This response really varies by each individual but my best summary is below. I can't compare to other schools as I have only been a student here, but this is my interpretation of the pros/cons. (Sorry for the essay)
Pros:
Full medical curriculum - you learn the entire body head to toe, to the same extent that an MD or DO student does.
Our dean - he is a great teacher, and really tries to push students to be the best they can be. Our college has high expectations for us and I think it results in competent doctors.
Clinical Medicine classes - I think we have more patient encounters than any other schools but I am not sure. Something like 50 standardized patient encounters? I'm just throwing that number out there. There is a strong emphasis on humanism and communication with patients which has had a profound impact on my problem-solving skills and the way I approach a clinical problem.
Big University = lots of money for stuff; WesternU has 9 colleges. So there are hundreds of clubs and ways to get involved. I have been part of a community service club that essentially had a budget that approved everything we asked for. Also there are medical teams of students that go on international medical trips every year. There are clubs for different interest groups, religions, culture, hobbies, etc.
Academic support - I was really nervous about the curriculum intensity, especially because podiatry has a lot of students dropping out of programs for various reasons. The LEAD office here has free academic counseling, personal counseling, tutoring, meditation sessions, etc. The academic counseling sessions are so helpful because they help you pinpoint how you can use your preferred study method to be most successful. They have given me a lot of useful advice and helped with my academic struggles.
Nice people - people here generally want to help you. If you don't understand a pathway in neuro, most med students in your class would love to help explain it to you. The staff are really great and will help direct you to random resources or contacts that you may need. Also the academic classes change every year. If students give a professor BAD reviews, there may be some shuffling in the next year so that a particular teacher is not a course director, for example. My impression has been that the academic deans sincerely try to improve the classes every year and they will listen to student input on if something has value or not.
Recorded class lectures - this isn't unique to WesternU but I gotta say it's
AMAZINGGGGG to not have to go to class and be able to watch on 2x speed and have control/autonomy over your schedule. So much freedom through this.
Cons:
I agree with the comment about food- the on campus option has limited hours and mediocre food. I have heard that they are planning on building more of a "food court" type setup on campus, but I am not sure when it will be completed. I mostly prepare meals at home or travel 10-15 minutes away to an area with more restaurant options.
An academic con in my opinion relates to the podiatry courses. Since our curriculum is equivalent to a medical school curriculum, podiatry classes are not a big focus for many students. We take podiatry classes throughout the first two years, but they are usually only 3.0-4.5 units each semester. To give some perspective, we had 35.5 total units our first semester, and 42.5 units second semester. From what I have been told by 3rd/4th year students, the podiatry "gap" in our knowledge is filled once we start seeing patients and studying material based on cases we see in hospitals. We also have to study a lot of lower extremity anatomy for APMLE step 1 on our own time. But they do give us some dedicated time to study for this. Let me know if I should clarify further.
Another con that could be something to consider is that the podiatry program is newer than other podiatry schools. We have had excellent board scores/residency placements considering the fact that we are so new, but there are still issues related to administration hiccups. For example, there has been some staff that used to process our grades that changed departments, so at one point over the last year, it took about 8 weeks for us to get our grades after finishing a class. It was annoying at the time, but in the big picture, not a huge deal.
