Real SMP! Would I even be considered?

[remonde]

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I am a senior at a university in North Carolina. I have a gap year coming up and will be applying for matriculation into med school for the Fall of 2013.

I would really love to take upper-level courses with the medical students; therefore, I am considering applying to one of the "real" SMP programs such as Georgetown's. However, I am a bit hesitant because I would like to know if I would even be considered?

A few of my stats:
Science GPA: 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.9
Research Assistant in a Molecular Neuroscience lab (2 years)
Organic chemistry teaching assistant (3 semesters)
Lead tutor in a CRLA recognized organization (1 year)
Hospital volunteering in a cardiac institute (2 years)
Shadowing and clinic experiences with disadvantaged clinics
Will be taking the MCAT in January 2012.

I don't want to take the courses to beef up my GPA, I just want to get exposure to the type of learning that goes on in medical school. I would also like to ask, do these SMPs give priority to individuals with lower GPAs?

 

[DrMidlife]

August 2012
Med school interview

Interviewer: "So, what are you doing this year?"
remonde: "I'm doing the Georgetown SMP"
Interviewer: "Uh, why?"
remonde: "I wanted to see what med school is like."
Interviewer: "You're paying $50k on top of a 4.0 to do an SMP?"
remond: (gulp) "um, yes?"
Interviewer: "What else did you think of doing?"
remond: "um, I don't know"
Interviewer: "How about getting a job so that you know about the working world in addition to the academic world?"
remond: "um, er, uh"
Interviewer: "How about traveling?"
remond: "um, er, uh"
Interviewer: "How about pursuing an interest?"
remond: "um, er, uh"
Interviewer: "You realize there's more to life than med school?"
remond: "um, er, uh"
Interviewer: "You realize that you still have to do 4 years of med school no matter how well you do in the SMP?
remond: "um, er, uh"
Interviewer: "This is bizarre." (turns to the other interviewer) "What do you think about this?"
Other interviewer: "I think you should do pretty much anything other than more academics. You already proved you can do academics. With that 4.0, it's like you're trying to cover something up, is there something going on?"
remond: "um, er, uh"

Pretty much the worst interview situation.

Don't do an SMP.

Best of luck to you.

 

[ModernAlchemist]

If you're interested, the USC SMP offers medical school classes and provides you with a strong background in global health issues. If you were in the above situation, you could talk about both instead of the "um,er,uh" reply.

 

[QQm]

If you're interested, the USC SMP offers medical school classes and provides you with a strong background in global health issues. If you were in the above situation, you could talk about both instead of the "um,er,uh" reply.

If the OP gets a subpar GPA in any SMP, his/her 4.0 will instantly lose all value. SMPs always pose a serious risk, and a few students in every class fail out and mortally wound their dreams of being a physician.

OP, your reasons for wanting an SMP seem better fulfilled by auditing medical school classes. It's not something most schools allow, but it wouldn't hurt you (or your nice GPA, more importantly) to call your nearby schools and ask.

 

[hockeyhy]

LOL, people with a 3.5 in an SMP is borderline, this is just ridiculous.