One decision, which changed everything.
Starting with ALPA and now I'm the first in my batch!
My story and beginning with ALPA was one of the best decisions — if not the best decision — I've made. Their impact wasn't just in information and knowledge, but in how I study, how I think, and so much more.
I started with ALPA without having a strong foundation in the basics. Within weeks of following their explanations and their excellent organization of the material — right as the academic year began — a lot of things changed. I started understanding better, to the point that I outperformed students who were years ahead of me. Their teaching style first, and then their Anki flashcards, had a huge influence on how I studied toward exam questions. These are the things that made us actually care about studying correctly — not just during the course, but even after it ended, by applying what we learned about how to study. I benefited from this enormously.
I hadn't originally thought about using Anki for medicine, but I saw its impact during the course and applied it to my own studying, and I benefited a lot. Even the resources used in the course were excellent, and I kept using them in my studies afterward. This gave me real confidence when studying — meaning the impact wasn't just during the course, but even more so afterward: first, the knowledge itself, and second, that I adopted an entirely new way of studying. That's one of the things I gained the most from.
And alhamdulillah, I even used the course to review topics tied to my exam blocks, and it covered the essentials so well that I didn't need to go back and exhaust myself with other sources — everything I needed was already there, and more.
That wasn't for nothing, alhamdulillah — it helped me a lot. I was able to achieve higher grades and bigger accomplishments. By the end of my first year after the course, I achieved the highest GPA in my entire batch 🥇, and I received certificates of academic excellence — beyond the academic distinction my professors themselves noticed in me. This is all by God's grace first, and then the course and its tremendous effort.
This isn't the end — it's the beginning of a better path, God willing. I'm committing to stay with ALPA for the courses in the years ahead, preparing for USMLE 1/2, and I'm excited to keep going with the best people.
Thank you, ALPA team. You've done such great work.