Med school linkage question

CaptainJack02 · Mar 13, 2004

Schools like Penn have linkage programs with RWJ, GW, etc. What does this mean? If you do well, do you automatically get an interview/acceptance or something like that? Someone explain the linkage business to me, please.

Cheers,
CaptJack

Wednesday · Mar 13, 2004

Don't know about Penn specifically, but usually how they work is that you pick one of the schools in your final year of post-bacc and can only apply there (it's like early decision). Then you apply to the school, have an interview and take the MCAT. I think you usually apply and are conditionally accepted assuming you get a certain MCAT score (set by the med school but often something like straight 9s). If you are accepted you can then start med school that fall instead of waiting a year to begin. Basically you skip the lag year.

The good thing about them is that it sometimes is a little easier to get in because you are not competing with the entire country so MCAT scores and GPA don't need to be as high, etc. Also you get to start an entire year earlier. The "bad" thing is that it narrows your choices somewhat. You only get to pick from the schools that have an agreement with your program and if you want to try to shoot for Hopkins or something, you can't do linkage. Most people in the programs don't end up doing them (at least at Columbia and Mills, which are the schools I have experience with) because they want more options.

happylimt · Mar 15, 2004

Hello Wednesday,

Did you attend Columbia's postbacc program/ Would you recommend it? I am considering applying there. My undergrad major is in Chemeng and I have my GPA is 2.82. Would I stnad a reasonable shot of getting in?

Thanks for your any help 🙂

Wednesday · Mar 15, 2004

Did you attend Columbia's postbacc program/ Would you recommend it? I am considering applying there. My undergrad major is in Chemeng and I have my GPA is 2.82. Would I stnad a reasonable shot of getting in?

I did attend but only for part of it (I transferred to a different program out of NYC). Do you have the prereqs already? The program is designed for people who haven't taken the prereqs, not sure if they will let people in who just need to retake for a higher grade. You actually might have some trouble getting in with less than a 3.00. They (at least they used to) have a very rigid formula for who they think is a good candidate for med school. But you might as well try. I actually am not sure if I would recommend it I guess it depends on your options and future goals. I'd look into Hunter and other cheaper options before deciding on Columbia if I was to do it again.

edmadison · Apr 4, 2004

The linkages with Rochester, Brown and Dartmouth (at least through the Bryn Mawr program) do not require you to take MCAT at all. Other of the schools Drexel, Jefferson, Temple only require you to get a minimal MCAT score which I think was 9-9-9. Yes your choices are limited, but its not like your stuck with the Greater Flint Michigan School of Medicine and VCR repair. Rochester is a great school; Brown, Dartmouth, Temple and Jeff are decent.

Ed

Yellow Snow · May 21, 2004

Although it isn't posted on their website, U Penn Postback has linkage with the University of Pittsburgh. If accepted you have to get a 3.75gpa and 33+mcat.

PublicEnemy · May 21, 2004

For the Upenn programs, people in either the Postbac Prehealth program or the Special Sciences program can apply for linkage with RWJ if they have a 3.6 or higher in the program. Basically you apply in like april/may and they may choose to interview and/or accept you for admission that year, so you don't have the glide year. Penn also has linkage programs with Temple, Drexel, and Jeff for their Postbac Prehealth program, for these they'll actually tell you before you enter that you have provisional acceptance to med school as long as you succesfully finish the program and get some minimal MCAT score. But the Postbac Prehealth program is limited to people who have never taken premed requirements before.

pyau03 · May 21, 2004

Just throwing in my 2 cents, hope I won't get killed by my advior. 😱

Reminder to Pre-Health students interested in applying to a Linkage Program:

The linkage forms are due in our office on Friday June 4th.

To be eligible you must:

1. Be admitted to the Pre-Health Program and have little or no science
courses prior to joining the Post-Bac Program.
Please Note: Students in the Special Science program are not eligible for
the linkage programs listed below.

2. Complete all of the required pre-requisite courses for medical school by
the end of the Spring 2005 semester. This includes the Organic Lab course.
Students beginning the one year program should apply now.
Part-time students who have completed one year of a two year program may
also be eligible to apply.

3. Take the MCAT no later than April 2005.

We have linkage programs with the following medical schools:

Drexel, George Washington, Jefferson, Temple (must be in the full-time,
one-year program) and the University of Pittsburgh.

Each school has a specific set of requirements regarding the interview, and
GPA and MCAT scores.

Yellow Snow · May 21, 2004

I will be starting the U Penn program in the fall and I understand that the linkage options are still available but a little different. I think that GW and Jefferson aren't available?

So, is it difficult to get spondered by U Penn to these linkage options or can anyone who wants to try apply to the linkage programs?

***It turns out I misunderstood. Fall starters can apply for linkage but they will still have to wait out a glide year. You can still avoid the application pains though.

If you start in fall and can finish all your med school pre-requs by Spring you can link and start the very next fall.

Cold Penguin · May 21, 2004

Hey, EdMadison, are you in the Bryn Mawr post-bac program? How did you find these info about linkage programs? It's shocking that decent medical schools such as Brown, Dartmouth, and Rochester don't require a MCAT score. There must be some other rigorous requirement that makes up the absence of MCAT requirement. What is it? (i.e. strong UGPA, good undergrad school, ECs, or combiation of all of those, etc.) Any thoughts?

I am seriously thinking of doing a formal structured post-bac program for people with no science background. I have a pretty good UGPA and I do somewhere between okay and well on standarized exams only if I study hard for it. Do you have any advice on how to get into a good post-bac program with a good linkage program?

Thanks,
CP

edmadison said:
The linkages with Rochester, Brown and Dartmouth (at least through the Bryn Mawr program) do not require you to take MCAT at all. Other of the schools Drexel, Jefferson, Temple only require you to get a minimal MCAT score which I think was 9-9-9. Yes your choices are limited, but its not like your stuck with the Greater Flint Michigan School of Medicine and VCR repair. Rochester is a great school; Brown, Dartmouth, Temple and Jeff are decent.

Ed

exigente chica · Jun 4, 2004

Cold Penguin said:
Hey, EdMadison, are you in the Bryn Mawr post-bac program? How did you find these info about linkage programs? It's shocking that decent medical schools such as Brown, Dartmouth, and Rochester don't require a MCAT score. There must be some other rigorous requirement that makes up the absence of MCAT requirement. What is it? (i.e. strong UGPA, good undergrad school, ECs, or combiation of all of those, etc.) Any thoughts?

I also find this to be odd, anyone have any input on this? 😱

learss · Jun 4, 2004

Cold Penguin said:
Hey, EdMadison, are you in the Bryn Mawr post-bac program? How did you find these info about linkage programs? It's shocking that decent medical schools such as Brown, Dartmouth, and Rochester don't require a MCAT score. There must be some other rigorous requirement that makes up the absence of MCAT requirement. What is it? (i.e. strong UGPA, good undergrad school, ECs, or combiation of all of those, etc.) Any thoughts?
Thanks,
CP

While attending Bryn Mawr for undergrad, I knew quite a few of the post bacs there. The ones who were accepted into the linkage programs were the best in the whole program. They usually had extremely high UGPA, amazing ECS,etc. Take for example, one post bac who was my lab partner for Bio. Graduated from U. of Wash. Then went to Yale Law School and graduated magna cum laude. He was accepted into the Dartmouth medical school.

samurai_lincoln · Jun 4, 2004

learss79 said:
While attending Bryn Mawr for undergrad, I knew quite a few of the post bacs there. The ones who were accepted into the linkage programs were the best in the whole program. They usually had extremely high UGPA, amazing ECS,etc. Take for example, one post bac who was my lab partner for Bio. Graduated from U. of Wash. Then went to Yale Law School and graduated magna cum laude. He was accepted into the Dartmouth medical school.

Your larger point is valid (i.e. that you need to be an academic stud to be in the linkage programs, but I have to call B.S. on at least part of your anecdote. Yale Law School has no grades (strictly P/F) and does not rank its students. No honors are conferred upon graduation. So your lab partner was either full of crap or you made that story up.

learss · Jun 4, 2004

samurai_lincoln said:
Your larger point is valid (i.e. that you need to be an academic stud to be in the linkage programs, but I have to call B.S. on at least part of your anecdote. Yale Law School has no grades (strictly P/F) and does not rank its students. No honors are conferred upon graduation. So your lab partner was either full of crap or you made that story up.

Actually I don't think he was full of crap. He was a great guy. I guess you know him very well, since you are obviously being judgemental. Or you must know me, since you called me a liar. Do you want his name or email address?

learss · Jun 4, 2004

samurai_lincoln said:
Your larger point is valid (i.e. that you need to be an academic stud to be in the linkage programs, but I have to call B.S. on at least part of your anecdote. Yale Law School has no grades (strictly P/F) and does not rank its students. No honors are conferred upon graduation. So your lab partner was either full of crap or you made that story up.

Wrong school, he went to Harvard Law School. He just emailed me back. Does that make you feel better? I hope so. 🙂

cher25 · Jun 4, 2004

Some post bacs offer gauranteed admissions upon successful completion of the program.

Wake Forest, UCONN, and Meharry that I know of.

samurai_lincoln · Jun 4, 2004

learss79 said:
Wrong school, he went to Harvard Law School. He just emailed me back. Does that make you feel better? I hope so. 🙂

I'm just saying that the facts of your story didn't add up (which they didn't), no big deal. If you post something that is obviously incorrect or misleading, and people know it, wouldn't you expect them to call you on it? Don't be so defensive.

learss · Jun 4, 2004

I didn't get defensive. I just didn't appreciate you, Samurai Lincoln, calling me or someone else you didn't know a liar, which you did do. Its one thing to point out an error, but its another to call someone a name. I would hope that you as an attorney would have a bit more maturity. Thats all. 🙂

Yellow Snow · Jun 8, 2004

learss79 said:
While attending Bryn Mawr for undergrad, I knew quite a few of the post bacs there. The ones who were accepted into the linkage programs were the best in the whole program. They usually had extremely high UGPA, amazing ECS,etc. Take for example, one post bac who was my lab partner for Bio. Graduated from U. of Wash. Then went to Yale Law School and graduated magna cum laude. He was accepted into the Dartmouth medical school.

I am not too sure what "best" in the whole program means. Linkage agreements are made BEFORE one has grades at their post-bac institution so it isn't based on grades gained while doing a post-bac. Are you saying they were the best qualified based on pre-postbac qualifications?

ko061 · Jun 8, 2004

Does anybody know whether Georgetown SMP has something like this, the linkage program?

I was also wondering if anybody knows exactly what kind of requirements there are for Penn's linkage programs....?

Thanks,

KO061

mshheaddoc · Jun 20, 2004

I thought with linkages it was usually only the top percentage of the classes? I know with Bryn Mawr it is especially hard. I was looking at jefferson and temple since I'm from the philly area, but I am looking to see how good these "linkages" are before I start shelling out all this money (especially to UPENN).

ko061 · Jun 21, 2004

mshheaddoc said:
I thought with linkages it was usually only the top percentage of the classes? I know with Bryn Mawr it is especially hard. I was looking at jefferson and temple since I'm from the philly area, but I am looking to see how good these "linkages" are before I start shelling out all this money (especially to UPENN).

Penn's linkages to jefferson and temple are only with "Pre-Health" program students, and for "special science" students, RWJ is the only option.
I'm actually going down to meet Dr. Hunter with my particular scenario, so I'll post more specific details of the linkages when I find out!

KO061

Yellow Snow · Jun 21, 2004

ko061 said:
Does anybody know whether Georgetown SMP has something like this, the linkage program?

I was also wondering if anybody knows exactly what kind of requirements there are for Penn's linkage programs....?

Thanks,

KO061

I just wanted to point out that one year track students are nominated by UPENN for linkage before they receive any grades from UPENN thus it is based on your pre-postbac qualifications.

You express an interest in linkage and UPenn nominates you to X university. The number of slots available changes from year to year.

Once you are nominated and accepted by a school, different schools have different requirements of you. I believe that Drexel and Temple require you to finish UPENN w/ a 3.5 and X MCAT. U of Pitt is a 3.75 and 33 MCAT.

mshheaddoc · Jun 21, 2004

Thanks Yellow Snow!

Med school linkage question

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