Six year program v. traditional

[Blueberry17]

I'm currently a rising senior in high school and I'm going to be applying to colleges in the fall. I'm a very competitive applicant, I go to a very rigorous private high school and I have a 4.0 GPA and 2300 SAT. I would like to be a doctor. I've been looking at 6 year programs, but many of them are through colleges which aren't known for their academic strength, especially in the undergraduate years. I'm most strongly considering the NEOMED BS/MD program, where the undergrad work is done at underwhelming institutions such as Kent State University and University of Akron. I'm wondering if it is better to do something like go to a prestigious college for 4 years (a place like Washington University or Rice) and then apply to medical school or do the six year program. I'm not asking which path is better for the life experiences, I'm asking which path is better for academics and ultimately one's preparedness to practice medicine.

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[bc65]

For preparedness to practice medicine, any accredited US MD program will prepare you well.

For an academic career, it's better to go to Harvard/Yale/Stanford undergrad, and H/Y/S for medical school, assuming that you can be sure that you will get in.

For anything in between, it's going to be an individual decision.

Most students who are smart and hard-working enough to get into the 6 and 6 year BS/MD programs are smart and hard working enough to get into med school the regular way, but a few students who turn down the BS/MD programs don't get into medical school later, including some who go to H/Y/S.

Just apply to both regular college and BS/MD programs and then decide. It will be an easier decision after you have acceptances in hand. Don't be so sure that you will get into Washington University and the NEOMED program.
I have informally advised pre med students at a very prestigious private high school, some of whom have credentials better than yours, some of whom do not get into any 6 year programs or top 5 or 10 undergrad institutions.

I don't have a list of all the combined program, but Brown, UC San Diego, Boston, and Mt Sinai all come to mind as fairly well known programs with adequate prestige.

Use the search function here. You will find many threads on this subject.

 

[ChymeofPassion]

I'd wait until you get accepted to the BS/MD/Prestigious College before worrying about what specific BS/MD/College to attend, especially considering that your stats are a dime a dozen in terms of admissions to those programs.

 

[efle]

Firstly, there are some BS/MD programs with very strong undergrads, like WashU and Northwestern and Rice/Baylor.

Secondly, my personal advice is to go for the good undergrad over that kind of BS/MD. If you decide against medicine, you're in a much better position to enter other careers coming from an Ivy & Co type school. You should also ask yourself if you'd really be happy in either kind of student body, since there is nothing that makes it worth enrolling to a college you'll be miserable for years. Some people want to avoid intense academics like the plague, but others thrive on challenge and would never trade away being among a bunch of smart tryhards.

You'll likely be a very competitive MD applicant if you have a work ethic to match the brains, so I wouldn't consider the pre-accept to be that much more attractive for its safety.

 

[seeinghowitgoes]

First, to answer your direct question, yes going to a more academically-focused Med school (compared with Neomed) will make it easier to have a wider-ranging career in medicine (research, policy, etc). So given what you've described about your stats and desires, I'd go the traditional route.

Now I would be remiss if I didn't add (and I know you didn't ask for it) that the perspectives you gain in college are absolutely missing to some degree at 6 year accelerated programs (often people in those programs will admit as much, and I have plenty of friends that have from Neomed specifically, though they are of course happy to be doctors two years earlier). I don't mean that to sound harsh, there is just only so much time in said programs to explore avenues of thought that are seemingly unrelated to medicine and health. For me, that alone would be enough to go the traditional route.

Congrats on the academic success thus far - make sure to keep it up during the next phase!

 

[trickydick]

I'm currently a rising senior in high school and I'm going to be applying to colleges in the fall. I'm a very competitive applicant, I go to a very rigorous private high school and I have a 4.0 GPA and 2300 SAT. I would like to be a doctor. I've been looking at 6 year programs, but many of them are through colleges which aren't known for their academic strength, especially in the undergraduate years. I'm most strongly considering the NEOMED BS/MD program, where the undergrad work is done at underwhelming institutions such as Kent State University and University of Akron. I'm wondering if it is better to do something like go to a prestigious college for 4 years (a place like Washington University or Rice) and then apply to medical school or do the six year program. I'm not asking which path is better for the life experiences, I'm asking which path is better for academics and ultimately one's preparedness to practice medicine.

As someone that was in your situation many years ago that ultimately chose to go to the more prestigious/less costly undergrad rather than the BS/MD I was accepted to, the safety is very attractive for me. I just graduated with a 3.45 GPA and have a lengthy and unlikely road ahead to ever getting into any MD school. While the ceiling is definitely higher with a prestigious undergrad there is a possibility you end up in my situation and a possibility you should definitely consider.

 

[raiderette]

If you could get into Brown's PLME program you could have the best of both worlds. There are also linkage programs that can make the process a little easier, but they are not always worth the hassle. Apply broadly and explore all the options.

 

[Big&Juicy]

As someone that was in your situation many years ago that ultimately chose to go to the more prestigious/less costly undergrad rather than the BS/MD I was accepted to, the safety is very attractive for me. I just graduated with a 3.45 GPA and have a lengthy and unlikely road ahead to ever getting into any MD school. While the ceiling is definitely higher with a prestigious undergrad there is a possibility you end up in my situation and a possibility you should definitely consider.

Agreed. If you genuinely want to become a physician, the BS/MD route will get you there. I know the Penn State/Jefferson program requires you to maintain a GPA of 3.5 and a MCAT of 504. Believe me when I say, if you applied to schools with those minimum stats, you will most likely get rejected from every MD school to which you apply. In the medical world, no one will really care if you went to Harvard or Jefferson. Med school is difficult to get into period; take the guaranteed route.

 

[anonymoose1640]

I agree with a lot of the advice you've already gotten (i.e. wait until you have the acceptances before you make a decision) but I'd like to throw in my 2 cents.

In high school I had a large group of friends go to 6 or 7 year BS/MD programs and I turned down that option to go HYPSM. To be perfectly honest, I never regretted my decision until last year, when I was in the thick of applying to med schools and panicking about my chances of an acceptance when a lot of my friends were already in medical school (white coat pics on facebook and everything). I was 100% jealous and at that time I wished I had gone to the BS/MD program.

Now with my acceptance in hand, I can't believe I ever second guessed my decision and I couldn't be happier with the way my cycle ended up. I am SO happy I decided to go the more traditional route and apply to med school just like everyone else. The med school application process was incredibly stressful and I am so happy I never have to go through it again, but I am also very happy that I didn't limit myself to one school for the next 6 or 7 years.

The decision is a personal one, but my best advice would be to go with your gut (after you have acceptances in hand!). Good luck and enjoy your senior year of high school! PM me if you want any more help.