Graduate School Fair

[kypreos]

So Today was the graduate school fair at my school. I looked up who was going to be attending and i couldnt believe that so many of the schools i woud be applying 2 would be there so i got all dressed up and skooted my way there this mourning at 10 am.

Here was the list of schools
PCOM
LECOM (bradenton)
UMDNJ-SOM
Drexel School of Medicine
Antigua School of Medicine
Ross University
I had no idea antigua( i think thats how you spell it lol) or drexel were gonna be there and Ross never showed up.

My overview of the of the recruiters there.
PCOM - Recruiter was unhelpfull and just plain didnt seem like he wanted to be there on a wednsday mourning. He was a young guy so i tried to talk to him i told him i was surprised so many people specialized from there DO program and nothing, guess he was having a bad day but i wasnt too excited to apply there.

LECOM - met with Ronald Berzniak and he was EXTREMELY helpful really nice guy. told me that i should apply NOW and that my grades and scores are good enough and he was like you should go home and apply right now for this academic year so i said i would think about it and he gave me his card and said email me if you do apply and i will hold your application for further transcripts(science GPA is a little Low 2.8) overall though it might just be my #1 choice because he was telling me about the most recent graduating class #'s and board scores and i was impressed. I also like the rotations they have for 3rd and 4th year, so i think LECOM is my #1 choice

UMDNJ-SOM- spoke with an really nice lady, her name was paula watkins and although i am NOT a fan of the 3rd year rotations at that school(12 weeks of primary care OUCH!!!) she really sold the program very well, was very knowledgable and helped me out A LOT. she assured me that you can specialize but the program was originally set up because NJ had low #'s pf primary care doctors. She liked me a ot and was impressed i guess so they will DEF. be a school im applying 2 and there campus is beautiful. you can tell 1 thing though they wanna make sure you wanna be a DO and not an MD and thats not your "backup". they want people who really like the philosophy and are very into OMM(not that thats a problem just saying. so i if u want to go there you need to establish yourself as a fan of osteopathic medicine to the fullest. they do weed out the applicants that way and i really likie how they choose which applicants to interview. she was just awsome.

Drexel- lady was very abrupt seemed nice but didnt really know that much about the program. i was also shocked that the mean mcat there is a 35. kinda higih when your not really a top top school. but she was real nice but im not interested(didnt know anything and when i asked what seperates them from other md programs she said research) so i was a little turned off.

Antigua never even went over 2
and i spoke with ross last year guy seemed real nice

but i was a little dissapointed with the recruiter at PCOM he seemed a little shocked that i knew some minute details that any premed looking to get into osteopathic medical school would know. but overall it was a good day and i think i like the aspect of PBL over lecture and since both SOM and Bradenton offer them as a curriculum i will be applying to both of them for sure. im still not ruling pcom out cause they have a great rep. but the guy just didnt really sell the school all that well i dunno and he didnt even ask me questions i kind of took over the conversation.
but im excited i think i might apply lecom this year 2 see if i get in. I thought it was 2 late but appearantly he said apply and send me an updated transcript. im wondering. ifi i could possibly send him an updated mcat score thats higher as well even tho he said my score was fine.

 

[beachblonde]

Drexel's mean MCAT score is 35?



Whew, got a good chuckle out of that. I assure you that there is no way that is correct.

While talking to recruiters is a nice way to get an idea of what the school is like, I wouldn't discount any school based upon a recruiter at a grad school fair. You definitely need to visit a school to get more of a flavor, especially if you're really interested in their program.

 

[Altruist]

Drexel's mean MCAT score is 35?



Whew, got a good chuckle out of that. I assure you that there is no way that is correct.

Via the Princeton Review:
Average MCAT Biology: 11.00
Average MCAT Physical: 10.00
Average MCAT Verbal: 10.00
Average MCAT Essay: P
Average UGrad GPA: 3.51
I don't know if that's "accepted" or matriculating. There's a post about this very issue in the SDN archives:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/archive/index.php/t-433776.html

Incidentally, my college roommate is at Drexel med now, and his stats are nowhere near either the GPA or MCAT scores listed, but that's just one data point. He got in off the waitlist 2 weeks before classes started, which I believe is not uncommon with Drexel--their waitlist really moves. You have to wonder why that would be the case...

Back to osteopathy... Do your research on PBL before you make up your mind. The LECOM-B thread is a good source, and there's a discussion in the med student forums about PBL and systems-based learning as well. While PBL sounds like a good match for me for med school, I had an upper-level chem class that used PBL, and it was terrible; so I can't help but be a litle skeptical.

 

[MossPoh]

There is no way the mean MCAT is a 35. Last year's MCAT averages were slightly higher than usual, but not THAT high.

 

[beachblonde]

There is no way the mean MCAT is a 35. Last year's MCAT averages were slightly higher than usual, but not THAT high.

Given all of the rumors regarding Drexel, it doesn't surprise me all that much that one of their recruiters would go out there and embellish their stats.

I also get the feeling that their "accepted" MCAT average is way higher than their matriculated average. I imagine a lot of superstar people use the school as a backup until they hear back from the top tier schools.

 

[scpod]

....While talking to recruiters is a nice way to get an idea of what the school is like, I wouldn't discount any school based upon a recruiter at a grad school fair....

Ummmmm..... note that Dr. Berezniak fom Lecom- B is not just a recruiter. He is, in fact, the Assistant Dean of Students, and he's the guy who writes those infamous dean's letters that get you into a residency (in addition to being head of admissions).

 

[beachblonde]

Ummmmm..... note that Dr. Berezniak fom Lecom- B is not just a recruiter. He is, in fact, the Assistant Dean of Students, and he's the guy who writes those infamous dean's letters that get you into a residency (in addition to being head of admissions).

Ok, the OP didn't say that he was a Dean, and why would I know that off the top of my head?

Him being one of the Deans means a lot more for getting an impression of the school than some low-level admissions staffer. Every time I've met a dean at a grad school fair they've always been extremely helpful, friendly, and nice. The other recruiters I've met have not been so pleasant.

 

[Bacchus]

PCOM, sorry to say, doesn't have to sell themselves. Other schools shouldn't have to either. PCOM has the reputation and the history of graduating amazing physicians to back it up. They are no frills. For some its a turn off, others a huge plus. Don't let this experience sway you. If you want to apply, definitely do it. Everyone has their off days, maybe today was the admissions rep's day.

 

[engineeredout]

I was at an AIChE (american institute of chemical engineers) conference in philly this past weekend. One of the things they had was an engineering graduate school fair. I had nothing else to do so I checked it out.

Its so amazing the difference in teh whole feel of the process between normal graduate school and medical school. It felt like the graduate schools were tripping over themselves to get decent engineering students to join their PhD programs. Certainly a huge difference from the med school application process where you feel like a worthless heap of crap throughout it.

 

[213965]

...Certainly a huge difference from the med school application process where you feel like a worthless heap of crap throughout it.

Not to mention you are PAID to get your PhD (instead of spending hundreds of thousands for an arguably comparable education)...

 

[kypreos]

PCOM, sorry to say, doesn't have to sell themselves. Other schools shouldn't have to either. PCOM has the reputation and the history of graduating amazing physicians to back it up. They are no frills. For some its a turn off, others a huge plus. Don't let this experience sway you. If you want to apply, definitely do it. Everyone has their off days, maybe today was the admissions rep's day.

Im not disagreeing with you, PCOM has a great reputation and the amazing physicians to back it up. but lets face it there are other schools out there that produce amazing physicians as well and when you have students(me or any other pre-med) who meets the gpa and mcat requirments for your school and even the requirments of other schools that are more difficult to get into, yes you do have to sell yourself as a program and try and get that "great" future doctor to come to your school. so i politely disagree.

 

[Bacchus]

Yeah well.