- Joined
- Mar 13, 2011
- Messages
- 73
- Reaction score
- 13
Hey All,
So I applied to a bunch of SMPs and got into a lot of places. As of right now, I am into University Cincinnati M.S. in physio., Georgetown SMP, Drexel IMS, BU MAMS, Loyola, and Tufts. I had all of my apps ready to go before I got my MCAT scores, so I had to apply to a lot of options without knowing how I did.
Stats:
Will graduate with a 3.2 GPA, 3.0 to 3.1 math/sci gpa, strong upward trend from sophomore year.
3 years biochem research, published twice
Some amount of clinical volunteer experience, plan on getting more
Lots of other volunteer experience, including leadership positions in the community
MCAT: PS: 13, VR: 12, BS:12, writing: R composite: 37R, taken one time
I have not previously applied to any medical schools.
So, clearly the dark side of my application is in a low GPA. With other stats being fairly high, an SMP-type program is what I need to display to medical schools that a few bad marks early in my undergrad career do not correctly display who I am currently.
Between all of those schools, I have pretty much narrowed it down to Georgetown, Drexel, Cincinnati, and BU. The other schools, while they all have their own set of merits, do not seem to have the correct combination of cost-effectiveness and posted positive percentages for me (although we all need to take some of those posted percentages with a grain of salt). I do not want to do a two year program, so BU is not a great fit as that program was clearly built to be completed in that period of time. However, I know of students that completed it in one year and matriculated into medical school during the next.
Drexel has the two year option but will release first semester grades quick enough for a next-year matriculation into medschool. I am very worried about the video-feed learning at Drexel, the absence of a professor at lecture is a terrible motivation to always attend. This also makes me feel like a second-class student at the university: I generally want to be in the same room as my professor, and for thousands of dollars....
Georgetown has some fantastic prestige associated with it, and I do need to take some of that into consideration. However, the cost of the program is nearly double the others when you take living in G-town into consideration...their stats are also not as good as I would hope. Can anyone comment on their G-town SMP experience with professors and classes? I come from a relatively prestigious undergrad university where I feel like a meaningless number, I do not want to enter the same environment.
Cincinnati has impressed me around every corner, and although I am not entirely gung-ho about living in the Midwest, the end goal is medschool (I'll see the library more than anything regardless). For example, I called the department and was immediately transfered to one of the directors of the program, who had no problem talking to me for over half an hour. Only 32 kids in the Cinci. program is great, allowing students to be almost fully integrated into the first year med-school curriculum (minus a few parts). They provide the masters students with their own desks, allowing for a good study place outside one's apt. and traditional libraries. The city itself seems fiscally reasonable and perhaps even responsible for someone that will be living off loans for the next part of their life. My concern about the program is that it may not be as well known to other medical schools as Georgetown or Drexel--can anyone comment on this? While they have a great number of students that go into UC med school (and I would have no problem attending that), I will of course need to consider many other schools and I want my SMP to be recognized by them.
So...please let me know if you feel I am missing some pertinent information regarding the choice. If you have experiences regarding any of the schools I'm into, please share them. I know there is plenty of this info out there on the forums, but half of it is from 2006 and doesn't hold much weight anymore. THANKS EVERYONE!
So I applied to a bunch of SMPs and got into a lot of places. As of right now, I am into University Cincinnati M.S. in physio., Georgetown SMP, Drexel IMS, BU MAMS, Loyola, and Tufts. I had all of my apps ready to go before I got my MCAT scores, so I had to apply to a lot of options without knowing how I did.
Stats:
Will graduate with a 3.2 GPA, 3.0 to 3.1 math/sci gpa, strong upward trend from sophomore year.
3 years biochem research, published twice
Some amount of clinical volunteer experience, plan on getting more
Lots of other volunteer experience, including leadership positions in the community
MCAT: PS: 13, VR: 12, BS:12, writing: R composite: 37R, taken one time
I have not previously applied to any medical schools.
So, clearly the dark side of my application is in a low GPA. With other stats being fairly high, an SMP-type program is what I need to display to medical schools that a few bad marks early in my undergrad career do not correctly display who I am currently.
Between all of those schools, I have pretty much narrowed it down to Georgetown, Drexel, Cincinnati, and BU. The other schools, while they all have their own set of merits, do not seem to have the correct combination of cost-effectiveness and posted positive percentages for me (although we all need to take some of those posted percentages with a grain of salt). I do not want to do a two year program, so BU is not a great fit as that program was clearly built to be completed in that period of time. However, I know of students that completed it in one year and matriculated into medical school during the next.
Drexel has the two year option but will release first semester grades quick enough for a next-year matriculation into medschool. I am very worried about the video-feed learning at Drexel, the absence of a professor at lecture is a terrible motivation to always attend. This also makes me feel like a second-class student at the university: I generally want to be in the same room as my professor, and for thousands of dollars....
Georgetown has some fantastic prestige associated with it, and I do need to take some of that into consideration. However, the cost of the program is nearly double the others when you take living in G-town into consideration...their stats are also not as good as I would hope. Can anyone comment on their G-town SMP experience with professors and classes? I come from a relatively prestigious undergrad university where I feel like a meaningless number, I do not want to enter the same environment.
Cincinnati has impressed me around every corner, and although I am not entirely gung-ho about living in the Midwest, the end goal is medschool (I'll see the library more than anything regardless). For example, I called the department and was immediately transfered to one of the directors of the program, who had no problem talking to me for over half an hour. Only 32 kids in the Cinci. program is great, allowing students to be almost fully integrated into the first year med-school curriculum (minus a few parts). They provide the masters students with their own desks, allowing for a good study place outside one's apt. and traditional libraries. The city itself seems fiscally reasonable and perhaps even responsible for someone that will be living off loans for the next part of their life. My concern about the program is that it may not be as well known to other medical schools as Georgetown or Drexel--can anyone comment on this? While they have a great number of students that go into UC med school (and I would have no problem attending that), I will of course need to consider many other schools and I want my SMP to be recognized by them.
So...please let me know if you feel I am missing some pertinent information regarding the choice. If you have experiences regarding any of the schools I'm into, please share them. I know there is plenty of this info out there on the forums, but half of it is from 2006 and doesn't hold much weight anymore. THANKS EVERYONE!
)
