SMP advice?

[ananamous]

hello! I have been looking at SMPs but am unsure if I am the right candidate. was wondering if I could get insight from prior SMP students or people who were accepted.

I have a cGPA 3.78 and sGPA 3.5 (although there isn't specifically an upward trend). had some ups and down- mental health, covid, and other life stressors. I majored in psychology but took all the pre-med stuff- graduated in june 2022. I also have been working as an ER medical scribe since then.

how are my chances for an SMP like Boston, Tufts, Duke... etc? I haven't taken the MCAT yet but these programs seem to accept practice mcats so I might submit one after completing it.

I just feel a lack of confidence in myself and feel that my stats are incomparable to the stats they say on the website... Also wouldn't it make more sense to take the MCAT after completing the master's program? I just never understood this logic. Duke seems to endorse this opinion but all the other SMPs seem to want mcat scores. its weird to me because they always say you should take the mcat only once...

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I guess without an MCAT, you don't really know so find one that has MCAT prep included. You want to take this one and not bomb it.

Your GPA seems a bit high to require an SMP without specific details. I'm sure any program ultimately will enroll you (many SMPs don't really have an upper limit on students) as long as you are willing to dedicate yourself and pay the tuition.

 

[LizzyM]

The SMP is a bet that you can out-perform medical students in med school coursework. They are usually most effective for prospective med students who have the smarts and discipline (as evidenced by MCAT score) but who have a spotty academic record. So, in those cases, the SMP wants to see the MCAT as evidence that you have a sufficient fund of knowledge to handle the SMP curriculum. An excellent SMP GPA then provides an assurance that you have what it takes to handle classroom/lab work in a med school setting despite undergraduate performance that was suboptimal.

You don't really have a undergrad record that is that bad, but it is not great. Have you taken MCAT practice tests? How have you been doing so far?

How many credits contributed to your sGPA? I it was only the minimum (~32) then it might be possible to give your sGPA a bump with additional undergraduate science courses done as a DYI post-bac.

 

[Goro]

You don't need an SMP.

You will need to have your mental health issues under control, though. Medical school is a furnace

 

[ananamous]

The SMP is a bet that you can out-perform medical students in med school coursework. They are usually most effective for prospective med students who have the smarts and discipline (as evidenced by MCAT score) but who have a spotty academic record. So, in those cases, the SMP wants to see the MCAT as evidence that you have a sufficient fund of knowledge to handle the SMP curriculum. An excellent SMP GPA then provides an assurance that you have what it takes to handle classroom/lab work in a med school setting despite undergraduate performance that was suboptimal.

You don't really have a undergrad record that is that bad, but it is not great. Have you taken MCAT practice tests? How have you been doing so far?

How many credits contributed to your sGPA? I it was only the minimum (~32) then it might be possible to give your sGPA a bump with additional undergraduate science courses done as a DYI post-bac.

thank you for the insight! I did the regular pre-med course work with bio,chem, biochem, physics- i also have anatomy/physiology, and genetics. For the MCAT, I have been performing around a 70th percentile for MCAT. I've been studying for 3 months but it hasn't been great because I haven't been in the right head space and just struggling with personal events recently. I was originally supposed to test at the end of this month, but I postponed it because I wasn't scoring that well and didn't see a chance for 20 point increase within the last two weeks. What courses would you recommend if I were to do a DIY post bacc. Also what is your opinion on the SMPs that don't require MCAT scores?-- I found a good amount like Duke, Mt Sinai, etc.

 

[LizzyM]

When you consider that only the top 43% of applicants get into medical school, being at the 70th percentile on the MCAT isn't great. Get into the right headspace and dedicate at least 300 hours to prep, including every practice test you can get your hands on.

Biochem and Cell Bio come to mind. Calc I and II if you haven't taken that will count toward your BCPM (it's the M for math). Ditto Statistics or biostatistics.

I don't know about Duke and Mt Sinai in particular but if you are taking courses with medical students from those schools you will be going up against some of the best in the country -- sounds like stiff competition. Be aware that some schools will have a "easy to get in - hard to stay in" approach to grad programs and treat masters programs like cash cows. If you survive, great. If not, they'll just hope that the check clears.

 

[ananamous]

When you consider that only the top 43% of applicants get into medical school, being at the 70th percentile on the MCAT isn't great. Get into the right headspace and dedicate at least 300 hours to prep, including every practice test you can get your hands on.

Biochem and Cell Bio come to mind. Calc I and II if you haven't taken that will count toward your BCPM (it's the M for math). Ditto Statistics or biostatistics.

I don't know about Duke and Mt Sinai in particular but if you are taking courses with medical students from those schools you will be going up against some of the best in the country -- sounds like stiff competition. Be aware that some schools will have a "easy to get in - hard to stay in" approach to grad programs and treat masters programs like cash cows. If you survive, great. If not, they'll just hope that the check clears.

thank you for the advice! I greatly appreciate it!