Choosing between postbaccs: Temple v. Tufts v. Scripps

[Anonimus.Maximus]

I'm currently accepted at Temple BCMS, Scripps, and Tufts. I'm also in Penn and Brandeis, but those programs don't seem to offer what the first three do. Also waiting to hear back from UVM (I'm pretty confident I'll get in there). Any advice on what to look for is welcome, especially from people with experience in these programs.

Temple's big selling point, obviously, is the conditional guarantee of admission into Temple Med (plus, they waive the MCAT). The catch is you can't apply anywhere else. Tufts has fewer linkages than Scripps, but both Tufts Med and BU are appealing to me, whereas the only really attractive linkage at Scripps for me is Pitt. I get the sense that Scripps has the slightly better rep than Tufts, but that's just a hunch. Location-wise, I'm thinking Boston>Philly>SoCal, for convenience and extra-curricular opportunities.

Background, fwiw: I got a 3.78 in a social science at an Ivy not known for grade inflation (my math/science GPA was slightly higher). I have zero hours of clinical volunteer experience, so I'll need to address that during the postbacc, but I have research experience in the humanitarian/international NGO sector, and am currently working as a researcher at my alma mater's medical school. I test well (2270 SAT I) but I'm wary of the new MCAT. Assuming I can get the volunteer issue solved, I feel like I should be a strong applicant to allopathic schools, but still, the Temple guarantee is very nice.

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[Barker Posey]

I'm an MII at Temple who went through the BCMS program, also from an Ivy. I only applied to postbacs in the NY/Philly area, and picked Temple over Penn, Bryn Mawr and Columbia because of the guarantee. I still had to take the MCAT, though. The waiver is due to the new MCAT, I think. I have never looked back on my decision. I liked the postbac, though it was grueling, and I LOVE the med school. Things to consider: how long you want the whole process to take (i.e. if you want a gap year to do some research in, or more than one year of classes so that it's less hectic), where you want to go to med school and what you need to shoot for to get there, and what the culture is of the program. Temple is utterly non-competitive, which I appreciated. Good luck! It sounds like you have some good options.

 

[ikat]

Current BCMS at Temple- I would 100% recommend it! The conditional acceptance is a huge plus but I think another thing that really sets Temple apart from other programs is how helpful and supportive everyone in the class is of one another- there is no competitiveness amongst the classmates and it's very much a team atmosphere, which has made the whole year so much more enjoyable. The program staff are great too. Overall I've had a very positive experience here and I would definitely choose Temple again; that said, I don't have any experience with the other programs you mentioned so can't speak to those. Good luck!

 

[Anonimus.Maximus]

Thanks for the feedback, all! By tomorrow I'll have officially toured all the schools (Tufts open house). I have until Monday to decide.