Help Me Decide: FIU HWCOM Graduate Certificate vs. USF Masters in Medical Sciences (MSMS P3)

[IsaacMaccabee]

Hi All,

I've been accepted to both the Graduate Certificate in Molecular and Biomedical Sciences program at Florida International University (FIU) Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM) and the Masters of Science in Medical Sciences, Pre-Professional Program (MSMS P3/MSP3) at the University of South Florida (USF).

A little bit of my background:
Completed Undergrad in 2005 (Yes, I know I'm old).
Completed Postbacc in 2014, CGPA: 3.94, SGPA: 3.93
No Current MCAT Score (I took the last test offered under the previous format in January 2015 - did not score well, i.e., <30)
Primary Goal: U.S. Medical School
Backup Goal: U.S. Dental School

I'm extremely skeptical of my ability to score well on the MCAT and fear that it will be the biggest obstacle to admission to a U.S. medical school. FIU guarantees an interview to HWCOM if you meet a specified set of criteria, USF does not. FIU is a much smaller class size, roughly 60, compared to USF, roughly 200. Completing USF, I'll have a Masters, FIU only a certificate.

I'm having a tough time deciding which to choose and I would really appreciate any feedback, thank you.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[IsaacMaccabee]

Additional factors to consider:

FIU: classes meet on Tuesday/Thursday from 12-8, "only" 20 credits required to complete the program, only two semesters
USF: classes meet Monday-Thursday, 32 credits required to complete the program, two semesters plus summer session required

Thank you for any assistance!

 

[deleted1010425]

what's the 411 on this? I assumed USF cause I didn't see/hear your name at FIU. if Isaac is your real name.

 

[IsaacMaccabee]

what's the 411 on this? I assumed USF cause I didn't see/hear your name at FIU. if Isaac is your real name.

My real name is not Isaac and I am writing this response from the medical library on the campus of FIU. That should answer your question. Are you in the FIU certificate program as well?

 

[deleted1010425]

ah, I see. No, I dropped out due to unforeseen circumstances. FIY a "guarantee interview" doesn't mean a guarantee spot. Good luck!

 

[IsaacMaccabee]

ah, I see. No, I dropped out due to unforeseen circumstances. Good luck!

I'm sorry to hear that. I think I remember you. I hope all is well and best of luck to you too.

 

[DSS]

I hope this post serves as a warning to anyone considering this program. I strongly recommend not to do this program. Do not fall for the fake line that says Guaranteed admission or guaranteed interview. It is all a scam. Like literally a scam just to take your money. I am about to explain why.
1. They blatantly lie about the program. They told me and on their website "The basic science courses are taught by faculty in the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and are similar to those taught during the first year of medical school. The topics are presented in interactive lectures, team-based learning, and small-group or whole-class discussion sessions." The faculty are not teaching medical students and are rather just recent PhDs with no teaching experience. The second thing is a lie too because the lectures were 0% interactive. One of the faculty members straight-up read from slides and never looked up during the entire lecture. How is this interactive? The whole statement is a LIE.
2. They also are really unorganized and all over the place. The Academic Director just wants to make the program difficult without actually trying to help students. She has no intention of trying to help you get into medical school. Her class is so difficult that don't expect a grade above B+ and that's if you are the most intelligent person with a ton of research experience. I got straight As in undergrad but did poorly on my MCAT making it difficult to get into medical schools. But I got a B in her class after killing myself.
3. If you are trying to do a program to learn and do well, don't do this because you will be cramming all the time. They give 3 lectures with 100 slides for micro and 50+ slides for the other 2 classes and expect you to know that with the material taught last week for a quiz that Thursday. Cramming is not a good skill to learn for medical school so this program will not benefit you much.
4. The worst was when apparently the Academic Director "thought" someone was cheating and she refused to let us see what we missed on our quizzes. How am I supposed to improve and see what I missed and learn from my mistakes if you don't let me look at it? This was done solely just to screw us up. When I asked the Academic Director if we can schedule office hours to see what we missed and figure out how to improve on the exam, she refused. Like how can you refuse to help a student?
5. The number of people at the beginning was 60+ and by November, it was only 38 something in the class and more planning to drop by the end of the semester.

Please listen to me when I say this. Do not waste your time and money trying to do this program. There are plenty of other programs that will get you where you need to be. This program is not going to give you a GPA boost. No matter how hard you try, it will not help you. I regret doing this program so much and have to cry every day at what a bad decision I had made.

I am here to answer any other questions or information you need but I wish someone had written about this program that would have prevented me from doing this program. And I just want to help others.

 

[IsaacMaccabee]

I hope this post serves as a warning to anyone considering this program. I strongly recommend not to do this program. Do not fall for the fake line that says Guaranteed admission or guaranteed interview. It is all a scam. Like literally a scam just to take your money. I am about to explain why.
1. They blatantly lie about the program. They told me and on their website "The basic science courses are taught by faculty in the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and are similar to those taught during the first year of medical school. The topics are presented in interactive lectures, team-based learning, and small-group or whole-class discussion sessions." The faculty are not teaching medical students and are rather just recent PhDs with no teaching experience. The second thing is a lie too because the lectures were 0% interactive. One of the faculty members straight-up read from slides and never looked up during the entire lecture. How is this interactive? The whole statement is a LIE.
2. They also are really unorganized and all over the place. The Academic Director just wants to make the program difficult without actually trying to help students. She has no intention of trying to help you get into medical school. Her class is so difficult that don't expect a grade above B+ and that's if you are the most intelligent person with a ton of research experience. I got straight As in undergrad but did poorly on my MCAT making it difficult to get into medical schools. But I got a B in her class after killing myself.
3. If you are trying to do a program to learn and do well, don't do this because you will be cramming all the time. They give 3 lectures with 100 slides for micro and 50+ slides for the other 2 classes and expect you to know that with the material taught last week for a quiz that Thursday. Cramming is not a good skill to learn for medical school so this program will not benefit you much.
4. The worst was when apparently the Academic Director "thought" someone was cheating and she refused to let us see what we missed on our quizzes. How am I supposed to improve and see what I missed and learn from my mistakes if you don't let me look at it? This was done solely just to screw us up. When I asked the Academic Director if we can schedule office hours to see what we missed and figure out how to improve on the exam, she refused. Like how can you refuse to help a student?
5. The number of people at the beginning was 60+ and by November, it was only 38 something in the class and more planning to drop by the end of the semester.

Please listen to me when I say this. Do not waste your time and money trying to do this program. There are plenty of other programs that will get you where you need to be. This program is not going to give you a GPA boost. No matter how hard you try, it will not help you. I regret doing this program so much and have to cry every day at what a bad decision I had made.

I am here to answer any other questions or information you need but I wish someone had written about this program that would have prevented me from doing this program. And I just want to help others.

Were you in this year's cohort, i.e., 2019-2020? If so, did you recently drop?

 

[DSS]

Were you in this year's cohort, i.e., 2019-2020? If so, did you recently drop?

I am in the current cohort but the drop date has passed so I will be dropping once the semester ends.