early assurance to medical school

[amherstguy]

has anyone heard of programs that grant provisional acceptance to medical school that one applies to at the end of sophomore year of college? how competitive are these? what grades and ec's are req?

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[Bob Dole]

I think most of these programs are only open to undergrads at that college. If you're school doesn't have a med school, there's not much you can do...

 

[indianboy]

Syracuse and UBuffalo both have these programs that are open to anyone. They don't seem to be that competitive, and if you are extremely unsure about your chances, this may be a way to allay your fears. However, don't sell yourself short if you would like more options.

 

[Sunnygirl]

check out mt. sinai's medicine and humanities program -- their general website is www.mssm.edu

 

[jkway]

The UBuffalo program is pretty competitive and it is open to anyone. In order to apply you must have completed half of your premed requirements by the 1st semester of your sophmore year. You also must have at least a 3.75 gpa and a 1400 SAT. Once excepted you can never have a semester below a 3.75 gpa or you lose your seat. Last year 250 people applied and 12 were accepted. Pretty competitive.

 

[LoneCoyote]

The University of Connecticut has an early assurance program that you apply to no later than the spring of your junior year of college. I believe it is open to anyone and I don't know how competitive it is. Here's the link:

http://medicine.uchc.edu/departments/studentservices/admissions/firstyear/earlydecision.shtml

 

[ShortStuff]

The University of Chicago has a similar program for its undergrads which is also pretty competative. But hey, getting into Prtizker as a sophmore would be awesome -- my friend was accepted and it was both a blessing and a curse b/c I think it was harder to stay motivated but at the same time that thing called MCAT stress- yeah they didn't have it..... LIke I said though super competative and really looking for the intangilbles! But I say rock on if you can get it - you deserve it!

 

[Homunculus]

early aceptance programs are probably more common than you think. My undergrad school had a certain amount of slots reserved at SLU for people to apply to as sophomores, and i was in a class of maybe 300 something students. You had to be "tracked" on a certain courseload, and there were interviews-- basically applying to medschool without an MCAT 2 years early. Our state school also had a program for undergrad freshman i think. Early acceptance programs are a big recruiting tool for some non-medical school affiliated undergraduate schools, and if you are 100% sure you want to go to xxx medschool, then it's a pretty good deal. One caveat though-- once accepted, you can't even try to apply anywhere else, or they take your seat back. So if you do stellar on the MCAT and think you have a chance at a "best medical school" somewhere, you gotta shoot the dice like everyone else.

it's been awhile since undergrad, and things may have changed a bit or be slightly different from what i remember, but the to answer your question, yes i've heard of them, they are very competitive, and you need the same grades and EC's (if not better) as a "traditional" applicant that they would accept after 4 years of undergrad would have.

happy holidays

 

[Flack Pinku]

Does acceptance into these early assurance programs bind you to them?

That is, if you applied to other schools after having gotten into these programs, via the "regular" route, would they cancel the acceptance that you've been given earlier?

 

[Homunculus]

in the programs i'm familiar with, yes, they rescind your acceptance if you apply elsewhere. it's the price you pay for havinga seat locked up ahead of time.

 

[Iffy premed]

early assurance might sound like a great thing when you are in college, but you might regret it once you get it
so stats you need to get in after soph year is so high, that if you continue to do just as well in junior yr, you might have a shot at a better school

 

[Flack Pinku]

How'd they know if you applied at other places after having a early assurance seat reserved? Would they check to make sure (deliberately)?

 

[Homunculus]

hell yes they'd check to make sure-- wouldn't you? i'm sure all it takes is a little phonecall to amcas . . . bottom line is they take a gamble on you by accepting you as a sophomore without MCAT's, you take a gamble on them being the school you absolutely want to go to and not having to go through the amcas crapshoot that is medschool admissions.

some early admissions programs may let you apply elsewhere, but like i said, the ones i knew of didn't.

and i agree with iffy-- if you are doing well enough as a sophomore that they'll accept you then, chances are you will be able to get in someplace else as well your first or second try traditionally. everyone i know that was accepted to their early assurance programs were satisfied-- maybe not exactly happy, but satisfied with their decision.

 

[NNguyenMD]

This is coming in kind of late but I got into SUNY Upstate as an Early Assurance Program student two years ago and much as people have reported, its a very tough decision to make. The other replies on the thread hit it dead on when they said that the standards to keep your seat are high enough that you would wonder if you could get into someplace more competitive. Thats why a lot of soul searching is involved when it comes time for you to consider accepting and EAP opporunity. I for one opted to not think too much about where else I could get into and jumped at the chance to dodge the MCAT. I was also impressed what I saw of the medical school and the people there and thought that it would definitely by a place that I could spend 4 years at.

In terms of what you can do with your newly acquired free time should you get in, the sky's the limit. A head start in beefing up your research profile and pumping out publications is one route, another is to travel, having fun and getting a taste at all the flavors that life has to offer. Looking back on it, I feel that I should have had alot more fun, but I don't have any regrets for making the decision I made. Its just a process of what you want in life you know? If you want to go all out and take on UCSF and Harvard and you know you've got the right stuff, by all means go for it. I don't like to take myself quite that seriously. I like the school that I'm going to go to and don't dwell too much on other places I could have applied to. So if you know you want to be a doctor, are comfortable with with the place offering the EAP program, and want to maximize your undergraduate experience, EAP would definitely be something you should seriously consider applying to.