This'll be super brief as we have block exams in a few days, but...
Curriculum (A): systems-based w/ TBL labs. lectures are optional (recorded) and labs are mandatory. fall of M1 is "fundamentals" which previews all the systems, spring of M1 is CVRR (cardio / resp / renal), fall of M2 is MSN (musculoskeletal / neuro) and spring of M2 is GERD (gastro / endocrine / repro / derm). There is fairly good coordination between profs with respect to the material, sometimes accidental overlap. Decent parallel of omm theory alongside the other stuff.
Location (B+): love it or hate it seems to be the thing. do you like cities or rural? haha, this one is neither! it's on an island in san pablo bay that is an historic, decommissioned naval shipyard. seriously. our campus is reconstructed / reclaimed from their old buildings and I think that is pretty sweet. it could always be better, and if you like shiny new buildings there are other campuses out there for you. we have a flock of wild turkeys that roam campus, a public golf course within walking distance, and lots of cheap housing. SF is an hour ferry ride. many students live in surrounding communities as vallejo can feel rough to some people. nice towns like benicia or even berkeley are well within commuting distance. and the weather is amazing pretty much all of the year.
Faculty (A-): mostly great, a few bad, a few outstanding. strong anatomy professor, strong omm chair, really helpful clinical / primary care profs. weak areas seem to be biochem / genetics, both in perception of the faculty and board scores.
Reputation (B-): well, it ain't easy being surrounded by Stanford, UCSF and UCD. we fly under the radar for the most part, especially because we don't really rotate in the main bay area hospitals. this is a tough thing to quantify, but you can look at our match list and see which local programs tend to take our grads.
Rotations (C+): do a search for my post under the School-Specific threads
Housing (A): cheap, plentiful options on the island allow you walk / ride to school. many people live there or in benicia, glen cove, berkeley / richmond / albany. lots of options. SF is ridiculous, you can't afford it.
Study areas (B): the library is small but currently undergoing renovation. some people complain of lack of space, and a lot of people probably study at home.
Board prep (B+): new mandatory monthly sessions reviewing COMBANK from USMLE weapon, which everyone got a free subscription to this year. past few years a handful (5-10) students were failing COMLEX each year but most did fine, and someone got a 260 last year on USMLE Step 1.
there is a lot of integration of board-style questions into the lecture material and on exams, but how that compares to other schools I know not.
Administration (A-): very helpful and approachable. only downside is that some things get routed through the NY school (like financial aid and work study) which can cause problems. good academic support, great advising.
Overall: (B+)
