Which one -- Kaplan or Falcon or Pass Program???

Actually I did go to school in Guadalajara.

And I now help teach there. If you go to Guadalajara, you know who I am. If you don't, then you have no idea what you are talking about.

Real current students at Guadalajara know me, know my experience, and know that I am employeed by the school. Our school does not do a good job preparing students for Step 1 or Step 2. That's why I went to Falcon. Now that I have, I am 100% ECFMG certified, am working for the school in the International Program, and am getting interviews for residency.

[ejfr4c]

Have you figured out which one you're doing?
I'm also deciding between the two. I know I need a lot of structure, which is why i was leaning towards falcon. But i live closer to Pass, and it's a lot more convenient. Plus, my friends liked it a lot.
I've read all the comments on the two programs and I'm nowhere closer to a decision so I thought I'd ask someone who is working on the same decision. If you dont mind, what are you leaning towards and why?

[Baadshah]

How about the Princton Review? Do they help by any chance?

[Baadshah]

Originally Posted by ejfr4c

Have you figured out which one you're doing?
I'm also deciding between the two. I know I need a lot of structure, which is why i was leaning towards falcon. But i live closer to Pass, and it's a lot more convenient. Plus, my friends liked it a lot.
I've read all the comments on the two programs and I'm nowhere closer to a decision so I thought I'd ask someone who is working on the same decision. If you dont mind, what are you leaning towards and why?

I do know that people had used the USMLE World as a major tool and they did good on step 1

[ejfr4c]

Yeah Baadshah,
Thanks for responding. I have Q bank and when I'm not studying for school, I use that. it's good. Falcon provides students with USMLE world and I've heard that's good too. I'm not really worried about being able to answer the questions--my school kinda' teaches to the boards. But I have a hard time retaining information. And if i dont have the information, then I can't think through the questions. That's why I'm doing a prep course...

Looking forward to retirement!

[sopher]

By far stay far, far, away from Falcon, the instructors were less than adequate overall, the resident who did step2 peds prep was awesome, but most everyone else sucked, so keep in mind who is teaching you, any program should be "okay" since most go in there with the mindset of studying hard, and plenty of these people and myself would have been okay no matter where we went because all of these programs provided structure, but I can tell you by far Pass was the best, felt small, and most personalized, Dr. ******* is good at keeping you involved and on your toes, Kaplan is not bad, a little crazy on details, at times too much so, ******* and Pass emphasize relationships. Falcon was just bad, the guy who runs it does not even have his Boards from what I have heard, I would stay far away from that one.

[bpoichan]

when did you take the falcon program sopher?
Goljan seems to have joined the falcon program and that will boost their reputation. Maybe falcon has improved in its teaching.. who knows?

[Share]

Wow im trying to decide whether to take falcon or pass. So i decided to come on here and read some thoughts from you all but I am still puzzled over which one to take. This is a big decision. All the time and money that we invested is worth doing research on which reveiw course is the best in catering to different types of students. I want to know are there more people who have done both falcon or pass? And who has done falcon when Goljan was there.
In the meantime I will be doing more research and if I find something i will let everyone know

[sshieh]

Pathology week is at the end, so maybe next week the people in Dallas will see Dr. Goljan and can tell us if he does show up.

Most of the other instructors are better than good. Quite a few of them are excellent.

[endymion]

Family and friends experiences:

Facon was VERY unprofessional and a MAJOR disaster. The hotel was horrible and the Falon staff was NOT helpful.

PASS absolutely rocked. Better housing and the ability to actually cook in apartments made for better moral and better classes. The MD's/instructors wee WAY better and FAR more accessible. The base price may be a little higher bus you can save money in other ways, plus the added study/tutor time is far easier to customize.