Rosalind Franklin BMS 2019-2020
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New SDN Article: “The Boards”: USMLE Overview
I kinda feel like an incoming college freshman asking this stuff lol.. but I want to make sure I have everything I need before classes start.
For current students - do you do much by way of physically taking notes during class or is the information delivered by power point (or similar format)? Basically I'm wondering if I need to bother buying notebooks, pens, etc. or if I can just bring my chromebook with me.
Which raises the second question: would a basic chromebook be good enough to get me through? I have a gaming laptop that is more powerful and runs Windows, but it is definitely not portable, lol. I'm pretty sure it would be fine but again, I don't want to be caught unprepared.
I'm sort of old fashioned and would typically take physical notes in undergrad because the act of writing helped me stay focused, but I know this is a whole 'nother ball game. I plan on using Anki quite a bit, but I'm just not really sure what to expect as far as how the classes are run and how the info is delivered.
Any insight is greatly appreciated!!
For current students - do you do much by way of physically taking notes during class or is the information delivered by power point (or similar format)? Basically I'm wondering if I need to bother buying notebooks, pens, etc. or if I can just bring my chromebook with me.
Which raises the second question: would a basic chromebook be good enough to get me through? I have a gaming laptop that is more powerful and runs Windows, but it is definitely not portable, lol. I'm pretty sure it would be fine but again, I don't want to be caught unprepared.
I'm sort of old fashioned and would typically take physical notes in undergrad because the act of writing helped me stay focused, but I know this is a whole 'nother ball game. I plan on using Anki quite a bit, but I'm just not really sure what to expect as far as how the classes are run and how the info is delivered.
Any insight is greatly appreciated!!
I did a lot of writing for my notes. Some people prefer blank pens, I would occasionally buy the notes from the bookstore and annotate those. You can also use an iPad and write your notes there or simply type up on the PDF via your computer. I personally kept to writing on my notes and iPad.
I need to submit my primary AMCAS application by the end of July to receive the Committee Letter by my undergraduate university. Should I include any information regarding RFUBMS in the "Schools Attended" section even though the program has not started yet? Any help would be greatly appreciated..thanks!
Yes, include it in and mark you will be attending the program.
Hey guys just got my acceptance letter today, Can someone like catch me up to speed on what I need prior, I haven't done anything. Was mainly working on my secondaries. 
They should email you with next steps, but generally:Hey guys just got my acceptance letter today, Can someone like catch me up to speed on what I need prior, I haven't done anything. Was mainly working on my secondaries.
1.) submit intent to enroll, pay deposit
2.) set up student account
3.) secure housing
4.) get immunizations, physicals, etc
5.) Make sure your financial aid is set to go
6.) Health insurance
7.) orientation week is August 6-10
Good luck! Congrats on your acceptance!
Thank you! And if someone is looking to split an apartment or something holla at ya boy. I'm looking at the woodlands apartment right now
you should submit your housing application asap. i heard someone was put on the waitlist
I was just wondering if everyone already got assigned an advisor ? I haven't received contact and wasn't sure if/when we register for classes.
I do know that you will be automatically enrolled in classes so you do not have to worry about registering! Depending on when you got accepted, it took them about two weeks to send me my advisor’s contact information.
Hi guys I had a quick question. I know this thread is older but its more of a general question. Is taking MCAT suggested during the program if I apply with a GRE score? And going off of that, would applying with only a GRE hurt my chances? Science was not my area of study in undergrad and I am finishing a post bacc at Loyola in Spring with pre med requisites and don't think I should rush my MCAT, even if I were to take it again, but already have a good GRE score from undergrad.
You can get accepted into this program with a GRE score if you are happy with your score. The thing that’s different about this program is that ideally you can matriculate into the medical school right after you graduate from BMS. So with that, you’re going to want to submit your AMCAS and MCAT scores during the program itself. For that reason, most students have their updated scores in and have retaken the test by December of your BMS year (CMS is not rolling admissions for BMS students you can submit your primary and secondary close to the deadline). If your goal isn’t to go into medical school right after BMS, then you can of course delay retaking the MCAT for as long as you want, but keep in mind that the guaranteed interview is only applicable while you are in the program. I hope this helps!
I'm not sure if I would believe that. Usually SMPs are for people with decent/high MCATs with poor or weak undergraduate performance. "has no weight" I would be very skeptical of that.
nah, this BMS program is kinda different, plenty of people i knew in the different years that had piss poor mcats, avg undergrad performance. Really just get into the program, get all As, dont be socially akward during your interviews (harder said than done) and ull be in.
Hey, building off what cptnjack said, I'm a current BMS student and although it does seem like a dubious claim it is real. At the start of the BMS year the Vice-Dean of CMS admissions (the med school here) had a large Q&A session where she mentioned that if your MCAT was good enough to get into BMS, it's good enough for CMS as long as you follow the standards that cptnjack talked about. Could she have been lying to all our faces? Sure, it's not impossible. Is her claim probably true? Yeah probably, considering shes the Vice-Dean of med school admissions.
Yeah, I'd love to give a quick check in! So we currently have an exam coming up in about a week and a half, which is combined exam #2 covering Biochem and CMCB. First five weeks involved a lot of work with either Pop Health or Heath Admin, which are the two online course options you have. I did Pop Health and it was a fair amount of essays and discussion posts, but definitely doable. We also had a class called Foundations of Clinical Medicine, which was a Pass/Fail course that was very similar to an EMT-B course. So those first five weeks were really easy. I used them to get ahead in as much as I could, since I expected to be hit hard once Biochem & CMCB started, which turned out to be a good idea. Exams are every three weeks, and I did pretty decently on the first combined exam.
I genuinely feel that the professors and advisors are here to help, and I feel that I have a good amount of resources to help me succeed. We have MMI practice starting this week to give everyone a good amount of support for the interviews. The amount of material to cover is huge, at least for me. I like to think that I'm not the dumbest guy in the room, but definitely not the smartest. I was pretty lazy in undergrad, which is my own fault, so now I feel ready to grind away at this to get into CMS. I study roughly 8 hours a day. Not 8 hours of sitting in the library messing around, but 8 hours of fairly concentrated study. The first three weeks had about 6 lectures a week, these three have about 9 lectures a week, and next exam period has about 12 per week. So the difficulty does seem to ramp up, but so does my own readiness and ability to process the material. Sorry for the unorganized spew of info. I'd be happy to try to answer whatever questions I can.
I genuinely feel that the professors and advisors are here to help, and I feel that I have a good amount of resources to help me succeed. We have MMI practice starting this week to give everyone a good amount of support for the interviews. The amount of material to cover is huge, at least for me. I like to think that I'm not the dumbest guy in the room, but definitely not the smartest. I was pretty lazy in undergrad, which is my own fault, so now I feel ready to grind away at this to get into CMS. I study roughly 8 hours a day. Not 8 hours of sitting in the library messing around, but 8 hours of fairly concentrated study. The first three weeks had about 6 lectures a week, these three have about 9 lectures a week, and next exam period has about 12 per week. So the difficulty does seem to ramp up, but so does my own readiness and ability to process the material. Sorry for the unorganized spew of info. I'd be happy to try to answer whatever questions I can.
Hi guys,
I'm a BMS current student and I was wondering if there are any old alumni who can please answer some questions for me. I'm an OOS student coming to BMS with a low MCAT (sub 500) and 3.4 UG GPA. In the program so far, I have not been doing too well after the second exam. On the first exam I received mid/low 80s for CMCB and Biochem. But on the second exam I got high 70s, which leaves me at a borderline right now for the Bs in both courses. I do plan to work really hard and try my best to finish off the courses strong for the remaining two exams. Realistically, I think I can attain Bs in both CMCB and Biochem, while having As in the certificate courses. My question is: Is it actually possible to get into CMS with getting Bs in both of those classes? I am a very strong interviewer and I hope to kill the interview as well. Are there any alumni out there who were or have any friends who were in a similar situation with also having the same stats coming into the program? How did the program play out for them? Any suggestions on how I can improve and is it worth for me to still be in the program (investing so much $$) if my chances for CMS are low now? Someone please give me some honest, realistic insight. Really nervous and stressed about this and would like to get some perspective since everything is on the line right now.
I'm a BMS current student and I was wondering if there are any old alumni who can please answer some questions for me. I'm an OOS student coming to BMS with a low MCAT (sub 500) and 3.4 UG GPA. In the program so far, I have not been doing too well after the second exam. On the first exam I received mid/low 80s for CMCB and Biochem. But on the second exam I got high 70s, which leaves me at a borderline right now for the Bs in both courses. I do plan to work really hard and try my best to finish off the courses strong for the remaining two exams. Realistically, I think I can attain Bs in both CMCB and Biochem, while having As in the certificate courses. My question is: Is it actually possible to get into CMS with getting Bs in both of those classes? I am a very strong interviewer and I hope to kill the interview as well. Are there any alumni out there who were or have any friends who were in a similar situation with also having the same stats coming into the program? How did the program play out for them? Any suggestions on how I can improve and is it worth for me to still be in the program (investing so much $$) if my chances for CMS are low now? Someone please give me some honest, realistic insight. Really nervous and stressed about this and would like to get some perspective since everything is on the line right now.
I was accepted into CMS from BMS with Bs in all of the main courses and As in the certificate courses. I believe my interview went well and I did complete all of the required volunteer hours. So my point is it's very possible. I will say that my UG GPA was also a 3.4 but I did have a MCAT in the 51x range. I only say that because I'm not sure of your sub 500 MCAT...try talking to the BMS advisors and see what their input is. From what I understand if your MCAT is good enough for BMS its good enough for CMS but I'm not sure if that holds true for a sub 500. I would still stick out the program no matter what they say. If you come into a SMP and leave due to academic difficulties I suspect your future med school chances are completely sunk. Say you complete BMS but are not accepted to CMS, you can retake the MCAT and with a higher score and with As and Bs you should be able to gain acceptance elsewhere. Another option would be applying PA or podiatry at Rosalind. I would keep trying to work as hard as you can to maintain a B at the minimum and really work for an A in the upcoming neuroscience and physiology courses.
Thank you so much! Your thoughts really did provide me with a little bit of hope and confidence. I will work really hard to keep up my grades and do well. I was reading some posts on SDN that talked about how people having higher Bs were the ones that usually made it to CMS over people with lower Bs (percentage wise). Do you think that held true to your situation? Like does the percentage matter a lot or is the B just a B?
Unfortunately I don't really know what they think of a low vs a high B. I can say I was in the 85-90 range for all of my classes. But you have a lot of time to make it up too, I performed steadily better on each of the exams as I learned how to study and you can too! I also thought most of the professors and material were more interesting toward the end of CMCB and biochem and that made studying for longs periods a bit more palatable.
idk if things have changed since my year, but the percentages of B's didnt matter, just dont get a C and killlllll your interview, all easier said than done but ...like crocsandsocks said, if you come into BMS smp and leave b/c of grades or have a poor overall grade showing at the end, ur chances of med are null; always have a plan B ! if your mcat is good for bMS its good for CMS, that was told since my year and onwards, and im gonna put faith in saying it holds the same now too, but study hard!
Current CMS and former BMS from last year here. From personal experience, I actually ended Biochem with an 80.9% so that was CLOSE. Like others have said, just focus on getting those Bs and you'll be fine academic-wise.
Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions!