Thanks! I'm nervous about getting in....talk about being anxious.
Rosalind Franklin BMS for Fall 2010/2011
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Are you sure they require that International Transcript Service for Canadian applicants?? Even AMCAS doesn't require that.
To answer a private msg I received...about what to do for the summer and how to prepare...
Don't worry about the courses except physiology (can't say for neuro because it starts on Wed). MCB is worth 5 credits, Biochem 6 credits ---Physio is worth 14 credits. I never took the upper year cell bio or biochem (some basic intro cell bio and biochem only) and I still ended up with high 90s in both courses. Not to say that they were easy - they weren't!!! However, I did take medical phys for almost all years of undergrad. But don't sweat too much if you haven't taken MCB and biochem in the past.
Personally, if you want to do anything this summer, READ UP ON BRS PHYSIOLOGY. This book is so good at summarizing the basics before you learn what they teach in class. Personally, I didn't always use it because of time constraints, but I used it for some units. You will also get weekly reviews for the med phys course, and for some units like the GI tract where I was really confused about what to study for - this was made clear in the summary notes provided by the TAs.
I think a poster posted the schedule somewhere in this forum - that will give you a idea what to study for from the BRS book.
Physiology is the most improtant coursein first year not only because it is worht the most credits but it realtes to alot of other stuff you will learn int he future. For the most part the physio profs are passionate about what they teach and very willing to help, but that doesn`t make them great teachers/ communicators. Some of the lectures given by profs and the notes are a jumbling mess. If I didn't take physiology thoruhgout undergard I would have been so lost in this course because they don't really introduce basic concepts. It also doesn't help that they teach extremely fast - look at the schedule for renal, cardio, respiratory units ---- I don't know how I managed to get out of those units alive..
Try to relax and mentally prepare for next year, it is goign to be rough!!!! And that is probably an understatmenet. I will post more on how to get As later when I am less busy and neuro is almost done.
Anyways, physiology finished up today, first round of CMS acceptances for BMSers wth all As (I assume) should be coming up - I heard a rumor that the adcom is meeting sometime this month. Hopefully that is the critieria they go by....this has been a LONG YEAR..
Good luck to the future-BMSers, this is a great program!! Bottom line, if you belong in med school you will rock this program.
Don't worry about the courses except physiology (can't say for neuro because it starts on Wed). MCB is worth 5 credits, Biochem 6 credits ---Physio is worth 14 credits. I never took the upper year cell bio or biochem (some basic intro cell bio and biochem only) and I still ended up with high 90s in both courses. Not to say that they were easy - they weren't!!! However, I did take medical phys for almost all years of undergrad. But don't sweat too much if you haven't taken MCB and biochem in the past.
Personally, if you want to do anything this summer, READ UP ON BRS PHYSIOLOGY. This book is so good at summarizing the basics before you learn what they teach in class. Personally, I didn't always use it because of time constraints, but I used it for some units. You will also get weekly reviews for the med phys course, and for some units like the GI tract where I was really confused about what to study for - this was made clear in the summary notes provided by the TAs.
I think a poster posted the schedule somewhere in this forum - that will give you a idea what to study for from the BRS book.
Physiology is the most improtant coursein first year not only because it is worht the most credits but it realtes to alot of other stuff you will learn int he future. For the most part the physio profs are passionate about what they teach and very willing to help, but that doesn`t make them great teachers/ communicators. Some of the lectures given by profs and the notes are a jumbling mess. If I didn't take physiology thoruhgout undergard I would have been so lost in this course because they don't really introduce basic concepts. It also doesn't help that they teach extremely fast - look at the schedule for renal, cardio, respiratory units ---- I don't know how I managed to get out of those units alive..
Try to relax and mentally prepare for next year, it is goign to be rough!!!! And that is probably an understatmenet. I will post more on how to get As later when I am less busy and neuro is almost done.
Anyways, physiology finished up today, first round of CMS acceptances for BMSers wth all As (I assume) should be coming up - I heard a rumor that the adcom is meeting sometime this month. Hopefully that is the critieria they go by....this has been a LONG YEAR..
Good luck to the future-BMSers, this is a great program!! Bottom line, if you belong in med school you will rock this program.
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I am planning on applying to this program next year. I am kind of a weird applicant though. I only finished 3 years of undergrad (no degree), got accepted to pharmacy school, and will be graduating in the spring of 2012. My MCAT is decent >30, but my ugGPA is not very good (c: 3.1 s: 3.0). Everything else is decent (research, shadowing, leadership, etc.) Do you think I will get a shot at the RFU BMS? I know most people have UG degrees before applying so I am not exactly sure how they look at grad degrees. I tried emailing the admissions office a few weeks ago but have gotten no response. Note: I don't mean to hijack this thread and make it in to a WAMC's one (although it really sounds as though i'm doing just that;I just felt that this thread would have the most people knowledgable about the RFU BMS program 
). Thanks in advance.
). Thanks in advance.
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Hey Guys,
This is a response to a private message I got many weeks ago here is my advice for getting As in the BMS program. This is stuff I would have wanted to hear before starting the program.
Going to lecture: you will hear from Dr. Tappert that going to class is important. In my case, I thought doing this was a disadvantage because of the lecture recordings available on D2L. I would use VLC player and watch them at 2X speed. So basically, I went to class according to my schedule and spent 2 times less time that other students that actually went to lecture. I haven't gone to class regularly since November and I have had much more time to study as a result.
HOWEVER, you must have a reliable recorder. For our courses (i.e. physiology) a professor was doing it, so you could trust that it would be up that night. For other coruses, very reliable students did them so you knew it would be up the night after classes.
Textbooks: I cant speak for neuro. But for all other 3 CMS courses, buying textbooks are useless. There were 2 questions in biochem the entire year exclusively from the textbook. However, for the first one, you didnt need knowledge from the textbook, but the second question (Dr. Harrisons heme unit) he said in lecture read these 3 pages. In that case, you can just rent it from the library. In biochem, they told us that 25% of the exams are based on the textbook which in my opinion was not true. That 25% caused me to waste money on the textbook I opened a couple of times.
I would recommend you buy BRS physiology for physiology class and maybe the respiratory physiology textbook. To be honest, everyone I talked to including the prof said that the resp. physiology book by West was crucial to read I tried to read it many many many times never got it. In the end I just gave up and I still ended up with almost 100 on the respiraotyr phys exam. So for the 3 CMS courses (not counting neuro), I would buy the BRS phys textbook and maybe the resp phys textbook.
Basic Strategy: The basic strategy to get As is to memorize (and memorize early), do TONS of past exam questions EARLY, and repeat over and over again. DONT FALL BEHIND. This isnt undergrad where you have time between exams, you donth ave time here to rest much you have exams every 2 weeks. Obviously there will be times when you dont want to work and you fall behind, we are all human Ill admit that there were times when I took many days off because I was burnt out but I had to work extra hard to catch up.
Recap à memorize à do exams (early) à repeat those two steps over and over again à DONT FALL BEHIND.
Some students save exam questions until the end, that is not good. Save the most recent exam for a couple days before the exam, but for all other versions, every time you finish reviewing a lecture do all relevant exam questions to that lecture. Doing exam questions is the ONLY way you can judge if you understand the material and it is better to make sure you understand it early, or else you will have to get help. You will get tons of exam questions from your orientation advisors, TAs, profs also hand them out. So make sure you ask your orientation advisors for past exams.
1) Summer: Read my previous post on BRS physiology (textbook). Physiology is the most important course because it is worth the most (14 credits more than biochem and cell bio combined 2 times more than neuro). So getting an A in this course gives you the best chance of an acceptance. As I talked about in my previous post, if you have never taken physiology, you might be overwhelmed because the professors although passionate and truly dedicated, may not be the greatest communicators/teachers. Their notes can be overwhelming, presentations a jumbling mess, etc. In addition, basics are not covered and the course goes very very fast (especially renal, respiratory, cardio units). It is important to read up on BRS physiology to grasp the basics during the summer.
There are also weekly review sessions I didnt go to any of them but I used the slide show notes. They were useful especially for the GI unit which to me was very confusing. Luckily, I just memorized the TAs slide show notes and read over the profs notes.
2) Medical Cell Bio (5 credits): This course is one of the first ones you take during the first quarter. In my opinion, it was the most straightforward out of all CMS courses. You should get an A in this course if you dont get an A in this course, I have a hard time imagining how you will get an A in the other courses. This course has alot of memorization and you basically have to memorize everything. But in addition, it is important to do tons of practice questions which are not well organized because how the course has changed over the years. Anyhow, memorize and do tons of practice questions. Supplement by getting good lecture notes. Some profs in this course were not that great at lecturing, luckily for the most part all profs in this course have excellent notes accompanying their slides.
3) Biochemistry (6 credits): This course was pretty challenging for me because I was never exposed to alot of the biochem they taught. The most important thing in this course is to follow the strategy for med cell bio memorization, tons of practice exams, and good lecture notes. For cell bio, they provide you with very comprehensive notes, not so much in biochem. So you want to make sure you annotate your lecture slides with very good lecture notes.
For the first test, I was crushed when I studied so hard and ended up with an 85. After that I had a high 90 following the first test. I think the reason for my success was I didnt even bother looking at the notes accompanying the slides the profs gave. I completely/100% followed the lecture slides and supplemented the lecture sldies with notes I got from listening to lecture. If you compare the accompanying notes that the biochem profs give, it is basically the same thing but it includes alot of other stuff you dont need to know and it also takes longer to read through. So I just scrapped the lecture notes and followed 100% the lecture slides.
4) Physiology (14 credits): The mother of all coruses- again follow the basic strategy, dont fall behind, memorize, do tons of practice questions.
5) Track courses: Do HCAM. Look at my previous post doing any other track puts you at a disadvantage because you will be doing more work than other students. In other words, you will waste more time on courses that really dont matter to the adcom, and spend less time on CMS courses that do matter to the adcom.
This is a response to a private message I got many weeks ago here is my advice for getting As in the BMS program. This is stuff I would have wanted to hear before starting the program.
Going to lecture: you will hear from Dr. Tappert that going to class is important. In my case, I thought doing this was a disadvantage because of the lecture recordings available on D2L. I would use VLC player and watch them at 2X speed. So basically, I went to class according to my schedule and spent 2 times less time that other students that actually went to lecture. I haven't gone to class regularly since November and I have had much more time to study as a result.
HOWEVER, you must have a reliable recorder. For our courses (i.e. physiology) a professor was doing it, so you could trust that it would be up that night. For other coruses, very reliable students did them so you knew it would be up the night after classes.
Textbooks: I cant speak for neuro. But for all other 3 CMS courses, buying textbooks are useless. There were 2 questions in biochem the entire year exclusively from the textbook. However, for the first one, you didnt need knowledge from the textbook, but the second question (Dr. Harrisons heme unit) he said in lecture read these 3 pages. In that case, you can just rent it from the library. In biochem, they told us that 25% of the exams are based on the textbook which in my opinion was not true. That 25% caused me to waste money on the textbook I opened a couple of times.
I would recommend you buy BRS physiology for physiology class and maybe the respiratory physiology textbook. To be honest, everyone I talked to including the prof said that the resp. physiology book by West was crucial to read I tried to read it many many many times never got it. In the end I just gave up and I still ended up with almost 100 on the respiraotyr phys exam. So for the 3 CMS courses (not counting neuro), I would buy the BRS phys textbook and maybe the resp phys textbook.
Basic Strategy: The basic strategy to get As is to memorize (and memorize early), do TONS of past exam questions EARLY, and repeat over and over again. DONT FALL BEHIND. This isnt undergrad where you have time between exams, you donth ave time here to rest much you have exams every 2 weeks. Obviously there will be times when you dont want to work and you fall behind, we are all human Ill admit that there were times when I took many days off because I was burnt out but I had to work extra hard to catch up.
Recap à memorize à do exams (early) à repeat those two steps over and over again à DONT FALL BEHIND.
Some students save exam questions until the end, that is not good. Save the most recent exam for a couple days before the exam, but for all other versions, every time you finish reviewing a lecture do all relevant exam questions to that lecture. Doing exam questions is the ONLY way you can judge if you understand the material and it is better to make sure you understand it early, or else you will have to get help. You will get tons of exam questions from your orientation advisors, TAs, profs also hand them out. So make sure you ask your orientation advisors for past exams.
1) Summer: Read my previous post on BRS physiology (textbook). Physiology is the most important course because it is worth the most (14 credits more than biochem and cell bio combined 2 times more than neuro). So getting an A in this course gives you the best chance of an acceptance. As I talked about in my previous post, if you have never taken physiology, you might be overwhelmed because the professors although passionate and truly dedicated, may not be the greatest communicators/teachers. Their notes can be overwhelming, presentations a jumbling mess, etc. In addition, basics are not covered and the course goes very very fast (especially renal, respiratory, cardio units). It is important to read up on BRS physiology to grasp the basics during the summer.
There are also weekly review sessions I didnt go to any of them but I used the slide show notes. They were useful especially for the GI unit which to me was very confusing. Luckily, I just memorized the TAs slide show notes and read over the profs notes.
2) Medical Cell Bio (5 credits): This course is one of the first ones you take during the first quarter. In my opinion, it was the most straightforward out of all CMS courses. You should get an A in this course if you dont get an A in this course, I have a hard time imagining how you will get an A in the other courses. This course has alot of memorization and you basically have to memorize everything. But in addition, it is important to do tons of practice questions which are not well organized because how the course has changed over the years. Anyhow, memorize and do tons of practice questions. Supplement by getting good lecture notes. Some profs in this course were not that great at lecturing, luckily for the most part all profs in this course have excellent notes accompanying their slides.
3) Biochemistry (6 credits): This course was pretty challenging for me because I was never exposed to alot of the biochem they taught. The most important thing in this course is to follow the strategy for med cell bio memorization, tons of practice exams, and good lecture notes. For cell bio, they provide you with very comprehensive notes, not so much in biochem. So you want to make sure you annotate your lecture slides with very good lecture notes.
For the first test, I was crushed when I studied so hard and ended up with an 85. After that I had a high 90 following the first test. I think the reason for my success was I didnt even bother looking at the notes accompanying the slides the profs gave. I completely/100% followed the lecture slides and supplemented the lecture sldies with notes I got from listening to lecture. If you compare the accompanying notes that the biochem profs give, it is basically the same thing but it includes alot of other stuff you dont need to know and it also takes longer to read through. So I just scrapped the lecture notes and followed 100% the lecture slides.
4) Physiology (14 credits): The mother of all coruses- again follow the basic strategy, dont fall behind, memorize, do tons of practice questions.
5) Track courses: Do HCAM. Look at my previous post doing any other track puts you at a disadvantage because you will be doing more work than other students. In other words, you will waste more time on courses that really dont matter to the adcom, and spend less time on CMS courses that do matter to the adcom.
Is it too late to apply to this program? I read above that people are getting waitlisted, and the RFU application itself states that they do rolling admissions until the class is filled.
Either way, this seems like a really solid program based on the linkage and lower tuition (vs. UT or Gtown). I would appreciate it if anyone could comment on my chances at getting into RFU BMS. Briefly, my stats are 35 MCAT and 3.2 gpa, lots of volunteering/shadowing/all-that-good-stuff.
Thanks!!
Either way, this seems like a really solid program based on the linkage and lower tuition (vs. UT or Gtown). I would appreciate it if anyone could comment on my chances at getting into RFU BMS. Briefly, my stats are 35 MCAT and 3.2 gpa, lots of volunteering/shadowing/all-that-good-stuff.
Thanks!!
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Hey Drake,
Its very generous and kind of you to discuss the BMS experience in such rich detail. We all (future bmsers) owe you big time.
Good luck with neuro, hope you rock it
Its very generous and kind of you to discuss the BMS experience in such rich detail. We all (future bmsers) owe you big time.
Good luck with neuro, hope you rock it
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hey, guys
what do you think is their gpa cut-off? do you know of anyone who was accepted with a lower gpa?[/QUOT
I called the admission office last month and asked that question and one of the counselors told me 3.25. I'm still going to apply even though my GPA may isn't 3.25.
I called the admission office last month and asked that question and one of the counselors told me 3.25. I'm still going to apply even though my GPA may isn't 3.25.
Thanks for the heads up! For sure still apply, you never know!
hey, guys
what do you think is their gpa cut-off? do you know of anyone who was accepted with a lower gpa?[/QUOT
I called the admission office last month and asked that question and one of the counselors told me 3.25. I'm still going to apply even though my GPA may isn't 3.25.
My cGPA is not even 3.0 and I got in. There's more to it then just the gpa.
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I knowwwww
been wondering the same thing
come on bmsers..show some passion
personally, i am super happy about starting bms @ rfu this fall
can't wait!!!
Hi Guys,
I am a current BMS student. All I can say is that we are all busy with Neuroscience which just started 2 weeks ago. We have our first Neuro exam on Monday... Also, don't forget to enjoy your summer. The program is not that bad at all (you just have to put time into it - common sense right?)
I am a current BMS student. All I can say is that we are all busy with Neuroscience which just started 2 weeks ago. We have our first Neuro exam on Monday... Also, don't forget to enjoy your summer. The program is not that bad at all (you just have to put time into it - common sense right?)
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I got my acceptance letter yesterday.
Stats: 3.3/3.1 sci/cum
MCAT: 33R
accepted at UMDNJ
wait listed at U Cincinnati
Stats: 3.3/3.1 sci/cum
MCAT: 33R
accepted at UMDNJ
wait listed at U Cincinnati
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Congrats to everyone who got in Anyone looking for a roommate? Send me a PM if you are looking for one. I'll compile a list of everyone currently looking for a roommate and help connect people to one another. Please include our email, name, where you are from, when you plan to move to Chicago, and what kind of roommate you are looking for
Anyone looking for a roommate? Send me a PM if you are looking for one. I'll compile a list of everyone currently looking for a roommate and help connect people to one another. Please include our email, name, where you are from, when you plan to move to Chicago, and what kind of roommate you are looking for I called Friday and Melissa said that one was given out, but it was from the first round of acceptances. The most recent batch of acceptances haven't been reviewed for scholarships yet though but will be soon.
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Hey everyone! I just got my acceptance into CMS today, so maybe I will be seeing some of you future BMSers and I might even be your mentor! Congratulations to those of you who got in the program and those of you still waiting, good luck!!
I hope my fellow '11 BMSers heard good news today too!
I hope my fellow '11 BMSers heard good news today too!
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Do they assign us mentors? Or are you talking unofficially?
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Unofficially, though mentors are assigned and I plan on being one
Nice. Well, I'm sure we'll all appreciate it!
