Also, I would take into consideration (at least for the extremely negative remarks) that these remarks are only a small amount out of the student body as a whole. I can promise you that when you come for your interview, you will find few people that will be as negative about the school as what is presented here.
I would also take into consideration (a least for the extremely positive remarks) that these remarks are only a small amount out of the student body as a whole. There may not be as many who are vocally as negative, but I can guarantee you that a good portion of the class is displeased w/ the way things are run here.
As far as all of the statistics go that are being thrown back and forth, well...you know what they say about statistics.
We're all astute people here and I don't have to sit here and tell anyone that you can't trust all data. You need to look at where the data is coming from and how the questions are being posed. There may be misleading questions, which may distort the results etc. But when you have pointed questions like, "Do you agree with the attendance policy?" and "Do you want to get rid of the attendance policy?" The results from those questions are pretty clear to me.
There are issues that need to be worked out, some of which I, too am not happy about. What you can't forget is that this is medical school, not undergrad. They don't hold your hand..nor should they. It is much harder, if nothing but because of the amount of info you are being presented. Also, it requires much more independent studying time/self motivation...which, speaking on terms of what I know from a 1st year's perspective, is doable even with the attendance policy.
No one's asking for anyone to hold anybody's hands. If anything, it seems to me the school insists on holding our hands by enforcing such a strict attendance policy. I'm actually in support of less hand holding & more independent study time. And in this aspect, my undergrad institution treats its students more like adults by the fact that there isn't an attendance policy. And actually, if I compared each class I've taken at WCU to the same classes I took as an undergrad, I can honestly tell you my undergrad school was harder and the professors were better overall. And I agree, medical school is very doable, but it would, in my opinion, be just as doable if not easier w/o an attendance policy.
The reply from the faculty member above may be true, but let me pose another question to the administration. If class attendance really doesn't matter, then why do professors still threaten to dock a letter grade for non-compliance in their syllabus? This also brings me to my next point, why is there such a disconnect in communication from the administration to the student body? Nothing is ever explained, and I feel like we're constantly being left in the dark.
We as a student body need to put more effort into trying to get something done about these issues rather than coming on a forum anonymously and berating our professors and our school [and ourselves for our own decisions to come here/stay here if we really think it is that bad--and don't reply to me about debt and the like...because in the end being happy is more important than being in debt (which can be payed off even if it takes time) or just plain wasting your time].
The fact that we were able to get a reply from a faculty member on this thread means that we at least have got their attention. And you're right, we as a student body do need to become more united to get these issues fixed. And in order to do this, students who are passively enduring (or those who are in complete denial of current situations) need to stand up and vocalize their grievances. Nothing will change if you sit idly by and pretend everything is nice & rosy. So tell me, if things changed for the better, is this ‘berating' not justified?
I came into medical school knowing that I would be over 200K in debt by the time I start practicing, & I willingly accepted that fact. But the truth of the matter is, how can I be ‘happy' when I feel like I'm pouring money down the drain? When I feel like I'm not getting the education I paid for? When I feel like I'm wasting hours of my life in lecture learning the material the most inefficient way possible. And the thought of not being prepared for the boards coupled w/ the looming, ever-rising debt constantly above my head only makes it worse. And finally, happiness is important, but let me ask you, is happiness going to help you pass the boards? Is happiness going to pay off your debt?
