Medical Please help, Which SMP should I attend? Brown, Case Western, Penn & Tufts

[Mr.Smile12]

First, thank you for responding, I appreciate any help I can get! I am privileged to have gotten offers from Case Western (MS, Medical Physiology), Brown (MS, Medical Sciences-Gateways), Penn (Specialized Studies) and Tufts (MS, Biomedical). Case Western and Tufts are 18-24 months, Brown and Penn are 10.5 months. My counselor speaks very highly of CW, but I got really good vibes from my interviews at Brown. I am willing to take out the loans to do a longer program, but wonder if CW is really better than Brown? Penn of course has a great name, but it looks their SMP (called Specialized Studies) is not as good as is their Post-Bacc. Any advice about these programs is appreciated. My ultimate goal is to get into an MD program.

My first question is to determine what your own educational goals are in pursuing the SMP option. How much science prep work do you need? I am sure most people lean on shorter times or lower cost since you want to get into medical school as soon as you can, but you need to be sure you know your options with articulation pathways. We don't know where you are with your undergrad science GPA to note whether a shorter course of study is better for you. Otherwise, when it comes to brand-names, it doesn't really matter.

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[Goro]

Go with the
1) cheapest
2) shortest
3) has the best linkage deal

And these programs are all the same. I've interviewed many from each of them and others.

Is that U Penn you're referring to? If so, avoid. They seem to sucker punch very qualified students.

 

[Goro]

Thank you Goro! I am struggling between CWRU and Brown. Your advice would steer me to Brown (1 year) over CWRU (2 year). My counselor is steering me to CWRU (she says it is the 2nd best in the US). Do you have any experience with either of these 2 programs or grads from these programs? Would you consider applicants from these program equal in all respects - education, preparation, etc.?

I am a Biology major at a Top 5 school and I have done all the prerequisites. My cGPA is 3.2, sGPA is 3.1, MCAT 508. I am first gen and come from an underrep minority. I want to do an SMP to boost my academic performance. I had 2 less than stellar semesters early in my college career (a friend committed suicide and I lost focus). Since then, I have had a strong upward trend including a consistent 3.8 each semester for the last 1.5 years. I want to do an MD and think an SMP will help prove my ability to handle the curriculum. What would you advise? Does it really make no difference which of these programs I go to? I.e., aren't there any that are better respected than others in terms of preparation?

I have interviewed their students. That tells you that they are all are med school capable. They only caveat being MCAT score.

We don't keep track of what SMP grads come to our school, and I have no idea if any one program is better than the other.

There is no need for you to take two years to show your reinvention.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Take one year. Choose cheapest option. They will all get you to where you need to be if you do well.