tulane MS in Pharmacology

I applied, but I'll probably choose Tulane ACP over Pharm. But the pharm program looks pretty good. Not too many classes and an 80% acceptance rate.

chaeymaey said:

I applied, but I'll probably choose Tulane ACP over Pharm. But the pharm program looks pretty good. Not too many classes and an 80% acceptance rate.

Click to expand...

hey chaeymaey, will you go to acp over GT?

madonna said:

hey chaeymaey, will you go to acp over GT?

Click to expand...

I am seriously considering ACP over GT's SMP, just because it seems like a guarantee to a top 50 med school. I've spent the past 3 days in DC checking out apts and stuff, and I do like the area, the school, and program. But the ACP linkage is very tempting.

So ACP actually has official linkages to medical schools?

silkworm said:

So ACP actually has official linkages to medical schools?

Click to expand...

They don't officially state it, but based on an alumnnus and a former ACPer (2 people), it's considered to be a way in to Tulane. I don't know how much it helps with other schools. Keep in mind they only take around 8 people and you have to have been waitlisted at a med school at some point.

Okay, so it sounds similar to the old Rosalind Franklin program, though on a more restricted and smaller scale.

silkworm said:

Okay, so it sounds similar to the old Rosalind Franklin program, though on a more restricted and smaller scale.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that is a good way to look at it. The nice thing is that you only have to take 2 classes (the third is optional) whereas at an SMP you have to take 32 hrs, plus ACP is only 10,000 vs. 30,000 for an SMP. Unfortunately, we won't find out if we got in until June 30th, so I can't submit AMCAS/TMDSAS until then. I don't think it will affect me that much since I'm taking the Aug MCAT, and I can't send a letter from the head of my grad program until the start of the term anyway.

chaeymaey said:

I applied, but I'll probably choose Tulane ACP over Pharm. But the pharm program looks pretty good. Not too many classes and an 80% acceptance rate.

Click to expand...

I was wondering where you obtained the 80% acceptance rate info from? I couldn't find it on the site..also, I am having trouble loading this app for some reason....

DrVanNostran said:

I was wondering where you obtained the 80% acceptance rate info from? I couldn't find it on the site..also, I am having trouble loading this app for some reason....

Click to expand...

It's in letter that accompanied a brochure that was sent out to all current Tulane med applicants. Also, it was in the acceptance letter I received from the MS program. For the app, I just used the Word doc and typed my answers into it.

chaeymaey said:

It's in letter that accompanied a brochure that was sent out to all current Tulane med applicants. Also, it was in the acceptance letter I received from the MS program. For the app, I just used the Word doc and typed my answers into it.

Click to expand...

Oh very nice, thanks for the info. Also, by any chance do you know how many of the students actually get into Tulane? Thanks again

Grats on your acceptances

bump

Booney44 said:

They usually accept about 26 into the Pharmacology program.

Click to expand...

Oh nice, so apparently around 21ish get into medical school of the 26---any one ever hear of how many into Tulane SOM?

Hey all, I am a current Tulane Pharm masters student. I highly recommend this program if you need that extra boost to help get into med school. I had overall decent stats except for poor undergrad GPA (~3.3), so I truly believe this program helped me get into medical school. Here are some facts about the program...

No. of students: We had about 40 students in the class before Katrina, after Katrina we had about 25 left. So I think on average the class size is around 40, unless there is another hurricane.

No. of students that get into medical school: The school boasts an 80% or higher rate of getting students into med school, but I think this can be misleading b/c most of us are competitive applicants that needed just an extra something on our applications. Most of my fellow classmates got into medical school this year before our first semester grades could be sent out, so I don't really think it was the program that helped them get in, but with that said, for me personally I got in after submitting my grades, so it helped me out alot.

No. of students that get into Tulane medical school: Out of the 25 or so of us that continued with the program after Katrina, everyone that applied got an interview (EVERYONE) to Tulane med, 7 of us got accepted, 5 of us will be attending Tulane med in the fall for sure, and the rest were wait-listed, not a single rejection.. yet. One of our professors happens to be the assistant dean of admissions, so she may have a special place in her heart for us : )

Classes: You only take one medical school class (Pharmacology) - the rest are grad courses, and you take the same tests, you get the same teachers and same lectures as med students. Then they compare your performance with the Tulane medical school mean, and if you did well this will look good on a letter sent on your behalf to whichever schools you want. The mean for the pharm students this year was around 88%, whereas the medical student mean was at 80.

Professors: The professors are really cool and want to see everyone do well. I loved all my professors except for one, who I thought was a waste of the program's time and money (and I'm not saying this b/c I'm bitter, I got an A in this person's class). Sorry.

Facilities: The med school building is run down and depressing, and this was before Katrina. If you don't mind less than spectacular facilities, then you'll be ok. If you are looking for state of the art, brand spanking new, then Tulane med is definitely not the place for you.

For those of you who are attending next year or thinking about applying, please PM me with any questions. Good luck with the program and in medical school.

Ok, I hope I can answer your questions adequately.

My stats were similar to yours, I had 3.3 overall/3.4 science gpa, 29 MCAT, but I am a LA resident. I moved to another state right after college and tried applying to LSU schools, but they rejected me right away, it didn't matter that I had lived in LA all my life. So I moved back in 2005 to regain my residency by working for a year, then I took this program. So you HAVE to be a La resident to even consider applying to LSU schools - and I don't think just going to school for one year cuts it. You have to have worked or be a dependent of a resident. You should call the schools and find out specifics.

I would say about 60% of the students in the program applied this cycle, as opposed to waiting until after the masters program is done with. I don't think it hurts to apply, but don't get your hopes up. The program coordinators suggest you wait a year and also retake the MCAT if you are below a 28, but 60% of us didn't listen and many of us are in medical school now.

The workload was decent, not overbearing. You definitely need to study, but in now way is it as rigorous as a medical school education. I would say it's slightly harder than taking a year's worth of undergrad science courses. Just make sure you do well in Med Pharm, cuz that's the bread and butter of the program - the reason you will be taking this program.

For the thesis, you can either do a laboratory based, or library based - kind of like an article review. It's a minimum of 20 pages, b/c of Katrina many of us don't have the time to do a laboratory thesis, so we opted to do the library based one. The program is a year long, but we are doing it in 6-7 months. So time is a factor for us and it's a little cramped, but you guys should have no problem finishing it next year. The professors are more than willing to help and very easily accessible. One of the professors told us that if we commit three full weeks to writing the thesis, we can finish on time. It's cutting it close but do-able, and you guys next year will have way more than three weeks to get it done.

Sorry, my PM should be working now, let me know if you have any questions.

So the Tulane Pharm program is mainly for LA residents? Would you only qualify for an interview if you are a LA resident?

I know one girl was was a CA resident who got into Tulane med?

NRAI2001 said:

So the Tulane Pharm program is mainly for LA residents? Would you only qualify for an interview if you are a LA resident?

I know one girl was was a CA resident who got into Tulane med?

Click to expand...

Tulane doesn't care about residency.

LSU-New Orleans and LSU-Shreveport do.

CMar830 said:

Tulane doesn't care about residency.

LSU-New Orleans and LSU-Shreveport do.

Click to expand...

CMar is right, state of residency isn't an issue when applying to Tulane med or the Tulane pharm programs. I think there were about 3-4 of us total that were LA residents in the pharm program, the rest were from all over the country.

Booney,
I have confirmed my acceptance to the pharmacology program at Tulane. I would love to talk to you before we go!

THanks guys for the info thus far, I just learned of the program.

Do you know what the avg stats of people entering the program are? What is the range they are looking for? How many people do they accept? How many attend each year (I think someone said 40 people each class?)?

NRAI2001 said:

THanks guys for the info thus far, I just learned of the program.

Do you know what the avg stats of people entering the program are? What is the range they are looking for? How many people do they accept? How many attend each year (I think someone said 40 people each class?)?

Click to expand...

For those of you who have never heard of the program, here is a link
Tulane Pharmacology MS

So out of the 40 that attend the program, usually how many get into tulane? How many get into the other local schools?

the deadline is 2 days, I am such an idiot, I should have applied....

DrVanNostran said:

the deadline is 2 days, I am such an idiot, I should have applied....

Click to expand...

I m sending my app out tommorow.

Now is the deadline for it to be postmarked by the 9th? or reach there by the 9th? I m guessing postmarked bc who is gonna read them over the weekend.

NRAI2001 said:

I m sending my app out tommorow.

Now is the deadline for it to be postmarked by the 9th? or reach there by the 9th? I m guessing postmarked bc who is gonna read them over the weekend.

Click to expand...

Problem is I didn't have transcripts or LORs sent

Ok, I just got accepted to this program today.


Now I need to decide if I want to do this one or the one offered by University of Cincinnati.

Ponderous man.

DrVanNostran said:

Problem is I didn't have transcripts or LORs sent

Click to expand...

I Didnt apply to the program.

thes_hunter said:

Ok, I just got accepted to this program today.


Now I need to decide if I want to do this one or the one offered by University of Cincinnati.

Ponderous man.

Click to expand...

I just got accepted today as well, I am debating whether or not I should go to the program....I have a 3.5 gpa and NOW a 30 on the MCAT

DrVanNostran said:

I just got accepted today as well, I am debating whether or not I should go to the program....I have a 3.5 gpa and NOW a 30 on the MCAT

Click to expand...

You have a different situation from mine... since with a 3.5 and a 30 MCAT you are more competative than me. Since your stats match up to the averages at many schools.

I am assuming you have not gone a round in the application process. So I would think you should spend the next year doing what it will take to make you more competative. Even if this means not taking a program like this and doing something, say, to work on you EC's, like volunteering at some relief agency for the next year.

I don't know because I don't know your application. These programs seem to be designed to prove that you can academically make the mustard in medical school (This is my specific weakness in my application), and they do seem to make good canidates into great canidates but you yourself have to ask yourself if this prograam is worth the money and will best address whatever potential problems you have in your application.

Good Luck!

But it appears that I will not be attending Tulane's Pharma program this year. As much as it pains me to leave New Orleans. The information I gathered from my top choice schools in regards to programs makes the cirriculum at Cinci more attractive than Tulane's Pharma program.

Booney44 said:

DrVanNostran,

So I see they did take your application a bit late after all... Congrats on your acceptance!

What other programs did you apply to? Get accepted to? Have you already applied to schools? You have decent scores, maybe you just need that extra push and some convincing LOR.

Click to expand...

Thanks Booney! Yeah I ended up calling them and telling them that I woulld need another few days for my LORs and transcripts to arrive, they were really nice about it. I just go my e-mail acceptance early yesterday. This is the only offer that I have on the table right now and possibly Loyola MAMS in Chicago.

I just submitted my AMCAS last night to a crap load of schools so this Tulane offer is mixing me up I am going to talk to my pre-med advisor and have her take a look at my situation and see what she recommends. Either way, I would loooove to come down to Tulane for the program. I will keep you posted

thes_hunter said:

You have a different situation from mine... since with a 3.5 and a 30 MCAT you are more competative than me. Since your stats match up to the averages at many schools.

I am assuming you have not gone a round in the application process. So I would think you should spend the next year doing what it will take to make you more competative. Even if this means not taking a program like this and doing something, say, to work on you EC's, like volunteering at some relief agency for the next year.

I don't know because I don't know your application. These programs seem to be designed to prove that you can academically make the mustard in medical school (This is my specific weakness in my application), and they do seem to make good canidates into great canidates but you yourself have to ask yourself if this prograam is worth the money and will best address whatever potential problems you have in your application.

Good Luck!

But it appears that I will not be attending Tulane's Pharma program this year. As much as it pains me to leave New Orleans. The information I gathered from my top choice schools in regards to programs makes the cirriculum at Cinci more attractive than Tulane's Pharma program.

Click to expand...

Hey hunter,

Grats on Cinci! I looked at both curriculums and I think I would have picked Cinci as well, it would have been close though. I think you will really like it there. As for next year, I might just do some volunteer work as you stated, I would love to get an MS, but I already have an MPH and I don't want to burn myself out also lol. So in the next couple days, Ill have to weigh out my options.

Thanks Thes_hunter and booney!