I noticed a bunch of students on campus for second look day, and it made me reflect a bit back on my application experience. I browsed SDN frequently when I was applying, and after a couple years here at CU I wanted to mention some things I wish I knew when making my decision on which school to attend. To preface my comments- I don’t want this post to come off as disparaging, and I honestly don’t know how things are at most other medical schools. I hope to be helpful, because I feel that usually only the positive aspects of a school are presented on SDN (or from the admissions committee- for obvious reasons). There is plenty to like about CU, but here a few things that I would have liked to know before starting, and would encourage prospective students to enquire more about.
First, the school is in Aurora, NOT Denver. Aurora is likely the least desirable suburb of Denver, which leaves students the option of either living on campus, or commuting ½ hour (if you decide to live in Denver) each day to school. Maybe not a big deal to some, but either option gets tiresome after a couple years.
The first two years of school are taught by a huge number of unpaid professors associated with the campus. There are a couple full-time faculty members dispersed in each block, but the majority of lectures will be from people you only see once. It’s not uncommon to have 60+ different lecturers for each block, which means 60+ different teaching styles, leading to a frustratingly disorganized teaching system. I stopped watching lectures entirely during second year (and I know several of my classmates did as well), and started teaching myself using text books and board study resources. This was fine, but considering the amount of tuition I’m paying it became a bit frustrating. I’m not sure why exactly the curriculum is set up this way, but it’s likely based on money. Colorado is near the bottom of the nation in funding higher education, likely contributing to CU’s lack of full time employees. This is probably entirely unrelated, but we’ve lost a number of awesome faculty recently. The legendary Dr. Winn, the anatomy block director Robin Michaels, and the very popular pathology instructor Phil Boyer to name a few.
Lectures aren’t required, but there are quite a few “small group” sessions mixed in that they take attendance at. Groups usually contain 16-20 students, which in my opinion diminishes the effectiveness of this type of learning. Instead of small group discussions, these often turn into pimping sessions or just students going around in circles taking turns answering questions.
I could rant for days about the communication and inter-professional sessions, but I’ll just say that many afternoons are taken away from learning class material to attend these ever-changing pilot programs. The goals of these sessions are valid, but in practice (to me) they are a frustrating waste of time.
3rd year rotations are not set up well to explore specialties. This isn’t surprising, since CU has a bit of an obligation to produce primary care physicians. Several residents and 4th year students have commented on this as well, so it’s something to consider if you are hoping to enter a competitive field. Plenty of CU students still match into competitive specialties, just know that you will likely have to find outside opportunities on your own.
The dedicated step 1 study period/break between 2nd and 3rd year is 5 weeks. Most students spend 4 weeks studying, leaving only 1 week for break before starting 3rd year.
Again, these are a few of the things I haven’t like about CU. I’m sure various SDN posts and presentations from the admissions committee have filled you in on the good things CU has to offer. Anyways, send me a message if you have any specific questions, or if you’re interested in checking out the campus I’d be glad to show you around.
