Any second thoughts about your choice of schools?

[DropkickMurphy]

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What are some of the down sides to your school? What are the common complaints? Would you have gone elsewhere had you known about them?

 

[PreMedAdAG]

great avatar!

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Thanks. 🙂 Your's isn't too bad either 🙂 😉

 

[NPursuit]

Go to a school with P/F your first two years. Just do it. You'll thank the 10 kabilllon people who are going to tell you that, too.

Sure, let money decide, too, but man, that P/F thing is worth it.

 

[skypilot]

Go to a school with P/F your first two years. Just do it. You'll thank the 10 kabilllon people who are going to tell you that, too.

Sure, let money decide, too, but man, that P/F thing is worth it.

Yup, it changes the whole atmosphere.

 

[tinkerbelle]

What are some of the down sides to your school? What are the common complaints? Would you have gone elsewhere had you known about them?

I hate having class till 5pm 3 days a week. I'm way too tired to study when I come home... although it helps that my school is pass/fail. I'm not as stressed about studying. Like everyone else says, P/F is the way to go. My classmates party a lot 😛

 

[katrinadams9]

Yup, it changes the whole atmosphere.

Not at our school. Our class is filled with gunners.... the competition is really driving some of us crazy. It's really hard to deal with all the stress here....

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Not at our school. Our class is filled with gunners.... the competition is really driving some of us crazy. It's really hard to deal with all the stress here....

So are you unhappy with your choice of Wayne State?

 

[katrinadams9]

So are you unhappy with your choice of Wayne State?

I didn't really have a choice, it was the only school I got into!!!

 

[katrinadams9]

But seriously, I really do like it at Wayne. I just wish they hadn't told us that the Pass/Fail system fostered collaboration instead of competition... that was a blatant lie...

 

[vietstud101]

make sure you know what the curriculum is. I had assumed the curriculum would stay the same from the previous year, but I didn't find out until after I had declined all my other acceptances that my school was completely overhauling the curriculum.

 

[bigdan]

I love my little ol' state school, Stony Brook in NY. H/P/F is the grading, but things are relatively cooperative (*knocks on wood*)...the email system is loaded with folks emailing study guides, websites for radiograph studies, cc's of their communications with professors, etc. Hot chicks, too. And a low crime area. And, oh yeah, a full ride with a stipend...that part is good too.

dc

 

[pratik7]

With a pass/fail system, i hear the school still ranks you within your class and that ranking will go into your deans letter to residency programs. I am at a school with a 5 point grading system that does not rank you and does not grade based on a curve soo you are not really compeating with anyone else.

If i could change something about my school it would be the long class hours. I find most lectures pretty boring and i space out. Yet, i still go to class cause i feel guilty and fear missing some "this will be on the test" concept. Since soo much material is covered in each class, i dont think that you can really learn/memorize it until you sit down on hack through the material on your own time.

 

[Uncle Izzy]

IMHO, I personally think that there a few things I was concerned about prior to coming to school that now mean very little, and others that I thought were minimal that now make all the difference....

Again, this is just my opinion...

Important things:
-Curriculum- my school has a curriculum that really fits my style...
-Local perception of the school
-P/F or H/P/F
-Minimal PBL- I study on my own... no need to have my hand held while im learning
-Non competitive environment
-Great basic science resources. My school has web broadcasts of all lectures, so i can watch from home at double speed the weekend before the exam when i need to do some catch up.
-Easy access to the school and resaonable living costs- If my budget is 500 a month, I'd rather live in a comfortable townhouse than a cramped studio. Also, an easy commute to school is great. When the clinical years come up and it takes 30 mins to get home when you're post call, life sucks.
-Early clinical exposure- but i mean real exposure that makes up for PBL and helps you for step 1.
-Go to the best school you got in to if it has a significantly better reputation than a school you think you really like- I think it pays off (controvertial, i know)
-APPLY TO REACH SCHOOLS- You may be pleasantly surprised. It may cost 50 bucks up front, but it's worth it in the long run.


Non-Important things-
-Location- as long as you're not completely in the boonies, you really dont have to be in NY, LA, Chi, SF, etc. or within 50 miles from home to have a good experience. Most of us are all big boys and girls at this point and can make friends in new places. I feel like it's a good thing to get away and move beyond your comfort zone. there are ton of under-rated areas out there. For example, I thought I was moving to the middle of nowhere, but the triangle area (durham, chapel hill, raleigh) is actually great and has exceeded my expectations.
-Tuition- You'll make it back one day. It sounds overwhelming, but it's possible. (I know I said reasonable living costs which opens up the argument about in state vs private tuition, etc and having more living budget, but still, dont let the money be the decision making factor).
-Weather- Sack up... it's not that bad in places like michigan, boston, etc..

These three things are superficial and can be over come-- studying at a school with a curriculum that isnt for you is twice as bad.

AGAIN, this is just my opinion... I'm sure there are people out there who completely disagree, but hey, tom-a-to, tom-ah-to.

 

[Uncle Izzy]

With a pass/fail system, i hear the school still ranks you within your class and that ranking will go into your deans letter to residency programs. I am at a school with a 5 point grading system that does not rank you and does not grade based on a curve soo you are not really compeating with anyone else.

If i could change something about my school it would be the long class hours. I find most lectures pretty boring and i space out. Yet, i still go to class cause i feel guilty and fear missing some "this will be on the test" concept. Since soo much material is covered in each class, i dont think that you can really learn/memorize it until you sit down on hack through the material on your own time.

My school is H/P/F with some H/HP/P/F and some P/F and we are not ranked. It only applies for AOA here.

 

[Kazema]

My school is H/HP/P/F, no curving. Not much competition besides one or two people who are shooting for number 1. I'm not even sure if we're ranked and don't really care if we are. I figure I'll just do the best I can do and wherever I end up is where I end up. I think most other people here are like that too.

 

[MadameLULU]

i love that im only in class ~4 hours each day. I feel sorry for the kids at other schools who are in class 7 -8 hours per day. They have it bad.

 

[Prophecies]

Probably would've ranked UT-H first had I known UTSW would be switching to a grade distribution system this year (i.e., 15% As, 30% B+, 30% B, etc) rather than assigning grades based soley on numbers (93+ A, 87-92 B+, etc). Yeah a lot of people have been having a lot of issues with this...guess I'm over it now...kinda don't have a choice 🙂

 

[superdevil]

i love that im only in class ~4 hours each day. I feel sorry for the kids at other schools who are in class 7 -8 hours per day. They have it bad.

indeed we do. on mondays, i'm in class from 8:30AM to 7:15PM. now, i do get a break from 3-5, but still, that's almost 9 hours of class. totally lame.

honestly, i never even paid attention to curriculum when i was applying (other than noting which schools were pass/fail), but that was a HUGE mistake. it matters, trust me.

 

[TheFlash]

unranked p/f owns you. make sure you choose very, very wisely when schools present themselves as "a pass/fail school." there are only a few schools that truly don't keep rankings and give you strictly p's or f's. these schools also have rather high board scores since students feel the need to differentiate themselves from the pack by doing well on the boards-- end result is everyone in the class doing well on the boards. of course, this doesn't mean that schools that aren't pass/fail don't do well on the boards. but it's very comforting to cruise through your first two years in an exceedingly low stress environment. in short, i'm very happy where i decided to go to school, despite "better ranked" options.

our average from just this summer was about 231 according to faculty. caution: everyone did NOT pass on the first try, though.

got it? good.

 

[ms1finally]

IMHO, I personally think that there a few things I was concerned about prior to coming to school that now mean very little, and others that I thought were minimal that now make all the difference....

Again, this is just my opinion...

Important things:
-Curriculum- my school has a curriculum that really fits my style...
-Local perception of the school
-P/F or H/P/F
-Minimal PBL- I study on my own... no need to have my hand held while im learning
-Non competitive environment
-Great basic science resources. My school has web broadcasts of all lectures, so i can watch from home at double speed the weekend before the exam when i need to do some catch up.
-Easy access to the school and resaonable living costs- If my budget is 500 a month, I'd rather live in a comfortable townhouse than a cramped studio. Also, an easy commute to school is great. When the clinical years come up and it takes 30 mins to get home when you're post call, life sucks.
-Early clinical exposure- but i mean real exposure that makes up for PBL and helps you for step 1.
-Go to the best school you got in to if it has a significantly better reputation than a school you think you really like- I think it pays off (controvertial, i know)
-APPLY TO REACH SCHOOLS- You may be pleasantly surprised. It may cost 50 bucks up front, but it's worth it in the long run.


Non-Important things-
-Location- as long as you're not completely in the boonies, you really dont have to be in NY, LA, Chi, SF, etc. or within 50 miles from home to have a good experience. Most of us are all big boys and girls at this point and can make friends in new places. I feel like it's a good thing to get away and move beyond your comfort zone. there are ton of under-rated areas out there. For example, I thought I was moving to the middle of nowhere, but the triangle area (durham, chapel hill, raleigh) is actually great and has exceeded my expectations.
-Tuition- You'll make it back one day. It sounds overwhelming, but it's possible. (I know I said reasonable living costs which opens up the argument about in state vs private tuition, etc and having more living budget, but still, dont let the money be the decision making factor).
-Weather- Sack up... it's not that bad in places like michigan, boston, etc..

These three things are superficial and can be over come-- studying at a school with a curriculum that isnt for you is twice as bad.

AGAIN, this is just my opinion... I'm sure there are people out there who completely disagree, but hey, tom-a-to, tom-ah-to.

IMPORTANT THINGS:
Where you got in

NOT IMPORTANT THINGS:
Where you didn't get in

 

[synapse lapse]

Probably would've ranked UT-H first had I known UTSW would be switching to a grade distribution system this year (i.e., 15% As, 30% B+, 30% B, etc) rather than assigning grades based soley on numbers (93+ A, 87-92 B+, etc). Yeah a lot of people have been having a lot of issues with this...guess I'm over it now...kinda don't have a choice 🙂

What are you talking about, they just informed us via email that they would not be doing that, and will retain the non-curved letter grade system.

 

[fun8stuff]

IMHO, I personally think that there a few things I was concerned about prior to coming to school that now mean very little, and others that I thought were minimal that now make all the difference....

Again, this is just my opinion...

Important things:
-Curriculum- my school has a curriculum that really fits my style...
-Local perception of the school
-P/F or H/P/F
-Minimal PBL- I study on my own... no need to have my hand held while im learning
-Non competitive environment
-Great basic science resources. My school has web broadcasts of all lectures, so i can watch from home at double speed the weekend before the exam when i need to do some catch up.
-Easy access to the school and resaonable living costs- If my budget is 500 a month, I'd rather live in a comfortable townhouse than a cramped studio. Also, an easy commute to school is great. When the clinical years come up and it takes 30 mins to get home when you're post call, life sucks.
-Early clinical exposure- but i mean real exposure that makes up for PBL and helps you for step 1.
-Go to the best school you got in to if it has a significantly better reputation than a school you think you really like- I think it pays off (controvertial, i know)
-APPLY TO REACH SCHOOLS- You may be pleasantly surprised. It may cost 50 bucks up front, but it's worth it in the long run.


Non-Important things-
-Location- as long as you're not completely in the boonies, you really dont have to be in NY, LA, Chi, SF, etc. or within 50 miles from home to have a good experience. Most of us are all big boys and girls at this point and can make friends in new places. I feel like it's a good thing to get away and move beyond your comfort zone. there are ton of under-rated areas out there. For example, I thought I was moving to the middle of nowhere, but the triangle area (durham, chapel hill, raleigh) is actually great and has exceeded my expectations.
-Tuition- You'll make it back one day. It sounds overwhelming, but it's possible. (I know I said reasonable living costs which opens up the argument about in state vs private tuition, etc and having more living budget, but still, dont let the money be the decision making factor).
-Weather- Sack up... it's not that bad in places like michigan, boston, etc..

These three things are superficial and can be over come-- studying at a school with a curriculum that isnt for you is twice as bad.

AGAIN, this is just my opinion... I'm sure there are people out there who completely disagree, but hey, tom-a-to, tom-ah-to.

i think tuition can be very important, unless you are comparing your state school to harvard or some top10 school. a full ride to a lower ranked school could end up saving you 150-250k after interest. That is the cost of a second house or a few extra cars or one really nice car. You're never going to be out-on-on-the-street because of loan payments, but having a substantially less to pay back will relieve some stress.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

If you're blowing $150K+ on a car, you need to check your priorities. Also seeing a shrink about those penis envy issues probably wouldn't hurt either.

 

[fun8stuff]

If you're blowing $150K+ on a car, you need to check your priorities. Also seeing a shrink about those penis envy issues probably wouldn't hurt either.

well i was obviously just trying to make the point that you could buy a lot with that money and that it is nothing to taken lightly. do you really believe that it would be worth it to go to a top 20 school and paying 200k + interest (3-400k) than going to your state school for free? it's rather naive to ignore a huge difference like this. just ask any resident or young physician....