Thinking about dropping out of a bs-md program

[tutifruti2011]

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Hi,

I am a student in the BS portion of a BS-MD program affiliated to an average state medical school. I am a very strong student, and I have excellent ECs. I want to drop the program in order to apply to better schools.

Coming from an average state school, is it too risky to drop the program and apply out?

 

[flatearth22]

Hi,

I am a student in the BS portion of a BS-MD program affiliated to an average state medical school. I am a very strong student, and I have excellent ECs. I want to drop the program in order to apply to better schools.

Coming from an average state school, is it too risky to drop the program and apply out?

What are your reasons for dropping out? Have you taken the MCAT? I say just go through with it and dominate med school if you are a very strong student. It's your 3rd year grades and USMLE scores that will determine where and in what specialty you match moreso than where you went to med school. I think you'll have a better chance of beating out your classmates for grades who [I presume] won't be as qualified as you claim to be. If you go to a better med school you might perform worse because the competition will be greater. And there is no guarantee you get accepted in the first place. USMLE scores depend on the student not the school.

Take it from someone who turned down a decent BS-MD after a very good high school record to go to a "better" undergrad (UC Berkeley) and is now scratching and clawing his way to get into ANY medical school....stay in the program.

 

[AsianPersuasion]

If I were you I would just stay, bro

I mean, you cleared one of the hardest hurdle already.

but that's just me.

 

[raltima07]

Whats your GPA?

 

[Tapepsi]

I will say what I've said many times, unless you plan on entering academic medicine, no one cares which school you went to. If you were good enough to get into a top tier school then you should have no problem getting into a good residency regardless of which school you went to.

The one major factor I would consider though is cost. Will you be IS for tuition purposes there and will any scholarship be offered?

A lot of premeds are so caught up in "prestige" that they don't realize that they could have landed the same residency w/ 100K less debt.

 

[V5RED]

I wonder if adcoms will be able to see that you dropped out of such a program.

 

[tutifruti2011]

Whats your GPA?

My science and non science GPAs are both at a 3.9 right now.

I want to drop out for very specific reasons, which might reveal my identity on SDN, so I won't explain those reasons.

Academically, I know I'll do well if I stay in the BS-MD program. I just feel that, without it, I would certainly be a more well rounded person; graduating in three years is quite limiting to certain goals I want to accomplish during undergrad. I also feel that, if I apply via the regular route, I would be a much, much stronger incoming medical student.

 

[Tapepsi]

My science and non science GPAs are both at a 3.9 right now.

I want to drop out for very specific reasons, which might reveal my identity on SDN, so I won't explain those reasons.

Academically, I know I'll do well if I stay in the BS-MD program. I just feel that, without it, I would certainly be a more well rounded person; graduating in three years is quite limiting to certain goals I want to accomplish during undergrad. I also feel that, if I apply via the regular route, I would be a much, much stronger incoming medical student.

It's your decision but honestly, as people have already said, this whole process is so time consuming and stressful that it would be more worth it to stick to the BS/MD route. Don't let the words "top tier" get to you. It really doesn't matter and you will be just as prepared now as you would the regular route.

 

[flatearth22]

My science and non science GPAs are both at a 3.9 right now.

I want to drop out for very specific reasons, which might reveal my identity on SDN, so I won't explain those reasons.

Academically, I know I'll do well if I stay in the BS-MD program. I just feel that, without it, I would certainly be a more well rounded person; graduating in three years is quite limiting to certain goals I want to accomplish during undergrad. I also feel that, if I apply via the regular route, I would be a much, much stronger incoming medical student.

Don't pretty much all combined programs allow you to take the full 8 years (4+4)? I don't think any of them can force you to enter med school after 3 years and kick you out if you don't. Please correct me if I'm wrong but I've never heard of a program not letting a student extend his stay to a traditional 4+4. I know of 8 year programs that are "stingy" and won't let you do it in 7 (and ditto for 7 year programs not letting you do it in 6) but every program I looked up (and I applied to A LOT of them) let you extend it to 8 and even encouraged it.

If that's your reason then just talk to the program coordinator and tell them you want to defer your entrance to med school and a do 2nd major or study abroad or whatever.

 

[Tapepsi]

Don't pretty much all combined programs allow you to take the full 8 years (4+4)? I don't think any of them can force you to enter med school after 3 years and kick you out if you don't. Please correct me if I'm wrong but I've never heard of a program not letting a student extend his stay to a traditional 4+4. I know of 8 year programs that are "stingy" and won't let you do it in 7 (and ditto for 7 year programs not letting you do it in 6) but every program I looked up (and I applied to A LOT of them) let you extend it to 8 and even encouraged it.

If that's your reason then just talk to the program coordinator and tell them you want to defer your entrance to med school and a do 2nd major or study abroad or whatever.

Honestly, and correct me if I'm wrong OP, his biggest motive seems to be that he doesn't feel like the state school will be enough for him and that he should aim for a school with a higher ranking.

OP it's your decision and your life, but you asked for opinions, and the consensus is that you shouldn't drop it.

I'll never forget what the physician I shadowed told me when I brought up this subject. "As parents if our kids want to be doctors we're already ahead of the game. None of that Harvard bull crap. I tell them to go to the cheap @ss med school b/c guess what...they're still going to be an MD."

 

[hownowmauvecow]

I'll never forget what the physician I shadowed told me when I brought up this subject. "As parents if our kids want to be doctors we're already ahead of the game. None of that Harvard bull crap. I tell them to go to the cheap @ss med school b/c guess what...they're still going to be an MD."[/QUOTE]

And they will have fork out a lot less money if they don't go to a school like Harvard (unless they are fortunate enough to get scholarships).

Seriously though, I would look at how much it will cost you rather than the prestige of a med school. If your BS-MD program is relatively cheap (i.e. you are considered IS) keep it, go on down the road and enjoy college and not having to stress about the application process and the will I or won't I of getting into med school. It sucks and I owe several white hairs to the process. However, if you BS-MD program school will be more expensive than another school (significantly more) you may want to reconsider IF you think that you can reasonably get in somewhere else. That may or may not be a big if...

 

[Parts Unknown]

Hi,

I am a student in the BS portion of a BS-MD program affiliated to an average state medical school. I am a very strong student, and I have excellent ECs. I want to drop the program in order to apply to better schools.

Coming from an average state school, is it too risky to drop the program and apply out?

You should drop out. There is nothing I enjoy more than having my gas pumped by someone who was rejected by 100% top medical schools.

 

[latrala2300]

I wonder if adcoms will be able to see that you dropped out of such a program.

Nope

You should drop out. There is nothing I enjoy more than having my gas pumped by someone who was rejected by 100% top medical schools.

Really, Dr. Attending? Come on...


OP: I did it and I guess we'll see how the app cycle goes

 

[theWUbear]

Hi,

I am a student in the BS portion of a BS-MD program affiliated to an average state medical school. I am a very strong student, and I have excellent ECs. I want to drop the program in order to apply to better schools.

Coming from an average state school, is it too risky to drop the program and apply out?

You lose ~$1000000 in one year lost earnings by leaving the 7 year program and graduating from med school after 4+4. You also lose 5k for applications fees, and then, assuming you go to private med school at 50k instead of public at 30k, another 80k for tuition. one decision is obviously more mature than the other.

 

[gettheleadout]

First of all, I'd drop. I also wouldn't be comfortable in a combined program regardless.

Second, I think a lot of people are spinning this issue in a bad way.

Yes, the medical school you attend is less important than other factors in determining competitiveness for residency. This does not negate it completely. What's perhaps more important is that by foregoing application, you lose the freedom to possibly achieve your full potential. If completing a combined program locks in a spot for you in medical school, that's fine, but you're also stuck wondering if you could have attended that other school you like with a more attractive curriculum, opportunities, etc... There are differences in medical schools beyond the number in the USNews Rankings.

In my opinion, the sentiment of "it's all about just getting in!" can be taken too far on here, and people fail to realize that there will always be applicants that will end up with choices. Would you want to be one of these applicants when they end up foregoing the option to choose? Yes, you can argue that no one can be certain about anything, but at a certain point your odds make it justifiable. Without divulging the complete status of their grades/EC's/etc it is up to the student, and the OP, to determine for themselves if they have good enough odds. If you personally feel that you will be competitive enough to earn the choices you think you can get on the table, you have the right to choose application over a locked-in spot and not be ridiculed for it.

OP, if you think you would regret staying in, wait until you take the MCAT, and then if you are in range for your target schools, drop out of the combined program. Until then, play it like you don't have a spot locked in anywhere.

 

[Parts Unknown]

Really, Dr. Attending? Come on...

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

 

[HH Holmes]

Wait until you take/get your MCAT results. You say you are a very strong student, so i am assuming 3.8 to 4.0. If you rock your MCATs, then apply out and you will probably get into some very good schools.

Luckily, I'm in a program where I can apply out if I spend another year at the college (since it's a 7 year). I am not sure how your program works, or how long it is, but figure out what you can and cannot do if you are in or out of the program. I didn't enter my program planning to apply out and nor is it really on my mind, but in the back of my brain somewhere, I know that if I end up with a very good GPA and MCAT I would consider applying out. You seem to be on that track. Good luck with your MCAT!