@
whyorwhynot
Hello,
Good luck on that MCAT! Hopefully this reply can serve as good information for other applicants as well.
1) I am kind of a procrastinator-- I didn't find out about the program until mid April when I knew I wasn't going to get into any schools I started looking into postbacs. I discovered that there were postbacs that granted direct admission to a med school upon completion and then went all out trying to find those. I somehow stumbled upon DPMS and saw it was by far the best opportunity. I know some other programs are similar at Georgetown and The Ohio State. I applied on the last day available to apply late April and, got the interview invite the first week of May and then interviewed at the end of May, then heard back in mid June.
2) There is no gpa or MCAT maximum. However if you have scores competitive enough for med school acceptance like a 3.5+ and a 30+ you would probably not get accepted because you already have a strong chance getting in the traditional route. Generally DPMS students either had below average stats or a high gpa and low MCAT or vice versa. At the same time, every story is different and they do review the whole application so I encourage you to still apply if you think you're a good fit for the program.
3) The program is something like$25,000 or more with living expenses its around $50,000. There is no FAFSA or Pell grants for graduate school so you'll be paying for it either out of pocket, or with Grad Plus loans. Grad Plus loans for Drexel will give you enough for tuition, and $21,000/year for ALL living expenses-- food, rent, transportation. That's something I didn't know before coming into school-- I thought I could take out however much I needed, but you can only take up to whatever the med school deems "the cost of living."
4) Housing was kind of a pain, especially for me because I was definitely part of the economically disadvantaged bunch-- but if you start looking early and get good roommates and find the good deals you can end up with a nice location and nice price. If you plan on having a roommate plan on spending $600-$800 for rent if you live by Queen Lane (where the medical school is) or $900-$1500 in Center City where you take all of you classes for the DPMS year. If you want to live alone in Queen Lane plan to spend $700-$1000, and if you're alone in the City probably like $900-$1800. There are good deals out there for sure, some people are only paying like $500, you just have to research a lot. But trust me, they'll tell you not to worry about looking for places till the end of summer-- start looking the first week! Seriously! If you live by Queen Lane it's cheaper, but pretty isolated from grocery stores, restaurants, or anything fun. There is a shuttle that runs from Queen Lane to Center City like every 15 minutes or so, but I'd recommend having a car if you live in Queen Lane. The school has a website that helps you find apartments/houses in the area. I used Craigslist to finally find a place... as I said I'm a procrastinator.
5) The summer portion is really what you make it. It's a fantastic opportunity to get a head start and learn the material for the first 2 exams in the Fall for Biochem and Physio. Biochem is an 8 credit class and can easily make or break you so if you can get a head start on it and do well on the first few exams it will make your life a WHOLE LOT EASIER. But it's very hard to take the Summer portion seriously, because you'll be in the city with a lot of fun stuff to do and it'll be very nice outside. At the same time it's very important to get to know your fellow DPMSers and have a little fun before life hits you hard in August. It's very possible to do both, go to the required lectures in the mornings, maybe study for a couple hours in the afternoon and then just hang out and go do stuff with the other DPMSers for the rest of the day. Essentially the summer portion is the first semester's material crammed into 6 weeks. You see all the same material you will see in the semester, so it's an opportunity to try to develop study habits, study groups, and get a sense of how the semester will go. You are provided with dorms, all the guys will live on a floor and the ladies on another. THERE IS NO MEAL PLAN OR FOOD OF ANY KIND PROVIDED. I found that out the hard way. So be sure to bring stuff to cook with and any sort of kitchen essentials. I liked the summer for sure, it was super fun. It was great to relive the Freshmen days and have a good time in the dorms, except this time there are pretty much no rules
(but remember always be responsible and professional).
6) I applied to many med and DO schools and didn't get interviews to anywhere. My stats were just too low. DPMS is actually the only postbac I applied to, it was kind of a thing where I was like-- "ok well, I've already been rejected by the whole world, what's one more rejection?" so I sent in the app basically the day it was due and somehow got in! But there are definitely other programs similar to this as I mentioned in #1. But if you look for other programs find the ones that have a direct linkage to the school and you're good to go.
But I love the people in my program so much, and this whole process is probably the most fun I've ever had. I still have to pass the MCAT and get the grades for this semester, but things are looking up. Hopefully I answered some of your questions. Feel free to ask whatever you need to.
