At what cost SMP or state school?

[jackfibi]

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I really want to go to an SMP program, but at what cost? If I go to georgetown's I will have to spend a year and 25,000+ dollars. Also, If I only want to spend one year there before med school I will have to apply to med school in June before I have even taken one class in an SMP program. How can I possibly expect to get in to medical school without having taken any SMP classes? Does this mean that I have to waste another year before getting into a med school?

On the other hand I could enroll into a regular master's program in physiology or whatever at a local state school and spend only 2000 dollars a semester. In this case I would still apply to a medical school in June before I have taken any masters classes so that I would only spend one year in the state schools masters program before going on to med school. This is definitely the best economic approach. However, I know that the education I would receive at georgetown for example would far exceed that at the state school. Therefore, I must decide the overall cost of the program in dollars, years spent, and quality of education. Please, please, please offer me some words of wisdom. I need them

 

[mizzoudude]

I really want to go to an SMP program, but at what cost? If I go to georgetown's I will have to spend a year and 25,000+ dollars. Also, If I only want to spend one year there before med school I will have to apply to med school in June before I have even taken one class in an SMP program. How can I possibly expect to get in to medical school without having taken any SMP classes? Does this mean that I have to waste another year before getting into a med school?

On the other hand I could enroll into a regular master's program in physiology or whatever at a local state school and spend only 2000 dollars a semester. In this case I would still apply to a medical school in June before I have taken any masters classes so that I would only spend one year in the state schools masters program before going on to med school. This is definitely the best economic approach. However, I know that the education I would receive at georgetown for example would far exceed that at the state school. Therefore, I must decide the overall cost of the program in dollars, years spent, and quality of education. Please, please, please offer me some words of wisdom. I need them

I am not well versed in SMP programs...but here is what I understand..as always do your research...
As I understand it...when one is in the Georgetown program...one applies before taking any SMP classes...however the school will send a piece of mail on your behalf to the schools you apply to and lets them know that you are in the process of taking the SMP classes....then I suppose they wait for a semester of grades from the SMP...since the georgetown program is known to be intense...I suppose some programs will recognize this..

In my case...I did not have the $$$ to do the Georgetown or similar SMP programs....I have a 3.2 ugad GPA/25 MCAT....I am doing a traditional masters in physiology this year (just started 2 days ago)...and will be taking the 2006 April MCAT. I will be applying to US MD, US DO, and caribbean schools in June of 2006...then I will go to the one that accepts me in 2007...and to answer your question...yes in this route I will "waste" 2 years....instead of applying now for the 2006 admission, I will be applying in 2006 for 2007...however this is the case as I am doing a traditional masters program. I hope that a 4.0 in this program and a much higher MCAT score will offset my crappy undergrad performance. However, say you attended G'town now...applied now and didn't get into the 2006 admission cycle, you will have to apply again in 2006 and will have to wait until 2007 anyway....something to think about....I think only 50% get in after the first year...

I hope that those answered some of your question...like I said...I am doing a traditional masters program due to the lack of $$$...I am hoping to kick some major ass on the 2006 April MCAT...and need to start studying now for it....I also hope to start a research project so I have something to talk about during my interview, etc. Please do more research by listening to other posters on the site....
Also, I find it that sometimes cats don't know what they are talking about at all and the best source is calling the individual institutions themselves. Good luck.

 

[tacrum43]

I really want to go to an SMP program, but at what cost? If I go to georgetown's I will have to spend a year and 25,000+ dollars. Also, If I only want to spend one year there before med school I will have to apply to med school in June before I have even taken one class in an SMP program. How can I possibly expect to get in to medical school without having taken any SMP classes? Does this mean that I have to waste another year before getting into a med school?

On the other hand I could enroll into a regular master's program in physiology or whatever at a local state school and spend only 2000 dollars a semester. In this case I would still apply to a medical school in June before I have taken any masters classes so that I would only spend one year in the state schools masters program before going on to med school. This is definitely the best economic approach. However, I know that the education I would receive at georgetown for example would far exceed that at the state school. Therefore, I must decide the overall cost of the program in dollars, years spent, and quality of education. Please, please, please offer me some words of wisdom. I need them

It's me yet again. 🙂

I'm afraid I bring bad news:

1. Applying before you start a traditional masters program won't help you get into medical school after only one year. You would need the grades before you applied. This is why Georgetown is unique. You can apply the same year because they send out grade updates and have an established reputation at several medical schools.

2. Georgetown actually costs almost $50,000 with living expenses. That's the amount of money the financial aid office advises people to borrow from lenders. But then, living expenses could be similar for the state school as well, depending on where you are living.

3. Either way there is a chance that you won't get in, and with the state school it will take at least two years. I wouldn't necessarily consider this a year "wasted" though.


The good news is that you can get into medical school in just one year from Georgetown, and a little over half of students are able to do this. Overall, about 85% end up attending medical school (that includes those that dropped for whatever reason or chose to do something else).

It is also possible to get in after only one year with Rosalind Franklin and maybe EVMS, but then only to their respective medical school (not that there is anything wrong with them).

 

[jackfibi]

Well, I thank you both for your input and now really have some thinking and prioritizing to do. Good luck Miz, but I'm sure you'll do fine.