Technically speaking, I agree that the policy is not the best, but I really can’t look a gift-horse in the mouth!
I just have a tendency to freeze during interviews but know otherwise I would be great. Yet there are others out there that are smart enough, but unstable.
A litmus test for sure. I hope my classmates will be stable!
I just got back from WVSOM yesterday after touring. Hopefully I can post some comments here that are of help to anyone applying. If you haven’t already read this thread, at least two people on it (myself and misscompassion) were accepted to WVSOM as part of their early admissions program, which I believe they started this year. They didn’t interview us, just accepted us based on what we look like on paper.
First, I think it is an honor to be accepted this way, after visiting this school. I talked with many faculty, including one who sits on the admissions committee. I sat in on a PBL class, and took the tour and lunch with a group of interviewees. It was nice to at least not have to wear a suit and be stressed out about interviews. 
Overall, I would say it is an excellent school. I’ll list my opinions:
—POSITIVES----
- Lewisburg is awesome. It reminmds me of a small town my wife and I used to live in, nestled in the mountains, but it’s a better version of that town here in CO. It’s small town and semi-rural living, but this town has a ton of both history and class. Most of the buildings are the old stone, historical buildings. It’s somewhat of a tourist town, but you wont find any T-shirt shops. It caters more toward people who have money, and taste, yet it’s not an expensive town by any means to shop in. Gas is CHEAP (at least compared to CO). There are some very nice restaurants, not expensive (by big city standards) but very nice. Nice shops. There is a health food store, a farmer’s market on weekends and a co-op. There is a small grocery store and a couple of smaller chain grocery stores in the area. Unfortunately there’s also a Wal-Mart at the edge of town. They have the WV Carnegie Hall in this town, with some very big names that show up there. There is a lot of culture in this town, from art to music to community. It would be an extremely fun place to live whether as a student or otherwise.
- WV is gorgeous. The steep, lush hills actually remind me of the mountainous area of Belize, and Central America. It’s not as warm during the winter or hot during the summer of course, but has that feel. People live in the valleys, and the mountains are relatively untouched, it appears to me. Very pristine, so if you’re a nature-lover like I am, it’s definitely a wonderful place.
- Housing is very cheap.
- The WVSOM campus is beautiful and new. The lecture classrooms are very high-tech. You can get every lecture in MP3 format from the library. Most of the campus is 24-hour (surprised me for a relatively small school like this). The local people are extremely nice and friendly, and love their WVSOM students.
- The school administration is extremely helpful. My main liaison was a recruiter, and I can only speak for her, but she was superlative. She found information about the area for my wife to be able to follow up on (my wife spent the day checking out the area), that was way beyond what I would have expected her to do. She grew up in the area, and knew exactly who to talk to about what, for every possible question I had. She did all the legwork for everything I even mentioned, let alone asked specific questions on. Her name is Melissa (Missy), and I’d highly recommend working with her, for anyone who needs to work with a recruiter there.
- They have PBL and SBL tracks. The majority of students do SBL. The PBL group that I sat in on (about 8 students) was pretty much what I expected. I liked it, and could definitely see myself learning more with that approach than I would with SBL.
- They are very serious about OMM, and have a student clinic. So far, I would say that they are the most serious school regarding OMM of any osteopathic schools I’ve interviewed at yet. They will be offering the 1+ and 2 year specialty/subspecialties starting in the next year or two.
— NEGATIVES —
- Clinical opportunities… here’s where they aren’t as strong, imo. Firstly, if you have a family, you will probably have preference to stay in the area for some of your rotations. Otherwise, and in the case of at least some rotations, you will be definitely traveling around the state. However, I am not sure how good all their clinical opportunities are. My main criticism would be that even their larger hospitals might have a relatively homogenous type of patient base. My personal concern would be, that I wouldn’t get nearly the same clinical diversity of experience that I might get in a place like San Antonio for instance - with about 4 hospitals within a stone’s throw of the school, ranging from VA to the busiest ER in the city. This is an issue with any rural school in a low-density population state though, and isn’t just a problem with WVSOM. This is also just my perception, but may not be reality there.
Secondly, I don’t know how much clinical opportunity the students get in the first few years. I think if you are agressive about seeking out clinical time, you might be able to make it happen (this is probably true anywhere), but it’s not handed to you easily. As an example, the second year student I was talking to was really excited about getting to take part in a male health fair, checking prostates and taking blood pressures. Her exuberance surprised me, as I think that these types of particular clinical experiences would be “old hat” already (by one’s second year) in some schools I have visited so far. I would estimate that they are weak on integrating real clinical experience into the first two years. There are no preceptorship or research opportunities in the summer between MS1 and MS2 - at least not with any kind of stipend. You can create a shadowing experience for yourself though, which again just depends on how aggressively you want to pursue clinical experience early. For me, that is a crucial part of MS1 and MS2.
- They are extremely expensive - especially for out-of-state. I realize there are a lot of D.O. schools that are not too far behind them, but it just seems like a lot of money to spend, and a lot of debt to incur, without a pressing reason to do so at this particular school. This is a personal issue, as I’ve already gone through being poor and then making money and climbing out of huge debt once in my life. I don’t really relish doing it again. They don’t have any real scholarships to speak of. If you are young(er) and don’t mind the prospect of having at least 200K of debt over your head by the time you start residency, which you will at best be able to make interest payments on a resident’s salary, then this is maybe not an issue. However, I would need to find ways to pay for this myself, which would involve me not being able to do my own thing (going back into the military, etc), and I don’t really think I want to do that at this point. I’m thinking it over though. IF you are going to get the military or someone else to pay for your medical education though, this is the school to do it at. At least you know you are expensive to them, and are making them really PAY for your payback time later.
- There is a disproportionate amount of traffic on the main drag, for the population density. It is definitely rush hour crawling going up and down a mile or two on that road between the town and the freeway to the north, for a good part of the morning and afternoon. There are other ways to get to neighboring towns, but they are round about and nobody uses them. Biking/running/walking to school might be a chore, although those back roads may be the answer. It’s not exactly a bicycle friendly area if you are any main roads.
- Lots of firearms. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing. I definitely believe in the right to bear arms, but I don’t like the idea of running from gunfire in the woods during a trail run because a poacher mistook me for a deer, which I think could actually be a possibility out there. In talking with a cop I saw who was wearing a SWAT uniform (which surprised me), there is very little crime in the area like robbery, assault, murder, drugs. It’s a good place to raise children, imo. However, they have a lot of (as he put it) “drunk rednecks who beat their wives on friday night and end up being a hostage or stand-off situation.”
Anyway, I think that’s all I have. Hope this is of help to misscompassion and anyone else considering this school. One final thing is that the early admissions thing is not just a numbers game with high science GPA and MCAT. That’s the initial prereq to be considered for it, but there is a lot more that goes into it. So consider it a compliment, misscompassion, that you were selected that way…after visiting with them, I definitely do now.
thanks for the great write-up, SamMed. I’ll be visiting there Nov 5-6. Did you hear any fiddle music while you were there?
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4. Lots of firearms. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing. I definitely believe in the right to bear arms, but I don't like the idea of running from gunfire in the woods during a trail run because a poacher mistook me for a deer, which I think could actually be a possibility out there. In talking with a cop I saw who was wearing a SWAT uniform (which surprised me), there is very little crime in the area like robbery, assault, murder, drugs. It's a good place to raise children, imo. However, they have a lot of (as he put it) "drunk rednecks who beat their wives on friday night and end up being a hostage or stand-off situation."
LOL! I had forgotten about that part of life! I actually grew up about 5 hours from there in SW rural PA where this rings true as well. It is common knowledge to wear bright colors during hunting season, but some places require it year-round! If you go for a trail-run, be sure to wear one of those bright orange tops to differentiate you from the wildlife! I love rural outdoor activities and I plan on getting orange tops for me, my husband, baby, and dog!
Since one of my missions in life is to combat DV, this would be a great place to investigate and try out intervention strategies.
It sounds like a great place, the only downside is cost. It will be difficult starting residency at 40 owing that much and nothing saved towards retirement, never mind my own child's college fund! But compared to other options and situations in my life, it may be the best choice for us.
Thank you so much for your synopsis, I am more assured that this is a good choice.
Ttraub, let us know what you think as well when you visit.