Advice on SMP Decision

[Student1222]

Hi,

I just graduated from college and I have a huge decision to make. I was wondering if you smart sdn ppl can help me out on my path to medical school.

I currently have a 3.22 cGPA and 3.26sGPA from undergrad. Since my GPA is too low for any M.D., I decided to apply for special masters program (SMP). Currently I have been accepted to BU MAMS and Case Western Reserve University's MS in Medical Physiology.

The reason I am having trouble deciding between the two is that BU MAMS is a well established program and have great reviews in their forums. However, if I attend the program at Case, I can take undergraduate courses along with the Master classes and raise my undergraudate GPA up a little bit. When I did the calculation, my cumulative GPA won't change much, but it will be 3.3 cGPA. However, my science GPA will go up to a 3.40 sGPA. Therefore, I am in this dilemma of choosing between these programs.

Should I choose
1. BU MAMS because it is a much more solid program and people have got into MD schools from this program
or
2. CWRU Medical Physiology because I can increase my sGPA to 3.4 from 3.2.

This has been a very hard decision to make on my part, so I would like some of your smart opinions and input. Thanks!

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[238460]

I have a few questions
1. Did u take the mcat? if so did u do well?
2. Are u set on going for an "md" or a do will be ok with u?

I can advice best based on the answers given.

As far as the information I have right now its better to go to the BU program.

 

[Student1222]

I have a few questions
1. Did u take the mcat? if so did u do well?
2. Are u set on going for an "md" or a do will be ok with u?

I can advice best based on the answers given.

As far as the information I have right now its better to go to the BU program.

1. I did take the MCAT and I got a 508, but I am planning to retake it now and in practice I am getting around 512.
2. I am set on MD and not planning on DO.

Do you have any back up information or detail about why you would suggest going to the BU program? Do you know anyone or information about these two programs?

Thank you so much for your input.

 

[238460]

1. I did take the MCAT and I got a 508, but I am planning to retake it now and in practice I am getting around 512.
2. I am set on MD and not planning on DO.

Do you have any back up information or detail about why you would suggest going to the BU program? Do you know anyone or information about these two programs?

Thank you so much for your input.

While i do not know anyone personally who went to the BU program...reading information on sdn and doing my own lil research shows me the curriculum will better prepare you for med school. I believe you take a Medical Physiology class as well (best of both worlds). Apart from that..i took this from the website:

How many students from the Medical Sciences Program matriculate into medical school?

Of the graduates who apply, approximately 70% are admitted into US medical schools. Those who perform at a high level in the program have a significantly greater rate of success. Additionally, MAMS students receive facilitated consideration for admission to BUSM and, each year, approximately 25-30 students are accepted.

You will def be part of the 70% if you aren't part of the 25-30% they accept into BUSM. Personally i would go for BU but regardless of which one u attend the ur goal would be to work as hard and smart as you can to matriculate into a do or md school.

Hope i could help a bit. The choice is really urs to make..sdn can just give you some pointers.

 

[Student1222]

While i do not know anyone personally who went to the BU program...reading information on sdn and doing my own lil research shows me the curriculum will better prepare you for med school. I believe you take a Medical Physiology class as well (best of both worlds). Apart from that..i took this from the website:

How many students from the Medical Sciences Program matriculate into medical school?

Of the graduates who apply, approximately 70% are admitted into US medical schools. Those who perform at a high level in the program have a significantly greater rate of success. Additionally, MAMS students receive facilitated consideration for admission to BUSM and, each year, approximately 25-30 students are accepted.

You will def be part of the 70% if you aren't part of the 25-30% they accept into BUSM. Personally i would go for BU but regardless of which one u attend the ur goal would be to work as hard and smart as you can to matriculate into a do or md school.

Hope i could help a bit. The choice is really urs to make..sdn can just give you some pointers.

I see your point. I have done a lot of research with both programs and it is really hard for me to decide.

The reason I am weighing on the Case program is because it is an SMP and it is supposed to be for people who has low GPA. However, I am able to do the program as well as take the undergraduate courses, which allows me to improve my uGPA as well.

The big thing I am scared about going to BU is that even though admissions say that they do not automatically reject people with low GPA, I feel like that is a highly likely chance of happening even with an SMP. Therefore raising my sGPA to a 3.4 would help me in that sense. I guess I just have to think about it more.

 

[238460]

I see your point. I have done a lot of research with both programs and it is really hard for me to decide.

The reason I am weighing on the Case program is because it is an SMP and it is supposed to be for people who has low GPA. However, I am able to do the program as well as take the undergraduate courses, which allows me to improve my uGPA as well.

The big thing I am scared about going to BU is that even though admissions say that they do not automatically reject people with low GPA, I feel like that is a highly likely chance of happening even with an SMP. Therefore raising my sGPA to a 3.4 would help me in that sense. I guess I just have to think about it more.

Yes the admissions can say one thing but they might not follow it...which is almost always true. Seems like u really want to improve your uGPA so the Case program is good in that case. Regardless of which school u will reach ur goal. If improving ur uGPA is what u really want ..go to Case western.

 

[Student1222]

Yes the admissions can say one thing but they might not follow it...which is almost always true. Seems like u really want to improve your uGPA so the Case program is good in that case. Regardless of which school u will reach ur goal. If improving ur uGPA is what u really want ..go to Case western.

Thanks so much for your input. It is a definitely a hard decision. I wish it was easier for me haha

 

[238460]

Thanks so much for your input. It is a definitely a hard decision. I wish it was easier for me haha

no worries..follow ur heart!

 

[DrMidlife]

Probably a good idea to look at the "where our grads are" page on Case's website. The "83% success" rate includes a whole lot of podiatry, dental, DO, etc. http://physiology.case.edu/educatio...-ms-in-medical-physiology/msmp-our-successes/ Point being, it's not 83% with respect to your goals.

Boston, by contrast, claims 70% with a whole lot of US MD. http://www.bumc.bu.edu/gms/mams-gra...admitted-to-the-following-us-medical-schools/

Neither of these success pages should be considered data. More like advertising.

Key question in researching SMPs: how much of the curriculum is actual med school coursework side-by-side with med students? That's the S in SMP. Otherwise it's just a terminal masters, which you can literally do at any college. Program-specific threads in this forum from current students tend to be the best reconnaissance on actual curriculum.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Student1222]

Probably a good idea to look at the "where our grads are" page on Case's website. The "83% success" rate includes a whole lot of podiatry, dental, DO, etc. http://physiology.case.edu/educatio...-ms-in-medical-physiology/msmp-our-successes/ Point being, it's not 83% with respect to your goals.

Boston, by contrast, claims 70% with a whole lot of US MD. http://www.bumc.bu.edu/gms/mams-gra...admitted-to-the-following-us-medical-schools/

Neither of these success pages should be considered data. More like advertising.

Key question in researching SMPs: how much of the curriculum is actual med school coursework side-by-side with med students? That's the S in SMP. Otherwise it's just a terminal masters, which you can literally do at any college. Program-specific threads in this forum from current students tend to be the best reconnaissance on actual curriculum.

Best of luck to you.

Yea, it seems like BU MAMS has the better curriculum, but not sure. However, the reviews at specific forum at BU MAMS is great, but its just the factor of raising my uGPA in Case.

 

[DrMidlife]

Yea, it seems like BU MAMS has the better curriculum, but not sure. However, the reviews at specific forum at BU MAMS is great, but its just the factor of raising my uGPA in Case.

If Case is clever enough to offer a masters degree for courses that count in AMCAS as undergrad, that's very interesting.

And highly unlikely, imho.

So I suggest being very skeptical that this is true. Read the fine print.

 

[DrMidlife]

BTW, "postbac" vs SMP vs med school is a mess.

Med school: technically undergraduate medical education (vs GME which is residency)

SMP: a masters degree for taking med school which is technically undergrad.

Postbac: any undergrad coursework after receiving a bachelors. Also, there's a habit of elders in med ed to view anything you do between your bachelors and med school as "a postbac" unless you got pubs doing it.

 

[Student1222]

If Case is clever enough to offer a masters degree for courses that count in AMCAS as undergrad, that's very interesting.

And highly unlikely, imho.

So I suggest being very skeptical that this is true. Read the fine print.

Oh, I wasn't meaning that they offer undergraduate level courses for a masters degree. I will be taking the SMP courses, but the graduate school of Case has a program where I can take 2 undergrad courses for a non-degree. Therefore, I can take the master degree graduate courses along with undergraduate courses. Therefore, I would be doing both masters classes and undergraduate courses (undergrad courses wouldn't count towards my masters degree). Sorry for the ambiguity.