Update at COMP

[Jinyaoysiu]

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Here's some update:

We had a Dean's hour last week in which the deans answered all of the questions that our class had. Here's some new info that are related to my previous post:

1)According to our assistant dean, 1st time boards pass rate is 90%.
2)It is confrimed by our assistant dean that our core curriculum has shifted towards preparing us for the boards directly.
3)COMP will have a new dean, who's a DO and an Admiral.
4)An extra month is added to our 3rd year clinical rotations.
5)The number of required clinical rotations in the 4th year has decreased to only 3 blocks/months. The rest of them are electives!!!

Prospective DOs, you might not understand the importance of the changes made to our 3&4 year curriculum, but believe me it is to our great advantage in preparing us to get the residency programs we want. Simply, it's like adding gasoline onto burning flames, which makes the fire burn even brighter.

 

[elvingomez]

wow, sounds great and looks like you guys can have some fun! i really hope i get accepted there when i apply. maybe '07. i just need to find a DO to shadow, btw is that requirement typical for all DO schools?

 

[Jinyaoysiu]

wow, sounds great and looks like you guys can have some fun! i really hope i get accepted there when i apply. maybe '07. i just need to find a DO to shadow, btw is that requirement typical for all DO schools?

I don't think that's a requirement at COMP and I personally did not shadow a DO but I believe I was effective in convincing COMP that I really wanted to be a DO, which was nothing but the truth anyways and maybe the admissions office was able to see that.

But I think it's a great idea to shadow a DO, especially someone who incorporates OMM into his/her practice. OMM is really cool and honestly I don't understand why anyone who's sincerely interested in learning the art of medicine and wants to be the best possible clinical physician would not choose to go DO and learn OMM as an extra set of tools if given the choice.
What can a MD do without his/her drugs and equipment when a patient is having a heart/asthma attack on board an airplane? Jack.

 

[superflyDO]

I think the administration at COMP is just way too shady. On our interview, we were told by the director of admissions that she knows of the concerns about the troubles they are in and that no matter how much negativity is out there, namely on SDN, " we will always have applicants". She didn't address anything that was in the works or a sincere concern... just that " we will always have applicants to our school". Well, isn't that obvious? I mean there is a demand and you can have a hole in the wall and there will be someone to take it to become a physician. To most of us though, it's about quality, and how much they're giving us back OTHER THAN A DEGREE that matters.

On top of that, she said that if you get rejected/alternate you can email her and she will respond within a few days to find out why... well, it's been almost 1 month since I emailed her and still no response.

It doesn't seem like the administration I want to spend my $120,000+ on, so that they can reinvest it in a new college (like their new veterinary college) or give themselves loans from the school instead of making the osteopathic college a better program . However I think that for someone who just wants a degree and doesn't care about anything else, then these issues can be ignored 👍

I think it's great that you guys are getting a new dean... but isn't that a result of the school paying the old dean $500,000 to leave the school because he turned in the current president for giving himself loans from COMP that was supposed to be used for the school? I don't know where that's gonna go because the new dean is still overlooked by that same president.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Jinyaoysiu]

I think the administration at COMP is just way too shady. On our interview, we were told by the director of admissions that she knows of the concerns about the troubles they are in and that no matter how much negativity is out there, namely on SDN, " we will always have applicants". She didn't address anything that was in the works or a sincere concern... just that " we will always have applicants to our school". Well, isn't that obvious? I mean there is a demand and you can have a hole in the wall and there will be someone to take it to become a physician. To most of us though, it's about quality, and how much they're giving us back OTHER THAN A DEGREE that matters.

On top of that, she said that if you get rejected/alternate you can email her and she will respond within a few days to find out why... well, it's been almost 1 month since I emailed her and still no response.

It doesn't seem like the administration I want to spend my $120,000+ on, so that they can reinvest it in a new college (like their new veterinary college) or give themselves loans from the school instead of making the osteopathic college a better program . However I think that for someone who just wants a degree and doesn't care about anything else, then these issues can be ignored 👍

I think it's great that you guys are getting a new dean... but isn't that a result of the school paying the old dean $500,000 to leave the school because he turned in the current president for giving himself loans from COMP that was supposed to be used for the school? I don't know where that's gonna go because the new dean is still overlooked by that same president.

Just my 2 cents.

As a formal applicant, I could imagine your frustration. I feel equally surprised that our admissions director was that evil. Having dealt with her myself, I can't imagine she would say something to suggest that COMP doesn't give a damn about anything because there will always be an applicant pool, which there will definitely not be if that's truly the case. But I wasn't there when she said that to you and who knows, maybe she was even more evil than I could imagine, or maybe, just maybe you had a special way of interpreting her.

I don't understand where you got the information from when you hinted that COMP has a low quality education( you said '"To most of us though, it's about quality") and that COMP does not continue to improve on its program( you said "...instead of making the osteopathic college a better program")

Since you are making such claims in my thread, I hope you didn't gather such information from what I wrote before, because that would suggest a unique quality in your ability to correctly process and interpret information.

Or perhaps, a waitlisted/rejected applicant like you really have some deeper understanding that my classmates and I are not fortunate enough to have.

In any case, I wish you a successful pursuit in a DO career. It didn't sound like COMP was a right match for you personally, and I'm sure you'll find the right school for you.
Also, thanks to your comment about our admissions director and I will forward your comment to her. We all have room for improvement in whatever we do.

 

[hotlikebutter]

i was told on interview day that board pass rates are "usually" 90% year after year. but then talking to students, they told me last years board rates were the lowest they have ever seen, around 80%. I was kinda taken back from the dance around answer, but to their defense, almost every school i have interviewed at so far, last years board rates dropped. i guess it was just really hard last time around. comp is a good school. its like most schools however, what you get out of it is entirely up to you. you gotta make it happen. i may be there next year. its one of my top 3.

 

[superflyDO]

I don't understand where you got the information from when you hinted that COMP has a low quality education( you said '"To most of us though, it's about quality") and that COMP does not continue to improve on its program( you said "...instead of making the osteopathic college a better program")

Since you are making such claims in my thread, I hope you didn't gather such information from what I wrote before, because that would suggest a unique quality in your ability to correctly process and interpret information.

I appreciate your response and you forwarding my comments to her. In regards to the above quote, I did not mean to hint that the education is low quality. I meant the quality of the program as a whole. I hear of problems with your rotations office, obviously understaffed in admissions where no response was given, etc. I have no idea about the quality of education and do not claim to know (I guess I was unclear before)... the above poster knows more than I do. Anyway, best of luck to you. I didn't mean to knock your school, I just wanted applicants to know the other side as I saw it and about the new dean since you mentioned it who is still under the alleged ( an I emphasize *alleged*) corrupt president of the school.

Sorry if it my first reply was unclear... Good luck to you.

 

[hotlikebutter]

I appreciate your response and you forwarding my comments to her. In regards to the above quote, I did not mean to hint that the education is low quality. I meant the quality of the program as a whole. I hear of problems with your rotations office, obviously understaffed in admissions where no response was given, etc. I have no idea about the quality of education and do not claim to know (I guess I was unclear before)... the above poster knows more than I do. Anyway, best of luck to you. I didn't mean to knock your school, I just wanted applicants to know the other side as I saw it and about the new dean since you mentioned it who is still under the alleged ( an I emphasize *alleged*) corrupt president of the school.

Sorry if it my first reply was unclear... Good luck to you.

about the email response, just FYI the admission officer gets about 500 emails per day! if its important, call them. talk to the person handling your file, they are usually pretty quick. good luck.

 

[dr.z]

i was told on interview day that board pass rates are "usually" 90% year after year. but then talking to students, they told me last years board rates were the lowest they have ever seen, around 80%. I was kinda taken back from the dance around answer, but to their defense, almost every school i have interviewed at so far, last years board rates dropped. i guess it was just really hard last time around. comp is a good school. its like most schools however, what you get out of it is entirely up to you. you gotta make it happen. i may be there next year. its one of my top 3.

When I interviewed there, both professors told me pass rate was 70%. That turned me off quite a bit. I know it is a good school, but I don't want to have hard time passing boards.

 

[superflyDO]

about the email response, just FYI the admission officer gets about 500 emails per day! if its important, call them. talk to the person handling your file, they are usually pretty quick. good luck.

I did call and was told to email her. The purpose of my response to this was just to let applicants know some additional facts that may be helpful in making a decision. The OP had also specified that a new dean is coming who is a DO and admiral, and it seemed like people might think everything will be OK now... but others may not know about what happened to the old dean, and more importantly, that the president of the school who was the focus of that whole scandal is still overlooking the new dean!! I forgive the admissions director, maybe she's just too busy for someone that won't be coughing up $120,000 in the next four years. Either way, I do not comment on the quality of education at COMP but others have made that clear. Just the other things seem a bit out of line.

 

[JMC_MarineCorps]

I did call and was told to email her. The purpose of my response to this was just to let applicants know some additional facts that may be helpful in making a decision. The OP had also specified that a new dean is coming who is a DO and admiral, and it seemed like people might think everything will be OK now... but others may not know about what happened to the old dean, and more importantly, that the president of the school who was the focus of that whole scandal is still overlooking the new dean!! I forgive the admissions director, maybe she's just too busy for someone that won't be coughing up $120,000 in the next four years. Either way, I do not comment on the quality of education at COMP but others have made that clear. Just the other things seem a bit out of line.

You have to stop living in the past man...I know where you are coming from, but COMP is on the up and up and moving rapidly towards becoming an elite academic institution. Hit me up in two year and I'll tell you how our class did on the boards...the way it looks now with this motivated group of gunners, I, along with the rest of the faculty and administration, predict a solid performance.

I love it at COMP...I am challenged every day and I see a friendly administration that looks out for its students. Perfection can never be expected, but one should never cease striving for it; and I see COMP as receptive, responsive and wholly commited to its missions and its students.

 

[Jinyaoysiu]

Either way, I do not comment on the quality of education at COMP but others have made that clear.QUOTE]

But you did comment on the quality of education at COMP. Go back and read what you wrote. You know, reading comprehension(and particularly of your own writing) is an important aspect of getting into med schools. Perhaps you don't need a response from our adimssions office anymore becuase maybe I answered your question right there. I could keep accusing that you did comment, and you could keep denying that you did not. I'll let other SDNers be the judge on that.

There are many issues that concern applicants when they look at a school, and people have different opinions in terms of what issues matter most. Based on what you talked about, it seems like a financially pure and solid school is what you care about the most, so much so that you said "However I think that for someone who just wants a degree and doesn't care about anything else, then these issues can be ignored " Basically you think that people that "ignore" on some level of the financial issue are people who just want a degree.

To me, the alleged accusation of our president a few YEARS ago in no way affected my experience at COMP. But you gave a very passionate comment about students(COMP?) who "only wants a degree and doesn't care about anything else" in contrast to "most of us though, it's about quality" in contrast to COMP where "instead of making the osteopathic college a better program." I respect your passion on this issue just like I respect Rainman on the issue of his underwear, but please don't assume that students ignored the issue because they only want their degrees. COMP students came here because they realized that COMP's strengths far outweighed the president's alleged loan.

In fact, I remember when I interviewed here, the admissions director said something along the lines of "Despite some of our short-comings, the quality of our education is in fact improving and we will continue to attract an applicant pool due to our strengths." And to you, that probably meant, like you claimed "we'll get applicants no matter what."

Despite the alleged president's loan years ago and negative comments on the SDN by a few academically challenged COMP students, COMP was able to attract my class, which has the best academic credentials by a high margin that COMP has had. Many of us turned down other MD&DO schools to come here for good reasons and like I said, the class is tight and we are enjoying it.

I'm sure you have your good reasons for not wanting to come here(that's if you were accepted), and perhaps it's better this way that other students with same good reasons as yours end up in a school that proves to a better match for your likemindedness.

 

[superflyDO]

Absolutely... and I didn't comment on the quality of education. I mean quality of administration, quality of facilities, I see other schools building gyms, research centers etc. Rather than giving you a discount at the local Bally's I think their $30,000 x 200 students can be invested a little more in improving the quality of all of these, rather than taking it home via illegal loans or opening up other colleges and not reinvesting it in YOUR program. So please get over the comment about education. Others were told however that board pass rates were in 70's and 80's.

Everybody has their preferences... honestly I think COMP would make a good match for a lot of people. I was merely stating the facts... since you said you have a new dean, I wanted to add where the old one went and why. I am sorry that bothered you.

In fact, I remember when I interviewed here, the admissions director said something along the lines of "Despite some of our short-comings, the quality of our education is in fact improving and we will continue to attract an applicant pool due to our strengths." And to you, that probably meant, like you claimed "we'll get applicants no matter what."

I swear she said " we'll have applicants no matter what". Rather than trying to put me down as some liar or someone who twists things, just accept that it is not perfect, which is true for all schools. I considered COMP and if it were the only school I were to get accepted to, I'd go there. I have my preferences, I want to see my money reinvested in the program I am paying into. I'm not knockin your school guys, just sharing my thoughts with some fellow applicants as you have done. Please don't let that bother you. Good luck

 

[Truce57]

When I interviewed there, both professors told me pass rate was 70%. That turned me off quite a bit. I know it is a good school, but I don't want to have hard time passing boards.

I interviewed as AZCOM Monday and they showed a slide with last year's pass rates by school to tout their 100% pass rate. For the COMLEX Step 1, the lowest rate for any school ( their names were absent) was 86% . It was about the same for Step 2, I believe.

For the USMLE boards, the highest osteo class will almost always be in the mid 80s and go down from there--maybe to the 70s you mention?

 

[Jinyaoysiu]

I didn't say anything about being a liar but I did talk about interpretation. I also swear that John Kerry said "I've had one consistent position" but I'm not going to accuse him to be sexually explicit on national TV. What's important is the context and what he said before and after that statement. You were suggesting that our admissions director said "..no matter what.." in a shady, doesn't give a damn context. The likelihood that an admissions director would tell an applicant that her school is shady and doesn't give a damn is as high as a presidential candidate being sexually explicit on TV. But then again, anything is possible, maybe our admissions director was really that shady and John Kerry was really that sexually explicit.

There's also a difference between "merely stating facts" and using those facts to make wild claims about COMP students. You wrote "someone who just wants a degree and doesn't care about anything else, then these issues can be ignored" and "I mean there is a demand and you can have a hole in the wall and there will be someone to take it to become a physician. To most of us though, it's about quality."

Also, it's outlandish to suggest that COMP is not improving the quality of its facilities because of the alleged loan and the new Vet college. Most of the DO schools are not building new gyms and new research centers, do you accuse those schools for not improving on their facilities as well? Do you also suggest that their students are "someone who just wants a degree and doesn't care about anything else?" Our MS1 classroom just got brand new Audio/Visual systems with 4 giant retractable screens, which probably costed more than the alleged personal loan. Please stop using the relatively unsubstantial amount of the alleged personal loan that happened a few years ago to support your poor argument about COMP's facilities. In fact, COMP facilities hold their own weight, as every interviewee can see.

 

[superflyDO]

Anyway, the only school I know of that has any of the issues we're discussing is COMP... these things don't even come up with other schools. Didn't mean to come off harsh ... I hope that things do change and for the better. Good luck.
P.S. Your comparison of her remarks to presidential candidates is very accurate 🙄

 

[Jinyaoysiu]

Anyway, the only school I know of that has any of the issues we're discussing is COMP... these things don't even come up with other schools. Didn't mean to come off harsh ... I hope that things do change and for the better. Good luck.
P.S. Your comparison of her remarks to presidential candidates is very accurate 🙄

Mr. Wild Claims,
Yeah, you only care about the actual remarks. I emphasized on "context" and "interpretation," which you did not understand, again.

And you can't be more simple-minded and naive to claim that COMP is the only school with the issues that you mentioned. You can't even further support your arguments about those "issues" when I challenged your arguments. But you sure know how to back out with an "anyway." 👍

 

[hotlikebutter]

i will be self appointed admin here and try to end this going nowhere debate.

yes, COMP is having issues with lower than their normal pass rates. a third year told me it was 86%. the current 1st and 2nd year students have told me that the curriculum has been changed to address this issue, and they will teach specifically for higher board scores.

yes, COMP's president is accused of financial inappropiateness. where does this reflect the teachers, students and administration responsible for medical education? I dont know, but someone on this thread keeps bringing it up as if it reflects the quality of education and students, which it doesnt in my mind, maybe im crazy.

Trust me, COMP is not and will not be the only institution guilty of shady behavior on behalf of an individual. we are all smart people, do not judge everyone by the actions of one or a few. A person at UCLA was selling body parts. Can you really say that UCLA is a bad medical school? No way. Hopkins had all their research funding frozen for ethical misconduct. A Chicago hospital was selling places on organ wait list. Im kicking a dead horse, but please understand my message.

Also, if you didnt like it, or think COMP is not good enough for you, then COMP truly is not the place for you. However, it may be the place for many other well qualified applicants. Dont walk on their dreams. You should follow your heart, and they will follow theirs.

 

[superflyDO]

i will be self appointed admin here and try to end this going nowhere debate.

yes, COMP is having issues with lower than their normal pass rates. a third year told me it was 86%. the current 1st and 2nd year students have told me that the curriculum has been changed to address this issue, and they will teach specifically for higher board scores.

yes, COMP's president is accused of financial inappropiateness. where does this reflect the teachers, students and administration responsible for medical education? I dont know, but someone on this thread keeps bringing it up as if it reflects the quality of education and students, which it doesnt in my mind, maybe im crazy.

Trust me, COMP is not and will not be the only institution guilty of shady behavior on behalf of an individual. we are all smart people, do not judge everyone by the actions of one or a few. A person at UCLA was selling body parts. Can you really say that UCLA is a bad medical school? No way. Hopkins had all their research funding frozen for ethical misconduct. A Chicago hospital was selling places on organ wait list. Im kicking a dead horse, but please understand my message.

Also, if you didnt like it, or think COMP is not good enough for you, then COMP truly is not the place for you. However, it may be the place for many other well qualified applicants. Dont walk on their dreams. You should follow your heart, and they will follow theirs.

Your post was truly needed and I thank you very much. Just for the record, I was pointing out my experiences and thoughts about the school as the OP had done. SDN is a forum, which is good because it gets all sides of a story and not just one person's biased opinion. Some people just get upset when someone's opinion differs from theirs. Comparing it to UCLA's person stealing bodies reflecting on the school, that is not a comparison to make because that was not the president of the school (and I am sure that person stealing bodies is no longer working at UCLA). Anyway, I said before I think the program would be a great match for some and I am sure they will do very well on their boards. I hope that everybody gets into their top choice and that we all succeed and work hand in hand in the future. 😍

 

[FowlersGap]

Mr. Wild Claims,
Yeah, you only care about the actual remarks. I emphasized on "context" and "interpretation," which you did not understand, again.

And you can't be more simple-minded and naive to claim that COMP is the only school with the issues that you mentioned. You can't even further support your arguments about those "issues" when I challenged your arguments. But you sure know how to back out with an "anyway." 👍

i think everyone needs to chill; jin, i noticed in a lot of your posts you come off way too harshly and defensive

its great that you think COMP is awesome but people are entitled to their own opinions, and its important not to take things out of context

regarding my thoughts on COMP; i'm a current first year and i've been too busy studying for weekly exams to get bogged down with what the administration is or is not doing. i think they are receptive to making changes and listening to students.

regarding the technology: yeah they got 4 screens but haven't you noticed that we have AV problems with every lecture, we have the pharmacy lecture feeding into our classroom during our lectures so we hear voices and can't pay attention. the mics run out of batteries after almost every lecture. we're paying a lot for our education...can't a little be spent towards fixing these problems?

also I'm not so impressed with the quality of the professors here, take our last immunology exam for example...was that really acceptable? the exam was riddled with numerous errors and countless spelling mistakes, in short it was a joke!

a lot of the professors are not great but in the end it comes down to the student. if you put in a lot of effort into your education you can get a lot out. if you are relying on the profs to tell you what you need to know...you won't really get by.

i basically came here for location and i'll see what happens during the rotation years but as far as faculty goes, its not so hot over here! and this is not a problem isolated to COMP alone - its important to realize every school has its problems and not every school will have the best faculty.

i've had to rely on my previous studies before I got to COMP to understand what is going on in the classroom half the time, those are just my two cents

i'm not bitter but I think it is important to point out issues that I wish i was aware of when I was applying; and don't worry about the administration for now, if you come here you'll be too busy studying to realize what's going on behind the scenes. its important to focus on your studies and do well, you'll be fine if you do that

good luck guys!

 

[me454555]

Let me attempt to set the record strait here about COMP and its academic institution.

For those who don't know, I'm an MS-II at COMP. I've heard the same negative things about COMP for the last 3 years that have been posted on the board. Embezzelment, blah blah blah, low board scores blah blah blah, No Dean blah blah blah.

Well here's my perspective about all these issues. As a student, NONE OF IT MATTERS!!!!! I know it sounds really weird but none of it has any impact on my life as a student at all.

1) Embezzelment - yeah well many schools have shady dealings going on but ours is just public. Bottom line, my tuition is high but so is every other private medical school. They are all very close together in terms of $$. Loans cover enough anyway.

2) We have no dean - well, we just got a dean a few weeks ago. For my first year and half at COMP we had no dean. Did it affect me? NO. I still got through core, still got through neuro, still got through cardio. Having a dean does not affect you're first two years. From what I hear, our 3rd and 4th year rotations are pretty good and they are definatly improving. We have some very strong clinicians associated w/our school who and we are affiliated w/some really good hospitals in the area. Just like every other DO school, we have matched students in very competitive specialties and top tier hospitals.

3) Low Board Scores - Yeah our board scores were low last year but so were everyone elses. The consensus amont 3rd years is that if you prepare for boards pretty well, you'll have no problem passing.

Overall, COMP is definatly NOT a perfect school and it definatly has problems but Guess what?!?! so does every school. I've talked to students in NYCOM, LECOM, and various others and we all laugh about the problems our respective school has. Bottom line, the quality of education at COMP is on par with what you'd get at any other DO school and the quality of faculty is the same. Don't be afraid to go to COMP based on the gossip you hear on SDN. Every school has their own set of problems and choosing another school will not help you avoid them.

 

[FowlersGap]

Let me attempt to set the record strait here about COMP and its academic institution.

For those who don't know, I'm an MS-II at COMP. I've heard the same negative things about COMP for the last 3 years that have been posted on the board. Embezzelment, blah blah blah, low board scores blah blah blah, No Dean blah blah blah.

Well here's my perspective about all these issues. As a student, NONE OF IT MATTERS!!!!! I know it sounds really weird but none of it has any impact on my life as a student at all.

1) Embezzelment - yeah well many schools have shady dealings going on but ours is just public. Bottom line, my tuition is high but so is every other private medical school. They are all very close together in terms of $$. Loans cover enough anyway.

2) We have no dean - well, we just got a dean a few weeks ago. For my first year and half at COMP we had no dean. Did it affect me? NO. I still got through core, still got through neuro, still got through cardio. Having a dean does not affect you're first two years. From what I hear, our 3rd and 4th year rotations are pretty good and they are definatly improving. We have some very strong clinicians associated w/our school who and we are affiliated w/some really good hospitals in the area. Just like every other DO school, we have matched students in very competitive specialties and top tier hospitals.

3) Low Board Scores - Yeah our board scores were low last year but so were everyone elses. The consensus amont 3rd years is that if you prepare for boards pretty well, you'll have no problem passing.

Overall, COMP is definatly NOT a perfect school and it definatly has problems but Guess what?!?! so does every school. I've talked to students in NYCOM, LECOM, and various others and we all laugh about the problems our respective school has. Bottom line, the quality of education at COMP is on par with what you'd get at any other DO school and the quality of faculty is the same. Don't be afraid to go to COMP based on the gossip you hear on SDN. Every school has their own set of problems and choosing another school will not help you avoid them.

awesome post! it really is important to understand that you won't have time to worry about all of these problems! an exam almost every monday during first year keeps you on your toes and you won't have time to even think about all this stuff

study hard!

 

[Jinyaoysiu]

As anyone can see, SuperflyDO made some extremely wild claims and tried to down play them by constantly saying that he was stating facts. I have no problems with facts but any sane individual would have problems with his claims that were embarrassingly out of the scope of the "facts" that he presented. Go back and read his original post or my replies as I quoted his claims in numerous occasions which he could not respond to.

Why would he go out of scope and fuel his claims by a disproportionate passion? It's interesting for someone to have that much disproportionate passion especially it's from someone who doesn't sound like he'd be attending COMP, NOR is he accepted...wait, could that be it?

As for the AV problems, it wasn't the new system itself but it was because the professors didn't know how to use it yet. Come on, you know the answers to your own questions yourself, if you really thought about it. And don't tell me it wasn't taken care of within seconds by our fellow student David. Give him some credits please. I and many others I've talked to personally thought the immuno exam was very fair, and you know the secretary messed up the typing job with the spelling mistakes and the professor has apologized personally in front of the class for his secretary. You don't assume the professor typed up the exam himself do you? Even if he did, you don't assume to judge a professor by his typing skills do you? Come on, I know we are stressed but let's be a little bit fair becuase our jobs might call for it one day.

 

[superflyDO]

i think everyone needs to chill; jin, i noticed in a lot of your posts you come off way too harshly and defensive

its great that you think COMP is awesome but people are entitled to their own opinions, and its important not to take things out of context

regarding my thoughts on COMP; i'm a current first year and i've been too busy studying for weekly exams to get bogged down with what the administration is or is not doing. i think they are receptive to making changes and listening to students.

regarding the technology: yeah they got 4 screens but haven't you noticed that we have AV problems with every lecture, we have the pharmacy lecture feeding into our classroom during our lectures so we hear voices and can't pay attention. the mics run out of batteries after almost every lecture. we're paying a lot for our education...can't a little be spent towards fixing these problems?

also I'm not so impressed with the quality of the professors here, take our last immunology exam for example...was that really acceptable? the exam was riddled with numerous errors and countless spelling mistakes, in short it was a joke!

a lot of the professors are not great but in the end it comes down to the student. if you put in a lot of effort into your education you can get a lot out. if you are relying on the profs to tell you what you need to know...you won't really get by.

i basically came here for location and i'll see what happens during the rotation years but as far as faculty goes, its not so hot over here! and this is not a problem isolated to COMP alone - its important to realize every school has its problems and not every school will have the best faculty.

i've had to rely on my previous studies before I got to COMP to understand what is going on in the classroom half the time, those are just my two cents

i'm not bitter but I think it is important to point out issues that I wish i was aware of when I was applying; and don't worry about the administration for now, if you come here you'll be too busy studying to realize what's going on behind the scenes. its important to focus on your studies and do well, you'll be fine if you do that

good luck guys!

I am glad that you came forward as a current student to show the other side of the coin. I think all applicants should know about both sides and that was my goal. And we must all realize that ALL schools have problems, and it's a matter of what we find significant to US. This will differ for all of us. It's important to weigh the pros and cons and in order to that, it's important to know them for each school. The cons that I noticed were just that they are not investing back into the DO program more than paying bare bone costs, yet they are investing in new programs or into the president's pocket. That will not be a big deal to some and it will be to others. It is not something that will be corrected because a new dean will be there someday. I appreciate Jinyaoysiu's and FowlersGap's contibutions to this thread to show us both sides of the school that us potential students can take into consideration. I hope that student's from other schools can share the pros and cons of their respective schools as well. Thank you all!

 

[Jinyaoysiu]

I am glad that you came forward as a current student to show the other side of the coin. I think all applicants should know about both sides and that was my goal. And we must all realize that ALL schools have problems, and it's a matter of what we find significant to US. This will differ for all of us. It's important to weigh the pros and cons and in order to that, it's important to know them for each school. The cons that I noticed were just that they are not investing back into the DO program more than paying bare bone costs, yet they are investing in new programs or into the president's pocket. That will not be a big deal to some and it will be to others. It is not something that will be corrected because a new dean will be there someday. I appreciate Jinyaoysiu's and FowlersGap's contibutions to this thread to show us both sides of the school that us potential students can take into consideration. I hope that student's from other schools can share the pros and cons of their respective schools as well. Thank you all!

Mr. Wild Claims is trying hard to downplay what he said by all of a sudden sounding sane and subjective. So now, he's saying that students weigh the pros and cons(well, duh). What happened to his claim that COMP students only want their degrees and ignored everything else? Now He's saying that all schools have problems. What happened to his naive claim that COMP was the only school with issues?

He's sudden shift to sanity kind of reminds me of how the KKK has been trying to cater to the mainstream public with a new clean shaven image but I'd much rather to see my klan all crazy and foaming by the mouth. It shows a true array of the repressed issues that people have and the world is more interesting this way. Therefore, superflyDO, please stay true to your claims.

 

[superflyDO]

Mr. Wild Claims is trying hard to downplay what he said by all of a sudden sounding sane and subjective. So now, he's saying that students weigh the pros and cons(well, duh). What happened to his claim that COMP students only want their degrees and ignored everything else? Now He's saying that all schools have problems. What happened to his naive claim that COMP was the only school with issues?

He's sudden shift to sanity kind of reminds me of how the KKK has been trying to cater to the mainstream public with a new clean shaven image but I'd much rather to see my klan all crazy and foaming by the mouth. It shows a true array of the repressed issues that people have and the world is more interesting this way. Therefore, superflyDO, please stay true to your claims.

Dude, you've been watching too much of the presidential debates. " My opponent is switching sides. I would like you all to see, my fellow Americans, that Senator Kerry is not the person to listen to .... " ... just let the thread be, let the readers be the judge and make decisions based on what they've read. Take a deep breath and relax. There was no bashing intended. 😎

 

[FowlersGap]

i'm not trying to contradict what you're saying, i'm just giving you my side of the coin; i thought the immuno exam was more than just a "messed up typing job with spelling mistakes" some questions (not just one...a couple at least) had more than one correct answer, one question had two answer choices that were identical, other times the questions made no sense. when you're taking an exam and you don't understand what the question is asking...i think there's a problem. if you talk to any second year, this is not an isolated case or a freak accident. i think its important for a professor to proof read his exam before making copies of it. i was a lecturer last year and I had to write exams. i proofread the exam multiple times to make sure there was no ambiguity anywhere. i don't know who you were talking to but everyone i talked to agreed that test was not fair. its unprofessional at this level to be given an exam like that. and can you honestly say you walk away from lecture understanding everything covered in that hour? if you've taken immuno before then that's cool but for the first timers i expect it must be very difficult to follow what's going on.

and the technical problems were not always fixed in a "couple seconds". remember the physio lecture where we heard the pharm lecture in the background. or the time it happened during biochem and our class ended up being cancelled, those problems weren't fixed right away, it took a professor storming out of the classrom to go scream at the AV peeps to remedy the situation.

i'm not stressed or getting worked up about this but i just think its important to point out what i'm seeing without the sugar coating. it can get a little out of hand sometimes!

and by writing this message i'm not saying you should or should not come to COMP, if you make the grades I think you have a good shot of getting into some great residencies. for me location was important and i don't regret coming here. as you've heard ad nauseum, every school has its problems, for those interested....the above was a little of what I thought was annoying at COMP. again i'm not anti-comp or pro-comp; i'm just illustrating to you all what i see through my eyes. and jin i don't think its appropriate to name names on this thread or post pictures of our class without permission. i don't know if everyone in those pictures would be happy if they found out premeds around the country were looking at them. just my two cents

As anyone can see, SuperflyDO made some extremely wild claims and tried to down play them by constantly saying that he was stating facts. I have no problems with facts but any sane individual would have problems with his claims that were embarrassingly out of the scope of the "facts" that he presented. Go back and read his original post or my replies as I quoted his claims in numerous occasions which he could not respond to.

Why would he go out of scope and fuel his claims by a disproportionate passion? It's interesting for someone to have that much disproportionate passion especially it's from someone who doesn't sound like he'd be attending COMP, NOR is he accepted...wait, could that be it?

As for the AV problems, it wasn't the new system itself but it was because the professors didn't know how to use it yet. Come on, you know the answers to your own questions yourself, if you really thought about it. And don't tell me it wasn't taken care of within seconds by our fellow student David. Give him some credits please. I and many others I've talked to personally thought the immuno exam was very fair, and you know the secretary messed up the typing job with the spelling mistakes and the professor has apologized personally in front of the class for his secretary. You don't assume the professor typed up the exam himself do you? Even if he did, you don't assume to judge a professor by his typing skills do you? Come on, I know we are stressed but let's be a little bit fair becuase our jobs might call for it one day.

 

[Jinyaoysiu]

Dude, you've been watching too much of the presidential debates. " My opponent is switching sides. I would like you all to see, my fellow Americans, that Senator Kerry is not the person to listen to .... " ... just let the thread be, let the readers be the judge and make decisions based on what they've read. Take a deep breath and relax. There was no bashing intended. 😎

Mr. Wild Claims:
I'm perfectly relaxed. I don't involve much emotion on someone like you who uses "anyway" and "Take a deep breath and relax" everytime you want to divert the attention from actually responding to my posts but you felt like you had to post something to stay cool, so the best you could come up with is to suggest that I watch too much presidential debates. Why don't you respond with something on tangent for a change.

 

[Jinyaoysiu]

Dear fellow classmate,

You are right about the pictures and I will take them down.

As for the immuno exam, I think the exam was fair in terms of depth and the range of information that it covered, especially for our level, the med school level. The average is 72% before an emminent curve, which is not low by any med school standard. We seem whiny to other med schools when we fuss about the fairness of an exam with an average of 72%. I know we had a few averages in the high 80's and I think that's why people are flustered, besides the exam not being proofread.

I've never had immuno either. But can you honestly say that you've been to every of his lectures, took good notes, and didn't play games or space out? Maybe you have, but I know most of the complainers have not. We are in a learning culture in which we hold such a high standard of our professors and scrutinize every detail that they do when it doesn't go our way. I wonder if students hold the exact same standard for themselves?

Some people use critical language and attitudes towards our professors as if the profs are out to get them. Yet it will be an outcry or even law suits if the professors treat them similarily during every moment of their weaknesses, calling them "not so bright," "not good," "lazy," or "not paying attention"
Such adjectives in no way describe our hardworking class of 2008 but that's what we are sometimes. That's what human natures are sometimes.

I've heard some people that said "hey we pay their salaries" as if so they can hold professors to a higher standard than what they expect of themselves. However please don't define any teacher/student relationship in terms of the monetary worth because the teachers could really look at it the same way and just do their minimum "job requirements," while you know in reality professors have been doing much more than that for us. The only thing "minimum" that such mentality brings is a minimum of expectation for ourselves as students. And we are not just any type of students, we are med students, which will be a matter of life and death someday. Many of us definitely do not exhibit the required maturity yet, but that's why we're in school.

 

[Jinyaoysiu]

I am glad that you came forward as a current student to show the other side of the coin.

Isn't this comment hilarious? A classmate talked about his opinions related to an exam and AV systems, SuperflyDO jumped out and claimed that the classmate showed "the other side of the coin" of COMP.

Imagine if Scottie Pippen told a reporter that Michael Jordan missed several shots during a practice, and the reporter immediately said "Scottie, I'm glad you came forward as a teammate to show the other side of the coin for Chicago Bulls." Pippen would think the reporter was crazy! Again, such comment was out of scope fueled by obvious disproportionate passion(if not hatred) and personal agenda. What kind of issues did that reporter have with the Bulls to immediately jump to that conclusion?

What kind of issues does SuperflyDO have? especially when superflyDO is neither a current student nor accepted yet.

 

[JMC_MarineCorps]

again i'm not anti-comp or pro-comp; i'm just illustrating to you all what i see through my eyes.

You should be pro-COMP...plain and simple. And if you are not, I forgive you and will give you until Monday to square yourself away.

 

[FowlersGap]

nice points; i know what its like to be on the other side (the faculty side) it stinks to deal with whining students and its hard to be put on the spot while you're lecturing. but i've got to comment on the lazy factor; a few of our profs are notorious for using/recycling old test questions; in fact one prof last year used the identical 1993 exam and got into some trouble...lazy? i think so

whatever though; i'm glad our class is pretty good at sharing resources and making we're at a level playing field! study hard and good luck on these next (never ending) round of exams

Dear fellow classmate,

You are right about the pictures and I will take them down.

As for the immuno exam, I think the exam was fair in terms of depth and the range of information that it covered, especially for our level, the med school level. The average is 72% before an emminent curve, which is not low by any med school standard. We seem whiny to other med schools when we fuss about the fairness of an exam with an average of 72%. I know we had a few averages in the high 80's and I think that's why people are flustered, besides the exam not being proofread.

I've never had immuno either. But can you honestly say that you've been to every of his lectures, took good notes, and didn't play games or space out? Maybe you have, but I know most of the complainers have not. We are in a learning culture in which we hold such a high standard of our professors and scrutinize every detail that they do when it doesn't go our way. I wonder if students hold the exact same standard for themselves?

Some people use critical language and attitutes towards our professors as if the profs are out to get them. Yet it will be an outcry or even law suits if the professors treat them similarily during every moment of their weaknesses, calling them "not so bright," "not good," "lazy," or "not paying attention"
Such adjectives in no way describe our hardworking class of 2008 but that's what we are sometimes. That's what human natures are sometimes.

I've heard some people that said "hey we pay their salaries" as if so they can hold professors to a higher standard than what they expect of themselves. However please don't define any teacher/student relationship in terms of the monetary worth because the teachers could really look at it the same way and just do their minimum "job requirements," while you know in reality professors have been doing much more than that for us. The only thing "minimum" that such mentality brings is a minimum of expectation for ourselves as students. And we are not just any type of students, we are med students, which will be a matter of life and death someday. Many of us definitely do not exhibit the required maturity yet, but that's why we're in school.

 

[that dr. jack]

haha, let's stop all the fussin' and the fightin'. COMP is a good school, with some problems, but there is no school on earth without them. ya'll look out for yourselves and your education. this is the most important thing we've ever done- f*ck all the peripheral stuff and ace the pharm test.

can you tell i've had one martini too many?

 

[superflyDO]

Also, thanks to your comment about our admissions director and I will forward your comment to her. We all have room for improvement in whatever we do.

I doubt she got back to you, but if she did please share.