Hello everyone,
I am currently a student at the University of North Dakota and I will be finishing up my first year of college in May 2004. By that time I will have finished up Gen. Chem I/II and Gen. Bio I/II (also will have finished a semester of Parasitology). I was wondering if this is sufficient enough for entrance into the 1st faculty of medicine at Charles University? It is too late to apply for 2004's fall semester?

Also, I understand it is a different culture and it might be a struggle but I am willing to work hard to assimilate as well as study hard. The only reason I see failures coming from the USA on this site are because they expect the best bang-for-their-buck. If they cough up the little money and the little effort to make it to Poland/Prague/Hungary/etc... they expect to be MD"s in 6 years. This is not the case. MD's must work hard no matter where they decide to go to school.

Given that I am willing to work hard I would like more information for Prague's first faculty and Charles University in general. Is Charles University a proper university with other departments or is it just a medical school? What are the dormitories like? Is the standardized test, that is required to get in, long; how long does it take? Does anyone have any pictures of the dorms? Is this school's graduates of the 6 year English program now able to work in California? How many weeks worth of clinicals will I be allowed to do in the USA and still have them transfer back to Charles? When writing the essay that is required for entrance, what are they looking for me to write about? Is there an interview?

Thanks a bunch for your time!,
Andrew

hey andrew! i will go ahead and try to answer the questions for you...

your classes are sufficient for admission, as you technically don't need ANY college to get in to the 6 year programs. however, it is a great idea to have some decent chem and bio in your past. it will help a lot.

i think you are right for the most part. the people that don't do well here tend to be a bit on the lazy or unmotivated side. you really need to be on the ball from day one to get the most out of your education.

charles is a HUGE university, with many, many different faculties. anything that a student would want to study is offered here. in general, the university is very well respected worldwide. the dorms are ok. typical dorms. i would say that you should get your own place after spending a few months (maybe 1 semster) in the dorms. i dont have any pics, sorry. the test is about 90 questions, should take about 2 hours or so. not too tough, basic physics, chem and bio.

we are approved in cali now. you can do up to 12 weeks of clinicals plus more in the summer. that is really dependent on you, and you have to organize them yourself. i am doing that now, and i have more options than i can reasonably do, and the most i paid was a $200 application fee. most were free, no fees at all.

the personal statement is basically an opportunity for you to tell the school who you are. there are some interviews, but to be honest they don't always interview. if your application looks good, and you pass the exam and have a strong personal statement, they will likely admit you without the interview.

hopefully this helps. i dont think many other charles students cruise this board. but there are a few on SDN, so you may get some other answers there.

see ya later!

Hi Neil

I am very interested in attending Charles Univ. but have a couple of questions. First how important is the entrance exam in determining whether or not acceptance is feasible. Along those same lines does the admissions committee give any consideration to one's MCAT scores. The reason I ask is because my grades are a bit lopsided but my test scores are decent and maybe doing well on the entrance exam may improve my chances of acceptance. Also, the website claims to provide sample questions of the exam but none are found. I was wondering if you could provide me with a rough outline of what the test consists of and maybe with some examples of question that can be asked.

Thank You,

Amaury

Hey there,
I know I'm not Neil but we have exchanged messages many times. Anyway, I will be taking the entrance exam in about a month and given that I pass, I have already made the decision to go there. It would be great if you go too! We can be two Americans on a journey together...hehe.

About applying and sample questions and such. I've listed a link below with the sample questions for the test. You're best bet is to call Viera, an administration lady in New York, and ask her for the information packet. I got one in the mail yesterday and it also had more sample questions (than the website) and such; along with a study guide. Viera told me that they've denied students with Chemistry degrees because they didn't do well on the test. I don't know if this is for sure but I do know that the entrance exam is the most important part. It proves you know the basics. Grades can help but if you got an "A" in a subject and then forgot it all, you're useless in that subject. If another student got a "B" and remembered enough for the exam, he is much better off than student 1.

As far as your MCAT's go, Neil is the best one for this question but from what I've read in the information packet, they're not recognized. In a way this is a disadvantage to you but also it shows the structure behind the school; they're proud of the way they do things and also it's Czech law to take their entrance exam, or in any other medical school in CR. It's no big deal if you just study, that's my guess. 30 questions in three fields (bio, chem, phys) and you can just find a proctoring service anywhere around where you live. The usual cost is about $15/test or even per hour. I've enclosed a PDF file with proctoring services in each state.


http://dec52.lf1.cuni.cz/entr.html#info


Thanks very much,
Andrew Shaker

There are universities in Czech and Hungary that will waive the entrance exam if you have a Bachelor degree already.

Don't know about the Czech Republic, but most Hungarian schools will consider waiving the entrance exam provided that the applicant has a Bachelor's in the natural sciences. Of course, one needs to contact them directly and ask, as they won't offer this to you on their own.

i think drewshaker did an excellent job of answering...in fact, the proctor arrangement that he posted has still not made its way to me yet! i have a meeting with the dean about it on tuesday....drewshaker is on top of things!

anyhow, if you have more questions, let me know.

Neil,

Any update on the proctoring service for the upcoming test in June?