Medical Should I accept BS/MD or regular undergrad?

[Mr.Smile12]

Hello!

Hope you are doing well!

I am currently a senior in high school and I am having trouble deciding between attending my in-state UG university University of Maryland, which is relatively high-ranked and much cheaper, and Drexel's 8 year BS/MD early assurance program, which is much a much lower ranked UG university and Med School and more expensive.

While the BS/MD program does provide a relative guarantee (as long as you maintain 3.6 gpa and 513 mcat) my question is it worth accepting this program for a lower tier school? My main concern is will it hinder my ability to match into competitive specialties in the future? Especially since Drexel is having some problems recently with its hospitals and programs... Like how much does institution rank/rep matter?

Are the acceptance rates and admission standards for med school going to keep increasing, and are more and more people going to have to take gap years or alternate routes? Or is in still doable to be a pretty decent applicant and get into med school without a gap year?

Finances aren't a huge concern, but we want to make sure its worth it.

Any help and advice or factors to consider would be immensely appreciated! Thank you so much in advance!

You're way overthinking the issue regarding residencies. Are you committed to attend Drexel for medical school? Many such programs don't fully commit you, and you could apply to other schools even in your undergraduate senior year. It does happen, but I don't know what your conditions are.

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[MusicDOc124]

As stated above, you're overthinking residencies. The "tier" of your school doesn't really matter except in very specific cases which barely apply to anyone, and would not apply to you anyway whether you went to Drexel or Maryland.

Drexel its has not had any issues, and the hospital closure is not on Drexel as a school. Drexel also already had other sites, so students continued on. Drexel teamed up with Tower Health within a month after and everything including residencies are all re-established.

It's still doable to get in without a gap year, assuming your app is above average, but even then you can't assume. People with solid stats go without an acceptance every year.

I think you should take the combined route and run with it. Solid school in a solid location with a guarantee, especially if finances aren't an issue and we're not looking at something so drastic that it's worth forgoing a guarantee.

Take Drexel and run. If it's non-binding you can always apply out later. If it is binding, you can break it by applying out, but the guarantee won't be there and they may question you if you apply to them. Be mindful of that. But I still stand by taking the guarantee. One in the hand is worth more than two in the bush.

 

[MusicDOc124]

Thank you both so much for the valuable insight and help!

Yes, with the program, you can choose to apply out to another medical school if you want, but you'd lose your guaranteed seat. Otherwise, you're pretty much committed to DUCOM.

Yes, my main concerns/hesitations were regarding the rank/rep of the school (esp online and on online forums) and residency, but since you both have said that it doesn't play a huge role, I am much more relieved!

My final questions are do you think Drexel (undergrad and med school) have good resources in terms of faculty (the professor:student ratio seems to be really low at the med school esp) and meaningful research opportunities? And also, will not having having a primary teaching hospital/home department affect students' ability to get good recs from department heads and such? And how much of a disadvantage could not having the home residency program be?

Thank you so much once again!! This has been really helpful and encouraging!!!

Resources and faculty are fine.

There is plenty of research.

They do have their own home hospital. It’s just a different one than before.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Have you talked with any students currently in the guaranteed admissions track (both still at the undergraduate phase and in the medical school)? I would make sure the transition is well-supported for GA students at undergrad and for med school.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I have been able to talk to a few med students, however they (and many other people on sdn and other forums) have said that the closure of HUH is a major disadvantage bc no home residency programs, diff to have connections with PD, diff to get LORs from department chairs, and that clinical sites are randomly assigned and many require significant travel....and most refer to the degree of uncertainty about what things will look like in the next few years.

So now I am just really confused. :/

Those sound like med students (doesn't sound too much different from a lot of other medical schools). Were they all in the guaranteed admission track? Read what I asked about: the type of support you'd get as a guaranteed admission student. Otherwise, it sounds like you have already made your decision.

Had the opportunity to talk with the program advisors, and the support (at least at UG level) seems to be pretty good, although there is uncertainty about what the med school changes will look like over the next few years.

I think I am going to go the BS/MD route and tackle the future as it comes!

Thank you both for your help!!