<p>I am interested in attending a seven year medical program. :) OR :( </p>
<p>The first three years are at the college and the next four are at an associated medical school. On this thread, I would like to weigh the PROs and CONs of attending such a program. I realize that it is very difficult to get that golden admission, but, once the program begins, is it that much harder than the regular eight years?</p>
<p>PROs
-You do not need to take the MCAT and, if you do, a certain score is not required
-Guaranteed admission into Medical School
-You are able to start medicine earlier [a young doctor, how exciting]</p>
<p>CONs
-The program is extremely difficult and you must maintain certain standards
-The summer of your third year is spent in college
-The fee for the program is the same
-The pace is accelerated, leaving less time to absorb information</p>
<p>Seven year medical programs are definitely something to think about and I am interested in learning more about them [especially from students currently enrolled or ppl who have been through them]. Hopefully, some of you will be able to answer my questions...</p>
<p>How hard is the program? Was it difficult to maintain your academics and a social life in college? Did it interfere with the experience of college or make it harder? On a scale of one to ten, where do the difficulties of this program and the regular medical path fall? </p>
<p>Hopefully we can all learn more about this accelerated, seven year medical program together!</p>
<p>Hey, I’m in BU’s 7-year program. You can choose to extend the program to 8 years with 4 yr undergrad + 4 yr med if you want once you’re in, but most people just go with 3 + 4.</p>
<p>The program really isn’t that difficult, getting into the program might be hard, but once you’re in it’s definitely easier than regular pre-med. The “certain standards” you have to meet are a 28 MCAT and a 3.2 GPA, which most of exceed pretty easily. They put you into some of the harder science classes, but in terms of making the grade, it isn’t too much of an issue. Just as an example, I made a 3.8 freshman year.</p>
<p>In terms of summer classes, the majority of my regular pre-med friends are taking summer classes, I’m not. The BU program only requires 1 summer class during summer #2.</p>
<p>The fee for the program is less than 4+4 because you’re saving 1 year of tuition+housing.</p>
<p>So yeah you can definitely have a social life while still being alright academically. </p>
<p>I think though if you are looking for combined programs, you should apply to a lot of 7 and 8 yr programs and then decide where you want to go from there when you find out where you got in.</p>
<p>Why are you limiting yourself to 7 year programs? What is a reson for excluding 6 and 8 years combined programs? The tuition is usually much less becasue of caliber of students most of whom will be eligible to high % or full tuition scholarships or full ride. 1 year less will not save $, only living expenses, since accelerated programs have more hours per semester, at least some of them charge more. Anyway, apply to wide range of programs, they are harder to get in than most people realize. be very proud if you get into few, do not let yourself down after receiving rejection letters, they are inevitable. The best of luck!</p>