<p>Hi, </p>
<p>I'm a junior and I'm really interested in becoming a doctor. My parents want me to do a 7 or 8 year med program, but i'm not doing so great in AP Biology and I wanted to major in the humanities with a minor in pre-med. Are the med programs really good? or is it better to do it the regular way?</p>
<p>Those med programs will be very difficult and extremely rigorous. I have a friend who attends Boston University’s 7 year program and he is a very bright student who still calls it difficult but barely manageable. In reality, most people who want to be doctors can’t. They’re not willing to work hard enough or just aren’t good enough in general. If you’re struggling in AP Biology (equivalent to intro level College bio), I would be having second thoughts. Then again, it’s different in college. And here’s more advice, don’t always do what your parents tell you to. As a student, most people who came to my university intended on being a doctor solely for the financial returns. Most ended up dropping pre-med because a) the intro classes are hell/weed out and b) there are better careers that offer similar compensation. If money is the deciding factor, keep your eye open. I don’t know if you’re an immigrant or not, but this brainwashing of the doctor/engineer idealism was definitely preached by my parents and it isn’t right at all. Just my two cents. Getting to med school is very difficult these days. And it’s because we want smart people who we can trust when human lives are on the line.</p>
<p>Thank you for the advice I’m very smart and i’m not the only one whose struggling in AP Bio. Plenty of students who are generally good at science as well. I’m not an immigrant nor do I want to be a doctor because of money. I want to be a doctor because I believe that’s what I’ll be good at.</p>
<p>
Isn’t supply-and-demand a bigger reason for this? People’s (and therefore politician’s) will in this area is also a factor. Isn’t it true that the number of residency seats, which are exclusively funded by Medicare which has been sort of in life support itself soon (and its current form and shape will be sort of “on trial” in this coming election), has not been increased at all for several decades?!</p>
<p>Last time I heard of it, Cuba has less trouble in training enough medical doctors for its country even though it is much poorer than us.</p>
<p>I do not think the experienced and skillful politicians, from both parties, will be as naive as you younger generation to really believe “want smart people who we can trust when human lives are on the line.” They are more calculating for their own advantage than that.</p>
<p>As much as I’d like to say that I got in because of my superior intellect/work ethic/charisma, the fact is that there are plenty of qualified kids who don’t get in and it’s for the reasons mcat2 mentions.</p>
<p>As for the 7/8 yr programs. I would flat out advise against 7 year. It’s just not worth it. 8 year programs offer the benefit of bypassing the med school admissions process from day 1 of college but take a look at the schools that offer them. I don’t think a single one in the top 25 has one and that’s because the point of them is to attract students who, as high school seniors, look like the kind of kids who could wind up at top med schools and so the school is offering them a deal to lock them in (although almost none of the programs are actually binding). I’m pretty sure none of them have requirements on what to major in just some class requirements and GPA minimums and some have MCAT requirements.</p>
<p>I don’t think AP bio success means much, but the question is why are you not succeeding? Blaming poor performance on a bad teacher (which is what I guess you’re implying if you’re bringing up how other students are doing) is a double edged sword. It’s nice to know that it’s not about your intellect, but moving forward that’s not really going to be an excuse to underperform. There’s a decent amount of self learning in college and way more in med school, so if the teacher isn’t doing it for you, you need to find another way to learn the material.</p>
<p>I think i<em>wanna</em>be_Brown said it well in “There’s a decent amount of self learning in college and way more in med school.” Although I do not know much about how DS learns at med school (as he rarely comes home now), he seems to have been relying a lot on his self-earning skill in college. He once cited that he needed to study several chapters in a couple of days as the professor could gloss over those chapters in one lecture (right before the mid-term.) At one time, the professor said in the class that if he mentioned even just one word about a chapter, all materials in that chapter are possibly in the test. Actually, what he covered the most may not be even in the test as he expects every student would know it so why should he test this part? He probably prefers to test those parts he does not have the luxury of time to cover them (and he expects the students to self-learn those.) Some college level science professor is like this. </p>
<p>As regard AP Bio, I think DS even did not take AP Bio in high school. It seems it did not hurt him because of this in college (and he graduated with a biology major and I believe he had never got a grade lower than A in any bio classes.) This likely means that the buildup of the study skill (for any science class) is more important than the accumulated knowlege itself, at least at the high school level.</p>
<p>RE: AP Bio. For the combined 7 or 8 year programs, admissions will closely scrutinize all your standardized test scores (SAT/ACT, AP scores) as part of their acceptance process. Less than top scores in either will hurt your chances. These programs are extremely competitive, taking only 10-15 students a year.</p>
<p>What Brown and MCAT2 have said about self-learning is absolute truth. In college (and every program after it) the learning paradigm has shifted–learning is the student’s responsibility, not the instructor’s. As a student (right now in high school and also later on), you have many learning resources other than just the instructor, learn how to use them.</p>
<p>On the same note as the posters above, even if you are very bright and hard working, and so are your friends in AP Bio with you–realize that right now you are the “bright kids” in a very small pond…In college, a lot if not all of the kids in your classes, especially pre-med classes, are going to be just as smart as you, and even smarter, and excuses about bad teaching are not going to cut it. You need to learn how to learn the material without letting anyone or anything else get in the way of your learning.</p>
<p>It’s a big, deep, wild ocean out there, with a lot of fish swimming.</p>
<p>I never said I have a bad AP Bio teacher. All i said was that I was having trouble with some of the material, I know have to learn and I’m trying to find ways to learn it.</p>
<p>
Is Northwestern considered a Top 25 as they have an 8 year program (HPME)?</p>
<p>Good call kdog but the fact that only 1 school in the top 25 has one means my point still holds true. In general these programs serve to lock down students who could do better.</p>
<p>And sorry op for assuming you were blaming the teacher, but I couldn’t think of a reason other than that for why you would mention that other students were struggling.</p>
<p>off the top of my head, there is baylor, utsw (6 yr), northwestern.
I agree with Brown’s point though.</p>
<p>Is this thread flame?</p>
<p>Programs are very different. My D. was accepted to 3 and ended up going to one but only for UG portion. Her program was 4 + 4 and was not any different in any respect from the regular route. they did not have additional rigor, they were part of general student body in any aspect, they could have absolutely any major, there was a requirement of MCAT, but they needed only 27 and they were allowed to apply out and still retain their spot at Med. School in a program. My D. ended up being the only program participant who applied out and she gain acceptance to 3 additional Medical Schools. So, she had a choice of 4 and choose Med. School outside of her program. Overall being in a program was a tremendous benefit, removed lots of stress and she ended up going to UG that fits her perfectly. D. graduated with Minor in Music, was in Sorority, went abroad and had no single summer class and was accepted to couple top 20 Med. Schools. Nothing negative, zero. Going to interviews when you already have a spot is all different story also. Taking MCAT knowing that all you need is 27 resulted in much higher score than would be otherwise because of stress factor. Again, each program is very different, general question about combined programs would not lead you in a right direction.</p>
<p>MiamiDAP,
what factors motivated your daughter to apply out of the program she was already in? Especially as she was obviously so happy at her undergrad campus.</p>
<p>Her Med. School was not at the same college as her UG. She did not like location of her Med. School, too urban. She is in the city currently, but not so much in the midst of downtown. In addition, she is at her dream school since her HS years, the one that rejected her pre-interview from their combined program. Now she is saying, good that they rejected her, as the UG that she attended fitted her much much better and actually she has hard time thinking of better place for her to be in UG…and being at her original “dream” Med. School just a great bonus.</p>
<p>Do all 7/8 year programs allow you to apply to another medical school after four years?</p>
<p>^Please look on the Multiple Degree Programs forum, I have a feeling this is a FAQ. If you can’t find the answer, start a New Thread on that forum.</p>