What is the sophie davis school for biomedical education? What is its 7 year program like (BS/MD) and how can one get in?
Sophie Davis
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Preference is given to residents of New York State. Factors for admission are the ACT exam (not the SAT), high school grades, and all these essays.
It's a program run out of the City College of New York, which is one of the campuses of the City University of New York. Three years are spent at the City College campus in Harlem which eventually awards you a BS.
Two years are spent doing basic science coursework at York College in Jamaica, Queens. Gross Anatomy and Embryology are done at SUNY Downstate.
The final two years of the program are finished off at one of the med schools that participate in the Sophie Davis program. These include NYU, NYMC, SUNY Downstate, SUNY Upstate-Binghamton Clinical Campus, SUNY Stony Brook, Albany Med, and Mt. Sinai I believe.
The purpose of the program is to make primary care physicians who sign a contract, legally binding them to work in a medically underserved area in a primary care field. That means you are on your way to a primary care career when you enter the Sophie Davis program, and you will match to a primary care residency. If you choose to not do this, you pay heavily and you can possibly have your degree taken away.
If you want to be a surgeon, Sophie Davis isn't the path for you. While it is possible to retrain and do another residency, HCFA funding for residency programs probably won't allow you to do that.
Tim of New York City.
It's a program run out of the City College of New York, which is one of the campuses of the City University of New York. Three years are spent at the City College campus in Harlem which eventually awards you a BS.
Two years are spent doing basic science coursework at York College in Jamaica, Queens. Gross Anatomy and Embryology are done at SUNY Downstate.
The final two years of the program are finished off at one of the med schools that participate in the Sophie Davis program. These include NYU, NYMC, SUNY Downstate, SUNY Upstate-Binghamton Clinical Campus, SUNY Stony Brook, Albany Med, and Mt. Sinai I believe.
The purpose of the program is to make primary care physicians who sign a contract, legally binding them to work in a medically underserved area in a primary care field. That means you are on your way to a primary care career when you enter the Sophie Davis program, and you will match to a primary care residency. If you choose to not do this, you pay heavily and you can possibly have your degree taken away.
If you want to be a surgeon, Sophie Davis isn't the path for you. While it is possible to retrain and do another residency, HCFA funding for residency programs probably won't allow you to do that.
Tim of New York City.
Thanks for your reply Tim,
I can easily see that you have much experience and knowledge in the medical field and in this particular area. THe ACT exam isn't regulary given to high school students from what I beleive. Overall do you think the program is worth it? Is it very difficult to get in? THanks.
I can easily see that you have much experience and knowledge in the medical field and in this particular area. THe ACT exam isn't regulary given to high school students from what I beleive. Overall do you think the program is worth it? Is it very difficult to get in? THanks.
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The ACT was once a very popular exam on the West Coast, and most schools on that side of the country preferred to get ACT scores instead of SAT scores. I'm not sure about today, but it does seem like the SATs are a lot better and more universally accepted.
If you apply to Sophie Davis, you'll take the ACT at City College as a "satellite administration," so you won't have to take it on your own (it's almost impossible to find an ACT site in New York anyway), but you're right, the ACT isn't regularly administered in the New York City area.
Is the program worth it? Knowing what I know today, I'd say no.
On the one hand you're guaranteed to be admitted to a medical school through the program, but on the other, you're forced into a primary care career (and most med students, much less high school students, really don't know what that really entails) and you lose that bit of your life reserved for a REAL college life (City College is not your typical college experience, and CUNY is probably one of the most picked-on state systems in the country).
Do you really want to go to college for three years, get a BS, and NEVER live in a dorm? Never have friends right next door? Never share in that all-important American college experience? Do you want to do part of your med school training in York College, another unit of CUNY and be taught by their faculty?
Finally your last two years are spent at one of the Sophie Davis affiliate med schools. You're only doing clinical rotations at these med schools and you'll be graduating with 150-200 STRANGERS because they didn't see you during the first or second-years.
As a high school student, I can see why you'd wanna do the program anyway. It's guaranteed med school and everyone knows that med school's difficult to get into nowadays, but I'm not so sure it's worth it to sacrifice all that a good college and a good college life can offer just so you're guaranteed to go to med school.
Difficult? I guess that depends, but I've known some pretty bright people who applied but didn't get in. My own high school class (of 1,000+) had only ONE person to go, and she was the salutatorian. She later left the program and went to MIT or Wharton (forgot which one).
Tim of New York City.
If you apply to Sophie Davis, you'll take the ACT at City College as a "satellite administration," so you won't have to take it on your own (it's almost impossible to find an ACT site in New York anyway), but you're right, the ACT isn't regularly administered in the New York City area.
Is the program worth it? Knowing what I know today, I'd say no.
On the one hand you're guaranteed to be admitted to a medical school through the program, but on the other, you're forced into a primary care career (and most med students, much less high school students, really don't know what that really entails) and you lose that bit of your life reserved for a REAL college life (City College is not your typical college experience, and CUNY is probably one of the most picked-on state systems in the country).
Do you really want to go to college for three years, get a BS, and NEVER live in a dorm? Never have friends right next door? Never share in that all-important American college experience? Do you want to do part of your med school training in York College, another unit of CUNY and be taught by their faculty?
Finally your last two years are spent at one of the Sophie Davis affiliate med schools. You're only doing clinical rotations at these med schools and you'll be graduating with 150-200 STRANGERS because they didn't see you during the first or second-years.
As a high school student, I can see why you'd wanna do the program anyway. It's guaranteed med school and everyone knows that med school's difficult to get into nowadays, but I'm not so sure it's worth it to sacrifice all that a good college and a good college life can offer just so you're guaranteed to go to med school.
Difficult? I guess that depends, but I've known some pretty bright people who applied but didn't get in. My own high school class (of 1,000+) had only ONE person to go, and she was the salutatorian. She later left the program and went to MIT or Wharton (forgot which one).
Tim of New York City.
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im a 4th year sophie student (equivalent to aprrox 2nd semester medschool ..our schedule is wierd)
but let me discuss some sophie myths.
1) u do live next to most of ur classmates. Most sophie davis students live in apartments around campus. Most share apartments with each other. u will not get the campus environment..but its not as bad as it seems. there is still the house parties....and the weekly trips to columbia for their parties (well that was just what me and my boys did).
2) the city college issue. u take only a few classes with CITY students..and these are the basic required city coll liberal arts courses..and i belive bio. the rest..u take with only sophie students. and in a sophie class...everyone sitting around u got in an ivy league school...so its competetive.
and our orgo, and reg chem courses (1st yr coll) would make any other school's look like a joke.
3) u pay 75,000 (thats what it was when i entered) if u dont practice primary care for 2 years in an underserved community. Recently, many have opted to pay this fine.
Personally, if i had to do it again, i would've still taken sophie over columbia, nyu, georgetown (what the hell was i thinkin,,,this is an ultraconservative school...i would have been kicked out first semester)...or the other combined programs i got into.
if i was in say columibia...i would be a senior right now....probably studying for MCATS......writing up essays..hunting faculty for recommendations...but now
i am about to start studying for histo, physio miniboards....
completed biochem, anatomy last spring and summer respectively.
oh yeah...and just turned 20 a couple weeks ago.....
So if u a 100% sure u wanna be a doc...sophie is not a bad idea.
even if u dont wanna be a primary care physician....still consider it it. u will just have to pay a fine. And u may end up liking primary care anywyz.
but if u are not a 100%..i strongly advise u dont go to sophie. All u hear from day 1 is doctor this....doctor that. And sophie is an al or nothing type thing....if u fail out (this occurs quite frequently) ....its pretty much over for you as far as medicine is concerned. too busy to go into details. emphasies on "fail out".
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and your entire BS, and preclinical time is spent at the city coll campus. the sophie building should be completed this spring.
the new anatomy lab was moved to the campus last year. so my class got first dips.
oh yeah...and the anatomy course director is the foinest proff in the history of med sch. hahaha
the new anatomy lab was moved to the campus last year. so my class got first dips.
oh yeah...and the anatomy course director is the foinest proff in the history of med sch. hahaha
A philosophical remark, if I may. There is NOTHING GUARANTEED in this life other than we will all die some day. Once accepted into Sophie Davis, or any program, including college and medical school itself, if you don't pass the courses in the curriculum, you are out.
