<p>Good advice norcal guy.</p>
<p>Does Drexel have a minimum GPA requirement to keep the med school guarantee? If so, come here. If not (or if it’s something low like 3.0) go there.</p>
<p>Norcal said 3.5 GPA and 31 MCAT.</p>
<p>Oh, my bad. In that case - just my two cents - the program is useless. A 3.5/31, along with volunteering/extracurriculars/med research will get you into any decent medical school. So just go with the cheaper program at HumEc.</p>
<p>Thanks again guys, but I already know Drexel is right for me and sent in my deposit. Some ba/bs-md programs like Drexel have a minimum gpa and mcat to graduate into the medical school. I just got too worried about cornell premed after reading too many negative posts in the premed web sites and here about cornell undergrads going to med school. ILR2013, I don’t know if you are thinking premed at cornell, but a 3.5/31 from Cornell according to their admissions data they have at their web site leads to a very poor admissions rate to med school so I don’t think you are right about a 3.5 and 31, but you check it yourself; this is my opinion. FYI – Cornell also does not have any premed advisor at this time until the future and my high school guidance counselor called and confirmed that the other day. Do what is best for you, but do your research first!!</p>
<p>@DerrickSpa- It is very interesting that all six of your posts – your only posts – are in the Cornell sub-forum. For a supposed Drexel pre-med fan it is revealing that you did not make one post on the Drexel board. So, that is another reason for my suspicion that you are a subtle ■■■■■ who is either disgruntled about not doing well at Cornell, or you are a Drexel pre-med shill. This is just my armchair analysis – I agree with norcalguy’s brilliant final post that the only other possibility is a naive irrationality. I also agree with norcalguy that it is time to walk away, which I now do. I’d wish you luck, but I regrettably hold the opinion that you are a ■■■■■ with a hidden agenda.</p>
<p>I can kind of understand your feeling, anyway, not a ■■■■■ at all (I just had to look up that word.) I can pdf you my acceptance to both Cornell and the Drexel BS-MD, and if you want a copy of the deposit check that we sent them yesterday. I think Cornell is a great College which is internationally recognized as one of the best. I was born in Russia and came here at a young age, 8. All of my family that is still in Russia thinks Cornell is one of the best and they never heard of Drexel. I just think that for premedical studies Cornell may not be a good choice, at least for me. I read thousands and thousands of posts on the College Confidential and premed doctor forums and if you are thinking of Cornell you should read them too because there is a lot of upset cornell students out there. Im not upset because I am not going to Cornell. you should read the forums and see what others are saying. I have not found a forum for any other college in the U.S. that has so many upset students with their college and premed like cornell has. I also dont think my high school guidance counselor would lie about cornell not having a premed advisor until some time in the future. I don’t know if you are at cornell, but if you are it is really one of the best colleges anywhere and you should be proud to have been offered acceptance. You can do well wherever you go as long as you try hard enough.</p>
<p>Good luck to you then. Now please quit thinking about Cornell – move on to the Drexel board and support your new school.</p>
<p>DerrickSpa – I wish you the very best in your decision. Since you have researched it, I’m sure that what you’re doing is best for you.</p>
<p>The rest of this post is addressed to anyone who may be reading this thread down the line. It is presented as a starting point for the research you should undoubtedly do for yourself.</p>
<p>It appears that for the Drexel Guaranty to work, you need a 3.5 GPA and a MCAT no less than 31.</p>
<p>[Accelerated</a> Degree Program Application Process | Undergraduate Admissions | Drexel University](<a href=“http://www.drexel.edu/undergrad/apply/freshmen-instructions/accelerated/]Accelerated”>BA/BS+MD Early Assurance Program)</p>
<p>I don’t know what the avg GPA is at Drexel University as a whole, but it appears that their Med School Admittees have an average GPA of 3.55. BTW, their Average MCAT scores are: biology 10.58, Physical 10.05 and Veral 9.42 (looks like it averages 30.05 to me)</p>
<p>[Drexel</a> University Drexel University College of Medicine](<a href=“Medical School Admissions | Best Med Schools | The Princeton Review”>Medical School Admissions | Best Med Schools | The Princeton Review)</p>
<p>So, what I guess they’re saying is that if you meet their average admissions requirements you’re in … I guess that’s not bad, assuming that they reject many students who meet these average requirements (I have no idea whether they do or not). However, this is not a guaranty.</p>
<p>FWIW.</p>
<p>A 31 on the MCAT means you’re in the 80-85th percentile of all MCAT takers. Probably means you have a pretty good shot at admittance anyway.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/students/download/85332/data/combined08.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/students/download/85332/data/combined08.pdf</a></p>
<p>I originally followed this thread trying to educate myself about premed for my daughter who was admitted to Cornell. We now have a similar problem. She was recently accepted into the Union/Albany Medical College Leadership in Medicine program. Union requires that students maintain a 3.5 GPA but does not require them to take MCAT.</p>
<p>Norcalguy - You seem to be one of the most prolific and objective posters on the Cornell and pre-med forums. You have said in thread#12 “By the way, the reason I post so extensively on this topic is that I have a special interest in medical education and the medical school admissions process. That’s why I’m on the curriculum committee and the admissions committee at my school.” </p>
<p>I would appreciate your feedback (or from other posters) on the following:</p>
<p>1) Would you recommend the Union program without the MCAT requirement as a shortcut to MD without the premed grind? Do you have any comments about AMC?</p>
<p>2) Ancedotally, I have seen so many posts that refer to people with high scores not getting into med school. Actually, from the Cornell 2010 accepted stats, I see that about 8 students with 3.4+GPA and 35+MCAT did not get into medical school. Sometimes, these outliers scare people the most. What is your best guess about why they did not get into medical school - bad essays, lack of research, applying too high, etc.? How could they have improved their chances?</p>
<p>Thanks for your help!</p>
<ol>
<li> I will preface my answer by saying I have strong opinions about BS/MD programs but they are simply my opinions. You will find plenty of people who will disagree with me.</li>
</ol>
<p>Do you know how many standardized tests your daughter will take in med school? Not one. Not two. Probably around 10. There’s the USMLE Step 1, which is a $500 test that has 330+ questions taken over 8 hours. There’s the USMLE Step 2 CK which is another $500 test that has 330+ questions taken over 8 hours. There’s the USMLE Step 2 CS which is a $1000+ practical exam administered over 8 hours. And then there are the Shelf Exams for internal medicine, surgery, neurology, psychiatry, OBGYN, pediatrics, emergency medicine. All of these are curved against med students from the entire country. And these tests are diabolical. The question stems can be ½ page long each and since these are administered by computer, they can have unlimited number of answer choices. I’ve seen questions with 10+ answer choices. So, why am I telling you this? Because when she takes these tests, do you want the last pressure-filled major exam she’s taken to be the SAT’s?</p>
<p>Medicine is a really long and arduous path. It’s natural for parents to want to shield their children from stress, competition, pressure, and failure. But, the more you shield them now, the more they pay for it later.</p>
<ol>
<li> You will always find outliers but you can’t go on them. If someone comes to me with a headache and no other symptoms, could they have a brain tumor? Yes. But, I’m not going to order a MRI for them because 99% of the time it’s going to be a migraine, tension headache, not a brain tumor. So, if you see 90% of students with a 3.5/35 getting in, you have to go with that. </li>
</ol>
<p>The most common reason for a good applicant to not get into any med schools is that they applied too late. Med school deadlines are deceptive. The deadlines to apply are in November usually but most people apply in June or July. When we receive apps in October, we will have given away most of our interview spots. There are many excellent candidates we would love to interview that we simply don’t have spots for because they applied too late. The other reasons why excellent candidates go without acceptances are that they applied to too few schools (I don’t understand people who only apply to 5 places; you need to apply to 15-20) or that they didn’t apply broadly enough (poor premed advising leads people to overshoot). People will always talk about the 4.0/40 kid with no social skills or who didn’t have clinical experience. But, those are extremely rare. Usually, it’s not a flaw with their application but rather how they applied. If your daughter doesn’t make these mistakes, she’ll be fine.</p>
<p>Before anyone asks, do I have data to support my assertion that BS/MDers are less prepared for med school than regular applicants? Not a lot. Northwestern’s HPME program admitted that on average their HPMEs performed worse than the students that go in the regular way. They cited this as the reason the HPME program was reduced from 35 students a year to roughly 15 students a year. There have been a few scant papers published on various BS/MD programs around the country. At some programs, the BS/MD students performed worse in select areas in med school vs. regular students. At other programs, there was no difference in med school performance. But, one thing is clear: the trend over the past 15 years has been to shutdown or reduce BS/MD programs. Many BS/MD programs at top med schools (like UCLA, UMich, etc.) simply don’t exist anymore.</p>
<p>I just saw your reply after having not logged in here for a while, and your point is good. There are not many ba-md programs, but for me going to one is a good choice.
Cornell is a very good university, but when going premed it is a very tough choice, in my own opinion, bcause they have no premed advisor, their admit stats to medical school are low and the last accepted applied chart they post on their web site is from back in 2010 I think it could be a sign that there admit rate dropped even lower because why else would they not have posted last year’s chart? I’m not saying cornell is “a poor choice” for premed. Yet reading the postings here on college confidential cornell is the only university where there is so much complaining going on about poor results for pre med / pre law and very harsh grading. I don’t think I will regret Drexel beause there are like hundreds of applicants from cornell undergrad that can’t get into any medical school and, Drexel is a decently ranked school in the northeast.</p>
<p>Derrick - </p>
<p>Since one never knows how these things will work out, these are always tough decisions. All you can do is try to gather all the facts and make your choice (which you’ve done).</p>
<p>Good luck with your choice. I hope everything works out as you expect it to.</p>
<p>Let me just say this: I have a very good grade in Cornell right now as a premed, one that I would probably not be able to get in many of the other top colleges. It’s not as impossible as you think it is.
Yeah, it’s far from easy, but it is not unreasonable and I learned a lot here.</p>
<p>Come on guys, no need to feed the ■■■■■ anymore.</p>
<p>No sir, not as ■■■■■. Honestly, everything said is accurate. If you don’t believe it, then check what I said. Cornell has not released mediical school admission results for the last 2 years!!! they have no premed advising person until sometime in the future!!! you can call and check that on the phone. It is the truth. There is no other University in the United States of America with posts about poor grading and poor graduate school admissions like there is with cornell, just read the posts on this site and the posts on the prelaw and premed boards. Unless everyone is making this stuff up, there is something going on at cornell. But you can check for yourself sir.</p>
<p>Well this has deteriorated. </p>
<p>Going to a BS/Md at a place like Drexel is OK as long as you don’t mind not having other options, and are thinking mostly about going into practice. The problem is that you really don’t know what you will want to do in 7 years from now, you will have greatly limited your undergrad curriculum, and while this may sound elitist, your options for post-grad medical training will likely be impacted by your choice of both Drexel and a 6 year program.</p>
<p>Six year programs have a place for specific type of individuals, but by their very nature they lead to limited educational and potentially, limited career options. </p>
<p>If I were an entering freshman with my heart set on med school, I would choose the best school that I could, study what really interested me the most, and make sure that I kicked butt in the classes that mattered when it comes to med school admissions. I was a humanities major before doing an Md/PhD, and in retrospect it was one of my best academic decisions ever.</p>
<p>i don’t know how big the Drexel med school class is, but if you google their residency match list 2012, it is not bad. Lost of students match into ROAD (if this is so called better ones) specialties. Of course lots of students match into non-ROAD too. So if they give you lot of scholarship, and you think you can stand out, then take it.</p>
<p>Yes there is a premed advisor. It was formerly the head of HCEC (Health Evaluation Committee). From my impression, there’s been a LOT more med school applicants this upcoming cycle, and hence HCEC has been extremely busy. Maybe that’s why they haven’t posted up last year’s data (2011 cycle). </p>
<p>I actually do have 2011 Cornell data <em>for specific schools</em> (they gave it to us at one of the HCEC meetings), and from what I see, we’ve done pretty well.</p>