape of Nanking? (the interviewer and I had a common interest in history)"
"How do you feel about women being in the Army?"
"If we were to ask your family and friends what your weaknesses are, what would they tell us?"
"If you caught the man that started the California Fires what would you do to him?"
"Where would you live if you got in to western?"
"none"
"Some hpyo-type questions...exactly like the ones posted by others...medical marijuana use and another one about the dearth penalty in arizona."
"in relation to one of my shadowing experiences...was there anything that you learned not to do as a physician?"
"An ethics/morality question: Do you support the idea that california is toying with to institute mandatory AIDS/HIV testing and publicize the results? They then backed that up (according to the answer I think- I said no) with- Then do you support the current practice of posting child molester convictions?"
"How do you feel about stem cell research? "
"What patient population are you most interested in serving right now?"
"All questions were straight forward."
"About my Alzheimers research and what are the strenghs and weeknesses of my aplication."
""A 50 year old male presents with low back pain. As a personal trainer what do you do?""
"What is a current problem facing medicince today?"
"Nothing---standard questions"
"Very standard - nothing that interesting."
"I was asked an ethical question about who I would choose, between three candidates, to recieve a kidney transplant if there was only one kidney available."
"Regarding a specific paper I wrote in undergrad."
"None of the questions were particularly interesting. They were common interview questions."
"How would you integrate nutrition into osteopathic medicine?"
"No hard questions.. Just stuff off my applications"
"In relation to my volunteer work: Do you feel that medical students should be required to do a rotation at a hospice?"
"If you had a patient suffering from some cancer treatment and needs marijuana, what would you do knowing that it is illegal to possess them, but not prescribing..."
"In relation to my present job enrolling patients in cancer research trials: "Do you feel there is ever a conflict between asking a patient to be involved in research and the best treatment for the patient?""
""Why do you need a support system in med school?" (i.e. support of friends and family) Well, duh! "
"It depends on which ethical situation you think is the most difficult. I was drilled with ethical questions one after the other."
"tell me some of the differences of asian music?"
"Name three qualities about yourself that make you a good candidate"
"None were too difficult."
"None of them stood out in particular. Probably a question about my failures/weaknesses"
"Will you stay in the U.S. after you graduate from medical school? Why?"
"There are a lot of great schools that you'll be accepted to, so why Western over all of those schools."
"Why are you a good fit"
"How do you see the advancement of technology affecting doctors' professionalism?"
"I wouldn't describe any of the questions as difficult."
"I see you took the MCAT twice. Are you satisfied with your score?"
"None really. Stick to SDN questions and you will be golden. It is open file but they don't tend to ask about grades or extracurriculars... at least in my case."
"If you got into all the schools you applied to, how would you choose?"
"What does accountability mean to you?"
"What does it mean to practice patient-minded medicine? (something like that, not sure the exact wording)"
"Recall and elaborate on a situation in which your role as a leader came into play."
"Regarding your MCAT score [somewhat low], what happened? (The way my interviewer said it was quite rude)"
"What was the last book you read for fun?"
"Why do you want to be a doctor?"
"Your partner and you have a project that is worth 25% of your grade, but your partner isn't doing the work. Your partner is your interviewer. Have a conversation."
"a multiple choice question about surgery complications and having to deal with the patient's friend/family."
"When were you an advocate for someone"
"What was your favorite Organic Chemistry reaction? Explain it. How do you make a carbon-carbon bond?"
"the multiple choice question. it was difficult to focus while someone stared at you."
"None were all that difficult."
"A question about a Pt and friends reaction to quality of care received."
"If you had 200 billion dollars to give to either HIV and Cancer research, given what you know about the two, which would you pick and why?"
"None. This is a low-stress interview where they are just trying to get to know you. Do a lot of self-reflection on your personal journey and prepare to discuss it articulately and passionately with them (and you should be fine!)."
"Explaining the discrepancy between gpa and mcat"
"No difficult, most are within prep material"
"Definitely the 100 million dollars question. The researcher kept pressing me with my allocation of the funds, how much would be required for what, etc. If he was trying to demonstrate my inability to compute large numbers in my head while under stress, he succeeded!"
"The conflict Q. I'll be honest, this was the only question that caught me off guard. Everything else was very straight forward and super relaxed. Although, they really fired a lot of questions off. My panel was full of fast-talkers"
"As a member of an ethics committee, what criteria would you use to validate revoking a doctor's license to practice?"
"none were really difficult"
"ama and the health care reform questions"
"No question was really difficult, but all were different than I expected them to be."
"If you had a million dollars and were to donate it to HIV/Cancer research, how would you decide how much to give each?"
"You come upon a car accident. There is a mother and her 2 y.o. son. They are both going to die. You can only save one of them. Who do you save and why?"
"What is Alzheimer's Disease? WHICH protein aggregates? (somewhat related to the research i mentioned) "
"We want to know how you handle conflict. Can you tell us about a personal conflict you were involved in and how you resolved it?"
"Pretty standard, the blue whale question did startled me a bit. But they just want to see how you handle situation on the spot, no right/wrong."
"Same question, mostly because I wasn't aware of this, so I had to think on the fly about it. "
"Tell us about a failure in your life."
"If you were in charge of a clinic and given a large donation how would spend it?"
"Why would you rather attend an osteopathic program over an allopathic program? "
"The question concerning my major, especially since I had taken that class 5 years ago. It really threw me back and I ended up answering honestly "I don't remember.""
"What is the most exciting thing you've ever done in your life?"
"answering the same question twice...see question 1"
"What about you (potential weakness) could possibly create a medical liability for yourself or your patients?"
"The questions about other schools....had to tread carefully because I have another acceptance but I prefer Western."
"none were very difficult"
"Do you have any question for us? Fortunately, I did. Because my questions had stirred up a good discussion. That really ease up the atmosphere."
"Talk about one of your fears."
"If a child needs a liver transplant, and a 50 y/o man with 4 kids needs a liver transplant, but you can only save one- who do you choose and why?"
"Tell me your strengths and weaknesses?"
"Have you ever faced difficulty before and how did you overcome it?"
"What is holistic care exactly?"
"what speialty do you want to do (difficult because I was torn between really saying what I wanted and just saying primary care)"
"The AIDS vs. Cancer research...."
"your biggest weakness or something like that"
"If you found out a colleague was doing drugs, what would you do?"
"Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Where do you see yourself in 14 years? Okay, the government has just given you a $2 million grant, make a list and prioritize what you will do with the money."
"describe how you resolve conflicts"
"What schools have you applied to? (I applied to both DO and MD) If you got into a DO and an MD school which would you attend?"
"What is my biggest worry/ can I handle the volume of material?"
"Nothing was really difficult. The SDN website helped alot in preparing for questions. Just have something to say, but its ok to take a few seconds to think or compose ur thoughts."
"Nothing really, it was really laid back...easy, discussion based questions"
"Not really any difficult questions. Everyone be ware of political type questions....election is just around the corner!"
"What enzyme converts succinate to fumarate? Answer: Succinate Dehydrogenase, but please don't ask me to draw it, it's an enzyme for crying out loud. (By the way, humor really seemed to ease the tension in my interviews, especially after answering tougher questions. And from what others have told me, my questions were abnormally challenging)"
"What are your strengths and what are your weaknesses?"
"My interest in DO stems from the fact that my scores are lower than average for MD and the more I researched DO the more I felt it matched my personal philosophy/ideology of what medicine should be."
"nothing too difficult"
"If you had a $100,000,000 would you spend it on curing one disease or education?"
"There were no ''difficult'' questions."
"Tell us about your research"
"The one about the error (I had try to explain that I would do something about it but not go over his head or act like his boss)"
"Where else did you apply/why would happen if you got into X school"
"Why do you think you were not asked for an interview when you applied to med. schools last year given your good stats? What have you done to correct this? (JUST a reference: 30Q MCAT, 3.9 science, 3.7 overall GPA)"
"what was your hardest class and why"
"Nothing was difficult."
"Tell me about your life, including why medicine, Osteopathic medicine and Western specifically."
"What is an action potential? (after i explained my research in neurobio)"
"Would you go here or [insert popular southern california M.D. school]?"
"Give us one example of an instance in which some performed a great act of compassion on your behalf."
"all pretty straight forward questions, nothing too unexpected if youre prepared."
"name 4 strengths and 5 weaknesses... (the numbers were weird)"
"What makes you more qualified then the other cadidates? (Not really that difficult though if you have done any prep what so ever)"
"What do you think about underserved areas due to the decline of hospitals in that region? How would you solve it. "
"The questions weren't difficult, but I only had a minute at the end to discuss my research. "
"Give 3 adjectives for my weaknesses."
"If you had to put $100,000,000 into a healthcare problem, what area would you put it in?"
"What MD schools did you apply to and why should we choose you?"
"Your numbers are great, what are your weaknesses?"
"Give us an adjective that other people use to describe you, that you do not agree with."
"How would you explain to someone what a DO is?"
"How would you define a primary care provider?"
"Why should we even bother with helping third world nations if they will be afflicted by factors other than medicine?"
"nothing was too difficult"
"Why not Midwestern? (Midwestern and COMP were both at the top of my list. There's alumni from both schools at both schools. This question made me uncomfortable.)"
"he said something weird about why would i study abroad in ecuador. he said he heard it was dirty. i didnt know what to say. i just said no it wasnt really."
"One of the interviewers attacked my religious identity."
"Probably ''If you were accepted to all three of your top schools, how or which would you choose?'' It was difficult because I had to be honest and admit that I would choose another school over Western. But remember: honesty's the best policy."
"Why do you feel your MCAT writing score is so low?"
"What was the most difficult time you had as a Volunteer in the ER."
"Looking at the rest of your grades, why did you get a C in the first semester of Organic Chemistry? Why do you think medical schools require Organic Chemistry?"
"Same as above."
"The state of CA allows the use of medical mary-jane, however, the feds dont. If a suffering cancer patient asked for a Rx for mary-jane, would you give it to her or would you worry about the feds knocking on your door?"
"What are some examples of me demonstrating leadership that would be applicable to succeeding as a medical student?"
"1) What would you say to an animal rights activist about your animal research?"
"motivation to go to medical school, what made you change your direction from where you were going, and how did u prepare for it?"
"none. I felt well prepared. I didn't get any ethical question. "
"None really."
"A question about a grade I had received in a math class. The question was not difficult I just did not answer it well. I used it as an opportunity to comment on my academic record in general instead of just pointing out that I had done much better in more advanced math classes. I felt like I was rambling on without having a real point."
"Tell me about yourself. Everyone hates open questions... making the answer concise is tough."
"Name and discuss a health care issue today?"
"nothing really"
"How come you only got an xx on your MCAT"
"Describe 3 of your bad qualities."
"You are a physician. A 12 years-old girl came to see you seeking an abortion. The father of the baby is her stepfather. What do you do?"
"Tell me about someone in your life who is different from you who you learned something from."
"none seemed difficult to me."
"What would you say one of you weaknesses?"
"What is one characteristic that would make you a good physician."
"Do you have any questions...I had already asked so many to the students and found my answers"
"none really..."
"Nothing difficult"
"Describe something from one of your premedical classes that really impressed you. (Wasn't prepared for this question) He wanted a specific example like the electron transport chain."
"when do you think you were the most responsible?"
"Tell me about the research you did...4 years ago."
"none, really...although when the conversation lagged he looked at my application and made a face and at that point i opened up a can of worms by asking if he was looking at my numbers"
"No difficult questions, either. Probably the most straightforward interview I have had."
"What was something scientific that you learned in one of your science classes that made you have a revelation about science?"
"What are your weaknesses?"
"Tell me an event where you had to make a difficult decision."
"How do you feel about purely cosmetic surgery surgery using the resources of our healthcare system. What would you do about it."
"Describe a position in which you had too many things to do at the same time - what was the result, and how did you handle it?"
"if you were given a unlimited amount of capitals, which problem would you tackle? HIV/AIDS cure research or sex education?"
"Why do you want to become a DO not an MD. Similarly, she asked me to compare and contrast DO and MD."
"What is "primary care"?"
"What criteria did you take into account when applying to WesternU and if you are accepted to every medical school to which you apply, how will you determine which school to attend?"
"What ethical dilemma do you want to discuss?"
"How do you feel about illegal aliens being entitled to medical care? Think about this with the metaphor of the medical system as a boat full of people and illegals are people clamouring to get in and they might tip the boat... "
"same"
"Strengths and weaknesses"
"what do you think about overmedicating people?"
"addresss a particular point of your application"
"Coming up with positive and negative personal attributes. I just hate that question and sure enough, they asked it."
"Ethical dilemma regarding transplants"
"What is your view of medical marijuana? "
"A woman who recently threw her 3 kids off a bridge was seeing a psychiatrist. Whose fault was the accident?"
"Explain the downward trend of your grades."
"Same as interesting question."
"the above one, probably. "
"Given your interest and participation in animal research, what would you do if your medical school roommate was an animal rights activist? How would you justify your involvement in primate research to him/her? Would you respond differently if your research subjects were rats?"
"If you had a giant grant that you could use anywhere in healthcare, what would you do with it?"
"none really"
"Tell me about yourself"
"Fortunately, same as above. There were no ethics questions or anything very difficult."
"See most interesting (all questions were pretty straight-forward and expected...even this one)"
"why do you want to be pharmacy tech"
"why now (I'm non-trad)?"
"None. Iguess why you want to be a Doctor. I didn't know I thought spending a quarter of a million dollars on schooling and giving about 10 years of my life to it sounded like the cool thing to do. I think those questions were answered in our applications."
"None were particullarly difficult. However, the interviewer tended to ask 3-4 questions at once."
"If two people needed a liver transplant-- your best friend (age 23) and a potential nobel prize winner (age 60)--who would you give the liver to?"
"Nothing difficult, it was very much a "getting to know you" session"
"question about a minor getting an abortion with rape involved"
"strength/weakness question.. thats just because I've never been great at answering that question. "
"Think of a time when you had a lot of things on your plate. How did you handle that situation?"
"I told the interviewer that I wanted to specialize in hematology/oncology. So he asked me how I was going to handle the fact that most of my patients are going to be terminal."
"What kinds of osteopathic techniques do you know or were exposed to? "
"If you were accepted to both D.O. and M.D. programs, where would you go?"
"A 35yo women in Florida has been in a vegetative state for 15 years without any progress or changes. Her husband says she would not want to live this way, but the pt. has no living will. Husband wants to pull her feeding tube and let her rest in peace. Her parents are Catholic and believe all should be done to sustain their daughter's life. What would you do? I sided with the husband. Their response, "You would be breaking your Hippocratic oath! Are you comfortable with that?" The debate carried on..."
"What was a stressful time in your life and how did you handle it?"
"Ethical questions as well"
"the study of which disease would i fund as a researcher: AIDS or cancer"
"What is the strength and weakness of your application?"
"what is the CA law on contraception and teenagers with regard to informing parents? "
"Also the above"
"Nothing new. Same old questions Where you see yourself in 10 years "
"Why didn't you do so well in _________ class?"
"Would you apply to med school next year if you didn't get in this year?"
"what do you think about stem cell research? (Nothing was hard though...I just answered this question and they didnt press me for more or anything...it was weird how short they let my answer be.)"
"What are your strengths and weaknesses? "
"Define ethics."
"nothing too difficult, a few ethical questions previously posted on sdn"
"If a couple had a child that needed a blood transfusion but their religion didn't allow it, would you get a court order to go ahead with the transfusion?"
"Above"
"see below"
"If you had to care for an illegal immigrant, would you?"
"If you were head of the NIH, would you give money to AIDS research or cancer research."
"How would you describe eugenics in a simple, layman way?"
"The most interesting question above."
"During my experience as a paramedic how do I handle combative patients? (Wasn't difficult, just unexpected)"
"see above, it really was not a question I had expected...but it made me stop and think"
"None were really all that difficult."
"none-very standard-why osteopathy-biography oriented questions"
"Think of a time when you had to make a decision that was lose-lose. What did you do? How did you decide?"
"What are your personal strengths and interviews?"
"If you were a physician working at a hospital near the Mexican border and were overwelmed by illegal immigrants coming to you for medical care, would you ever refuse any of them treatment?"
"nothing"
"the one above plus couple other ethical questions...for example...you found someone cheating in your biochem class, what would you do?"
"What happened to your grades?"
"see interesting question"
""Explain a time that you had to persuade someone to see something your way.""
"see above"
"What other schools and programs did you apply to?"
"What would you change about yourself before you began your practice?"
"What chromosome is the Huntington gene located on? (I had done research on this a few years ago and I did not know the answer so I told him this)"
"same as interesting Q"
"How would respond to X ethical dilemna?"
"Question #2 below."
"What do you think about the fact that the leading Nephrologist in India is for legalizing and certifying the sale of human kidneys?"
"He actually asked me to start off with three questions so I never felt I answered them entirely b/c I was too busy trying not to forget the questions. "
"hypothetical about a 14 year old pregnant girl who wants an abortion"
"Tell me a time of conflict and how you dealt with it."
"Most of the questions were about my past experiences relating to medicine and school. They were all pretty straight-forward."
"no difficult questions really!"
"why medicine and why osteopathic medicine in particular?"
"describe an crisis situation and how you reacted in it."
"Where are the mesenteric arteries? (he asked me this right off the bat--wasn't a hard question but i wasn't expecting it so, in my freaking out, I interpreted the question as "what system do the mesenteric arteries belong to?" after i answered, he just kinda looked at me in a funny way and rubbed his stomach--doh.)"
"Describe a time when you had to smooth over a conflict. (sounds easy, but hard to think up spur of the moment)"
"If you were the doctor of a prison and the warden asked u to give a convicted rapist enough meds that it would make him clinically "sane" to make him possible for execution would u do it? "
"none"
"none, all were easy"
"nothing that was too difficult"
"Give me a specific example about how OMM is used in clinical practice. (was tough because i didn't shadow a DO before and the interviewer was an OMM professor)"
"Name a person in your life who has had opposite personality traits, that ended up affecting you positively. "
"When is a fetus considered a human, in your opinion? (I would recommend for anyone who is weak on medically related ethical dilemmas to read a book that would be a good guide--have your own opinions about various issues. All interviewers that morning were asked about stem cell research)"
"Describe a conflict and how you dealt with it?"
"Think of a situation in the past where you have a strong opinion on an issue."
"Give an example of a situation or an expierence you have had that was extremely challenging,(either with a co worker or teacher) and how did you work through that challenge? (NOT very specific, I had no idea what they wanted out of this)"
""There are some inconsistancies with your science grades. Would you like to explain that?""
"What sets you apart from other applicants?"
"Why I recieved C grades in Physics"
"None."
"Nothing hard. The interviewer had not read my file so I had to tell him everything I wanted him to know about me."
"Re-analysis of specifics of that same paper."
"What do you feel is the most significant issue facing medicine in America?"
"Tell me anymore ethical issues you have been following recently"
"What are your feelings on Dr. Korvorkian?"
"You got a mentally-illed patient, who just convicted murder, will be tried and killed if pleaded sane when you treat him. But can avoid death if you don't treat him, but he will be in jail for the rest of his life, what would you do?"
"Same as above"
"See above."
"3 ethical questions...what would you do if...."
"SDN Interview feedback page, writing out bullets for common questions, practicing with myself in the mirror, and practicing with my family."
"I did mock interviews with some friends and family, researched the schools, and looked at possible questions online and made bullet points that I could remember."
"looking at SDN"
"SDN reviews, practice questions"
"Reviewed my secondary, reviewed my "why Western""
"Memorized Osteopathic tenets, reviewed school website, mock interview with advisor, practice ethical questions, read about MMI"
"Mock interviews"
"Went over my application"
"Typical interview prep , MMI scenario prep"
"Went through the school's website, looked at SDN forums, and looked at YouTube videos on MMI and answering ethical dilemma questions."
"Read primary, secondary, interview feedback, practiced questions and answers"
"School website, SDN interview survey, practice MMIs online"
"SDN, school website, looking over my primary application and supplemental"
"SDN interview feedback"
"Using interview feedback"
"SDN. Pretty much all of my questions were from it!"
"Read SDN interview feedback, prayed."
"Researched the school on the website, SDN Interview Feedback, Reviewed my app and secondaries, Read articles on current healthcare issues, Got 8 hours of sleep"
"Read up about WesternU on the school's website and SDN's interview feedback."
"SDN forums, mock interview"
"Reading the school's website, reviewing my aacomas app and secondary, researching important topics in healthcare right now."
"Reviewed sdn questions from past years. Reviewd my application. Reviewed their website. Tried to be rested and relaxed the day of."
"SDN, spoke with peers that had interviewed there previously, reviewed application materials, and looked at the school's website."
"Thought of all possible questions and answers. SDN."
"SDN and online"
"Used this forum"
"sdn, other interviews, research"
"Read SDN interview feedback, read over my application both primary and secondary, researched the school on the website, asked my parents for input about my responses to sample questions, etc."
"Reviewed all application essays, SDN, good food, and plenty of sleep."
"interview practice with friend, read sdn interview forums, reviewed application."
"SDN, Med School Interview book/Pfizer med school manual book both very helpful, re-read all of my old work including papers, abstracts, my curriculum vitae, and my applications. Went through a catalog of questions from websites and the books writing out the answers. Attended a practice session at my university and spoke with friends for tips."
"Review my application."
"Looked on SDN feedback, read the school's website, practiced with family, read up on current issues"
"Studied SDN interview feedback questions intensively, mock interview with friends and families, read through CIB and western website."
"SDN, knew my file. Previous interviews"
"Read interview feedback and school info, read my application and supplemental."
"SDN, read over Western website, ironed my shirt twice...ordered room service at the worst hotel in Pomona...immediately regretted this and went to sleep without brushing my teeth (I forgot to bring toothpaste) "
"SDN, skimmed catalog, thoroughly looked over website, talked with the students on interview day."
"reviewed my app, spent a lot of time on westerns website, reflected on my experiences that got me here"
"-sdn feedback -mock interviews with friends and family, -The medical school interview by Jeremiah Fleenor (i totally recommend this book) -The DO's: Osteopathic medicine in America by Norman Gevitz (fascinating book, but not sure if its necessary for the interview. however, i think the interviewers are impressed if you read the book.) -read up on my app, ethics (u of washington website. I highly recommend this site), and my research"
"sdn, western alums, cib, and school's website"
"SDN, school website, interview info from my school"
"Read their website, sdn, and CIB."
"SDN, school website, review application, practice with fiance"
"sdn, western's website"
"SDN, mock interviews with family/friends, studied like it was a midterm"
"Read SDN, checked out their website/CIB page, spent a lot of time reflecting."
"Print/Read/Practice with SDN interview feedback, Read through school missions and website, have friends do group and one-on-one practice interview and not hold back the criticism :P"
"Studied bioethics, reviewed SDN, mock interview at undergrad school, lots of question practice with my wife, researched US health care policies and reform, watched "Sicko" for fun, good night's sleep."
"Rehearsed answers to Qs that I knew they would ask. Ran these answers by the physician I shadow who helped me iron out the kinks. Oh... and deep knee bends in the bathroom right before interview time..."
"SDN, Mock Interviews, read over primary and secondary, talk to students at the school"
"SDN interview feedback, sleep well, look over application."
"SDN, normal stuff"
"Read SDN boards, read up info on the school, mock interview"
"SDN, prayer"
"Prior interviews helped me to answer similar questions. I reviewed information about Western online and went over the informational packet I received during orientation before my interview."
"Read Western's website, my application, and SDN"
"read up about the school online and SDN interview feedback"
"1. Studentdoctor.net 2. Sat in my car and rehearse my answer. 3. Mock Interviews w/ friends. The mock interview w/ my friends were more nerve-wrecking than the real interview."
"SDN, mock interviews, practiced in front of mirror"
"SDN, read my file."
"SDN, website, review my file"
"Lots of online reading."
"sdn, looked over primary and secondary application, studied about DO from websites."
"SDN, practice interviews with friends, advice from friend who interviewed here last year."
"SDN. Western Site. Interview Database"
"SDN, practice interviewing, reviewing application and school information"
"reviewed my file"
"school website, sdn, review my application"
"coffee and breakfast burrito"
"looked over my application materials and read about the history of osteopathic medicine"
"SDN, school website, mock interview"
"SDN, meeting with faculty previously."
"sdn interview feedback, reviewed my applications, practice answering. "
"Reviewed application and essays. Had practice from previous interviews."
"mock interview, this website, link from UCSD, a good breakfast and some meditation"
"Be confident. The day is very relaxed so the interview was the same way. Make sure you have answers for "Why Doctor? Why Western? Why DO?" and that you can just go on about yourself for 30 minutes if all they say is why. "
"SDN, mock interview, read AACOMAS and Western U applications. Western U website, AOA website - for osteopathy."
"SDN, application review, talking with students at the school"
"SDN feedback forum...very helpful!"
"Reviewed my research literature, westernu.edu, SDN, mock interviews at my university. Took beta-blockers (propranolol) before my interview (highly recommended!!!)"
"SDN, went to westernu.edu and read about the school, and talked to some COMP students and alumni."
"Enjoyed beautiful California. Although Pomona is a poor area, you can at the beaches, LA or the mountains within 30-45 minutes."
"SDN, reviewed my application, read my primary and secondary essays."
"looked over apps, school website"
"Website, mock-interview with undergrad"
"Talked to current Western COMP students and osteopathic medical students from other colleges. Looked over my apps and the school's website."
"SDN website and school's website"
"Gained some confidence and utilized SDN for potential questions"
"SDN website, reviewed prior interview questions,studied internet articles on osteopathic medicine."
"went over my application + SDN"
"Went over interview questions from previous interviews I've been through. Spent about 1 hr reviewing. Didn't want to prepare much b/c I just wanted to be myself. "
"SDN/School Website"
"SDN, read over the website, read over my file. "
"SDN a great book "
"SDN, school's website."
"Typical stuff."
"Thats exactly what they asked me!"
"Attended OMAC, read website, SDN feedback"
"SDN, school's website"
"school website, mock interviews, review app, sdn"
"went over application and practiced sdn interview questions on the plane"
"SDN, school web-site"
"go over primary and secondary app"
"Read secondary, learned about the school and curriculum, read SDN, and did a mock interview. "
"I didn't really, I just wanted to be myself."
"read my aacomas and western university secondary apps, student doctor net"
"SDN, mock interviews"
"SDN, mock interviews, reviewed application, read school website"
"Friends who are current students SDN"
"SDN, Schools Web site, and 2ndary app"
"SDN, The Medical School Interview book, review AMCAS and secondary, go over questions"
"SDN; practiced interviewing; interviewed at different schools; read the book ''The DOs.''"
"Re-read my application and essays."
"SDN, review apps"
"Read some books with example questions"
"SDN, practiced ethical questions with family and friends, SDN forums"
"website, reviewed app"
"SDN. And school website"
"Reviewed my application and resume, looked around the website for potential questions to ask the interviewer(s), thought about what in my application would *I* ask about were I the interviewer and come up with an honest response. I was hosted by three med students so I harassed them AND their friends the night before for more information."
"Read application, SDN interview feedback"
"SDN feedback, reviewed application"
"Re-read app"
"Mock interviews, SDN interview feedback, discussed possible interview questions/answers with family"
"SDN, read the school's website"
"SDN - mock interviews, reviewed my application, and bought a short ethics manual geared towards medical interviews... as it turned out the article that I read from the latest Scientific American on the plane helped as well."
"read over application, SDN, talked with student host, read about the school"
"SDN, looked over my stuff, got no sleep"
"Went over questions on SDN, mock interview--I was over-prepared for questions that they barely asked me"
"SDN, review my file, read every word on WCOMP's website "
"Mock Interviews. Lots and lots of mock interviews. My best tip for anyone who wants to do well on the interview is: Do at least one mock interviews with a doctor you've come to know well, and let them judge your performance after you finish. If you did well, congrats, you'll probably do well on the real ones too. If you didn't, or if there was a moment during the mock interview you stumbled, make sure you work on it and improve. "
"SDN, school's website, reviewed my secondary & personal statement, Mock interviews with family"
"Reread my application material, SDN, tried to relax."
"Read through SDN, the school's website, read my applications"
"SDN, School Web site, Mock interviews, practice questions"
"SDN and review application"
"Studied this site and the schools website along with reviewing my application"
"SDN interview feedback and reviewed and prepared answers for all questions listed on the school's website for interview tips."
"Re-read through my application and essays, SDN interview, have fun the day beforehand"
"Read schools website, this site, and spoke to alumni"
"I re-read all statements for all schools applied to. They had a set of sample questions posted on their website, so I prepared my answers to them."
"Interview Feedback, Healthcare issues, school website"
"Read SDN, school's website and literature, read "The D.O.'s" by Grevitz"
"SDN, Western's website, mock interviews"
"I visited this site, studied the school's catalog, researched the city on the internet, read the section on interviewing in the Pfizer guide to med school admissions, read some editorials and articles on the NEJM site."
"read SDN and school website, mock interview, read applications"
"SDN, read schools website and my secondary materials."
"Read SDN Feedback; Thoroughly read over my file; Relaxed..."
"SDN, WesternU website, AACOMAS application and PS, looked over ethical issues; read 2 books on osteopathy"
"I just went in as myself. I glanced at my secondary application and my prior research. "
"SDN (of course), school's website, other interviews."
"SDN, Mock Interview, Researched the school"
"Read my application, read up on ethical issues raised in my biomedical ethics class"
"sdn, website of school, journals"
"Read over ethical issues. SDN. Read over school website. Studied history of Osteopathy. Talk with 4th year DO student who attends this school."
"Read my file, went over the interview feedback, that was basically it. "
"Sdn, school website, other DO students"
"SDN feedbacks, school website, visits to school's pre-med office for last minute tips, mock interviews "
"Meditated and performed my yoga routine the night before. Nah, just went over this site's interview questions."
"Mock interview, recording and listening to myself answer, reviewing questions of all sorts."
"this website, theirs, spoke to students"
"sdn, reviewed all my application materials, pre-drafted answers to frequent questions"
"Looked over SDN, Primary, Secondary, schools website, and attended their Awareness conference (Aug and Oct)."
"sdn, review app, read up on current events in the health field"
"sdn, mock interviews, research about the school"
"SDN, website"
"Just relaxed. As long as you're confident, relaxed, and honest, there should be no problems."
"SDN Inteview feedback, interview presentations at my college"
"Read over my primary and secondary apps, read Western U website, SDN"
"Researched ethical questions, schools website, sdn"
"SDN, reviewed application"
"I didn't, really. I looked over this website."
"Read SDN, school's website, some ethical stuff."
"read the school's website, researched it at sdn."
"Reviewed AACOMAS, supplemental app, school website, SDN, mock interview"
"SDN, read the school's website."
"Talked to Do's and MD's, talked to DO students, read this web site"
"sdn, school website, made sure to allow enough time to drive to the school!"
"slept a lot"
"Read SDN, application, school website."
"Read this site, studied ethical situations, prepared and practiced responses, and did a practice interview."
"i practice a lot"
"reviewed my essays, student doctor network."
"Read over my application. Looked at the school's website. Surfed the morining before the interview."
"SDN, school web site, application"
"Read website, looked at practice questions, and just relaxed "
"Read my application, got a massage, meditated, found a good place to get coffee the morning of the interview."
"read through COMP website, reviewed SDN Q's and prepared answers to common Q's"
"Prepared for ethics questions, but mostly just went in as myself."
"SDN, western website, reviewed 2ndary, reviewed practice interview questions with friends, looked over D.O.'s by Gevitz"
"Mock interview, read SDN website, read Western website."
"This website, read over my application and tried to rest."
"SDN, went over secondary, practiced with my parents and friends"
"SDN, school website, self reflection"
"SDN, mock interview, websites, alumni"
"Western website, SDN, Western sample interview questions"
"Read my file, schools website, and this website"
"sdn, western's website, read up on current events/medical and ethical issues"
"reviewed my file, sdn"
"read sdn questions which really helped a lot bc the questions were exactly the same. and read my secondary"
"SDN website, School website, mock interview, previous interviews."
"sdn, app. material, ethics commentary"
"sdn, school website"
"Read SDN and application "
"secondary/primary review, SDN, school website"
"i was just myself"
"Practice with another person. Re-read application and essays."
"just looked over my supplement app."
"SDN, read my app, read up on stem cell research"
"review my application and practice questions"
"SDN, application, news"
"sdn, read over app"
"SDN, read applications, mock interviews in my head"
"mock interview, SDN, read over file."
"SDN, COMP website"
"SDN and school website "
"primary and secondary applications & SDN"
"Read SDN, application, school website"
"this website, read over app, etc"
"I didn't really. Other than looking over my application file and reading the DO's by Norman Gevitz. "
"SDN, read the school's website, talked to other SDNers."
"SDN, Job Interviews for dummies, Job interview web sites, reading over my apps and osteopathic materials"
"I read posts on this site as well as threads in the forum, spoke with students and alumni, read the website and books on med schools and interviewing, and I spent the day before the interview at Western attending class and lab with the OMS1s"
"This website, school's website."
"website, sdn, read over secondary app"
"I have decided that I don't do as well if I prepare possible answers, so I just read my application a couple of times."
"Schools website, my application, SDN"
"SDN site,Gevitz the DO's,read over AACOMAS and secondary app, and most importantly went in with a good attitude."
"Go over the primary and secondary applications, do on-line research about the campus, do mock interview with a career counselor and read SDN"
"I know this advice has been given over and over again..but the best thing you can do is to be yourself......other than that, just have an answer for any dings in your application and know your own personal statement really well."
"This website, application, and Western's website"
"school website, sdn"
"review my application & this website"
"SDN, school's website, talked to people who had interviewed there before"
"sdn, personal profile, school website"
"Go over my application; peruse through this website; visit WesternU website"
"Student doctor.net, read over my Western app"
"sdn, read my application"
"Looked over secondary & AACOMAS application, visited the school website, and studied current health/medical ethic issues (although unnecessary b/c they didn't ask any hypothetical/ethical questions)."
"read this site and talked to other people who had interviews this year."
"read over the brochure and read up on previous posts on this interview feedback "
"sdn, reviewed app, school's website"
"read SDN, my secondary and any information about osteopathic medicine"
"Mock interviews, online feedback, videotaping myself, meeting with a doc who had been on an admissions committee. "
"SDN, read the news"
"Internet, This website, Mock-interviews"
"read feedback, went over my app, talked with western students, asked people lots of questions"
"Thoroughly researched the school's website. Read every single SDN feedback on the school. Practiced tricky questions with my boyfriend. The night before, just relaxed had a nice dinner, worked out and went to bed. "
"Slept well and ate well"
"Kaplan's Guide to Admissions book, reading over personal statement, reading over both the school's and osteopathic's history and information."
"Their website, this website, went over first and second application"
"the school web site and read over my application material"
"by rereading my file"
"sdn, web site."
"Read the interview feedback questions from this website; asked family members who had been through the process before; video recorded myself "
"Read through their website"
"Reading over my applications, visiting school websites, reading various text on Osteopathic concepts, this website"
"SDN, talked to alumni and current COMP students, alot of web research"
"sdn, interview feedback"
"reading this website"
"this site"
"sdn, read my application, wrote out some answers to common questions"
"Undergrd campus mock interviews, typing out answers to typical interview questions and questions from this site. "
"SDN, school's website, and relaxed the night before by wathcing the LA game."
"SDN, mock interview, read application, researched the school"
"read SDN, talked to students, read the website and materials given"
"Read over my files, SDN, mock interviews, researched school"
"This website and the school's website. Read over application many times."
"This site, schools site, visiting the campus, talking to the mirror and my boyfriend, breathing excersises."
"interview feedback, talking to other interviewees, other interviews"
"SDN, Western Website, reviewes my applications, meetings with current students and alumni"
"SDN, read over my applications and essays...and background on Western"
"SDN, school website, secondary app."
"SDN, review school web site, Osteopathic Awareness Conference notes."
"Prepared myself to answer questions about my application and read the school's website."
"Read about the school, looked over my entire application."
"I went through the questions posted on this website for COMP and made a list of them to think about etc... Most of the question were verbatim from this site."
"The SDN, read my application, read up on the school"
"mock interviews with friends. outline what you want to get across to the interviewers."
"Studentdoctor, read about the school, read my application"
"SDN"
"None, just relaxed, prayed and played video games."
"Reviewed my application, their website, and my prior research. Got a good nights sleep."
"This site, school website"
"This site. Had previous interviews which helped calm the nerves."
"read about the school, read my essays, read different feedbacks"
"Read about the school"
"That they try to ascertain your empathy level during the interview process (not sure how effective it is though). Some of the staff was nice."
"The interviewers were very friendly and just wanted to get to know me. It was a short interview day."
"The staff/faculty I interacted with were nice, and it's in Southern California"
"the friendliness of everyone, facilities"
"Nice facilities. They listen to student feedback and make changes based off of it."
"Friendliness of staff and people"
"The faculty makes changes according to feedback from students."
"The weather in SoCal is amazing, current students were very friendly"
"The fact that there are a bunch of dogs running around campus (it's a vet school also)"
"Students were welcoming"
"- Student camaraderie, friendly environment -Extremely supportive staff - students have a lot to say in what goes on at the school -OMM demo"
"good facilities and students seem friendly and diverse"
"Very friendly student body. The interviewees were sitting in one place, everyone in their professional attire. The students recognized us as interviewees and many of them stopped by to answer questions, put us at ease, and to just wish us good luck."
"Campus, area is area is perfect if you want to work with under-served populations"
"the programs that the school offers"
"The use of actors in patient interaction practices.."
"They wanted to get to know me rather than challenge me"
"The relaxing interview process."
"OMM demonstration"
"Everything that this schools has to offer."
"The attitude of pride and family among the western students and faculty, The curriculum, The facilities"
"The entire ambiance of the institution. I came away with the feeling that they care incredibly for their students along with the success of their students. I got a great vibe from Dean Clinton Adams as he personally spoke with our interview group and the vision he had for WesternU/COMP really rang through to me."
"They are doing a hybrid panel/MMI interview. I thought it was great, they provided me with a lot of great info about the school."
"Nice facility, friendliness of the admission department, OMM demonstration"
"the OMM faculty. the study facilities. the small group/large group curriculum. the interprofessional component of the curriculum."
"The facilities, the set up of the curriculum (system based), rotation sites, excellent organization of interview and school all around, OMM demonstration, students... pretty much everything"
"The campus was beautiful, students were friendly and professional."
"The students and staff."
"big school, friendly ppl, nice interviewers interview"
"I like the facilities and the campus in general."
"The entire experience was positive and Western gave more helpful information about their school, curriculum, financial aid, and clinical rotations than other schools have"
"weather, cute campus, friendly staff and students, nearby apartments, great innovative curriculum, great dean, lots of opportunity."
"The staff, faculty, and students were really welcoming and nice to talk to. They love that school."
"The staff obviously love what they do and that shows through their presentations."
"the new building"
"How happy everyone seemed at the school. It's a small campus and they describe themselves as a "family." I felt that to be true from my impressions. The school has very humble origins and I felt that too but in a very positive way."
"New building just for med students! Early pt contact"
"the feeling of the facilities, systemic teaching style, and friendliness of admission personnel"
"The fact that they have military clinical rotations (3rd and 4th year) available for military students. Adobe architecture (I love southwestern architecture) and financial aide---much better than last school I was at."
"The weather!! Nothing beats California weather in December. Also, the board pass rates are amazing."
"The students were testing in the fake patient lab that day and still came up and talked to my group for about an hour. They all loved it there. The campus is kinda funky, nice facilities. AND ALL LECTURES ARE VIDEO TAPED AND PUT ON BLACKBOARD!! NO ATTENDANCE POLICY. Also I talked to other premeds interviewing and it seemed like some cool people wanted to go to this school- real, laid back, smart, fun, and weren't your typical nonsocial premeds who let loose by going to an AED pizza party-do you follow?? What I mean is that I think this class will kill it in class and have a good time between tests. "
"The enthusiasm, realness, and positive attitude of the Deans, adcom members, and students assigned to talk to us. Outstanding job in marketing the school and making us feel welcome. Students were stressed out becuase it was an exam day (hence one interviewer), but after their exams, many took the time to introduce themselves. They seemed happy to be there. The weather was perfect. Sun abounds."
"NW track options"
"Just the overall atmosphere of the school. The students were nice and seemed to be happy there. It was a saturday and students had their midterm on monday. But they still took their time to come over and talk to us. They were willing to answer any questions we had. The faculty and admissions seemed nice and really cared that we do well here. They gave us an indepth look at the cirriculum. They also are the top school in the nation last year for passing the complex 2!"
"everything, it's a great school"
"Curriculum, board scores, student reviews"
"They have great facilities, early clinical exposure, homeless clinic, great 3rd/4th year rotations... everything!! :D"
"Students are happy here. New facilities for DO classes. New clinic on campus. Summer anatomy course."
"It is true what they say, EVERYONE is so nice! at least the ones I've encountered. From the admissions staff, the students, and interviewers. Random students would just come up and talk to us and tell us to relax. Everyone was so friendly and helpful!"
"They have a firm commitment and belief in their OMM opportunities, and how they are preparing stellar physicians. The school also has a lot of community outreach opportunities (Montrose Clinic) and sounds like student organization involvement is strong."
"The campus and area were nicer than I expected based on previous reviews. Not fantastic, but the location isn't enough to dissuade me from attending. The students (both the ones we passed during tours and the ones acting as ambassadors) were very friendly and very positive about their experiences there. The program sounds fantastic, especially the international rotations, the summer anatomy program, the OMM, the strong COMLEX/match results, etc."
"the vibe of the students on campus. Everyone seemed very friendly and happy. The speach from the dean was also great"
"General feeling of the school, mixture of other professional schools on campus."
"Pretty much everything. I really think the campus is funky, and I like the open air nature of it (its a refurbished outdoor shopping center I found out, apparently the main DO school building was a JC Pennys :-D). The interviewers were serious but not interrogating. The staff was very friendly, as was everyone on campus really. The students that had lunch with us were responsive and answered all our questions. Everyone encouraged us to ask a lot of questions. Lastly, the dean of the school came out and met with each of us, which was pretty impressive to me."
"The vibe w/ the students there. All very smart and friendly"
"The atmosphere on campus. It felt more like a school than other schools I've interviewed at (mainly Touro CA and Touro NV) and the surrounding area isn't that bad (side note: I grew up in the area so I knew what to expect)"
"Admissions staff are friendly"
"The board scores, the residency matches, the students, and the inside facilities were nice."
"The completeness of the program, and how well ironed out everything is. The facilities were nicer than I anticipated for being a more mature school. "
"Campus is nice, strong medical Spanish and international opportunities, on-site Banfield with discounts for students, better resources than other schools, good boards scores."
"impressive board scores, no undergraduates!!!! haha"
"*Option to do an accelerated anatomy course prior to start of first year *Pass rates, match lists, and +'ve attitude of students "
"The students are very friendly and happy. Many of them stopped to talk to us and wish us luck."
"The school really went out of their way to make it known that they WANTED you to want to go there. The dean stopped by in the morning and greeted us all too, that was nice. That most lectures are available in their entirety online making attendance optional for certain classes. The emphasis on "interprofessional" relationships, and the standardized patients *students have something like 45 mock patient encounters in their first 2 years, really cool"
"While sitting on the lobby, sweating, shaking, waiting for my turn to be called in for an interview, several 1st year students (on their break time) just came up and start talking to us (interviewee). They explained their experiences with the interviews and told us what to expect. The atmosphere was very friendly. I talked to several students and they seems to like the school a lot."
"Each of the 3 interviewers was very kind and knowledgeable about the school. The school is in Pomona, which has a bad reputation, but to the students saying it is 'very ghetto', what 'ghettos' have you been to before? This is not Oakland, or Detroit, or Compton. It's not great, but the immediate campus area is very acceptable, and just don't live on campus. Claremont (beautiful) is 2 miles away. Facilities are very nice, OMM and anatomy labs are large and well ventilated. OMM demo was great, don't miss it."
"The campus. Nicer than I expected for all the talk about Pomona being scary"
"such high board scores, IPE curriculum, get tested every other week so must stay on top of material"
"The staff, students, faculty, EVERYONE was welcoming and kind. The area is NOT that bad-- true, Pomona isn't the greatest area, but I love that there is more of a chance to help the underserved AND they have security all over campus. People came up our group of not-so-discreet interviewees and continually offered good luck wished despite the fact that most students had a huge test in a few days. I also loved the presentation about the curriculum; the person presenting was great and it was awesome to hear about the details of the school."
"The students! More students came up to me than anywhere else! The campus itself - not as bad as everyone says. All lectures are online."
"the staff, students"
"Good vibe from students, they really like it there."
"The eagerness of all the students to help and give you advice. The atmosphere was wonderful! "
"Well structured and organized curriculum, friendly and helpful students all around school who were willing to chat and answer questions, the OMM demo was nice"
"1) the curriculum -- seems very well integrated 2) quick decision -- acceptance letter 10 days after my interview! 3) nice people"
"students were very friendly, top notch education"
"Academics are very strong here, students were open and friendly throughout the day. OMM demonstration was a nice change of pace compared with the rest of the day!"
"Curriculum is well developed and emphasizes working with other students. Students and faculty/staff are nice and welcoming. The whole day is chill."
"Friendliness of the current students!"
"nice interviewers, strong comlex pass rates, seemed to care about students, students came up to us and gave advice/answer questions seemed happy"
"The curriculum is strong. THe complex scores are high. I like the IPE idea. Everyone is friendly, the staff and students. You can tell the students want to be there. "
"The curriculum. The fact that all the lectures are video recorded and available same day online. The students have an handle on their priorities. Excellent reputation and history of success."
"The interviewers were nice and wanted to get to know you. The students were excited and candidly shared their experiences and attitudes toward Western U. They were 2nd years and really liked the school and were involved in the school organizations and community."
"The enthusiasm of the staff, faculty, and students was incredible. Also, the school does EVERYTHING it can to help their students succeed. #1 COMLEX pass rate speaks for itself"
"it was pretty awesome. Very laid back as most people have said, and seriously the most noticable thing about the school is the atmospher. Every single person was enthusiastic and happy to be there and there projected there happineses on the people around them. Seriously, we (the interveiw group of 10) were approached by every single person at that school. Whenever a class got at, or a person walked by at the very elast they smiled and gave an enthusiastic thumbs up and good luck wish. On top of that, most stopped and offered assistance, told us not to worry, sat down and talked with us, answered any questions and offered advice. You can totally tell that the students love their school and that the atmospher is cooperative, warm, and inviting. The speakers were open, answered all questions fully, were honest (at least it appeard they were being honest), and were very helpful as well. The facilities are way nicer on the inside than they appear on the outside. If it looks like an old strip mall......its cuz thats what it used to be back in the day......haha. But dont let the outside apperance fool you. seriously, facilities were nice, atmospher was great, and the interview day as a whole went extremely well. All of the interviewees were very friendly and we all got a long, I'd be surprised if anyone of them would give a poor review of the school. Definitely students that I would like to be in class with. The day ran smoothly, especially for the first interview day of the cycle. I learned more details about their curriculum. I really like the systems approach and will probably lean towards a school that has this sort of curriculum....it just makes the most sense to me."
"Everything. The school's facilities are much better than many say. The area of Pomona is nowhere near as bad as it's made out to be. The curriculum is now systems based and there is a new interprofessional emphasis in training that utilizes team care (DO, PA, Nurse, Podiatrist, Pharmacist, etc) with the DO as lead care provider. This model is really cool because it helps the student develop their skills in leadership and differential diagnosis."
"Socal location!"
"I actually liked the look and feel of the school. It was small, quiet, very clean and organized in its layout, the buildings looked new and the interior was very nice. The classrooms where you will learn everything are very high tech with internet and power outlets at every chair, several projectors/tv monitors, wi-fi around campus, etc... The interviewers were very friendly and informative! Wonderful admissions staff. They also give you a nice packet of info when you interview."
"The assistance they have in place for finding scholarships."
"The admissions staff was really nice. The classrooms are state of the art, the anatomy lab was amazing, the new curriculum (which seems to be having amazing results on board scores). I was accepted yesterday. Some stats for those inclined: MCAT 27, GPA 3.4. I was impressed they did a background check on me, suggesting they weren't merely obsessed with scores. I like that they have a really good opportunity to spread out your clinical rotations at a lot of hospitals. I also was impresed by the match lists available on their website for previous years. I am not sure how Western ranks (it supposedly has high averages and entrance requirements) with other DO schools but I definitely prefer it over Touro and the mid-west schools. "
"omm facilities, new facility being built for the DO program"
"the students seemed nice and the curriculum is pretty standard"
"The friendliness of the students - many came up to us asking if we had questions and answering questions very openly."
"Students were friendly (although my host was kind of anti-social)."
"The enthusiasm of the students, the class size, and the sincerity of the faculty"
"Discussion panel with current students (they were honest about the schools pluses and minuses and seemed positive about their education), opportunity for residencies at respected southern california hospitals given the location of rotations, the facilities inside were nice."
"presentation of curriculum, meeting w/the dean, interviewers really wanted to get to know you, having lunch with current 2nd year students (great resource, although overly positive)"
"Nothing really"
"Students do not show to class b/c its recorded through audio and visual. "
"The lunch-time interaction with the 2nd and 1st year students. Their perspective was insightful, and it was comforting to be able to ask them ANYTHING and get honest answers, both positive and negative. "
"the campus made me feel like i was in chicago"
"Tour lady looked hot. (j/k) PBS American Health Journal video showing a typical day of three medical students at PCOM."
"Reputable program"
"Climate"
"students seemed laid back"
"Students enjoy it there."
"Great staff, great curriculum"
"students love the place, strong test scores and match list."
"they really want to know who you are aside from the pre-medical realm of your life"
"They appear to be really making an effort to strengthen the program there. They are doing a ton of construction and the students were very enthusiastic for the most part. There were some that were a little bit less so which I think was also valuable. "
"lively, HAPPY, students"
"Everyone was really nice. I walked up to random students and they all gave me great advice. The faculty and staff were really supportive. The campus community is very supportive."
"The residencies the students have matched into, the fact that they actually do research, my interviewers were really nice."
"the students and faculty were really helpful and friendly, the campus is undergoing a good change, a new COM building, relatively clean, given the area"
"Location, enthusiastic students, match list, facilities"
"The people!!! The Dean was awsome and Dr. Brown would be fantastic to have for a professor/mentor!"
"Western is the DO school to go to if you're going DO. The students are the brightest and funnest as they come in DO schools. They're in the process of building a new DO building, establishing big sites for rotations/residencies, and bringing in researchers from big name places. The school has been growing and got big plans for the future and so far all promises about its growth has been kept. I believe Western will be the ''Harvard'' of DO schools in 10 - 15 years if there's such a thing."
"The staff and faculty were great!"
"The anatomy lab doesn't smell too bad! The students really feel that they are getting a good education, opportunities, etc"
"The school is in a diverse community. People describe it as ''sketchy'' or ''ghetto,'' but it is not (compared to many places I have been). It seems like an interesting place to get involved in the community."
"Student enthusiasm."
"Good campus (all 2 blocks of it)"
"facilities, orientation, everything"
"Student oriented. Systems based. The movie they showed us and the faculty that spoke with us."
"in a spanish community, the weather, nice classrooms, down to earth students and faculty"
"The facilities, students, and curriculum."
"The Dean came and spoke to us; our tour group dropped in on the President kind of unannounced and he still welcomed us very warmly, even gave us an article he wrote about osteopathic medicine to think about before our interview. Students all love the new curriculum."
"Match results, COMLEX pass rate, New Curriculum"
"The school itself is great with a great camaraderie amoung students. Lots of them stopping to wish all of the interviewees ''good luck''. The facilities look promising and the curriculum looks challenging. All very cool."
"The tech of the facilities"
"The comeraderie of the students"
"the campus feel of the school; the enthusiasm of the tour guides; the morning presentation was really well done; the PBS video was interesting"
"The enthusiasm from the student tour guides, the new curriculum, the improved facilities, the wide geographic array of possible clinical opportunities, and all of the extracurriculars... oh, and DO girls are very attractive - at this school anyway."
"good organization, improved/improving facilities, the tour guide opened the chest of a cadaver while giving the tour, international/flexible clincals, seemed to have a fair amount of graduates going into all types of specialities (supposedly 95-100% get their 1st or 2nd residency choice)"
"The interviewers had personal questions that related directly to my file, not just generic questions that are boring to answer."
"the enthusiasm of the students, very diverse student body and the Pomona community, options for international rotation electives, COMLEX 1st time is 94% (but I didn't give the school high marks cuz' I tend to be very critical of schools and myself)"
"the great residency matches, excellent board pass, excellent student comraderie"
"well organized presentation. curriculum. rotation opportunities."
"The curriculum"
"The school itself was not as disappointing as I expected from the other feedback in this forum, and the area was not as bad as I was expecting having lived in much worse areas of Los Angeles."
"The admissions staff seemed very nice. My fellow interviewees were also quite nice. "
"The students were very friendly, and it seemed like a very laid back atmosphere."
"International clinical Rotations as well as out of state rotations during 3rd and 4th year. Mock Patient interviews with actors and actresses. "
"Absolutley nothing. "
"The friendliness and openness of the students, as well as their honesty with the school."
"The camaraderie between the students."
"The students seemed possitive overall about there experiance. These were not the ones who gave the tour."
"The friendliness of the staff, students, and other interviewers."
"Enthusiasm and camaraderie of students. How they were brutally honest about their school. I was also impressed by the interviewers and how committed they are to making sure that you go to school where you are most comfortable whether or not that is COMP"
"Enthusiasm and camaraderie of students. How they were brutally honest about their school. I was also impressed by the interviewers and how committed they are to making sure that you go to school where you are most comfortable whether or not that is COMP. I really liked this school despite its dilapidated exterior. The students seem extremely cool. I highly reccommend this school."
"How relatively new things were there. The smaller lecture halls. The substantial increase in board passage rates."
"Student and faculty enthusiasm towards the school, students seemed like a close bunch, claremont area (where the majority of the students live) was super nice area, southern california!"
"That students and staff went out of their way to introduce themselves and offer to answer questions. Everyone seemed exceptionally friendly. Many students remarked about the non-competitive atmosphere there. There were plenty of opportunities to ask questions during the orientation sessions. The curriculum in integrated. The weather in L.A. was very nice."
"friendliness and enthusiasm of the staff and students."
"New focus on reseach. The facilities were nice and the students were friendly."
"The sense of pride and enthusiasm from the staff, faculty, dean and students. I also really liked the layout of the new curriculum. I left the interview loving the school and I'm excited to be attending there this fall."
"students seemed to really love the school, the new curriculum, opportunities to work with the underserved and many international opps"
"I really thought Pomona was pretty. The facilities were nice and the classrooms were well designed. The systems-based curriculum was the best part for me personally. Since I've seen the most horrendous places, Pomona wasn't too terrible like most people say. And for those people who think it's really ghetto, they better understand that most hospitals are in the worst places. "
"the facilities are not as bad as everyone says they are. the lectures are audio-recorded so class attendance isn't necessary."
"The curriculum. I like the idea of a systems-based curriculum, but I like how they separate anatomy into a separate course. Also, the students seem to be very involved in the community."
"The program and how helpful the student are"
"Great facilities, friendly people"
"how close the school was to my house! "
"The Dean of the school and faculty members over the curriculum are great. The curriculum seems good."
"SoCal, enough said"
"The admissions office staff were very helpful and friendly. "
"nothing"
"Great facility, super faculty. I liked the campus layout. Who cares if it used to be a strip mall?"
"the strong academic background of the students, the redesigned curriculum. The school has a sincere desire to churn out quality physicians (not just recieve grants for research) - I expected a hokey "D.O." school and was pleasantly surprised to meet very well educated and ambitious students."
"significant growth of school internally and externally, genuine enthusiasm of all involved"
"The students (even ones not from the orientation) were very enthusiastic, personable, and seemed to love the school. The dean was awesome to talk to and the rest of the staff put on an excellent orientation. I also learned that all the lectures are audio recorded and can be accessed on the internet if you cant make it to class."
"The curriculum is new and they are very excited about it, the facilities are some of the nicest I have seen at the varrious schools I have interviewed"
"The students and their willingness to offer their honest opinion of their school. "
"the people were extremely friendly"
"everyone except the interviewers were super nice"
"The campus was a real surprise. It may look crummy on the outside, but the inside is newly renovated."
"The students all were very friendly and outgoing. I recommend staying with a student host. It allows you to ask all sorts of important questions and, for me, calmed my nerves a bit."
"Very student-friendly atmosphere, staff are very nice, excellent curriculum, many student organizations, expanding campus, proximity to other So Cal cities, felt like a good fit for me"
"The attitude of the people at the school. Most everyone was friendly and nice. The interviewer I had completely put me at ease and I did not feel stressed out once the interview started. The new curriculum is nice, and fourth year clinicals you can go wherever you want (unfortuantely you are stuck anywhere from 45-60 min from campus for your third year clinicals). "
"Friendly students, new curriculum"
"The classrooms, equipment and general facilities are very nice after you get into the buildings. All the students seemed very happy and excited to be there. It seems like the school knows how to have a good time. The dean there is new and seems to be making a big diference at the school. I got the feeling that Western would be a much better place in 10 years."
"The enthusiasm and friendliness of students, facutly and staff. It made me sure this was the school I wanted to go to and I really hope I get in. "
"The students and faculty were great, and the insides of the buildings were very nice."
"everyone seemed very committed to osteopathic medicine. this school is not a wannabe-md school. the admissions staff was super-friendly, and the insides of the facilities were nice. the new curriculum seems great, and the dean is supposedly working very hard to make the school a better place to be."
"The friendliness and enthusiasm shown by the students and staff. The facilities are good, clinical affiliations are strong, lecture tapes available, and lecture notes provided prior to lecture. The new curriculum frees up time for board studying. Studying for the boards is supplemented by coursework and faculty lectures. The clinical skills course prepares students to become great patient oriented physicians."
"the new curriculum"
"The cirriculum and the "semi-block" schedule. When you take gross anatomy, you take that alone and not with other challenging science courses. This way you can concentrate on it and really learn the material. ALL of the staff were SO friendly! They made sure that you were comfortable and felt wanted. The facilities were all very nice. Anatomy and OMM lab were huge and clean. From talking to a second year student, I found out that the dean has made many changes that the students wanted him to. He actualyl listens to the students and does what they ask, such as giving them more time to study for boards and the blocked anatomy class. All the students seemed really happy and were very friendly. The school was great! "
"all of the students seem very happy at the school and with the new curriculum. Several people (the dean, other students and faculty members) wished us luck throughout the day"
"Campus/Pomona wasn`t as bad as some redneck/trash from Hicksville is likely to say"
"The staff and students are all extremely friendly. Students would walk by and upon noticing our suits and nametags would say hello and good luck. Also, every one seemed very laid-back."
"The people (both students and staff) were all very friendly and welcoming. Everyone seemed to have really good things to say about the program. Also, I found out that I was accepted one week after my interview! Yay!"
"i gave them smile"
"facilities were great"
"The new curriculum. It is systems based after the first semester. They also have didactic weeks before the boards so they really prepare you for them. They also now have numerous practice exams for the boards!"
"The friendly nature of the students and the revised curriculum."
"WesternU has developed a wonderful curriculum that focuses on what you need to know to become a physician, as well as what you need to know for the COMPLEX exams. The dean visited our interview session, and he was super nice. He has only been at the school for about a year, but the MS1 told us that he has fulfilled all of his promises thus far. The school is the most selective of all the osteopathic schools, according to the US World News Graduate Guide. The quality of rotations during the third and fourth year was also impressive. "
"The facilities are very nice, the campus wasn't as ugly in my opinion as people say. The people in the area are all very friendly. Admissions staff was VERY friendly! New curriculum looks very good, especially with the addition of early clinical experiences."
"everyone was very friendly, the lecture halls and the anatomy labs are really spacious and nice."
"The admissions staff was wonderful and accomidating, the interview was very relaxed, the facilities are impressive."
"how nice the weather is, the school is not as run down as they said it was, and the admissions staff was so pleasant. Also the new curriculum is very organized and leaves a lot of time for independent and group study. "
"Great anatomy and OMT labs. Students were enthusiastic and friendly. The new curriculum seems better organize and more conducive to long-term learning."
"--seems to be a good amount of clinical contact built in to first and second years --has option of Northwest track for 3rd and 4th year rotations, possible Seattle and Portland locations"
"The students seemed really happy there and literally had no complaints about the school or their education. I drilled them with questions, and I could not get them to say one negative thing about the school, faculty, or anything."
"The staff and presenters were extremely friendly and willing to help at all times. "
"The staff is very friendly (although I can't really say the same for the professor I met); They are planning to build a research center sometime in the next 10 years."
"Organized clinical rotations at mostly teaching hospitals. Great reputation in this part of the country even though awarness of the DO profession is not strong in CA. Student clubs are very active. Sitting in on 2 classes: The classroom was large with ample room for students. Large viewing screens projected the anatomy lecture I attended. All lectures are posted on line. Students can download notes prior to class or in class using the data ports. Not wireless yet. On campus housing to be ready in a year. Fast public transportation train allows computers great access to the campus."
"The admissions staff were helpful. One lady took us to sit in classes while we were waiting for our interview and we got to talk to students"
"Staff were very friendly and accomodating. Cheap living out there. Great weather. Friendly people."
"location of the school (my family is from southern california), and the school is about half an hour away from my parent's home"
"postive attitude of both administrators and students"
"the inside of the facilities were nicer than i expected and the people were soo nice. Also, the students seemed very honest and open about their experience."
"School life, Video-taped rooms w/actors for trial-based clinical practices."
"the new curriculum (just approved last week!)"
"The cheap housing avail around and that the OMM dept is strong there"
"The campus staff (the people who work in the admissions office) are one of the most friendly people I have ever found at any school. Really sweet people. "
"the rigor of their academics, their electives"
"the new dean is very research oriented- he is pushing and planning the opening of medical research centers at COMP"
"Everyone was very friendly and the program seems like it is always improving. They also have great summer programs to brush up on anatomy and such before you enter your 1st year."
"The classrooms are connected to the internet so all the students can surf the net in class. The anatomy lab was pretty big and they told us a group of 3 students get one cadaver to work with."
"the interviewers were very nice and relaxed, food was quite good"
"everybody was very nice and helpful, students seemed happy. someone cheered me on for not wearing a black suit. All the faculty and president have an open door policy. "
"The president of the school came over and said "hi""
"Strong program. Nice library."
"the weather, international rotation opportunities, admission staff was very friendly"
"Good anatomy program, lots of clubs on campus, met the President of the school"
"Their experience. You could see they had been doing this for awhile."
"gorgeous sunny day (in November!), got to meet many professional staff members"
"The clinical curriculum is being tweaked to fit students a little better. They are trying to arrange it so that you end up with 6 weeks off before graduation. Also, they have a financial aid person strictly devoted to finding scholarships."
"the friendliness of the students, the numerous student organizations, their facilities- esp the lecture halls, the summer anatomy prep classes, and their open door policy with faculty."
"The students are super friendly, laid back, well-rounded people. The anatomy lab is very nice and clean. "
"How well the interviewers questioned me. Their questions really worked me."
"The staff was very friendly. Linda and everyone was more than friendly. "
"Everyone was extremely friendly. Even though everyone I met was a stranger, I felt as though I was walking into a place where I was family."
"The incorporation of technology in lecture presentation. The interiors of the buildings in my opinion make up for the exterior. The systems based approach and courses designed to prepare you to handle ethical situations and dying/grieving. Also of interest is the Western Alum that guest lectures second year students on cranial-sacral OMM."
"While the facilities do not look like much from the outside, the interior is very nice. The space is allocated nicely with room to relax and lockers for lab and lecture materials. The lecture halls are nice and give a great view to all students. All the material is accessible before class on the network and lectures are Powerpoint-based with clincal correlations underlying the topic. Contrary to an earlier comment, the internet access is not restricted during lecture. Attendance is very good, at least in the afternoon lecture. The anatomy lab is very nice, perhaps not NYMC or UNECOM, but more than adequate with space and a 1:8 ratio. Students work in teams of 4, trading days, so you aren't dissecting each day. There's a Summer Anatomy course and if you do well, you become an assistant for the MS1 class 1 TA to each two cadavers. Regarding clinical rotations, Arrowhead Regional sounds very nice and seems to provide good rotations. Other sites give good preparation as alumni of the college place well at sites in Southern California. The college definitely made a positive impression."
"The location, Southern California, the rotations available in 3rd and 4th years."
"students and faculty were very nice"
"The facilities at the school are GREAT and the area immediately around the school is nice, too. The admission staff is friendly and helpful. The other students with whom I interviewed were very nice, smart, fun, and accomplished. I enjoyed spending the day with them."
"Students were upbeat and enthusiastic"
"The really nice facilities on the inside of the buildings, friendliness of the students, quality of the program, very solid network of rotation sites, great residency opportunities, and located in an area with alot to offer."
"too quiet"
"The students were all in the same boat and very nice."
"very nice people, interviewer was nice and interested in what I had to say, the other students in my group were great"
"there is a book store. it's in california. the school is close to many shops & walking distance to YMCA"
"The students were very friendly."
"ummm... the OMM prof is apparently one of the best. Also, the weather! Love SoCal!"
"not much"
"The faculty, staff, and students members were all very welcoming and friendly. "
"Everyone at Western is super nice and friendly! The facilities are awesome, and rotation sites are plentiful!"
"How they are well established and how it reflects southern california. Snowboarding an hour away. "
"I thought Western U didn't have an athletic facility and I was impressed to learn that they allow students to use the nearby YMCA for free or give you $100 to use at Bally's. The OMT lab was nice."
"The staff was all very friendly. The orientation presentation was very helpful."
"Students are very friendly and good looking!"
"The summer program costing 300 bucks to brush up on your biochem and anatomy - the two hardest courses at COMP."
"interview was well organized, way cool interviewees, "cute" area of the school, students"
"Friendliness of students."
" Students were very nice and friendly. Lecture halls are high-tech. The tour was exaclty accordnig to the schedule. Everything was well organized. We had four different speakers."
"The students were very personable and friendly. The campus isn't as ghetto as some might make it seem."
"The facilities are very nice"
"The students are really nice"
"nice classrooms, great program...they offer a lot of classes that are not listed on their website. their rotation program is appealing. everyone was very nice and laid back."
"The location, weather and school was great inside and out. I come from a LARGE university and hate it. This school is small and I get the feeling as a student there you will get a lot of personal attention. That is new for me. Also, for all my school buildings to be on one block is AMAZING. Where I currently go to school, I take buses through all kinds of crazy traffic to get to classes, administrative buildings and bookstores. I hate it, so Western really impressed me."
"All the students I talked to loved the school and many came up to me to say hi and introduced themsevles. It felt like very wholesome community with an intelligent and diverse student body. The facility is much nicer than even some of the "competitive" MD programs that I interviewed at. The student lounge is nice."
"How welcoming everybody was. It was very personal. I didn't feel like just another number."
"The students and staff were very friendly. The international rotation opportunity. The opportunity to learn medical Spanish. Student clubs for different interests/ages"
"the vast number of little programs they offer which are not offered in other DO schools.Like the international rotation offer."
"All the staff makes you feel welcome"
"you can get good california placement from this school. The community looks highly at this school"
"Everybody is soooo nice; campus feels safe and clean (in spite of what you hear about the surrounding area)"
"Everyone was exceptionally nice, including the other people being interviewed."
"I liked the bookstore. the school doesn't have a gym, but students have free access to a nearby ymca. everyone is nice. school is very established. diversity. fun area"
"The students, faculty, and the classrooms. Every student I spoke with was very happy about their choice to attend Western. The overall experience was positive."
"student enthusiasm"
"diversity; school teaches othe rthings like nursing, vet; reminds me of undergrad.; cool bookstore, many clinical rotation sites in LA area; i like the mall-like atmosphere; laid-back atmosp; nice faculty & administrative people"
"the students and staff"
"the admissions staff and students are very nice...didn't get a chance to interact much with faculty, but our student tour guides said they're willing to help as much as possible. don't be fooled by the exterior...the inside of the buildings are very nice. the chance that you can do your third/fourth year rotations at over 70 different sites."
"The students were very friendly, and the atmosphere of classes seemed friendly and interesting. "
"The clinical rotational sites: there are so many and they're dispersed throughout the U.S., including places like Hawaii."
"friendliness of staff, classrooms"
"good facilities, helpful administration, teaching assistant program for OMM, broad clinical experiences"
"Although the school looks nondescript from the outside the facilities are really great once you are inside. It seems like a really established program with some great hospitals to do rotations at."
"They seem to have a very strong program. Faculties seem very compotent. Very happy students."
"How nice all of the students were, and how much the school is constantly improving, everything is state of the art, and the school just has a fun feeling about it"
"One word: Robbie's (those of you who've been there will know what I'm talking about! Seriously, I really love Southern California and thought the Pomona area (and Claremont) was simply gorgeous. The area outside the school isn't as nice, but it's not the ghetto I thought it was going to be. The inside of the buildings are very nice and modern with lots of internet connections. The labs seemed very nice. The staff and students seemed great."
"Ethernet ports everywhere, availability of security, proximity to Metrolink"
"the weather....and the interior of the campus buildings..it would be such a nice change from upstate NY. The admissions staff was super-friendly and organized."
"The interviewers were all very nice and fun to talk to. The students all seemed very friendly as well - our tour guide was great."
"Welcoming atmosphere with the students that noticed that I was interviewing."
"The facilities are very nice and new, the students were seemed happy, and it was beautiful and warm in November. "
"The interviewers interest in me, as a person."
"The students on campus"
"The facilities, very high tech, friendliness of everyone"
"The interactions between students and the professors. It's like a big family here. I really enjoyed it"
"how much all the students loved it there"
"How nice everyone was during my visit. The students and faculty always stopped to talk and say hi. "
"Nothing really, the campus is in the ghetto, but it is definitely close to where I live."
"The student's positive attitude and willingness of faculty and students to hang out and answer questions. The lectures I attended before the interview - an OMM demo."
"students"
"Attitude of the students."
"the enthusiasm among the students"
"the friendly staff and the newly renovated facilities"
"The interview day starts really early (7:30) . 1:1 interview was rushed and the interviewer was cold. The day was disorganized at times. There was no breakfast for applicants, but there was breakfast for faculty in the same room where the applicants were (strange). Pomona is in the *really* bad part of the LA metro (eastern suburbs/Inland Empire) (about 1 hour from good areas with traffic), known for dangerous levels of smog especially during the summer. While there are beautiful mountains close by they are not visible/barely visible on most days due to the smog. This will also limit enjoyment of the outdoors in most cases , negating the advantages of the socal weather. Temperatures during summer are similar to phoenix (100+). As others have mentioned, the school is built in a cheap looking strip mall area patrolled by aggressive security (meant to keep the homeless element from dt Pomona out). The anatomy lab looked pretty cheap with home depot type buckets next to the bodies."
"Nothing really."
"The buildings aren't the nicest, and the surrounding area isn't the best"
"the surrounding area was run down but that's not the school's fault"
"Dry heat"
"No one lives near the school, so I'm having a hard time seeing how people make good friends in the area."
"Faculty said they are available, but I got the impression that due to the large class size they are not actually very involved with students. Commuter school- most students do not live in Pomona. My interview felt very rushed- the interviewers were constantly checking the time. It was distracting."
"It's in a pretty rough area."
"Location is a little weird"
"Classrooms and study areas seem outdated"
"Campus has the most random statues. Don't know who decided on it. They should remove them."
"Classes might be rushed since they have a new course every 3 weeks"
"the interviewers seemed to be rather stoic/not that interested"
"My interviewer was very aggressive and dismissive of my interest in the DO profession."
"It looks like a mall... but I'm here for the education"
"The long orientation you have to sit through."
"lectures streamed from Oregon"
"Paying to park and the early start time of the interview. Also, the agenda they gave us was old and not accurate so we were confused for 30 minutes before the interview started when we were just sitting and no overview started yet."
"Although the new HEC building is beautiful, for the most part the rest of the school doesn't look too nice on the outside."
"Some of the presentations were rather long."
"the coldness of the interviewer. the town of Pomona."
"Pomona in general"
"Students from other programs on campus were dressed very casually."
"Pomona - it's not too safe. Student said 2/3 of class failed a test. Students complained that the curriculum constantly changes, so there are a lot of bumps."
"umm"
"about 100 people at the interview and some people did not have their packets ready when they got there. It would be pretty depressing for me to travel across the country to find they don't even remember I'm coming by having my stuff ready. Just seemed a bit unorganized."
"The interview was difficult and I had a hard time understanding my interviewer because of his language barrier"
"some of the student ambassadors were negative and seemed tired and unhealthy."
"The area surrounding the school isn't great, but you don't have to live around there if you don't want to, so it's not a huge deal."
"The fact that I couldn't walk through the school yet :( ... the building plans look sooo cool."
"the fact that there were 100 people at the interview session."
"This school is located in one of the bad parts of town. The campus is heavily guarded by security officers."
"One interviewer was late. Both interviewers had not gone through my file, which meant they were not well prepared as to what question to ask next, and the direction in which to take the interview. One interviewer was rude as well."
"Some weird things the admin does to make students come to class. The area around the school wasn't so hot."
"The environment of surrounding area. Its an old city feeling."
"Smog--too close to LA Cost of living Hot summers on earthquake fault line "
"The attitude of the dean and some instructors. They were very anti-MD. The dean even criticized other schools when asked a specific question about this school, and made jokes about people learning to like whatever rotation sites he gave them. He has a seriously negative attitude. "
"The students had absolutely nothing positive to say about Pomona. My driver from the hotel gave me a Pomona tour after I arrived in Ontario and he liked most of it. And honestly, I thought the school was in a cool area- next to the art district, old-school theaters, funky Cat in the Hat building, etc. "
"The campus feels like a strip mall, (turns out it was at one point). Fake plants and flowers inside the building was cheesy, but the rest of the interior was well-designed for classes and study rooms. Great anatomy lab."
"pomona kinda sucks, but there is so much to do nearby"
"Nothing really. I really liked the school."
"no on campus housing.. I was hoping to not worry about driving in med school"
"Some interview groups had only one person interviewing them, whereas I had 3! There is a huge variation in how they interview. Also, one interviewer made comments about another school I had an interview at, that was not professional. "
"The area is not the best as to what I've seen so far."
"I don't really like the Pomona area. Facilities will be much better when new buildings open in Jan. "
"I could see the community being somewhat stressful...in that there aren't many parks or places to unwind and relax without driving a ways away from campus."
"Cost. Over $70k for year one, with costs increasing in each successive year. Ugh."
"the campus is a little small and old, and the location is in a pretty miserable neighborhood"
"Building seems a bit outdated, but new one is being built."
"The lecturer in the class we were observing didn't seem like a very good speaker. I don't know if he was the regular professor or not, but it wasn't very stimulating/impressive."
"I felt like one of the interviewers was not actually listening to my responses to questions... "
"Didn't seem like the interviewers read my application at all. They asked me questions like if I have volunteered or if I have shadowed that are in my application."
"The surrounding city of Pomona was not very nice. The 1st and 2nd years at our lunch session confirmed it. The school was undergoing construction, but they did say it would be finished by late this year or early next year."
"The fact that there might not be any seats still available except on the wait list"
"The area isn't too nice, we have to buy parking passes."
"interviews ran longer than expected. they give you a timeline of when you interview and i was only called 20 mins after my scheduled time. i was also the last person to be interviewed. not fun either. "
"*Anatomy lab was less impressive (technologically) than others I had seen. *Lack of on-site fitness center (they do put $$$ towards a membership elsewhere though) "
"The DO building is not open yet and parking may soon be a problem with the new schools opening."
"All 200+ students take most of their classes as one large group, the long commute I would face, the fact that the student panel was not very enthusiastic when talking about their program (FYI 3 of the current student panel members had also applied MD), "
"Expensive. Whatcha expect from a private school though?"
"One of the interviewers. He was rude and basically accused me of wanting to come to the school but then go back and practice in my home state on the east coast. Clearly viewed my status as an out-of-stater as a negative factor and did not hesitate to show it."
"The interview was pretty confrontational. The interviewer was nice and made some jokes here and there, but the questions were very pointed. They were definitely trying to see how much I knew about/wanted to be involved in osteopathic medicine... but SDN and my friend had prepared me so, while it was stressful, it went alright."
" Day seemed excessively long. "
"Pomona is a little ghetto but I am used to that"
"Describing Western as a "campus" is a bit of a stretch, its a main sidewalk with buildings on either side."
"The tuition fee...."
"No windows in buildings"
"1) the smell outside of the university -- could be because of the veterinary school nearby 2) after over 3 decades of existence, there is no on campus cafeteria (strange) 3) location isn't the greatest 4) the hotel I stayed at (Shilo Inn) is undergoing renovation, which means you have to walk through a messy corridor, through cement and dust before you find your room. The room I stayed at was filthy and I didn't feel safe there. The hotel's breakfast area was disgusting. BUT -- transportation is included in your rate, which could save you a lot of money."
"school in sketchy area"
"Campus seems a little old and behind in technology, longer than necessary interview day (especially the info session in the beginning), lunch should have been in a more relaxed setting. I prefer having interviews first thing, I was hot, tired, and had a headache by the time I had to interview. They should find a better setting for the interview day. That room was miserable and we spent way too much time in there."
"tuition and living expenses estimated to be 65K for first year. "
"class size of 222"
"Pomona, its not a great area to live. Mostly auto shops, pawn shops, tabacco stores. I would live 10-15 miles away where there are better communities."
"As stated on SDN, many students choose Western because "they want to stay in California" Year 3 is very structured (which I respect) but makes some things difficult. Location is a minus for me. Very expensive (250k for four years.)"
"Nothing really. I am an active person, so I was disappointed that there was not much of a facility for that. But they have connections with Bally's and LA fitness, and even have access to the local YMCA. There are even some student orgs that are active."
"Housing prices?"
"Nothing really. Awesome day. Laid back, students and faculty are great. The only thing I can 'negative' i can say is that they need to provide more food for lunch! I could have eaten 5 of those sandwhiches! haha. "
"Some people mentioned the lack of restaurants on campus but I found that the Shoppes at Chino Hills have a ton of restaurants including: Yardhouse, CPK, a sushi place, lots of fast food places, etc. and it's less than ten minutes away."
"Everything pertaining to the school/education impressed me negatively. Bad campus, 1/2 block from a major rail road, no cafeteria....it felt like a trade school and not a university."
"The lack of restaurants within walking distance of the campus. I think there was a subway, an italian restaurant, a hookah lounge, and a bar next to campus."
"Although it was open file, the interviewers did not prepare, and accused me of various things that did not exist (took years off from college, took MCAT multiple times, had not attended college within the last year - all sorts of crazy things)"
"The campus. It is really a closed down street in which they have purchased all the surrounding "stores" and converted them into classrooms etc. Also, the labs were pretty old. AND, there is a gay bar right on campus. (a guy who wouldn't sell his place to them). There is also a lot of crime in the area. Therefore, they have security posted outside every building. "
"The appearance of the building (looks like a high school). There is a block of antique stores adjacent to the school which is completely useless to someone going to school there. I was not thrilled about the Pomona/suburban location. It was test time so we could not attend classes. Also the students were really stressed and tried to discourage attending medical school.. Why is there no on-campus food available? Students need to eat! When I asked the tour guides what there was to do around the area, they pretty much laughed. a) you have no time b) there is nothing except D&B 30 min away. "
"no cafeteria in the school"
"Everything-the campus- way too small, the dean was very cocky, the area is GHETTO, the students were overeagerly encouraging the interviewees to come to the school as if they were selling products"
"The quality of the interviewers. First off neither of them were DOs or seemed very interested in osteopathy. Secondly, they only allowed me time to ask one question- which they weren't able to answer to my satisfaction."
"Financial counselors really pushed stafford loans and did not mention any other funding sources. Also, the area around the school is not very safe (but most downtowns are this way)."
"The campus is not appealing to the eye"
"The location of the school and the campus, although it was what I expected based on prior interview feedback from this website."
"pomona itself"
"The facility, its location, the organization of the interview day (tour came first before introduction), administrative staff weren't too friendly. A very dull interview day. "
"Most students live in the Claremont area b/c Pomona can be unsafe. We weren't able to see the research building."
"The surrounding area- not because it was exceptionally ghetto, it seemed to me to just be old. I wished the anatomy lab had windows. "
"Wait time for the interview was long."
"Its not really LA. The interviewees seemed competitive. The school is blah looking (which I thought wouldnt matter..but yeah if you had the choice...). The program has a lower COMLEX 2 passage rates than others. Administrators didnt seem to care that much."
"Shady Area, Tiny unattractive campus"
"$1000 to hold your spot during the winter, another thou to hold it for spring"
"Area of the school itself is not that great."
"Buildings are a little older, but that should change soon."
"the limited facility size, but thats soon changing"
"Ugly from the outside. Horrible. It seriously looks like a terrible community college from the outside. Inside however it is quite nice and very modern and well equipped. The addmissions staff was abominable in the sense that they lost my LOR's. Very annoying especially since I tracked them and had evidence (the name of the person) that they signed and received them. It was like trying to deal with 3-year olds. This was only one individual in admissions however. Everyone else seemed quite competant and was very delightful. "
"the surrounding neighborhood, i saw a homeless man just casually walking around campus during the tour ... -_-;"
"The school doesn't have on-campus food service (but they do have lots of refrigerator and microwaves if you bring lunch). "
"The town. I stayed in the Shilo hotel and that part of town is ok, but the area where the school is is a little scary. However, they have security all over, so I didn't worry about it. I just wouldn't want to hang out in the town or anything."
"it's fairly small but that is changing, long wait for the interview, cost of a western u student life is expensive, with tuition room and expenses its going to be around 60K"
"price tag"
"Cost of living!!!"
"I heard from a student that the administration knows that as a DO school Western is not a big name compared to all med schools, so it created on purpose a very demanding and vigorous curriculum to whip its students into top-shape so they could go out and make a name for themselves. So at times their expectation of students are too high on purpose, so students feel that they're not good enough and will work harder but in reality they're exceeding standards and expectations of preceptors once they start their rotations."
"Students swore like sailors."
"The long wait for the interview, the large group of interviewees (25)"
"This wouldn't apply to me, but there is a lot of rumbling on campus about the Northwest Track. Apparently, it is not how it is portrayed on the website/interview. Many students came specifically from the Northwest, and it seems everyone feels liked they were lied to about being able to spend their 3rd and 4th years home. There are only a couple places they can go in Oregon and the school refuses to let them even set up sites at their homes. The situation seems bad and it makes me wonder if Western lies about other things to get students in the door."
"Area surrounding the school was a bit sketchy."
"The area is pretty shady. It is pretty bad and theres no cafeteria so you have to eat in the dilapidated town surrounding it."
"The dean. He apparently didn't like one of the questions somebody in my group asked and his temper flared. This wasn't a good way to break for lunch. "
"omm room and anat lab room didnt seem as nice as other schools"
"One of my interviewers and the location."
"We would be sitting in the room or walking through the building and you could hear the train passing by right outside several times throughout the visit. I imagine it must be hard to concentrate with that outside."
"The immediate surrounding area is not the best, but I've seen a lot worse. There are some real nice places very close though. "
"Location, location, location"
"the exterior of the buildings"
"How the dean seems more interested in an applicant's numbers and how they can bring prestige to the school rather than showing interest in the applicant as a person. The school's facilities give it a trade school vibe, rather than a real university."
"Wi-fi isn't quite operational just yet, one of the fellow interviewers wouldn't stop talking...about her MCAT, her MCAT scores...tacky, the fact that we ate lunch in a lecture room, balancing with those awful side-desk things"
"The strip mall."
"strip mall appearance still evident, reputation? (maybe in my own head), dont really want to live in smoggy LA area, local housing is super spendy, some crime, "
"How there is no place to hang out in the direct vicinity of the school, that is safe. "
"students really don't hang around the campus, and they didn't have enough food for people to go for seconds"
"its located in the midst of an Antiques district (no big deal though)"
"none"
"School's location. Honestly, having read through other people's comments about the location I was prepared to see something not-so-great...and it still shocked me!"
"I am not the most professional person around but no one seemed to take anything seriously. There was a lot of horseplay around the facilities by the students. This may be a positive for other applicants but it looked somewhat distracting to me."
"The campus was very run-down (seemed under renovation, maybe). The interviewer seemed bored, even though he was very nice and I thought we hti it off, when it came down to the qeustion and answer portion... well, he had a lack of enthusiasm which made me uncomfortable."
"I didn't really have a negative impression. The facilities are much nicer that everyone would lead you to believe. It sounds like living outside Pomona is the way to go, but they have brand new apartments across the street from the school (The Helix)."
"The appearance of the school. A lot of construction going on. Neighborhood was kind of secluded and quiet. "
"This place is by far the biggest dump I have ever interviewed at and in a horrible section of town."
"The location, the heat, and learning that the area is not so safe."
"It was in a strip mall from the 1950's, cost, and the previous years financal issues. "
"The lack of student support services."
"The city is extremely dilapidated, and the school is under massive construction. But I think once the construction is finished, the school will help the city become a nicer attraction."
"All the construction, traffic, air quality."
"Pomona, the OUTSIDE of campus, traffic!!!"
"Apparently, the school is in the worst part of the city, but that goes for many schools."
"the structure of the campus"
"The students seemed a little too laid back. I know this is Cali, but its also medical school. Do you really need to wear workout clothes to class?"
"Nothing. Pomona isn't Paris, but we're there for 4 years of intense schooling. So in the long run it really doesn't matter if it looks like a strip mall or a cathedral. What matters is what happens inside those buildings-- and that's what impressed me. (But they're building a huge new shiny building soon enough for those who need something aesthetically pleasing)"
"looks like a strip mall"
"Maybe it was just the day I interviewd, but some of the interviewees seemed stuffy and full of themselves. Example: I cured cancer, de-wormed all the children in a small village in Africa and had time to go get a Ph.D in nuclear biophysics at Oxford...really now...and then complain they were older students. The tour guide was nice, but I wouldn't hang out with him. Other than that, I had a good time. "
"no cafeteria."
"The aesthetics of the facility. I think it would be sort of depressing to drive into campus every morning. Pomona doesn't seem like the greatest city, either. "
"The interview was a little intimidating, I felt like I was being interrogated."
"It DOES look like a strip mall..."
"It seemed disorganized when I went for the interview. When we got in there was a multitude of pharmacy students, and I found that to be very disruptive. Then the admissions staff just gave us our folder and told us that we can explore the school if we like as long as we're back by 9:45. "
"The school needs a cafeteria. The interview was rough. The interview day was a little disorganized."
"n/a"
"This school is in my own state, but I would be reluctant to ever attend here. It has one of the highest attrition rates of all medical schools in the country, some of the lowest board passing rates ever (below national average), lack of modern facilities (the campus is horribly ugly), and too many classes that the students have to take it; it is like overload taking 8 classes in one semester - which is probably why a lot of them end up failing Biochemistry, or remediating. They can't even repeat one class, they have to repeat the entire year. The residencies aren't that impressive either. Sure, I want to stay in California, but not if it means getting a residency at a small osteopathic hospital (like most of their graduates)."
"Nothing really, but the immediate surrounding area didn't have much in terms of fast food or stores like Wal-Mart."
"pomona is a hole. It's not ghetto, it's just non-existent. Apparently the surrounding areas are full of very nice communities and many of the students live near campus anyway (a new apartment complex was erected as student housing)"
"not much...oh maybe that there was a lot of applicants from the Cali/NW area"
"The school itself doesn't look much like a school. It looks more like a strip mall from the 60s. But the interiors are very nice."
"Nothing, they did a wonderful job selling the school."
"Nothing. I knew what to expect. "
"i couldn't read my interviewer...he was very stoic"
"pretty tough interview, they went back and asked the same questions over again, like hypotheticals of two schools I could choose to go to and why i would choose that school or theirs"
"The area is not the greatest. Even though they renovated the inside, they didn't spend any time on the outside re-painting."
"No first year classes were going on during the down time between lunch/campus tour and my interview (which was about 2 hours), so there was really nothing for us interviewees to do but sit around and get nervous."
"Nothing much."
"The location. I am from the midwest and have been to So Cal before, so I knew what to expect. However, I would not be happy there with the weather, lack of seasons, and air pollution. Pomona is far from the ocean in my mind, and I know I would have trouble staying there for three or four years. Also, most students live at least 10 min away from campus and it seems like everyone drives. They do have some new on-campus housing, but it was pretty much full in early Oct. so it would be at least your second year before you could move in. "
"area of the school, little actual clinical experience in the first two years"
"The location. The school looks pretty bad from the outside. Its in a neighborhood that for some reason or another has not grown much since the 60's and consequently is a little run down. Security is a constant presence when walking from building to building. "
"The outside appearance of the buildings."
"The look and location of campus."
"gotta say it, the exterior of the campus is ugly. oh yeah, it was also very hot -- i'm just not a socal person, i guess."
"The area could be a little better, however there really weren’t any complaints from the students. Most live in good areas that are 10minutes away. I didn’t feel the neighborhood was dangerous as others have previously described."
"the old buildings and the weather!"
"You feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. Also, California might be a little too far for me from home."
"The lack of social activity around the campus"
"That there are a lot of rumors going around about the school. I noticed it online and also the students I talked to told me about it. The dean had to hold a special talk during lunch time with the 1st and 2nd years to directly address the rumors. The dean and the students there are dumbfounded as to where the rumors started. I think it has something to do with DO schools getting more attention in the media and competing for students and just so happen that Western U has been consistently getting the best students with the highest gpa/mcat of DO schools. But everyone should talk to the dean, he`s a great guy, very open and honest to your questions. Clearly the person that posted the previous comment did not speak up to the Dean, or he just wanted to pass the rumor on, but the pass rate for the boards is 89%. You can tell for some reason he`s bitter/irrational about the school by hinting that students with high gpa/mcat have no other standards if they just want to go to a school in LA. I mean, Western U is not like amazingly great in every aspect but it has great clinical years and an impressive matchlist and is definitely worth my time."
"Nothing. I knew the facade of the school and the surrounding neighborhood wasn't great so I didn't expect much. It's not as bad as people say."
"The campus is not attractive. However, improvements are being made and the surrounding neighborhoods are nice."
"orientation leader said that this year's Step 1 pass rate was 84% and noted that this is higher than in the past (mentioning that before they would have avoided the question - although I'm not sure how that could occur); many people who "usually" are involved in the interview day were on vacation or not available (very disappointing) but we were welcome to call them with any questions we had (a second chance to make a first impression - not)"
"Nothing. the campus facilities are different than most other schools but hey it used to be a strip mall. There is nothing negative about So. Cal. except if you don't speak spanish."
"Some disorganization as far as the people not showing up for orientation and having only one interviewer as opposed to 3 or 4 as stated in the letter."
"Pomona is not the most built up/safest city in CA. I know that most great schools are in bad areas (Hopkins is in Baltimore, MD, UPenn is in Philly, etc), but it is still hard to ignore the area around the school. But, most students do not live in Pomona, you only need to be on campus for classes. The insides of the buildings were completely renovated. "
"The smog. The lack of places to eat other than Mexican and fast food."
"the campus is kind of small, i didn't see many students around buts that because it was the last day of class for them."
"The facilities could be better, but that will come in time."
"My interviewers were not that great. My interview started 10 minutes later than planned, which normally wouldn't be a big deal, but we had to finish by 10:30 so that I could go to the orientation. So because we started late, I basically had 10 minutes less to interview. In addition, I had 3 fairly intimidating interviewers (2 PhD, 1 DO) who did not make much eye contact during the interview. They were not very friendly or welcoming and even seemed a bit hostile at times. However, I later learned that that's just the way they are and one even had good things to say about me, so I guess it's not as bad as I thought."
"1. interviewer-a D.O. , didn't introduce himself as anything, wore sneakers,used the word "like", and made little to no eye contact. 2. a curriculum that is constantly revised from one year to the next- indication that it is probably getting better, but is not that well established. "
"I already knew this, but the buildings and the area of Pomona where the schools is located really does suck. But once you get inside the buildings they are very nice and updated. Try not to let the outside freak you out."
"One of the tour guides was telling us which classes we could "skip" or not pay too much attention to. I thought that was extremely unprofessional and negatively reflected the education system at the school."
"1. The program appears very disorganized (I had my interview with the dean and a professor and the professor knew more about the upcoming curriculum changes than the dean; plus, the school has changed the curriculum every year for the past 3 years, so second year students will have had very different experiences than you); 2. the facilities (school is built on an old mall; updating the buildings is taking them a really long time); 3. the location (for those of you who have never been to Pomona, it is NOT Los Angeles; It is about 60 miles from anything interesting; the smog is even worse than L.A.); 4. the inept security guards (Pomona has a relatively high crime rate, so Western has security guards every where. The two I saw were old and I think I could have beaten them up); 5. the student tour guide (he acted very lazy and unintelligent; he didn't inspire me to want to go there in the least)"
"The interview was not well organized. The people seemed friendly but not very warm or helpful one-on-one. Attitude of one of the interviewers was NOT warm or friendly--good guy/bad guy. No fitness center but public gymns nearby. Location is not ideal for me. No real sense of community. Its a commuter campus that was an old shopping strip--still feels like old abandoned shopping strip. It is adjacent to an active freight train line. Heavy use of security guards roaming the 'mall' made me wonder about incidents although Western claims its safe. If you like studying at home or off campus by yourself this might be a great place for you."
"The security guards on campus, the appearance of the campus, the surrounding area"
"Location-its far from LA. It seems like a very different lifestyle out there, "desert folk" as I heard them referred too. It was definitely different...quiet town. "
"ranking of the school is not that great and the COMLEX board scores are not as high as other DO schools"
"the campus is hideous on the outside and the smell of cow poop that comes around every so often. also, the sound of trains is pretty annoying."
"The interviewer. Location is not that bad."
"the anatomy lab (another tomb-like room) I just personally like anatomy labs with windows."
"The students there seemed depressed without much of school pride. Our tour guides, MS2 both told us that they ended at Western b/c it was their only acceptance"
"the OMM, that most of their students seemed to select the school based on it's location (in California/ or close to home) THE SMOG"
"The people who interview me. They are assholes. They never tried to understand me and always tried to contradict my answers. I usually don't criticize people but these people were least interesting. One of them was a Phd (he was dressed in jeans) and other was a DO (he was dressed in suit which wasn't iron).What the hell was that, if they want us to dress well they better atleast wear something professional. I wouldn't have care much about their dressing if they were sweet people, but they were assholes all the time during the interview. "
"interview day was somewhat poorely set up - not a whole of interaction with other students"
"The guy they had interview was completely uninterested. His line of questioning was absurd (at one point he asked approx. 12 questions in a row without letting me respond until he was finished.) All I know is if you're trying to make a good impression and get students to come to your school, you don't put someone like that out there to interview. He picked his nose for chrissakes!"
"Depressing looking campus and a bad smell that was all over campus."
"If you've been to one of their osteo awarness conferences, you've pretty much seen it all. They showed the same video "a tribute to caring"...can I throw up now? And I didnt learn any new information. But overall it was fine, and didnt really change the impression I had gotten from the conferences."
"didn't like how students live off campus, but transportation seems to be okay. "
"The students claimed that security guards walk them to their cars at night."
"Pomona city isn't the best area."
"the school just seemed "okay" the tour guides and other students said their number 1 reason for attending was location/close to family. "
"One of the interviewers was falling asleep on me! (I guess its understandable considering I was the last one of the day!)"
"I didn't feel like anyone wanted to get to know me as an individual. While waiting for your interview they put you in a small waiting room with a TV. I waited for an hour with no contact with people from the university. I was not impressed by this. It would have been nice to have a student or faculty there to answer questions, etc."
"student ambassadors were nice but it would have been nice to meet more students; my other interview sites all paraded many many more students in front of us and taht was nice to get different perspectives"
"The high cost of living and the relative commute to campus from other areas."
"the interview...other than that the school's great and you can see the openness shared between students and faculty."
"The outside of the school. Doesn't do justice to the facilities inside. "
"nothing"
"The student tour. Felt we were being blown off. It was like nine minutes long and consisted us of briskly walking through rooms. Tour guide was not engaged in anything other than telling us where to live next year and how to get there. "
"Nothing."
"The inability of the students to provide us with board pass rates and residency placements (not provided by administration). They clam that the school keeps those quiet. The high drop out rate of MS1's."
"The weather is one thing that I personally am trying to get away from. I want a cooler atmosphere. Nothing really made me stop and think that the school was anything less than what it appeared. I've heard bad things, but the college seems stable and is expanding in many directions."
"The fact that the campus really is a renovated strip mall, and it's obvious. When I asked about the high drop out rate of first year students (I asked two different people) they gave reasonable explanations for why students might leave (ie. family problems, pregnancy, etc) that might cause a student to leave any institution. However, they did not account for why that rate is higher at this school than others."
"the campus and surrounds are quite dismal.the facilities are okay with the exceptions of no fitness area, or cafeteria."
"There is NO WAY that I could go to this school. I have NEVER seen polution like that. I like to run and do a lot outside and I'm serious when I say that I would buy a high quality mask to wear if I lived there. The street signs are all a grey-brown from the air polution, and there is trash along all streets and highways. I could not wait to get out of there. It's too bad, because I liked the school itself. Oh, well."
"The school's facilities and location"
"The unattractiveness of the surrounding neighborhoods and the fact that the school is a renovated strip mall. Also that many students commute from different areas so the sense of community isn't all there. The tuition is pretty steep, but I guess that's expected from any private medical school."
"still have plenty of seats left even in June"
"None of the DO students were there because they are on vacation."
"The campus is located in a run-down part of town. Security gaurds, recomendation to live away from campus."
"none really"
"One of the DO's on the admissions board said, "we don't necessarily choose people who are gunners." It came off as though they choose second rate students."
"The doctor was a jerk. He didn't care or listen to my responses. He gave me a book at the end and said "here, something to remember us by." what an asshole move"
"Gee... the campus is ugly. A converted strip mall. They did a pretty good job with the classrooms, though. No one lives in Pomona- they generally live a few towns over since it's not very safe. Our student tour guides told us there had been 4 break-ins in the last 2 weeks... to walk in groups (even guys). When asked why they chose Western, the students answered "Well, I didn't really have a choice" and the other said "I applied here, interviewed, got in, so I cancelled my other interviews." Wow, way to sell the school- it's the only one I got into and I shortchanged myself?! Would like to have heard a positive answer! Plus, both were frumpy-looking, not that that matters but it doesn't help. They also seem out to get your money with these summer anatomy programs they offer- they scare into thinking you'll fail anatomy if you haven't had it before- like normally people have cadavers in their undergrad education?!!!"
"everythin from the small bookstore and library, to the cartoonish looking campus, to the city itself, looks like something out of a small-budget film production"
"The fact the school is right next to a train track. A train seems to pass by every half hour at least. However, most rooms are soundproof."
"Western is not in the safest city, and some of the buildings are poorly labeled, making it difficult to find your way around (particularly if you're new.)"
"It IS in a strip mall. I still liked it though. The buildings are new inside..."
"A lot! Western U appears very run down from the outside and surrounding area. Security guards patrol the streets and it is unsafe to be out after dark. I was encouraged to live outside of Pomona so this was disappointing b/c I would like to live near campus so I could avoid Southern Cal traffic. This is a disappointment b/c I like to stay out and study late at the library. Tuition is definitely too high. I was also upset that we were not told who or how many people would be interviewing us. "
"School is next to a railroad train"
"The retention rate is low. The student that gave us our tour told us that the school does not really go out of its way to make sure you get your degree."
"proximity of the train, not a "real" university campus"
"There is an obvious lack of study spaces for the size of this school. Even the library is too small to accomodate the number of students here. Also, I overheard from some students that the faculty voted to restrict internet access in the classrooms during class time. Huh?!? I would hope that the administration would choose to treat us like adults and let us make our own choices. I was talking to another interviewee and we both agreed that as high-tech as the classrooms are, restricting access to the internet is a step backwards and makes the school less attractive to both of us."
"It is hard to find a good(safe) and cheap place to live around the school."
"One of my interviewers (Dr. Martin) seemed prejudiced against me. I felt he attacked me personally during the interview just to get a rise out of me. Neither of my interviewers seemed interested in me. When I asked the question "What makes Western special? Why should I choose Western?" They skirted the issue, avoided the question, and changed the subject. It seems the school is having administration problems right now. It also felt as though they were having trouble filling seats in the class. At this late date, I expected them to have the class nearly full, but only half the seats had been filled. "
"the railroad tracks next to the campus with trains coming by every hour or so"
"The interviewer was very monotone and I did not feel he wanted to be there. "
"i wasn't very impressed by the area. the campus is an old mall, but the insides of the buildings are nice."
"The downtown part of town, as my father put it was reminiscent of Spanish Harlem, so not exactly the safest place at night alone. However, you will not spend your time there, the school is in one place and security gaurds abound, so the downtown did not affect my feelings about the school. Most of the students there live 15-30 minutes away and that works out fine for them. "
"Lack of a campus cafeteria. Maybe that's a good thing? I noticed like 8 fridges in the student lounge and went to check them out. They were all stuffed with meals that students brought. I plan to bring my own food anyways because I keep a strict healthy diet."
"The whole school is pretty small in general. It is also very close to a railroad track. The rooms, however, are soundproof."
"Not located in the best part of town"
"the bookstore(but atleast they had one as appose to some DO schools that don't even have one)"
"not at all what I expected. it is a total dive. Western was my top choice and now I must reconsider."
"Not enough places to get food on campus; no exercise/sporting facilities on campus"
"at least 3 security guards. area is not the safest in the world. equipment not state of the art."
"the heat"
"ghetto area; no on-campus housing, no cafeteria, didn't see a gym, facilities are somewhat old and not state of the art"
"nothing really"
"area's not too great, library was a little small"
"The campus isn't the traditional college setting- but it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. "
"The city of Pomona (drive through it at night and you'll see what I mean); school's exterior is unattractive as well."
"strip mall, Pomona the city"
"bad area- most students commute at least 15 minutes to campus (I would like to live across the street or on campus if possible!) all the security makes you wonder. The smog in that area is BAD though, I don't like to see the air I breath "
"Class hours are 8-5. How are you supposed to get studying done?"
"The school is quite small and in a strange surrounding area."
"The interviewer seemed anxious and hurried through the interview (15 min? What is that, I traveld hundereds of miles for 15 min?)Also the area around the school is sketchy? Durring my 30 min. wait for a taxi I counted 15 cop cars."
"Well, the school is a strip mall. Literally. But I thought it was kind of kooky and funny, actually."
"some what cramped OMM lab, potential shortage of group study rooms"
"Pomona is probably not the nicest place in the world, but it wasnt as bad as I was anticipating from reading interview feedback"
"Pomona isn't the nicest area, kind of smoggy. "
"exterior look & campus grounds"
"The smog"
"The campus, the location."
"The orientation meeting"
"The area, willingness of interviewer to speak candidly about residency stats, rotations, etc. "
"LA traffic"
"The surrounding area of the school. The buildings don't seem impressive from the outside, but it's nice in the inside. "
"Small campus, lousy bookstore, a loud train that drives by every so often."
"Hard to get alot across in a 30 minute interview. I felt like I discussed my research too much."
"location. "
"Location and condition of the school. However, thought the buildings aren't built specifically for the school the inside is nice for the students."
"the surrounding area...not very safe"
"the area"
"That there's no breakfast offered, not even a snack."
"For the MMI: don't be nervous, say anything unneccessary/babble on to try and fill time"
"that the MMI wasn't as stressful as I thought it would be"
"Be yourself and do not be overly nervous"
"Some of the lectures are streamed from the Oregon campus"
"How many people would be at the interview! At least 35 other applicants."
"Don't trip about MMIs! You'll do your best if you're not thinking about it at all."
"That the MMI was not something to stress about"
"That it was going to be a stress interview."
"That MMI was with actors rather than explaining what I'd do in such scenario"
"That the MMI was less stressful than you think. Just relax and be yourself. If you are completely unfamiliar, look up communication tips online to help you :)"
"That this school's so awesome in many levels."
"I wish I had practiced more motivational interviewing skills for the MMI. I also wish I had looked up more about healthcare aside from just reform. Besides that, I don't think there is anything else. It's hot outside. Be prepared for that."
"How stressful but incredibly interesting the experience of the MMI would be."
"It was my first time doing a MMI, so I wish I had more info about what that was like."
"How stressful the MMI would be! But then again, I'm glad I didn't know or i may have been more stressed."
"to bring other shoes for walking the mile from the hotel to school and back.. or take the bus."
"There will be a lot of sitting in the morning session."
"if you have an early interview time, you can leave at 2PM!"
"That they served breakfast so I could have slept in more."
"they provide breakfast"
"there's not much to do in the immediate pomona area."
"That there would be 100 people there to interview!!"
"Mints, lol j/k. I wish I had more time to explore the surrounding area and get to know the town itself."
"parking is free on weekends! you can park wherever you want for free!"
"I wish I knew that medical, dental, and podiatry students all have the same lectures together. I would have made sure to sit in on a class to see what this is about."
"Not to come so early. Waited around for a bit."
"That interview don't officially starts until afternoon. There could be large waiting time between lunch and interview."
"Nothing really. It was good to learn that the atmosphere was not a good fit for me. I couldn't have known that without going. Actually, I read some misinformation that attendance is required, and it's not. That's good to know."
"That the Shilo Inn where I stayed is a piece of Sh**. It felt like I walked into an 80's drug den. I've never seen so many pink couches and large mirrors...and my bed was made backwards with the sheets on top, weird. (And this was the suite!!)"
"That the security gaurds would not let you take pictures of campus. I wouldn't have brought my camera. "
"There would be 100 people here for interview. The interview was in the morning rather in the afternoon (which i think is better). The day ended at 2pm instead of 4pm. "
"that they would serve decent breakfast, that they wouldn't give bathroom breaks, that the guides were incorrect in telling us our interview would only be 30mins (some of us had 30 mins interviews... but most had 1hr... so prepare lots of questions for them)"
"That the interview would be that intense (3 interviewers staring at me while I sat in the middle of the room on a chair). Also, I wish I would have known that 100 students (I think 1/6 of all those interviewing) were being interviewed on the same day. "
"That the day would end at 2pm instead of 4pm like they said. That there would be like 250 students on interview day!! "
"That the interviewers would be taking notes the entire time. "
"it is true, they tell you to arrive at around 7:45, but the presentation doesn't start around around 8:45. Then it's the tour, lunch, and interviews start at 1 pm."
"Nothing that hasn't already been said."
"Where to park. Public lot on the opposite side of campus to where we needed to be (not a long walk, though). Make sure you bring quarters, parking pass is $1.50 for all-day."
"that the day doesn't really start until 8:45"
"Actual interview time begins at 1pm, 1:30, 2, 2:30, or 3 depending on what you are assigned. So tour finishes around 12, and if you have 3pm... yeah...lots waiting time, not fun."
"What time specifically I was interviewing at so I could better arrange for transportation."
"That I would get grilled kinda. Everyone who has interviewed there told me how relaxed the interview was :/"
"There would be such a gap between lunch and the actual interview. Some people had to just wait around for 2 hours."
"That I was going to have 4 interviewers. It didn't make it more stressful by any means, but it was a bit of a shock to see a panel of 4 people when you're anticipating 2. "
"How much down time there would be, but I do not what it would have changed."
"That check in is at 8:00, but the talks didn't start til 8:30/8:45ish. Also the map for the parking lot is not helpful, I ended up just parking in one of the day lots and paid the $1.50."
"the little post it for incomplete applications only meant i needed a picture. i thought they didnt get my mcat scores or something! ugh, they should just send us an email in the future to relieve needless stress!"
"*About my potential 'academic deficiencies' (turned out to be fine---I was complete) *They hadn't received my LOR (I submitted them electronically from the admissions office before my interview via Interfolio)."
"Take SDN stuff with a grain of salt, the campus is nice and Pomona isn't bad at all (compared to some places)"
"that you don't need to get there until 8:30 or so because nothing happens until 8:45 anyways"
"Just an interesting fact that Western can have different # of interviewer. There is no fix #. I got 4 interviewers. All have poker faces and they sat you down like how FBI would with a suspect."
"Where parking lot 2-1 is."
"That I didn't have to show up till 8:45. That the interviews weren't till the end. Really, you don't have to show up till 1."
"That it would be so out of the ordinary for someone from the east coast to want to attend the school."
"I was interviewed by two basic science faculty member. They did not ask me about Osteopathy or any detail questions about practicing as a future physician."
"How long the day would have felt."
"The size of the "campus""
"Find out where to park beforehand...."
"That the hotel recommended by the school (Shilo Inn) is the greatest dump I could imagine, but they do provide free transportation to and from the university and the airport so for $70/night, it's not a bad deal, I suppose"
"That we would be sitting so long in an uncomfortable room."
"to read up on my research project, i fumbled with that question"
"I'm glad I knew the interviews didn't start until 1:30. I wish I knew where to find a parking spot. It took ten minutes but people on campus were helpful guiding me. "
"California is really far away from the east coast. Pomona is a small city that is lacking in culture."
"I wish I knew that the orientation would take half the day and the interviews did not begin until 1pm. Luckily weather was good and didn't get hot until the afternoon, and none of us were sweating in our suits walking around campus. "
"Nothing really. Just go with the flow and be excited for the interview. Oh, and talk it up with the students...they're one of the best parts of the school"
"Nothing. I was very familiar with this school as I live 20 miles away and have visited and interacted with students many times. "
"It's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. I went thinking that I would not take an acceptance at this school just because of the location (and because I was already accepted at a couple of great out-of-state schools) and decided on going here after the interview. "
"That I would not go there."
"The location is NOT THAT BAD! I have lived in the suberbs and in urban environments. By everyone's description, I though I was about to go into some shanty hooverville. The school is very clean and secure while the surrounding area is not bad at all (but its not the Hamptons either). I think Pomona has improved over the last few decades (at least the area that Western is in). The city does have restaurants (although a bit off campus), an art district, farmer's market, etc... You are nearby the Claremont colleges, so if you want to be around many students, that is an option. You have access to all of LA. I went during spring break, so the school was a ghost town. There were not that many faculty or students around to ask questions. "
"The school really is located in a dump. It's in a strip mall, and is surprising sad."
"How much this institution didn't feel like a real campus."
"They research you ahead of time. The interviewer asked me about every hit he had apparently found via google. Luckily, all the sites that came back were academic. Lunch is provided, so is water from the bookstore."
"The facilities are terrible"
"That the new ''osteopathic medicine'' facility will be for other health sciences as well."
"That I would have to wait 2 hours before I interviewed - I should have brought a book with me."
"I didn't realize how chill the interview would be"
"That the only additional money they will add to your financial budget if you have a family is paying for daycare :/. They do this to reduce your debt but it doesn't help those whose wives don't work."
"It looks like a strip mall, which I knew already coming in. Its about 1.5hrs from LA with no traffic and 3hrs with traffic."
"I did not discover anything regretful, rather just more information that will enable me to make an informed decision on my part. I happened to interview first, at 1:30p, however, some people had to wait until 3:30 with nothing but their nerves. Be prepared to potentially wait, with nothing to do. "
"That I would be wasting my time."
"Really shady place. I would fit in here"
"$1000 deposit made twice before school starts."
"Don't listen to the jerk off below who says that the Shereton Fairplex is overpriced and terrible place to stay. They are an idiot who obviously payed too much and didn't get the discount. The cost is 105 a night down from 260 a night. The rooms are huge with a living room and bedroom. The service is exellent, and they provide free shuttles from the airport and school (this alone will save you 50 in cab fees at least). Stay at the sheraton and ask about their rates for applicants."
"Nothing really. "
"nothing, exverything i expected to happen did"
"tuition went up to almost 40 grand per year"
"Nothing. My friends that are current students there told me everything."
"That the group of interviewees would be so large!"
"Nothing. Overall, I was impressed by the faculty, students, and staff. Everyone seems happy to be there."
"There weren't really any surprises."
"Bring your parking pass because non metered parking is limited "
"??"
"Pomona isn't THAT bad. Don't believe everything you hear. The students seem happy. I was impressed with everything but the dean..."
"1000 to hold my spot due jan 1"
"That the person in whom's office you are interviewing is not necessarily the person(s) interviewing you. ps Dr. Jones is really a nice guy."
"That to accept their offer, you have to pay two $1,000 deposits and that I would have until the first of January to respond with a check if I took them up. I didn't find out I was accepted until December 16, so it didn't leave a lot of time. $1,000 is a lot of money, after all. At least for me, it is."
"That the street that leads to the main building is blocked off, unlike MAPQUEST's directions"
"The two $1000 deposits seem a little steep. You only get it back if you end up going to the school, but it limits you especially if you haven't gone on all of your interviews yet. "
"They consistantly have students go into top resideny slots including USC, UCSF, Yale, Stanford etc"
"That I was going to have a stress interview! My interviewers asked me some weird questions."
"that my interviewers had it in for me"
"That 90 percent of interviewees get in."
"huntington beach is only 30 mins away. mexico 2.5 hrs, skiing 30min to 1.5 hours, sounds pretty fun...but the students dont get out much b/c of studying"
"They don't serve breakfast, and the Motel 6's continental breakfast is sub-par"
"should have brought a book to read while waiting"
"Public transportation to the school from surrounding areas is virtually non-existant."
"Just because it is an open file interview do not expect the interviewers to have actually read it."
What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 1)?