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My friend is in this program and though the first half of her year went well, they have had changes with directors that has really messed things up. The last semester, she has had some bad professors which has really messed up her GPA and now she is stuck there in a kind of catch 22 since she definitely won't be able to get into medical school with the new GPA but taking more classes might make things even worse. In fact, before she went into this program, she had a GPA in the low 3's and now it's in the mid 2's. She has studied much harder than undergrad, so it's not for lack of trying either.
One particular professor she has had has especially given her a lot of grief over refusing to fix grading errors on his part, which ended up affecting her final grade. She is in fact in the process of trying to get a grade appeal, and since I've been helping her with this, it is clear the administration does not give a damn about their students.
Of course, take what I say with a grain of salt since I'm not actually a student at Barry nor have I been in the past, but I would definitely stay away from this program at least until they fix things. I just had to write this because the things I've heard from her make me infuriated on her behalf and nobody should pay for this program with the hope of help getting into medical school and end up even further from their dream.
Hello all,
Keep all this in mind before you accept a seat in the program. It might be worth looking elsewhere. Nova Southeastern has a bridge program for instance.
Hello all,
About the Program
I am currently in the 18 month program that started in January 2011. I deferred from the fall start waiting on a few medical schools. I am learning a lot in the BMS Program. The majority of the professors love teaching and believe in the program. It was sad to see Dr. Abdellatif move on. He definitely believed highly in the program and prevented many administrative changes from occurring. Now that he is gone; however, many of those changes are taking place.
Currently the BMS program has no anatomy professor. In addition, the gross dissection, which made this program unique compared to many other similar programs, could become a virtual lab. Secondly, the program is set to move off the Miami Shores campus to a new Hollywood campus in 2012; however, no official announcement has been made. Current students are not to happy about this since we are not sure whether we should move or not.
The interim dean is sharing his time between the BMS program and the CRNA program, so it is difficult to learn anything regarding the move or what the plans are for gross anatomy. The program is a mess in regards to its administration right now. In fact, I have witnessed no student involvement or direct communication to the students regarding any changes my entire time here. The students seem to be the last to learn of the changes.
Where to Live
Miami traffic is horrible if you are not used to it and moving from outside the state. Kendall, Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, and Miramar are all relatively close to the main campus; however, the traffic can turn 15 minutes into an hour or more. I would actually suggest moving north of Miami Shores to either Miami Gardens, North Miami, Sunny Isles, or Aventura (even Hollywood).
I actually live in Miami Shores and it is pretty safe and blocks away from the main campus. Maimi is not like Los Angeles where there are bad areas a good areas to live. It seems in Miami you just have to drive a few blocks to go from a nice neighborhood to a bad one. The student housing website or roomster are helpful in finding a place. Wherever you move, I would suggest bringing a car with you since the buses are not the best and if campus does move, you will be splitting your time between two areas!
Keep all this in mind before you accept a seat in the program. It might be worth looking elsewhere. Nova Southeastern has a bridge program for instance.
Attended Meeting with Interim Program Director Providing News Regarding Hollywood Campus.
- Classes will be split between campuses.
- Some professor refuse to go to Hollywood and will instead give lectures via televised video conferencing.
- Both Hollywood classrooms are not big enough for current class sizes which will result in some students not physically being in class with the professors who do go to the Hollywood campus.
- No printing will be available on-site at the Hollywood campus.
- No study areas will be available on-site at the Hollywood campus.
- A parking lot is "in the works", but currently none is available; and it is not known whether it will be secure.
- The Director suggested students studying at the Hollywood Public Library which is apparently a few blocks away. The library closes around 6 or 7PM during the weekdays. Most classes in the program are evening classes, so night studying at the library is not an option.
- No gross anatomy as it stands, nor head and neck anatomy for those pursuing dentistry.
This is everything I know at the moment. I would suggest not applying to the program right now and looking elsewhere. The program is in dire straits and Barry University is not making any effort to improve it.
That's weird because I am looking at their course catalog now and I spoke to the Director this morning and she said something completely opposite about coursework.
They are offering head and neck anatomy as well as gross anatomy at two different times...now as far as the campus is concerned, I have no idea but I loathe the idea of having to rush to another campus for one class...the joys of being a desperate student!
Attended Meeting with Interim Program Director Providing News Regarding Hollywood Campus.
- Classes will be split between campuses.
- Some professor refuse to go to Hollywood and will instead give lectures via televised video conferencing.
- Both Hollywood classrooms are not big enough for current class sizes which will result in some students not physically being in class with the professors who do go to the Hollywood campus.
- No printing will be available on-site at the Hollywood campus.
- No study areas will be available on-site at the Hollywood campus.
- A parking lot is "in the works", but currently none is available; and it is not known whether it will be secure.
- The Director suggested students studying at the Hollywood Public Library which is apparently a few blocks away. The library closes around 6 or 7PM during the weekdays. Most classes in the program are evening classes, so night studying at the library is not an option.
- No gross anatomy as it stands, nor head and neck anatomy for those pursuing dentistry.
This is everything I know at the moment. I would suggest not applying to the program right now and looking elsewhere. The program is in dire straits and Barry University is not making any effort to improve it.
That's weird because I am looking at their course catalog now and I spoke to the Director this morning and she said something completely opposite about coursework.
They are offering head and neck anatomy as well as gross anatomy at two different times...now as far as the campus is concerned, I have no idea but I loathe the idea of having to rush to another campus for one class...the joys of being a desperate student!
Attended Meeting with Interim Program Director Providing News Regarding Hollywood Campus.
- Classes will be split between campuses.
- Some professor refuse to go to Hollywood and will instead give lectures via televised video conferencing.
- Both Hollywood classrooms are not big enough for current class sizes which will result in some students not physically being in class with the professors who do go to the Hollywood campus.
- No printing will be available on-site at the Hollywood campus.
- No study areas will be available on-site at the Hollywood campus.
- A parking lot is "in the works", but currently none is available; and it is not known whether it will be secure.
- The Director suggested students studying at the Hollywood Public Library which is apparently a few blocks away. The library closes around 6 or 7PM during the weekdays. Most classes in the program are evening classes, so night studying at the library is not an option.
- No gross anatomy as it stands, nor head and neck anatomy for those pursuing dentistry.
This is everything I know at the moment. I would suggest not applying to the program right now and looking elsewhere. The program is in dire straits and Barry University is not making any effort to improve it.
Yes, it is in the catalog; however, there is still no professor for the course, so it might be canceled. You will find that classes getting canceled and moved around is the norm with the BMS program. Edit: The catalog notes 2 sections, but it has not been updated and is showing the classes and times for LAST Spring according to the BMS Administrative Assistant. An updated schedule will be available on WebAdvisor in the coming weeks. There is still no anatomy professor, though the classes will be offered in the hopes the program finds a professor before classes begin in January.
Has anyone who is attending Barry this year been admitted to dental school? This is my top choice for next year.. I would love to know what advice you have and how the app process is going for current students! Thanks
Thanks for the advice. But I can't change my life plans at another person's discretion. I could never be a podiatrist (not interested) and the lack of autonomy a PA has is not for me. I never give up.
Today was my last day of this program. I was in the one year program, and just finished the second summer session. What a long year it has been.
Honestly, I really liked this program. There might be better ones out there, but I can't comment on how Barry compares to other Master's programs, but here are my thoughts on Barry. This program is designed to really work you and test your motivation and discipline. Of course it's going to be hard, and of course it will ruin GPAs. The program was not designed to boost your GPAs, it was designed to give you a second chance to show professional schools that you are a capable and competent student that can handle a tough science course load. It is a hard program and I had to spend a LOT of time studying. I studied everyday, on weekends, stayed up late, woke up early, never did much except studied my ass off. I ended up with a 4.0 and very well deserved it. I saw so many kids still not knowing how important this program was, always going out and partying or doing other crap. The library was like my second home.
Pro's: You really do learn a lot. We had an amazing physiology teacher. I feel like I'm very well prepared for the basic sciences that dental school has to offer. It was a step above my undergraduate physiology class which was already a great class. I learned so much in neuro, biochem, histology, head and neck anatomy, pharmacology, and microbiology. The level of education is great, and all the teachers were very good at what they did. When you leave Barry, and if you work hard and put in the time, you will learn a lot. A few things to take note is that the physiology teacher I had will not be teaching the Fall physio class so that's kind of a good and bad thing for the new people because even though my teacher was tough, he really knew his stuff and taught it well. You learn so much from him. Also there will be a different director so I don't know how that changes things.
I know a few schools do know about Barry, but others do not. The program is pretty old I think, and I know I've heard that some dental schools are impressed by the kids from Barry.
I guess one great thing about master's programs in general are the people you meet. Most, if not all of us, are reapplicants and we've all been through the process. I met some great people here and wish them all the best of luck.
Con's: The administrative side of things kinda sucked. The scheduling of classes was always a mess. There were conflicts of lab/lecture times, too many students in a lecture, etc etc, but everything always worked out at the end. Just be patient with them and everything works out fine. The area where Barry is located is sketchy but I never had any problems. They have security guards everywhere and we sometimes studied at the 24 hr building until 3-4 am. I never left campus on foot, and just walked to parking lot and drove home so not a huge deal.
Just remember why you guys are there. You are paying 32K in tuition + rent/food/gas/books. Don't mess around, and stay focus. I went from a 3.25 sGPA to a 3.44 sGPA thanks to the program. I would be happy to answer any questions.
I was accepted last week, but i do not know which track i was accepted to. The "mybarry" website doesn't really provide any details. I'm waiting for my initial letter in the mail which is supposed to have more details. I got my acceptance about 2 weeks after I applied.
Currently I'm a predent with GPA 3.33 and DAT 20AA/19TS/21PA
I am really interested in this program so if anyone with more information can post up it would be great