changes at auc good or bad? [Archive] - ValueMD Medical Schools Forum

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AUCMD2006

08-05-2003, 04:04 PM

first one is the tuition increase and that i don't mind since it is the first one in 10 years and every school i've attended has increased fees one way or another. what i do have a problem with are the schedule changes. here goes the rant:
1-most med schools that i've looked at are between 12 and 17 credit hours per semester here we take 19 to 21 now they want to increase a semster to 22

2- they took out intro to clerkships and replaced with history of medicine? what kind of crap is that! what is more important? so not only do we spend more time in class but the amount of material also increases b/c the profs come off as being in some sort of pissing contest to see who can teach the most

3-ex: two profs are talking about increasing credit hours even further! biostats which is 1 hour wants to be 4-5 and biochem wants an additional 4 hours! i'm glad i'm done with both those but where will it end?

4-oh and the top reason to be upset today: the dean said they are considering making this a six semester program! man bad day all around here today everyone is upset.....at least there are florida sites now and i rocked my biochem test......

so it is still theoretically possible to be out of here in five semesters but now if you fail one class you are almost guaranteed an extra 4 month vacation at club ****. all i know is my backup plan is in effect now and i am filling out transfer papers for third semester if it keeps in this direction.

futuresurgeon

08-05-2003, 04:18 PM

out of curiousity . . . transfer to where?

viancca2000

08-05-2003, 04:19 PM

where would you transfer?

viancca2000

08-05-2003, 04:19 PM

Also out of curiosity, knowing this new information, would you still recommend AUC to prospective students?

bts4202

08-05-2003, 04:40 PM

....1-most med schools that i've looked at are between 12 and 17 credit hours per semester here we take 19 to 21 now they want to increase a semster to 22....

Wow, you guys only have 19-21 credit hours per term?? At st chris, we take between 30-34 depending on the semester!! You guys are lucky as hell!!

08-05-2003, 04:50 PM

AUCMD2006

08-05-2003, 06:33 PM

in my mad rant i didn't look closely at the schedule, it looks like only one credit hour gets added now and the others are being thought about. also the schedule changes around a bit b/c you start earlier one semester and as it turns out the reason you end up on a 6 semester plan if you fail is b/c of the time changes not credit hours like i thought. this is a prime example of how rumors start and i apologize i was upset and didn't look at my schedule closely. what is for sure though is that, tuition is going up and if you fail one multi-credit class you are on the rock an extra 4 months. oh and the history of medicine is on...sucks for you guys.
maybe over the break when i have a few more minutes i'l post the schedule. as far as recommending i stay away from that i just tell people the good and bad points. if you expect to get spoon fed usmle material then don't come. if you have a good memory and can handle TONS of details that you probably don't need to pass boards but is nice to have just for the sake of fully understanding something then this is ok. i always like having a back up plan so i am applying for transfer to two other "big" schools for january in case i don't continue to do well. i am not ashamed to admit that if i fail or am close to failing i will transfer. i don't have to give bogus excuses like saying i am at the top of my class but i just wanted to transfer...hehe if i do well why transfer?

to st chris: i give you guys props...specially since the US schools i looked at, which we are supposed to try and imitate, take only about 17 per semester you guys are mackin' it! do you get 2 or 3 PhD's added to your MD for all the extra time?...hehe i'm suffering with 20 hours in the classroom but 34? well maybe it would be ok if one of my friends (students) was teaching...hehe sorry had to take a stab.

wifeofDr2b

08-05-2003, 06:59 PM

Wow this is something rrod is going to transfer...or at least get the paper work in order? What I get from this is your saying you dont feel you will be well prepared for the USMLE 1 or is it due to all the extra crap ie classes like the his of med.? This is interesting cause I can remember you were quite happy there a few months ago...and by the past posts you can tell you are not a jerk, *** or loser that just gives up. Please keep us informed on things I think this type of post is the most useful to new students. I mean really most questions on here should be directed to the source. ie how much weight can we bring in suitcases? Call the damn airline, or how do loans work, call the damn loan company/bank. Or at least for the love of everything thats good research past posts before posting your question!!! That is what that search function is for. And for anyone who thinks I am being a jerk once you been here for longer then a month you will agree with me. Anyway thanks for the input and please keep them coming.

teratos

08-05-2003, 07:25 PM

AUCMD2006

08-05-2003, 07:31 PM

yes the search button is good...hehe i am overall satisfied here. it is too early to tell about overall usmle prepareness since i have only been here one semester. i guess it will probably break down to what class b/c of the profs. as far as anatomy and biochem i am more than prepared. judging solely on input from two friends in the US schools these classes are very detailed that is my point. they are getting straight usmle focus and studying 3-5 hrs per night while i am spending 7 per night learning endless detail, we were similar students w/ similar grades but they won got the med school lotery.
i guess if you just want to pass the boards with as little info as possible then this isn't for you. i trust i can keep my performance going b/c after the growing pains of learning all the details it's nice to get a 94% on the university of michigan's med school anatomy test samples (they had very easy questions compared to benchmarks) but the process is long. my point was that i have no allegiance to this school, they don't pay me to be here, so in the unlikely event that i start to slide i am not sticking around to drown in the massive amount of info they throw at you. ie i was told that the path test has 1,000 (thousand) power point slides per exam! so i am a bit tense about future classes...hehe i'll keep posting as honestly and bluntly as i can the good and bad points as i see them.

PS: i hate fascia

tRmedic21

08-05-2003, 07:51 PM

PS: i hate fascia

Hahaha! Sounds like a man about to take the pelvis/perineum practical exam!

JokerABC

08-05-2003, 08:07 PM

what makes you think AUC's classes are so much more detailed and make you learn stuff that is not on Step 1 than Ross or SGU or St Chris, etc?

Roy McAvoy

08-05-2003, 09:06 PM

first one is the tuition increase and that i don't mind since it is the first one in 10 years and every school i've attended has increased fees one way or another.

Only thing crafty about the tuition increase is that in the acceptance packet I received, the cost sheet titled "September 2003" said tuition $8000.00. Now out of the clear blue it became 9K??

Good for them - hope they put the $ towards a student weight room! I'm sure that's what there doing with the extra loot ... ya right!

"Tin Cup"

microphage

08-05-2003, 10:56 PM

Dude, you're scaring the *beep* out of the Sept newbie class(myself included). But we appreciate all your honestly, thanks dude. Let's hope all these changes are for the better or else...... :?

(hummm maybe I should goto that SGU interview... hahaha, kidding kidding. Who else will be the AUC class clown right?!) :wink:

bts4202

08-06-2003, 02:18 AM

How can you possibly have 34 credit hours a semester. That would be twice the load af any other school out there. How many hours a week do you spend in class?? I think it is probably equal among schools, to expect any more of students would be homicide. You can anly absorb so much info in a given time frame, and med school pushes it to the limits as it is. G

I never knew the hours where so different. I just figured it was all the same. :oops: We spend 6-8 hours a day in class and then all night studying. We sometimes even have to cram in information because we start to run out of class time... Other schools must not require the same amount of detail because I really can't see how it is possible to leanr everything that we learn in half the time. The only way I can imagine it is if the proffs just teach the bare minimum then say go home and learn it. If that is the case, then I give AUC students props for doing so well with only self study to guide them.

teratos

08-06-2003, 05:17 AM

what makes you think AUC's classes are so much more detailed and make you learn stuff that is not on Step 1 than Ross or SGU or St Chris, etc?

JokerABC....Nobody ever Said AUC's classes were more detailed then the rest, where on earth did you get that? It is probably all the same in the end. G

BTS, No, the amount of time spent in class is about the same. I was afraid you gues were spending 12 hours a day in class, whcich would completey suck. It always seemed to me as if they were trying to cram stuff in, and then you had to go home and learn more stuff. In the end the important thing is that we all do well on step 1.

G

Art Vandelay

08-06-2003, 01:12 PM

first one is the tuition increase and that i don't mind since it is the first one in 10 years and every school i've attended has increased fees one way or another. what i do have a problem with are the schedule changes. here goes the rant
First tuition increase in 10 years?? Where did you hear this from? The tuition for basic sciences has been increased from $6300 to $8000 over a course of 3 semesters about 2-3 years ago. Clinical Sciences used to be $6600 a semester in 2000. The reason why AUC increased the tuition is probably that Ross and SGU are doing the same. AUC raised the tuition to JUST below the level of Ross. :evil:

mtt

08-06-2003, 02:01 PM

teratos

08-06-2003, 02:21 PM

What do those credit hours translate into? How do they arrive at the "10 credit hour" designation?? Do you spend 2 hours a day in behavioral science class?? G

mtt

08-06-2003, 03:27 PM

What do those credit hours translate into? How do they arrive at the "10 credit hour" designation?? Do you spend 2 hours a day in behavioral science class?? G

Yeah, we're in Behav 2 hrs a day.

anencephalic

08-06-2003, 04:32 PM

D'oh! :x

Aloha,

tRmedic21

08-06-2003, 05:42 PM

Not quite the same as credit hours, at least I think as the USDOE accredits things.

For instance, we have 9 contact hours of Histology per week, but it only counts for 7 credit hours. Similarly, in Anatomy we had 15 contact hours, and it was only a 10 hour class. But other subjects, like Biochem, 7 contact, 7 credit, many of our classes are like that.

dtanita

08-27-2003, 12:45 AM

Is there a page on the AUC website where they give a break down of the tuition and other fees per semester? If someone could provide a link that would be great. Thanks.

**Never mind I found it**

Anne Butsch MD

08-27-2003, 08:03 PM

It has much more to do with allocation of faculty time than anything else. There is always jockeying among the profs. I find it highly unlikely that biostats will ever be more than 1 hour -- there was talk at one time of folding it into med psych, which is where it scores on the USMLE. You can't compare the hours one school has to another -- it just doesn't translate.