Hi! I was wondering if you could give us a rundown on how the program has been for you.
Hello! Here are a few thoughts I had. Note that my year was particularly different since I transitioned to online in the middle of spring semester first year.
Pros: advising is great, given all study material for MCAT really helped, I feel a lot more prepared for medical school with the classes
Cons: the "undergrad" courses do require studying and are not super easy even though you already took the courses, the MCAT course is at night (6-8pm), the grad courses do move quickly so you're expected to find your studying skills early on
The professors know your goal is to get into medical school. They (mostly) are approachable which is important because you probably want a letter of recommendation from one of them. I will speak for my classmates (since I have a math bachelors degree) that physics is a little rough. The professor isn't the best and it'll be good to get to know your TA since he/she is the one grading the tests. You do notice a change in pace during second semester by taking anatomy and physiology, both grad courses. They are a lot of effort but are the same style as you would see in med school. I had a tough time with physiology because the teaching style was different than what I'm used to, but I still managed.
The class is a mixture of recent grads and people who are a few years out. I would say the average age was 24. I was one who worked a couple years after graduating and then joined the program but I know several people who went straight from undergrad.
This program is rigorous, and I will admit there were a few students who didn't do well. The option they took was to switch to the IHS program. It's similar in that you take both undergrad and grad level courses with more flexibility to create your own schedule. I think the guarantees are not offered though. There are resources to help studying, such as mentorship, TAs, professors, and tutors.
Classes are around 1.5-2 hours and about two classes a day. The schedules usually have a few hour breaks in between, but all this can change due to everything being online. Some classes may have live Zoom lectures, but others may have pre-recorded lectures, so it'll be up to you to manage your time wisely. Also, there are recitations set up by the TAs every week to go over the material. Those are completely optional and will be recorded.
The reason this program is two years is because you apply for medical school in the summer between the two years. That way, the advisors are there for you through the entire process. The acceptance rates obviously vary, but it can range from 80-100%. My advisor told me that if people don't get acceptances, it's usually due to the student not listening to the advisor in which schools to apply for.
There is no curve, but the grade ranges can be different depending on the class (such as grad level courses, an A is 92+ while an A- is 89-91). Some classes also offer extra credit but that depends on how the class is doing overall.
At first, the Zoom classes were a little tough for me because it switched in the middle of the semester in my first year. I enjoyed that professors recorded their lectures so I can rewatch them at double speed before a test if needed. I really depends on your learning style and there will be an adjustment period, but no matter where you'll go, you'll have to deal with it. All throughout second year, I got used to the recorded lectures and may now prefer them, which is good because some medical schools use this as their way of lecturing.
Finally, this application year was tough since soooo many people applied to medical school, so I can't really say stats for who got into med school from my program, but overall, I think it was worth it for me.
