lo guys, i have some recommendations before you take on the program. for starts, it's severely overpriced tuition at 21k for 21 credits. if the program goes well and you get in then all was worth it, but what if it goes south? if it goes south then you just blew 21k for a "certificate" and hurt yourself for the next cycle. for those of us who didn't do well in the program, we were just recommended to get high scores on the MCAT...easier said than done. as for payment, people either paid, took out loans, or worked during the program. working during the program will more than likely hurt your GPA and they do not cut you slack if your GPA is low since you were working. I personally wouldn't recommend the program to others but there are a few scenarios in which it may be worth it.
1) You were waitlisted and are really good at things like biochem, microbio, and molec and confident you will get the 90 average
2) you are applying for the guaranteed interview, are confident you will do well in those subjects, and have a good MCAT and undergrad GPA. if you're someone who has a strong app but is usually overlooked for some reason then its a good opportunity to get "noticed". there are other ways to do this without spending 21k but up to you...
3) FIU is your top choice and youre 100% committed to going there, have a good MCAT and are confident you will do well in the program
Dont do this program if your undergrad GPA is low and your MCAT is low. Don't do it if you're trying to raise your GPA; it's a tough program. Call and ask what the average GPA was for the first year's class. Then call and ask medical schools what they think of that average GPA.
Now how do you know if you're confident you'll do well? Classes are T and R from 1:15-9pm (or whenever our professor decides to let us out...). You will need to be really self disciplined since you wont be in school every day. the exams are all on the same day usually tuesday from 1:15-7:30pm. Your finals will be NBME and are cumulative, all on the same day. Grades are mostly dependent on how you do on exams. The tough thing about exams is that the average is pretty much always around 78-80% (way below that 90 you need), all on one day, and are like 30 questions usually which leaves very little room for error. You will have quizzes, annoying group work, and other assignments that maybe were like 20% of your grade. More than likely you'll get a B average from the program...call some medical schools and see what they think about a B average in an unknown program. Most are going to be looking for that A- average for you to be competitive at all.
I didn't find the faculty to be that great at teaching either which didn't help. A lot of them seemed like they had no teaching experience...definitely werent given our money's worth. The environment for the first class wasnt really helpful. Most people were self study types and everyone was super insecure about what was going to happen to us and if they'd take us. There were a lot of rumors and the admin were pretty unhelpful with letting us know what would happen. Wasn't the kind of environment where students group study and share notes, etc. I'd describe it as typical premed.
The interviews weren't conducted until really late like March. A % were interviewed, call and ask for the #, out of those about half were accepted. From those some people with the 85 got in and some people with the 90 didn't. So, it's somewhat luck and dependent on your file. A good % got their guaranteed acceptance. So number wise quite a few people ended up with what they wanted, but again, if you arent confident you can do well in the classes and thrive in the environment they created, don't do it. The environment is premed and there were a lot of rules and unnecessary stressors; they treated us more like high schoolers than adults.
I've also seen people who did well in the program and had high MCATs not get in...there's no guarantee it will work out. For those who it didn't work out for, naturally, they feel like they got conned out of 21k. Numberwise quite a few people did well so you just gotta know you. Call and talk to the directors. I highly recommend meeting them in person. It's important you get along well with them since a lot of your fate is in their hands. Call and ask about how the first class did, see if they will give you names of students you can contact for insight, and don't expect to take the MCAT during the program. The people I saw who did well usually had strong science backgrounds, degrees in chem or molec fields, and research experience.
With that in mind, many schools have programs like this that feed in, check them out. Check out special masters programs...drexel has something similar and you get a real degree or maybe georgetown...there's a lot out there...these programs are cash cows for schools. if you were my friend, i'd tell you to forget it and take the year to knock the MCAT out of the park. good luck