ask a graduate of Midwestern-IL Masters in Biomedical Sciences program anything!

[mommy2three]

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I get a few pm's here and there and have answered questions on this forum before but i thought it would be helpful to have them all in one place...also makes it easier to find.

So in the spirit of the two other similar threads here....ask away 🙂

 

[gatewasani]

how would u describe the course load
-hours/day studying etc...
-difficulty of exams and how hard it is to get A's
-curve?
a quarter by quarter breakdown would be awesome

 

[jslo85]

did you get into CCOM's MBS program gateswani? congratulations

 

[mommy2three]

how would u describe the course load
-hours/day studying etc...
-difficulty of exams and how hard it is to get A's
-curve?
a quarter by quarter breakdown would be awesome

i will try to break it down by subject and quarter as i had it although things were rearranged for this years incoming class so your schedule may be slightly different.

there are *NO* curves for any classes!!!

fall
biochem - preety intense memorization course but more clinically based, do not worry you will not have to learn the krebs cycle again. how much you have to study depends on the lecturer...some expect you to know everything they say and otehrs you are okay knowing what they tell you to know.
physio - also fairly memorization intense. if you have had it in undergrad it will not be as bad as it would be if you had no background. systems based and how much studying you will have to do depends on the system and the lecturer as well as your familiarity with the topic.
research desgin - two exams..review your lecture notes and you will be okay.
intro to research practices - easiest class. they have added a alb so i do not know how that works
core - required but pass/fail. showup take the quiz and you pass.

winter
biochem - same as above
physio - same as above
immunology - very intense course. they expect you to know *everything* so will require a lot of studying.
statistics - does not require a lot of studying but the homework is fairly time consuming
i do not know what they call it (changed last yr) but a course where you learn to write a cv, personal statement etc. again no studying but it can be slightly time consuming

after this you can begin to take electives so what i am writing is based on the option that i took which is not the same as what other people may have taken.

spring
microbiology - again very memorization intense they will expect you to know everything, a lot of time involved to do well.
lit review - 15 page paper over your thesis topic. not a lot of time studying but is very time consuming
seminar

summer
seminar
thesis research
thesis proposal

fall yr two
pharmacology 1 - very memorization intense.
thesis research
seminar
human neuroscience (with pa's) - heavy memorization but is an awesome course

winter
pharm 2 - same as above
thesis research
seminar

spring
pharm 3 - same as above
theis research
thesis writing and defense

overall i woudl say most courses it is fairly easy to get an a. immunology and microbio will be b's so do not panic about that. otehr than that most courses if you work and put in the time you can get an a.

as far as how much time studying, it depends on you. i spent every free minute studying but that is what worked for me...some people didnot require as much time studying. it is a personal thing. i would say go hog wild for the first set of exams, use every trick in your bag and then keep what works/helped and get rid of what does not. you do not want to start out behind the proverbial 8 ball in any of the classes.

 

[sshehateme]

Hi mommy2three, just wondering, I know the program is scheduled to be 2 years long...is it possible for students to interview with Midwestern and get in after only 1 year? (or for that matter to apply and get in anywhere after a year of classes.) If you choose to apply after only one year of classes, is Midwestern supportive in that they'll write recommendations and send out grades to schools? Thanks!

 

[gatewasani]

Hi mommy2three, just wondering, I know the program is scheduled to be 2 years long...is it possible for students to interview with Midwestern and get in after only 1 year? (or for that matter to apply and get in anywhere after a year of classes.) If you choose to apply after only one year of classes, is Midwestern supportive in that they'll write recommendations and send out grades to schools? Thanks!

i called and asked about this, apparently u can only get in to CCOM after your 1st year under ur own merit. Basically, if you were gonna get in without the program.

Don't think it would help too much with other schools either, since you wouldnt really have any grades for med schools to gauge your academic prowess. Unless u mean, applying after the first year, which if the case, y wouldn't u just stay in the program the 2nd year since u don't have anything else to do that year.

 

[mommy2three]

Hi mommy2three, just wondering, I know the program is scheduled to be 2 years long...is it possible for students to interview with Midwestern and get in after only 1 year? (or for that matter to apply and get in anywhere after a year of classes.) If you choose to apply after only one year of classes, is Midwestern supportive in that they'll write recommendations and send out grades to schools? Thanks!

we had numerous people from my class get in after 1st yr. you can get into ccom if your grades are good and you are doing well in the program.
one yr here may not help your chances other places though.

keep in mind that they will be starting a new one yr non-thesis based program with the first class matriculating in fall 2011.

hth

 

[pistachio84]

we had numerous people from my class get in after 1st yr. you can get into ccom if your grades are good and you are doing well in the program.
one yr here may not help your chances other places though.

keep in mind that they will be starting a new one yr non-thesis based program with the first class matriculating in fall 2011.

hth

Hello mommy! thanks for making this thread...it's been quite helpful! in terms of matriculating into the medical school, is there a minimum GPA [and MCAT] one should keep in the mbs program to be admitted into the med school? or are there any explicit requirements for matriculating in?

 

[gatewasani]

we had numerous people from my class get in after 1st yr. you can get into ccom if your grades are good and you are doing well in the program.
one yr here may not help your chances other places though.

keep in mind that they will be starting a new one yr non-thesis based program with the first class matriculating in fall 2011.

hth

The person I spoke to said that the program does not help you to be accepted after only one year. If you were gonna get in without the program, is the only way u get in after first year.

I could be wrong but thats what i was told, I was also told that you cannot qualify for the guaranteed interview in ur first year. So if I started in fall 2010, I couldn't get the guaranteed interview for fall 2011 class.

 

[mommy2three]

Hello mommy! thanks for making this thread...it's been quite helpful! in terms of matriculating into the medical school, is there a minimum GPA [and MCAT] one should keep in the mbs program to be admitted into the med school? or are there any explicit requirements for matriculating in?

your gpa here needs to be above 3.0, you want it as close to 3.5 as possible.

mcat should be mid to upper 20s at a minumum

 

[mommy2three]

The person I spoke to said that the program does not help you to be accepted after only one year. If you were gonna get in without the program, is the only way u get in after first year.

I could be wrong but thats what i was told, I was also told that you cannot qualify for the guaranteed interview in ur first year. So if I started in fall 2010, I couldn't get the guaranteed interview for fall 2011 class.

people here have told us that once you are in the mbs program your prior performance does not matter it is how you do in the prorgam that the adcoms look at.

most of my class 1st yr (with the exception of one) did not interview until january to march so they had grades from 2 quarters before a decision was made. of those that did get in, only 2 got in after the adcom meeting, the other 4 were placed on the alternate list and were pulled off in june/july


if you look at the handbook the only thing it says is you have to be in good academic standing, have a 3.0 gpa and have a standardized test score w/in 2 standard deviations from the previous yrs (this falls) matriculating class [obviously you can be above it is the low part that you need to be worried about]. so after 1 quarters worth of grades you could technically meet all of these standards.

 

[gatewasani]

people here have told us that once you are in the mbs program your prior performance does not matter it is how you do in the prorgam that the adcoms look at.

most of my class 1st yr (with the exception of one) did not interview until january to march so they had grades from 2 quarters before a decision was made. of those that did get in, only 2 got in after the adcom meeting, the other 4 were placed on the alternate list and were pulled off in june/july


if you look at the handbook the only thing it says is you have to be in good academic standing, have a 3.0 gpa and have a standardized test score w/in 2 standard deviations from the previous yrs (this falls) matriculating class [obviously you can be above it is the low part that you need to be worried about]. so after 1 quarters worth of grades you could technically meet all of these standards.

ok, thats great news! I hope you're right. I guess i'm just confused as to why all students don't do this and save a year, unless they have a strong desire to get the Masters degree, but if you're trying to become a doctor, who cares?

 

[jslo85]

There are various reasons as to why someone would not apply during their first year including how most programs like to see the grades for a full year rather than just one semester especially if you have a exceptionally tarnished academic past. The individual might not have the self confidence to apply nor feel that his/her application is strong enough to merit substantial consideration and would rather apply only once with the full year of courses behind him/her. Maybe he/she likes more alphabet soup after their name. The M.S. degree also gives you a foot in the door if you don't have research experience in establishing contacts and some background to work with as a medical student.

 

[gatewasani]

There are various reasons as to why someone would not apply during their first year including how most programs like to see the grades for a full year rather than just one semester especially if you have a exceptionally tarnished academic past. The individual might not have the self confidence to apply nor feel that his/her application is strong enough to merit substantial consideration and would rather apply only once with the full year of courses behind him/her. Maybe he/she likes more alphabet soup after their name. The M.S. degree also gives you a foot in the door if you don't have research experience in establishing contacts and some background to work with as a medical student.

thats true and I guess a whole bunch of students could have mcat issues and such as well, good response, I guess i'm just really turned off to what I was told on the phone, in regards to the program not helping u get accepted for Fall 2011'

 

[mommy2three]

thats true and I guess a whole bunch of students could have mcat issues and such as well, good response, I guess i'm just really turned off to what I was told on the phone, in regards to the program not helping u get accepted for Fall 2011'

i really do not know. what i said is based on what impressions we have been given by faculty here.
as far as technically, i know that there are some people who do get in after 1st yr every yr. and i also know those that got in from my class did well in the classes at mwu.
i also know a lot of people in my class retook the mcat b/w 1st and 2nd yr. in fact everyone who got in for fall retook the mcat. we also have a significant number of people go into otehr areas as well such as pharmacy, research, phd programs, pa programs, we even had 2 get into dental school. so the interests and needs of the class vary.
bottom line...each class is different in their personality and each person in different.

hth some

 

[DO7]

I get a few pm's here and there and have answered questions on this forum before but i thought it would be helpful to have them all in one place...also makes it easier to find.

So in the spirit of the two other similar threads here....ask away 🙂

Hello

I am enrolled in MBS program at midwestern for class 2017. I have questions about research. Do we have opportunities to work with medical students to do some pre-clinical or clinical research? If there are, how likely we will be matched?

Thank you