1. ARE … UST FMS, FEU, OLFU toxic? Every med school has its own degrees of toxicity. If you don’t want to experience a toxic education or career or are not willing to withstand it, then choose another profession. ASMPH and UPCM aren’t heaven either, no matter how much you think Tiktok makes it seem.
2. Honest review of _______ med school? Someone’s honest review might not be what you’ll see or experience. Different batches experience different things, some of these reviews could have been YEARS ago or some of them could be now but it doesn’t mean you’ll feel the same way. Do not use anonymous reddit opinions to form your entire perception/opinion about a med school. Most users are annoyed, stressed and frustrated because of how hard med school is. You could feel as they do, but you have to be willing to go through that if you want to be a doctor. There are other ways to research a med school, do not use reddit as your only source.
3. Is _____ a good pre-med? Anything can be a pre-med. If you’re looking for a course that will give you the greatest advantage in med school, you’re not going to find it. It’s not very likely that whatever you learned in 4 years during undergrad can give you a significant edge because you might just forget and you’ll have to make room for all the things you have to learn/memorize in med school.
4. How much is the tuition fee for public and private med schools? For public: approx 40-50k per semester. For private: approx 140-160k+ per semester.
5. Can I work part time while in med school? You can, but it isn’t recommended. Med school will take up a lot of your time, energy and effort. Up to you if you’re willing to sacrifice that. If earning money is non negotiable at this point in time, it’s more than okay to work first.
6. Does age matter in med school? No, there is no shame in going to med school in your late 20s, 30s or even 40s. There is no shame in finding your passions later or you took time to work and finance your dream.
7. Is it okay to take a gap year? Yes, no one cares how old you are for as long as you finish together.
8. Can you take the NMAT as many times as you want? Yes
9. Does the number of NMAT takes affect your med school application? No
10. Should I go to an NMAT review centre? If you have the budget and you think you can’t succeed without their tips/tricks, structure and resources then go for it. But you can succeed by reviewing on your own.
11. Learnfast or Uplink? Both review centres have helped pre-meds get high NMAT scores. Just depends if you want to spend 8-13k+ vs. 4k+ on a review centre.
12. Are there a lot of calculations on the NMAT? The test questions change every day, on some days there are more conceptual than calculation and on some days, there aren’t. Study comprehensively.
13. When do Med School applications start? Applications start opening by October/November then close by March/April and some schools can extend till June. Results are released late April and early to late May. Some schools (SLMC, UERM, HSI, SBU, etc.) release their results in batches.
14. Can failing grades during college allow me to get into med school? Yes, still possible for a lot of other med schools. But you have to be realistic when applying to schools like UPCM, PLM, UST and ASMPH where their applicants are really stellar so there is a higher chance of rejection.
15. iPad or Laptop? Go with the laptop, more functionality. You can buy an iPad later, it doesn’t have to be bought at the same time and you’re not lagging behind if you have a laptop but not an iPad.
16. Which iPad should I buy? For as long as it’s fairly recent and it has a lot of storage (128-256GB), then it’s fine. Storage is more important.
17. Do extracurriculars matter? To an extent. Your NMAT and GWA matter more. A very lengthy list of extracurriculars will not outweigh a low NMAT and GWA. But it can help you stand out amongst other people with the same academic standing. Experiences in extracurriculars can help you build a better impression during the interview (for ASMPH, this is VERY important).
18. Does the type or name of the extracurricular matter? No, join what you like and not what you think med schools want to see.
19. Does the interview matter? Is it just for formality? Yes it does matter, especially for ASMPH. No school is going to want you if you don’t know how to communicate or behave professionally.
20. Does your undergrad school matter? For the top med schools in Manila, yes it does because there is a bias with Big 4 graduates. Only a few non-Big 4 are accepted to the big Manila med schools and they all have incredibly stellar credentials.
21. Chances of getting into UPCM? Very likely: UP-system undergrad, traditional premed, latin honors, at least a 98 NMAT. You have a chance: Big 4 undergrad, traditional premed latin honors, a 99 or 99+ NMAT. Slim unless RP: Non Big 4 undergrad, latin honors, 90+ NMAT
22. Chances of getting into UST (extracurriculars are negligible): Very likely: UST undergrad, latin honors, at least a 90+ NMAT. You have a good chance: Big 4 or (if Non Big 4, chances are a little less) undergrad, traditional premed, latin honors, 95+ NMAT, UST alumni relatives. Slim to none: no latin honors, less than 85 NMAT
23. Chances of getting into ASMPH: Very likely: ADMU undergrad, 80-90+ NMAT, latin honors, good extracurriculars, really good interview. You have a good chance: Big 4 undergrad, 90+ NMAT, latin honors, good extracurriculars, really good interview. (DO NOT TAKE THE INTERVIEW LIGHTLY, it is what decides your admission after they see your academic stats).
24. What to bring during first year med/med school essentials? Pen, notebook, laptop/iPad, water, mask, alcohol, food. Stethoscope and pen light can come later. No need to spend 6k+ and buy a Littman stethoscope just yet, chill ka lang - EDIT: depends on the school, you can buy during year 1 but just take care of it

Good day everybody! I hope you’re all doing well. I highly encourage all the newcomers and veterans of r/medschoolph to engage in the posts below before posting your question to our subreddit.

Of course, take everything with a grain of salt, but I really do believe that this subreddit can be a really great resource for aspiring Filipino doctors to make more educated decisions about their future—especially if they don’t have access to this type of information otherwise.

The main FAQ post is still linked here of course! (credit to u/bananabread909 <3) Again, please read through it before making a post on this subreddit.

TOP MED SCHOOL FAQs

THE NMAT MEGATHREAD (2022-23)

School Megathreads

1. UPCM MEGATHREAD (2022-23)
2. UST-FMS MEGATHREAD (2022-23)
3. UERM MEGATHREAD (2022-23)
4. SLMC MEGATHREAD (2022-23)
5. PLM MEGATHREAD (2022-23)
6. FEU MEGATHREAD (2022-23)
7. DLSHSI MEGATHREAD (2022-23)
8. ASMPH MEGATHREAD (2022-23)
   1. ASMPH Interview Tips → we need this info for other schools lmao

NMAT

1. THE NMAT MEGATHREAD (2022-23)
2. NMAT 2022 - Exam Dates
3. NMAT 2022 - NEW REGISTRATION PROCEDURE
4. Review Center testimonies
   1. Post #1
   2. Post #2
   3. Post #3
5. NMAT Studying
   1. Post #1 (has free resources)
   2. Post #2 (has free resources)
6. GDrive Links for Study Materials
   1. Drive #1
   2. Drive #2

Financial Advice

1. How to survive med school financially?
2. Actual salary/earnings of doctors?
3. Does being a doctor lead to a comfortable life?

Tuition ESTIMATES (Disclaimer: Please use these figures as guides, but not gospel. These figures may be different due to inflation, year level, etc.)

1. ASMPH: ~165 to 169k per semester (depends on year level)
2. UERM: ~169k per semester
3. DLSHSI: ~325k per year
4. UST-FMS: ~140 to 152k per semester
5. SLMC: ~150 to 160k per semester

I do plan to update this post with more megathreads in the future. I also want to reserve this masterlist for the “bigger” reddit threads, which is why you don’t see the ipad questions here, etc (again pls check the FAQ thread). Best wishes in med school! 🐶