What's the gpa requirement for this program for admissions into the DO school? Their site says an applicant need about 20-25 on the mcat and about 80% make it to professional schools, but it fails to state how many make it to WMC DO program. Is this also a 1 year program? And are the classes doable? Thanks!
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Posted in another thread, but I'm closely related to someone in the WCU MBS program. To say that the level of disappointment in this program is high would be a disappointment. We're all disappointed in it. I've heard the education for one year is great. It is time consuming. It's challenging. The 80% might be correct. But it would include dental, PT, PA, Pharmacy.
Dr. Roark is a nice guy from what I've heard. However, they've currently sent out 6 secondaries to current MBS students. 17 applied out of the program. There was allegedly a 3 person MBS committee that decided whether or not an MBS student got a secondary and therefore got an interview. They cut off the MCAT at around 495 from what I've been told. They essentially disregarded MBS performance as the student of the year, who had a 4.0 GPA in the MBS program, did not get a secondary. There were several other students who I've been told have fairly strong (above 3.5 MBS GPA) performances but were not given an interview.
According to the operating rationale, Dr. Weir, the Dean of Admissions, believes there is a correlation between MCAT and board scores, which might be fair in general, but the research does not bear this rationale out given one thing that's currently circulating, which will be addressed with a link below. I've read two of the widely referenced articles published on this topic and there is a GENERAL correlation between between MCAT and board scores, but there is no research that would allow anyone to conclude that a 500 would indicate an increased probability over someone with a 495 to pass/score well on the USMLE/COMLEX. The separation and classification of these studies based on scores is not a major consideration. The only study I read considered "high" scorers as 35 and "low" scorers as 28. That's an 11 point difference for the purpose of the study converted to the new MCAT, and the conclusion was the 11 point difference had moderate to low correlation generally speaking. A 5 point difference is half that and the correlation would be even lower.
Anyway, I say all that to say this:
WCU College of Osteopathic Medicine and Millsaps College confirm partnership for medical students | William Carey University
Students have found out that Dr. Weir initiated a partnership with his alma mater, Milsaps, to GUARANTEE admission to the WCU COM. The requirements are 500 MCAT and 3.25 UGPA. So, 500 MCAT is the baseline to operate from. There are students in the low to mid 490s with relatively strong performances (above 3.5) in WCU's own Master's program who didn't receive interviews. So you go from 100% chance coming from Milsaps with a 3.25/500 to a 0% with 495/3.5+ MBS GPA at WCU. The board score argument is also not germane given the separation between 500 and 495. Even at 492 it would be a low correlation because the University of Minnesota's study concluded low to moderate correlation.
One obvious question is why WCU COM partnered with a Methodist school to guarantee admission to 10 students to increase recruitment efforts at Milsaps when WCU's OWN UNDERGRADUATE UNIVERSITY DOESN'T HAVE THIS TYPE OF AGREEMENT IN PLACE. It's a recruitment tool for Milsaps. Why WCU wants to recruit good students to Milsaps as opposed to their own school is beyond me. Mississippi College would make more sense. I promise, though, Dr. Weir would not want to commit 20% of his class potentially to students tied into Milsaps and WCU.
The other obvious question is why they don't consider the Master's work in their own program taught by the WCU's COM faculty as superior to an undergraduate education at Milsaps.
The glaring deficiency in their rationale is published stats by the AAMC indicate one is more likely to be accepted to allopathic medical school with a 3.6/494-497 than someone with a 3.2/500. Yet, the new initiative that guarantees admission to Milsaps students bucks this trend. The sliding scale descriptively employed seems not to apply here. Also, this is master's level work and it's less respected than Milsaps UGPA.
So DO NOT EXPECT THIS PROGRAM TO GET YOU INTO WCU COM WITHOUT A 500ish MCAT. They'd argue it's not portal and it doesn't replace MCAT. But last year students with lower MCAT scores were accepted leaving the current students confused to say the least. They're partially arguing the competitive applicant class with higher average MCAT scores this year as the reason for fewer interviews. However, if that's the case, and it fluctuates depending on the applicants, WHY AGREE TO GUARANTEE ADMISSION TO 10 MILSAPS STUDENTS WITH 3.25/500? In 3 years, 500 may be low for WCU.
So, the 50% stats MIGHT have been true last year BUT they must be contextualized. Several got in off the WL. And this year's class WILL NOT get 50% of applicants into the COM as of now. At best, 6/17 will be admitted as it stands now.
I'll update if it changes, but the secondary submission deadline has passed. There is more I've been told, but this accurate summarizes many current MBS students' attitudes toward the MBS program. I'd look into an MBS program that's portal if nothing changes. Otherwise you're taking an unnecessary risk. Risk/Reward ratio here is out of control. You're taking "medical school equivalent classes". You can't make Cs like med school students can, granted I'm sure med school classes are more difficult. You're judged on the GPA still.
Instead of doing MBS, which costs 20-40k, take a 5-10k loan out. Find the best MCAT prep class you can. Sublet an apt for a few months. Score well on MCAT. Then you're good. This is assuming you have a reasonably competitive UGPA. If you have 3.5+ UGPA, why risk taking "med school equivalent classes" at 20-40k that could hurt your chances of getting in if there's little to no reward in the context of getting in WCU? To be fair, there might be some bump from being an MBS student, but it's not much. The education is solid, but I'm sure it's solid almost everywhere. So either go MCAT route or go MBS with official portal program.