Congrats! Commented on your other thread too but I'm a current student here in the BP-MS program, happy to answer questions if you have any.
Ok, let me try to tackle this one question at a time.
Thank you @surgeryDO I have several questions if you don't mind answering.
1. How are the classes? By looking at the course catalogue, some of the mandatory courses seems like easy GPA boosters;
Colloquial Principles of Life Science x2 (1)
Grad. Life Sci. Research Design & Analysis (3)
Applied Ethics in Biomedical Sciences (3)
These classes, while not hard sciences, they are not just given to you as A's either, you will have to put in the time and work. Although there is not really significant studying you will be doing for these 3 classes, they do take up your time in the form of papers and assignments. You have to know how to manage your time to plan ahead for these or you will struggle. In a nutshell, colloquial is small group classes (7-10 people) analyzing and critiquing scientific literature. It helps you really improve in reading scientific papers. Research design and analysis (RDA) is a standard class that is what the name tells you, learning how to design studies and use statistics for research. Ethics is just that, ethics. You can get an A in all of these if you are professional, know how to manage your time, and put in the work, it's as simple as that.
Are they really though? I know that everyone is trying to earn a GPA over 3.0, thus these courses seems to look like low stakes class compared to the following;
Medical Gross Anatomy (MGA) (7)
Advanced Cellular Biochemistry (3)
Adv. Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology (3)
2. What classes do you recommend to be taken for electives? I know Histology and Neuroanatomy are shared with Medical Students.
In previous years, MS students used to take histology in the fall with the OMS-1's but this past fall we did not have that option. I'm not sure why that was or if they are removing it permanently from the MS curriculum. MGA and neuro are shared with the OMS-1's for sure still. For me, I chose to take neuro, research (3 cr), and dissection/prosection.
3. For MS students, should they live on campus? If so, which resident building? If no, are the outside housing better?
I live off campus and there are several off campus houses or apartments you can find to rent or you can live on campus if you prefer. It doesn't really matter where you live, it's just a preference. Everything is so small here that it's not going to take you longer than 15 min to get anywhere. From what I have heard though, I would not suggest living at the Inn, they have frequent fire alarms that go off in the middle of the night because of people cooking. If you want to live in Middlesboro you will be where all the grocery stores are but if you live in Harrogate you will be right next to school so it's just up to you. Some people also live in New Tazewell, TN so that they are closer to Knoxville and a couple people actually commute from Knoxville.
4. How do you like Harrogate? I'm originally from a small town but went to high school and college at an suburban area. It's a journey from where I am to get there but the faculty and the program are really worth it per review from other students so I am making a decision to go there.
Yes, the faculty and and school have been great so far. Everyone is very helpful and there is a real community feel here. It is small though! I've never lived in such a small area and it's been a tough adjustment for me personally but I know some people that it doesn't bother them.
5. Can you confirm that the new LMU medical school campus is opening in Knoxville? Do you know how many seats there are for that campus? I heard that it is opening next year and I am assuming lots of students want to go there right?
I have not heard anything about them opening a new campus or moving the medical school to Knoxville. All I know is that they bought a building in Knoxville but they are now renting it out to Ross. That's as much as I know and as far as I know, they have not made any other information public to anyone.
6. Lastly, have you gotten an interview with DCOM? If so, how was it and how many from BP was invited to it? From speaking with Hannah, she said about 70 seats are reserved at DCOM for the MS AS and BP students meaning that roughly 70% of students matriculate into it. Can you confirm??
They just started offering interviews for MS students but I have not heard anything yet from DCOM. I have heard that they are going to be spreading us out over a number of weeks instead of how they have done it in previous years interviewing all the MS students together. Most of us are still waiting to hear from DCOM about the interviews. Also, remember that the 70% matriculation from MS to DCOM here doesn't mean that the rest did not matriculate elsewhere. Many of my classmates have had interviews in multiple places.
I'm sorry if I overwhelmed you with the questons. I'm just so looking forward for this school and gaining that admission to DCOM!!
Overall, it has been a great program and experience. It really opened my eyes to how not ready I was for medical school. And I would definitely recommend doing the anatomy bootcamp before classes start if you are able to! Let me know if you have any other questions! I hope this helps a little bit.
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