Harvard, JHU or UCSF postbac program?

[wersace]

Hello Guys,

I am accepted by three premed master programs, one is Master of Science in Biomedical Imaging at UCSF, one is Master of Health Science at JHU, and the last one is Master of Medical Sciences in Immunology at Harvard. Does anyone know about these programs? Which one will be more helpful for medical school application?

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[Fedekz]

Just out of curiosity - what do programs like the immunology masters at Harvard require stat wise? Are they pretty competitive to get in?

 

[wersace]

Just out of curiosity - what do programs like the immunology masters at Harvard require stat wise? Are they pretty competitive to get in?

I think it's not as hard as medical school. Mine is 33MCAT and 3.9GPA.

 

[gettheleadout]

I think it's not as hard as medical school. Mine is 33MCAT and 3.9GPA.

Why do you want to do a Master's? Your stats are strong, so it's not like you need to prove academic capability or anything.

 

[wersace]

Why do you want to do a Master's? Your stats are strong, so it's not like you need to prove academic capability or anything.

Well, 33MCAT is not so good for top medical schools, and I am considering to retake it.

 

[gettheleadout]

Well, 33MCAT is not so good for top medical schools, and I am considering to retake it.

You're going to get a whole lot of flak from people here for wanting to do that, but I understand the sentiment. I'd only approve of that idea if you were scoring 4+ points above your score on average on your practice exams (and I'm assuming here that you took all of the AAMC full-length's). That said, you didn't answer my question.

 

[wersace]

You're going to get a whole lot of flak from people here for wanting to do that, but I understand the sentiment. I'd only approve of that idea if you were scoring 4+ points above your score on average on your practice exams (and I'm assuming here that you took all of the AAMC full-length's). That said, you didn't answer my question.

Because I don't plan to apply medical school this year, and I hope those postbac programs will do help in my future application.

 

[lmn]

Well, 33MCAT is not so good for top medical schools, and I am considering to retake it.

33 is fine for any medical school with your gpa as long as your EC's are good. IMO you have almost nothing to gain, and tons to lose from doing any master's. Your grades are great, MCAT is good, spend your gap year doing some helpful EC or making some money to help pay for school. Wasting the extra money and risking screwing up classes in a master's program isn't worth it unless you want to use one of those degrees for a career option that is outside of med school

 

[argama]

well my good friend got into Penn, NYU, and UCLA with a 33 MCAT and 3.9 GPA so it's not impossible OP

 

[puglet]

Because I don't plan to apply medical school this year, and I hope those postbac programs will do help in my future application.

Postbac programs are for people who need to show improvement in their grades. Your grades are so high that there's basically nothing to improve. You're not going to get any benefit from postbac programs. I think you should apply this year, but if you're dead set on putting it off and working on your application, then I would suggest working on other aspects of your application where there is more improvement to be made. Don't waste money on something that has a higher chance of hurting your application (if you do badly in the postbac) than improving it (since there's barely any improvement to be made).

 

[LJN Ltd.]

Because I don't plan to apply medical school this year, and I hope those postbac programs will do help in my future application.

Looks like OP will be a reapplicant with no admissions this cycle...or he's a troll..

There was obviously something else wrong with your app; your grades weren't it. It seems like you had a top-heavy list; just apply more broadly next time. Bad idea to fish out money for any sort of degree you don't care for beyond using them to get a leg up on admissions that you don't even need. Find something else to do that you are interested in ("I like studying" is a cop-out attitude), hopefully pays money, and use the extra time to fix your MCAT if you want to retake it.

And apply to more schools the next time around.

 

[wersace]

Thank you for your advices. I am going to reconsider my plan.

 

[LJN Ltd.]

Thank you for your advices. I am going to reconsider my plan.

If you really did apply this past cycle and didn't get in with those stats, you need to go over to the "What are my chances" page and post details about your cycle: where you applied, how many interviews gotten, your extracurriculars, and anything else that will help us help you figure out 1) what went wrong during the cycle and 2) what you should be doing to improve that next time around.

My feeling is that you went and applied to too many top schools and got burned hardcore...but without more info, it's all conjecture and we can't be of much use to you. Just don't blindly go to school and waste the money.

 

[gettheleadout]

well my good friend got into Penn, NYU, and UCLA with a 33 MCAT and 3.9 GPA so it's not impossible OP

Few things are legitimately impossible, but 33 is low for Penn in particular.

 

[argama]

Few things are legitimately impossible, but 33 is low for Penn in particular.

I think it was the research (very high impact publication) and other very very unique ECs that got him in. You are right though about the low MCAT part, I was also surprised too

 

[allanMED15]

Hello Guys,

I am accepted by three premed master programs, one is Master of Science in Biomedical Imaging at UCSF, one is Master of Health Science at JHU, and the last one is Master of Medical Sciences in Immunology at Harvard. Does anyone know about these programs? Which one will be more helpful for medical school application?

For what it's worth, I am in the MHS program at Hopkins right now and would be happy to discuss any questions you may have about it.

 

[wersace]

For what it's worth, I am in the MHS program at Hopkins right now and would be happy to discuss any questions you may have about it.

I read the curriculum. Is this program just designed for MCAT? I see most of courses are the same in the undergraduate level, do they have different?

 

[LJN Ltd.]

I read the curriculum. Is this program just designed for MCAT? I see most of courses are the same in the undergraduate level, do they have different?

You should reallllllllllllllllllllllllllly make a thread and have people tell you what went wrong during your application cycle. I don't get why you are doing anything else BUT that right now. Right this moment.

 

[Hobakie]

You should reallllllllllllllllllllllllllly make a thread and have people tell you what went wrong during your application cycle. I don't get why you are doing anything else BUT that right now. Right this moment.

I dont think OP applied yet. Correct me if Im wrong but from what I read he/she said they didnt want to apply until their MCAT score is higher

 

[LJN Ltd.]

I dont think OP applied yet. Correct me if Im wrong but from what I read he/she said they didnt want to apply until their MCAT score is higher

Post history says otherwise, unless 1) troll or 2) sharing accounts.

 

[sat0ri]

For what it's worth, I am in the MHS program at Hopkins right now and would be happy to discuss any questions you may have about it.

So JHU also has another masters program / post bacc thing, but it is offer at the JHU AAP (advanded academic program) MSc in Biotechnology. There is the health science intensive concentrations, and the one I"m actually interested in, the Molecular Targets and Drug Discovery concentrations. I get the feeling that these are b.s. masters. Have you heard about these at all, being at JHU yourself?

EDIT: since I'm the one asking for help, I'll make it easier for you. Here is the program if you didn't know what I was referring to already:
http://advanced.jhu.edu/academics/graduate-degree-programs/biotechnology/degree-requirements/

 

[samac]

Please don't go do a masters with those stats. There are definitely other areas to be working on with extracurricular so and clinical experience. If your dead set on top schools than take time to study and retake.
None of those master programs are meant for MCAT prep

 

[allanMED15]

So JHU also has another masters program / post bacc thing, but it is offer at the JHU AAP (advanded academic program) MSc in Biotechnology. There is the health science intensive concentrations, and the one I"m actually interested in, the Molecular Targets and Drug Discovery concentrations. I get the feeling that these are b.s. masters. Have you heard about these at all, being at JHU yourself?

EDIT: since I'm the one asking for help, I'll make it easier for you. Here is the program if you didn't know what I was referring to already:
http://advanced.jhu.edu/academics/graduate-degree-programs/biotechnology/degree-requirements/

I actually have no idea. I wouldn't necessarily call anything a B.S masters. Certainly there have been plenty of people that have gone through the program and gotten to where they wanted to be. Are they made for those who want to go to med school? I don't know, probably not honestly. The program I am in has been designed specifically for us, though it isn't an SMP.

Please don't go do a masters with those stats. There are definitely other areas to be working on with extracurricular so and clinical experience. If your dead set on top schools than take time to study and retake.
None of those master programs are meant for MCAT prep

samac is right. Programs like this are not meant for MCAT prep. Certainly it will help with the MCAT, but there is no specific focus on the MCAT by the programs here.

 

[sat0ri]

I actually have no idea. I wouldn't necessarily call anything a B.S masters. Certainly there have been plenty of people that have gone through the program and gotten to where they wanted to be. Are they made for those who want to go to med school? I don't know, probably not honestly. The program I am in has been designed specifically for us, though it isn't an SMP.



samac is right. Programs like this are not meant for MCAT prep. Certainly it will help with the MCAT, but there is no specific focus on the MCAT by the programs here.

Darn, yeah that JHU AAP master program has a HSI concentration which is focused on upper division "pre-med" course work and is aimed to round out your application (with volunteering, shadowing etc). My application is--from what I can tell--fine other than missing an MCAT, so I was more interested in the Drug Discovery concentration because I wanted to explore a line of research that I could hopefully further develop in an MD/PhD program. However, I have never heard of this JHU AAP masters, so I was worried it might be B.S. There are a few threads on it here at SDN, but I was hoping your masters might be related and you'd have insight, but from what I looked up yours is run through directly through JHU whereas this one I'm not so sure.

EDIT: btw OP, Duke is also another institution that has a 1 year masters, linked below, though from what your saying, a masters might be contraindicated in your situation.
http://medschool.duke.edu/education/degree-programs/mbs

 

[allanMED15]

Darn, yeah that JHU AAP master program has a HSI concentration which is focused on upper division "pre-med" course work and is aimed to round out your application (with volunteering, shadowing etc). My application is--from what I can tell--fine other than missing an MCAT, so I was more interested in the Drug Discovery concentration because I wanted to explore a line of research that I could hopefully further develop in an MD/PhD program. However, I have never heard of this JHU AAP masters, so I was worried it might be B.S. There are a few threads on it here at SDN, but I was hoping your masters might be related and you'd have insight, but from what I looked up yours is run through directly through JHU whereas this one I'm not so sure.

That is really interesting. Considering it claims to be a masters program yet people are using it to complete med school pre reqs.

But it is at Krieger, and on the website so I'm sure it holds water there.

Let me ask some people around here if they know anything about it.