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thanks for the feedback pospho and nontrad.
i was accepted at another school but picked WSU because the tuition was a far better deal at the time. in retrospect, the tuition issue made no difference because WSU increases their tuition by 10% or so every year while the private institution locked you in at your MS1 year tuition throughout your training. i was waitlisted at my top choice and could have gone there if i reapplied but i decided against it- i probably would have done that in retrospect.
WSU is a decent place to train but a lot of their selling points are kind of bogus in my opinion. The Introduction to Clinical Medicine course can be more of a hinderence than a help. Volunteer faculty are not on top of medicine in the way that paid faculty need to be to keep their jobs. Global Health Initiative is not really unique and you can do international electives at all medical schools in the country. A newly renovated building with a snazzy anatomy lab doesn't help you in third and fourth year when you live downtown. etc.
I guess all schools do a little false advertising to get people jazzed up about their training experience. But at the institution I am at now, they don't market themselves all too much but their training is incredibly solid and well integrated.
One of my main problems with WSU is that the school is run in a way that they want everyone to follow the same formula. they don't seem to play to people's individual strengths and primarily focus on making sure everyone is minimally qualified.*** it's hard for me to describe and it could just be that it wasn't the right environment for me. but it was an uninspiring four years. **
many of my classmates have similar complaints. many of the kids in the class above and class below share these feelings. of course, there are plenty of students who have intense school spirit and volunteer to speak very kindly for the school. in my class, the students who were highly visible were able to do more away electives and enjoy more comforts than the average student. it was a little irritating at the time.
i went in to medical school thinking that i was just committing four years of my life to getting a medical degree. but four years is a long freaking time in an environment that you don't feel comfortable. life in dayton is a little rough if you are not from the area. many young people leave dayton if they have the opportunity so it somewhat devoid of life- which can be depressing at times, especially if you're single. it seems like students have so much more fun at schools with more cohesion and opportunities to express yourself personally and professionally.
i don't hate WSU- i got trained fairly well and moved along to the next step. i just realize now that i could have had a much better experience training at a program that matched my needs a little better and cared about my professional development in addition to meeting minimal requirements.
retrospect gives you 20/20 vision but everything seems to tend toward working out real well while you're in the process.
good luck!
*** a good example of this: you really have no time to do clerkships in any specialty during MS3. the school has so many requirements that you are applying in to residency with very little idea of what your options are. MANY people complain about this. in a similar vein, second year ends later than many other schools so there is far less time to study for step 1 compared to other schools- a serious competitive disadvantage. if you know that you want to go in to family or you're 100% set on radiology- it's all good. if you're trying to keep you options open (or would appreciate the opportunity to change your mind)- WSU can be quite limiting.
** uninspiring in the sense that there is no good exposure to what your options are. you have to be extremely proactive to make things happen for yourself. fortunately, i am a proactive person and things worked out well for me. but most students think that meeting the WSU requirements will somehow endow them with some great wisdom as to which path they should take. this could not be further from the truth. the institution i train at now helps students understand their options better, allows for early electives in specialties during third year to help clarify your career path before having to apply for residency and allows student to do as many away electives as they desire (which can greatly increase your chances at matching in to competitive residencies).
i was accepted at another school but picked WSU because the tuition was a far better deal at the time. in retrospect, the tuition issue made no difference because WSU increases their tuition by 10% or so every year while the private institution locked you in at your MS1 year tuition throughout your training. i was waitlisted at my top choice and could have gone there if i reapplied but i decided against it- i probably would have done that in retrospect.
WSU is a decent place to train but a lot of their selling points are kind of bogus in my opinion. The Introduction to Clinical Medicine course can be more of a hinderence than a help. Volunteer faculty are not on top of medicine in the way that paid faculty need to be to keep their jobs. Global Health Initiative is not really unique and you can do international electives at all medical schools in the country. A newly renovated building with a snazzy anatomy lab doesn't help you in third and fourth year when you live downtown. etc.
I guess all schools do a little false advertising to get people jazzed up about their training experience. But at the institution I am at now, they don't market themselves all too much but their training is incredibly solid and well integrated.
One of my main problems with WSU is that the school is run in a way that they want everyone to follow the same formula. they don't seem to play to people's individual strengths and primarily focus on making sure everyone is minimally qualified.*** it's hard for me to describe and it could just be that it wasn't the right environment for me. but it was an uninspiring four years. **
many of my classmates have similar complaints. many of the kids in the class above and class below share these feelings. of course, there are plenty of students who have intense school spirit and volunteer to speak very kindly for the school. in my class, the students who were highly visible were able to do more away electives and enjoy more comforts than the average student. it was a little irritating at the time.
i went in to medical school thinking that i was just committing four years of my life to getting a medical degree. but four years is a long freaking time in an environment that you don't feel comfortable. life in dayton is a little rough if you are not from the area. many young people leave dayton if they have the opportunity so it somewhat devoid of life- which can be depressing at times, especially if you're single. it seems like students have so much more fun at schools with more cohesion and opportunities to express yourself personally and professionally.
i don't hate WSU- i got trained fairly well and moved along to the next step. i just realize now that i could have had a much better experience training at a program that matched my needs a little better and cared about my professional development in addition to meeting minimal requirements.
retrospect gives you 20/20 vision but everything seems to tend toward working out real well while you're in the process.
good luck!
*** a good example of this: you really have no time to do clerkships in any specialty during MS3. the school has so many requirements that you are applying in to residency with very little idea of what your options are. MANY people complain about this. in a similar vein, second year ends later than many other schools so there is far less time to study for step 1 compared to other schools- a serious competitive disadvantage. if you know that you want to go in to family or you're 100% set on radiology- it's all good. if you're trying to keep you options open (or would appreciate the opportunity to change your mind)- WSU can be quite limiting.
** uninspiring in the sense that there is no good exposure to what your options are. you have to be extremely proactive to make things happen for yourself. fortunately, i am a proactive person and things worked out well for me. but most students think that meeting the WSU requirements will somehow endow them with some great wisdom as to which path they should take. this could not be further from the truth. the institution i train at now helps students understand their options better, allows for early electives in specialties during third year to help clarify your career path before having to apply for residency and allows student to do as many away electives as they desire (which can greatly increase your chances at matching in to competitive residencies).
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