silver_eyes,
the program has its positives as being quite prestigious. When I entered, a lot of ppl have heard of it and have told me that it will be hard, but at the same time I might get the chance of going to UCLA, one of the top medical institutions in the country.
First yr was alright, I was in the same class as most other science majors, so was second yr, and becoming more selective 3rd yr. We basically took the pre-med required courses in order to fulfill the basic required load of a medical school bound student. It was neat because we also got to observe at a local hospital upon our 3rd yr once a week.
Overall, the course load was quite rigorous, it did take a lot of time. And we had to take our MCATs the summer after our 2nd yr.
For those that made it to the medical school phase, it was pretty cool for them. I'm not too sure how they're liking it, though I've heard many different stories about it, both good and bad.
For those that did not make it thru like me, we apply again. i decided to take a yr off and this yr I applied again to med schools and got in.
Either way, it was a risk, and I did learn a lot. On one hand there's the risk of jeopardizing one's GPA due to the accelerated speed, while on the other, the chance of one making to med school upon 3rd yr was about 50%. Most 3rd yr classes were around 45-50 students when they interviewed.
For the current biomeds, the university is trying to lighten the load for them, i.e. they took away a lot of classes that were once required. And of course, to the pt. of the changes that were made recently as I have mentioned in my last post.
Hopefully you're enjoying university of the pacific. I am definitely a traditional-bound advocate. At the same time taking the accelerated path with a grain of salt, in retrospect.
