Does anyone know what a typical day at NYU is like? i.e. x hours of lecture, etc.
I communicated with a current student with regard to this question after I got my letter. Here are the relevant parts of her emails:
" [. . .] we typically have 1.5 hours of small group discussions 2-3 times per week. In a typical week we may have two hours in class in the morning and then have a short PBL session after lunch. These are led by faculty members and are great ways to ask questions about material covered in our lectures and to learn how clinicians solve medical problems. Unfortunately I don't think there's a link to the daily class schedule that is not password-protected. We have about 20 hours of class per week and the few days leading up to an exam we usually have free to study. This class schedule is probably the thing I like most about NYU, because it leaves students with a lot of flexibility to spend time pursuing their other interests or learning in the way that best suits them."
"Here's an example (probably pretty representative) of my class schedule. [This student is a second year, though... Since the first years this year are the first to have the new curriculum, this might be a little different than what we would have..]
Monday: 9 AM - 11 AM lectures, 11-12:30 lunch, 12:30 - 2:00 small group conference, 2 - 4 Bedside Diagnosis (in the hospital with a resident)
Tuesday: 9 AM - 11 AM lectures, 11-12:30 lunch, 12:30 - 2:00 conference
Wednesday: 9 AM - 11 AM lectures, 11-2:30 lunch, 12:30-1:30 lecture
Thursday: 9 AM - 11 AM lectures, 11-12:30 lunch, 12:30 - 2:00 conference
Friday: 9 AM -10:30 AM conference, 10:30 AM - noon conference
Our classes typically start at some time between 9 AM and 10 AM depending on the unit.
We only take one class at a time (with other units for bedside diagnosis scattered in) so at the end of each unit we have one exam that covers everything. Typically this means that we have an exam every 2-4 weeks and when we finish an exam we are really done with that material.
During anatomy, I believe that the 20-hour week still applies, but more time is spent doing dissection and less time is spent in lectures (just 1 or 2 hours per day).
[. . .] In the small group sessions we often go over one case example and then talk about relevant material that was covered in lecture. There is no "new" material that is covered in small group that we are responsible for-our exams are only on material covered in the lecture.
There is no internal ranking system during the preclinical period. They report the top 20 individuals in each unit which is used for AOA later on (although clinical grades count for almost all of the AOA ranking). Other than these individuals there is no ranking for students. I know that I applied for a summer fellowship that asked the dean's office to rank whether I was in the top 1/4, middle 1/2, or bottom 1/4 and the dean's office actually wouldn't answer that question. This actually surprised me...I had assumed that they really did rank people without telling us, but I guess they don't. [Pseudo ranking!]"