UC Irvine and the Boards

[Aria111]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Does anyone know how UCI does on the boards and what kind of emphasis the curriculum/faculty place on the USMLE? Also, does the school offer any review courses, or time off to study? Oh, and one more question: the students at UCI seem very happy, is it because the curriculum is not as demanding, or are the students just well balanced?
Any info/opinions on this is appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[matthew0126]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by aria111:
•Oh, and one more question: the students at UCI seem very happy, is it because the curriculum is not as demanding, or are the students just well balanced?
Any info/opinions on this is appreciated.
Thanks!•••••it's the sun!! hhehe, it's prob both the curriculum and the students. they do fine on the boards, btw

 

[McEntrye]

Actually, they do really well on the boards. I believe, no the most recent test, they had one of the highest averages in the nation, with one third of the students scoring in the top 99th percentile.
I think the student's happiness has partly to do with who they chose, and I guess the rest would be other factors, curriculum, weather, available extracurricular activities.

 

[Scooby Doo]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by McEntrye:
•Actually, they do really well on the boards. I believe, no the most recent test, they had one of the highest averages in the nation, with one third of the students scoring in the top 99th percentile.
I think the student's happiness has partly to do with who they chose, and I guess the rest would be other factors, curriculum, weather, available extracurricular activities.•••••1/3 of the students??

haha..I don't believe you.

 

[altaskier]

Yup, it is true. One third of the class scored in the 99th percentile. Way to kick ass UCI!

 

[qualified]

There are plenty of qualified students at UCI.
I know of this guy who had a 4.0 GPA and 42 MCAT and attends UCI. He had the highest board score in the nation.

 

[Scooby Doo]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by qualified:
•There are plenty of qualified students at UCI.
I know of this guy who had a 4.0 GPA and 42 MCAT and attends UCI. He had the highest board score in the nation.•••••Uhu..and this is what he TOLD you?
Or did you go sleep over in his bed and sneak a peak at his transcript and score report?

Who the hell cares man!??!

jeez..of course there are going to be smart peeps who attend schools that are not ranked even though they could have gone to a top 5. This does not mean that 1/3 of the damn class will score in the 99th percentile!

 

[California]

I think of it all this way. The national average is the mean score of all students who take the board exam. I wouldn't be surprised if many schools have an average score which is above the national average. I also don't think it is important when a school reports it has a score above the national average if it is not one or two SDS above the mean---a lesson I learned in Statistics.

 

[Scooby Doo]

Yes, but statistics also shows you when you have a relatively even curve with small distribution, there must be some ABOVE and some BELOW the mean.

Where are the schools below the mean? haha..all of them brag so much..I could give a crap how they do..I know we'll all do well...it's the point of someon is lying here! WHo is it?

 

[Cassidy61]

ten to one that UCI thinks that a two digit score of 99 is equal to the 99th percentile!! i can almost guarantee it. i wish that everyone would read the whole score report form.

 

[scully]

Very funny, Cassidy61. But no, people at UCI are bright enough to figure out the score report. The class did do exceptionally well this time around, with only one out 93 not passing. And the story about the smart guy with the highest score is true.

In answer to the original question from aria -- our second year classes do end a bit earlier so that there are a few weeks to study. There is not a school-sponsored review program, but some students do take Kaplan (which comes to campus.) I think this is a very good question for someone trying to decide which school to attend. The board scores were one of the main factors which tipped the scales for me (in addition to the *beautiful* weather and area, of course!)

Scooby-Do -- what do you have against Irvine? We aren't saying that we are better than anyone else, but it is no crime to work hard and do well. California state schools are really tough to get into (not that all med school aren't hard to get into!), so it shouldn't be impossible to believe that the students perform really well on the boards.

 

[Scooby Doo]

My problem was with the use of "Well this dude had a 42 and a 4.0 and he scored the highest on his boards.."

Well DUH!!! he's a genius. Good for him. Doesn't mean everyone else at UCI scored that high.

33% of the class scoring in the 99th percentile. I find that number to be HUGE. I was searching some other sites and it seems the average is 1% in the 99th percentile. I came across Emory having about 12% in that percentile. I thought that there would not even be enough people for this. But oh well. So in the end, 33% might be right. But logic doesn't seem to follow. UCI is a good school...there are many other schools that get time off before the boards too. I am not hating...just trying to figure out the truth.

When I see comments exaggerating some things..I tend to try to figure out if they are right or wrong...I can't figure yours out. Do you have a link to a website that shows you guys had 33% of the class scoring in the 99th percentile?
CUZ THAT IS BIG BIG BIG DEAL! And I am sure they would put it on the web. So if it's up, link me and make me shutup!

 

[Scooby Doo]

Here's a link for the thing about EMORY board scores.

<a href="http://www.emory.edu/WHSC/MOMENTUM/DeansLetter/STATE99/state99.html" target="_blank">EMORY BOARD SCORES</a>

Says 12% got above 99th percentile
18% above the 97th percentile
and 31% above the 90th percentile.

 

[none]

I have a kind of blunt question...what's wrong with Irvine? Why isn't it ranked? Why isn't it pulling down the major research dollars? There's got to be something major to keep it out of the top 50 in the most competitive state in the country.

 

[Gauss]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by aria111:
•Does anyone know how UCI does on the boards and what kind of emphasis the curriculum/faculty place on the USMLE? Also, does the school offer any review courses, or time off to study? •••••Why do you worry about this? It's accreditated which is all you need to know. students pass boards and do well at all schools so that is rather irrelevant. Focus on other things - like how damn nice the weather is and the beach....

It has a bad rap from a recent scandal involving faculty stealing human embryos for illegal research. They had to flee to mexico to avoid prosecution.

so 30% of about 100 students at UCI are in the top 1% of med student board scores in the nation are at UCI - Absurd! I thought drug reps were the only ones spouting out such ludicrous stats.

 

[scully]

none,

I think your question is a very good one -- I asked it too. UCI was the only unranked school to which I was accepted, and yet I still ended up going there. It was a very difficult thing. You can say that rankings don't matter, but in the back of your mind, you always want to go to the best school you can -- best in your eyes and in the eyes of others. For me, there were alot of other factors which I had to consider. At first I thought that I was choosing a school which was not quite good enough, but after half a year at UCI, I can really find nothing wrong with it, and in fact, I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the students and administration. I think that UCI is not ranked because of the fact that it is the newest UC, and the smallest. I have a feeling it may move up in the near future. But the students are really bright and there are alot of opportunities to anything you want in terms of research, clinical experience, political stuff, community works, etc... Even first years in my class have already received grants for starting community clinics. I know one second year guy who is taking classes, doing research, and is getting a book published!

Now I hope everyone knows that I am not bragging about UCI, but just giving some personal thoughts and observations. The bottom line is that it is a good school despite the fact that it is unranked. It isn't a Harvard or Duke, but between the opportunities, the board scores, and the beach, I, personally, am very happy that I chose it over others (including a certain northeastern school ranked in the top 10.)