Georgetown/George Mason SMP vs. Drexel IMS

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nuggyrush

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Hi guys,

I was recently accepted to Georgetown/George Mason SMP and Drexel IMS. Now I'm trying to make a decision on which I'll attend. I have cGPA 3.56 sGPA 3.4 and MCAT 28R (though I got 7 on verbal so I don't qualify for Drexel's guaranteed interview). Any thoughts?

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Hi guys,

I was recently accepted to Georgetown/George Mason SMP and Drexel IMS. Now I'm trying to make a decision on which I'll attend. I have cGPA 3.56 sGPA 3.4 and MCAT 28R (though I got 7 on verbal so I don't qualify for Drexel's guaranteed interview). Any thoughts?

You picked the wrong SMP. Those SMPs are geared towards individuals with high MCAT and low GPA. Regardless of how well you do on these SMPs, you may have hard time getting in with a 7 VR.

There are other SMPs with linkages that overlook low MCAT score (even 6 or 7 in VR). While I question their selection criteria/motive in doing so, it will be a great chance for people with low VR/low MCAT to get in.
 
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You picked the wrong SMP. Those SMPs are geared towards individuals with high MCAT and low GPA. Regardless of how well you do on these SMPs, you may have hard time getting in with a 7 VR.

There are other SMPs with linkages that overlook low MCAT score (even 6 or 7 in VR). While I question their selection criteria/motive in doing so, it will be a great chance for people with low VR/low MCAT to get in.
SMPs might over look it but med schools won't. Look at MSAR, a 7 on the MCAT with average scores on the the other two (10 and an 11) is pretty much a done deal.

Your issue is the MCAT, not your GPA.

For the 1000th time on this forum, an SMP is not a backdoor into a US allopathic school around a crappy MCAT
 
]SMPs might over look it but med schools won't.[/B] Look at MSAR, a 7 on the MCAT with average scores on the the other two (10 and an 11) is pretty much a done deal.

Your issue is the MCAT, not your GPA.

For the 1000th time on this forum, an SMP is not a backdoor into a US allopathic school around a crappy MCAT

Yes they will;) (not all, but there is one or two if you look), but I'm not encouraging OP to go this route.

To OP: don't be the guy/girl who gets in through the backdoor and decreases the reputation of the program. Put in the work everyone else puts in, and get in with your head high above your shoulders.
 
Hope isn't lost, though. You can probably still get an MCAT in before you start either program.
 
SMPs might over look it but med schools won't. Look at MSAR, a 7 on the MCAT with average scores on the the other two (10 and an 11) is pretty much a done deal.

Your issue is the MCAT, not your GPA.

For the 1000th time on this forum, an SMP is not a backdoor into a US allopathic school around a crappy MCAT

So true. Your GPA is within 1 SD of the average MATRICULANT. In other words, roughly 1/3 of people who got into medical school have a gpa lower than yours. I don't think that's your issue. Clearly, your MCAT needs some work. Verbal scores are correlated to step I scores (supposedly), so seeing a 7 in verbal is going to get you into VERY few schools. That doesn't mean it won't happen, but it does mean that you could have done a lot better if you had just gotten a 10 in verbal. In comparison to matriculants, you're 1 SD below the average, so at roughly the 15th percentile.

So given all of this, your first priority should be to retake the mcat. You need to get a couple more points in order to really have a good shot. While I wouldn't say that doing one of these programs after is necessarily a bad thing (you have a 3.56, so you could use a little boosting), I can say that I wouldn't do it if i were in your shoes. Its not really necessary in your case and there's a very big risk factor in terms of potential poor performance in med school classes. Spend some time volunteering or working, save up money for med school, travel, whatever. Just don't feel like you need this.

That being said, I feel like i'd choose G2 over Drexel. I'm going to assume that G2 is pretty similar to GT. But its a much higher caliber med school, nicer place to live (i hear), better admins, better history of getting people into med school, etc. If I had to choose between Drexel and GT (assuming its the same as G2 here), I would choose GT every day. That's my 2 cents anyway....
 
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