Hard (perhaps crazy) question

[HenryHiggins]

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I have the choice of attending Morehouse SOM this fall, and might have the choice to go to the Tulane ACP program. The Tulane ACP is an SMP, but with very strong links to Tulane medical school. If I get accepted to the ACP, is it completely crazy to consider waiting a year to probably go to Tulane, or definitely go now to Morehouse? I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons here, and I suppose it really comes down to the quality of education at each school and the opportunities to get into more competitive residency programs. Money, while always important, comes second for me in comparison to getting into the career of choice.

 

[Appless]

I have the choice of attending Morehouse SOM this fall, and might have the choice to go to the Tulane ACP program. The Tulane ACP is an SMP, but with very strong links to Tulane medical school. If I get accepted to the ACP, is it completely crazy to consider waiting a year to probably go to Tulane, or definitely go now to Morehouse? I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons here, and I suppose it really comes down to the quality of education at each school and the opportunities to get into more competitive residency programs. Money, while always important, comes second for me in comparison to getting into the career of choice.

go to moorhouse. Tulane is not some top tier med school that will open doors or something. Both are equal in the prestige category and probably considered "low tier" and neither is going to open doors more then the other. Tulane if you are interested in ID might give you a leg up as i believe they are a leader in tropical diseases and such but it still wouldnt be worth it as ID is a non competitive field to get into. Its not worth defering for a chance only. Go to Moorhouse end of story, never give up an acceptance for a chance at one it doesnt make sense.

 

[illegallysmooth]

Are you out of your mind? Go to medical school.

 

[mspeedwagon]

👍 You're crazy if you think there is a choice here.

Are you out of your mind? Go to medical school.

 

[AyCaramba]

Understand that you will have to admit to medical schools that you have been accepted to an allopathic US medical school in the past and chose not to go (many ask this question, as you might have noticed) and you will have to explain yourself. Go to med school.

 

[justdoit31]

Even though Morehouse is considered a lower tier school it isn't at much of a different level than Tulane. I would say go. And I can assure you that the training you will get at Grady will be top notch. I wouldn't borrow extra money for an SMP when I got in already and if you were to reapply you would have to mark that you turned down a school and explaining it would be a challenge.

 

[longhorn09]

Remember, a bird in your hand is worth 2 in the bush.

 

[d1ony5u5]

It would be foolish. Extra debt and a good chance that you will end up getting nowhere if you turn Morehouse down...

I strongly advise against it.

 

[the humming sea]

I think that this questions represents a larger problem in the pre-med community. If you are worried about choosing and you would rather go to Tulane than wait a year.

We are all probably going to be working until we are 70 anyways, what is one more year in the waiting game?

 

[GoSpursGo]

I have the choice of attending Morehouse SOM this fall, and might have the choice to go to the Tulane ACP program. The Tulane ACP is an SMP, but with very strong links to Tulane medical school. If I get accepted to the ACP, is it completely crazy to consider waiting a year to probably go to Tulane, or definitely go now to Morehouse? I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons here, and I suppose it really comes down to the quality of education at each school and the opportunities to get into more competitive residency programs. Money, while always important, comes second for me in comparison to getting into the career of choice.

How strong is "probably?"

My understanding of most/all SMPs is that you have to perform at or near the very top of the SMP class to get admitted to the med school class. Everyone goes into an SMP thinking they'll be "that guy" who just aces the program and gets auto-accepted to med school the following year. It sounds so nice in theory.

The reality is not everyone can be "that guy." Just look at it from a risk/rewards perspective. Even if you had, say, an 80% chance of getting into Tulane through their SMP (which I think is a very, very generous estimate), what TANGIBLE benefit have you gained? Most people agree that if you work hard in med school, you can get just about any residency you want from just about any school; why work your butt off in an SMP for a year when you could be working your butt off in med school and getting closer to your residency of choice? And obviously, the price of closing the door to the one med school that decided to admit you this year is very high.

I think you're overthinking things. Take the acceptance and run; if you decline it and then flame out in the SMP, you would regret the decision for a long time.