I read on this site that acceptance into linkage programs from SMP is like 1/10. I dont know if thats accurate or not but it seems like most people who do SMP dont get in then? That is incredibly upsetting...it is a lot of time and money to throw away. Also what grades do you need to be considered for admission? Do you need to have like a 3.5? If the curve works like A=top 10%, A-=next top 10%, it seems like having a 3.5 is highly unlikely since medical school is filled with incredibly smart people and being in the top 20% is very very difficult. What do you guys think?
getting nervous
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There are, at last count, 14 SMPs that put students into med school classes, grade those students against the med school curve, and substantially assist in getting SMP students into med school. You have the 93% claim from Tulane ACP, where that percentage of ACP grads immediately matriculate into Tulane. Then you have programs that are very vague about how many go where. And everything in between.
A student with a 3.5 who does an SMP is wasting money, no argument. By contrast, a good SMP consumer has a great MD/DO app, with a great MCAT score, probably at least one MD/DO app year, and has one and only one problem to solve: low undergrad GPA(s). Any other app problem can be more cheaply and effectively solved another way. Also, arguably, an undergrad GPA less than 3.0, that can be improved by taking more undergrad, should be maxed out within reason before doing an SMP. SMPs do not guarantee med school admission.
Note that there are a boatload of postbac or grad programs that get called "SMP" without doing anything to tangibly help you get into med school. Some of these non-SMPs do a great job putting their grads into med school, others, we have no idea.
See the GPA enhancement sticky at the top of the forum.
Best of luck to you.
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Depends on the program. Generally you want to think of an SMP as an audition for med school. You're dancing for your life. Under that pressure, getting less than A's in an SMP demonstrates that you're not able to come up with an outstanding performance to counteract your undergrad GPA.
And, fundamentally, if you're in a GPA comeback situation you have a great deal more to prove than a candidate with a good GPA. 25,000 pretty good apps get rejected by MD schools every year.
Meanwhile, as an old fart, who is the same age as the admissions committee members who are between you and a med school admission, I can tell you that nothing is more annoying to us elders than having to read texting abbreviations like u and ur. I can barely tolerate them in a text messaging context, and outside that medium they quite frankly make you come across as a 14 year old. Just saying.
Best of luck to you.
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EVMS put 20 out of 23 of its SMP students into MD schools last year. Tulane put I think 14 out of 15 into Tulane. So the curve won't keep you out.
The SMP class is very small compared to the size of the first year med school class. Fitting the entire SMP class into the med school curve top 10% is quite possible. And to avoid pissing off the first years, the SMP students are typically removed from their curve.
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