Charles University entrance exam Feb 2020

Yes, I am a bit worried about the dropout rate, so I will most probably choose a safer option, The entrance exams however, were not very tough, most questions were conceptual, Bio greatly consisted of cell cycle, the body systems, and less questions related to botany. Chemistry was also Bio oriented, majority of the questions came from biomolecules, organic chemistry as well as numericals from Mole Concept. Physics surprised me a little because these questions also tended to focus on Bio related questions, like there was a question asking the Vital Lung Capacity, another question asking the volume of blood in humans, classified under physics. There also are simple numericals.

I think Masaryk has one of the highest dropout rates as well. I've read reviews about it and a small portion of the students end up graduating. I think if you're into studying in Czech Republic then stick with Charles University, otherwise try looking at Hungary (I think theirs is lower). Masaryk has a very intense examination technique which causes most students to fail, and they only graduate the best (arguably to increase their reputation).

I don't know much about Palacky but their dropout rate is quite high too. It sounds strange but I genuinely think that the 1st Faculty & HK have the lowest dropout rates (and they're not even that low lol).

The thing is, Charles is a bit too expensive for me so I'm gonna go for either Masaryk or Palacky but I don't know which one I should choose

Were they all like that? Doesn't sound too bad

Charles 1st faculty is the most expensive out of all of them (especially the living cost in Prague) but I personally am more inclined to HK due to cheaper living + tuition fees. If I remember correctly their tuition fee is the same as Masaryk & Palacky. I'm not sure how the living cost compares to Brno/Olomouc though but I imagine it isn't going to be significantly more expensive than them.

Apart from the costs, which uni do you believe would be the better one to study at?

Of course, the 1st faculty is more reputable and recognised but personally I would say the faculty of medicine at HK - it isn't as intense as the first faculty (from what I assume) and most likely a better fit for me. In the first faculty you'll probably get more well-known professors and smarter students around you, but I think the other factors of studying in HK kind of balance it out (quieter, cheaper, more modern newer campus).

So overall, I think it depends on you and what you are looking in a university, but the first faculty is generally better in terms of education. I wouldn't mind attending it but I'd rather save some money instead and go to HK.

Charles 1st faculty is the most expensive out of all of them (especially the living cost in Prague) but I personally am more inclined to HK due to cheaper living + tuition fees. If I remember correctly their tuition fee is the same as Masaryk & Palacky. I'm not sure how the living cost compares to Brno/Olomouc though but I imagine it isn't going to be significantly more expensive than them.

So, apart from the fees aspect, 1st faculty would be better? I am still wondering about the dropout ratio, how/why do so many people dropout? Is it the pressure? Stress? Lack of studies? The large dropout rate is what I fear the most.

I think generally across Europe the dropout rate is quite high for medicine and my theory for that would be that it is relatively easy to get admission to these universities. US and UK all have very lovely graduation rates and that is because they admit very capable individuals by setting high standards and entry requirements, whereas I think all you need is CCC for Czech universities (imagine someone guessing the entire entrance exam & being admitted, of course they will struggle lol).

For Palacky what additional costs are you going to save? (just asking out of curiosity, I withdrew my application from so can't go anyway)

Masaryk has extremely poor graduation rates. If I can remember correctly only 20-30% graduate. Historically, Charles was also something similar (with poor graduation rates) but magically more people seem to be graduating recently (currently HK seems to have the highest graduation rate out of Czech Republic). I think Palacky isn't the greatest either but it isn't as bad as Masaryk, I think it would be similar to first faculty (maybe because it may be easier to get accepted there?). The second faculty of Charles has hilariously bad graduation rates, like only 20 people graduate each year irrespective of the amount of students admitted, not sure why though. I've heard people say that some universities accept a lot of foreign students (as they pay more) and design it to be difficult so they pay the money initially but the university itself lacks the facilities to graduate the hundreds of students they accept, which I think is the case for Masaryk and the second faculty (I don't think it is the case with the rest though).

Yeah I fully agree with what you're saying about UK and US.

Tuition fee wise it's a bit cheaper (and since I'm working right now to be able to pay all of it alone I need to save as much as possible) and the city is cheaper too. Mainly that but it makes a huge difference over 6 years.

So if I understand you correctly, ranking them based on graduation percentage it's HK>Palacky>First faculty>Masaryk>Second faculty

Ah, I see. I think Olomouc is a smaller city so yes I would agree, overall it is probably going to be cheaper.

With the ranking, yeah approximately like that (I would 'maybe' give the second place to first faculty as recently more students have been graduating than that of Palacky but more or less the same overall). The Charles faculties have their data publicly listed in case you want to have a look but beware that these are the data for the local Czech students who are more likely to pass than us unfortunately. They have the data but they don't list them publicly when it comes to English medical programs.

(this is for everyone) In general, if you are very concerned about pass rates and such then I suggest you have a look at Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary. It is going to be very expensive to attend but the students I've seen from there are generally happy and the pass rates are significantly higher than that of any Hungarian or Czech university, mainly because they follow a slightly more modern, exam-based approach rather than bombarding their students with difficult oral exams. I personally chose not to apply as it is 1. expensive and 2. I didn't particularly like the small (possibly irrelevant lol) things about it. It has the reputation as well that is more or less similar to Charles (however Charles is older so it gets a slight edge in that sense). If you've got the money then I would highly suggest that you attend this university (almost a no-brainer imo)

Haha I wonder if it would be possible to learn Czech and then switch to the Czech medical programme (just kidding)

Yeah I actually wanted to go to Semmelweis but the tuition fee threw me off big time. It's sad that money is dictating what we choose. But which uni/faculty are you gonna go for and why did you choose Czech Republic? Personally I'm still hesitating between Masaryk and Palacky since they do say Masaryk is better when it comes to quality and equipment but their graduation rates are a bit....

Haha, Czech is definitely difficult to learn but hopefully, we will find it reasonable

Yeah, it's very unfortunate with the money situation. Semmelweis is my personal dream but I can't burden my future self & my parents with the fees (like their application fee itself was more than applying to every single medical university in Czech lool). Honestly, I wasn't even going to go to Czech but after my acceptance to the 1st faculty I'm giving it another consideration (as it's nicer to live in & safer, my other option is non-Europe). Masaryk definitely has nicer facilities and I personally love their campus but yeah their rates are a bit dodgy. I knew this person going there and until the 3rd year, she said it's 'alright' and 'if you study you pass' type of optimism but later on the flaws of their examination systems kind of show (even their local Czech students struggle). I'm not sure if she has graduated or not. I really hope that Czech medical universities go full-modern as their traditional cut-throat approach isn't good for the students financially or emotionally.

Also, what faculties/universities have you been accepted to? I'm into the 1st faculty atm (and they delayed the HK results but I hope I get in)

My agency told me that the first faculty has a different way of picking their students. Basically, instead of making a super hard entrance exam, they make the first year super hard to see which students are 'best' to move on to the following years. Where are you applying?

Haha, Czech is definitely difficult to learn but hopefully, we will find it reasonable

Yeah, it's very unfortunate with the money situation. Semmelweis is my personal dream but I can't burden my future self & my parents with the fees (like their application fee itself was more than applying to every single medical university in Czech lool). Honestly, I wasn't even going to go to Czech but after my acceptance to the 1st faculty I'm giving it another consideration (as it's nicer to live in & safer, my other option is non-Europe). Masaryk definitely has nicer facilities and I personally love their campus but yeah their rates are a bit dodgy. I knew this person going there and until the 3rd year, she said it's 'alright' and 'if you study you pass' type of optimism but later on the flaws of their examination systems kind of show (even their local Czech students struggle). I'm not sure if she has graduated or not. I really hope that Czech medical universities go full-modern as their traditional cut-throat approach isn't good for the students financially or emotionally.

Also, what faculties/universities have you been accepted to? I'm into the 1st faculty atm (and they delayed the HK results but I hope I get in)

My agency told me that the first faculty has a different way of picking their students. Basically, instead of making a super hard entrance exam, they make the first year super hard to see which students are 'best' to move on to the following years. Where are you applying?

So, apart from the fees aspect, 1st faculty would be better? I am still wondering about the dropout ratio, how/why do so many people dropout? Is it the pressure? Stress? Lack of studies? The large dropout rate is what I fear the most .