LMU-DCOM MS Biomedical Professions 2019-2020 Cycle

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PaulP540 said:
I just had my interview and I was was crazy nervous. I've been barley sleeping cause of my nephews unfortunately and stuttered a lot during the interview =[. I really hope I'm still considered.
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I’m sure you did fine. I imagine the interview is just a formality.
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creativemind0306 said:
From what I can tell from the med. school schedule, it looks like the MGA and histo. lectures will be live streamed.. of course actual MGA labs will be on campus.. I think the MANS 100 is the classroom we will gather in to watch the live stream (I think..) but we might have to double check with Lindsay.. and our other graduate classes should be on campus since Knoxville is only a med school branch pretty much..
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I'm kind of annoyed that I'm paying so much for live streamed lectures with minimal interaction with the med school faculty. This was never told to us. Also, I would be even more annoyed if I was a med student at LMU Harrogate because they're paying just as much tuition as their Knoxville counterparts for live streamed lectures.

That's kind of what I understood from the email too, but it doesn't make sense that you have two medical schools but only enough faculty for one.
 
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How fast did you guys get a reply after the interview?
 
medstudent8 said:
I'm kind of annoyed that I'm paying so much for live streamed lectures with minimal interaction with the med school faculty. This was never told to us. Also, I would be even more annoyed if I was a med student at LMU Harrogate because they're paying just as much tuition as their Knoxville counterparts for live streamed lectures.

That's kind of what I understood from the email too, but it doesn't make sense that you have two medical schools but only enough faculty for one.
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Ya, I have to agree with u on that one.. does anyone know if the medical gross anatomy labs are led by the professors? Because I remember at my undergraduate institution for example, the chemistry lectures would be led by them but their chem labs would be led by ta's so idk how this works with med school classes such as this one..
 
creativemind0306 said:
Ya, I have to agree with u on that one.. does anyone know if the medical gross anatomy labs are led by the professors? Because I remember at my undergraduate institution for example, the chemistry lectures would be led by them but their chem labs would be led by ta's so idk how this works with med school classes such as this one..
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From what i have been told by Lindsey, there will be TAs in every single lecture and labs along with multiple faculty that are in the under the MGA / Histo Umbrella. They would be available for questions or help during these times. I was concerned as well. But with having multiple resources and tutors, i think it will be ok.
 
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docwoody11 said:
From what i have been told by Lindsey, there will be TAs in every single lecture and labs along with multiple faculty that are in the under the MGA / Histo Umbrella. They would be available for questions or help during these times. I was concerned as well. But with having multiple resources and tutors, i think it will be ok.
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Thank you!
 
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medstudent8 said:
Congrats! Out of curiosity is the program at PCOM 1 or 2 years?
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For the actual MS degree it's 2 years, but many students opt for the 1 year program. There's conditional acceptance for both granted you maintain a minimum GPA (3.3+) , MCAT (45-50th percentile), and a satisfactory interview. Worth looking into. Also there's two campuses; PCOM and PCOM-GA (I'll be attending PCOM-GA)
 
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premedbrah said:
For the actual MS degree it's 2 years, but many students opt for the 1 year program. There's conditional acceptance for both granted you maintain a minimum GPA (3.3+) , MCAT (45-50th percentile), and a satisfactory interview. Worth looking into. Also there's two campuses; PCOM and PCOM-GA (I'll be attending PCOM-GA)
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Can you pm me? I would love to talk to you about the pcom program.
 
premedbrah said:
For the actual MS degree it's 2 years, but many students opt for the 1 year program. There's conditional acceptance for both granted you maintain a minimum GPA (3.3+) , MCAT (45-50th percentile), and a satisfactory interview. Worth looking into. Also there's two campuses; PCOM and PCOM-GA (I'll be attending PCOM-GA)
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Is the GA campus in Atlanta?
 
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Does anyone know if orientation is mandatory or not?
 
Is anyone on this forum still trying to get in the anatomy bootcamp and is high priority on the waitlist (meaning only like 2 or 3 people are ahead of u)? There had been great movement (as I have been consistently checking) but throughout last week, there was no movement at all :( The program is starting in a week so I am getting really concerned since I would love to get the chance to get into the bootcamp :(

Small side note: if anyone has a spot saved but is no longer interested in doing the bootcamp, please please please please let them know ASAP to remove you because there are several of us waiting patiently, and really trying to get in the bootcamp :xf::( Thank you, and looking forward to meeting you all soon!!
 
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medstudent8 said:
Out of curiosity what is everyone doing for their healthcare insurance? I will be turning 26 this year and no longer covered by my parent's insurance. Does LMU offer it to their students?
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LMU does not offer health insurance . Your best bet is to find a place in middlesboro, ky (10 mins from campus). Kentucky offers Medicare to residents.
 
medstudent8 said:
I tried looking for one bedroom apartments and they were super hard to find :(
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this is quite late but I'm waitlisted for DCOM/currently accepted for AS program and just moved into my one bedroom yesterday and it is super nice! If you all are still looking for a place I can send you the contact info for the apartment complexes that I am living in.
 
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SEKYDr said:
this is quite late but I'm waitlisted for DCOM/currently accepted for AS program and just moved into my one bedroom yesterday and it is super nice! If you all are still looking for a place I can send you the contact info for the apartment complexes that I am living in.
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I have decided to live in school housing since this is my first time in TN and have no idea where anything is at.. Just out of curiosity, how far is this apartment? Also, if you don't mind me asking, how much do u pay per month for a one bedroom there? Thanks!
 
creativemind0306 said:
I have decided to live in school housing since this is my first time in TN and have no idea where anything is at.. Just out of curiosity, how far is this apartment? Also, if you don't mind me asking, how much do u pay per month for a one bedroom there? Thanks!
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I'm out of state too. It's 3 miles away and it is $595 without washer/drying and $630 with. Have to pay for utilities but water/sewage is included. It's Ball Realty for anyone who may still be interested. I highly recommend!!!
 
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SEKYDr said:
I'm out of state too. It's 3 miles away and it is $595 without washer/drying and $630 with. Have to pay for utilities but water/sewage is included. It's Ball Realty for anyone who may still be interested. I highly recommend!!!
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Thank you very much for ur info, I might def. consider this in the next years.. Since u already moved in, how does the area around the apartment look? Does it seem relatively good and safe? My main concern of living outside is that I dont know any of the towns/dont know which ones are good and safe, and which ones I should stay away from.. Thanks!
 
creativemind0306 said:
Thank you very much for ur info, I might def. consider this in the next years.. Since u already moved in, how does the area around the apartment look? Does it seem relatively good and safe? My main concern of living outside is that I dont know any of the towns/dont know which ones are good and safe, and which ones I should stay away from.. Thanks!
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Yes I think it's pretty much all student housing and right next to a high school
 
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Is Knoxville airport the only one we can fly into?
 
PaulP540 said:
Is Knoxville airport the only one we can fly into?
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I believe that this is the closest airport to Harrogate (at least from what I researched since Im not from the area).. but u can land in other airports like in Nashville (which should be cheaper) but u would have to drive for several hours to get to the school area (like close to 4 hours.)
 
For those of you planning on reviewing anatomy beforehand a bit on your own and are not doing the bootcamp, are there any good free online resources like videos, lectures, etc.. that you found most useful the first time you learned the subject or u recently discovered?? Also, what were the most helpful books to use for this subject: is it just a main textbook like Greys for details and a review book to go along with it like BRS? Thanks in advance and hope everyone is having a great 4th of July! :)
 
As a former Biomedical Professions program graduate, I can give you the stats of my class of 2018-2019;
Out of ~75 students and ~15 Spring newcomers / students from previous year, only 41% were interviewed and half of them were accepted.
Those who weren't accepted and were put on the waitlist haven't heard any updates with their statuses. I know some fellow classmates who met the MCAT and grad GPA threshold who deserve a seat at DCOM have still yet to be heard. It feels like the MS students are treated as if they are second class applicants because during interview and waitlist phases, almost all traditional applicants were accepted while MS students were immediately waitlisted.

With the new Biomedical Sciences program, I feel that they created this program to make more money off of students. Look at how the initial 30 units to graduate has been increased to 37! That's way more than other 1 year SMP including some of top, big name MD programs. Also it is mandatory to take Histology, Virology, Pharmacology, Immunology, and Vertebrae Physiology. Previously, only select few were allowed to take Histology (students who chose to stay another semester/year after obtaining their MS or students who asked the question when the administration was making the schedule) and Immunology was an elective. The new Virology, Pharmacology, and Vertebrae Physiology courses has never been taught before so I do not know how its going to be but I am assuming its going to be 1. hot mess because of how inception of new class are 2. difficult because of being 1. and classes like Pharmacology will be a new experience for many of the newcomers 3. Physiology that was taught this past spring and the last was an absolute mess with professors not knowing how to lecture and making the exam extremely difficult / not relating to lectured material; over half of the class was failing.

With that being said, the guaranteed interview threshold GPA of 3.4 might sound not too bad BUT with the new courses and heavy load, its gonna be quite difficult. Getting a 3.5 my year with only 30 credits was quite a feat so put that on perspective. Oh also with the new Knoxville campus opening, MGA AND Histology lecture will be streamed for both campuses and around 500 students will be enrolled in it. I think thats unfair because there's only like less than 10 MGA / Histo faculty which lacks interaction capacity with students and paying same amount of money for the recorded lectures. Although I did hear DCOM did hire some new faculty so there maybe more PhDs in the team but the school is known notoriously for poor faculty retention. Albeit Knoxville obviously offered quite an amenity compared to a rural village of Harrogate. Side note, since Histo similar to MGA and Neuroanatomy are DCOM classes, you'll be paying alittle more $$$ compared to traditional grad level courses. So LMU will be generating $$$ as they force new MS students to take Histology and extra 7 units previous masters students did not have to take...

About the Bootcamp, I think you have to pay $1000 for 3 weeks of intense anatomy classes taught by one of the faculty and few med student / grad student TAs. I can say that it is a nice introduction for how testing works at LMU in regards to both written and laboratory practicials but a published study done by LMU says it only helped achieve 3% higher score compared to those students who didn't take the bootcamp for the first MGA exam and the rest of the following exams showed no added benefit. In my opinion, I feel like that $1000 can be used for something else.

Obviously I am really biased and honest but my opinion in fact is shared by many of the MS program graduates.
I might get attacked by LMU loyalists, few that were accepted to DCOM because of super high stats AND/OR CONNECTIONS but oh well.

So, If I were interested in attending this school or the program, I kindly suggest to look elsewhere because I can guarantee you, you'll have a good time at a more known university located in a better location with tremendous amount of opportunities. I'm not doing this just for my own sake but I really don't want future students to go through what me and many of the students had to go through shelling out $$$ for the program that proved to have more cons than pro.
 
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Do you guys know how many credits transfer over if matriculated into DCOM? Is it just MGA and Histo?
 
PaulP540 said:
Do you guys know how many credits transfer over if matriculated into DCOM? Is it just MGA and Histo?
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and Neuroanatomy if u choose to take it for spring (one of the electives on the 2nd list)
 
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nineknives said:
Sorry for the double post, but I actually just got an email and I got an acceptance to DCOM's biomedical sciences program!
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Congrats and welcome! :)

WOW, I didn't know they accepted people THIS late since we are already starting the program in a couple of weeks!! Did they tell u anything about whether the class is still open or full now?
 
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WhistleBrewer said:
As a former Biomedical Professions program graduate, I can give you the stats of my class of 2018-2019;
Out of ~75 students and ~15 Spring newcomers / students from previous year, only 41% were interviewed and half of them were accepted.
Those who weren't accepted and were put on the waitlist haven't heard any updates with their statuses. I know some fellow classmates who met the MCAT and grad GPA threshold who deserve a seat at DCOM have still yet to be heard. It feels like the MS students are treated as if they are second class applicants because during interview and waitlist phases, almost all traditional applicants were accepted while MS students were immediately waitlisted.

With the new Biomedical Sciences program, I feel that they created this program to make more money off of students. Look at how the initial 30 units to graduate has been increased to 37! That's way more than other 1 year SMP including some of top, big name MD programs. Also it is mandatory to take Histology, Virology, Pharmacology, Immunology, and Vertebrae Physiology. Previously, only select few were allowed to take Histology (students who chose to stay another semester/year after obtaining their MS or students who asked the question when the administration was making the schedule) and Immunology was an elective. The new Virology, Pharmacology, and Vertebrae Physiology courses has never been taught before so I do not know how its going to be but I am assuming its going to be 1. hot mess because of how inception of new class are 2. difficult because of being 1. and classes like Pharmacology will be a new experience for many of the newcomers 3. Physiology that was taught this past spring and the last was an absolute mess with professors not knowing how to lecture and making the exam extremely difficult / not relating to lectured material; over half of the class was failing.

With that being said, the guaranteed interview threshold GPA of 3.4 might sound not too bad BUT with the new courses and heavy load, its gonna be quite difficult. Getting a 3.5 my year with only 30 credits was quite a feat so put that on perspective. Oh also with the new Knoxville campus opening, MGA AND Histology lecture will be streamed for both campuses and around 500 students will be enrolled in it. I think thats unfair because there's only like less than 10 MGA / Histo faculty which lacks interaction capacity with students and paying same amount of money for the recorded lectures. Although I did hear DCOM did hire some new faculty so there maybe more PhDs in the team but the school is known notoriously for poor faculty retention. Albeit Knoxville obviously offered quite an amenity compared to a rural village of Harrogate. Side note, since Histo similar to MGA and Neuroanatomy are DCOM classes, you'll be paying alittle more $$$ compared to traditional grad level courses. So LMU will be generating $$$ as they force new MS students to take Histology and extra 7 units previous masters students did not have to take...

About the Bootcamp, I think you have to pay $1000 for 3 weeks of intense anatomy classes taught by one of the faculty and few med student / grad student TAs. I can say that it is a nice introduction for how testing works at LMU in regards to both written and laboratory practicials but a published study done by LMU says it only helped achieve 3% higher score compared to those students who didn't take the bootcamp for the first MGA exam and the rest of the following exams showed no added benefit. In my opinion, I feel like that $1000 can be used for something else.

Obviously I am really biased and honest but my opinion in fact is shared by many of the MS program graduates.
I might get attacked by LMU loyalists, few that were accepted to DCOM because of super high stats AND/OR CONNECTIONS but oh well.

So, If I were interested in attending this school or the program, I kindly suggest to look elsewhere because I can guarantee you, you'll have a good time at a more known university located in a better location with tremendous amount of opportunities. I'm not doing this just for my own sake but I really don't want future students to go through what me and many of the students had to go through shelling out $$$ for the program that proved to have more cons than pro.
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Sigh this is quite concerning. I don’t know if I should apply next cycle now.
 
The program accepts people right up until the day of the Orientation. Don't you smell something fishy with these last minute acceptances? There is no cap for the Biomedical Science program and I believe they're trying to get as much as people accepted because recruitment for 2018-2019 was almost non-existent.

And you should be concerned if I were you @Dochopeful13! I am trying to warn prospective students from what you guys will be getting yourselves into. But remember, its up to you to decide whether to go here or not!
 
WhistleBrewer said:
The program accepts people right up until the day of the Orientation. Don't you smell something fishy with these last minute acceptances? There is no cap for the Biomedical Science program and I believe they're trying to get as much as people accepted because recruitment for 2018-2019 was almost non-existent.

And you should be concerned if I were you @Dochopeful13! I am trying to warn prospective students from what you guys will be getting yourselves into. But remember, its up to you to decide whether to go here or not!
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I appreciate your help. In your opinion the gurantee acceptance program is smoke and mirrors? I was really banking on that gurantee acceptance. Why do you think a 3.4 isn’t attainable??
 
creativemind0306 said:
Congrats and welcome! :)

WOW, I didn't know they accepted people THIS late since we are already starting the program in a couple of weeks!! Did they tell u anything about whether the class is still open or full now?
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Does anyone know if they are still accepting people? I wonder if some of these students are pre-vet/dental/pharmacy because w/ guaranteed acceptance it's going to be hard to hold 100+ seats for just med school.
 
medstudent8 said:
Does anyone know if they are still accepting people? I wonder if some of these students are pre-vet/dental/pharmacy because w/ guaranteed acceptance it's going to be hard to hold 100+ seats for just med school.
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When I was interviewed, I asked about other pre-professional degrees and the program director said there are a lot of pre-Dental, pre-PA and pre-OT. Also that this year they have had less pre-DO applicants this cycle.
 
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docwoody11 said:
When I was interviewed, I asked about other pre-professional degrees and the program director said there are a lot of pre-Dental, pre-PA and pre-OT. Also that this year they have had less pre-DO applicants this cycle.
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For the MS program correct?
 
nineknives said:
Can someone help me with a dumb question, please. If I paid the deposit to hold my seat, but then I get into another program after that I'd rather attend (due to being closer to home), what is the proper way to forgoe my acceptance to this program?

I understand that I'd lose the deposit but I just want to make sure I contact the right person. Would I also have to state the reason? Would I possibly pay an additional fee? I just want to make sure I do it professionally. Thank you.
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If that is the case, I think it would be best to contact Ms. Lindsay since she is the one responsible.. what do you guys think? I don't think there are any addition fees or anything like that but yes you will def. lose the deposit you paid.
 
medstudent8 said:
Does anyone know if they are still accepting people? I wonder if some of these students are pre vet/dental/pharmacy because w/ guaranteed acceptance it's going to be hard to hold 100+ seats for just med school.
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The vet students have their own masters students . Majority of the students will most likely be pre-DO. The 2018-2019 class had around 10 students in other tracks.
And I’m sure DCOM is not expecting over 100 students to make that 3.4 gpa cut off for guaranteed acceptance since the new course load is very rigorous.



I’d say just focus on working on what you can do to make sure you get the 3.4 for fall semester gpa
 
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To second @mywoes242 , the Vet people do have their own MS program. You'll take Advanced Cellular Biochemistry, Advanced Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology, and Immunology with them. Im guessing there are around 30 of them total. I did hear that the acceptance from that MS to Vet School was way more do-able than MSBS/AS to DCOM. I know few of them who got multiple Cs in the science classes but they still made it in.

With advising, there's always contradictions. Funny enough MSBS has only 1 advisor for ~70 whereas AS has 3-4 for ~25. Its crazy how only 1 advisor has to keep tabs with that many people. Because of it, I've heard cases of the advisor getting confused with other students and advising erroneously (needless to say, students who got wrong information about their MCAT / what to take did not make it to DCOM. Also what the advisor says is sometimes inconsistent with what AS advisors, DCOM, and Ms. Davis so its hard to trust what source the information is coming from.

My year (2018-2019) was by far the worst year. I've heard faculties talk about how so many people both MS and OMS I failed MGA or just plain withdrew from the course. In my personal opinion, some of the questions were very tricky and had multiple right answers choices which made things confusing on the written exams. As for the practicals, some structures are pinned strategically in awkward positions or structures not many have seen before. Very mischievous at times. Almost felt like the school is deliberately trying to fail students.

Fall Advanced Biochemistry Professor was DCOM whereas Spring was Math & Sciences. As such, the course content was very different because each Prof has their own style. More people got Cs in the Fall while Spring people got lucky and got As or Bs.

Spring Advanced Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology was outright impermissible for how the course was structured. There was 3 different professors teaching the whole course divided in 4 blocks. 1st Prof has been teaching the course for awhile so she knew how to lecture. Though her lecturing was difficult to understand but the exam questions were fair. 2nd Prof was new to the school and she's never taught a graduate course before. To make matters worst, she had difficulties manipulating smart boards, the lecture slides were barebones, and her objectives were all over the place. Her lecturing was very simple so it was undergraduate level easy to understand but her exam was the worst. The questions were inconsistent with the lecture slides, the questions from course topics were distributed unequally, was heavy Immunology focus despite the course being genetics / molecular biology, and was overall infuriating. Average was 71% with 9 As, 22 Bs, 24Cs, 24 Ds, 24 Fs. This exam caused many students to lose their A for the course. Finally the last professor was straight from DCOM who teaches Molecular Fundamentals of Medicine (MFM, OMS I class). His lecture slides were by far the most organized, literally read off the slides, and gave pointers on what concepts to focus. This man was God send and many did well on his exam compared to the rest.

With regards to the new 3.4 conditional acceptance statement, this is LMU's first time establishing something sound. They are usually sketchy and shady to say the least. I believe it is good that LMU now has tiers that illustrates the offering of interview for 3.0 and conditional for 3.4. I however must weigh in how difficult the program will be to earn the 3.4 the first semester with the Fall course offerings. MGA and Histo will be the hardest courses (Few earn As, most either B or C) while Colloquial (Almost all earns As) should be the easiest. I am again uncertain of Virology and Vertebrae Physiology as they're completely new.
 
healthisblank said:
Thank you for your response. The problem is that I believe you and a few other students I've talked to do as well. It just feels like we're boarding a sinking ship. However, we've also had other students who have completed the program reassure us multiple times that the class schedules we've been assigned is "doable, manageable as long as you put the effort in". Eighteen to nineteen units of rigorous graduate coursework is already daunting to say the least but when you talk about the professors being unreasonable, unorganized, and inconsistent that is not something within the students' control whatsoever. I wanted to send you a PM if that's okay with you.
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I don't doubt that some students were successful in the program but that's only few out of the majority. What they didn't tell you were the attrition rate, unfriendly academic environment, crypticness by the department, financial corruption, and other dramas that occurred within the bounds of LMU. Did you know that LMU actually has insiders on Facebook and Reddit that will counter anyone that "tarnishes" their image? As a graduate of the program and shelling so much money and time to the program that had false-promise, I feel that applicants and students have the right to know what goes on here.

Beside the point, 18-19 units is definitely A LOT and med students take aound 24 units. Remember that they expect you to have all As or Bs while med students can get Bs and Cs. I'm quite sure some med students won't even achieve as high of a GPA if they were to take grad classes here.

@healthisblank Sent you a PM!
 
WhistleBrewer said:
I don't doubt that some students were successful in the program but that's only few out of the majority. What they didn't tell you were the attrition rate, unfriendly academic environment, crypticness by the department, financial corruption, and other dramas that occurred within the bounds of LMU. Did you know that LMU actually has insiders on Facebook and Reddit that will counter anyone that "tarnishes" their image? As a graduate of the program and shelling so much money and time to the program that had false-promise, I feel that applicants and students have the right to know what goes on here.

Beside the point, 18-19 units is definitely A LOT and med students take aound 24 units. Remember that they expect you to have all As or Bs while med students can get Bs and Cs. I'm quite sure some med students won't even achieve as high of a GPA if they were to take grad classes here.

@healthisblank Sent you a PM!
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Would you mind PM’ing me as well? I would love to hear all the terrible and drama stories what happen in this program. I’m def thinking of not applying here anymore.
 
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I know that the application for the linkage calls for taking the mcat by this year but do you guys think it’s possible to take in January? I saw online that the Aacomas application deadline for LMU is March.
 
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