<p>Four year college vs Seven year med program? Pros and Cons to both?
People who have experienced or have made decisions. What did you weigh, what specifics did you consider and how did you arrive at your decision?
Is it better to experience real 'four' years or go for a set future with a seven year program? All comments are welcome. Thank you. :D</p>
<p>I am a physician and will give you my opinion on your question. I personally do not like combined programs for the sole reason that I really don’t think there’s any reason to shorten your time to becoming a physician. If you are a truly dedicated student and very motivated, then it should not be a problem getting into medical school as long as you work hard as an undergraduate and maintain very good grades and get a good MCAT score. The other problem is that there are not a whole lot of combined medical programs throughout the country. You may end up getting into an institution where you may not have really wanted to go but are attending only because of the combined program. What happens if you no longer want to become a physician and end up having to complete your undergraduate study at that school? Would you still want to be at that school to complete a degree?</p>
<p>Yes, the big advantage of the combined programs is that you have a guaranteed admission to medical school, provided that you maintain your grades, and some schools are now requiring students to achieve a minimum MCAT score in order to begin their medical studies.</p>
<p>In the end, it is a personal decision. Just as I have given my opinion, I’m sure that there will be many people who will persuade you to apply to the combined programs. There is no right answer, other than the decision that you make based on your own circumstances.</p>
<p>I see. I mean I can understand why shorten the presumably best four years of your life when you know, that no matter what, you will pursue becoming a doctor. I understand your point of view and how mine and others will definitely be slightly different based offo ur prior experience and circumstances. Thank you.</p>
<p>Please put the topic on the title next time. Its not that important, especially to many who don’t care about med.</p>
<p>Suggest that you also post your query in the pre-med forum.</p>
<p>Doesn’t going the 7 year route also preclude you from looking at differing tuition comparisons? As a 17 yr old without visiting 5-6 med schools, you’re ready to commit to one now? Wouldn’t it be better to look at/interview at several schools later?</p>
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<p>I never understood the notion of college being the best four years of your life. Imagine peaking at 22 and the rest is downhill, LOL. </p>
<p>I will tell you that there is plenty of great life left after college. Enjoy it all!</p>
<p>Alright. Thanks everyone.</p>
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Just had a family reunion and spoke with a relative who spent a year abroad. Not too difficult to arrange in college, moving overseas for an extended stay could be done by anyone at any age but I think you’d agree is much more common among college kids than other age ranges. The freedom to by-and-large choose your own hours to study instead of being in the office 9-6. Surrounded by thousands of unmarried students selected to be like you, all with plenty of free time. Every few months brings a new semester and the opportunity to change up what you do as opposed to work where the difference between mid-winter and mid-summer may be when the sun goes down. The sense of possibility, where almost all doors to the future still seem open.</p>
<p>The best is to have both. My D. did and was very satisfied with her way of getting into Med. School.<br>
First, she had choices of bs/md programs and chosen non-accelerated 4+4 with the option of applying out and still retaining your spot in a program.
Yes, she was lookng for the best UG experience that she could possibly have after graduating #1 from private HS. Her UG experience was way beyond that we have forseen, She had many many opportunities (planned and beyond planned) and took advantage of them all. At the same time she had a guaranteed Med. School spot that required much lowered stats than regular route. And as an icing on this cake, she had it tuition free because of multiple Merit awards.<br>
However, she did not stop there. She has never aimed at min. stats, nope, she aimed at max possilble. Because of her very high stats and because her program allowed so, she has applied out (she was the only one in a program who applied out) and got accepted to several Med. Schools in addition to her spot in her program. The choices were great, it took her awhile to make dicision and she is very happy with her Med. School (MS3).
Additional comment - 7 years is NOT always cheaper than 8. If my D. has chosen an accelrated 6/7 year program (she was also accepted there), it would not be cheaper because Merit award there for UG portion was much lower.</p>
<p>Go the the undergrad that is best for you…grade wise and fit wise. then go to the best med school (fit wise and so forth) that you get accepted to.</p>
<p>My younger son is sharing a condo with 2 other MS1’s. One of the students is a friend from high school who did the BS/MD at their med school. He’d be the first one to say that he “missed out” by doing this. His BS/MD school doesn’t offer much of a full college experience and he felt a bit cheated when he’d see what his GF and my son were doing at their undergrad.</p>
<p>Just keep in mind that bs/md programs are very different from each other. Cannot think about them in general terms at all. My D’s experience was not different from others outside of her bs/md. In fact she had more of what everybody calls “college experience” and much more than we have ever expected. This is not reflection on her program (with exception being flexible and NON-accelerated), but reflection on her character. She also mentioned that not only all bs/md were regular students among other pre-emds, they were keeping low profile about the fact that they are in a program with gauranteed spot. Nobody really kew, maybe some very slose friends, maybe absolutely nobody. They just did not want the social consequences. As they did not do anything different from other pre-meds, but had a guqranteed spot. Imagine how the next person would feel about it? Was not a good idea to let them know, unless your goal is social isolation. In fact, most of D’s friends were not pre-meds, but non-related majors…</p>
<p>^^
True…your D’s undergrad is a residential univ with all the trimmings.</p>
<p>I think mikemac puts it well. It’s not that college is the best 4 years of your life because everything is downhill, it’s more that it’s an incredible time and one that you can’t really do at any other time. Being a physician is great (from what I hear), but you’ll easily have 40-60 years in which to be one. You don’t have 40-60 years of opportunities to do the things college students do (e.g. study abroad, study diverse topics, live in a community surrounded by people your age with access to cheap/free stuff designed specifically for you). On a much smaller scale it’s why I and many friends I know chose not to live off campus senior year. You can’t live on a college quad in a building full of friends with a full service pre-paid dining room right in front of you and someone who comes in and cleans your hallways and bathrooms after you graduate but you can live in an apartment on your own or with someone else like an adult the rest of your life.</p>
<p>^D’s UG actually have a campus in Europe. She did not have a chance to study in Europe, and she was not that interested at all. Cannot say the same about long trip to NZ. She took advantage of this one and the fact that she got additional $4k in Merit scholarships in that year has helped a lot.</p>
<p>Thank you for the thoughts.
What I am also wondering is basically, I mean I really don’t have a doubt in my mind that I don’t want to be a physician. I am pretty much 100% positive that is my career choice, but in terms of going to a straight 7year program, I feel like I won’t get the opportunity to as others said experience a variety of classes unrelated to my major and studying abroad and just exposure to a lot of other things I would otherwise have at a four year school. However, with the 7 year program, there is this sense of purpose and permanency that, es, you ar becoming a physician, this is guaranteed.
Thoughts?</p>
<p>If you have the qualifications as a high schooler to get into a 7 year BS/MD program it’s pretty likely you would continue to perform in college in a way that would put you in good position for medical school - certainly in position to get into the kinds of schools that 7 year programs would lock you into. Notice that only one top 25 medical school offers an 8 year program, none offer 7. Only two top 25 UGs offer BS/MD programs and again those are 8 years. This is no coincidence. Those schools will get the cream of the crop regardless of whether they lock them in as high schoolers or not. The schools offering 7 year programs are trying to lock in applicants who would probably not attend if they went the traditional route.</p>
<p>At the end of the day - it’s your life and your anxieties. If you’d feel better in a 7 year program then do it. Also, this may not even be an issue come april when you get your decisions. These BS/MD programs are extremely competitive.</p>
<p>I also thought someone said there was actual data to support the claim that accelerated students do worse in med school than traditional? My timer is about to go off so I don’t have time to go searching for it now.</p>
<p>“straight 7year program”
-You are talking like you have an acceptance in your pocket. Do you?
If so, you need to evaluate thsi specific program. They are very different from each other. It does not matter, top UG or completely off the charts unknown place. It is up to you to get yourself into Med. School, the name of your UG is very close to irrelevant. It is not what you need to assess. You need to assess how you personally fit into the program (both UG and Med. School), but UG is more important for now. That is what my D. was assessing AFTER she was accepted to 3 bs/md, all at state publics in our state. She has chosen a perfect place for herself. Do the same, it will work.</p>
<p>I know someone who is doing a 7 year program and while I will be doing 3rd year as a junior (but considered rising senior due to credits), my friend will be a senior (regardless of credit entrance) because the program has 3 year undergrad. From what I’ve seen, that person has done a huge amount of things over 2 years alone. The person has loads of friends from the same program (b/c they are about the same age), which means socialization is not limited. He also has studied abroad over the summer, become a RA, entered into a fantastic and active club, and done plenty of medical internships. To be honest, the person has done practically everything imagined and there is no regret but rather a sense of happiness that it will come to conclusion the next year.
The basis of these 7 year programs is essentially to recruit bright students from the beginning and then have them major in the humanities stream. That takes a lot of burden off from them because they are like the Humed program crowd where people are made to focus on nonscience subjects. Essentially, the lighter courseload enables them to enjoy the 3 years they have more than or equal to any college student (I honestly don’t see what is so special of a gap btw someone who goes to med school 1 year later than someone in these types of accelerated programs). Some people in this program also go onto take gap years themselves and then come back with a stronger resume.
Perhaps, what I would advice is to instead pick a ba/md program because it is much better of an experience. The program chairs don’t pick the students randomly, so if you get chosen, you must have displayed great affinity for medicine like the person I knew. The only downside to this option is that you will be paying 7-8 years of private tuition (which the person I know is doing). Also, if you quit halfway, you may not have a marketable degree for which you might want to start again for. However, a lot of premeds go into oversaturated degree programs anyways, so you may want to weigh that as well.</p>
<p>^If you are one to be accepted to the bs/md. many palces will offer an enormous Merit award as only very top kids could enter bs/md. D. has received Merit award at every place that she has applied and the private UG gave her the most, they simply have more resources. But getting Merit award for the Med. School is very very hard as people with advanced degrees are ahead of UGs.</p>