Rosalind Franklin BMS or DO?

[Darkskies]

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Hi,
I applied to medical schools this cycle but things aren't looking too good. I've had a total of 3 MD school interviews and I have been rejected from one of them post-interview. Most likely, I will be rejected from another one as well and can only count on perhaps being accepted to the one remaining school. Granted, I still have time to hear back from the other schools I've applied to for a possible interview, it seems like it's getting rather late in the cycle. My GPA is a 3.47 and my MCAT is a 32R. I have a bunch of DO interviews lined up but now I'm starting to debate whether I would really be happy attending a DO school. Rosalind Franklin has me in the small pool of candidates who might be granted an interview. Should I apply to the BMS program? Is it still true that most students who complete the program are accepted to the Med school? Would it be worth delaying med school for another year(this coming May will mark the second year I've been out of undergrad)? I have ~28k in debt from undergrad and am not rich so the potential debt load for attending 5 years at Rosalind Franklin(including BMS program) sounds frightening. My friend who attends the med school has nearly 270k in loans so I'm assuming mine would surpass the 300k mark easily if you include my undergrad and the BMS program debt as well..What should I do? Thanks in advance!

 

[Innokus]

That's really strange. If you have interviews, it means that are interested. You should contact the school you were rejected from and see what you could to improve your application. You have a high MCAT and your gpa is high borderline for MD acceptance. You should try to rock the remaining interviews and see what happens next. Should you get rejected from MD and don't want to go DO, which you wouldn't have to since your GPA and MCAT are high, then you should look into other options.

If you read the Rosalind Franklin threads for the last 3 years, it seems that half the class at RFU are former BMS students. So yes it's true and many on SDN have given it much praise. Since your GPA is high you could probably do an informal postbac and reapply next year. Your GPA is too high to try for an SMP. Did you have a phenomenally bad year or any red flags? Applying to the BMS program depends on whether or not you're willing to wait another year and spend a ton of money applying early and broadly or dropping 40k to do the BMS and end up getting locked into a school which would require 270k in loans.

 

[Darkskies]

That's really strange. If you have interviews, it means that are interested. You should contact the school you were rejected from and see what you could to improve your application. You have a high MCAT and your gpa is high borderline for MD acceptance. You should try to rock the remaining interviews and see what happens next. Should you get rejected from MD and don't want to go DO, which you wouldn't have to since your GPA and MCAT are high, then you should look into other options.

If you read the Rosalind Franklin threads for the last 3 years, it seems that half the class at RFU are former BMS students. So yes it's true and many on SDN have given it much praise. Since your GPA is high you could probably do an informal postbac and reapply next year. Your GPA is too high to try for an SMP. Did you have a phenomenally bad year or any red flags? Applying to the BMS program depends on whether or not you're willing to wait another year and spend a ton of money applying early and broadly or dropping 40k to do the BMS and end up getting locked into a school which would require 270k in loans.

I had a C-/C+ in O-chem and physics plus an earlier withdrawal in physics as well. I retook both of those courses and got As over the summer at a local college as well(much before applying to med school this cycle). I went to a top 40 undergrad and have strong ECs including but not limited to spanish language ability(self-taught and near-native level fluency), nearly 300 hours of hospital volunteering and 80 hours of physician shadowing..I really don't know what the issue could be. I guess admissions is just that tough nowadays.. The school I was rejected from told me that my PS was strong, mcat was strong, ECs were strong. My GPA was lower than their average but that was the only negative they mentioned since according to them they are not allowed to divulge any information regarding how interviews went and the quality of the LORs which is lame. I think maybe my interviewing skills are not the best but I do believe I am very sincere and honest in my desire to be a physician..What should I do? I thought I'd be fine as a DO but now I'm not so sure especially since I am really just at the cusp of possibly being an MD... Once again, I am mainly just worried about the lost time and huge ballooning debt I'd have from attending an SMP like the BMS program... I don't know how to enhance my application any further so waiting a year by just continuing with volunteering seems like a wasted effort seeing as I already have nearly 300 hours of volunteering... Any further advice will be much appreciated!!

 

[deleted248403]

From the story, I think interviewing skills is probably the most effective use of your time and money. You wouldn't believe the things people say and do on interviews which they think is appropriate and instantly gets them kicked out.
I.e. - showing up to an interview in anything other than a suit

Or one of your LORs says something really bad

 

[Darkskies]

From the story, I think interviewing skills is probably the most effective use of your time and money. You wouldn't believe the things people say and do on interviews which they think is appropriate and instantly gets them kicked out.
I.e. - showing up to an interview in anything other than a suit

Or one of your LORs says something really bad

I definitely wouldn't dream of ever showing up in anything but a suit and don't think I would ever make a mistake that's that extreme... How well can you prepare for an interview anyways since I feel like I spend hours but then interviewers will ask you questions you never prepared for or could ever prepare for without knowing the questions in advance. Plus, I applied to nearly 25 schools and was only interviewed by 3 MD schools so far..I was rejected to a few pre-interview but I'm still waiting to hear from the others..It just doesn't look good. What could be wrong with my application if I only was invited to interview at 3 MD schools so far?What should I do? Would you say that running with a DO acceptance is better than waiting another year while completing the BMS program or the like?

 

[Darkskies]

I have your exact stats (actually, my GPA is like .04 lower) and was in a similar situation. I applied MD/DO last year, received 2 MD interviews and 2 DO acceptances. Ended up rejected from every MD school and decided to turn down the DO school acceptances.

I decided to do a "true" SMP (i.e. I'm taking first year courses with med students). In retrospect, I'm not sure I actually needed to do the SMP, but I'm sure it's helped. I, personally, didn't want to get stuck in the position where I didn't do an SMP, reapplied, and was rejected again due to a mediocre GPA.

For some perspective: last cycle I had 2 MD interviews, so far this cycle I've had 6 MD interviews (1 acceptance and 1 waitlist) I have 3 more MD interviews scheduled for within the next month. Seems like my SMP helped me out...

Yeah it really does seem like your SMP helped you out. Congrats! Which one did you do by the way? What are your opinions on the high risk high reward reputation of SMPs? Is it hard to maintain the GPA needed? How much debt will you have since you completed an SMP and will have to pay 4 years of med school tuition(maybe in addition to undergrad debt). It's so nice to know that at least one person with DO acceptances turned them down to do an SMP. Why do you say that in retrospect you might not have needed to do the SMP? You definitely were able to garner a lot more interviews.. This might not be pertinent to you, Slacker, personally but what percentage of the Rosalind Franklin BMS class gets accepted to the school? Would it be worth it to be squarely above 300k debt, forgo another year of med school, and have an MD over a DO for someone with my stats and in my situation? I really appreciate all the responses!

 

[Darkskies]

I hate how every time I ask about SMPs everyone tells me I don't need one when clearly I do if these schools won't even grant me interviews! Why is it so hard to get in...Other people with less ECs and lower stats seem to be getting in while I barely get 3 interviews out of 25 schools applied to...ugh.. What does everyone think of the EVMS SMP and how hard is it to get in? Is that a two year long program?

EDIT:The Temple ACMS program seems like it would be the perfect fit! Does anyone know what my chances for being accepted are and how hard it is to maintain a 3.5 GPA?

 

[deleted248403]

How well can you prepare for an interview anyways since I feel like I spend hours but then interviewers will ask you questions you never prepared for or could ever prepare for without knowing the questions in advance.

Then you are preparing inappropriately - I went on 5 interviews and was never asked a single question that I wasn't prepared for. Its a very predictable straightforward game - I don't understand how you don't understand what they are going to ask you

Plus, I applied to nearly 25 schools and was only interviewed by 3 MD schools so far..I was rejected to a few pre-interview but I'm still waiting to hear from the others..It just doesn't look good. What could be wrong with my application if I only was invited to interview at 3 MD schools so far?What should I do? Would you say that running with a DO acceptance is better than waiting another year while completing the BMS program or the like?

Time to be dispassionate and analyse your own application.Couple of things to think about

- Everyone thinks there ECs are cool; they really are. When you get here you realise how awesome everyone else is. We have some people here with some rockstar ECs - like truly mindblowing. So 1-yr of crappy research with no pubs and some time spooning out soup once in your 4th yr of ugrad - doesn't look impressive.
-LORs might be a problem
-You might have an awful personal statement - there are people on SDN who are willing to read and offer feedback
-You applied late

 

[Darkskies]

Then you are preparing inappropriately - I went on 5 interviews and was never asked a single question that I wasn't prepared for. Its a very predictable straightforward game - I don't understand how you don't understand what they are going to ask you

Time to be dispassionate and analyse your own application.Couple of things to think about

- Everyone thinks there ECs are cool; they really are. When you get here you realise how awesome everyone else is. We have some people here with some rockstar ECs - like truly mindblowing. So 1-yr of crappy research with no pubs and some time spooning out soup once in your 4th yr of ugrad - doesn't look impressive.
-LORs might be a problem
-You might have an awful personal statement - there are people on SDN who are willing to read and offer feedback
-You applied late

I spoke with an official at the medical school I was rejected from and she informed me that my PS was strong. I also had people critique my PS before applying in June and the two that did review it, told me it was good to go. I completed my primary by June 30th but I will admit that I was slow in getting all of my secondaries in. I was done with all 25 supplementary apps by early September however. Although not early, I don't think it was late but considering my GPA perhaps it was.

Regarding interviews, I have well thought out responses for the essential questions but when people ask me questions like 'What's the best idea you've ever had' or 'What unique qualities would you bring to our class' when I've already narrated all the possible answers to this particular question in previous replies, I'm caught off guard. Even for 'Where do you see yourself in ten years' I find it difficult to formulate a well-crafted response because the truthful answer is that I really don't know except for the obvious fact that I would be a doctor and there are so many practice options. At this point I'm just wondering if it would be a good decision to apply to Temple ACMS if I ultimately want an MD and if it would make sense financially..Thanks!

 

[acesup123]

.

 

[Darkskies]

I was in a similar situation a couple years ago, also thinking of BMS rosalind franklin vs DO. I decided DO, the thought of spending a good chunk of $$$ money and a chance that I may not even get into the program the MD program was enough to sway my decision. Not to mention the fact that I would lose a year which would mean that I would lose a around $200,000 of physician salary on the back end. I plan on doing Internal med or EM so becoming DO vs MD wouldn't make much of a difference for me. I'm 100% certain I made the right decision.

Thanks for your input. It echoes my concerns..Does everyone else agree or does anyone have a different opinion?

 

[deleted248403]

Regarding interviews, I have well thought out responses for the essential questions but when people ask me questions like 'What's the best idea you've ever had' or 'What unique qualities would you bring to our class' when I've already narrated all the possible answers to this particular question in previous replies, I'm caught off guard. Even for 'Where do you see yourself in ten years' I find it difficult to formulate a well-crafted response because the truthful answer is that I really don't know except for the obvious fact that I would be a doctor and there are so many practice options. At this point I'm just wondering if it would be a good decision to apply to Temple ACMS if I ultimately want an MD and if it would make sense financially..Thanks!

Well I think you should have a sense about rural medicine or not, practice-setting, patient-populations (do u like/hate kids/old people?)hospital-based or not, research or not... Thats what the ECs help do, to formulate what it is you like and dislike.... You dont have to tell them a specialty but you def should have an idea about some of the previous things i mentioned

I think it depends on what specialty u might lean towards - DOs going to surgery/anesth/rad/derm/plastics is a tougher road. MD will always give you more options and flexibility. Given the whole residency thing, I think safest place to be is US MD>>>>DO>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Foreign

 

[medschhopeful]

Would anyone be able to provide a list of pros and cons of the various linkage programs like Temple ACMS and Penn Specialized study? About how many people are accepted to Temple ACMS? If you already meet the MCAT requirements, do you need to take? The weakest part of my application is my BCPM gpa. Any advice (esp from former post-bacc students) would be much appreciated!

 

[deleted248403]

Would anyone be able to provide a list of pros and cons of the various linkage programs like Temple ACMS and Penn Specialized study? About how many people are accepted to Temple ACMS? If you already meet the MCAT requirements, do you need to take? The weakest part of my application is my BCPM gpa. Any advice (esp from former post-bacc students) would be much appreciated!

Discussed in the school specific threads

 

[KeyzerSoze]

I can't say. I was accepted to RFU's program, but turned it down to attend the program I'm currently at. On these forums, at least, they seem to have a decent track record of sending people on to RFU.

Personally, I wanted to do a program that would allow me to take ACTUAL med school classes. If I were to just do a type of masters or post-bac (a la RFU, Loyola, etc.), I would have done it at my state school for a fraction of the cost.

Not sure what I'd advise the OP (I think I'd lean towards taking the DO acceptance), but I wanted to point out that the BMS program at RFU is almost entirely "ACTUAL med school classes". They take almost all the M1 courses other than Anatomy and Intro to Clinical Medicine.

 

[alohakaoha]

What percentage of the Rosalind Franklin BMS class gets accepted to the school?

Hey Darkskies, I did the BMS program 2010-2011 and am now an M1a. For the class of 2014, they started out with 90 students, 60 something finished the program (acceptances elsewhere, dropping out, family problems etc) and 45 or so were accepted so about a quarter of the 2014 class are from the BMS program. For MY class, we started with almost 120, finished with 100 and I think around 78 were accepted. So in our case almost half the class are former BMSers. Why was admission kinder to us this year than the last? We're not entirely sure.

If getting an "MD" is important to you, then do the BMS program and kill it. Or you could save 50K and get a DO.

Did you ever find out from that school why you got rejected? One of my friends recently got rejected despite high marks, great research a good MCAT because of lack of patient contact and an inept interview.

 

[Darkskies]

Hey Darkskies, I did the BMS program 2010-2011 and am now an M1a. For the class of 2014, they started out with 90 students, 60 something finished the program (acceptances elsewhere, dropping out, family problems etc) and 45 or so were accepted so about a quarter of the 2014 class are from the BMS program. For MY class, we started with almost 120, finished with 100 and I think around 78 were accepted. So in our case almost half the class are former BMSers. Why was admission kinder to us this year than the last? We're not entirely sure.

If getting an "MD" is important to you, then do the BMS program and kill it. Or you could save 50K and get a DO.

Did you ever find out from that school why you got rejected? One of my friends recently got rejected despite high marks, great research a good MCAT because of lack of patient contact and an inept interview.

I think one of my interviews might have gone badly but the school has a policy on not informing you on how your interviews went so I'll never know. I have over 250 hours of hospital volunteering and nearly 90 hours of physician shadowing so I don't think it's due to my lack of patient contact(I would hope)..

Any idea as to why there were 22 people who weren't accepted to RFU last year and 15 the year before? What did they do wrong and what are the criteria for acceptance?

 

[Darkskies]

I think one of my interviews might have gone badly but the school has a policy on not informing you on how your interviews went so I'll never know. I have over 250 hours of hospital volunteering and nearly 90 hours of physician shadowing so I don't think it's due to my lack of patient contact(I would hope)..

Any idea as to why there were 22 people who weren't accepted to RFU last year and 15 the year before? What did they do wrong and what are the criteria for acceptance?

Anyone?

 

[bigloley]

Anyone?

Probably grades. Your chances of admission are very slim if you receive a C in any of the medical school courses.