<p>Is there anyone that has received the Early Assurance Award at the Brody School of Medicine at ECU in Greenville, NC? Can you tell me about the program and what activities you get to participate in your undergraduate years. I know you have to keep a 3.5 GPA to retain your award - is there support from the undergraduate program and the school of medicine to help you succeed? Have you been pleased with receiving this award? Any information would be helpful.</p>
<p>The program is a good one. It’s hard to turn down a guaranteed admission to a med school since getting into any med school can be a real challenge. My child was the recipient of this and is headed to BSOM. The program offers the recipients opportunities to meet with current med school students, offers shadowing experiences, and offers study abroad, research, and other enrichments that are already built into ECU’s Honors program. Generally the folks who are awarded these guaranteed admissions are already highly internally motivated and expected to easily obtain the needed grades. They don’t have to take the MCATs—that in itself, is a huge benefit. They simply keep up their grades. All of the premed classes at ECU are very large, but if your child was selected for this program, they will have no problem. I recommend that he/she get involved with an undergraduate pre-med club.</p>