ANnoying things at school

[Kazu]

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I was just wondering if some of the annoying things at jefferson are typical. Here are the things that bug me. Mostly really trivial but annoying none the less. Does your school do the same thing?
1. We don't get backexams, or practice exams for many of our classes.
2. We don't get to keep our exams after we take them. If we want to see what we got wrong, we have to look at it in the prof's office (to prevent copying the exam)
3. The school doesn't provide microscopes so we have to rent microscopes from an outside company.
4. We had to buy gloves and dissection kits for anatomy lab.
5. We only get free printing on ancient dot matrix printers that don't work.
6. Lecture notes cost over $100/semester.

There is a lot that I like here too, I am just curious about the annoying things. If they are common, they won't be so annoying anymore.

 

[dr.evil]

Yep, all of those things are the same at my med school. In fact, printing now costs 5 cents per page (as if tuition isn't enough).

Don't worry, once 3rd year hits, there will be so many little things that annoy you that you'll just give up and take it for the team!

 

[doughboy]

No kidding.....$30,000 tuition and then I have to rent my own microscope. Why don't they just add it to the tuition since everyone has to rent one anyway. Anatomy aprons and kits as well...can't they just buy each cadaver group a set and then pass it on to the next year? Lecture notes are expensive as well but since I don't go to class, they are definitely a necessity. Like the previous poster stated, it just gets worse. Oh well...that's the price to be a doctor.

 

[rubyness]

Originally posted by Kazu:

1. We don't get backexams, or practice exams for many of our classes.

Nope, neither do we.

2. We don't get to keep our exams after we take them. If we want to see what we got wrong, we have to look at it in the prof's office (to prevent copying the exam)

We can't see the tests unless we FAIL them.

3. The school doesn't provide microscopes so we have to rent microscopes from an outside company.
Same here.
4. We had to buy gloves and dissection kits for anatomy lab. Same here.
5. We only get free printing on ancient dot matrix printers that don't work.
We have to pay $.30 per page to print!
6. Lecture notes cost over $100/semester.
Transcript service $230 per year--and it's not a transcript, it's a transcriber's interpretation of the lecture.

I'm glad you posted this. I thought we were the only ones, and these things really pissed me off! Now I don't feel so bad anymore!

 

[Smurfette]

1. Practice tests, etc. vary by class. Some we get extensive practice tests, others we get nada.
2. We have to go to the academic skills office to look at our exams and are not allowed to keep the exam copy either.
3. We had 5-headed and individual microscopes provided for us...I think making students rent them from an external company is awful!
4. We had to buy gloves and dissection kits for anatomy lab. And lab coats.
5. We have free laser printing.
6. Lecture notes cost $100-200 for the year, can't remember exact amount. Maybe $225?

How about these annoying quirks (kind of a tangent)
*Our only tv only gets CBS and the BBC
*Our study lounges have broken doors and need an overall cleaning
*Motion lights everywhere necessitate that you get up and flail your arms every half hour to turn the lights back on while you're trying to study
*Our copiers are NEVER functioning properly
*Neither are the change machines
*Need a bath? Use the drinking fountain!
*Our building has no security (many weirdos come out at night)

 

[Dodge This]

Wow, no offense but you guys seem to have it pretty rough. Most of these annoyances are non-existant at my school, though we pay for it with one of the highest tuitions in the country.

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Kazu:
I was just wondering if some of the annoying things at jefferson are typical. Here are the things that bug me. Mostly really trivial but annoying none the less. Does your school do the same thing?
1. We don't get backexams, or practice exams for many of our classes.
2. We don't get to keep our exams after we take them. If we want to see what we got wrong, we have to look at it in the prof's office (to prevent copying the exam)
3. The school doesn't provide microscopes so we have to rent microscopes from an outside company.
4. We had to buy gloves and dissection kits for anatomy lab.
5. We only get free printing on ancient dot matrix printers that don't work.
6. Lecture notes cost over $100/semester.
••••1. We have online quizzes for many of our disciplines which are very representative of the ways the actual exam questions are asked. Our faculty and school-sponsored tutoring program sets up practice practicals for gross anatomy and microanatomy.

2. We don't get to keep our exams either, but it's understandable.

3. Our microanatomy (histology/neuroanatomy/pathology) is all slide based (kodachrome carosels or computer images). We are provided with computerized images of all slides. Real slides are available, as well as microscopes, free of charge if we want to use them.

4. We had to buy our own gloves and dissection kits also. 🙁

5. We have 5 laser printers for free printing, as wells as free fax service, but no free copying.

6. I'm sorry you have to pay for lecture notes. That's really unfortunate. Lecturers here are required to write and provide lecture notes, which are distributed by the curriculum office.

•••quote:•••How about these annoying quirks (kind of a tangent)
*Our only tv only gets CBS and the BBC
*Our study lounges have broken doors and need an overall cleaning
*Motion lights everywhere necessitate that you get up and flail your arms every half hour to turn the lights back on while you're trying to study
*Our copiers are NEVER functioning properly
*Neither are the change machines
*Need a bath? Use the drinking fountain!
*Our building has no security (many weirdos come out at night) ••••* The TV in our student lounge gets cable.
* Study areas are cleaned nightly.
* No motions lights--guess we aren't all that concerned with electricity conservation.
* Copiers are always working and accept dollar bills, though the Vendi-Card machine is broken quite often.
* There's a shower available in the building.
* Building locks down at 6pm and requires a pass-code to get in after that (and also on the weekend). Security personel office is about 200 yds. away and manned 24/7.

 

[vyc]

it'd be helpful to hear what schools you go to, as well, if you're willing to disclose... !
thanks!

 

[Acro Yali]

Annoying things at my school...

1) weekly quizzes to keep us at the edge of our seats for 2 years...which are not too representative of whats going to be on the boards anyway.
2) we had to buy our own dissection kits....but everything else is provided, including microscope..but a lot of micro slides are missing
3) the computer network breaks down quite often
4) no notes service
5) we don't get back our exam either... although we can look at them.
6) some profesors need to take the English proficiency test before they teach/write test questions
7) stupid Ethics/Epidemiology/PBL classes that recieves an underservingly large amount of units

Good things...
1) early clinical exposure... by the end of the first two years, we have seen so many patients/done so many patient write-ups that going into third year is a breeze
2) a really caring administration
3) a clean lounge with a cable TV
4) a really good security system that makes people feel safe at night
5) the majority of professors really do care about us
6) printing is almost free

 

[Scooby Doo]

Come on people...at least say what school you are at!! 🙂

I am guessing the guy in los angeles is at USC 🙂

 

[guardian]

At the risk of being hated, I haven't experienced any of the aforementioned inconveniences. Having to rent microscopes from an outside company and paying for lecture notes is just awful. All of our courses have provided us a syllabus. We've been allowed to keep our exams, except for our practice of medicine and brain behavior/neuroanatomy course.... printing is free but sometimes unreliable. We had to purchase dissection kits, scrubs, gloves, but sounds like everyone does that.

One thing that irks me is that our Practice of Medicine exams coincide with our basic science course exams every time. Some random complaints of prehistoric Weiskotten Hall: infrequent cleaning service.... poor ventillation.... bizarre climate control....

 

[yunfat]

like scoob said, this thread would be much more useful if we knew what schools you were all talking about...

 

[Acro Yali]

Hi, its not that we don't want to let people know where we are. It just that some of us aren't comfortable about disclosing our school. This way we can be more candid about what we say. But when you guys choose where to apply, definitely use what we say as questions to ask...i.e., instead of asking whehter the school uses PBL/traditional, ask how much PBL there is, how much class time there are, which classes you take, is there note service,...etc. I think you guys get the idea. Often people just look at the catalog...its better to go one step ahead.

 

[Whisker Barrel Cortex]

Since many people already know my school, I can let you know that I am at MCW. We have only a couple of these annoying things. Here's the original list:

1. Got back the majority of our exams in the preclinical years, with a couple classes only having the questions posted on a billboard (which many people took down and copied).
2. Can buy copies of 4 years worth of old exams for practice from a student organization for around $80 per year.
3. Free microscopes.
4. Gotta buy anatomy kits, gloves, lab coat.
5. Charged 10 cents / page for laser printer, free dot matrix.
6. Either complete lecture notes or outlines for each lecture by the lecturer.
7. Note taking service called coops which are run by the students which gives organized presentations of the lectures, most of which are pretty good. This costs some money but I forget how much (I think around $100 year)

Additional good stuff:
1. Sattelite (sp?) TV, pool table, foosball, ping pong, couches in our very clean lounge.
2. Mostly clean study rooms (exception is when janitors can't get in due to people studying all night).
3. No motion sensor lights.
4. Shower and decent gym in basement.
5. Great security.
6. Awesome bookstore and staff. The manager has been at it a long time and guides you when you are trying to decide which books to buy (especially important in 3rd and 4th year).

Additional annoying things:
1. Lack of change machines in library is annoying.
2. No direct deposit of financial aid (this would be great in 3rd and 4th years where you might not come to main campus for months).
3. Can take too long to get some clinical grades (up to 3 months).

Otherwise, no real complaints. Its been a great 4 years! Exactly one month to go!