Is it worth it to go to an 8 year med program if You are unsure?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>I got 10,000 in grants and scholarships, bringing CMU price to 33-34 grand. My parents are divorced but my parents are in good financial standing, and hopefully my dad will be paying half of my tutition each year since he doesnt have to pay child support anymore since im 18. My mom makes maybe 95,000 and she will be paying about 17-18,000 a year then. My sister will be going to college in 2 years. Do you think it is realistic to assume I will be OK in funding for CMU?</p>

<p>I have to decide between an 8 year gauranteed med program and CMU and Duke University. Duke is giving me no financial aid so Im definatley not going there. The 8 year med program will cost maybe 16,000 a year. Im not sure If I want to be a doctor though, im 50/50 maybe so what do you think? Is CMU worth it or should I go to the 8 year med program?</p>

2

<p>Where's the med program?</p>

<p>And I would urge you to consider Duke. But that's just my platform, obviously. <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=147457%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=147457&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

3

<p>Depends on how the program is set up. I'm pretty adamant(sp?) against accelerated programs because of the way they are set up, combining classes from a normal undergrad curriculum and a medical one. But if you have some freedom, and the two curriculums are separate, then it's a lot less problematic if you decide that medicine is not where it's at.</p>

<p>I'd also ask you where do you want to go most - ignoring the finances and stats and that stuff, just on emotion? Where will you be the happiest?</p>

4

<p>And my key question is slightly different from Red's:</p>

<p>When you meet the students at each school, which students do you feel the most confidence in? If somebody you knew were to become sick, would you rather send them to a Duke/Carnegie Mellon grad who went on to med school, or to a student from the program you were offered a spot in?</p>

5

<p>I would still take the 8-year combined program for the simple reason that almost all of them give you an 'out' if you decide that medicine is not for you and you just want to get a regular bachelor's degree. I don't think any program can legally force you to stay through all 8 years if you don't want to.</p>

6

<p>What is the 8-year program you are considering? If it requires the MCAT, and the scores they require (usually 27-30) are out of your reach, then settle for CMU or Duke. You could always take the 8-year program and take the classes and if you don't like it then go to CMU or Duke.</p>

7

<p>Uh... you're assuming he can transfer back to CMU or Duke, which is not necessarily the case.</p>

<p>And how is he supposed to know yet what kind of MCAT score is out of his reach??</p>