easier exams?

[cluelessnow]

Someone told me that smu's exams are easier than the ones at Ross, is it true?

[gebbils]

Someone told me that smu's exams are easier than the ones at Ross, is it true?all of the people who transferred from Ross, that I spoke to, are saying that exams are not easier, they are MORE FAIR, they said that exams dont have any tricks in them, and whatever you have covered, would be reflected on the exams.
Which was not the case at Ross, as far as I know

[Papadoc]

SMU would not be doing a favour to their students by making the exams easier as this would give the students a false sense of security. Ultimately, all the students will have to write the Step I, which will be the real test of their academic performance.

Papadocjavascript:emoticon(':roll:')

[MDhero]

i think exams at SMU should be a preparation of the USMLE and also to test the material that have been covered in class. exams, however, shouldn't consist of material that wasn't covered in class or material unfairly put in exams that no one expects us to know. FAIR exams would help the students.

[Junito]

Someone told me that smu's exams are easier than the ones at Ross, is it true?

Easier....Well yes and No. I believe they are easier in the sense that if you study what was covered in class, you will do well, while at Ross you were responsible for specific minor details (In anatomy, there were questions from the Big moore book, that was found in a single paragraph from one of the numerous blue boxes...minor details). I studied my gluteal off, focusing on all types of stuff, and I couldn't believe how trivial were some of the questions required you to know. I did well, but I had no time to review old material (from previous semesters), now I do. My daily routine now incorporates atleast 2 hours of Step 1 prep for previous semesters material.

Juni

[futuremdsomewhere]

They couldnt be easier because that would make ross exams hard. Which they are not. Scored raw 90's in all but one class every semester. All you have to do is study the notes or the book. The questions in anatomy came straight from moore which is what you are supposed to read.

[skc569]

I don't want to point at a specific school but outside of SMU there are many professors that are very unfair when writing exams, lecturing or writing lecture notes. Does that make the exam harder? Well yeah but what's achieved by making an exam tricky to the point where you know the answer and everything that's being asked but can't pick it from the choices? Or when you're told to study something but you go to the exam and nothing from the "must knows" is on the exam? There are many professors that hide the information in their lectures. For example you look at lecture notes and you see DNCTWPD????????????? Translation: Do Not Confuse This With Polygenic Disorders. Get the point? Every bunch has good and bad and AUC and Ross are no different. Lack of quality control by not holding professors responsible for their actions, methods of teaching and overall class performance is the reason why some of the exams at others schools are so much harder, the material is the same no matter what school you go to. Imagine taking an exams and reading a vignette that describes an old lady on a long plane ride that has DVT. Now at the end of the vignette the question asks: What was her seat number on the plane? :twisted: Harder, easier, whatever it's plain stupid & irrelevant

[futuremdsomewhere]

I don't want to point at a specific school but outside of SMU there are many professors that are very unfair when writing exams, lecturing or writing lecture notes. Does that make the exam harder? Well yeah but what's achieved by making an exam tricky to the point where you know the answer and everything that's being asked but can't pick it from the choices? Or when you're told to study something but you go to the exam and nothing from the "must knows" is on the exam? There are many professors that hide the information in their lectures. For example you look at lecture notes and you see DNCTWPD????????????? Translation: Do Not Confuse This With Polygenic Disorders. Get the point? Every bunch has good and bad and AUC and Ross are no different. Lack of quality control by not holding professors responsible for their actions, methods of teaching and overall class performance is the reason why some of the exams at others schools are so much harder, the material is the same no matter what school you go to. Imagine taking an exams and reading a vignette that describes an old lady on a long plane ride that has DVT. Now at the end of the vignette the question asks: What was her seat number on the plane? :twisted: Harder, easier, whatever it's plain stupid & irrelevant

Never seen DNCTWPD in one of my handouts but if it was I would look it up or go ask the prof, duh. Well if the seat was first class, more leg room and not cramped- who knows why they might ask but if the answer was in the question how can that be hard? I have yet to see a question like that, there has been a few tough questions but not an abundant amount. Maybe 2 or 3 for each subject on an exam but they have to divide the As from the **.

[skc569]

I don't want to point at a specific school but outside of SMU there are many professors that are very unfair when writing exams, lecturing or writing lecture notes. Does that make the exam harder? Well yeah but what's achieved by making an exam tricky to the point where you know the answer and everything that's being asked but can't pick it from the choices? Or when you're told to study something but you go to the exam and nothing from the "must knows" is on the exam? There are many professors that hide the information in their lectures. For example you look at lecture notes and you see DNCTWPD????????????? Translation: Do Not Confuse This With Polygenic Disorders. Get the point? Every bunch has good and bad and AUC and Ross are no different. Lack of quality control by not holding professors responsible for their actions, methods of teaching and overall class performance is the reason why some of the exams at others schools are so much harder, the material is the same no matter what school you go to. Imagine taking an exams and reading a vignette that describes an old lady on a long plane ride that has DVT. Now at the end of the vignette the question asks: What was her seat number on the plane? :twisted: Harder, easier, whatever it's plain stupid & irrelevant

Never seen DNCTWPD in one of my handouts but if it was I would look it up or go ask the prof, duh. Well if the seat was first class, more leg room and not cramped- who knows why they might ask but if the answer was in the question how can that be hard? I have yet to see a question like that, there has been a few tough questions but not an abundant amount. Maybe 2 or 3 for each subject on an exam but they have to divide the As from the **.

The purpose was to get a point across but it seems like it went right over your head. Not sure where you go to school so unless you're at the specific school where these kinds of things happen, you wouldn't know what I'm talking about. Maybe the problem is that there are people in the faculty that have the same perspective as you: "if the answer was in the question how can that be hard?" That's plain ignorant. If that's the case then you should have scored perfect on your MCAT and you shouldn't have a problem getting a perfect score on your step 1. Hey all the answers all there so none of those exams should be hard!

[AmericanIMG]

exams at SMU ar every fair. the way to realize this? the shelf exam. when i took anatomy my first semester i sat for the shelf following the class and scored a low 70% in the shelf. those who have taken the shelf exams know that they are difficult, and i came into the anat class knowing minimal anatomy from previous studies. if you ask any of the older students they will tell you the same. the 1st and 2nd sems havent taken then yet so they can not put in their 2 cents until this coming Saturday.

:wink:

[futuremdsomewhere]

I don't want to point at a specific school but outside of SMU there are many professors that are very unfair when writing exams, lecturing or writing lecture notes. Does that make the exam harder? Well yeah but what's achieved by making an exam tricky to the point where you know the answer and everything that's being asked but can't pick it from the choices? Or when you're told to study something but you go to the exam and nothing from the "must knows" is on the exam? There are many professors that hide the information in their lectures. For example you look at lecture notes and you see DNCTWPD????????????? Translation: Do Not Confuse This With Polygenic Disorders. Get the point? Every bunch has good and bad and AUC and Ross are no different. Lack of quality control by not holding professors responsible for their actions, methods of teaching and overall class performance is the reason why some of the exams at others schools are so much harder, the material is the same no matter what school you go to. Imagine taking an exams and reading a vignette that describes an old lady on a long plane ride that has DVT. Now at the end of the vignette the question asks: What was her seat number on the plane? :twisted: Harder, easier, whatever it's plain stupid & irrelevant

Never seen DNCTWPD in one of my handouts but if it was I would look it up or go ask the prof, duh. Well if the seat was first class, more leg room and not cramped- who knows why they might ask but if the answer was in the question how can that be hard? I have yet to see a question like that, there has been a few tough questions but not an abundant amount. Maybe 2 or 3 for each subject on an exam but they have to divide the As from the **.

The purpose was to get a point across but it seems like it went right over your head. Not sure where you go to school so unless you're at the specific school where these kinds of things happen, you wouldn't know what I'm talking about. Maybe the problem is that there are people in the faculty that have the same perspective as you: "if the answer was in the question how can that be hard?" That's plain ignorant. If that's the case then you should have scored perfect on your MCAT and you shouldn't have a problem getting a perfect score on your step 1. Hey all the answers all there so none of those exams should be hard!

Actually all the answers are not in the questions, but they are in the set of answers. You said if the answer was in the question, that is what I was responding to. Most questions they give you hints toward the answer that is one of your options in the set of a-h. If they were to say a 30 year old man was taking timolol and had a reaction to the drug. And then a bunch of more info. Then they asked you how old the guy was or what drug was the guy taking, you better be able to answer the question or that would just be plain ignorant. Now if they were asking about the age of the patient on page 3 of their 45 page handout, thats a different story because the answer is not in the question.
And for your information I did rather well on the MCAT, perfect in bio but not in verbal as I am sure people reading some of my posts can tell. Perfect on step 1, from your lips to God's ears.

On the shelf exams as well, at Ross they prepare you for them. Congradulations to the person above who scored in the 70's on anatomy. I only wish that we could take every shelf but we only take one a semester and we do not know until we set down for the exam which one it is. I took histo during 1st and that was 81 and physio in 2nd was 83. Behavior is the only one you can take in third so we will see how that goes.

Good luck to everyone on their upcoming exams..

[MD999]

exams at SMU ar every fair. the way to realize this? the shelf exam. when i took anatomy my first semester i sat for the shelf following the class and scored a low 70% in the shelf. those who have taken the shelf exams know that they are difficult, and i came into the anat class knowing minimal anatomy from previous studies. if you ask any of the older students they will tell you the same. the 1st and 2nd sems havent taken then yet so they can not put in their 2 cents until this coming Saturday.
:wink:


If the first and especially second semesters have been doing well in their courses, which in many cases they have been equal to if not more difficult than the NBME exam, then they definantly have room to talk.
Physio has been adjusted to be more USMLE-style like questions and from what i hear the students have responded very well. They are studying from their class notes, guyton, and kaplan notes, WHILE reviewing QBank and other USMLE type questions. So they have prepared for not only the Shelf, but for Step 1, let alone their course exams. This isnt your usual crop of SMU students, they can talk all they want about Shelf and Board style exams, they definantly have earned the right to. Theyre hungry and theyre doing what it takes, so I dont think the shelf exam will phase them at all. Keep it up 1st and 2nd semester students.