@Just_Daikon
Q1) I really, really like the curriculum. I can’t even imagine how other people do med school without doing the flipped classroom. I feel like there is minimum wasted time this way. I will say that I’m usually a day or two behind so some of the group sessions go over my head and other people usually “carry” but if you’re prepped they’re very useful. I love my HAP. We were given a list of about 50 things to list as our top choices and you could choose in-person, online, or hybrid. I know some of my friends are neutral about it, but I feel like it’s because they didn’t find a service project that really resonated with them. It’s also not a lot of time during the week and is a much-needed break from the med school bubble.
Q2) benefits of DUCOM (sorry if formatting is awful I’m on mobile!)
(A) It’s a perfect area for me. It’s close to the city but I don’t have to live in it and deal with all those people.
(B) The faculty. I genuinely love all of the faculty. If I’ve ever struggled with a subject, they’ve reached out to me, helped me for hours at a time, and made sure I had the resources to succeed. Similarly, they’ve made every single possible effort to make all of the craziness of 2020 not affect our schoolwork. They’ve cancelled extraneous tests, moved around things, and added small treats when representatives of our class reach out to them to say we’re overwhelmed. Honestly, their response to our requests has been really refreshing and surprising.
(C) I’m not sure if this is at other med schools (probably), but I’ve met a lot of students who get the real world. They’ve failed, pushed through it, maybe been sidetracked, but they made it here. I haven’t met one person who’s doing this without some sort of passion. I really like the students here.
Cons——
(A) There isn’t as much research here as other schools. There’s definitely a lot of places in the area to do it, but I would have liked the sweet, sweet 10 minute drive to campus for research. There are positions, just not many.
(B) Cost. Because I’m paying with loans, I am seeing how the price of Drexel vs a state school is influencing how I’m looking at residency, my next ten years, and where I’ll be. It’s expensive, yo.
(C) Rotation sites. I mentioned that above.
Q3) Advice! Choose a pass/fail school. Get a roommate unless you hate people (you’ll need the support). Only schools that see you fitting them pretty perfectly will choose you, so don’t waste your money applying to bad fits. Practice a MMI before going to interviews so you don’t have a horrible experience like me! Learn Spanish. Find some way to make every day memorable (I do one second of video clip a day). It goes by so, so fast.
drexel.edu
