Only issue is that they're massively overpriced. I mean unless your gpa is really dismal it's probably a bad deal.
That being said, tell us a little about the KCUMB masters. How are outcomes? Do people get accepted frequently to KCUMB? What about MD schools?
Any financial aid?
It is definitely expensive and I used financial aid to help pay for it. I thought it was most definitely worth it in my case. I'm from Kansas City and KCUMB was by far my number one choice. The program is very intense but it is also incredibly helpful. Its a year long, we took 15 hours first semester (phys 1, cell bio, anatomy with lab, epidemiology, and biochem) and then 17 hours during the second semester (phys 2, molecular biology, genetics, anatomy 2 with lab, a research class, and immunology. We then had to write a thesis over the summer and take a comprehensive exam in order to graduate. The graduate program takes up a lot of time, so nobody was able to work a job during the school year. The biggest advantage of the program is that our classes were taught by the medical school professors. I was able to build relationships with the teachers and they wrote me great letters of recommendation because they knew my personality and my academic abilities. I also made a lot of friends, which will be helpful because they will be second years while I am a first year.
A lot of our classes used the same slides the medical students get, so when I start in the fall I will be very familiar with a lot of the information. The masters program is basically a med school try out, covering a lot of the same material ( some in more detail, some in less detail). We had about 30 people in our class and somewhere around 20 people were accepted into KCUMB or elsewhere. The people that weren't accepted are trying again this cycle, and they were most likely not originally accepted because of the gpa/mcat requirements or they wanted to go to dental or PA school.
All in all, its a fantastic program that really prepares you to do well during your first 2 years of med school (I think they said that graduates of the masters program are typically in the top 25% of the medical school). A lot of people have a hard time transitioning directly from undergrad to medical school. I barely had to study in undergrad, and I had to change my study habits to do well in the masters program. Studying every day was foreign to me, but I got used to it. The only downside is that it is very time consuming and it's expensive. That being said, it was well worth it for me. A lot of osteopathic schools have similar linkage programs. I believe LECOM has one, and it is significantly less expensive if that is something you are worried about.