Questions for Current MCW Students...

[OmahaMX80]

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Hey everyone, I've been accepted at MCW and I have a question for anyone who is currently at MCW: Do you find that the 5-point grading system creates a lot of competition among students? And, how does the system break down? I've heard at some schools, for example, only 4-5 students achieve Honors, maybe 10-20 achieve High Pass, and the vast majority hit the Pass range... is this the way it works out at MCW? Also, do you find it difficult to live on the living allowance? My folks cannot contribute to my medical education, they wish they could. So, I'll be pretty much dependent on the budget... I'm asking all this because I have to decide whether to stay here and go to CU or go to MCW. I honestly love both schools and I've made lists of pro's and con's and all that, it's just really tough picking between them. CU allows a slightly larger living allowance though (and it's cheaper to live in Omaha than Milwaukee, so that's why I'm asking about budget), and CU employs an Honors/Pass/Fail grading system and I've been told by current students and grads that students are very closely knit since there is little competition. Thanks in advance for the info...

 

[Maple]

Hey Omaha!

Congrats on your acceptances. I had to make the same choice and picked MCW.

About grading..I would be lying if I said that there was no competition. Its definitely there, but I think thats true for all schools. I can speak for my class..people work very hard and the class averages for Class of 2007 have been higher then Class of 2006 (slackers! 😀 J/K) and we have quite a reputation among upperclassmen and faculty! I don't know if its because of the grading scale or just the nature of the students themselves. As far as getting honors/high passes are concerned, there are preset cut-off points which are observed (with some flexibility), usually in the favor of students. If you make the cut off, you get the grade. Its that simple. You should go to Creighton if you love it more, don't let competition or the lack thereof be the deciding factor. It exits everywhere and as far as I can tell, is not causing any problems at MCW.

Financial aid..I borrowed full amount and have some left over. Of course it helped that I had a roommate and we split our bills, but I think I would have been fine anyway. Of course, I live like a monk (read-frugal/cheap etc. 😉 ) 28 day out of the month and air out my wallet after very block exam. The point is that if you save money for special occasions, make use of the free lunches and don't go on too many shopping sprees, you'll be fine. I haven't heard anyone complaining about lack of funds really, so I'm assuming most people did ok. If you need specific info about FA packages pm me. I'll try to pull out old paperwork if I can find it.

Hope I got everything covered. 🙂

good luck with your decision!

 

[OmahaMX80]

Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it. It's just a really tough choice because I seriously like both schools. I've visited MCW once since my interview, a couple weekends ago, and I just felt really glad to be going there. But CU is smaller (class size 120)... more familiar territory... but part of the appeal of MCW is being somewhere new. And I love Milwaukee/Wisconsin, so beautiful. 😳