Hey everyone,
I just wanted to give my advice to those who are planning on applying to Ross or are currently at Ross.
This is my observations as a Ross graduate who has gone through a pathology residency and fellowship. I write this to help those who may be struggling, etc, parents of prospective students or those who are considering Ross.
To those of you who are having trouble academically at Ross in the basic sciences or those with poor grades in sciences classes prior to matriculation at Ross: Medicine isnt for everyone. Ive seen a lot of friends and fellow students who failed out or quit medicine altogether with over $10,000 or even over $100,000 in debt. If you are doing poorly at Ross, it doesn't get any easier. The USMLE exams are difficult but can be passed with determination and the right studying habits. If you are one of those who are struggling at Ross, you have two options: seek help as to why you are not doing well or just quit.
Sometimes it's just you aren't studying efficiently which is the problem. Find a friend who is doing well and study with them to get you through. Everyone has different studying habits. You have to find out what's works for you. If you are struggling, don't go through Ross all alone. Get help from a friend who is passing and work together. When I was on the island, Ross did nothing to help struggling students but had no problem taking their money after failing and repeating semesters.
If you are still doing poorly despite getting help, you might want to think about quitting. I hate to say it but medicine is not for everyone. I had a friend who made it all the way to graduation, never got a residency and failed Step 2 multiple times and after a single fail on Step 3 decided to quit. This is someone who most likely had $100,000-$200,000 in student debt as I alluded to earlier. I had friends who quit after four semesters on the island as well (one played video games all four semesters and barely studied and the other didnt want to be a physician in the first place, but was pressured by his parents to be a doctor). There are many stories but you dont want to be THAT person.
When I was at Ross over 10 years ago, our class size in the first semester was over 300 students. I saw many students fail out as we progressed from first to fourth semester. It was because, at that time, Ross admitted almost anyone to its program. I am not sure if it has changed or not (I hope so).
Ross does prepare you well for Step 1 but when it comes to clinicals (3rd and 4th year), Ross fails at that. I recommend everyone to do their clinicals at a hospital that provides you with a strong educational clinical curriculum, preferably a hospital with a family medicine or internal medicine residency program. I did my rotations in Chicago with AIME and boy it was a mistake (not sure if they still have rotations). A part of it was my fault for choosing to do my rotation with AIME but Ross at my time allowed students to be placed in these poor clinical sites (I was under the impression that Ross did not evaluate their clinical sites in terms of education, etc.). The rotations I were in were terrible. You left early and clinical education was nonexistent to poor. When I was a student, there were NO shelf exams (I know St George has their students take shelf exams).
In summary, if you are struggling on the island, take a good look at yourself and know when to call it quits, if need be. I dont mean to discourage anyone, but it doesnt get any easier with all the board exams in the next few years of your life. If you do manage to make it off the island, take rotations in hospitals with the best clinical education possible. Like I said, Ross had a lot poor rotation sites in terms of education. My guess was that it had to do with Ross needing to find hospitals for its thousands of students to do rotations in. This way you dont have to struggle with Step 2 CS, Step 2 CK and Step 3 which tests clinical diagnosis and managment (Step 3).
On the brighter side, there are many successful Ross graduates out there who are now attendings.
Good luck to all.
I just wanted to give my advice to those who are planning on applying to Ross or are currently at Ross.
This is my observations as a Ross graduate who has gone through a pathology residency and fellowship. I write this to help those who may be struggling, etc, parents of prospective students or those who are considering Ross.
To those of you who are having trouble academically at Ross in the basic sciences or those with poor grades in sciences classes prior to matriculation at Ross: Medicine isnt for everyone. Ive seen a lot of friends and fellow students who failed out or quit medicine altogether with over $10,000 or even over $100,000 in debt. If you are doing poorly at Ross, it doesn't get any easier. The USMLE exams are difficult but can be passed with determination and the right studying habits. If you are one of those who are struggling at Ross, you have two options: seek help as to why you are not doing well or just quit.
Sometimes it's just you aren't studying efficiently which is the problem. Find a friend who is doing well and study with them to get you through. Everyone has different studying habits. You have to find out what's works for you. If you are struggling, don't go through Ross all alone. Get help from a friend who is passing and work together. When I was on the island, Ross did nothing to help struggling students but had no problem taking their money after failing and repeating semesters.
If you are still doing poorly despite getting help, you might want to think about quitting. I hate to say it but medicine is not for everyone. I had a friend who made it all the way to graduation, never got a residency and failed Step 2 multiple times and after a single fail on Step 3 decided to quit. This is someone who most likely had $100,000-$200,000 in student debt as I alluded to earlier. I had friends who quit after four semesters on the island as well (one played video games all four semesters and barely studied and the other didnt want to be a physician in the first place, but was pressured by his parents to be a doctor). There are many stories but you dont want to be THAT person.
When I was at Ross over 10 years ago, our class size in the first semester was over 300 students. I saw many students fail out as we progressed from first to fourth semester. It was because, at that time, Ross admitted almost anyone to its program. I am not sure if it has changed or not (I hope so).
Ross does prepare you well for Step 1 but when it comes to clinicals (3rd and 4th year), Ross fails at that. I recommend everyone to do their clinicals at a hospital that provides you with a strong educational clinical curriculum, preferably a hospital with a family medicine or internal medicine residency program. I did my rotations in Chicago with AIME and boy it was a mistake (not sure if they still have rotations). A part of it was my fault for choosing to do my rotation with AIME but Ross at my time allowed students to be placed in these poor clinical sites (I was under the impression that Ross did not evaluate their clinical sites in terms of education, etc.). The rotations I were in were terrible. You left early and clinical education was nonexistent to poor. When I was a student, there were NO shelf exams (I know St George has their students take shelf exams).
In summary, if you are struggling on the island, take a good look at yourself and know when to call it quits, if need be. I dont mean to discourage anyone, but it doesnt get any easier with all the board exams in the next few years of your life. If you do manage to make it off the island, take rotations in hospitals with the best clinical education possible. Like I said, Ross had a lot poor rotation sites in terms of education. My guess was that it had to do with Ross needing to find hospitals for its thousands of students to do rotations in. This way you dont have to struggle with Step 2 CS, Step 2 CK and Step 3 which tests clinical diagnosis and managment (Step 3).
On the brighter side, there are many successful Ross graduates out there who are now attendings.
Good luck to all.