Accelerated Medical Programs - George Washington or Albany Medical?

GWU vs. RPI, which is more highly ranked/repsected?

  • GWU

    Votes: 5 83.3%
  • RPI

    Votes: 1 16.7%

  • Total voters
    6

ellipticrain

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So I was recently accepted to George Washington University's 7-Year B.A./M.D. Program as well as to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Physician-Scientist Program (BS/MD). As you might imagine, I've been having a difficult time deciding which one to go to and was hoping to get some opinions. More details below...


The G.Wash program is a joint program between the G.Wash undergraduate school and the G.Wash medical school. After 3 years at GWU and 4 years at the school of medicine, students will be awarded their BA+MD degrees (in whatever major one decides).

Similarly the Physician-Scientist Program is a joint program between RPI and Albany Medical College (AMC). After 3 years at RPI and 4 years at AMC, students will be awarded their BS+MD degrees (specifically in Biomedical Engineering).

MCATs are not required for either school. However, students are required to maintain a 3.7 Overall GPA at GWU and a 3.5 Overall GPA at RPI after 3 years or their guaranteed acceptance to medical school will be rescinded.
I've done everything -- visited, researched, banged my head against a wall... I feel like I've considered everything from location to prestige to financial matters, but still can't come to a conclusion. I guess right now, I just want to know which one you think is better or better ranked.

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What's the tuition like at each? Just going on what info you've provided, I think I'd lean towards the GW program since keeping a 3.5 in BME is going to be quite difficult, to say the least. A 3.7 isn't exactly cake, of course, but I'd say it's the easier of the two. There's really no point in doing a combined program if you can't get guaranteed acceptance to med school, so set yourself up to take advantage of the opportunity.
 
Interesting, never thought about that... thanks for the insight!
Why is BME considered harder than Biology though?
 
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If you want to, you can reduce biology to a bunch of memorization and plow through it with hard work. Engineering courses aren't that straightforward. Understanding what you're learning is crucial, and it's pretty common to stare at a homework assignment for long periods of time just trying to figure out how to do it.
 
Does the RSI program require you to major in BME? If it does, maintaining a 3.50 is rather difficult in any engineering major, but if you enjoy the subject material you'll do fine. Do you know if any of the schools allow you to take CC courses or retake courses?
 
I don't think that RPI/Albany requires you to major in BME. They require you to do research, but I'm pretty sure you're not locked into a major there.
 
if you enjoy the subject material you'll do fine.
This statement is a bit of a twist on the "you're more likely to do well in what you like" argument a lot of people use to convince others that major doesn't matter. I'm here to tell you that philosophy just plain doesn't apply a lot of the time. I loved astrophysics and actually did well in it compared to everyone else in the same course of study, but med schools don't like seeing that 3.0 major GPA, regardless of how favorably it compares with other astrophysicists. You've got to walk the thin line between doing what you enjoy and playing the med school admissions game.
 
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