"...filter students..." That does not sound like better teaching or helping anyone. Some call it survival of the fittest. Of course, for every "fit" students, there are one or two losers that go home with huge student loans to repay. I think Hitler had similar "filtering" ideas and policies.. The real results were not nice.

__________________
"You do not truly understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother." Albert Einstein

Kaplan is four months with regular quizzes, a full "midterm" USMLE exam at two months and a final at the end of the four months. From what I've heard from multiple sources, it's very good.

Im in Kaplan now, it's awesome. The first day of class was Sept 10th. The last day of class is Nov 22nd. So its less than 3 months long. Some weeks are an intense 6 days straight. Other times we have 3-4 days off in a row for personal study time.

We took a 150 question (3 hr) diagnostic exam before we started. We are taking a comprehensive midterm on Oct 23rd. Then the final is Nov 24th. The "quizes" are the end-of-chapter type and usually 5-20 questions each. These are taken online and not required. A Kaplan teacher told me that we have it very nice down here compared to other IMGs.

Also, in 4th semester you have 1.5 months of Pharm, 20 hours of Radiology, 20 hours of Heme/Oncology, 20 hours of cultural competency (which is horrible). Pharm is the only one which you will get a grade that goes on your transcript. (btw, I found that Pharm was taught very well if you read along in the new Lippincott.)

At auc we now have a kaplin comp in addition to the schools comp that each student must pass before sitting for the usmle. From what I understand, last semesters 5th students failed the kaplin comp however, the profs also failed which was kind of funny, so the school allowed these students to sit for the exam

Lets clarify something about the USMLE pass rates of different school whether caribbean and/or UAG;
1. Schools tend to post their passing rates which are skewed by their own benefit so unreliable numbers to the 1 million exponent.
2. The only numbers I would trust would be the ones coming from the USMLE statistical department itself. No such a thing exists; not even for US medical schools.
3. When it comes to the pass rate of a given school, I would have to look at different data to evaluate which school is better;
a)the percent of students who make it to their boards with their original class which means you need to subtract those that failed, deceled, and/or dropped out.
b) it has been mentioned that at least 40-50% in these schools fall in the categories mentioned in "a"
4. As a consequence, 50% dont make it with their class. I dont know about you but a 50% chance of being successful is pretty low. No wonder the numbers reported by some of these schools are 90+% passing rates.

I dont believe any numbers reported by any school. Also, I wouldnt based my decision to attend a particular school on these numbers since I have a 50% of not becoming a doctor and have a huge debt in my bank account if you look between the lines and what the numbers REALLY mean. Hopefully if we understand the above, we can stop talking about passing rates and assuming that one school is better than the other based on these stupid numbers. Good luck

__________________
From one of the speakers during Orientation, "There is nothing wrong with Mexico; it is JUST different"

This is what I would like to do to the "burros" of Megacable....

Thanks for the clarification! How much time off do you get between end of Kaplan/three week holidays (i.e. how much extra time compared to the first three semesters)?

And yes, if you pass the midterm you can exempt from the rest of the course including the final exam. But, I mean, you paid for the review, you know?

I'm not sure about the start date of 5th semester this coming January. I'm guessing it will start the 4th or 11th. But since we are finished before Thanksgiving, it seems we have a longer break than this past summer which was exactly 30 days. So depending on when you started, some vacations are longer than others.

And yes, as you said cpt. ricard, if we pass the midterm then we are excused from the rest of kaplan. This is nice for them to offer, but for me Kaplan is really helping and I plan to stick with it.

In the kaplan syllabus it also states, and I quote:

"students that pass the kaplan midterm with a minimum of 60% will be allowed to take the Step 1 beginning December 1st (applications will be signed beginning October 27th). Attendance in the remaining part of Kaplan will be optional. Students that fail the kaplan midterm and final exam must take and pass the NBME in order to be authorized to take the Step 1 of the USMLE. "

I personally think this is a good thing for the UAG. Like most schools, this will raise the 1st time taker pass rate.

What is the grading system like at UAG? Is it P/F, A/B/C/F, numerical, etc for classes that go on your transcript?

It's marked 6-10, with only a "5" if you fail to achieve a passing grade.

I've heard the campus is closed Sundays and then elsewhere all weekend. Is this true and the are the hours the rest of the week fairly normal and are there libraries/places to study on campus?