- Joined
- Nov 6, 2001
- Messages
- 97
- Reaction score
- 0
What do you guys think about Baylor compared to other schools? I happened to really like the place when I visited.
Thoughts on Baylor
- Thread starter Spyder007
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2001
- Messages
- 38
- Reaction score
- 0
I interviewed at Baylor in December and I loved it. Specifically, the curriculum is very flexible, with 1.5 years for the basic science work and 2.5 for clinical experiences. I also appreciate having most of the afternoons free, rather than locked up in cell biology or gross anatomy labs. The new organ based approach sounds great as well. Baylor also has numerous opportunities for research (and funding). The Texas Medical Center is also a great strength of the school. Baylor students match well. They also have some really great students, friendly but exceptionally bright.
Major cons of Baylor including parking, crime, pollution, and heat/humidity. None of these factors are directly related to the school. It all depends on personal preference. For example, I hate cold and dry weather, so I really like the weather in Houston (well, the summers are a little excessive).
Major cons of Baylor including parking, crime, pollution, and heat/humidity. None of these factors are directly related to the school. It all depends on personal preference. For example, I hate cold and dry weather, so I really like the weather in Houston (well, the summers are a little excessive).
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2001
- Messages
- 75
- Reaction score
- 0
hey -
i also really liked baylor when i visited. they have a great medical center, and i liked the 1.5/2.5 program very much (i'm doing md/phd so it adds a lot of flexibility, i think). my biggest reservation is that i'm from the northeast and i don't know what it would be like to live somewhere so different. i think i need to revisit and see how i feel about texas, and houston. and i've also heard really bad things about parking! but at least you'd never have to tromp through snow to get to your car!
-s
i also really liked baylor when i visited. they have a great medical center, and i liked the 1.5/2.5 program very much (i'm doing md/phd so it adds a lot of flexibility, i think). my biggest reservation is that i'm from the northeast and i don't know what it would be like to live somewhere so different. i think i need to revisit and see how i feel about texas, and houston. and i've also heard really bad things about parking! but at least you'd never have to tromp through snow to get to your car!
-s
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2001
- Messages
- 215
- Reaction score
- 1
Hey,
I'm from the NE and moved to TX for grad school. I had all kinds of reservations when I was moving--different culture, far from everything I knew, etc, etc. But, once I lived there for a little while, I fell in love. There is space there. They take care of the roads a lot better there. People are generally friendlier there. It's a whole new wonderful world that I can't wait to get back to. (Had to leave after grad school to do my post bacc and get married and work and stuff.
)
Baylor. I think that I can't say enough good things about this school. The curriculum is awesome. It's systems based, but you see every system twice (normal vs path). Class time is limited so you have enough time to study as much as you need to, have a life, go to the gym, whatever. The medical center is unbelievable and you get to see how medicine is practiced in various settings--a Children's hospital, a public hospital, a very ritzy private hospital, a VA. (And you don't have to travel far away to do these things--they're all right there!) The faculty is open and friendly. The students are all motivated, all bright, and generally speaking are people that would be fun to hang out with. It's a smart place without the snobbiness of other smart places. Plus, it is less expensive than any other private school and sometimes less expensive than public schools! (Typical debt is something like 65000.) And the housing market is good and cheap.
Yes, there is crime. It's a city. There is usually crime in cities, especially in cities with big teaching hospitals. Just be smart. Parking is a huge issue--but if you becomes friends with residents, they'll take care of you. You'll see. And the humidity is bad, but, for me, is beats the snow, actually slush, that is on the ground outside right now!
Oh, and another thing about Baylor is that they really take care of their students, even before they are students. I e-mailed student affairs yesterday to ask about realtors. Instead of getting an e-mailed response, I got a personal phone call from the Sr. Assoc. Dean within about 4 hours. You really can't beat that!
mma
I'm from the NE and moved to TX for grad school. I had all kinds of reservations when I was moving--different culture, far from everything I knew, etc, etc. But, once I lived there for a little while, I fell in love. There is space there. They take care of the roads a lot better there. People are generally friendlier there. It's a whole new wonderful world that I can't wait to get back to. (Had to leave after grad school to do my post bacc and get married and work and stuff.
)Baylor. I think that I can't say enough good things about this school. The curriculum is awesome. It's systems based, but you see every system twice (normal vs path). Class time is limited so you have enough time to study as much as you need to, have a life, go to the gym, whatever. The medical center is unbelievable and you get to see how medicine is practiced in various settings--a Children's hospital, a public hospital, a very ritzy private hospital, a VA. (And you don't have to travel far away to do these things--they're all right there!) The faculty is open and friendly. The students are all motivated, all bright, and generally speaking are people that would be fun to hang out with. It's a smart place without the snobbiness of other smart places. Plus, it is less expensive than any other private school and sometimes less expensive than public schools! (Typical debt is something like 65000.) And the housing market is good and cheap.
Yes, there is crime. It's a city. There is usually crime in cities, especially in cities with big teaching hospitals. Just be smart. Parking is a huge issue--but if you becomes friends with residents, they'll take care of you.
You'll see. And the humidity is bad, but, for me, is beats the snow, actually slush, that is on the ground outside right now! Oh, and another thing about Baylor is that they really take care of their students, even before they are students. I e-mailed student affairs yesterday to ask about realtors. Instead of getting an e-mailed response, I got a personal phone call from the Sr. Assoc. Dean within about 4 hours. You really can't beat that!
mma
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2001
- Messages
- 68
- Reaction score
- 0
I don't mean to discredit mma, who surely knows what he/she is talking about, but you guys considering Baylor might want to talk to lilycat...she goes to Baylor and has had some interesting and eye-opening things to say about it on the allopathic forum...I know there are some other Baylor students on here too. From what these people have posted, it sounds like they do not necessarily "take care of" their students. It's P/F but apparently they set the passing score really, really high so that people in the first year class are failing out. Masses of people should NOT be failing out of a given med school if the school is doing everything right.
Again, I am only quoting lilycat and others and I'm not trying to bash the school, as I know nothing about it except what various people have said. Just be aware. Just like applicants, schools are very savvy about marketing themselves.
Again, I am only quoting lilycat and others and I'm not trying to bash the school, as I know nothing about it except what various people have said. Just be aware. Just like applicants, schools are very savvy about marketing themselves.
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2001
- Messages
- 215
- Reaction score
- 1
Hey all,
They are very up front with the fact that the P is set high (70, I think). It is an intensive program, but from what I know of friends who have graduated from Baylor, they do take care of their students. Just like you would anywhere else, I think you need to find a faculty member you can trust and can turn to with problems--I just feel that this is easy to accomplish at Baylor. I will check out what lilycat et al. have said, but I don't think my opinion of Baylor will change too much.
Sterling, as to the realtor situation, the information I got is that Baylor does have realtors it works with and that those names will be e-mailed to me soon. I can PM you the names when I get them! I'm currently looking in the Bellaire/Meyerland area--25 minutes away, very reasonable single family houses. Lots of married students live out there. Happy hunting!
mma
They are very up front with the fact that the P is set high (70, I think). It is an intensive program, but from what I know of friends who have graduated from Baylor, they do take care of their students. Just like you would anywhere else, I think you need to find a faculty member you can trust and can turn to with problems--I just feel that this is easy to accomplish at Baylor. I will check out what lilycat et al. have said, but I don't think my opinion of Baylor will change too much.
Sterling, as to the realtor situation, the information I got is that Baylor does have realtors it works with and that those names will be e-mailed to me soon. I can PM you the names when I get them! I'm currently looking in the Bellaire/Meyerland area--25 minutes away, very reasonable single family houses. Lots of married students live out there. Happy hunting!
mma
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2001
- Messages
- 38
- Reaction score
- 0
mma--That would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!
penelope--I hear you. I ran straight to lilycat for the inside info on Baylor a few weeks ago and she has been very helpful. Thanks!
penelope--I hear you. I ran straight to lilycat for the inside info on Baylor a few weeks ago and she has been very helpful. Thanks!
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2001
- Messages
- 3,797
- Reaction score
- 1
To clarify,
I believe the P/F system is only in place for the first 4 months....at which point it is removed and replaced with a pseudo-grade system.
This is what I was told...
I believe the P/F system is only in place for the first 4 months....at which point it is removed and replaced with a pseudo-grade system.
This is what I was told...
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2001
- Messages
- 38
- Reaction score
- 0
Scooby--That's what I heard. In fact, during the Q/A with students, a fourth year complained that it's not all P/F and contrary to what first years are led to believe, grades matter. He sounded a little bitter, and he ended by saying he loved the flexibility of the curriculum because it let him be very lazy.
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2001
- Messages
- 215
- Reaction score
- 1
Right, they said that the first semester P/F was to bring everyone up to the same playing field. Then they move to the Honors/HP/P/MP/F system that, in an honest society, is called A/B/C/D/F!
No one seemed to embittered at my Q&A session, but they sure made certain that we were clear on the grading scheme.
Hey, med school is supposed to be hard, right? We wouldn't all be this nuts if we weren't gearing up for it. Plus, what we will be learning will be relevant (mostly) and interesting (mostly).
Also, they are changing what they teach to what you need to know rather than the special tricks a certain enzyme can do in the six cases of a very rare disease localized entirely to a small community in Northwestern Tibet.
mma
No one seemed to embittered at my Q&A session, but they sure made certain that we were clear on the grading scheme.
Hey, med school is supposed to be hard, right? We wouldn't all be this nuts if we weren't gearing up for it. Plus, what we will be learning will be relevant (mostly) and interesting (mostly).
Also, they are changing what they teach to what you need to know rather than the special tricks a certain enzyme can do in the six cases of a very rare disease localized entirely to a small community in Northwestern Tibet.
mma
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2000
- Messages
- 2,774
- Reaction score
- 4
Thoughts on Baylor...
First off, I think it's important to keep in mind that no school is perfect -- this sounds logical, but when you are bombarded with the recruiting job done by the schools and the students, sometimes it's hard to keep a certain perspective.
Overall, I think Baylor is a great school, with excellent opportunities available to it's students. Whatever critiques I have of the school are not that vastly different from what I've heard from friends at places like Duke, Yale, Mayo, UCLA, etc.
Correction on the grading system -- right now the first semester is entirely P/F, with a P set at 80%. To summarize another student and poster, cmz, with the old pass mark of 68%, if you scored an 82 on an exam, you were feeling pretty good about things. Now when you get an 82, you barely pass. It can be a little stressful. I emphasize the "right now" part because it may change next year, it may not. Just something to keep in mind.
As for the administration "taking care of you," based on my experiences so far this year, I have disagree with that statement to an extent. The Baylor administration can be very supportive if you take the initiative and come to them with a specific request, proposal, whatever. However, they do not seem to be very proactive in approaching problems that come up, and can have kind of a hands-off approach to things, if it's not their immediate problem.
The obvious selling-points of the school are the curriculum and the patient exposure. I really like the structure of the curriculum (integrated systems approach), and most of the professors have been excellent. The early patient exposure, plus the depth of patient exposure during the clinical years give you great preparation for boards, residency, etc.
Parking is an annoyance, but definitely manageable. There's a pretty good bus system (to surrounding neighborhoods and remote parking lots), and many students live close enough to walk or bike to campus. At night, there are two lots that are available to students for free, and there are also affordable parking plans for "off-hours" parking.
Despite any complaints I have about Baylor, I would still highly recommend the school to prospective students.
First off, I think it's important to keep in mind that no school is perfect -- this sounds logical, but when you are bombarded with the recruiting job done by the schools and the students, sometimes it's hard to keep a certain perspective.
Overall, I think Baylor is a great school, with excellent opportunities available to it's students. Whatever critiques I have of the school are not that vastly different from what I've heard from friends at places like Duke, Yale, Mayo, UCLA, etc.
Correction on the grading system -- right now the first semester is entirely P/F, with a P set at 80%. To summarize another student and poster, cmz, with the old pass mark of 68%, if you scored an 82 on an exam, you were feeling pretty good about things. Now when you get an 82, you barely pass. It can be a little stressful. I emphasize the "right now" part because it may change next year, it may not. Just something to keep in mind.
As for the administration "taking care of you," based on my experiences so far this year, I have disagree with that statement to an extent. The Baylor administration can be very supportive if you take the initiative and come to them with a specific request, proposal, whatever. However, they do not seem to be very proactive in approaching problems that come up, and can have kind of a hands-off approach to things, if it's not their immediate problem.
The obvious selling-points of the school are the curriculum and the patient exposure. I really like the structure of the curriculum (integrated systems approach), and most of the professors have been excellent. The early patient exposure, plus the depth of patient exposure during the clinical years give you great preparation for boards, residency, etc.
Parking is an annoyance, but definitely manageable. There's a pretty good bus system (to surrounding neighborhoods and remote parking lots), and many students live close enough to walk or bike to campus. At night, there are two lots that are available to students for free, and there are also affordable parking plans for "off-hours" parking.
Despite any complaints I have about Baylor, I would still highly recommend the school to prospective students.
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2001
- Messages
- 853
- Reaction score
- 22
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2001
- Messages
- 68
- Reaction score
- 0
The sheer workload is what makes the Duke schedule intense, not a competetive spirit among the students. We are in lecture/lab up to 8 hrs/day in order to cover the basic sciences in one year, so it does get challenging to fit in enough study time and fun, too. (Of course there are brilliant people who don't seem to study at all and go out like three or four times a week...how do they do it???)
The faculty bend over backwards to make sure we get our questions answered, and the cutoff for passing is almost always quite generous. If a student is still underperforming, they try to pinpoint the problem and help the student remediate.
Some of us complain that the possibility of getting honors (it's H/P/F all four years) makes us put more pressure on ourselves...thank goodness it's not a letter-grade or pseudo-letter-grade system, or I would feel even more pressure. It's hard enough to learn the masses of information required in med school, without having to worry about my transcripts, too!!!
I thank my stars every day that I wound up at a school where passing is made very doable...and I say "stars" because I paid no attention to stuff like grading systems when making my decision. I just didn't think it mattered all that much...and maybe Spyder and Sterling thrive in high-pressure situations and Baylor's system will work great for you guys. It sounds like a great place for a lot of reasons, but it does sound to me like they are making it harder on their students than it needs to be.
The faculty bend over backwards to make sure we get our questions answered, and the cutoff for passing is almost always quite generous. If a student is still underperforming, they try to pinpoint the problem and help the student remediate.
Some of us complain that the possibility of getting honors (it's H/P/F all four years) makes us put more pressure on ourselves...thank goodness it's not a letter-grade or pseudo-letter-grade system, or I would feel even more pressure. It's hard enough to learn the masses of information required in med school, without having to worry about my transcripts, too!!!
I thank my stars every day that I wound up at a school where passing is made very doable...and I say "stars" because I paid no attention to stuff like grading systems when making my decision. I just didn't think it mattered all that much...and maybe Spyder and Sterling thrive in high-pressure situations and Baylor's system will work great for you guys. It sounds like a great place for a lot of reasons, but it does sound to me like they are making it harder on their students than it needs to be.
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2000
- Messages
- 2,774
- Reaction score
- 4
To clarify a point in the previous post -- I think that Baylor's workload is also what makes it stressful -- like Duke it is a compressed curriculum. The grading standards are interesting, but it's only for one semester, and the majority of the class was fine with it. Not to mention it's a brand-new system that may be open to future tweaking. I would hardly call Baylor a "high-pressure" situation, and I actually sort of resent the insinuation.
Let's put it this way -- every member of the class will have a slightly different take on the school. Overall I like Baylor, but I have criticisms of the program. There are other students who absolutely love it and think it is med school nirvana. It just depends on what you want and what you are looking for, and I think to a large extent what your background is when you come into med school (ie, what kind of college atmosphere you had, etc.). I do know people at Duke who are less than thrilled with their experience -- a couple of first-years and a couple of third-years. But, just like at Baylor, there are other students at Duke like Penelope who are very satisfied with their experience.
In retrospect, I think the most important aspect in choosing a school is to talk to as many students as possible to get a good feel of the school and all the possible pros and cons -- if people are really being honest with you, and they're not in complete "selling" mode, you'll hear the real scoop (ie, parking as the top complaint is a cop-out). If you go into the situation with your eyes wide open and a realistic perspective, you should not be in for any unpleasant surprises.
Let's put it this way -- every member of the class will have a slightly different take on the school. Overall I like Baylor, but I have criticisms of the program. There are other students who absolutely love it and think it is med school nirvana. It just depends on what you want and what you are looking for, and I think to a large extent what your background is when you come into med school (ie, what kind of college atmosphere you had, etc.). I do know people at Duke who are less than thrilled with their experience -- a couple of first-years and a couple of third-years. But, just like at Baylor, there are other students at Duke like Penelope who are very satisfied with their experience.
In retrospect, I think the most important aspect in choosing a school is to talk to as many students as possible to get a good feel of the school and all the possible pros and cons -- if people are really being honest with you, and they're not in complete "selling" mode, you'll hear the real scoop (ie, parking as the top complaint is a cop-out). If you go into the situation with your eyes wide open and a realistic perspective, you should not be in for any unpleasant surprises.
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2000
- Messages
- 2,774
- Reaction score
- 4
Originally posted by Sterling:
•Thanks lilycat. Also, I like it when you resent the insinuation! It's formidable.•••
I know when I'm being mocked!
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2001
- Messages
- 163
- Reaction score
- 1
OH MY GOD LILYCAT!!!! 1805 posts HAS to be an SDN record!
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2001
- Messages
- 68
- Reaction score
- 0
lilycat, I had no intention of "mocking" you in any way, and I'm very sorry if somehow I came off as mocking you or your school.
To clarify, I wanted to respond to Thewonderer that "top" schools don't necessarily have competetive atmospheres (nor do all, or even most, students at such schools have astonomical numbers), and apathy from the administration certainly isn't a given. A person doesn't necessarily have to resign himself/herself to these things in order to go to a "top" school.
Certain things do contribute to student stress (whether you call this pressure or something else, it matters little), and one of those things is the system of evaluation. While some people kick butt in med school just like they did in undergrad, some people find themselves struggling and it is NOT fun to be in that situation.
I myself intensely dislike the academic pressure inherent in medical school, and would probably dislike it even more if I felt ever-fearful of failing.
I have been quite frank on this forum, and among my classmates at school, about ways I think Duke could improve the first-year experience, and I am interested in the way other schools with similar programs handle their first year. Like I said before, it sounds like Baylor is a great school from many perspectives, and I admire your honest and well-balanced evaluation of it.
penelope
To clarify, I wanted to respond to Thewonderer that "top" schools don't necessarily have competetive atmospheres (nor do all, or even most, students at such schools have astonomical numbers), and apathy from the administration certainly isn't a given. A person doesn't necessarily have to resign himself/herself to these things in order to go to a "top" school.
Certain things do contribute to student stress (whether you call this pressure or something else, it matters little), and one of those things is the system of evaluation. While some people kick butt in med school just like they did in undergrad, some people find themselves struggling and it is NOT fun to be in that situation.
I myself intensely dislike the academic pressure inherent in medical school, and would probably dislike it even more if I felt ever-fearful of failing.
I have been quite frank on this forum, and among my classmates at school, about ways I think Duke could improve the first-year experience, and I am interested in the way other schools with similar programs handle their first year. Like I said before, it sounds like Baylor is a great school from many perspectives, and I admire your honest and well-balanced evaluation of it.
penelope
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2000
- Messages
- 2,774
- Reaction score
- 4
Penelope,
The term "mocking" was simply part of what was intended to be a playful reply to Sterling's comment directly and was completely unrelated to your posts.
The only thing that irritated me was your comment about Baylor being a "high pressure" situation when it seems that your knowledge of the situation seems to be entirely based upon my statements on this board, many of which may have been taken out of context on a completely different thread. Most of my issues with medical school have nothing to do with Baylor or their new first-semester grading system but rather with medical school in general. I say "medical school in general" because I have friends at other medical schools of a similar caliber, and many of them have had the same complaints. The other point I have tried to make is that evaluation is obviously highly subjective. Different students will see a school in different lights. I do not try to speak for the majority of my classmates and I am wary of others who try to do so for theirs. This comment is not directed at you, but is just a comment about the whole medical school interview process in general, where most students sell their school. Prospective applicants need to keep perspective on all that they hear, and maintain a healthy amount of skepticism about the pros and the cons.
As for the new 1st semester grading system, only a very small percentage of students exhibited academic difficulty with it. The numbers was larger than previous years, supposedly, but were still small in proportion to the entire class. Additionally, there may have been extenuating personal circumstances or those people might have had difficulty under the old system as well. As for stress, the classmates that I spoke with seemed much more concerned with the volume of the material and the speed at which it was presented than the P/F cut-offs. Personally I'm not a fan of the new system, but since it only lasts for a semester, it's more than manageable.
The term "mocking" was simply part of what was intended to be a playful reply to Sterling's comment directly and was completely unrelated to your posts.
The only thing that irritated me was your comment about Baylor being a "high pressure" situation when it seems that your knowledge of the situation seems to be entirely based upon my statements on this board, many of which may have been taken out of context on a completely different thread. Most of my issues with medical school have nothing to do with Baylor or their new first-semester grading system but rather with medical school in general. I say "medical school in general" because I have friends at other medical schools of a similar caliber, and many of them have had the same complaints. The other point I have tried to make is that evaluation is obviously highly subjective. Different students will see a school in different lights. I do not try to speak for the majority of my classmates and I am wary of others who try to do so for theirs. This comment is not directed at you, but is just a comment about the whole medical school interview process in general, where most students sell their school. Prospective applicants need to keep perspective on all that they hear, and maintain a healthy amount of skepticism about the pros and the cons.
As for the new 1st semester grading system, only a very small percentage of students exhibited academic difficulty with it. The numbers was larger than previous years, supposedly, but were still small in proportion to the entire class. Additionally, there may have been extenuating personal circumstances or those people might have had difficulty under the old system as well. As for stress, the classmates that I spoke with seemed much more concerned with the volume of the material and the speed at which it was presented than the P/F cut-offs. Personally I'm not a fan of the new system, but since it only lasts for a semester, it's more than manageable.
