Finally received an interview invite from USC, have some Q:

[Jyaki]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Well first of all....Yay!! 😀
Having spent most of my life in Minnesota, I've been dreaming of going to California. So far, I've been accepted at UofM, and Tufts.
I understand that USC incorporates a PBL(?) program and I have some questions regarding it.
1). Do the students do well in the National Board Exams?
2). If you're thinking about specializing, is the PBL program the right way to go? Is it advantageous or not?
3). I've talked to some dentists that say that the PBL program doesn't develop the student's technical skills enough. Is this true?

Any insight would be appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[xc1999]

Hello Jyaki,

My answers to your questions:

1) Well, according to the statistics that was given on my interview day, usc does a little better than the average score for the national boards. However, this statistic is a bit skewed. I talked to one of the students, and he said that prior to the boards, they have students take a practice exams. If they don't score at least an 80, then they have the students not take it. And also, I think for the most part, if students don't score above an 80, they'd rather wait a bit to do better than to take it when they're not ready. So, the numbers given to us were basically based on the students that did well on the practice boards. Whether or not the usc's average national boards would be the same had everyone had taken it, I do not know. My guess it thought that it probably would've been a bit lower because it has been known that PBL students in general tend to score lower on standard exams (but they do have great critical thinking skills)

2) PBL is advantageous pretty much only if it's right for you. USC is a clinical school, just to let you know, and it's sorta been generally known to go to a reasearch school if you want to specialize (Yes, there are exceptions to this and many people will argue against me, but I'm just speaking in general terms. you should pretty much go where you know you'll be happy and where you know you'll fit in the best). Honestly, the best way to see if PBL is right for you is to just go to usc for your interview and ask LOTS of students about PBL. You'll also be going through a PBL session yourself and you will be able to see an actual PBL session with first year students. Hopefully you'll get a much better feel for it then.

3) I honestly don't know much about the effect of PBL on technical skills. Now when you say technical do you mean clinical skills? Cause if that's the case, I was told at the interview day that USC does seem to do well on California boards (I don't remember the stats right off the bat), and the CA boards has one of the hardest clinical tests.

Anyhow, hope this helps, and good luck!

2)

 

[Jyaki]

xc1999, thanks for your input.
What were the USC student's opinioins on the PBL program? Did they like it? Did they feel less adequate than fellow students in other schools? Also, exactly what kind of "Problems" do they give at the interview? What would be the best way to prepare for it?
Sorry for all the questions. I'm just really curious about this PBL program.
Thanks again! 😀

 

[xc1999]

The USC students really liked the PBL program. I honestly don't know if they felt less adequate than those around other schools, but I'm assuming that one would feel that way if one found that PBL wasn't right for them. I met this girl who went to my undergrad university, and she said that no matter how much she studied, she never really did that well because of the traditional lecture teaching style. She said USC was the only schools she applied to because she heard that it had PBL and apparently, she can learn from a lot better than the traditional way of teaching. It really all depends on the person, and it is a very personal choice if one chooses to go to USC.

We were actually only given one problem, but we were given it in parts. It's basically about plumbing. And trust me, you don't need to know anything about plumbing. In fact, the purpose of PBL is not to solve the problem, but to actually see what you would need to learn in order to solve it. So basically, there really is no way to prepare for the PBL/interview session. It just to see how well you perform in a group setting, and more importantly, to see if it's right for you. Just be yourself at the interview and you'll be fine 🙂 It's actually pretty relaxed.

Anyhow, hope this helps. I can only explain the interview so much.....you just need to go there an experience it yourself! Good luck! 🙂

 

[Regina330]

Jyaki,
When is your interview?

 

[Jyaki]

March 21 or the 28th.
I was just notified two days ago so I haven't picked out a date.
Can't wait to go to L.A. baby!!!
(It's cold and everything is covered in snow up here...I hope you understand my excitement. 😀)