@adele nazeem Hey man how helpful is this program because I was considering doing the MS in Pharmacology at Tulane over this. Some basic info: VA resident 3.4 or 3.5 cGPA and sGPA. 30 MCAT. Decent amount of volunteering. The thing that worries me about the program is that you take grad school classes and basically everyone says that grad school gpa is inflated and all. Also, it doesn't help much getting into a med school. How many people in your class have gotten into med school/waitlist and denied.
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~80-90 students begin this program
~60-70 continue into the spring semester
~25-35 get the guaranteed interview (>3.5 gpa for the year and >/= 28 MCAT)
~25-30 get into med school and ~20 go to VCU SOM
If you qualify for the guaranteed interview and you are in state, your chances are pretty good. I would try to strive for a >3.7 gpa
But I have heard of people getting 4.0 in the CERT program and not getting in b/c of poor interview and insufficient clinical experience.
VCU stresses clinical experience.
This program is super helpful if you do well. It can be detrimental if you do poorly (but that is the same for any post bach program).
I have matured a lot from this program. The rigorous curriculum forces you to develop efficient study habits which translate well into VCU SOM.
The grad classes try to be clinically relevant. Physiology is definitely useful. Histology is the same exact class that VCU Dental takes. Biochemistry is actually harder since we go more in depth than the med school does.
If you are going to work hard, it does not matter which program you choose.
My friends have done the georgetown SMP and george squared SMP. The A was curved to how well the med school students did.
Although grades matter, the grading scale is mostly based on how the years before have performed in the classes. They will take into account any anomalies from that year, but the A and B do not change based on current year's performance....which is nice b/c it discourages a cut throat environment.
Are you sure your GPA is the area that needs work? I would really get an adcom's opinion about your weaknesses before you commit to any program.