If you apply to the questions posed in the title, I urge you to take a look at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in your college search. Before I say more, I should mention that I am not from the Dept of Admission there nor am I employed by the school; I am an alumni and a current PhD student that loves my alma mater. NJIT is the state of New Jersey's public research university. While we started off as the Newark College of Engineering, the number of colleges that currently encompass NJIT is something like 6 or 7 I think. The most prestigious of these colleges, and the one that I graduated from, is the Albert Dorman Honors College, which only accepts the top students in the state and offers a plethora or financial and academic benefits. There are two BS/MD (7 yr) programs offered through the honors college (UMDNJ- New Jersey Medical School which is up the road and Saint George's University) as well as BS/DMD, BS/ DPT programs. THe BS/MD program at UMDNJ is like most other BS/MD programs that you are probably aware of. The BS/MD program at SGU is ratehr unique. Under the current arrangementm which will soon change (detailed below), NJIT students leave NJIT after three years and head to SGU in Grenada for two years (basic sciences years). After the completion of the first year, the BS degree is conferred by NJIT. After the completion of the first two basic science years in Grenada, NJIT students return to NJ and finish the last two clinical years at various teaching hospitals around the state; I believe that St. Michaels Medical Center in Newark (across the street from NJIT) is the primary teaching hospital for the program. However, NJIT is in the final stages of increasing the scale of its partnership with NJIT whereby NJIT would essentially offer a joint MD degree with SGU. Thereby, the NJIT School of Medicine would be established; here is an internet link to a presentation from 2/17/2010 that further describes the program: http://www.njit.edu/president/docs/2010/2010-02-17-sgu-njit-faculty-meeting.pdf
I was a member of the BS/MD SGU program before deciding to pursue my PhD at NJIT to continue my undergraduate research. If you have any questions about the existing SGU program, you can PM me and I will answer them the best that I can. Also, I graduated with a BS in biomedical engineering (there were alot of premeds in my class) so you can email me with any questions that you have about that major. I believe statistically that biomedical engineering grads have the highest acceptance into medical school. I am friends with quite a few medical students at UMDNJ-NJMS and they all say that there is a general positive attitude towards NJIT BME graduates by the administration and admissions comittee. I am doing my PhD in Materials Science and Engineering but there is no undergraduate program. However, my advisor is finalizing a biophysics major/degree program that should be offered sometime in the next semester or two. I know that she has put in alot of effort to make sure that the course of study adequately prepares students for the MCAT, even going so far as to approach the professors currently teaching physics courses and asking them to do one MCAT practice problem during every class; every one of them happily agreed. Statistically, I think that physics majors are number two or three in terms of admissions to med schools nationally. Therefore, biophysics majors in a program that specifically gears and supports students for the MCAT should fair very very well. Another consideration would be the fact that medical schools are fans of undergraduate research. Being that NJIT is a public research university where most of the professors are experimentalists and usually more than willing to take on enthusiastic undergraduate students, finding research opportunities should be rather trivial. However, a point of caution about undergrad research at NJIT or any other school, if you are a premed that wants to do research for the sole purpose of getting a LOR for medical school from the PI/professor, I would advise highly against conducting research at all. Professors and seasons graduate students can spot undergrads like that a mile away and let's just say that those students will get mediocre at best letters from the professor. In a situation such as professional school admissions, no letter is better than a crappy letter. If you have any interest in NJIT or would like to have some questions answered, please feel free to PM me or email me at [email protected]; I will do my best to get back to you in a timely manner.
I was a member of the BS/MD SGU program before deciding to pursue my PhD at NJIT to continue my undergraduate research. If you have any questions about the existing SGU program, you can PM me and I will answer them the best that I can. Also, I graduated with a BS in biomedical engineering (there were alot of premeds in my class) so you can email me with any questions that you have about that major. I believe statistically that biomedical engineering grads have the highest acceptance into medical school. I am friends with quite a few medical students at UMDNJ-NJMS and they all say that there is a general positive attitude towards NJIT BME graduates by the administration and admissions comittee. I am doing my PhD in Materials Science and Engineering but there is no undergraduate program. However, my advisor is finalizing a biophysics major/degree program that should be offered sometime in the next semester or two. I know that she has put in alot of effort to make sure that the course of study adequately prepares students for the MCAT, even going so far as to approach the professors currently teaching physics courses and asking them to do one MCAT practice problem during every class; every one of them happily agreed. Statistically, I think that physics majors are number two or three in terms of admissions to med schools nationally. Therefore, biophysics majors in a program that specifically gears and supports students for the MCAT should fair very very well. Another consideration would be the fact that medical schools are fans of undergraduate research. Being that NJIT is a public research university where most of the professors are experimentalists and usually more than willing to take on enthusiastic undergraduate students, finding research opportunities should be rather trivial. However, a point of caution about undergrad research at NJIT or any other school, if you are a premed that wants to do research for the sole purpose of getting a LOR for medical school from the PI/professor, I would advise highly against conducting research at all. Professors and seasons graduate students can spot undergrads like that a mile away and let's just say that those students will get mediocre at best letters from the professor. In a situation such as professional school admissions, no letter is better than a crappy letter. If you have any interest in NJIT or would like to have some questions answered, please feel free to PM me or email me at [email protected]; I will do my best to get back to you in a timely manner.
