Duke or 7 Year Med? Help, please!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
1

<p>I never envisioned myself posting a thread like this, and yet, here I am, choosing between two very difficult choices with no clue as to which one is more suitable.</p>

<p>Here's a basic history:
If there's one thing I'm absolutely certain about, it's that I want to be a doctor. It's not a peer/parent pressure thing, a financial or even reputation thing. I absolutely and irrevocably LOVE medicine, love the hospital, love helping people, and LOVE Neuro (obviously my intended speciializaiton) </p>

<p>All that being said, in the past few months, I have heard nothing from my parents (both doctors) and others except about how increasingly DIFFicult it is to get into med school these days. People tell me all the time that I shouldn't bother about it at this age, but this is a real concern for me, mostly because I struggled a lot with the SAT, Especially critical reading (took the test 3 times: 580 two times in a row then finally got a 720 the third time. And I studied hard for the second and third times I took it). I think what's scaring me is if I struggled so hard to get my SAT score barely in range for the colleges I applied to, how hard will it be for the MCAT? I've heard numerous times "if you're good at one standardized test, you're good at them all" and so. Again, people say this shouldn't be a concern for me, but please understand IT IS because of how strongly I'm certain that medicine is the path for me. I know I can study hard for the MCAT and what not, but after studying so hard for the SAT and barely making it...idk, I guess I've kind of lost hope? It sucks, I know.</p>

<p>So as of today, I have two choices:
1) Duke Premed
2) UT Austin 7 year program BS/MD (combined with UT Southwestern)</p>

<p>I visited Duke at BDD. Loved it. Duke wasn't originally my first choice, but I still felt that I'd be content at Duke. Austin literally requested that I apply to their 7 year program. I did with no expectation of getting in. But...obviously I did get in. </p>

<p>So my problem is, Duke or Austin?
The dilemma here is taking the risk of going to DUke and not getting into med school. Southwestern is such a GREAT med school, and I'd also be saving a year, so it's a lot to turn down. Also, the guaranteed med is SUPER tempting for my situation. </p>

<p>If there's anyone that would be willing to offer their opinion/experiences with such situations, PLEASe let me know! I'm SO confused as to what to do. Both programs are literally 50/50 in my head, but with very different pros and cons for each.</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<p>If you have a guaranteed admission to that program and you are “50/50” re Duke pre-med, take the sure route. If test performance is an issue, the MCATs are more difficult than the SATs. MCAT performance is generally correlated with SAT performance. You will DEFINTELY have to study harder for the MCATs. By the way, the format of the MCAT is changing with more emphasis in critical reading and reasoning.</p>

3

<p>Make sure you check out the conditions for the guaranteed admission to UT Southwestern (Not something ridiculous like WashU’s direct med program)</p>

<p>If you are sure that you want to become a doctor, go with the 7 year med. If your SAT is weak or your high school not very competative, it can difficult to get a good 3.6+ GPA for medical school. Even with a great MCAT score and a good GPA, there is no guaranteed that you will get into a fantastic and highly ranked medical school like UT Southwestern.</p>

<p>I know quite a few pre-med students who had good stats, great MCAT but still have not gotten into a medical school period. Some of the better students I know have only gotten into medical schools around the same rank as UT Southwestern.</p>

<p>My advice for you: Take 7 the UT offer and run with it. You’ll have great education, an easier time through college and guaranteed admission to a fantastic medical school. The only reason why you should consider Duke is if you are not 100% set on becoming a doctor.</p>

<p>Yup; it seems like I advocate for the lowering of Duke yield every other day…lol</p>

4

<p>Who’s 100% sure of being a doctor after 4 years of college though? I don’t think the rank of your medical school really matters that much unless you are super serious about academic medicine or want to pursue a specialized field like dermatology. The actual educational experience you"ll have at Duke will be a lot more well-rounded and you"ll meet classmates that come from all over the world and have all sorts of interests. Building a set of diverse perspectives and developing strong critical thinking/analytical skills are paramount for being a successful as a professional in any field-including medicine. I would recommend Duke because it will stretch your boundaries more.</p>

<p>The MCAT is more knowledge based unlike the SAT which tests raw analytical abilities so excessive studying will not have diminishing returns and you can really increase your score with a lot of practice.</p>

5

<p>Here is some new information on the new MCAT slated for changes in 2015. It’s not all going to be pure science but will require reasoning skills. The test is so much different when I took it in 1982!!</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/newsroom/newsreleases/273712/120216.html[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/newsroom/newsreleases/273712/120216.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>“In addition, a new “Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills” section will test students’ reasoning ability by having them analyze, evaluate, and apply information provided in passages from a wide range of social sciences and humanities disciplines, including ethics and philosophy, cross-cultural studies, and population health.”</p>

6

<p>Take the 7-Year program, as long as the “requirements” aren’t like Wash’s.</p>

7

<p>Exactly, WashU’s 3.8 GPA + 36 MCAT requirement is ridiculous. 36 MCAT can be trivial, but that GPA is no joke.</p>

<p>If you can achieve those stats at WashU, you wouldn’t be worried about getting into a medical school directly out of high school.</p>