jintonic5: have you read the other CMS threads about the AP program? a lot was covered there alerady.
when i interviewed at VCU/MCV and EVMS, they didn't even know that i was an AP student at Finch. most of my buddies that interviewed elsewhere, echoed the same sentiments. but personally, i put down ALL the classes that i would be taking in my AMCAS transcripts part, and i told them that i was doing a Master degree prg at Finch/CMS.
and i do not think it's bad to mention that you are doing a post-bacch somewhere.
but...grad schools tend to have grad inflation. you HAVE to get As and Bs, or you fail out. (but no so at CMS. it is pretty hard to get straight As, or to boost your undergrad GPA).
as for my opinions on post-bacch schools. if you read their mission statements, they are not for people who applied to med school and did not get in. they are for people with weaker science backgrounds, or who did not finish all the pre-req's in undergrad, but want to now. so that, in my mind, made CMS a stronger program than BU or G'Town...which i'm sure, have better academic rep's. but the other thing is, CMS has a high success rate. it's pretty much GUARANTEED that you get into med school (CMS), if you get a 2.96GPA. so...when taking all the RISKS invovled, i think CMS is a pretty safe, easy, and GOOD bet. i was not willing to take the same bet with G'town or BU, though. that's why i went to CMS.
no one really can say how many ancillary grad students got IN, except for the director of admissions. we can only guess. but last year, it was like 45/65 people that are CMS students now, (and that's not including anyone that got in somewhere else). but if you call CMS, they can give you the numbers of past years. it's always around there....
and true, Encee, you cannot really help your app quantitatively....b/c your grades will not be in yet. and also, you will probably avg a 3.5GPA at CMS, which isn't really anything to brag about (only ONE person got a 4.0 in my class). but what it does help with, is what you can say...in your p-statement (oh...that's too late if you already applied, huh?), and your interview. i mean, it's one thing to say, "i want to go to med school", and another to say, "i DO go to med school...sorta...and i DO take ~real~ med school classes." and it's one thing to say, "i'm sure i want to be a doctor", and another to be, "i KNOW i want to be a doctor, b/c i have SEEN what it's like, and i know what med school will be like, and i got A's and B's in those classes so i KNOW i can hang, etc, etc". the proof is in the pudding. b/c we all know that EVERYone will be saying the same ****, and how they all "want to help people". doing a post-bacch at least gives you some credibility.
as for schools OUT to get your money. not true. i think of med school as a business. they are investing money in YOU, and training you. it's like if you had to pick ONE person that, in 10yrs from now, was the ONLY person that could give you medical attn, who would you pick? i'd tell you, i'd pick the highest #s, the highest GPA, and all that TOO! even though i was a bitter rejected pre-med that was bitching about "it's not all about the numbers". it's not. but then again, these schools are investing to train you, and if you fail out, if you don't pass Boards, etc, it looks bad on them.
same thing for post-bacch programs. it's a business. if it didn't work, who the hell would pay $33K in tuition at CMS to do it? and myself, Desi, the 45/65 kids last year, and the kids the year before that, and the year before that...they are all living proof that it DOES work.
but i think that the rumor/mystique that they are "out to get your money" comes from bitter students. believe me, i've heard a lot of it already. but i'll say this, and i already have. CMS is cut-throat and hard-nose. but they will NOT doing anything they did not already say they will. if you get a 2.95, sorry, go home. if you miss it by ONE question on ONE final. sorry, go home. but they already said that. and they say they do NOT budge for even .01%. lots of people miss out by ONE questino, literally, on ONE final. and it's sad.
but we all knew the rules beforehand. and it's like, CMS gets 80 new people DYING to take your spot, so they really have NO sympathy for ANYone. be it you missed by .01%, or if you missed it by 30%.
good luck....
