Decel vs Alternate and attrition

[Gforce007]

I have most important concepts that I would like clarified so I can better know all options.

What is the difference between these Decel and Alternate concepts?

Does any one know someone at SGU in the decel program. Is it much more doable.? What do there schedules looks like from term 1 to term 2 for ex. Same with ALternate (whatever that is)

Is it through DES advice that someone go in Decel or strictly student desicion in the end? (I mean with the transition into GND + a tital wave of complex data would make anyone a bit overwhelmed I think)

Is it taboo to talk about it if you are in it. (I would not care I mean come on think thermodynamics state functions, Its the intial and final states that count not the path someone takes to get there)


Please give a senerio for each so I can better understand. Plus do these concepts effect the big picture on how it affects your stay at GND, transcipts, etc.

Plus are there numbers on how many people choose these options per class.

With Attrition is that when someone just leaves or they fail out? (or both)


Sorry for all Q's but I am really confused here.

Of course personally I would try my best to get through but to know that there is a saftey net is nice to know.

[emt036]

Decelling and Alternate Program are the same thing (i.e. you decel into the alternate program.)

This has been covered before, take a look at some of these threads:
http://www.valuemd.com/st-georges-university-school-medicine/42772-how-many-decel.html?highlight=alternate+decel
http://www.valuemd.com/st-georges-university-school-medicine/32594-please-explain-decelling.html?highlight=alternate+decel
http://www.valuemd.com/st-georges-university-school-medicine/27681-alternative-program.html?highlight=alternate+decel
http://www.valuemd.com/st-georges-university-school-medicine/13746-re-alternate-program.html?highlight=alternate+decel

The estimates on the number of people in the decel/alternate program vary widely - from 30 to 30%. Yes it is easier - I have known people to decel to keep their 4.0's - I mean if you are just taking 1 or 2 classes at a time, it must be easy to get an A. A student may decel by his/her own decision at midterm time, if their grades aren't up to par, or the Academic Progress Committee can mandate someone to decel at the end of a semester if their GPA is < 2.25.

Yes attrition is either failing out or leaving of own accord because medicine or Grenada is not for that person. I personally know 3 where the former is true.

[jaywalk81]

emt covered it all.
for term if you decel or have been accepted to the alternate program u take ONLY anatomy and histo
then ur 2nd term here, you would take biochem and embryo
im not too sure on what u would take after that if you are still in the alternate program (decel)

but deceling or being in the AP is a lot easier! i dont see why anyone thats in the program not able to get 2As.

[Gforce007]

Thanks for the links. They were very helpful. I was NOT accepted as an alternate but like it very much as a viable option incase things get rough. I think your cant beat the tradeoff. Your really have an opt to Master your stuff for USMLE's. Well worth an extra term I think.

Only thing that is confusing is I dont understand the who "if you decel in jan vs aug, you graduate with your class still or with next jan class" Doesnt make sense.

Can someone write a sample schedule of these scenerios in a consice matter. Reading it in explain scattered all over the place was confusing.

For Ex.

Decel Student 2.5 year vs Reg Student 2.0 year and incorporate how this means you grad with or without your original class plus how it affects your usmle study time.

My head is spinning. I think i got need to see it in a list (concise way) engineer in me that needs to see things in list or table format

Greatly greatly appreciated

[jaywalk81]

jan 06 class-because you will have that gap between term 5-6 and start of clinicals, which ends in dec and clinical starts in may, which means a break of 5 months, if u decide to decel you would end term 5-6 in may/june instead and start clinical in august of that yr, which is the same schedule the august 06 class follows. so you would graduate with the august class.

but if you are in the august 06 class, normally you wound end term5/6 in may and start clinical in august, but if you deceled then you would end term 5/6 in december of that yr and start clinical in may (the schedule of the jan 07 class) which means u graduate a yr later because the jan class graduate with the august class of 2007

[Gforce007]

Plus I hear people decel in 4th term sometimes

So if you decel basically you take term1 and term 2 to complete a reg term 1.

Ok so what happens term 3,4,5,6

If you decel in term 4 then you need term 5 to again complete a reg 4th term.

So, doesnt this mean MORE then an extra semester on the lsland???:confused:

[jaywalk81]

yes if u decel or in the AP, you will spend MORE time on the island.
if u are in the jan class, u decel once then u can still graduate the same yr. decel twice...u stay on the island 2 xtra terms...

[emt036]

If you decel Term 1, then you'll split the course load in half take 2 terms to complete Term 1. Terms 2-6 will all the normal courses at the normal times, you would just be with the class behind you. If you decel again Term 4, (double decel), then you would be on the island an extra year. There is no triple decel (that I know of) - you must complete the MD program within 5 years.

[jaywalk81]

not to confuse you anymore,
but if let say u start off term1 with all 4 classes and fail lets say biochem at the end of the term,
you would then in term 2..ONLY take biochem and nothing else (its the new policy) but since u paid for the class already, there will be no extra charges for retaking biochem, but u would still need to pay for housing.

but lets say that after midterm, u decide that u cant do biochem and the rest of the 3 classes...u can opt to drop it and decel and only take anatomy and histo. and then in term 2 u take biochem and embryo. im not sure if you would be charged again, but i dont think u would.
and i THINK if u drop biochem, u would be required to drop embryo too, and if droping anatomy, then u would need to drop histo. but all the people that i know drop biochem and embryo, i dont think they recommend taking biochem and embryo first and then followed by anatomy and histo.

[rokshana]

If you decel Term 1, then you'll split the course load in half take 2 terms to complete Term 1. Terms 2-6 will all the normal courses at the normal times, you would just be with the class behind you. If you decel again Term 4, (double decel), then you would be on the island an extra year. There is no triple decel (that I know of) - you must complete the MD program within 5 years.

actually the whole thing has to be done in 6 years- so you can take 3 years to finish basics and 3 years to finish clinicals

and no there isn't a triple decel unless you squeak really really loud!! + plus you would have to probably start in jan, then a 3x decel would only put you a year behind (1st decel doesn't change grad dat, 2nd decel will to the following year, 3rd decel doesn't change grad date).

GForce - you need to start working on the ability to compile info from different sources and make your own lists- it at the heart of studying and practicing medicine!! They call it Evidence- based Medicine, LOL!!!!!

[jaywalk81]

and dont sweat too much and worry too much about the whole deceling and stuff.
u will have other stuff to worry about soon hahaha

[Gforce007]

GForce - you need to start working on the ability to compile info from different sources and make your own lists- it at the heart of studying and practicing medicine!! They call it Evidence- based Medicine, LOL!!!!!
FIrst I am not to sure I appreciate this comment!

Second I think I just did compile the info below, and third its called delegating a task to a more experience person with the knowledge vs making me weed through the info myself (taking much longer then if I just asked). So it has nothing to do with my ability to compile info vs my ability to get a task done efficiently ie. ask one of you vs me doing it b/c you people are SGU experts)

So I took the time and did it anyway. back to the topic.
So basically,

Scenerios I:
Aug 06 Class:
Option 1: Decel Term 1 only
Results: Graduate with Aug 07 class.
What this means basic sciences wise: Finish Term 5-6 (last term) in Dec with jan07 class who didnt decel.
What this means USMLE Step 1 wise: You will have 5 months to study (When is earliest you can take it with this senerio)
What this means rotations wise: start rotations in may (which is 6 months after your term 5-6 was finished + year later b/c I deceled) with jan07 class who didnt decel.
What does this mean transcripts wise: does decel show on your transcripts. How is it evaluated when applying for residency. It can look good, can it??? How to you explain that..

Scenerio II:
Aug 06 Class:
Option 1: Decel Term 1 and Term 4
Results: Graduate with Aug 07 class STILL.
What this means basic sciences wise: Finish Term 5-6 (last term) in may with Aug07 class who didnt decel.
What this means USMLE Step 1 wise: You will have ~1 month to study for step 1 (When is earliest you can take it with this senerio)
What this means rotations wise: start rotations in Aug (about two months after your last 5-6 Term) with Aug 07 class (still a year later then your original Aug 06 class.

Does this sound right????
What are the ramafications down the road I guess?

[kingalls]

Sounds about right. I can't imagine it helps you to have a decel on the transcript but I don't imagine it really makes much difference if everything else looks good (or if everything else looks bad). For the record when the school is calculating class rank for scholarship purposes alternate and optimal path students are NOT considered equivalent, for the Legacy of Excellence scholarship at least. Found this out when calling Bayshore, though it would be interesting to hear if there are any alternate students receiving performance based financial aid. Also I suppose you'd lose a couple of months to a year in earning power down the road, so that's another ~$100-200,000. Honestly though it seems to me that if you're sure you want to come to med school just do it, and worry about alternate programs later if you even need to. Personally I'd rather be done sooner than later and the majority of students who attend SGU don't decel anyway.

[Gforce007]

Thanks for the info.

Just for the record. I am strictly just gathering infomation to learn about SGU and its policies

I am NOT asking because this is the route I want to take so I kindly ask and appreciate not to take my questions and make the leap to think this is the mind set I have b.c it is not. Its simply just trying to learn about the school's academic policies.

[Saora1]

I am NOT asking because this is the route I want to take so I kindly ask and appreciate not to take my questions and make the leap to think this is the mind set I have b.c it is not. Its simply just trying to learn about the school's academic policies.
I think this is a good thing to do i.e. learn about possibilities.

[kingalls]

Then I think quite possibly the best place to find 100% of the information would be the student manual. Not trying to be condescending one bit, it's just the only place where you can find the definitive answers, and probably stated far more clearly than anybody here can provide them. SGU is a haven for misinformation and bias, and you're likely to find a lot of that here. Best of luck.

[emt036]

I agree - best to learn about all eventualities....

GForce, if you want to read all about SGU's academic policies straight from the horse's mouth, see:

http://qp2.sgu.edu/QuickPlace/student_oep_registrar/PageLibrary85256F410057E120.nsf/h_Toc/92be13faec1b58390525670800167238/?OpenDocument

where you can download the current Student Manual. I'd guess 90% of the students haven't read it, but I think it wouldn't be a bad idea...

[emt036]

Then I think quite possibly the best place to find 100% of the information would be the student manual. Not trying to be condescending one bit, it's just the only place where you can find the definitive answers, and probably stated far more clearly than anybody here can provide them. SGU is a haven for misinformation and bias, and you're likely to find a lot of that here. Best of luck.
My thoughts exactly.

[Gforce007]

Then I think quite possibly the best place to find 100% of the information would be the student manual. Not trying to be condescending one bit, it's just the only place where you can find the definitive answers, and probably stated far more clearly than anybody here can provide them. SGU is a haven for misinformation and bias, and you're likely to find a lot of that here. Best of luck.

Thanks- Good idea. is student maunal online. NEVER MIND THANKS EMT and Kingalls

[Gforce007]

I agree - best to learn about all eventualities....

GForce, if you want to read all about SGU's academic policies straight from the horse's mouth, see:

http://qp2.sgu.edu/QuickPlace/student_oep_registrar/PageLibrary85256F410057E120.nsf/h_Toc/92be13faec1b58390525670800167238/?OpenDocument

where you can download the current Student Manual. I'd guess 90% of the students haven't read it, but I think it wouldn't be a bad idea...

Thanks again -
See to understand me is to know that I am a very proactive person VS being a reactive person, hence I ask questions and have an overall plan of action that invloves risk management and then a plan mitigating those risks and then looking at if a risk becomes an issue how to implement my mitigation plan.

I work for US Army DoD where we support building joint task force weapon/satcom systems. If you have software that as an error of a couple degrees it can be devastating so thats prob were I get proactive tendency to be reading for all situations by think inside and outside the box.

Any how thanks again

[rokshana]

What this means USMLE Step 1 wise: You will have ~1 month to study for step 1 (When is earliest you can take it with this senerio)
Actually since you will finish 6th term in may and not start rotations til mid Aug to mid Sept. you could have ~3 months to study- depends on where you want to do rotations- NJ, probably need to have them done by mid-July(but that would still give you 2 months)- you get less off time after taking step Ibefore starting rotations.