I'm trying to figure out the difference between starting in January 08 vs September 07. Specifically, I'm trying to figure out if this makes a big difference when applying for residency after the 4 years; does a January 08 start mean that you would match 1 year later?

yes, you will most likely match a year later. I started in Jan 06 and I wont match until 2010. Some people will rush and take the Step early and will match in the previous year, but its veryyyyy hard to do. I'd rather take the time to study for the step ...

start in sept 07 if you want to match in 2011. if you do jan 08 you will probably match 2012. search the forum and you'll find lots of discussions on this ...

Yes, the above poster is correct.

Don't buy-into Ross' claims that you will finish the program in 3.5 years and all the "accelerated" garbage. Those 3.5 years they proclaim does NOT include the time required to study for steps 1 and 2. And now that they've extended your Miami semester, that leaves you 3 more weeks of garbage to put up with before you can sit down and begin studies for step1. In the old days before the useless Miami semester, 5th semester was a kaplan step 1 study program. Those were the days when you could truly finish in 3.5 years with no troubles at all, assuming you passed step1 the first time. You want to pass both steps the first times. Good luck.

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Good luck.

what do students do with their extra time if they start in january as opposed to September?

probably drink, party and eat all the good food you can