Aladdin Sane said:
Columbia is not that great of a program specifically because the professors are nothing special and the average post bacc falls into the "anal tool" category.
Well, I'm average, and I certainly don't consider myself in that category.
To my knowledge, no one else has put me in it either.
Plus the post bacc office conveniently leaves out crucial details along the way like they rank you as a "superior", "excellent" "satisfactory" "poor" candidate for medical school solely based on GPA (even though they fudge the truth and try to make it all about the individual)
I haven't witnessed this yet; could you tell me how you found out? If it's true, I'd like to question my advisor on it and see what happens.
and they drop a series of deadlines on you for getting recommendations from professors, etc. about oh two months before the materials are due.
Not from what I've seen. The deadlines they've "dropped" on us has given me at least 6-8 months to prepare the given materials.
the advisors are definitely cool people, but certainly not perfect.
Agreed, but you'll find this anywhere.
Also, if you are not the typical type A personality, you will find yourself very frustrated by the people.
I tend to be more a type "B" person, and haven't been frustrated by anyone except a grad student so far.
there are some definite highlights along the way, the Bio Lab is awesome and taught by Professor Hazen, the most wondeful, caring professor I have ever had at Columbia. Seriously this woman is a sweetheart! G. Chem lab is also awesome, a lot of fun but also a lot of work but the experiments are interesting. I'm taking Orgo lab this upcoming semester and from what I hear, it is THE best out of all the labs since the TA's are laid back fun people.
I've heard good things about many of the lab instructors. I'm actually looking forward to meeting a few, and that doesn't happen with me often.
there are also signigicant bumps along the way, mostly in your orgo bio year. first year post bacc is really easy especially if you are a physics/math person and love g.chem. so i didn't really have to work much and walked out with a nice 3.5 GPA.
Debatable, but mostly a moot point since the majority of folks in the program have no science background.
now when you get to your second year, that's when columbia truly starts to suck. first of all, a lot of people were screwed gradewise this semester due possible cheating, supposedly one person stole every bio exam this semester and if that was the case and our professor did nothing about it, naturally all the means were skewed to the right and are untrustworthy since a network of people cheating will naturally drive up the means.
That was unfortunate, but certainly not the norm in classes at Columbia. I've seen cheating dealt with by a swift hand, if not by the professor, then by the board when it was brought to their attention.
in orgo, our means were super high and some people cheated on our final and our professor scaled like 86/100 to a B-, screwed a whole bunch of people since we were told by the TA's that the mean was scaled to a B+/A-.
Sounds like you had a bad batch of classes. I wasn't there, so I don't doubt how bad you said it was. I can only reiterate that such a thing isn't normal on campus.
also, biology is perhaps the worst class you will ever take in your life, it's problem based and you have no choice of professors.
Many medical schools have switched to PBL anyway, and you usually won't get a choice of professors there either. I consider it preparation for the "real" schooling facing us in a few years.
it turns out that after the two exams, you will find yourself trapped in the same grade range and for some people, no matter what you do, you can't break out of that specific range.
That also happens in many classes. Some classes you can pull your tail out of the fire with the final, and others you can't. I may not agree with it, but I've seen it enough times (and not just at Columbia.)
also you can't talk about grades with the professor because she puts your name on a list and will give you a lower grade (it's actually on her website!).
I must admit, this interested me. Can you post a link to it? I'm a believer in speaking out when faced with something like blatant arbitrary grading.
she also like to rip people a new one in front of a lecture of 50 people, how sweet!
Can't comment on it, so I again take your word.
of course, proving cheating is next to impossible, but when you do hear rumors of cheating, it is just hard to come to grips with because when you work hard and act ethically, yet get screwed gradewise, it's a tough thing to accept because it can be a huge blow to your self esteem.
As above, it seems like you just got the short end of the stick with cheating. All universities, particularly Ivy League, will go to the ends of the earth to make sure their reputation is spared when someone is found to be cheating. One of my professors last semester actually mentioned how her summer class had their grades delayed quite a long time because one student was caught cheating, and everyone's answers were scrutinized for a smiliar pattern.
and since so many people have left the program, now we are down to like 120-150 second years
There aren't that many people in the program to start with, and many end up leaving for their own reasons anyway. There's no questionnaire they fill out when they leave stating why they're going.
and it's starting to get to the point that tools/trolls are more cutthroat than last year and that kind of atmosphere if you are a dedicated student, but laid back person that can be suffocating.
Nearly all the Postbacs I know, first and second year, are as laid back as I am and just nervous about upcoming classes/interviews/whatever. I haven't seen anyone's throat being cut yet, though there are always "a few" out there.
undergrads at columbia hate postbaccs because they say postbaccs will sell their souls to be doctors
This I've seen, yes. Then again, students say that anywhere there's a curve in the class, Columbia or elewhere.
and sadly in the case of some people, it's absolutely true.
This can be said of Postbac students at any program.
anyway definitely do your research because if you value happiness, columbia might not be the best place for you.
I value happiness and have no trouble there. I do agree, however, that the place isn't for everyone, so absolutely do your homework, folks. Just remember that happiness can indeed be found within Columbia for those who want to go.
and even though they say they have an excellent attrition rate into medical school, they have never released their numbers, nor have they released any numbers about how many people actually finish the program successfully.
I wasn't aware it was a requirement for all schools. Ivy Leage programs are known to be pretty strict, so the dropout rate really reflects those who realized they preferred another atmosphere rather than those who were "drummed out" of the program or couldn't finish.
you can always PM if you want more info; I just don't believe in lying to people about programs because it's a lot of money and two years of your life
It's a lot of money, and sometimes more than two years, but for those who enjoy a structured program with helpful advisors, I wouldn't believe all the trashing on this message board about it. All I can say is, while I tend to defend the program on SDN (which oddly enough is the only pre-med forum I know of that bashes it), the truth is it needs no defense. Don't take the quoted poster or myself as the absolute word, go check it out for yourself. Only you know what the best program for you will be. If it turns out to be Columbia, maybe I'll see you there.