Hello all,
Well, I'll be taking my entrance exam and I don't think it would be vain to say that I am well over-prepared, as it's over the basic sciences. Anyway, I know that I am going to Prague for sure. I've made up my mind. So now, I would like to start this thread for anyone thinking about/considering going to Prague's First Faculty or anyone who is going for sure (or any other Faculty for that matter).

So let's start and I'll introduce myself.

Name: Andrew Shaker
Location: University of North Dakota
Home Origin: Seattle, WA
E-mail: andrew.shaker@und.edu (please e-mail me)
Age: 19


Hopefully there will be some others! I hope to get in touch with as many people as I can who will be starting at Charles in the Fall 2004.

I'm thinking about going there after at least one year of college here in the states.

NAME: Kim
AGE: 17
UNIVERSITY: Mary Baldwin College (Virginia)
HOME STATE: Cali
E-MAIL: psr13@hotmail.com

Congratulations to you both. I know you will love Prague. If this is your first time living abroad maybe try to read something on culture shock and the stages one progresses through. But you will love it. S-

It will be my first time abroad. I live in So Cal and haven't even been to Mexico. I know a good amount about the Czech culture, though. I do have a book about it that I got a few years ago. The reason being that I'm a hockey fan and like a lot of guys from the Czech Republic so I've always been interested in the country.

Hi Drew,

I have yet to apply to Charles U, which I will be doing soon, but I am not sure how well I will do in the entrance exam...I took my PCB 5 yrs ago and dont remember much of it...but still I hoping to do what I can....

my worry about charles U is that they dont seem to have many grads practise in the US....Yeah they are good univ , escpecially for their czech students, but I am not sure how good it is compared to the US schools. I have tried to do a lot of research on this univ, but cant find anyone or anyhting about it such that they can attest to the quality of Charles U First Faculty...neil c has tried to prvide some info on this forum, but as he is a representative of First Faculty, I would like to get some info from other students...

if you can find any source of unbiased info (person, website etc) on First Faculty, I would deeply appreciate it

there are some other students that are on these forums...not too many tho. i know of a couple other people in the dorms that check out SDN a lot more than this site.

anyhow, there are lots of Charles grads in the states, just not many from the US. the school has not kept track of the grads at all. this is changing slowly, but that doesn't really help anyone interested in the school now. i am happy to put you in contact with as many current students as you want, just send me a pm and i can give you some emails.

good luck with everything

Hey Wannabedoc,
Well, I don't know of many grads in the USA either. Obviously there are some but it's difficult to get a hold of them. Why? Well if I were a newly-graduated med student I would find it somewhat difficult to always get online and share my experiences with prospective students. Hopefully I can be one students who will be able to do this in the future.

Also, you're right! Charles is a well respected University. If I'm not mistaken it's the best in the Czech Republic if not the EE. But again, as far as USA grads, you just need to ask yourself, can I do it? Well, if you work hard why not? ECMFG lists them and so does WHO. Cali. and NM accepts their English program/curriculum. Thus, leaving it up to you to pass the USMLE steps leaving your success entirely to yourself.

As far as the entrance exam, if you took the sciences you should be able to remember them. You should get a hold of Viera (the USA representative for the first faculty) and she'll give you a whole packet about the school; it will have study guides and sample questions for each section on the test (physics, bio, chem). I wouldn't worry too much about the test because I heard that they just want a 65% to pass = get admitted. It may seem too simple when in fact it is. However, they're aren't many applicants in EE thus, leaving many uncompetitive spots open for foreigners. It's still a very rigorous program from what I've heard.

Talk to you later, --> wish me luck and I'll do the same for you
Andrew Shaker

How does one go about contacting this infamous Viera? I would really like to know because I really need further information if I'm to make an informed decision. Thanks.

Hey Kim,
As far as contacting Viera, her contact information is on the school's official websit: http://www.lf1.cuni.cz - Then just click on the UK flag in the upper right corner. Her contact info should be at the bottom of the page for "North American Contacts". The website isn't working right now as I'm typing this message; which is a first.

If you have difficulty finding it I have listed her number below just to speed things up a bit.

Phone #: 212-382-3357


Talk to you later,
Andrew Shaker

Thank you very much. I'll try to contact her as soon as possible. By the way, getting an IM residency isn't very difficult is it? I've heard that it isn't. That's what I've been looking at and if it isn't very difficult I should be able to get a spot somewhere after graduating from the 1st faculty, right?