I’m thinking of doing a 7 year med program, but I’m not sure if I would be missing out on the college experience if I am. What do you guys think?
I think it depends on the specific 7 year Bachelor/MD program you’re referring to and how you define the term “college experience”. There are some that allow you to extend undergrad to the full 4 years – Northwestern’s HPME for example. I also think if you’re someone who isn’t 150% sure that being a physician is right for you (and that’s really hard to know at 18 with no life experience, for even the most involved of students), then a 7 year Bachelor/MD is probably not a good route to take, especially if you would have chosen a different university to attend.
That being said >98% of medical students go the traditional route of applying to med school, and this is just an alternative route. I do think your concern is very valid, and so it helps to talk with students currently in the Bachelor/MD program to see how they felt their college experience was. The BS/MD should be happy to give you the contacts of students willing to talk with applicants about their experiences.
Yes you will miss out on the college experiencee for one year. However, I recommend studying abroad over the summer to make up for some of that time lost since you are free to study abroad rather than do research or something else.
If you choose a BS/MD program that is close to your undergrad, you can easily keep in touch with your undergrad friends over the weekends and what not. So it is litereally as if you are in differnet classes, but you can still meet up whenever and hang out. Believe me, I’ve done it and it’s really important, especially in med school, to get out of the zone and connect with your non medical school related peers.