VCOM-CC here. Pretty much exactly what the other VCOMer from VA said. We pick our seats for the year, and every day they take pictures to make sure we attend, and we can skip 15% of our half days. VCOM is generally a good school, the curriculum is fantastic, but the school has a serious problem with being overly paternalistic. I assume they are of the mind that if we show up to class then we will be more likely to do well on exams, when in fact the complete opposite is true. When I go to class, I pay attention for 5 minutes and then I zone out due to the pace, and I end up wasting 6-8 hours of precious time out of the day. This is time that I could be using so much more efficiently to be catching up on the previous days lectures at 2x speed, covering the material more often and without the distractions that going to class creates. Now, as to why the concept of different learning styles for different students is so difficult for VCOM to grasp (and other schools with similar policies) is beyond my comprehension, but until someone in the administration realizes that we are indeed all adults, we have all demonstrated good study habits by making it into med school, and that we don't need them dictating to us how to use our time, I guess they will continue with the non-sense that is the attendance policy. Their school, their rules, but that doesn't mean I can't warn ya.
Ok, end rant. 🙂
