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Hello everyone. I am desperate. What do you guys think of the program? Is it a good program? If I do well will my chances improve? Any input is greatly appreciated.
MCP Hahnemann; IMS program
- Thread starter katy
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Sorry I am not answering your question, but I thought I would help you out if you are interested in post bac programs.
I don't know about MCPs program, but I know of Chicago Medical College's Master of Physiology program.
I have a friend that didn't get in anywhere and so he went to this program. He did VERY well in the program and was accepted into the 2nd year class (had a 3.9 gpa). Well, i know that I wouldn't have done that well, but he told me that his classmates (who got a 3.3 or above) were accepted into the 1st year. So Chicago does away with reapplying and mcats again. Good luck to you!
I don't know about MCPs program, but I know of Chicago Medical College's Master of Physiology program.
I have a friend that didn't get in anywhere and so he went to this program. He did VERY well in the program and was accepted into the 2nd year class (had a 3.9 gpa). Well, i know that I wouldn't have done that well, but he told me that his classmates (who got a 3.3 or above) were accepted into the 1st year. So Chicago does away with reapplying and mcats again. Good luck to you!
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Heather,
See my reply to 'Some advice' (June 8th 2001) in the pre-allopathic boards. My advice, go with Chicago.
See my reply to 'Some advice' (June 8th 2001) in the pre-allopathic boards. My advice, go with Chicago.
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joojoobeware: Did your friend retake the MCAT prior to entering the program? And did he just apply in the same year while he was attenging Chicago Med's MS program, or did he apply after a full year? And I imagine he had to reapply via AAMCAS, etc before getting accepted right? This is really awesome that you wrote this because I am currently trying to decide between MCP and Chicago Med myself...although Im decicing between the MSP and the MS in Medical Imaging program.
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I'm currently a student in the IMS program, and I've been accepted to Hahnemann as a first year student this fall. Not to sound trite, but you get out of the program what you put into it. For me, I think it has been a great program. It's given me the option to experience the first year of medschool classes, and I've proved to myself (and more importantly admissions committees) that I'm capable of handling the workload. However, beware. This has not been an easy year, and certainly has been very stressful. In addition to taking most of the first year curriculum with the med students, we are forced to do better than them in order to prove ourselves and raise our GPA's for admissions committees to see. This has been what's made the year stressful. I've talked with first year students who went through IMS program previously, and they have verified this... one student summed it up to me when I started by pointing out that he only had to pass his classes, whereas we had to do well. At any rate, I'm not trying to scare you, and the material isn't really that difficult to learn... it mostly comes down to putting the time in to study and learn it. If you're willing to do this you'll do fine. However, if you try to skate by, you run the risk of doing mediocre to poor, and this could hurt your chances even more for acceptance to medschool. As stressful as it's been this year, I think it's been a great segue into starting the first year. Be honest with yourself, and ask what your primary reason for wanting to do the IMS program is (beyond the obvious answer of wanting to go to medschool). Are you trying to improve your grades? If so this might be a good choice if you are willing to put the time in. The other nice option of this program is that it is only a year long, as opposed to other graduate programs. Of course you have the option of staying a second year to get your master's, but most students accepted to med schools leave after the first year... as for getting an "in" with MCP Hahnemann... there's no guarantee. You are guaranteed an interview (and that's it!) if you complete the first semester with all B's or better. From this point on whether the committee accepts you is up to them... last year many student who got the guaranteed interviews were accepted, but it seems this year many of the guaranteed interview students have been snubbed... it's completely random and fluctuates from year to year... the good news is that many students who do get all B's or better stand great shot at acceptance at either this school or others... As I said, you will get out of the program what you put into it. If you put the time in and do well, you will already be one-up on your classmates when you actually do start medical school. I have heard from our advisor's here that former IMSers who were accepted to medical schools often do very well in their class standings, simply because they have developed early-on the study habits necessary in med school. Hope this helps you out (sorry I wrote a novel...).
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I don't know the whole logistics, but i do know that he didn't retake the mcat after he received his masters in physiology. Don't get me wrong, he worked his butt off. It was tough i'm sure. The reason why they give those kinds of opportunities is because he is taking courses with the med students and also graded with them. Fortunately, he did better then the majority of the medstudents and the school thought he deserved a position with the second year. He did tell me that his classmates who did a little worse also got in.
I'm not sure if he reapplied using AMCAS, but I'm almost positive that he didn't. He didn't have to wait a year. He was taken in as soon as his first year was over. Hope that helps. My best advice is to call the department if you have any questions. good luck!
I'm not sure if he reapplied using AMCAS, but I'm almost positive that he didn't. He didn't have to wait a year. He was taken in as soon as his first year was over. Hope that helps. My best advice is to call the department if you have any questions. good luck!
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One thing that you'll want to consider about either CMS Master's program is whether you would be happy to go to Finch for medical school. From student's I've talked to in both programs, if you do well you will almost certainly get into Finch. However, while talking to my post-bacc. advisor at Loyola Univ. Chicago, she told me that the Master's programs at Finch don't carry much weight elsewhere, even in the Chicago area. Obviously, a medical school is better than no medical school for most, but you'll want to think seriously about going to CMS:
You'll be living in North Chicago, which is way, way north of the city. I think I could get to Wisconsin faster than I could to downtown Chicago from Finch. North Chicago is also a depressed area. The area immediately around the school is O.K., but a few blocks either way and you'll see a place that is not very vibrant, both economically and as far as other things to do. In addition, most of the Finch students I have talked to only went there because they did not get in anywhere else. That leads to a less collegial atmosphere than a school where people really wanted to go to that school. On the plus side, you get to do your clinical years in Chicago itself. Consequently, if you can make it through the first two years in North Chicago, you'll get some great clinical experiences according to a friend I have, who is doing his rotations now. I personally don't think I could make it through the first two years because I wouldn't be happy; After my undergraduate experience at NU, I knew that to do well I need to be in a place I would be happy academically. If you think you could be happy there, than these programs offer a great way to prove to Finch that you belong in medical school.
Thus, you may be able to get into Finch and skip a year as a previous poster stated (I also have a friend who did this), but you may not seem more competitive at med. schools besides Finch. I don't know why this is, but if I had to guess it would have something to do with Finch's perceived image, especially the pay for admission scandal they had some years back. Obviously they don't do that anymore, but for a group as entrenched as that in academic medicine, memories are long and Finch Master's students are not going to get as much respect in the admissions game as they probably deserve. Of course, a lot of this is based on my personal experience with Finch students and my advisor's opinion, so I recommend that you call the school to get a more accurate and complete picture. If you have any other questions, feel free to post them here. Hope this helps.
Tony
You'll be living in North Chicago, which is way, way north of the city. I think I could get to Wisconsin faster than I could to downtown Chicago from Finch. North Chicago is also a depressed area. The area immediately around the school is O.K., but a few blocks either way and you'll see a place that is not very vibrant, both economically and as far as other things to do. In addition, most of the Finch students I have talked to only went there because they did not get in anywhere else. That leads to a less collegial atmosphere than a school where people really wanted to go to that school. On the plus side, you get to do your clinical years in Chicago itself. Consequently, if you can make it through the first two years in North Chicago, you'll get some great clinical experiences according to a friend I have, who is doing his rotations now. I personally don't think I could make it through the first two years because I wouldn't be happy; After my undergraduate experience at NU, I knew that to do well I need to be in a place I would be happy academically. If you think you could be happy there, than these programs offer a great way to prove to Finch that you belong in medical school.
Thus, you may be able to get into Finch and skip a year as a previous poster stated (I also have a friend who did this), but you may not seem more competitive at med. schools besides Finch. I don't know why this is, but if I had to guess it would have something to do with Finch's perceived image, especially the pay for admission scandal they had some years back. Obviously they don't do that anymore, but for a group as entrenched as that in academic medicine, memories are long and Finch Master's students are not going to get as much respect in the admissions game as they probably deserve. Of course, a lot of this is based on my personal experience with Finch students and my advisor's opinion, so I recommend that you call the school to get a more accurate and complete picture. If you have any other questions, feel free to post them here. Hope this helps.
Tony
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Heather-
As for competitiveness WITHIN the IMS program, it is completely 100% nonexistent. Since we are graded against the med students and not ourselves, I've found that everyone is much more relaxed than what I experienced in undergrad at UCSD. Our grades are determined by what the med school mean is set at, and therefore how we do as an IMS class is irrelevant. IMS'ers are therefore so much more willing to help each other, and this is much more conducive to learning... not to mention much more pleasant.
As for MCAT scores, I had a much higher than average score, so I'm not a good guide as to whom they accept here... although I can say that I know many people here in the program with scores around 27 (this is the number you mentioned). I'd guess and say that the average in IMS is about 28-30, but this is my personal opinion and not fact. There are a significant number of people with lower scores, so don't be discouraged by MCAT #'s... like med schools they look at the whole candidate, not just one particular score.
As for housing, I didn't live in the dorms available, although most of my friends did (about 65-70% IMS live in dorms). I've been to Stiles (the name of the dorms) many times, and they are alright. No anal RA's like in college (that I saw), and very affordable for center city. Plus, living in center city is lots of fun if you like urban areas, although not good if you are easily distracted. Stiles is across the street from our classes... which unfortunately are simulcast from the main basic science campus, which is where near I live. In all reality, the simulcast is no big deal, even though I was apprehensive about it before starting. There is a 2-way mic set up in case you want to ask questions, and many utilized this, but I found it easier to just write an email to a prof if I had a question. If you really want to go to the actual class in person, the administratin doesn't tell you this, but there is a shuttle that drops off/picks up right in front of Stiles and takes you to the Queen Lane campus (where the classes are actually taught). However, even though I live about 2 blocks from Queen Lane, I ended up going downtown to get my classes simulcast since that's where most of my friends/classmates were at. The option is yours, and the simulcast really is no big deal...
I loved IMS, and even though I've had several acceptances at other schools I'm staying here at MCP Hahnemann as a first year student this coming year. It's a great school with state-of-the-art teaching facilities/devices. I've never been to a school where the profs actually care a lot about teaching, as opposed to just doing their research (not to say they are slackers in research though). Furthermore, partially because of IMS, they actually videotape all of their lectures, so if you're not a real class person (like me) you can catch the essential one's on tape if you missed it... As I said before this program's a lot of work as far as time is concerned... very much akin to the first year of med school, but if you put the time in you'll do fine, and it will only prepare you to do well once you start med school. JUST DON'T PUT OFF STUDYING... if you do you'll be worse off than before starting the program. If you have any more specific questions about IMS I'd be happy to answer them at [email protected]
Best of luck to you heather and realize that if medicine is your goal you will eventually get there as long as you have faith and persevere....
As for competitiveness WITHIN the IMS program, it is completely 100% nonexistent. Since we are graded against the med students and not ourselves, I've found that everyone is much more relaxed than what I experienced in undergrad at UCSD. Our grades are determined by what the med school mean is set at, and therefore how we do as an IMS class is irrelevant. IMS'ers are therefore so much more willing to help each other, and this is much more conducive to learning... not to mention much more pleasant.
As for MCAT scores, I had a much higher than average score, so I'm not a good guide as to whom they accept here... although I can say that I know many people here in the program with scores around 27 (this is the number you mentioned). I'd guess and say that the average in IMS is about 28-30, but this is my personal opinion and not fact. There are a significant number of people with lower scores, so don't be discouraged by MCAT #'s... like med schools they look at the whole candidate, not just one particular score.
As for housing, I didn't live in the dorms available, although most of my friends did (about 65-70% IMS live in dorms). I've been to Stiles (the name of the dorms) many times, and they are alright. No anal RA's like in college (that I saw), and very affordable for center city. Plus, living in center city is lots of fun if you like urban areas, although not good if you are easily distracted. Stiles is across the street from our classes... which unfortunately are simulcast from the main basic science campus, which is where near I live. In all reality, the simulcast is no big deal, even though I was apprehensive about it before starting. There is a 2-way mic set up in case you want to ask questions, and many utilized this, but I found it easier to just write an email to a prof if I had a question. If you really want to go to the actual class in person, the administratin doesn't tell you this, but there is a shuttle that drops off/picks up right in front of Stiles and takes you to the Queen Lane campus (where the classes are actually taught). However, even though I live about 2 blocks from Queen Lane, I ended up going downtown to get my classes simulcast since that's where most of my friends/classmates were at. The option is yours, and the simulcast really is no big deal...
I loved IMS, and even though I've had several acceptances at other schools I'm staying here at MCP Hahnemann as a first year student this coming year. It's a great school with state-of-the-art teaching facilities/devices. I've never been to a school where the profs actually care a lot about teaching, as opposed to just doing their research (not to say they are slackers in research though). Furthermore, partially because of IMS, they actually videotape all of their lectures, so if you're not a real class person (like me) you can catch the essential one's on tape if you missed it... As I said before this program's a lot of work as far as time is concerned... very much akin to the first year of med school, but if you put the time in you'll do fine, and it will only prepare you to do well once you start med school. JUST DON'T PUT OFF STUDYING... if you do you'll be worse off than before starting the program. If you have any more specific questions about IMS I'd be happy to answer them at [email protected]
Best of luck to you heather and realize that if medicine is your goal you will eventually get there as long as you have faith and persevere....
