Drexel IMS vs. Loyola MAMS??

[JPagan]

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From what I have been able to gather it seems like both of these programs offer a great education. There are many pro's and con's to both sides from what I have found. So my question is:

Which one do you think would give their graduate who did well the best opportunity to gain acceptance to a medical school?

Which one of these schools would you choose and why ?

Thank you everyone your help is GREATLY appreciated.

 

[CTG]

I'm afraid I can't help answer your question because I don't know enough to do so...but I'm curious as to what the pros and cons of both sides are. Would you mind letting me know?
Thanx! 👍

 

[sendwich]

loyola is a very young program which hasn't been around much. drexel has been around a LOT longer (early 80s?), so more medschools have heard about it and more likely to take students who have gone through the program successfully than loyola. i hear loyola (since it's new) has a few glitches in the program.

has anyone heard from loyola? i'm waiting on them too but i dont know if i'd want to go even if admitted.

anyone who went thru the program with any thoughts?

 

[JPagan]

Well here are the Pro's and Con's as best I can make out...

Loyola -
Pro's : One year and you have your Master's
Access to the pre-health advisors, which I have heard are really good
3.5 or better with a couple other criteria and a gaurantee of an interview at Loyola's medical school.

Con's: Take graduate courses NOT medical school courses
Very new program, this will be there 2nd year.


Drexel IMS -
Pro's : Take medical school classes with the med students.
Interview gauranteed if you have all B's or better.
Has been around a long time.

Con's : Take classes via video feed not actual classroom
Two years to get your master's degree.


I guess the biggest thing that attracts me to Loyola is how quick the program is. Seems kind of nice to have your masters after only one year. But the idea of taking actual medical school courses is very interesting to me. I guess it seems pretty obvious which one is better, but loyola is hard to dismiss. When I called I talked to one of the nicest admissions people I have ever spoken with. She honestly cared about me. Don't get me wrong Drexel's admissions office have been helpful and friendly, I guess this was just an extraordinary experience with a very nice lady. I would love to hear some advice from people who were accepted to both programs and chose one over the other and how they feel about there choices. Lets keep talking about this!

While we are comparing, I am also curious about Upenn's special science and about NYMC M.S. in biomedical science. Both of the other programs I am interested in. Lets discuss!

 

[CTG]

I guess it seems pretty obvious which one is better, but loyola is hard to dismiss.
Lets discuss!

Really? It sounds to me like the Loyola one is better, even though it's newer. Well, it appeals to me more, anyway. Besides, I thought that the Loyola M.A. in Medical Sciences program does actually have med school courses. In fact, I heard from two med school admissions officers that the M.A.M.S. students' performances are compared with the first-year medical students at Stritch because they ARE taking the same classes. Someone please correct me if this is inaccurate.

 

[chief_agith]

have you gotten any actual decision from loyola? so far i've got nothing from them...i emailed the graduate admissions ppl and they said they would forward the email to the MAMS person, but that was over a week ago.

i'm just wondering how others feel about actually getting the masters degree? does the degree really mean anyhting by itself? isn't it really just a stepping stone to medical school?

 

[Phil Anthropist]

Really? It sounds to me like the Loyola one is better, even though it's newer. Well, it appeals to me more, anyway. Besides, I thought that the Loyola M.A. in Medical Sciences program does actually have med school courses. In fact, I heard from two med school admissions officers that the M.A.M.S. students' performances are compared with the first-year medical students at Stritch because they ARE taking the same classes. Someone please correct me if this is inaccurate.

The Loyola MA in Medical Sciences program does not have any medical school courses--unless Loyola recently decided to change the curriculum. Last year, the courses were specifically for the MAMS students. The MAMS students didn't take courses with the MS or PhD students at Loyola or Stritch. The MAMS program is at the Loyola campus in Chicago. Stritch School of Medicine (Loyola's med school) is in Maywood for the pre-clinical years.

If you compare Loyola's program to programs like Georgetown, Boston University, EVMS, Rosalind Franklin, etc., Loyola MAMS does not seem to measure up. If you're trying to prove that you can handle medical school, I don't think Loyola's program is designed as well as the more established SMPs [the Loyola MAMS has no medical school courses, no labs, no significant research experience, only 24 graduate credits, the guaranteed interview is offered during lag year not during the program, the linkage to university's own med school doesn't seem to be particularly strong, etc.].

However, I also think that if you're shopping for a pre-professional graduate program, you have to consider which program best suits you. For example, if your extracurricular activities, MCAT, personal statement, clinical experience, etc., are fine and you just need to demonstrate that you can handle a challenging program, then an SMP or SMP-like program (Georgetown, BU, Rosalind Franklin, Drexel IMS, EVMS, etc.) is the way to go. If you need to improve your academic qualifications, but also need to work on aspects of your application other than grades alone (e.g., you need to improve your MCAT, get more ECs in, get research experience, or get clinical experience) then a program like Loyola's MAMS is probably a better choice than a program like BU, Drexel, Georgetown, etc.

 

[MD_hopeful]

have you gotten any actual decision from loyola? so far i've got nothing from them...i emailed the graduate admissions ppl and they said they would forward the email to the MAMS person, but that was over a week ago.

i'm just wondering how others feel about actually getting the masters degree? does the degree really mean anyhting by itself? isn't it really just a stepping stone to medical school?

I've gotten my acceptance to the loyola mams about a month ago. I will most likely not be attending though. My main problem with the program is that there are no medical school courses involved. Doing well in the drexel IMS program will certainly mean more to adcoms. However, it is a lot more money if you do the two years for the masters.
The people at loyola are extremely nice though and I'm sure will do everything in their power to help with the application process. They sent me a gift package with the acceptance letter(coaster, mouse pad, key chain, luggage tag). Just another example of them showing that they care.
I don't think getting the masters degree actually means anything. It's not recognized in the academic community. It's just an opportunity to demonstrate that you can do well in upper lever courses.

 

[rayster]

I was accepted to the Loyola MAMS program (I applied in early April and heard back in mid-may) and the Drexel program, so I had to make a similar decision. I'm going to Loyola. At the time, I picked the MAMS program because the Drexel program just seemed really intense and I thought it might be really difficult to do well. I was talking to to a student who interviewed me, and she said that the IMS students were graded according to the med students' mean (ie mean= B, and one standard deviation above is a B+, etc). But the med students are taking the class pass/fail! To me, that just seemed a little too much. I know that maybe the program will not impress the adcoms as much, and to a certain extent I'm not happy with that. But personally, I just didn't want to take the chance of doing poorly in those classes, because that would be worse than not having done the program at all. btw...feel free to PM me if you have any questions about Loyola! 🙂

 

[KrnFord920]

I was accepted to the Loyola MAMS program (I applied in early April and heard back in mid-may) and the Drexel program, so I had to make a similar decision. I'm going to Loyola. At the time, I picked the MAMS program because the Drexel program just seemed really intense and I thought it might be really difficult to do well. I was talking to to a student who interviewed me, and she said that the IMS students were graded according to the med students' mean (ie mean= B, and one standard deviation above is a B+, etc). But the med students are taking the class pass/fail! To me, that just seemed a little too much. I know that maybe the program will not impress the adcoms as much, and to a certain extent I'm not happy with that. But personally, I just didn't want to take the chance of doing poorly in those classes, because that would be worse than not having done the program at all. btw...feel free to PM me if you have any questions about Loyola! 🙂

since the med school students are taking it pass/fail, wouldnt that mean the average of their class would be a little lower since they are not competing as much to "make the curve"? hence, it would not be as difficult (although it will still be hard as hell i'm sure) to get a good grade.

 

[MissCutie]

I was accepted to the Loyola MAMS program (I applied in early April and heard back in mid-may) and the Drexel program, so I had to make a similar decision. I'm going to Loyola. At the time, I picked the MAMS program because the Drexel program just seemed really intense and I thought it might be really difficult to do well. I was talking to to a student who interviewed me, and she said that the IMS students were graded according to the med students' mean (ie mean= B, and one standard deviation above is a B+, etc). But the med students are taking the class pass/fail! To me, that just seemed a little too much. I know that maybe the program will not impress the adcoms as much, and to a certain extent I'm not happy with that. But personally, I just didn't want to take the chance of doing poorly in those classes, because that would be worse than not having done the program at all. btw...feel free to PM me if you have any questions about Loyola! 🙂

Noticed your profile says you're a Michigan resident. I am not sure which medical schools you're interested in, but if you have any desire to attend either Wayne State or MSU for medical school, you should be fine with Loyola's program. I contacted both about the medical school course issue, and neither school has a preference for programs that include them. Wayne State specifically stated a 3.5 or higher in ANY of these programs is what they want, and they wont care about med school courses if you perform lower than that. Out of curiosity, why did you choose Loyola over Wayne State BMS? I made the same decision, but I'm curious anyway 🙂

 

[rayster]

Noticed your profile says you're a Michigan resident. I am not sure which medical schools you're interested in, but if you have any desire to attend either Wayne State or MSU for medical school, you should be fine with Loyola's program. I contacted both about the medical school course issue, and neither school has a preference for programs that include them. Wayne State specifically stated a 3.5 or higher in ANY of these programs is what they want, and they wont care about med school courses if you perform lower than that. Out of curiosity, why did you choose Loyola over Wayne State BMS? I made the same decision, but I'm curious anyway 🙂

Oh that's good! I chose Loyola over Wayne State because I wanted to be done in one year. Take care! 🙂

 

[braluk]

while we are on the topic, i might as well throw in a pitch here about university of cincinnati's new program. 20 students. 64 credits. thesis. 1 year. 2 med classes- medical biochem and medical physiology all taken in the beginning of the year until winter so you can send those grades out so you would be eligible for this amcas cycle with med school class grades. I got accepted into all the SMPs i applied to (VCU, Drexel, Loyola, etc etc etc) but declined them because of UC's (i dont think any other SMP has this many credits required to finish) 64 credits of upper level classes and two strong med classes (apparently med physio and med biochem are two classes that adcoms look at very favorably). not to mention you can apply to be a resident of ohio after 1 year, which means state schools there open its doors to you and tuition goes from 40K-->half of that. But to get on topic, if i had to choose between IMS and MAMS, id go with IMS. A degree (be it MA or MS) or certificate doesnt really address the issue of if you will do well in med school. what does address it, is actually taking med school classes (drexel IMS you take 6 med school classes and is very difficult to get superb grades). IMS directly addresses (as any SMP that offers you the opportunity to take med school classes) issues about your UG performance, and drops the red flags about your transcript, and to an extent, even MCAT scores. If you're scoring 4.0's or high pass grades in med school classes, then shortcomings in your application are suddenly not as significant. Graduate courses don't really address that issue. Some types of graduate courses, such as research seminars, are known to be easy A's and not really considered by most adcoms are competitive as actual medical school classes. This is one major setback about loyola that it needs to address, otherwise i wouldnt know if you could really call it a "special masters program". It would be more fitting to describe it an accelerated masters program (traditional=2 years) instead. My .02 🙂


And also, as a few adcom committees have stressed (at least the ones ive talked to informally and formally) its not so much as the reputation of the program as it is the quality. Sure georgetown and drexel are indeed well known, and it might work in favor if you went there, but its well known for having a good curriculum. One thing that I think a lot of people tend to do is discredit a program because of its relative newness. However, if the program holds up to the strict academic reputations of traditional SMP's, it can be just as qualified as any other SMP. This is just a suggestion for people looking to go into an SMP. Make sure you research the curriculum well. The curriculum and the faculty recommendations are the most important out of everything. Things to look for 1) med school classes and which one (hard liners like biochem, physio, neuro are classes that many adcoms would find to be very favorable if you do very well in them) 2) what type of grad courses 3) how good is their med school (if you will be taking classes in them) 4) how organized are they and how do its entrance requirements stack up with other SMPs 5) faculty recommendations, are you going to be one student in a sea of other SMP students (1 out of 150 students) in which you might be relatively unknown to the faculty, or will you be 1 out of 25, in which your faculty recommendations will be strong and personalized 6) # credits, how long it takes to finish, other program perks like required thesis, or guaranteed interview, etc. etc. Good luck with everyone in making their choice, i declined all my spots so hopefully that opens up a spot to anyone still on a waitlist. PM me if you have any questions

 

[MissCutie]

Oh that's good! I chose Loyola over Wayne State because I wanted to be done in one year. Take care! 🙂

me too, though i dont plan on applying until after the program is over. figured it will be cheaper, and i can use the glide year to enhance the extracurricular portion of my application. plus, i know so many people going to wayne state med school, and i would feel better taking some time away from them.

 

[CaptainZero]

since the med school students are taking it pass/fail, wouldnt that mean the average of their class would be a little lower since they are not competing as much to "make the curve"? hence, it would not be as difficult (although it will still be hard as hell i'm sure) to get a good grade.

The med students get a number grade - a percentage - so there is some stratification, even if the end result on their record is simply pass or fail (which I'm not sure is entirely true...I think they actually have a modified pass fail). And you're dealing with medical students (i.e. some of the most competitive people on earth)...they push themselves to do well no matter how they're being evaluated. They may not be competing with each other, but they're most certainly competing with themselves.

I did the IMS porgram. I highly recommend it. There's some BS to deal with while you're there, and yes, you do have to watch the lectures via video feed (which, once you get used to it, you'll realize its not a big deal). But it gives you a solid shot at getting into med school, even if your undergrad record is utterly embarassing (as was mine)...you just have to put in the work. Once you're in med school, you'll have an excellent background and will breeze through first year (b/c you've basically already done all of the material minus anatomy). The foundation they provide you will even make your Step1 USMLE studying easier. It's a great program.

 

[asmaka19]

I went to drexel undergrad and I didn't even bother applying to their post-bac, I just thought it wasn't in my best interest to go through with it. I've applied and have been admitted to loyola's and may be going there.

You don't get a masters after a year at Drexel and you're taking med school classes, therefore ITS HARD! you have to do better that the average student in the classes. The problem I had with having to take medical school classes is that I'M NOT A MEDICAL STUDENT, so why do I have to work as hard as one when at the same time I have to worry about my medical school application process. I've talked to this girl who completed 1 year of the program and she felt like she had to do a second year because at the end of the first year she didn't have the required minimum gpa for the quaranteed interview then just got stuck with no masters. The plus of Drexel's is that when you get into medical school you have an easier time your first year than others and this program is cheaper; still though, I'd rather save all my hard work and suffering for actual medical school

I would favor loyola just because of the issues I have with drexel's program, also you do get a masters after a year and you have the services of their pre-med committee. Note, you're not taking medical school classes.

QUOTE=JPagan]From what I have been able to gather it seems like both of these programs offer a great education. There are many pro's and con's to both sides from what I have found. So my question is:

Which one do you think would give their graduate who did well the best opportunity to gain acceptance to a medical school?

Which one of these schools would you choose and why ?

Thank you everyone your help is GREATLY appreciated.[/QUOTE]