All your questions about Ross in 1 post

[scurred]

For those of you already here, those of you incoming, and those of you still contemplating on attending...here is the deal. I just started this semester and I had many of the same questions many of you had. My foremost was whether Ross fails people on purpose, but after meeting with Dean Obenshain, he told us that the reason for the high failure rates and poor USMLE passing rates were because of one simple problem...the old administration. In 2000, the previous owners at Ross decided to sell the school, combined with the fact that prior to that, many students complained that Ross was too hard to pass. Since the previous owners were trying to sell the school, Ross made it very easy in terms of promotions to move from one semester to the next. The recent board score passing rates of 82% in 2003 and 70-something% this year reflect the old administration as those students were the first ones to take the USMLE pre-change. The previous owners at Ross wanted their selling point to Devry to be look at all the students we are puting in residencies, not in terms of quality, but in terms of quantity. So they just kept on pumping out students to take the USMLE. After the school was sold to Devry and the new dean came in, he was like wow, this isn't the way it should be. So he made it difficult to pass again. Many students, accustomed to the old way of promotions were caught suprised and their work ethic reflected their failure. As it is right now, if you work hard and do well, you will pass...if you average above a 60% on all your exams before the curve you will pass...guarunteed. If you are all unaware, this is sad however, because most US medical schools require at least a 70%. A lot of the students that you hear complain here just either don't have what it takes or don't study enough. If you can't get above a 70% in my eyes anyway, you should be failing. Everyone has to realize that this school gives everyone a chance, from a financial standpoint, its great because you can either sink or swim, but they still get your money. Ethically, its wrong, but I am here to become a doctor and thats it and my only motivating factor when I study, is that if I don't know everything, I could easily kill someone...have a nice day everyone

[jujubean]

Well, umm, thanks for the peptalk.... :roll:

Don't know why everybody makes a big deal about this USMLE pass rate, because in the end it all comes down on how well you prepared for the exam, and not some numbers that the school generates. The school can do only so much, the rest depends on your capability.

And you're only a 1st semester, you haven't seen it all just because you've been on the island for just two months or so. You say that you think that if everybody doesn't make a least a 70% raw on your exam, then you should be failing anyways. Just wait until you get higher up where the exams make a 1st semester mini look like a elementary school exam and we'll see if you're still saying that. Some exams you may make above a 70% and some exams you might not, just depends on the course material.

[2ndyear]

I agree with you Jujubean.

Scurred post contains a couple of mistakes many students always make when they start out at RUSM.

1) I have cousins, friends, and siblings who attended various stateside medical schools around the country so I have knowledge on this subject matter. At ross, we get raw scores and the post-MPS grades. At the US schools I know of, they either give you letter or numerical grades and that is it!!!!! No raw scores. So Yes, if you have heard that your friends got an 83 for Histology at the University so and so, for instance, that is probably a curved grade. There are probably many schools who supposedly only give out "raw" grades but i doubt there are many. Even the USMLEs scores are curved so there is a curve built-in somewhere at all medical schools!!!!

2) First semester classes are hard. But in the big picture, these classes are a joke. Most people get raw 80s or 90s in the first or second semesters so they think it will be like that for them the rest of the way. Uh uhh. I remember when I was in 4th, we had a orientation for a group of new first semesters and this one student stated " I think anyone who can't keep a 2.9 gpa shouldn't be in medical school". Last I heard, this guy failed second semester and transferred to SMU. My point being? Don't talk so big when you are just starting out........

[vitamins]

:roll: How presumptious of you (as a 1st semester) to say that if you get less than 70 raw, then you should fail.

[scurred]

I realize how difficult shit gets, as I took med path when I received my MS. I also took Immuno and Pharm, but...in those courses that were taken in conjunction w/ the medical school, there was never a curve. And as far as other medical schools, my best friend goes to tulane, girlfriend goes to einstein, another friend at chicago...and none of their grades are curved...and by the way...if any of you need help in those courses...i would be willing to tutor you

And as far as your friend that was in first semester that talked a lot of smack, sucks for him...lets face it...not a lot of people that come here should be here...this place gives everyone a chance...what they do with it is their own agenda

[scurred]

what are you guys going to do when you become doctors...get 6 out of 10 diagnoses correct...sucks to be the other 4 people that were your patients...please let me know where you intend on practicing so that way I can stay out of that state

[jujubean]

scurred was one of those people that were accepted at Harvard but decided to come to Ross for one reason or another. LOL :P

Listen oh wise one, you are stuck on this island along with the rest of us so don't act you're the ****...cause you're not :roll:

Do us a favor now and pipe down. :twisted:
meow

I realize how difficult pooh pooh gets, as I took med path when I received my MS. I also took Immuno and Pharm, but...in those courses that were taken in conjunction w/ the medical school, there was never a curve. And as far as other medical schools, my best friend goes to tulane, girlfriend goes to einstein, another friend at chicago...and none of their grades are curved...and by the way...if any of you need help in those courses...i would be willing to tutor you

And as far as your friend that was in first semester that talked a lot of smack, sucks for him...lets face it...not a lot of people that come here should be here...this place gives everyone a chance...what they do with it is their own agenda

[singer]

Scurred:

I would love to have some additionaal monies in my retirement fund so if you are so sure you will never get below a 70 on any test or lab aat Ross I will give you 2-1 odds. How much do you want to bet? 10% of your futurewage as an MD or 20% of your future wages as a "fortune teller" ?

I think from now on when I go to a doctor I will ask them what scores they had on the USMLE and if they ever had below a 70 raw school on an exam?

[Suzzallo]

If you can't get above a 70% in my eyes anyway, you should be failing.

scurred, you don't know what you're talking about. You only saw the first 2 mini of the 1st semester and most of people score 80s and 90s. I aced 1st and 2nd semester no sweat. Wait until you get into 3rd. There is some thing that is beyond your control no matter how hard you study. Your performance will depend on how the course is organized. For example, Micro is a hard class but professor gave us an extremely well written handout with tons of practice questions. Most of people score 80s on Micro. Behavior Science seem to be an easy course but the hand-out is poor written. The handout is not understandable and not studyable since it only contain key words without explanation. Even though I went to every single Behavior lecture and watched lecture video and copied down every single word the professor said I still performed poorly on the Behavior minis. Most of people score 50s and 60s on Behavior. There are something that you and me as a student cannot do to improve. If you go ask any 4th semester student about how they studied for Behavior on 3rd semester, you'll get the answer "I don't know how." Somebody even say don't study for it as it just doesn't matter how hard you study for it, you'll be screwed anyway, just use common sense and guess the answer. I'm sorry I guess I don't have a common sense, I need something that I can study for. Let me tell show you one of those common sense questions:
How many sex human have? I say 2 sexes (male and female). Dude, I'm wrong. Just have to SUCK IT UP.

[tah33]

well i think it hard to really generalize abt performances we techniquely could pass the minis with 70's IF we had organized curriculums then we would know wat to study , wait for third and u will have ur bum on fire, u ppl have it a bit better after the greatest bum Dr. B has left , but still its virtually impossible workload with cumulitive finals 50% or more of urgrade that have u wishing u were on propanalol....
but keep good spirits and do ur best and hopefully all will be ok, 4th in my opnion was alot of work but v interesting and v step1 relevant ..
1st and 2nd were like everone said joke compared to the horrors to come.
ur expereice may be different frm ours only becasue ross changes proffs up all the time , but the general consensus is to keep 3rd the killer, so good luk wen u get there

[futuremdsomewhere]

If you can't get above a 70% in my eyes anyway, you should be failing.

scurred, you don't know what you're talking about. You only saw the first 2 mini of the 1st semester and most of people score 80s and 90s. I aced 1st and 2nd semester no sweat. Wait until you get into 3rd. There is some thing that is beyond your control no matter how hard you study. Your performance will depend on how the course is organized. For example, Micro is a hard class but professor gave us an extremely well written handout with tons of practice questions. Most of people score 80s on Micro. Behavior Science seem to be an easy course but the hand-out is poor written. The handout is not understandable and not studyable since it only contain key words without explanation. Even though I went to every single Behavior lecture and watched lecture video and copied down every single word the professor said I still performed poorly on the Behavior minis. Most of people score 50s and 60s on Behavior. There are something that you and me as a student cannot do to improve. If you go ask any 4th semester student about how they studied for Behavior on 3rd semester, you'll get the answer "I don't know how." Somebody even say don't study for it as it just doesn't matter how hard you study for it, you'll be screwed anyway, just use common sense and guess the answer. I'm sorry I guess I don't have a common sense, I need something that I can study for. Let me tell show you one of those common sense questions:
How many sex human have? I say 2 sexes (male and female). Dude, I'm wrong. Just have to SUCK IT UP.

I cant say anything about 3/4 semesters yet but I can speak on 1/2. When you say that most people make 80s and 90s on the exam you are totally incorrect. If that was true then why did our class loose almost 100 students between 1st and 2nd. Also how could most of the class score 80s and 90s while half our class failed the first gross mini and 40% failed the 2nd gross mini.

[Suzzallo]

I do have some friends who cannot make it through the 1st semester even after the 2nd try. Some other friends were not serious about studying and they disappeared after 1st semester. Somebody really hate anatomy lab and refused to go in there. I remember last semester, a night before the lab practical test, somebody appeared and asked me a lot of questions and he seem to learn the material the first time. The class average on my first lab practical was 70 but somebody scored 17. Class average on my second lab practical was much higher (I don't remember the number) but somebody did score 13. So there are always someone special.

[obadya00]

tell me how i could have gotten 80s and 90s raw in first and second. maybe i am just an honest average student with okay grades. most people are average at this school. honest, that is another story. it is not easy to get 80s and 90s raw in first or second unless you have taken the material before and even then :wink:
scurred:
our mps for physio for the second mini was 60, ten points away from the infamous 70.

[Suzzallo]

Everybody has a different strategy to study. I do a lot of practice questions before the minis to make sure I'm familiar with the material. Just any questions I encountered. I don't want to go into the exam room and have those questions on the exam to be the first questions I ever encounter for the course.
The best practice questions for the minis are from your professor. Pharm and Micro department did a good job of making practice questions. For 1st and 2nd semester, I had to use review books and old minis after I studied a chapter. However, review books didn't help me on Behavior mini.

[vitamins]

I realize how difficult pooh pooh gets, as I took med path when I received my MS. I also took Immuno and Pharm, but...in those courses that were taken in conjunction w/ the medical school, there was never a curve. And as far as other medical schools, my best friend goes to tulane, girlfriend goes to einstein, another friend at chicago...and none of their grades are curved...and by the way...if any of you need help in those courses...i would be willing to tutor you

Scurred: you would be willing to tutor 3rd and 4th semester students on these classes which you have not yet taken at Ross??!!!!

Please stop talking, you are embarassing yourself.

[Daniel]

Raw 70s....hmmm...then there would be no need for BMSI.

Conversely a student who is making > raw 75% on everything is probably very close to a 4.0 GPA! What about when a Micro mini was so tricky that only about 5 people made 70%+ 2 semesters ago? Did the other 240 people deserve to all fail?