When you break down the amount of time we are in class, we really only lag behind others by 8 weeks. So really, it's not 3 years into 2, and if we had "normal" scheduling, we would go into clinics during Feb/March of third year, which is on par which quite a few other schools. I personally think it's better because even though we have more exams, I'm constantly on top of the material, and if I don't like a class it's okay because it's done in 8 weeks! That and we only have to balance 4-5 classes at a time, which again, to me, is less stressful than managing 10 at another vet school.
The only thing that is truly "more rigorous," or at least to me, is the amount of school we have in the spring. Going to school for 24 weeks is rough and is a recipe for burnout, especially during your 2nd year (1st year isn't bad at all since they have an "easy" summer block). I'm at the end of my summer block and I'm about to pull my hair out over how stressful it is... but at the end of the day I would do it all over again due to extra time in clinics.