what are the disadvantages to doing an SMP?

[kateycat]

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i was accepted to georgetown's SMP but i don't know if i should go or not. i thought i read somewhere that being in an SMP program the year you were applying would make your app late. is this true?

besides money, what else would be a disadvantage?

 

[tdd340]

Advantage:
Show you can excel in med school courses
Improve you MCAT if neccesary
Good advising resources
Chance to improve EC's
Chance for new LOR's
DC is a really great city to explore

With that said some of these advantages are negated if you are applying the year you start the SMP as you will not be able to include your grades, new MCAT, or new LOR's since you won't start till after you submit AMCAS or it will substantially delay your primary submission. If you are doing an SMP it is because you need to improve your app, I would take the time to do that before I rush to apply and take advantage of the opportunities that an SMP can provide. Do the SMP and submit you app next year unless you have pretty competitive stats right now.

 

[Jccripe]

Cons: 50K and 1yr.

 

[Flaxmoore]

i was accepted to georgetown's SMP but i don't know if i should go or not. i thought i read somewhere that being in an SMP program the year you were applying would make your app late. is this true?

besides money, what else would be a disadvantage?

That's not really true. I'm in the SMP at the University of Toledo, and applied to 7 schools. 6 of them had my app on time, just with "in progress" on a lot of coursework. UT waited until spring to review mine.

Take the summer before to redo your MCAT if you need it, work on some extracurriculars, and beef up the app. The Master helps a good bit, as well.

It's hard, but you knew that. It's expensive, but you know that. All in all, though, it's worth it.

 

[ssquared]

A major disadvantage: if you do poorly, the game's over. You can go to a master's program to help accomodate for a poor undergrad GPA, but if you do poorly in your master's, there ain't no helping you.

It does kind of suck because you'll be taking classes with med students, and the pressure to perform well is all on you. The other guys are already in med school, so you're the one with a lot to loose.

Sorry to be such a downer....but I'll be in an SMP this fall so we can all just band together and have an online support group.

 

[Thayer]

A major disadvantage: if you do poorly, the game's over. You can go to a master's program to help accomodate for a poor undergrad GPA, but if you do poorly in your master's, there ain't no helping you.

Unfortunately ssquared is correct, I did the BU:GMS SMP. When I interviewed at BU, my interviewer congratulated me on my SMP GPA and commented that so many students don't realize this is their last shot. If you do poorly or even a little bit below average it may be the same as running a stake through your application.

Another disadvantage can occur if you haven't taken the MCAT or want to retake the MCAT. I found it impossible to study for classes and study hardcore for the MCAT simultaneously so I waited till the summer to study for the MCAT and did my program over 2 years instead of 1. What I initially wanted to be a 1 year detour from med school ended up being a 2 year detour, but I've accepted it. I took the written MCAT in August 06 which pushed back my finalized AMCAS a bit. So that was sort of a hit against my app but maybe that's not an issue anymore with the more frequent dates for CBT.

I don't know when the Georgetown program finishes, but if you want final grades on your transcript sent to AMCAS (on your AMCAS application) you'll have to wait until your grades come out. That probably won't set you back too far in AMCAS processing considering late June and early July is still what I consider early/about when most people submit. I don't believe sending your required paperwork in then is considered submitting "late".

 

[Nikki2002]

yeah--if you go into one of these programs you have to make sure you are ready to kick ass. if you **** it up...you'll probably be taking a little trip to the carribean. i'm speaking from experience here.

 

[markboonya]

yeah--if you go into one of these programs you have to make sure you are ready to kick ass. if you **** it up...you'll probably be taking a little trip to the carribean. i'm speaking from experience here.

word. even if u have another 40k to blow, there is no smp out there to remedy a poor smp performance. something ambiguous like a 3.2 wont help much either...especially at gtown since they have "connections/special understandings" with certain schools. u will be compared to your fellow smp'ers performance at these schools. go there and rock it like your life of your first born child depended on it. and if u do decide to go to gtown's smp, 2 words of advice:
1) dont try to understand anything in Embryology- just memorize the sylabus
2) go to as many Physiology TA sessions as humanly possible

best of luck!

 

[sendwich]

if you want your smp to give you a nice return, you MUST get a gpa above a 3.8. i've found people w/ 3.5, 3.6 even (don't even think about below) had an iffy, if not downright rejected, from medschools. you HAVE To be ready to KICK some major butts and pull all A's.

 

[kateycat]

thanks for all the advice... heres some clarifications:

i've already retaken the mcat, just waiting for scores to come out in july. i got a 29 the first time (9ps, 9v, 11bs) but without much studying. this time i studied my butt off so i should have some improvement (i was getting 36 and 37 on the later aamc's).

my ugrad gpa is good, around a 3.85 overall and 3.75ish bcpm.

i guess i'm sort of trying to figure out if i have more to lose than i have to gain from an smp, but it's hard not knowing my mcat results yet. i do want to apply for the 2008 cycle and not wait another year after doing the smp.

thoughts?

 

[KoreanMusicbox]

go away troll

 

[ssquared]

thanks for all the advice... heres some clarifications:

i've already retaken the mcat, just waiting for scores to come out in july. i got a 29 the first time (9ps, 9v, 11bs) but without much studying. this time i studied my butt off so i should have some improvement (i was getting 36 and 37 on the later aamc's).

my ugrad gpa is good, around a 3.85 overall and 3.75ish bcpm.

i guess i'm sort of trying to figure out if i have more to lose than i have to gain from an smp, but it's hard not knowing my mcat results yet. i do want to apply for the 2008 cycle and not wait another year after doing the smp.

thoughts?

Yep. You said it yourself. Get a job and make some money instead of wasting your time and money while in an SMP (and taking away that spot from somebody who genuinely needs it).

 

[postbacker]

thanks for all the advice... heres some clarifications:

i've already retaken the mcat, just waiting for scores to come out in july. i got a 29 the first time (9ps, 9v, 11bs) but without much studying. this time i studied my butt off so i should have some improvement (i was getting 36 and 37 on the later aamc's).

my ugrad gpa is good, around a 3.85 overall and 3.75ish bcpm.

i guess i'm sort of trying to figure out if i have more to lose than i have to gain from an smp, but it's hard not knowing my mcat results yet. i do want to apply for the 2008 cycle and not wait another year after doing the smp.

thoughts?

Oh please, are you a troll or an idiot? Why the hell are you even considering an SMP? An SMP is for the applicant who has taken the pre-reqs, not done well, and is used to remediate a bad UG GPA, to demonstrate the capacity to handle the academic load in medical school. Ummm, you have already done that...

Some of the idiotic threads and posts on SDN blow my mind...by all means, don't walk but RUN to the nearest SMP...

 

[imrep1972]

I'm gonna step in on this one:

I'd disagree with your limits on your GPA's there. Certainly, the higher you are, the better shot you have. However, I have PLENTY of friends who have below a 3.5 and got into med school the year of the program. Those who didn't, are getting in now the year after (and several of those are in at Georgetown now.)

So, while you're right, you need to peform as well as you can, let's not get everybody stressed out over something that is not necessarily correct.

if you want your smp to give you a nice return, you MUST get a gpa above a 3.8. i've found people w/ 3.5, 3.6 even (don't even think about below) had an iffy, if not downright rejected, from medschools. you HAVE To be ready to KICK some major butts and pull all A's.

 

[kateycat]

Oh please, are you a troll or an idiot? Why the hell are you even considering an SMP? An SMP is for the applicant who has taken the pre-reqs, not done well, and is used to remediate a bad UG GPA, to demonstrate the capacity to handle the academic load in medical school. Ummm, you have already done that...

sorry i wasn't trying to upset anyone or "be a troll" (whatever that means). i was under the impression medical schools wanted reapplicants to stay in an academic environment, and my premed advisor suggested an SMP as a good opportunity to prove myself.

i thought doing an SMP was a way to show dedication to medicine, plus, i like school and really thought it would be a good way to pass the year and make my first actual year of med school (hopefully) easier. but if the consensus is that SMPs only fix a bad ugrad gpa, then i guess there's no point for me...

 

[imrep1972]

Postbacker,

1. If this person is a troll, report it and let the mods handle it

2. If the poster is not, let's try to stay positive in this forum, ok? We're better than that.

But you are correct in that, if the OP can get in the 30's with a 3.7 or so GPA, he/she should not go to an SMP. That person should be highly competitive without it, and as Ssquared said, leave the spot open to someone who really needs it.

Oh please, are you a troll or an idiot? Why the hell are you even considering an SMP? An SMP is for the applicant who has taken the pre-reqs, not done well, and is used to remediate a bad UG GPA, to demonstrate the capacity to handle the academic load in medical school. Ummm, you have already done that...

Some of the idiotic threads and posts on SDN blow my mind...by all means, don't walk but RUN to the nearest SMP...

 

[imrep1972]

Kateycat,

There is nothing wrong with doing an SMP for the reasons you listed. It will definitely prepare you for medical school like you wouldn't believe. It is not only for raising a GPA, but that is what the vast majority of people use it for.

The thing to keep in mind is that if you don't do well in the program, you could really injure your chances for gaining acceptance to medical school.

Be sure you can do well before you take that chance. If you can do well, it will be a great experience and you will have a very easy first year of medical school.

sorry i wasn't trying to upset anyone or "be a troll" (whatever that means). i was under the impression medical schools wanted reapplicants to stay in an academic environment, and my premed advisor suggested an SMP as a good opportunity to prove myself.

i thought doing an SMP was a way to show dedication to medicine, plus, i like school and really thought it would be a good way to pass the year and make my first actual year of med school (hopefully) easier. but if the consensus is that SMPs only fix a bad ugrad gpa, then i guess there's no point for me...

 

[postbacker]

sorry i wasn't trying to upset anyone or "be a troll" (whatever that means). i was under the impression medical schools wanted reapplicants to stay in an academic environment, and my premed advisor suggested an SMP as a good opportunity to prove myself.

i thought doing an SMP was a way to show dedication to medicine, plus, i like school and really thought it would be a good way to pass the year and make my first actual year of med school (hopefully) easier. but if the consensus is that SMPs only fix a bad ugrad gpa, then i guess there's no point for me...

You are a reapplicant? Is this the first time you mentioned this fact? What was your app experience? How many schools did you apply to? Apply early enough? What about your ECs, shadowing, clinical experience, research? How many interviews? Your failure to get in the first time around probably had nothing to do with your grades, and no matter what others are saying here, an SMP is designed to fix a bad UG profile...it is too high risk for someone with your grades...also I failed to first see that you have a 29 MCAT with another score coming soon...so clearly your problem was with MCAT and not grades...you do NOT need an SMP...your advisor has given you poor advice.

 

[halekulani]

if you want your smp to give you a nice return, you MUST get a gpa above a 3.8. i've found people w/ 3.5, 3.6 even (don't even think about below) had an iffy, if not downright rejected, from medschools. you HAVE To be ready to KICK some major butts and pull all A's.

i can't tell if you're serious or sarcastic.

 

[Nasrudin]

You are a reapplicant? Is this the first time you mentioned this fact? What was your app experience? How many schools did you apply to? Apply early enough? What about your ECs, shadowing, clinical experience, research? How many interviews? Your failure to get in the first time around probably had nothing to do with your grades, and no matter what others are saying here, an SMP is designed to fix a bad UG profile...it is too high risk for someone with your grades...also I failed to first see that you have a 29 MCAT with another score coming soon...so clearly your problem was with MCAT and not grades...you do NOT need an SMP...your advisor has given you poor advice.

Frankly I agree with postbacker. Sure we should keep the gloves on. Be polite and so forth. But the OP is getting some advice that is frighteningly off base. Give 9 months with your gpa and I would be in medical school....period.

The SMP can be a dangerous proposition. Your going into shark infested waters where you will be competing against smart people who are backed into a corner academically and are fighting accordingly.

I am getting a 3.98 in my 2nd college attempt. Getting a high gpa is not difficult at the u-grad level. If I have to go to SMP b/c of my 3.3 cum to get in look out...and there are plenty of hungry MF's like me out there. Gunner is not a strong enough word.

Much respect to anybody who has done an smp and scored well enough to overcome and to get in. But I sure don't envy you.

OP, its a lot of stress to be just casually looking for something to improve your application with. Tread cautiously. Study hard for the MCAT and just get in the easy way.

 

[postbacker]

Frankly I agree with postbacker. Sure we should keep the gloves on. Be polite and so forth. But the OP is getting some advice that is frighteningly off base. Give 9 months with your gpa and I would be in medical school....period.

The SMP can be a dangerous proposition. Your going into shark infested waters where you will be competing against smart people who are backed into a corner academically and are fighting accordingly.

I am getting a 3.98 in my 2nd college attempt. Getting a high gpa is not difficult at the u-grad level. If I have to go to SMP b/c of my 3.3 cum to get in look out...and there are plenty of hungry MF's like me out there. Gunner is not a strong enough word.

Much respect to anybody who has done an smp and scored well enough to overcome and to get in. But I sure don't envy you.

OP, its a lot of stress to be just casually looking for something to improve your application with. Tread cautiously. Study hard for the MCAT and just get in the easy way.

A constructive criticism for the OP and others: you gave us very incomplete information, then you scattered key bits of info in other posts throughout the thread...your first post should have included all the relevant facts (reapplicant, grades, MCAT 29, advisor suggests SMP, etc).

I agree with the bolded statement above - some really lousy advice floating around here and elsewhere. I feel that I have given this OP the best possible advice - sorry it came out the way it did - but the OP did a very poor job presenting the picture to us. The OP has an MCAT problem, and an SMP is not the right way to correct an MCAT problem.

Take more care when starting these threads seeking advice - give all the relevant facts in the first post.

 

[1Path]

there are plenty of hungry MF's like me out there. Gunner is not a strong enough word.

Oh my, I've become one of those gunner MF's you speak of!

 

[Instatewaiter]

I have to agree w/ postbac and Nasrudin: an SMP is just too risky. If you don't excel in the SMP you will just be shooting yourself in the foot. SMPs are for people who are smart but jerked around in college. They also tend to have relatively high MCATs. SMP is not where you should be. It is not worth the money and not worth the risk. If you got 40K sitting around, I'd say purchase the Kaplan or Princeton review course to improve the MCAT and send the rest my way.

With your Ugrad GPA and a 29 MCAT you should have had a great chance at getting in. If I were you I would be worried about some of the less tangible things.

How did your interviews go? One way or another you probably need to practice up. Many advisors have a mock interview system. Go through that process and get some feedback.

How do you feel your LORs were? If you felt they were kinda luke warm might be a good idea to try and get some more in line.

Did you have a ton of Clinical experience. This is a big one, if you answered no or were unsure go out and volunteer anywhere that will take you. The more the better. Free clinics are generally great places to get experience as are ERs or hospitals in general. Also try and shadow some docs in various fields.

 

[kateycat]

You are a reapplicant? Is this the first time you mentioned this fact? What was your app experience? How many schools did you apply to? Apply early enough? What about your ECs, shadowing, clinical experience, research? How many interviews? Your failure to get in the first time around probably had nothing to do with your grades, and no matter what others are saying here, an SMP is designed to fix a bad UG profile...it is too high risk for someone with your grades...also I failed to first see that you have a 29 MCAT with another score coming soon...so clearly your problem was with MCAT and not grades...you do NOT need an SMP...your advisor has given you poor advice.

i applied late, and to the wrong types of schools (ex:cali, i had no idea how difficult it was to get in there... yeah i was definitely uninformed). i'm still on 2 waitlists but they aren't moving. one of these schools specifically grilled me about my mcat score. but another school where i got rejected from the WL said that even though my gpa was high it was perhaps because my major (exercise science) was "easier" since it wasn't bio or chem or some other hard science. hence why an smp could perhaps prove that yes, i can do "hard science". anyways, i really had no idea what i was doing the first time around, nor did i have any idea of how difficult the process is and how important timing and the essays are. this time around i'm applying early, completely redid my PS, and am basically determined to do things right this time. hence why i studied and retook the mcat.

the reason i didn't provide all that info in the first post was because i wasn't really asking if ya'll think i should go to the smp, i was just trying to gather all the info about it (generally the drawbacks because i can see the advantages) so i could make an informed decision.

but yes, you guys are right, my advisor has proved to be pretty worthless. he told me that applying early didn't matter, and when i got my first mcat scores back and asked if i should retake he told me no (giving me a sob story of one of his students who only ever got a 9 total after taking it 5 times) then when i came back asking for feedback/ideas on why i hadn't heard from some schools he said "well your mcat's a little low"...

anyways. i'm leaning heavily towards not doing the smp but if ya'll have any good ideas on what to do instead during this year off i could use it.

 

[AnthonyNY]

if you're "applying early", is it safe to assume you mean within the next month or so? i put mine in on august first of last year and it took, if i recall correctly, over a month to finally be fully verified. of course, do not sacrifice quality to get it in earlier.

a suggestion for the immediate future (ie. amcas) would be to really broaden the list of schools to which you plan on applying, though, i'm sure you've already figured that out on your own. your GPA is great, and im guessing that you took the pre-med requirements and did well... so, while i understand why someone may say your GPA is high because of your major, it still means something that you did well in the basics, and in all of your classes in general - though i do see your point about an SMP being one way to validate that you can actually handle the "hard stuff".

as for this year, if you feel like you're a bit weak on either research experience and/or clinical exposure, you might want to try finding time for one/both.. both may very well come up in your interviews (definately did in mine). if you can square something away to put on your amcas before finalizing it, good... if not, i think you can probably update it, or send the schools to which you've applied an update letter.. can anyone expalin the update stuff?

if you're fine with both of these, maybe still try to find some type of service project to get invloved with (eg. volunteer at a free clinic). it will be fun rewarding, provide clinical exposure, and may be something to talk about in an interview.