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To all who were also waitlisted:

 

I emailed the school to find out about where I was on the waitlist and how many they generally take from the waitlist, and got this reply:

 

 "Unfortunately, we can not provide details on the waitlist or the waitlist ranking. You will be notified if there is a change in your admissions status. Have a great afternoon."

 

 

So I guess we just keep waiting! I am a little worried though that they won't start pulling people off of the waitlist until April 15th since they give that long to accept your position. 

 

Congrats to those who were accepted!

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Congrats to those accepted! I Am currently in uc davis np/pa program and I would like to share some things so you pick the right program for you.

 

- This program, unlike a lot of the other programs, is a self-learning program. a lot of my classmates and i have experienced this and struggled with this. You will not be fed the information but instead have to take it upon yourself to find outlets to learn. i say this because it is important to find a program that fits your personality and this program is a little more laid back and unstructured than most.

- Also, I am surprised by the fee increase in this program and The program is now the most expensive program that I know of ( at least in California for sure). The program fees have increased over 200% in less than 2 years. It used to cost 18K/year and now you guys will be paying 55k/year. Might the fees keep rising? We don’t know … it seems like no one knows in this school. 55K is a lot of money, a long repayment time.

 

This being said, I really encourage everyone to keep their options open and consider what program will be a best fit for you because you dont want to end up somewhere paying an exponential amount and not happy with the fact that this program is transitioning and there is a lot more to figure out.

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K

Hey there, saw your previous post (was sent to my email notifications) and wish you had kept it up so others could also see it. I think many people. including myself, have heard many very negative things about the program at Davis and for fear of retribution are not being 100% transparent with our findings. So... I'm going to be a bit brave here. I would just advise those who are admitted to real dig around for yourselves and discover if this is the place for you. After all I have uncovered, I feel the current PA/NP program is not up to the standards of the other amazing health sciences offerings (MD, vet, etc) that UC Davis is known for. Also, there is lots of talk about "self-learning" and while I agree that I don't need everything "spoon-fed" to me, I also know that if I spend $115,000 on an education I better be getting more than me sitting with an anatomy book trying to teach myself to be a PA. To be honest, I feel "self-learning" at a full time program (non-distance learning format) is largely a cop-out for not having enough knowledgeable and dedicated faculty to teach students the information and skills they will need to be successful PAs. The current program is a different story than the old certificate program, which was 1/4 of the cost, distance-learning, and to my understanding produced top-notch PAs. I wish that current students would not sugar-coat their experiences (not calling out anyone specific here) so that admitted students can make truly informed decisions. I won't say any more about this moving forward, but I felt it was the right thing to do as I would want someone to tell me this information if I was not already aware. 

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This program, unlike a lot of the other programs, is a self-learning program. a lot of my classmates and i have experienced this and struggled with this. You will not be fed the information but instead have to take it upon yourself to find outlets to learn. i say this because it is important to find a program that fits your personality and this program is a little more laid back and unstructured than most.

 

This being said, I really encourage everyone to keep their options open and consider what program will be a best fit for you because you dont want to end up somewhere paying an exponential amount and not happy with the fact that this program is transitioning and there is a lot more to figure out.

 

Hey there, saw your previous post (was sent to my email notifications) and wish you had kept it up so others could also see it. I think many people. including myself, have heard many very negative things about the program at Davis and for fear of retribution are not being 100% transparent with our findings. So... I'm going to be a bit brave here. I would just advise those who are admitted to real dig around for yourselves and discover if this is the place for you. After all I have uncovered, I feel the current PA/NP program is not up to the standards of the other amazing health sciences offerings (MD, vet, etc) that UC Davis is known for. Also, there is lots of talk about "self-learning" and while I agree that I don't need everything "spoon-fed" to me, I also know that if I spend $115,000 on an education I better be getting more than me sitting with an anatomy book trying to teach myself to be a PA. To be honest, I feel "self-learning" at a full time program (non-distance learning format) is largely a cop-out for not having enough knowledgeable and dedicated faculty to teach students the information and skills they will need to be successful PAs. The current program is a different story than the old certificate program, which was 1/4 of the cost, distance-learning, and to my understanding produced top-notch PAs. I wish that current students would not sugar-coat their experiences (not calling out anyone specific here) so that admitted students can make truly informed decisions. I won't say any more about this moving forward, but I felt it was the right thing to do as I would want someone to tell me this information if I was not already aware. 

 

 

While I understand both of these arguments, I think you would both be doing yourselves a huge favor by asking current PA's what it was like at their program. I can guarantee you that they also struggled with a lot of "self-teaching" and having to sit with the material on their own (I surveyed many current PA's through this site and got an overwhelming "YES" to the self-studying at their individual programs). UCD has its deficits, certainly: lack of faculty is a huge problem right now since having moved to a Master's degree. If "self-teaching" is a problem and you have other options, then go somewhere else. But DO NOT expect that it's going to be a cake walk elsewhere. You are literally combining years 2-4 of medical school into 27 months. How can anyone possibly think you can get a lecture on every single topic in medicine in that amount of time? It's not something that can be achieved. Thus, you are expected to go home and abide by the objectives and expectations of not only your faculty, but the ARC-PA as well. That's something that you are accepting when you hit "submit" on your CASPA application. 

 

And, looking at the "bigger picture"--if you still think you can learn all that there is to know about medicine in 27 months, you'll be in for a real treat come time to find a job (or take the PANCE for that matter). The rest of your life will be dedicated to "on the job training" or "at home studying" even while you're working so that you can be the best practitioner you can be. Your collaborating physician isn't going to spoon feed you everything you need to know, why should we expect our faculty to do that--that goes for any program. While I certainly have had my ups and downs with UCD, I got what I expected and have not been disappointed yet. I am confident in my abilities to be a great practitioner without the hand holding of my professors or physicians. Which means, I am 100% okay with "self-teaching"--I get to collaborate with my classmates and learn things like the way they do in the real world. So I'm paying 31K/yr to watch youtube videos and read out of my text books. But guess what---I get to be a PA. And that's really all I care about. 

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Wow thanks for all the insight! I have heard the same info as everyone above...I would agree with the person above that it doesn't matter about the kwirks of the program if I were like you and paying 31k a year and it was a cheaper program ... But we are paying about. 51k which is the most expensive pa program in California and it's imp that we are getting our money's worth

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Reading these recent posts could damper with anyones excitment about getting into Davis :( I for one am not going to let some of the recent posts affect how excited I feel about the school or program. Nursing school was just as some of you mention "self-teaching"... Many times the professor would talk to us about their personal experience in a neuro unit instead of teaching us how to do a full neuro exam; yet they would expect us to know how to do a perfect neuro exam. They would show us a video on how to put in a foley catheter and expect us to perform at the standard of the video.  Yeah it sucked but i also had some really awesome professors and met amazing new friends and classmates. Just like Tall_scrubs said, all programs are going to lack something, no program is perfect. Filling out that stupid CASPA application and all the stress it caused, the crazy 8 person interview rounds, secondary applications and all the time spent waiting was all worth it; I think we need to focus on the fact that we are one step closer to being PA's/NP's. Cheer up everyone :)!!!!! By the way is anyone interested in starting up a facebook page for our class? 

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Reading these recent posts could damper with anyones excitment about getting into Davis :( I for one am not going to let some of the recent posts affect how excited I feel about the school or program. Nursing school was just as some of you mention "self-teaching"... Many times the professor would talk to us about their personal experience in a neuro unit instead of teaching us how to do a full neuro exam; yet they would expect us to know how to do a perfect neuro exam. They would show us a video on how to put in a foley catheter and expect us to perform at the standard of the video.  Yeah it sucked but i also had some really awesome professors and met amazing new friends and classmates. Just like Tall_scrubs said, all programs are going to lack something, no program is perfect. Filling out that stupid CASPA application and all the stress it caused, the crazy 8 person interview rounds, secondary applications and all the time spent waiting was all worth it; I think we need to focus on the fact that we are one step closer to being PA's/NP's. Cheer up everyone :)!!!!! By the way is anyone interested in starting up a facebook page for our class?

I agree. While it is important to go into this with eyes wide open, none of this information shared is new. Any amount of reading in the UCD subsection of this forum shines light on the issue that there is some disorganization with the current class. However, I have spoke to current students who do also say that UCD is very heavily interested in the current class opinion, in an effort to make the appropriate modifications to the program as well. If concerned, why not also call the program and ask them directly about the changes set forth for the new cohort. I for one am excited to take on the new challenge! If I have to do extra work on my own to make my dream come true...so be it. Such is life. As we all know, getting into PA school is HARD work, and I feel fortunate to have gotten in anywhere my first time applying.

 

Also, we aren't even sure what the new tuition will be just yet. Yes, it is costly. However, UCD is not the most expensive program in CA when tuition is calculated per cost of each program. Most schools haven't even released a fee structure for the 2014 class. Who is to say other programs won't increase either? Stanford is currently more expensive, especially if you are an out of state resident. Touro also ends up being more, (granted the program is a dual Masters). USC is a longer program, and cost $24k more in the end using the higher tuition range UCD provided.

 

Anyways, my long winded point is that while I understand everyone's concerns, let's also try to remain positive! I am so excited to take this on and cannot wait to be a PA-S!

 

Oh and yes! I would be interested in starting up a Facebook page for our class!

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Sgc2012 thanks for sharing that! I understand and can relate to exactly what you described!

 

I am also interested in starting a face book page for those who have chosen to attend for sure. I have never started one so does anyone who is more savvy in this area want to start one? :)

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For the new Cohort and those "on the fence" about acceptance: we just found out about a phenomenal PA who just received an offer to become faculty starting for the new cohort. This is also in addition to another Physician who will hopefully be accepting a faculty position for the new class. 

 

What this means for YOU is that: there shouldn't be any more scrambling for lectures or lack of lectures which means less "self teaching". Also, this should help alleviate much of the disorganization our class and the c/o 2014 has experienced! 

 

Great news for you guys! 

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For the new Cohort and those "on the fence" about acceptance: we just found out about a phenomenal PA who just received an offer to become faculty starting for the new cohort. This is also in addition to another Physician who will hopefully be accepting a faculty position for the new class.

 

What this means for YOU is that: there shouldn't be any more scrambling for lectures or lack of lectures which means less "self teaching". Also, this should help alleviate much of the disorganization our class and the c/o 2014 has experienced!

 

Great news for you guys!

Whoohoo!! Excellent news! Thanks for sharing! :)

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I live in Elk Grove, which is about a 15-20 minute drive to campus (depending on traffic). It worked for me because my partner and I already had a house here, and moving closer to campus wasn't feasible. Some students live in Davis, which is about 20 minutes drive to campus. Some of our class lives in midtown which is 5-10 minutes, and can range from reasonable to expensive. Some students live near campus, within walking distance, and this can be fairly costly for relatively small places. Cost, of course, is relative, as it depends on what you are expecting to pay vs what you are paying now. All of the areas mentioned above have relatively safe areas. The med center isn't in the absolute best neighborhood but if you are on the east side of Stockton Blvd (the med center), it tends to be a bit safer than the west side, though exceptions exist. If anybody has specific questions about specific locations, message me, and I can try my best to provide any information I have. Also, ideally, if you want to live close to campus, keep your eyes open and check frequently. When the program starts, it is near when the med students start, as well as the new interns for the hospital, so places get rented quickly. Don't get discouraged if finding a place is tough, just keep on checking.

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