Why does the most recent version of the MSAR have such poor reviews?

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rubisco88

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I went on Amazon and the most recent 2011 version of the MSAR has really bad reviews. However, the 2010 version of the MSAR has really good reviews. Does anyone know the reason for this? I think from reading reviews on amazon that in the 2011 version the statistics aren't printed in the book anymore and you have to look at the online version which is harder to look at. Does anyone know what they changed that made the book get such bad reviews? I want to buy it, but only if it's going to be helpful.
 
Historically, they only published a hard copy book, which had national summary data for that year as well as school-by-school data. This year they decided to split it up into a digital publication and a hard copy. The online database is what you'd expect to find (average GPA, MCAT, acceptance rates, etc) whereas the hard copy only has generic national summary data. I think most people who bought this year's hard copy were unpleasantly surprised by the change.
 
there's a nice spreadsheet on here that you might be interested in
 
aSagacious said:
Historically, they only published a hard copy book, which had national summary data for that year as well as school-by-school data. This year they decided to split it up into a digital publication and a hard copy. The online database is what you'd expect to find (average GPA, MCAT, acceptance rates, etc) whereas the hard copy only has generic national summary data. I think most people who bought this year's hard copy were unpleasantly surprised by the change.
Click to expand...


This. Current MSAR totally blows. Information you'd want to be digitized isn't, and lots of stuff you wish you could do, like easily sort by category in sorted order or screen for certain things, range from pain in the ass to impossible.

I would imagine the angst is over the fact that (for me at least) the digitization actually ended up making the MSAR less user-friendly. If they refine the code a little more, it should be much improved.
 
centrigeugle said:
This. Current MSAR totally blows. Information you'd want to be digitized isn't, and lots of stuff you wish you could do, like easily sort by category in sorted order or screen for certain things, range from pain in the ass to impossible.

I would imagine the angst is over the fact that (for me at least) the digitization actually ended up making the MSAR less user-friendly. If they refine the code a little more, it should be much improved.
Click to expand...
Not to mention that the website takes 1 1/2 days to load anything... it's really slow. Another gripe is that it logs you out superfast. It seems like barely 15 mins or something

To me, the most annoying part is that you only get access for 1 year. Previously, if you bought the book, you would have the stats forever. Now you have to keep buying it over and over if you are a reapplicant or are just curious about the stats later on down the road

OTOH, it seems like they've been improving the online version a little bit. Like how they added a "Notes" section so you can keep track of the schools
 
Catalystik said:
The 7/1 review by Troy is memorable.
Click to expand...

For those who are too lazy to go find it, it actually is well written
The MSAR is the official, authoritative guide to all of the allopathic medical colleges in North America; it would be unwise to apply to medical school without using it as a guide. In the past it presented an overview of each school on a two-page spread complete with admissions statistics, selection criteria, pre-requisites, and curriculum information. The best part of the MSAR was this easy-to-navigate layout with quick access to all of the information needed to make application decisions. Apparently, that was too convenient and logical.

With the new MSAR, the AAMC has published 286 of the most useless pages ever written on the topic of medical college admissions, ranking them above forest fires in the list of tragedies befallen by trees. All of the important information and data is now accessible only through the MSAR website, where you will find it (maybe) buried under a frustrating mountain menus and sub-menus that have been optimized for inefficiency. You'd be forgiven for suspecting that AAMC employs an army of watchmakers and cryptographers whose sole task is to uncover new and exciting ways to obscure two pages' worth of information. That's the only logical explanation.

Hopefully, the website will be improved next year, and they will return the printed edition to its previous form. In the mean time, I would recommend purchasing last year's edition on amazon, despite the inflated price (probably caused by the swarm of people seeking refuge from the horrors of the new format).

Disclaimer: The content of this review rests on the assumption that the AAMC intends the 2012 MSAR to be used as an aid to medical college admissions. I would feel quite silly if they were actually trying to market an exotic firewood substitute, as the MSAR performs admirably in this respect.
Click to expand...
 
That review is truly wonderful.

Hopefully the AAMC can get its act together and publish the printed book like before or overhaul their current online format. Even if the online version were well-organized it's still nice to have a printed version to easily browse through and put sticky notes in if desired.
 
gettheleadout said:
So what possessed the AAMC to make this change? What was wrong with the old format?
Click to expand...

I dunno. It is honestly a major BACKWARDS step in ease of access.

For example, with an online database, you'd imagine you could do something convenient, like see all the schools laid out with MCAT, GPA, tuition, etc in their respective fields. Then maybe you could click the "MCAT" tab, and sort all the schools by ascending/descending order!

Nope. Can't do it. Even checking one school's statistics is a multiple-page process.

Not to go all tinfoil hat on you, but given AAMC's response to the LizzyM spreadsheet, I honestly think that The Powers That Be really don't want us to easily sort all of the med schools by some common statistic.
 
Every time I use the new MSAR online it goes something like this:

*le click*

(wait an extraordinary amount of time)

LOL THAT THING YOU WANTED IS IN A DIFFERENT SUB-MENU, STUPID
 
The MSAR is the official, authoritative guide to all of the allopathic medical colleges in North America; it would be unwise to apply to medical school without using it as a guide. In the past it presented an overview of each school on a two-page spread complete with admissions statistics, selection criteria, pre-requisites, and curriculum information. The best part of the MSAR was this easy-to-navigate layout with quick access to all of the information needed to make application decisions. Apparently, that was too convenient and logical.

With the new MSAR, the AAMC has published 286 of the most useless pages ever written on the topic of medical college admissions, ranking them above forest fires in the list of tragedies befallen by trees. All of the important information and data is now accessible only through the MSAR website, where you will find it (maybe) buried under a frustrating mountain menus and sub-menus that have been optimized for inefficiency. You'd be forgiven for suspecting that AAMC employs an army of watchmakers and cryptographers whose sole task is to uncover new and exciting ways to obscure two pages' worth of information. That's the only logical explanation.

Hopefully, the website will be improved next year, and they will return the printed edition to its previous form. In the mean time, I would recommend purchasing last year's edition on amazon, despite the inflated price (probably caused by the swarm of people seeking refuge from the horrors of the new format).

Disclaimer: The content of this review rests on the assumption that the AAMC intends the 2012 MSAR to be used as an aid to medical college admissions. I would feel quite silly if they were actually trying to market an exotic firewood substitute, as the MSAR performs admirably in this respect.
Click to expand...


Is it me or does this sound like something PandaBear would write?
 
ElCapone said:
Is it me or does this sound like something PandaBear would write?
Click to expand...

Does PandaBear work for AMCAS now? Correct me if I'm wrong but he's the guy who wrote the legendary PS right? Pass me another baby Mbuuto or something like that.
 
aSagacious said:
Move to digital = expiring annual license = more money. Hence the trend with almost all software to a download instead of a CD-ROM.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. "More money" is probably the root of all stupid, unhelpful changes like this actually.
 
Donnie1310 said:
Every time I use the new MSAR online it goes something like this:

*le click*

(wait an extraordinary amount of time)

LOL THAT THING YOU WANTED IS IN A DIFFERENT SUB-MENU, STUPID
Click to expand...

Amazing.

I really miss the old MSAR format.
 
So quick question.
Having just read these reviews.....would it be better to

a) Buy the 2011-2012 MSAR with slightly older stats

OR

b) Buy the 2012-2013 MSAR with recent stats and endure the mess that is online access.

Also, if I order the new MSAR from amazon paperback, is the online access free with it? Or is that a separate thing?
 
Move to digital = expiring annual license = more money. Hence the trend with almost all software to a download instead of a CD-ROM.
Click to expand...

And the best thing, it's done in a way to frame it as doing their share in "going green" - it's basically foolproof.
 
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