What does a SMP do for a candidate?

[GoWiththeFlo]

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Sorry, if already posted earlier, could not find a good answer.

Will the Master Program grades stand alone or do they get averaged into the total GPA?

Do admissions people look favorably on a SMP or do they frown on it?

Any additional info is helpful. thank you.

 

[not so calm now]

Sorry, if already posted earlier, could not find a good answer.

Will the Master Program grades stand alone or do they get averaged into the total GPA?

Do admissions people look favorably on a SMP or do they frown on it?

Any additional info is helpful. thank you.

There's a postbac forum you should check out to answer questions. Briefly, SMPs don't factor into UG grades. They're most useful when combined with a high mcat, low gpa, and good application otherwise (ECs, LORs, etc.)

 

[Perrotfish]

1) SMP grades are considere graduate GPA, they don't factor into your Ugrad GPA.

2) SMPs are basically auditoins for medical school. You take medical school classes and are graded against medical students, and admissions committes then generally look at your performance in the SMP almost to the exclusion of all else. People (including me) who did well in them have reported getting into medical school with Ugrad GPAs that are in the bottom 10% of matriculants. A single year in one of these programs can undo dammage that would have otherwise taken the better part of a decade to fix. Also, people who have done badly in SMPs have reported back that it was basically impossible for them to ever get another interview invite. So one way or another this will probably be the last thing you do in your quest to get into medical school.

3) SMPs have competitive admissions, and are generally designed for people with 'unbalanced' applications, meaning a high GPA and a low MCAT. This is your chance to show that your 37 MCAT score, rather than your 2.8 GPA, idefines your potential as a medical student. If both your MCAT AND your GPA are low then no SMP worth going to is going to accept you. If both sets of stats are borderline, i.e. a 3.4 and a 28, then an SMP probably will take you but honestly there are cheaper/less stressful/safer ways to improve your app.

And yes, post-bac forum has more info.

 

[Looking Glass]

Sorry, if already posted earlier, could not find a good answer.

Will the Master Program grades stand alone or do they get averaged into the total GPA?

Do admissions people look favorably on a SMP or do they frown on it?

Any additional info is helpful. thank you.

Perrotfish is almost right on the money. SMP GPAs are separate from undergrad GPA, so even if you get a 4.0 all the way through an SMP, they won't do anything to improve your undergrad GPA. That being said, SMP GPA are given a lot more weight than normal graduate GPAs since they are curved against actual medical school courses and instead of taking 2 classes per semester, you take the full medical course (which can be 5-7 science classes per semester).

SMPs are perfect for people who are strong in every aspect except for their undergrad GPA. So this means that they have high MCATs (30+), lots of extracurricular activities, and gobs of clinical experience but have otherwise borderline GPAs. The low GPA could be for reasons that may be beyond your control. For example, you could have gotten sick in undergrad or picked a hard major (ahem... engineering) or gone to a college with grade deflation. Some schools have different grading curves and grading policies so a 3.0 at one school might be as difficult to achieve as a 4.0 at another school. Like the MCAT, SMPs are a great equalizer becuase they allow a direct comparison between you and the medical school students. So this is a great way to demonstrate your actual intellectual ability without having to take years of post-bac classes.

As perrotfish said, SMPs are risky in that if you bomb your classes or perform below average, you can seriously jeapordize your future medical school application. In the SMP that I'm in right now, you have to perform in the top 10% to get an A, above average to get a B+ and anything below a B will cause concerns among medical school admissions committees.

As for competitiveness, the University of Cincinnati SMP that I'm in right now is almost as competitive as some medical schools. This year we had ~350 people apply for 28 spots. Part of the reason why is because you have to complete all of your pre-requisites before you can attend the program and you have to take the MCAT beforehand (GRE are not allowable substitutes for the program). Before you jump into an SMP, make sure that you do a critical self analysis to determine whether or not you feel that you can handle a demanding coursework. If you're the type of person who struggled getting a 3.0 in undergrad and breaking a 28 on the MCAT, you may run into problems with doing an SMP.

 

[Isoprop]

Just wanted to add that not all med schools care if you do well in your SMP. And some schools haven't even heard of them or don't know how to interpret SMP grades.

One school I spoke with even told me they don't give any weight to SMP grades because they've been burned by SMP students before (accept student b/c of high SMP grades and student fails out).

So YMMV with SMPs.

 

[Isoprop]

Yes I agree with you. For the right student (low GPA high MCAT), SMPs will help you get into medical school.

But if someone looks closely at the list of schools SMPers matriculate, it tends to the same schools every year, particularly schools with SMPs.

So if someone wants to increase his or her chances of getting into med school, a SMP is a good choice. If someone just wants to increase his or her chances at getting into a specific XYZ college of medicine, then an SMP is not the best choice (unless of course, that specific med school is EVMS, Cinci, GU, etc.).

Just to be clear, I'm not arguing with you, I'm in agreement.

 

[jjmad1201]

err....i know this is dumb but what is smp?

 

[Booster]

SMP = Special Masters Program

 

[Looking Glass]

err....i know this is dumb but what is smp?

An SMP is a Special Master's Program. These are one year master's programs (instead of the traditional 2 years) that lets you take the same classes as the first year medical school courseload (usually biochemistry, physiology, gross anatomy, and microanatomy). Some of them may require a research thesis as a requirement for the Master's degree. They're really a good way for students who have low GPAs (but high MCATs) or people who've been out of school for 10+ years to get acquainted with the medical school coursework. Some of the people who do an SMP may have been borderline applicants who were rejected the first time they applied to medical school. As perrotfish said, it's a way to "audition" for a medical school program since doing well in the program helps beef up your application in the eyes of the admissions committee.

 

[elyswim]

Not sure if any of you would know this, but just out of curiosity would someone who had a perfect 4.0 at an SMP and some upper 30s MCAT have a shot at the top... say... 10 schools in the country?

 

[RogueUnicorn]

Basically no, if you're not a URM screw up your Ugrad GPA you're probably not going to a top 10 medical school. I'm sure somewhere out there there is an exception to that rule but I've never seen it and you're probably not going to be that guy. Honestly if your GPA is below a 3.4 you need to focus on just getting in, rather than getting into Hopkins.

Don't worry too much about it, though. If you do well in whatever school you end up going to you'll have a chance to apply to top residencies in years, and after that no one will care about which medical school you went to.

BU has a list of acceptances in the history of the program and i think pretty much every school was on there... of course, it's unclear how many exactly got in when, but just pointing that out. (even though you provided for exceptions)

 

[njbmd]

Sorry, if already posted earlier, could not find a good answer.

Will the Master Program grades stand alone or do they get averaged into the total GPA?

Do admissions people look favorably on a SMP or do they frown on it?

Any additional info is helpful. thank you.

Go to this website: AAMC Postbacc Site

Once there, read the explanatory paragraph that is written and then use the drop down menu to explore any type of SMP, post bacc or certificate that you want to find. You can go to the websites of every program and ask your questions directly.

In terms of grades, any formal graduate grades DO NOT contribute to an undergraduate GPA. If you enter a formal graduate program, those grades are counted as graduate grades. They will not offset or overcome a poor undergraduate GPA.

As for SMPs, check out the website above and decide for yourself. Good luck!