special masters program at georgetown

[curious dummy]

it's an 11 month program that serves as a post bacc and a masters. students take classes with their first year med class to get a real taste of medical school. does anyone know about this program or recommend it? since it's as rigorous as the 1st year med class, would it greatly help an applicant who enrolled in this program? would adcoms prefer this over the undergrad record, since it's the best measure prediction of how an applicant will do in his first year (what i think)?

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[beatla19]

My friend's sister did that program. She had a 3.4 coming out of UCLA micro, but didn't get into any med.'s. She did the program and got a bunch of interviews, including georgetown. She has been accepted to NY medical college as of the present. She also had a very high gpa in the post-bacc, 3.8.

 

[curious dummy]

a 3.4 from ucla and she didn't get into ANY med school? what schools did she apply too? by the way, what's the average accepted gpa? so that program really does help alot !! i'm so glad to know that.

 

[poloace]

an expensive sounding program...
but, may very well be worth it...


p

 

[beatla19]

I'm not sure where she applied, but the average gpa accepted is a 3.3. I am really considering this program for myself. She said it was extremely rigorous.

 

[antiveggies]

i posted some answers to some questions you might have here... old thread

i think it helped me, and even if it didnt i thought it was a great experience and a chance to see medical school from the inside. since i had a year between app cycles i decided to do the program to try and make up for my low undergrad gpa. i got several interviews afterwards, and got accepted this year. it is expensive, but you will have a much better appreciation for what medical school is really like and a chance to improve your app/continue to pursue your goal. i thought it gave me alot to talk about in my interviews, as they all asked about it, and maye since i had a better understanding of what i was getting into/had shown my dedication to getting into med school, the adcoms felt i was better suited. but who knows, sometimes i think they use dartboards or names in a hat.
to me it was worth the time and money and i would do it again

 

[curious dummy]

thank you guys.

antiveggies
how hard is it to get into this program. i know their 2002 class has 3.3 gpa. weigh the extra curricular stuffs and the essay alot? or it's mainly mcat and gpa? and since not that many people apply to this program (i hope), do they look at your record more closely than med schools? cause i pretty much bombed my first year and i don't want it to be the reason for my rejection. i hope they only consider the last 2 years. thank you for your opinions.

 

[antiveggies]

im really not sure how hard it is to get in. im sure each year it gets more competitive. i had a friend who didnt have the minimum mcat req and was denied. i think they are looking for the ones with the best chance to succeed, and by the ECs and essay at how well you will do in front of an adcom (dr.mulroney is on the g-town adcom and is one of the main profs involved in SMP)
i think if you are really sure this is what you want to do, but still have some concerns, you should try to contact dr.myers (the SMP head) and let him know how interested in this you are. he is a really nice guy and will tell it like it is.
i had a 3.25 undergrad (3.15 BCPM), double-major, and 29Q when i applied to the SMP.
i finished with a 3.37 in the SMP getting all A's in grad classes and B/B+ in the med classes (lol, i thought my gpa was higher but i just checked it) and got in the year after i finished the program.
on their website you can see what happened to the class (how many went to what school) although it doesnt look updated since we graduated, may just be the ones who were accepted at the end of that class year

link to SMP page with lots of Info.

link to message forums that the SMP profs, students, and applicants can talk on

edit: i just found this post from dr.myers that sorta answers your question
"We consider everything, and how much we consider a particular item will depend on what that item is, and how remarkable it is. In general, I would say that the next two common factors are the undergrad school and major, and the trend in grades. But to illustrate my first point, if the letters are not strong, they would become a dominant issue."

"About 500 students are expected to apply this year."

and it is designed as an 11month program, but we all finished by mid june time frame as the only class in the summer is just your final research paper which most of us got done ASAP