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deleted943444
I choose IAUPR because it made sense economically for me, even though I got accepted into other schools, I was scared because of all the things I read here so I wanted to share my overall experience for my first semester and I hope it helps people who are apprehensive about coming to PR.
CLASSES
The first block of the test was the hardest for me because I was making very extensive reviews from lectures + books and the grades I got where below what I expected. I was studying in a very comprehensive manner, trying to understand concepts rather than memorizing random facts, but then I noticed that the hardest classes where memorization heavy. I quickly changed to flashcard systems (like Anki and Quizlet) and started using the books only when I did not understand a concept in the lecture, except for Optics where I always used the books. Academically this semester was a LOT harder than I expected, but I studied as I had never before and ended up with very good grades. I read here once that people had old tests for classes and I saw some of them (they are mostly things students mark/write that they remember from tests) and If you studied only from what other students have you will fail. Most professors did not repeat a lot of questions, it may help you to know the way they ask questions, but that's about it. At the end, a big chunk of students did not pass pharmacology, which may be the hardest class in my opinion.
FACULTY
The professors are nice, and most of them have the student's best interests in mind. A couple of them were very mediocre and I did not like their style of teaching at all, which is why I dedicated those classes the most time and at the end, it paid off. I did not like that there is a pattern of bad communication about simple things like what is going to be tested, punctuality from the faculty, and quiz dates. Just like in college, there are some very good professors, and there are very bad ones, I would say most of them are good. The school is extremely attentive to students that are from the US, which is good. Yes, a lot of professors have a thick accent and they make grammatical mistakes even in tests, I really do not think an accent means that you don't dominate a language, but I know some people may not like that.
STUDENTS/HOUSING/PUERTO RICO
The first month was very hard for the students that were not from PR, especially if they were used to being close to their families, but it got better with time. I feel like a lot of students from the US complain a lot, even about simple things and are very entitled. Maybe they come off that way to people from the Island because they are used to a certain style of education, teaching, grocery stores, and culture in general, which I completely understand. If you are moving to PR you must know the town where the school is located is not pretty, but it is close to all of the relevant places to eat, drink and to nice touristy places on the metropolitan part of the island. The housing was the best part of the whole experience, I had amazing roommates and it was literally 2 minutes away from the classroom so it is very convenient. Also, I did not have to buy furniture which was great. It is completely possible to live without a car, a lot of my classmates did it, but obviously it would be comfortable to have a car. The best option is to buy a used car from upperclassmen or to lease, I do not recommend buying from random sellers because they sell mostly pieces of junk that are very pricey and will give you a lot of trouble and extra stress that you don't need. You have to uber to get groceries and the closest place is 10min away. There is a Costco and sams 20min away and the biggest mall in the Caribbean (Plaza Las Americas) is 25min away. I did not go out/party a lot, maybe 2 or 3 times during the whole semester, but a lot of students go out every weekend, that depends on your style of studying and whatever works for you.
In general, this semester was a challenge academically and a very big change, but I'm glad about picking the school. If anyone something specific you want to know about the school or PR just let me know.
SECOND SEMESTER UPDATE
Hello! I just wanted to give an update regarding my feelings towards the school, now that I'm about to finish my second semester of Optometry. I still feel like the stuff I read in threads here is very discouraging and way worse than what it actually is.
Over this year I have learned by the students that take the Spanish course that if your goal is to become fully fluent in Spanish that definitely won't happen. The Spanish class (given only during the first year) helps you in basic communication and in medical terms so you can perform optometric procedures in Spanish, but it is very basic knowledge. I feel like I got the hang of classes and I'm doing very well, again what works to study is spaced repetition and active recall. Additionally, you have to be very organized or else you will fall behind and it will make getting good grades impossible (since the material for classes like pharmacology is not really taught in a coherent easy way, you have to work harder in order to understand)! I got accepted in NSU, MCPHS & Salus and I don't regret picking IAUPR, but I do understand when people say you may have a better experience in other schools. Professors here are very hit or miss, you either love them or you hate them, and there are definitely better & more efficient ways of teaching complicated concepts. I am biased because I studied in PR's public education system where you have to be able to teach yourself, so I am used to this style of teaching. But you definitely get all the materials you need to do good in class, you just have to study the class presentations and supplement with the books for practice questions.
Regarding the COVID-19 situation, the school was extremely unorganized in the first weeks of online classes, they gave us 2 weeks off so they could prepare and it was still very messy at the beginning. Now that a few weeks have gone by it seems like the professors are more organized, but at the beginning, it was a hot mess. We are definitely working way harder online and spend more time on a computer than we do in class, but I've heard from friends in other graduate programs that the same thing is happening to them.
I know other graduate programs are system based so they take only one test which includes material from all their classes, at IAUPR we get individual tests from every class, they usually don't overlap and the most we have in a week is 2 tests. That system does make finals very intense because you have to take comprehensive finals of each and every class. Its definitely not easy, the stress levels get to you sometimes, but it's doable. Besides that, I have no other complaints for now, my first year of optometry has been pretty good.
CLASSES
The first block of the test was the hardest for me because I was making very extensive reviews from lectures + books and the grades I got where below what I expected. I was studying in a very comprehensive manner, trying to understand concepts rather than memorizing random facts, but then I noticed that the hardest classes where memorization heavy. I quickly changed to flashcard systems (like Anki and Quizlet) and started using the books only when I did not understand a concept in the lecture, except for Optics where I always used the books. Academically this semester was a LOT harder than I expected, but I studied as I had never before and ended up with very good grades. I read here once that people had old tests for classes and I saw some of them (they are mostly things students mark/write that they remember from tests) and If you studied only from what other students have you will fail. Most professors did not repeat a lot of questions, it may help you to know the way they ask questions, but that's about it. At the end, a big chunk of students did not pass pharmacology, which may be the hardest class in my opinion.
FACULTY
The professors are nice, and most of them have the student's best interests in mind. A couple of them were very mediocre and I did not like their style of teaching at all, which is why I dedicated those classes the most time and at the end, it paid off. I did not like that there is a pattern of bad communication about simple things like what is going to be tested, punctuality from the faculty, and quiz dates. Just like in college, there are some very good professors, and there are very bad ones, I would say most of them are good. The school is extremely attentive to students that are from the US, which is good. Yes, a lot of professors have a thick accent and they make grammatical mistakes even in tests, I really do not think an accent means that you don't dominate a language, but I know some people may not like that.
STUDENTS/HOUSING/PUERTO RICO
The first month was very hard for the students that were not from PR, especially if they were used to being close to their families, but it got better with time. I feel like a lot of students from the US complain a lot, even about simple things and are very entitled. Maybe they come off that way to people from the Island because they are used to a certain style of education, teaching, grocery stores, and culture in general, which I completely understand. If you are moving to PR you must know the town where the school is located is not pretty, but it is close to all of the relevant places to eat, drink and to nice touristy places on the metropolitan part of the island. The housing was the best part of the whole experience, I had amazing roommates and it was literally 2 minutes away from the classroom so it is very convenient. Also, I did not have to buy furniture which was great. It is completely possible to live without a car, a lot of my classmates did it, but obviously it would be comfortable to have a car. The best option is to buy a used car from upperclassmen or to lease, I do not recommend buying from random sellers because they sell mostly pieces of junk that are very pricey and will give you a lot of trouble and extra stress that you don't need. You have to uber to get groceries and the closest place is 10min away. There is a Costco and sams 20min away and the biggest mall in the Caribbean (Plaza Las Americas) is 25min away. I did not go out/party a lot, maybe 2 or 3 times during the whole semester, but a lot of students go out every weekend, that depends on your style of studying and whatever works for you.
In general, this semester was a challenge academically and a very big change, but I'm glad about picking the school. If anyone something specific you want to know about the school or PR just let me know.
SECOND SEMESTER UPDATE
Hello! I just wanted to give an update regarding my feelings towards the school, now that I'm about to finish my second semester of Optometry. I still feel like the stuff I read in threads here is very discouraging and way worse than what it actually is.
Over this year I have learned by the students that take the Spanish course that if your goal is to become fully fluent in Spanish that definitely won't happen. The Spanish class (given only during the first year) helps you in basic communication and in medical terms so you can perform optometric procedures in Spanish, but it is very basic knowledge. I feel like I got the hang of classes and I'm doing very well, again what works to study is spaced repetition and active recall. Additionally, you have to be very organized or else you will fall behind and it will make getting good grades impossible (since the material for classes like pharmacology is not really taught in a coherent easy way, you have to work harder in order to understand)! I got accepted in NSU, MCPHS & Salus and I don't regret picking IAUPR, but I do understand when people say you may have a better experience in other schools. Professors here are very hit or miss, you either love them or you hate them, and there are definitely better & more efficient ways of teaching complicated concepts. I am biased because I studied in PR's public education system where you have to be able to teach yourself, so I am used to this style of teaching. But you definitely get all the materials you need to do good in class, you just have to study the class presentations and supplement with the books for practice questions.
Regarding the COVID-19 situation, the school was extremely unorganized in the first weeks of online classes, they gave us 2 weeks off so they could prepare and it was still very messy at the beginning. Now that a few weeks have gone by it seems like the professors are more organized, but at the beginning, it was a hot mess. We are definitely working way harder online and spend more time on a computer than we do in class, but I've heard from friends in other graduate programs that the same thing is happening to them.
I know other graduate programs are system based so they take only one test which includes material from all their classes, at IAUPR we get individual tests from every class, they usually don't overlap and the most we have in a week is 2 tests. That system does make finals very intense because you have to take comprehensive finals of each and every class. Its definitely not easy, the stress levels get to you sometimes, but it's doable. Besides that, I have no other complaints for now, my first year of optometry has been pretty good.
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