Drexel vs. Georgetown

stang · May 25, 2004

Hi everyone,
I'm sorry for posting one of these vs. threads, but I've been accepted to Drexel's IMS program as well as Georgetown's SMP program and whereas Georgetown hasn't sent me any materials yet, Drexel wants their deposit by June 1st.

I've scoured both program's websites, as well as this forum, and it seems like both programs are very similar but somewhat different as well. As far as I can tell, the advantage of Drexel is that it has a slightly higher matriculation rate into med school, is cheaper, and offers a conditional guaranteed interview. The advantages of Georgetown seem to be its name, and one year completion time for the masters degree.
Both program's are pretty far from home for me.

Can anyone give me their opinions about which program is "better" or may look better to AdComs.

Thanks for your replies 😀 .

CaptainZero · May 26, 2004

I think you'll do well in getting into med schools if you get good grades in either program (I got into 2 of the 5 med schools I applied to after doing Drexel's IMs program). However, georgetown does have a "better" name...for what that's worth. Drexel is cheaper, and to me, that's why I chose it. I will already be about $130,000 in debt when I get out of med school, so I figured that I should do my best to keep additional loans at a minimum.

stang · May 26, 2004

Thanks for the reply,
What's the grading scale like for the med students at Drexel, is it p/f or h/hp/p/f? It seems like it would be easier to score above the mean if everyone's just trying to pass rather then gunning for honors.

CaptainZero · May 27, 2004

stang said:
Thanks for the reply,
What's the grading scale like for the med students at Drexel, is it p/f or h/hp/p/f? It seems like it would be easier to score above the mean if everyone's just trying to pass rather then gunning for honors.

Drexel med students get a numeric grade, but they are reported as F, Marginal, P, High pass, Honors
Pass for them is like 70%-87%, but that can vary.
IMS you have strict letter grades...A,B,C,D,F (+ and - too). If for example the med school average for physio at the end of the semester is 85%, the something like 84%-87% ends up being a "B", and the rest of the grades (A,C,D and F) are scaled from that.

CaptainZero · May 28, 2004

Just an addendum to my previous post:
You mentioned that if the med students are just "trying to pass" then their averages would be pretty low and so it should be easy to get B's. I thought so too going into it. However, this is definitely not the case, and I really don't know why. The Med school's average was above IMS's average more often than not (even though many times both averages were in the 70's). I think it boils down to the fact that med students have worked their asses of their entire lives to get good grades, so it's become somewhat of a habbit - one that doesn't change for medical school. In other words, they've become accustomed to pushing themselves and to obtaining high levels of achievement, so they continue that in Med school...
I guess what I'm trying to say is not to expect that "P = MD" attitude to make things any easier for you.

sg4runner · May 28, 2004

Great responses, but I'd like to hear more comparisons between the two programs. I know that the IMS lectures are simulcast from the med school's lecture halls, so the prof is not in the same room as you, but apparently you can still ask q's through a microphone or something. Did that bother you at all, CaptainZero?
Also, if anybody else can give another perspective on the issue, I'd appreciate it 🙂

CaptainZero · May 28, 2004

Didn't really bother me much...If I ever had questions I could e-mail them and the profs would respond almost intsantly, or if that wasn't enough, I would just meet with them. Also, there's a lot of small group sessions where the profs come over to Center City, so you can ask any Q's then...

MD Rapper · Jun 24, 2004

lol I had to revive this post...

I'm in a similar predicament. Drexel vs. Georgetown....

2 major questions:

1) What is the class size for each?
2) Which program is it "easier" to get a higher gpa in? What I mean is, if one was to average the GPA for all students in a particular class, which school would end up with a higher average GPA... realize that my question does not necessarily have anything to do with difficulty of the material.

Anything else?

toxin · Jun 24, 2004

GEORGETOWN by far...the quality of the program alone will suffice.

premed · Jun 24, 2004

toxin said:
GEORGETOWN by far...the quality of the program alone will suffice.

Honestly, I agree. Take our advice on this one. Feel free to PM me for further questions.

jdc5 · Jun 24, 2004

toxin said:
GEORGETOWN by far...the quality of the program alone will suffice.

Can you guys give any specific reason why it's better?

Class size? Facilities available? Matriculation rate? Cost? Faculty interaction? Quality of instruction? etc...

toxin · Jun 24, 2004

I think that the main advantage of the Gtown program is that they consistently accept 25-40% of the class into the next years med school class. So, if you really want to get in you should give it your best shot....if you are in top 30% you are basicaly guaranteed a seat ( even though they dont admit it, but historicaly that has been the cases). Best of luck.

premed · Jun 24, 2004

jdc5 said:
Can you guys give any specific reason why it's better?

Class size? Facilities available? Matriculation rate? Cost? Faculty interaction? Quality of instruction? etc...

Just off the top of my head...

1. Drexel is 2 years.
2. Drexel may be cheaper per year...but Georgetown is only 1 year and I highly doubt Drexel for both years is cheaper than Georgetown for 1 year. Someone may need to check this.
3. Georgetown is a better known school in general.
3. Georgetown SMP is the 1st (longest running) of these types of programs and is recognized by many schools.
4. Although Drexel IMS may have a higher acceptance into Drexel SOM than Georgetown SMP into Georgetown SOM, the SMP students get accepted to more US allopathic schools than people from Drexel. If you go to Drexel IMS or Finch AP, you have a decent shot at their medical schools but almost no help in other schools.
5. Given the information above, Georgetown is a far better medical school than Drexel or Finch. Some may not care about US News rankings, but it would honestly be a lie to say Drexel is a better school than Georgetown for medicine.

PM me for more questions.

stang · Jun 24, 2004

jiy76, your box was full so I couldn't send you a response.

For anyone who's interested, I ended up deciding on Gtown mainly for the advantage of obtaining a masters degree in one year, which would allow me to get a better job if I don't get into med school this year. Also, Gtown offers the added option of matriculating into Gtown SOM if I do well. I feel like I am already a borderline applicant who has a decent chance at Drexel SOM but very little chance at Gtown. Other than these two factors, I think both programs are very good and would allow anyone to get into med school if they worked hard.
Thanks for all the responses.

MD Rapper · Jun 24, 2004

Thanks for the help everyone... I'm almost certain that I will choose georgetown... I was already sort of leaning towards it in the first place.

HydroxylGroupOH · Jun 24, 2004

I think that the biggest difference between the two programs is the advising. As far as I know, the georgetown program pretty much leaves you up to your own devices. Medical students and SMP students blend in with each other and there is no real distinction made.

At Drexel, the IMS program is on a different campus from the medical school. Advisors are assigned to each student and academic administratiors are only a walk down the hall away. Professors know that you are not a medical student and go out of their way to help you with letters of recommendation, application advice and support. Being with 100 other students who are all trying to get into medical school is very motivating and refreshing. I liked the seperation and that is why I chose Drexel.

SupaYeLLowDawg · Jun 24, 2004

dang you are lucky to even be given the choice of either/or!!! the only post bacc program that i have been accepted to is barry university in miami, and georgetown told me that they will reply to me within a week...doesn't look good, my MCAT was low. sounds dumb but i wish they would reject me already so i can make my plans to move to miami! i hate waiting!

premed · Jun 25, 2004

HydroxylGroupOH said:
I think that the biggest difference between the two programs is the advising. As far as I know, the georgetown program pretty much leaves you up to your own devices. Medical students and SMP students blend in with each other and there is no real distinction made.

At Drexel, the IMS program is on a different campus from the medical school. Advisors are assigned to each student and academic administratiors are only a walk down the hall away. Professors know that you are not a medical student and go out of their way to help you with letters of recommendation, application advice and support. Being with 100 other students who are all trying to get into medical school is very motivating and refreshing. I liked the seperation and that is why I chose Drexel.

I would imagine being with 100 premeds would be hell for the Drexel IMS. Also, I doubt the professors will like having to write so many letters, especially because many premeds only care for letters and grades and are not really interested in basic sciences. Georgetown SMP also has great advisors. I have called them about my medical school application for this year several times already and I have yet to begin the SMP. Wherever you go, you can get help if you seek it...except UCLA undergrad! 🙁

premed · Jun 25, 2004

SupaYeLLowDawg said:
dang you are lucky to even be given the choice of either/or!!! the only post bacc program that i have been accepted to is barry university in miami, and georgetown told me that they will reply to me within a week...doesn't look good, my MCAT was low. sounds dumb but i wish they would reject me already so i can make my plans to move to miami! i hate waiting!

Give them a call or send them an email. They are very prompt in their responses.

franklinave · May 7, 2008

If you get into Drexel SOM after a year at Drexel IMS do you start medical school as a 2nd year medical student?

That is, are you considered to have completed the first year of medical school after Drexel IMS?

Drji · May 7, 2008

franklinave said:
If you get into Drexel SOM after a year at Drexel IMS do you start medical school as a 2nd year medical student?

That is, are you considered to have completed the first year of medical school after Drexel IMS?

No you would still be a first year. You might be able to get out of the classes you did really will in though. But might as well retake them so you can kick butt on the Step 1.

franklinave · May 7, 2008

Drji said:
No you would still be a first year. You might be able to get out of the classes you did really will in though. But might as well retake them so you can kick butt on the Step 1.

Wow, that's absurd. How do they justify making you take the classes over again!? How does the name of the program that you are in (ims vs. som) affect whether you learned the material?

Drji · May 8, 2008

franklinave said:
Wow, that's absurd. How do they justify making you take the classes over again!? How does the name of the program that you are in (ims vs. som) affect whether you learned the material?

Because you don't take all of the classes that the med students take.😳

mori6478 · May 8, 2008

franklinave said:
Wow, that's absurd. How do they justify making you take the classes over again!? How does the name of the program that you are in (ims vs. som) affect whether you learned the material?

Before going into the IMS program, I thought the same thing. However, now that I am almost done, I actually cannot wait to take the classes again (at my state school I will be attending). I know that may sound strange, but even if I were going to Drexel, I wouldn't elect to test out of any of the classes. First of all, if you test out of them, they do not count towards your GPA. Secondly, it would probably be tough to remember all of Biochem and Physio etc. that you have to for the boards after having taken the classes 3 years ago as opposed to just 2 years (and twice, for that matter). GPAs and board scores are what hospitals look at to choose residents. If you have learned the stuff already, you are very likely to do well in the class the second time around.

The bottom line is that by taking the classes a second time, you are putting yourself heads and shoulders above most of your classmates who are probably just seeing this stuff for the first time.

disqfish · May 8, 2008

just to throw my 2 cents out there for those looking at post bac programs, esp. drexel's-

i'm finishing the first year of ims right now. as a lot of ppl know, last year ducom (drexel university college of medicine) overaccepted by 30+ ppl and got in lots of trouble for it, so they had to cut way back on acceptances this year. programs like ims definitely took the hit- last year, 41 people took a seat in the ducom class of 2011, meaning that even more were probably accepted and declined a spot. this year, out of 27 guaranteed interviews, there were 12 acceptances, 9 waitlists, the rest were flat-out rejected/withdrew their applications. this is out of 150 ims students. i'm one of the 9 waitlisted, and supposedly the waitlist will move this year, but i only applied to ducom, thinking my best shot at med school would be here.

so my bottom line is really that if you are coming to try out ims as a shoe-in to get into ducom, don't think that ducom gives you special treatment. to give you an idea of my stats, i had a 3.2-3.3 gpa at dartmouth undergrad, a 30 mcat, and a 3.7 this year as an ims student. however, if you do well at ims, there are other schools besides ducom that will notice it, and i know plenty of people in the program that have gotten into other schools, both MD and DO. the catch is that they won't really see most of your grades if you apply during ims, esp. if you are trying to get your application in early, i.e. before january.

if anybody has other q's about ims, i'm more than happy to answer them. and i've definitely heard the georgetown program is better.

Drji · May 9, 2008

disqfish said:
just to throw my 2 cents out there for those looking at post bac programs, esp. drexel's-

i'm finishing the first year of ims right now. as a lot of ppl know, last year ducom (drexel university college of medicine) overaccepted by 30+ ppl and got in lots of trouble for it, so they had to cut way back on acceptances this year. programs like ims definitely took the hit- last year, 41 people took a seat in the ducom class of 2011, meaning that even more were probably accepted and declined a spot. this year, out of 27 guaranteed interviews, there were 12 acceptances, 9 waitlists, the rest were flat-out rejected/withdrew their applications. this is out of 150 ims students. i'm one of the 9 waitlisted, and supposedly the waitlist will move this year, but i only applied to ducom, thinking my best shot at med school would be here.

so my bottom line is really that if you are coming to try out ims as a shoe-in to get into ducom, don't think that ducom gives you special treatment. to give you an idea of my stats, i had a 3.2-3.3 gpa at dartmouth undergrad, a 30 mcat, and a 3.7 this year as an ims student. however, if you do well at ims, there are other schools besides ducom that will notice it, and i know plenty of people in the program that have gotten into other schools, both MD and DO. the catch is that they won't really see most of your grades if you apply during ims, esp. if you are trying to get your application in early, i.e. before january.

if anybody has other q's about ims, i'm more than happy to answer them. and i've definitely heard the georgetown program is better.

Over enrolled by over 30 people, what were they thinking? Good job on you gpa at drexel, I know you must have worked hard and you definetly deserve a spot at drexel. I hope you get off the waitlist. So is that 27 people include the people from second year because if that is the case thats pretty bleak results compared to the 60% or so that Drexel advertises about for the first year in the program.

disqfish · May 9, 2008

Drji said:
Over enrolled by over 30 people, what were they thinking? Good job on you gpa at drexel, I know you must have worked hard and you definetly deserve a spot at drexel. I hope you get off the waitlist. So is that 27 people include the people from second year because if that is the case thats pretty bleak results compared to the 60% or so that Drexel advertises about for the first year in the program.

no, those 27 people are solely from my year of ims. out of the second years (mms, those ppl actually getting the masters), there were 5 acceptances, out of something like 20-25 students. last year, i've heard that about half of the mms class were accepted (i think around 15 acceptances out of 30 mms), and those people are included in the 41 people who took a seat. so mms took a hit this year too.

again, it really depends on your individual stats- some of the 12 accepted in my class were in the top 5 gpa's of the year, some did mediocre but had other things going for them. i know ppl who got straight A's this year but were rejected because of lack of clinical experience. so it all depends.

Drji · May 9, 2008

disqfish said:
no, those 27 people are solely from my year of ims. out of the second years (mms, those ppl actually getting the masters), there were 5 acceptances, out of something like 20-25 students. last year, i've heard that about half of the mms class were accepted (i think around 15 acceptances out of 30 mms), and those people are included in the 41 people who took a seat. so mms took a hit this year too.

again, it really depends on your individual stats- some of the 12 accepted in my class were in the top 5 gpa's of the year, some did mediocre but had other things going for them. i know ppl who got straight A's this year but were rejected because of lack of clinical experience. so it all depends.

There are people getting accepted at other schools right, not just their respective state schools, because state schools is not really an option for me since I am from CA. You wouldn't happen to know how the CA kids are doing out there, in terms of getting acceptances. 😳

disqfish · May 9, 2008

Drji said:
There are people getting accepted at other schools right, not just their respective state schools, because state schools is not really an option for me since I am from CA. You wouldn't happen to know how the CA kids are doing out there, in terms of getting acceptances. 😳

definitely, i know people that have been accepted to medical college of wisconsin, temple, university of washington, st louis university, texas tech, and penn state, just to name a few allopathics.. and pretty much everybody has gotten into osteopathic schools.

Drji · May 9, 2008

You wouldn't happen to have any tips for the future IMS folks coming to the program this year would you? In terms of if we should buy textbooks, areas to live, how to best study, good places to study, and maybe even which professor are most helpful/on adcom/ or write good letters. I think info about these kinds of things would really help out all of the people coming into the program.

disqfish · May 9, 2008

Drji said:
You wouldn't happen to have any tips for the future IMS folks coming to the program this year would you? In terms of if we should buy textbooks, areas to live, how to best study, good places to study, and maybe even which professor are most helpful/on adcom/ or write good letters. I think info about these kinds of things would really help out all of the people coming into the program.

textbooks- every single one i bought was a waste of money (actually i'm selling like all of them if anybody is interested), except for the nutrition and medicine & society textbooks, which you will need, and the biochem lippincott review isn't bad since ferrier writes it (the biochem course director). the others are fine for supplementary knowledge if you're that kinda student, but not necessary- all the info you need to know to get 100s on every test is in the module notes that they give you.

areas to live- center city is expensive, anywhere you go. stiles hall (where i live now, $3690/semester) is expensive but literally across the street from hahnemann hospital, where class is held and where the library is w laserdisk for microanatomy and all that fun stuff. last semester i lived in u city (37th and powelton), where the undergrad drexel campus is. it was dirt cheap ($400/mo) and i liked my roommates, but only do that if you don't mind commuting on the shuttle (runs mon-fri from 33rd and market to 15th and race) to get to class every day, which was hell for me since i go to class. however, the large large large overwhelming majority of people stop going to class once they realize that all lectures are posted online and they can watch it at their own convenience and speed. i know people that even live wayyy out of philly, and just commuted in for medicine & society groups (mandatory) and tests.

good places to study- wherever you can concentrate best. you're probably gonna wanna do laserdisk for micro, which is in the hahnemann library, but there are ways around that, but if you work fine in your own room by yourself, do that. my roommate does and he's gotten an A in every class.

good profs- don't worry about the adcom letter, you are automatically assigned a faculty advisor (who may or may not be one of your professors), and he/she will write a letter of recommendation for you after you meet w him/her a few times.

Drji · May 9, 2008

disqfish said:
textbooks-
good places to study- wherever you can concentrate best. you're probably gonna wanna do laserdisk for micro, which is in the hahnemann library, but there are ways around that, but if you work fine in your own room by yourself, do that. my roommate does and he's gotten an A in every class.

Thanks for all the info. So the library a good place to study? Also so the micro is all on a disk. So no need to use microscopes?🙂 Not going to class is ok?

disqfish · May 9, 2008

Drji said:
Thanks for all the info. So the library a good place to study? Also so the micro is all on a disk. So no need to use microscopes?🙂 Not going to class is ok?

haha, kinda. yea, the library is a fine place to study, there are tables, computer labs, study rooms, and a 24 hr room. i don't personally use it, but plenty ppl do.

as for the micro, kinda. there are 2 components to micro tests- written and practical. for the written, all you need is your notes. for the practicals, they show you about 40-45 slides, and ask you questions about them. to study for these, you should go to labs (not mandatory except for scavenger hunts), because at the end the TA's do a review of that lab which is pretty helpful. the other, more popular way to study, is check out the laserdisk at the library (up to 2 hrs), and watch slides in a room w a corresponding binder of notes w explanations and stuff. here's a tip- what one person did, which was pretty smart, was photocopy the whollllle binder (it's big), because the whole laserdisk atlas is actually online, but the binder has the numbers of the slides you should be looking at, and they just studied the laserdisk at home online instead of signing up for laserdisk time at the library (which gets competetive near test time). anyway, i would love to say that you don't need the microscopes, because you really don't, and i skipped most labs. but for the scavenger hunts, you and your lab group get assigned 5 things that you have to find on a microscope and get checked off by the teacher, and they do count towards your grade- so there's no way around that, sorry 🙁. this is probably more than you need to know right now and you'll find this all out on your own, but whatever. hope it helps!

Drji · May 9, 2008

disqfish said:
haha, kinda. yea, the library is a fine place to study, there are tables, computer labs, study rooms, and a 24 hr room. i don't personally use it, but plenty ppl do.

as for the micro, kinda. there are 2 components to micro tests- written and practical. for the written, all you need is your notes. for the practicals, they show you about 40-45 slides, and ask you questions about them. to study for these, you should go to labs (not mandatory except for scavenger hunts), because at the end the TA's do a review of that lab which is pretty helpful. the other, more popular way to study, is check out the laserdisk at the library (up to 2 hrs), and watch slides in a room w a corresponding binder of notes w explanations and stuff. here's a tip- what one person did, which was pretty smart, was photocopy the whollllle binder (it's big), because the whole laserdisk atlas is actually online, but the binder has the numbers of the slides you should be looking at, and they just studied the laserdisk at home online instead of signing up for laserdisk time at the library (which gets competetive near test time). anyway, i would love to say that you don't need the microscopes, because you really don't, and i skipped most labs. but for the scavenger hunts, you and your lab group get assigned 5 things that you have to find on a microscope and get checked off by the teacher, and they do count towards your grade- so there's no way around that, sorry 🙁. this is probably more than you need to know right now and you'll find this all out on your own, but whatever. hope it helps!

Haha thanks man. Ya that idea of copying the folder sounds like a clever idea. Probably makes studying the slides a lot easier. How many hours do you think most people have to study in order to get A's in all the classes. I think I might be staying home and studying because I usually learn better by myself. Also since its seems like med school class are a lot about just memorizing a whole bunch of information, studying on your own might be best use of your time. I think I have pretty similar stats to you, same mcat and just a little bit higher gpa from ucla. You really should have applied to some other schools, but I hope you get off the waitlist because that 3.7 should show that you will do great at med school. Good luck :luck:

.

disqfish · May 9, 2008

Drji said:
Haha thanks man. Ya that idea of copying the folder sounds like a clever idea. Probably makes studying the slides a lot easier. How many hours do you think most people have to study in order to get A's in all the classes. I think I might be staying home and studying because I usually learn better by myself. Also since its seems like med school class are a lot about just memorizing a whole bunch of information, studying on your own might be best use of your time. I think I have pretty similar stats to you, same mcat and just a little bit higher gpa from ucla. You really should have applied to some other schools, but I hope you get off the waitlist because that 3.7 should show that you will do great at med school. Good luck.

hm.. to get all A's, you're gonna have to study a lot. keep in mind that these are medical school classes, and your grade in every class will depend on the medical school mean, so you're competing w med students, not ims. i'm gonna use my roommate as an example, since i obviously didn't get straight A's, and he did. the only day(s) he sometimes doesn't study is the day of and/or after a test. he studies by basically reciting the lecture to himself out loud in his room, and studies for at least a few hours a day, and approaching test week, pretty much every free minute. for example, it's a friday night, our next test isn't until 5/19, and he's studying in his room right now while i'm answering questions on student doctor and surfing the net. he's also one of the announced top 5 gpa's, and i know most of the others basically lived in the library or studied at home all the time.

let me put it this way- it's not realistic to get 100s on everything. the classes are hard, especially physiology- that class is a killer, i would say most ppl lost their guaranteed interview cause of that class, because it requires both knowing the material inside and out and then applying it. the exams come in blocks, usually all in 1 week staggered 2 days apart, and studying becomes very hectic around then. i don't mean to scare you, but just go for doing your best- esp. in the heavy classes that are worth the most credits, i.e. biochem, physio, micro, neuro.

thanks for the advice and encouragement. i was just responding to someone else saying that i didn't apply to other schools because your first semester of grades won't come out until january, and by then most schools that you apply to will have made a decision, so they won't see those grades. so basically, if you think you need a semester or full year of ims grades to make you a competitive applicant for med school, consider waiting a year to apply.

Drji · May 9, 2008

disqfish said:
hm.. to get all A's, you're gonna have to study a lot. keep in mind that these are medical school classes, and your grade in every class will depend on the medical school mean, so you're competing w med students, not ims. i'm gonna use my roommate as an example, since i obviously didn't get straight A's, and he did. the only day(s) he sometimes doesn't study is the day of and/or after a test. he studies by basically reciting the lecture to himself out loud in his room, and studies for at least a few hours a day, and approaching test week, pretty much every free minute. he's one of the announced top 5 gpa's, and i know most of the others basically lived in the library or studied at home all the time.

let me put it this way- it's not realistic to get 100s on everything. the classes are hard, especially physiology- that class is a killer, i would say most ppl lost their guaranteed interview cause of that class, because it requires both knowing the material inside and out and then applying it. the exams come in blocks, usually all in 1 week staggered 2 days apart, and studying becomes very hectic around then. i don't mean to scare you, but just go for doing your best- esp. in the heavy classes that are worth the most credits, i.e. biochem, physio, micro.

thanks for the advice and encouragement. i was just responding to someone else, saying that i didn't apply to other schools because your first semester of grades won't come out until january, and by then most schools that you apply to will have made a decision, so they won't see those grades. so basically, if you think you need a semester or full year of ims grades to make you a competitive applicant for med school, consider waiting a year to apply.

Hopefully you will get in this year but if you don't are going to do the second year or just take the cert and leave? Will what I was thinking was that I might as well apply during the first year and the only thing I have to lose is some money. Money won't really matter because you will have to spend money for the second year anyway. Sometimes medical school admission seems to be all about luck and its random. However I think if you do apply after the first year, you probably have a chance of getting into a better school though.

disqfish · May 9, 2008

Drji said:
Hopefully you will get in this year but if you don't are going to do the second year or just take the cert and leave? Will what I was thinking was that I might as well apply during the first year and the only thing I have to lose is some money. Money won't really matter because you will have to spend money for the second year anyway. Sometimes medical school admission seems to be all about luck and its random. However I think if you do apply after the first year, you probably have a chance of getting into a better school though.

all the things you are saying are definitely true. the reason i only applied to drexel was that i thought it was my best shot (which isn't true) and because they would wait to make a decision until they saw my grades from the first semester, so in hindsight, i probably should have applied to more schools. so if i'm not accepted off the waitlist this year, i'm going to retake the mcat this summer, reapply to more schools w a full year of ims grades, finish the masters, and hope for the best.

there are definitely ppl who are leaving after the first year, whether they applied this year to medical school or not. if gpa is not a problem w your application (like it is mine), then doing the 2nd year and getting a masters is kind of a waste of money, because having a masters in medical science really means nothing. some ppl are better off doing clinical or volunteer stuff than this program.

Drji · May 9, 2008

disqfish said:
all the things you are saying are definitely true. the reason i only applied to drexel was that i thought it was my best shot (which isn't true) and because they would wait to make a decision until they saw my grades from the first semester, so in hindsight, i probably should have applied to more schools. so if i'm not accepted off the waitlist this year, i'm going to retake the mcat this summer, reapply to more schools w a full year of ims grades, finish the masters, and hope for the best.

there are definitely ppl who are leaving after the first year, whether they applied this year to medical school or not. if gpa is not a problem w your application (like it is mine), then doing the 2nd year and getting a masters is kind of a waste of money, because having a masters in medical science really means nothing. some ppl are better off doing clinical or volunteer stuff than this program.

I can understand what you were thinking at the time. Its just that I think you might have gotten in for sure if you had tried your luck at some other schools. Only reason I think people should come to the IMS program is if there is a problem with their gpa and thats why I am coming. Its going to be around 3.4 when I finish. But I think you have a pretty good chance of getting off the waitlist since you had a pretty high gpa in the program. Maybe you should let them know that its the only program you applied to because you really want to go to Drexel. They might just pull you off the waitlist.😛

disqfish · May 10, 2008

Drji said:
I can understand what you were thinking at the time. Its just that I think you might have gotten in for sure if you had tried your luck at some other schools. Only reason I think people should come to the IMS program is if there is a problem with their gpa and thats why I am coming. Its going to be around 3.4 when I finish. But I think you have a pretty good chance of getting off the waitlist since you had a pretty high gpa in the program. Maybe you should let them know that its the only program you applied to because you really want to go to Drexel. They might just pull you off the waitlist.😛

thanks a lot, i hope you're right on all counts.

starrynight85 · May 11, 2008

Drji said:
I can understand what you were thinking at the time. Its just that I think you might have gotten in for sure if you had tried your luck at some other schools. Only reason I think people should come to the IMS program is if there is a problem with their gpa and thats why I am coming. Its going to be around 3.4 when I finish. But I think you have a pretty good chance of getting off the waitlist since you had a pretty high gpa in the program. Maybe you should let them know that its the only program you applied to because you really want to go to Drexel. They might just pull you off the waitlist.😛

As a current IMS student, I would say that if you have an undergrad GPA of 3.4, DON'T come to the program. Seriously. Your GPA is high enough to get you into medical school if you can pull off a decent MCAT. disqfish may have had a positive experience with the program, but if you screw up (and it's not hard to do), then you're done for. You'd be much better off taking a few more undergrad courses at a college nearby to your home.

Drexel vs. Georgetown

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