Do I HAVE to finish my MS??

[Hoberto]

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Let's say by some act of God I get an acceptance. Is my acceptance likely to be contingent upon me finishing my masters? I am SOOOO unhappy, if I got an acceptance I would gladly chuck my work thus far just to get away from this crappy institution.

 

[dr.z]

You are supposed to finish your degree. However; if you really don't like it, you can ask the admissions office after you get your acceptance. You have to also be careful since some schools will not allow you to defer while you finish your degree.

 

[DD214_DOC]

I just quit my PhD program before applying.

Keep in mind grad school eats away at the maximum amount of stafford loan you can get for med school, if you use it. Also, if your financial aid award overlaps with medical school, you won't get the money to go.

I can also tell you from firsthand experience that it's a pain in the ass to drop financial aid for one program and pick it up for the other.

 

[Hoberto]

Fortunately, I have an assistantship with stipend. So, no loans right now. I don't think I'd have trouble getting the loans for med school if I was starting Fall 2006.

Are you having trouble explaining why you quit your PhD to adcoms? Do they care?

 

[DD214_DOC]

Fortunately, I have an assistantship with stipend. So, no loans right now. I don't think I'd have trouble getting the loans for med school if I was starting Fall 2006.

Are you having trouble explaining why you quit your PhD to adcoms? Do they care?

I retook the MCAT in August, so naturally every school is waiting until the new scores to do anything (even though I got interviews with last year's scores).

So far it isn't a problem. I'll see what happens in interviews, though I presume nobody will really care as it doesn't matter now. My situation was a bit different as I had intended to complete the program but left for reasons other than medicine.

 

[dr.z]

I just quit my PhD program before applying.

Keep in mind grad school eats away at the maximum amount of stafford loan you can get for med school, if you use it. Also, if your financial aid award overlaps with medical school, you won't get the money to go.

I can also tell you from firsthand experience that it's a pain in the ass to drop financial aid for one program and pick it up for the other.

If you are in a Ph.D program, it is all paid for. Tuition plus stipend (in the forms of teaching assistantship or research assistantship) so I don't know of anyone that took out loans for Ph.D.

 

[dr.z]

Fortunately, I have an assistantship with stipend. So, no loans right now. I don't think I'd have trouble getting the loans for med school if I was starting Fall 2006.

Are you having trouble explaining why you quit your PhD to adcoms? Do they care?

If you have assistantship with stipend, you might as well finish the degree. It's only going to set you behind one year. Free education is not always easy to come by.

 

[Hoberto]

Well, I'm due to finish in May so it's not even lke I'll be behind. I am just so miserable in this program. If I get a med school acceptance, what's the point of finishing the MS? It's not like it's going to help me be a better doc.

I am in engineering right now. It's hard to find people paying for engineering grad education.

 

[jgl1980]

Well, I'm due to finish in May so it's not even lke I'll be behind. I am just so miserable in this program. If I get a med school acceptance, what's the point of finishing the MS? It's not like it's going to help me be a better doc.

I am in engineering right now. It's hard to find people paying for engineering grad education.

I was in a master's program while applying to medical school and for the most part the schools made a point to ask if I was going to finish my master's before I entered medical school. So you really have to ask each school what their policy is twords master students and acceptance into the school. what I found that most said that you have to finish if you are accepted but I did come across a few that did not say one way or the other. If I were you I would finish.

 

[OnMyWayThere]

You do not have to finish your MS. Contrary to popular belief, if you took the prereqs, and were accepted with a bachelors, you can stop. I put I planned to take a lot more and once I got in, I took the semester off. It was not planned that way ( 😉 ) but that's how it turned out. I asked adcom and they said it is not a problem whatsoever.

 

[Hoberto]

You do not have to finish your MS. Contrary to popular belief, if you took the prereqs, and were accepted with a bachelors, you can stop. I put I planned to take a lot more and once I got in, I took the semester off. It was not planned that way ( 😉 ) but that's how it turned out. I asked adcom and they said it is not a problem whatsoever.

I so hope I get an acceptance. I even more hope that I get an acceptance where they won't care if I don't finish. It sounds like this not finishing is school specific. 🙁

 

[MyBeauTulane]

to start off, this is for my friend, not me. also, i am not being a "troll" here, i am genuinely looking for help for her. does anyone have any experience with this situation:

Ok, so, my friend is in DO school but hates it and is getting a ton of getting federal loans. How would it work if she quit and went to MD school? Would she have to start paying on those loans NOW or could they be added onto from the MD school assuming the total balance stays below the 180something maximum and then start paying back like she normally would have?

Also along those lines, she has no desire to transfer into a ms2 or ms3 position, but to just completely start over even though she would be leaving the DO school at the end of her ms2 year. She retook the mcat and went from a 24 to a 33 and has a 3.4 gpa. Would the MD school know she went to a DO school before? Is she required to say? would it matter if she said? i think she said she is about average in the class, grade wise.

finally how would it affect the DO school? is it really bad for that school or just someone they dont get an extra 2 yrs of money from??

I guess she was hoping that since there is the aacomas and the amcas separately, that there would not be communication between the two in applying.

she just doesnt want to go to the DO school anymore badly enough that she would be will to start completely over. just a personal choice, no good solid extenuating circumstance. a transfer would be great, but not needed.

we appreciate the help.

 

[dr.z]

to start off, this is for my friend, not me. also, i am not being a "troll" here, i am genuinely looking for help for her. does anyone have any experience with this situation:

Ok, so, my friend is in DO school but hates it and is getting a ton of getting federal loans. How would it work if she quit and went to MD school? Would she have to start paying on those loans NOW or could they be added onto from the MD school assuming the total balance stays below the 180something maximum and then start paying back like she normally would have?

Also along those lines, she has no desire to transfer into a ms2 or ms3 position, but to just completely start over even though she would be leaving the DO school at the end of her ms2 year. She retook the mcat and went from a 24 to a 33 and has a 3.4 gpa. Would the MD school know she went to a DO school before? Is she required to say? would it matter if she said? i think she said she is about average in the class, grade wise.

finally how would it affect the DO school? is it really bad for that school or just someone they dont get an extra 2 yrs of money from??

I guess she was hoping that since there is the aacomas and the amcas separately, that there would not be communication between the two in applying.

she just doesnt want to go to the DO school anymore badly enough that she would be will to start completely over. just a personal choice, no good solid extenuating circumstance. a transfer would be great, but not needed.

we appreciate the help.

You don't have to post on every thread.

 

[MyBeauTulane]

🙂