Dude, I go to PCOM and am a first year there. What you say has a smalll bit of truth in it. Most people here don't come off very serious, for the most part they are all down-to-earth really cool people. The folks here make me glad I chose PCOM.
It is a very laid-back atmosphere. You will find no dress codes here, except for (obviously) OMM lab. People can be very flippant about going to class -I know because I am one of them. But I study a TON when I am not in class. I do fine on all the tests, and I learned a TON in the first half of the year - as much as anyone at any other medical school.
People here are a varied lot. There are some who already know they are going for remedial work this summer. Others ROCKED some very difficult exams where the class average was FAILING. I was not one of those unfortunately.
The vast majority of people here are somewhere in between - studying hard and getting by.
One thing I will warn you about COMP (as has been written by students there, on other threads) - they spend MANY more hours in the classroom than we do. The thing is, we all take the same boards - and I would guess that the pass rates are probably about the same for both schools. OTOH, a school such as LECOM has MANY hours of class (8-5 a day) and MANDATORY attendance, while there board pass rates are rumored to be very low (mid 80's).
The Student Activities Center is fantastic, the people are great, and you will learn a TON at PCOM.
hope this helps.
Bobo
