<p>Hi everyone,
I’ve (luckily) been accepted to 3 medical programs: the Boston University 7 Year Medical Program, the University of Southern California BA/MD program and the Union College/Albany Medical College BA/MD/masters program. If you have been admitted/are currently attending one of these programs, can you tell me more about them and your experience? I’m having difficulty deciding because the Union program doesn’t require MCATs, however the Boston and USC programs do. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks</p>
<p>USC haha that'd be a dream come true for me especially at their medical school</p>
<p>Medical school is expensive, very expensive. Do undergrad at a place that will leave you with the lowest debt, work hard, get into the best med program you can, spend your coin there, graduate, then try to milk the insurance companies to repay all that debt, or at least don't let them milk you :D</p>
<p>I got accepted into the USC and BU program and am probably going to go with the BU program. Also getting a 28 (as required by BU program) probably won't be difficult for you. Albany med school? Is that any good?</p>
<p>Hey johnstoops, why did you decide BU's med program over USC's? Also, do you know if most people in the BU program get the necessary MCAT score? Also, for BU, if you want to apply out, will that mean giving up your seat at the med school?</p>
<p>I have to admit, I liked the USC bacc/md program a lot too.
The decision for me came down to a few things....first of all BU offered me wayyy more merit scholarship money than USC. USC have me some merit money too, but BU just gave me more.
2nd, the BU program is 7 years.
3rd, the 3rd year of the BU program is pretty much do whatever you want....go study abroad, start taking med courses, do more undergrad studies, etc...the study abroad part especially for so long is especially sweet.
3rd, I just simply liked the program at BU better. The kids that I talked to that were in it seemed like they absolutely loved it and although they get decent grades and all, they also were really laid back.</p>
<p>To your questions....I remember one of my interviewers telling me how barely anyone ever drops out of the program, and the 2-3 he remembers that dropped out over the years he remembers were because they just didn't want to do medicine anymore and wanted a PHD in math or something. Sooooo you WILL get a 28 on the MCAT. Don't even take that into account during your decision process.
and yes, I believe you do lose your spot at BUSM if you decide to apply out, which is the one main advantage I see in the USC program. Still, if you are willing to work hard, do well on the USMLE, etc....you will get an excellent residency since BUSM has a pretty good match list and BUSM and Keck are pretty much equivalent in terms of medical school ranking depending on where you look.</p>
<p>btw, if you have a facebook search SMED and join the facebook group.</p>
<p>Just curious, why would someone who has a place in a solid medical school apply elsewhere? (Other than for some personal reason like love.) The challenge for almost all students is getting into medical school. They want to get in anywhere, so it seems a little weird to be considering the pro's and con's of if you can apply elsewhere without losing your spot. </p>
<p>I ask this with a satiric twist. My father gave boards in a specialty and some of the question he'd ask would be about basics because he said he'd constantly meet residents who could split hairs, who knew every little tiny thing and obscure fact, but then couldn't diagnose diabetes or some other important condition. See my point?</p>
<p>He was accepted into the BU program which is a 7 year program to the med school.</p>
<p>Exactly. That's great. The point was raised above that BU might not guarantee that place if you decide to apply elsewhere for med. I'm curious why that hair-splitting is important when the main thing is to get into med school. Lots of people kill themselves in undergrad for that opportunity.</p>
<p>To explain: I assume the answer is "well, because it's a difference." If so, that's my point.</p>
<p>Boston or LA would be a lot more fun than Albany. Despite the demands of a medical education, you still have free time.</p>
<p>the important thing is to have a spot in a med school, but, after 4 years, if students find that another school may provide a certain specialty that they can't find at their current locale, why not pursue it? By the way, can someone tell me the average score students got last year on the MCATs, as well as the average score of students who were accepted to med schools?</p>
<p>Med school isn't really a specialty thing. There's some difference in how you approach teaching about the body but the essence is that it's standard because you have a licensing exam after two years. Then you start rotations and maybe some electives your last year. </p>
<p>You specialize when you're an intern in a program.</p>
<p>average person who gets into med school has a MCAT score of 30.
and just like getting a degree in anything, let's just say engineering, is a degree in engineering no matter where you get it from....wouldn't top notch students want to get into a college with a BETTER engineering program, say an Ivy league college or whatnot.
Now for me, I'm completely totally happy with BUSM since it's good and I can get into whatever specialty I want if I do well on the USMLEs etc from BUSM...but still I think that should still be a consideration.</p>