How was the shortened preclinical years?
It was hard, but med school in general is hard. I don't think it was any worse for us than it was for SMD12 or SMD13 in terms of difficulty. We did have a lot of logistical problems in my class (having a very shortened summer), but we were the first class to make the switch, and the vast majority of those problems have been ironed out and will be non-issues for future classes.
I don't know the exact stats for my class' Step 1 scores, but from what I've heard, they're on par with previous classes.
The best part is that we start clerkships about 4 months before other schools across the nation (one of my friends just finished with second year and is studying for boards; I've been on the wards for almost 12 weeks), which is also helpful because not everyone new is starting at the same time in July (the med students will have a fairly good feel for the wards, the computers, etc, when the interns start). We also get a bunch of extra time for electives during fourth year, the most important of which are prior to residency applications.
My class is awesome. We have many class-wide events throughout the year, mostly pot lucks or bar nights. There are social chairs for every class that puts on class-wide events, and there are also social chairs for the whole school who put on the same events each year (orientation, Fall Bonfire, Prom, Foxfield Horse Races, Talent Show, Faux New Years, etc). We have a weekly bar night with the whole med school (whoever wants to go out, anyway) that the first year chairs are responsible for organizing.
Many people in first, second, and fourth year play in intramural sports. In first year, you can get a little more involved (one of the current first years was in marching band in the fall with the undergrads, several people in my class had jobs, etc).
The courses are all P/F except during third year (when it's the usual A-F scale), which I feel lowers stress a lot. People get out and do things, and are, for the most part, happy people.
