Picking schools with a good student support system

[isa]

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Hello,

This is my first try at posting and I am relatively new to this forum. I must say that this is such a wonderful resource! I'm learning so much about the whole process just from reading everyone's questions and replies.

With that said, my question is about picking schools to which I will apply. I'm interested in schools which have a good support system for their students. Can you guys let me know which schools have this?

Incidentally, I'm not too clear on what good student support entails besides the school being there for the students. So if you can enlighten me on what I should look for, I'd appreciate it too!

Thank you.

 

[spacecadet22]

isa...are you female?
From my experience with interviewing, a lot of schools offer an additional advisor/mentor to women students at their request. Examples of this include Yale and MCP Hanhemann. Also, other schools are just known to be more responsive to their student body (either male or female), some schools may include UPenn, Tulane, Pitt, Vandy, UCSF, etc.

 

[lilycat]

Isa, this kind of information can be kind of hard to track down. One place I would start is with friends currently in med school -- how they like the school, what's expected of them, what safety nets are in place if they experience trouble, stress, etc. Another good place (I think) is www.interviewfeedback.com -- in case you are unfamiliar with it, it is a website devoted to collecting questionnaires of people's interview experiences at all the different med schools. Not only does it give you a good idea of what to expect during the actual interview, but I found it to be very helpful in helping me narrow down schools to apply to -- the people usually mention their impressions of the student body, the faculty members they met, the office staff, etc., and quite often will write about the main strong points and weak points for the school. If a school is known for being very attentive and responsive to student concerns, it usually gets mentioned in these surveys.

Spacecadet gave you a good list of schools to start with -- I would definitely add Wash U and Stanford to the list as well.

Student support is a little bit vague -- there are lots of ways schools can support their students, and most med schools will be strong in at least one of these areas. First off, is the administration open to student concerns and suggestions (ie, will they consider changes to the curriculum if the students are really unhappy with the way material is being taught, etc.) Second, what mechanisms are there in place for helping students academically -- tutors, mentors, etc? How is their financial aid office? These are just some of the things you want to take into consideration as part of overall "student support."

This is a huge generalization, but typically, private schools (often those with large tuitions) are considered to be very strong in "student support" because students want to feel like they are getting something for their money. However, this is of course, not a hard and fast rule, just a general guideline.

 

[isa]

Spacecadet: Yes, I'm female. And a minority, though not the underrepresented kind by AMCAS standards.

Thanks, Spacecadet and Lilycat, for the info. Now I have something to work with. I'm interested in most of the CA med schools. Have you guys heard anything about UCSD and their student support? I've only heard horror stories from the grape vine. (Not very reliable.)

 

[lilycat]

HA! I'm actually going to be starting UCSD in the fall, and I was about to use it as an example in my original post! Anyways, if you have particular questions about UCSD, it might be easier to just email me. As far as student support, that's why I kind of broke it down into different areas for you -- typically, their administration has been very resistant to curriculum suggestions made by the students. So, in that sense, student support is not very good (although they got a new Dean last year, so that may be changing). However, as far as student academic support, the system is excellent!!! Probably the best of all the med schools I interviewed at -- they know their curriculum is extremely rigorous, so they have lots of support available to help you get through it, and they really seem dedicated to helping you succeed. I was extremely impressed by this, and that was one of the big reasons why I ended up choosing UCSD.

As for the general horror stories about UCSD, there is some truth, and also a lot of non-truth. In general, the first year is really, really hard -- however, all the students I've talked to say that they enjoy themselves and their classes more and more each passing quarter, and all the MS4s I've spoken with were extremely happy with their experience at UCSD. It seems like the UCSD philosophy is to get the worst over with right away, whereas many other schools give you more of a break-in period during the first year, but the second year tends to be really stressful.

UCI administration is known for being extremely responsive to student concerns, and in general, students are very, very happy there.

UC-Davis just changed to P/F grading, and generally seems to have a very relaxed atmosphere. They also give students the option of doing a decelerated program, so they can spread the basic sciences into three years instead of two. However, no one really remarked on particular student support networks, so I'm not sure how extensive they were.

UCSF is generally known for being very strong on student support, and student satisfaction is typically very high. However, I'm not sure about what exact mechanisms are in place.

UCLA is the school I know the least about. Can't really tell you one way or the other.

One note of caution -- I know you said you're the most interested in the CA schools, which makes sense since I'm guessing you are a CA resident. However, definitely apply to a good number of out-of-state schools. The UC's are weird -- I don't really know how else to put it. It's not that common for someone to get interviews at all 5 schools, and some people that seemed really strong candidates at some of the UC's get completely passed by, but get interviews/acceptances at ones they didn't think they fit with.

Anyways, like I said, feel free to email if you have more particular questions about UCSD or even the other UC's.

 

[Fermi]

Like others have said, this information can be tough to track down unless you know students from different schools. The best centralized resource I've found is the AMSA med student survey:
http://www.amsa.org/resource/cardev/medresults.cfm

Students give feedback and comments on all aspects of med school, including the supportiveness of the administration.