I would assume that people going from Barry to Michigan or Harvard are going there to do more GPA improvement. Such as Harvard Extension. Because Barry doesn't get the job done.
Or they had competitive stats before they did the Barry program.
After 8 years on SDN, I'm still waiting to see a US MD success story from a low GPA premed who does the Barry program. If you're premed and looking at Barry, ask the program admins to connect you to alumni who had your GPA and are now in med school.
Barry is not as bad as Dr.Midlife suggests, although his reservations are warranted.
I have heard of the person who got into
Medical School at the University of Michigan this past cycle. Barry was just one of many steps this person took to successfully matriculate. He/she retook most of their undergraduate science courses and performed really well, then performed very very well on the MCAT (upper 30s). Barry was probably a good supplement in their application, showing that they could handle medical sciences.
There are several other "success stories" that I have heard of personally. This includes matriculation into MD schools (
Duke, University of Florida, USF, FIU, FAU, UM, Drexel) and DO schools (
Touro, DMU, Nova, Lecom). These are just the schools that I can remember off the top of my head but there are more. I do not know about Dental schools.
I have also talked to someone recently who said "several of his classmates got into Nova's DO program this past cycle." Another person I talked to attends an MD school that did Barry's SMP program as well.
As far as the curriculum is concerned they offer 1 year, 18 mo. and 2 year tracks. Their courses are all solid "medical school like" courses. They include Gross Anatomy (non cadaver), histology, Biochem, Human physio, Neroanatomy. Most people do the 18 mo. track because it allows you to dive into the material and learn it thoroughly without just studying from test to test. Either way, these courses seem like a legitimate way to prepare you for the material in medical school.
The professors all seem very nice and welcoming. They have previously taught at various medical and dental schools. From my understanding the staff is well versed in preparing students for medical school. As someone who has recently done much research on the school including talking to current students, faculty and visiting, I believe Barry offers everything necessary to prepare a student for successful matriculation.
However, as I said, Dr. Midlife's reservations are warranted and important to understand.
First off, Barry is a very expensive program (35k). For most people that is a lot of debt to accrue for a program that isn't directly linked to a medical school. This alone should be a serious deterrent. Even if you perform very well in their program and work hard to get the best grades you need, there is no guarantee of an interview or a spot anywhere. You are placed in the general applicant pool along with everybody else and your undergrad GPA still might be the reason you don't even receive an interview anyway. Also, Barry is not well established as some of the other SMP programs and doesn't really carry much weight associated with it in your application.
I think you really have to look at your application dispassionately and determine the areas you need to improve before you make such a commitment. It would be MUCH cheaper to retake a few courses you got Cs in / take a few more upper level science courses and/or retake the MCAT.
Secondly, the program and its curriculum is undergoing changes. From what I was told, Barry's Dean has recently moved on to another position and they are searching for a new one. Who they choose will be a huge factor in the direction and success of their program. They are also thinking about changing some of the curriculum around.
Overall, I believe it is a decent program and has potential. I think it will prepare you for the material you will see in medical school. I also think it could potentially show an adcom you can do the work. However, I think it is a good supplement to an already promising application. Barry's SMP program will offer you the greatest success at matriculating if you have a good MCAT score (30s+) along with an increasing GPA trend in undergraduate science coursework. Whether, it "gets you in" or not I'm not sure, that probably varies on a case by case basis.
Just my 2 cents.
