How Medical Schools View 1-year Masters Programs?

[Doughboy88X]

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Long story short I am about to graduate and my GPA will most likely be a 3.2. I went to speak to my pre-med advisor about possible options such as DIY post-bacc and SMPs. He gave me a link to a program called 4+1 and I have never heard of it. It is basically an accelerated masters for biomedical informatics but is completed online. He proceeded to tell me that he has had many students in my current situation that have used the program as a stepping stone to medical school with great success and that is how it is advertised. I was curious as to how med schools view these programs if you do well in them? Given that the curriculum is not the same as a traditional SMP which normally entails taking upper-level bio courses with medical students how might this be interpreted? The course load consists mostly of classes in biomedical informatics and such and doesn't mirror an SMP which has many classes in biology, physiology and such. The good thing is that this program can be started in the last year of undergrad and completed in a year which would mean I would graduate with a bachelors in biology and a masters in biomedical informatics. Would it be best to do a traditional SMP or do this 1-year masters program? Given that both are somewhat financially straining I would prefer to do the 4+1 but want to maximize my probability of getting into medical school and am considering the more expensive SMP. Any opinions? Thank you!

 

[AllBleedingStops]

He proceeded to tell me that he has had many students in my current situation that have used the program as a stepping stone to medical school with great success and that is how it is advertised. I was curious as to how med schools view these programs if you do well in them?

Ask for actual numbers and contact former students who are now in med school.

 

[Catalystik]

Ask for actual numbers and contact former students who are now in med school.

And also ask how many matriculated to MD schools vs DO medical schools.

AACOMAS, the DO med school application service, calculates undergrad and grad GPAs together to create a composite cGPA and sGPA. And from what I've read, DO schools don't discriminate against online coursework. If DO is your goal, you can probably achieve a similar boost in GPAs by taking (much cheaper) do-it-yourself postbac classes at a community college.

MD schools don't merge undergrad and grad GPAs; each remains on its own separate line. And most MD schools don't give grad school grades much weight when making their decisions, except for SMPs.

 

[Goro]

Long story short I am about to graduate and my GPA will most likely be a 3.2. I went to speak to my pre-med advisor about possible options such as DIY post-bacc and SMPs. He gave me a link to a program called 4+1 and I have never heard of it. It is basically an accelerated masters for biomedical informatics but is completed online. He proceeded to tell me that he has had many students in my current situation that have used the program as a stepping stone to medical school with great success and that is how it is advertised. I was curious as to how med schools view these programs if you do well in them? Given that the curriculum is not the same as a traditional SMP which normally entails taking upper-level bio courses with medical students how might this be interpreted? The course load consists mostly of classes in biomedical informatics and such and doesn't mirror an SMP which has many classes in biology, physiology and such. The good thing is that this program can be started in the last year of undergrad and completed in a year which would mean I would graduate with a bachelors in biology and a masters in biomedical informatics. Would it be best to do a traditional SMP or do this 1-year masters program? Given that both are somewhat financially straining I would prefer to do the 4+1 but want to maximize my probability of getting into medical school and am considering the more expensive SMP. Any opinions? Thank you!

Read this. And don't do online.
Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention

 

[SadAsian]

And also ask how many matriculated to MD schools vs DO medical schools.

AACOMAS, the DO med school application service, calculates undergrad and grad GPAs together to create a composite cGPA and sGPA. And from what I've read, DO schools don't discriminate against online coursework. If DO is your goal, you can probably achieve a similar boost in GPAs by taking (much cheaper) do-it-yourself postbac classes at a community college.

MD schools don't merge undergrad and grad GPAs; each remains on its own separate line. And most MD schools don't give grad school grades much weight when making their decisions, except for SMPs.

How much weight do you believe is given for good SMP GPAs (3.85-4.0) if the undergraduate GPA is below average (3.3-3.6) or lower (3.0-3.3)?

 

[Catalystik]

How much weight do you believe is given for good SMP GPAs (3.85-4.0) if the undergraduate GPA is below average (3.3-3.6) or lower (3.0-3.3)?

Some schools allow an SMP GPA to override the undergrad GPA. Each school has their own weighting system which makes it hard to generalize how SMPs are viewed across the board.

And of course the MCAT score is a big part of the equation.

 

[SadAsian]

Some schools allow an SMP GPA to override the undergrad GPA. Each school has their own weighting system which makes it hard to generalize how SMPs are viewed across the board.

And of course the MCAT score is a big part of the equation.

Thank you! I appreciate the insight 😀