Frameshift mutation - KGI PPC/MS + 2012 cycle vs. 2013 cycle?

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I have a 32 MCAT (11 PS, 10 VR, 11 BS) and a 3.28 undergrad BCPM from WashU in St. Louis.

I was accepted to the Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) Post-bacc premedical program (PPC), which is a 1 year grad level program which can be extended to a 2 year MS program. I was also waitlisted at Georgetown SMP and BU MAMS, as well as Loyola MAMS in Chicago. I have until May 4th to accept KGI. Assuming I do...

Which option do you think is the best and why?

Option 1: Apply to medical schools this round, then update my applications with PPC during the glide year. If I don't get accepted, apply to medical schools in the 2014 round after having completed the 2 year MS program.

Pros: I might be "good enough" already with my stats for lower tier MD programs, so I will matriculate sooner with the boost of PPC. If I don't matriculate, which won't be surprising, I will apply after finishing BOTH years of the MS program so I have 2 years of coursework under my belt.

Cons: If I do get in somewhere after applying this round, I will never have known if KGI helped me or not, or to what extent it did. I might be dropping big $$$ on KGI and not obtaining the full advantage of my new stats there. If I don't get accepted this round, and have to finish the 2 year MS before applying in 2014...2015 matriculation sounds very delayed to me.

Option 2: Apply to medical schools next round (2013 cycle), having 1 year of PPC courses upfront, then take the last 1 year of the MS program during the glide year.

Pros: This way you actually know that the PPC is 'having an effect' on my app since the coursework is completed upfront. I will be updating the apps with my 2nd year of KGI (MS portion) which will provide a further boost. I can also retake the MCAT.

Con: If my 2013 app is rejected, then re-applying the following 2014 round won't make me look too different from my first application, since it is simply 1 more year of the same thing at KGI. As opposed to applying to programs having both years of the MS program upfront to show for it.



Please let me know if there's anything I'm not seeing. I am going to try to get off the waitlist of BU and GT this week, but I doubt they will have an answer in time for the KGI deadline. At this point, it also might be stupid to turn down KGI and start applying fresh to new programs like Temple and the like...especially this late in the game. Thoughts on that would be appreciated too.

What is preventing you from applying this cycle and reapplying in 2013 if you don't get in?

Moving to the post-bacc forum.

Originally Posted by whatbout2morrow

What is preventing you from applying this cycle and reapplying in 2013 if you don't get in?

If I apply this cycle, then I'm under the impression that I will not have the full advantage of the SMP coursework, since it will not be provided "upfront" but rather updated once adcoms already give my app a first pass look.

Is there an issue here?