<p>Yea you usually have to have individual interviews in different locations. They're all at the respective medical school so you get a chance to tour the campus and really get a look around at that particular school. Furthermore, you're usually not allowed to choose the date for your interview, they assign it to you I think.</p>
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I only applied to one (Penn St/Jeff) and got in but am going to be attending a traditional 4 year university for premed studies. The thing about the BA/MD programs are that they are mediocre schools looking for the top applicants who would most likely be taken by the top tier med schools, so they try to snag them early. If you want to be a clinician, it doesn't really matter what med school you go to, but if you want to do research like me, you are supposed to shoot for the best you can get into (which is why I didn't want to cut myself short with BA/MD programs).
It really just depends what you want.
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<p>Well, I don't know if I can agree with that. The fact is, most of these combined programs grant you the bachelor's degree in the interim (usually around year 3). Hence, that means that you are perfectly eligible to apply to other med-schools at that time, and if you get into a better one, you withdraw from your current program. If you don't get in anywhere, then you simply stay in your current program and finish the MD there. In fact, certain of those programs like the Rice one explicitly say that they are nonbinding (meaning that you can leave the program for a better med-school), and almost all of the others are defacto nonbinding. After all, no school can legally force you to stay if you don't want to. </p>
<p>So it's not just a matter of having a bird in the hand and forgoing the opportunity to get 2 birds in the bush. It's a matter of having a bird in the hand AND also the opportunity of getting 2 birds in the bush. You get guaranteed admission to one med-school, and you still get the opportunity to apply to other med-schools. </p>
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Also, most medical schools require an interview, so lets say you apply to 20 schools, does that mean 20 individual interviews, in 20 different(and probably DISTANT) locations!
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<p>Heh heh, that's if you're lucky enough to get an interview from each med-school you apply to. Almost nobody will get invited to interview with every med-school they apply to, and some won't get a single interview from any school at all. So if you apply to 20 schools and get 20 interview offers, I think you're in a very good spot.</p>
<p>I think the poster meant that it was more of a way for the respective undergraduate university(usually the same as the associated medical school) to get students that would otherwise go to prestigious schools or even ivies for their four years of college since students could guarantee at least one medical school spot just in case by going to the combined program. Usually schools grant the degree in the interim, but there are some schools that withhold the bachelor's degree until after the first year of medical school. Drexel University's program is one example, I think Penn State's as well but I'm not sure, I'm pretty sure that its more than just an isolated instance among combined programs though. It's probably practiced more in less reputed programs rather than one such as Rice but I don't know for sure where it is and where not. Lots of schools claim to be binding, like the head of the program at BU said that they dont let students apply out, but from a friend of mine that goes to BU I know that some still do although that requires extra work on high gpa, e/c's, and mcat, none of which they'd normally have to do to stay in the program which makes leaving more the exception rather than the rule. At a few places(lesser-reputed programs that do grant degree in the interim), IIT/Chicago Med School is one example, up to half the class will leave after undergrad since they were aware they'd at least attempt to apply out when they enrolled in the program.</p>
<p>COuld someone out there post a list of med schools considered "safetys" by most standards</p>
<p>there is no safety, anything is good, its a big crapshoot.</p>
<p>Well, just an idea of the bottom 5 or so</p>
<p>There are none really. All are hard to get into.</p>
<p>There are no safeties, but in general, a low-level state school of the state that you reside in could be considered 'safety-ish' (although there are many exceptions - for example, the UC Medical Schools are all extremely difficult to get into even if you're from California). Many of the DO programs could be considered 'safety-ish'</p>
<p>what is DO?</p>
<p>DO I think stands for Doctor of Osteopathy
This website compares MD with DO
<a href="http://www.mommd.com/whatisdo.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.mommd.com/whatisdo.shtml</a></p>
<p>Even Harvard-worthy students are not guaranteed acceptance into BA/MD programs--they are often looking for specific medical work, such as research or volunteer work, not to mention the obvious high expectations in terms of grades, test scores, other ECs and so on. I would not recommend even applying to a BA/MD unless you have some experience in these fields--this works against those who realize they want to go into Medicine late in their high school career. I was accepted to Dartmouth and Notre Dame, but neither of the BA/MDs I applied to, and I know someone who is now working on her PhD in psychology at a top 20 school who was also not accepted (she was, I believe, pre-med at the time).</p>
<p>Does anyone know Brown's acceptance rate? How about Georgetown's?</p>
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I would not recommend even applying to a BA/MD unless you have some experience in these fields--this works against those who realize they want to go into Medicine late in their high school career.
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<p>Well, I don't know that I can agree with that. I've seen people get into these programs with zero experience in the field. Granted, it's not easy, but why not apply and see what happens? After all, the worst thing that will happen to you is you get rejected. But you might get in. How much does it cost to apply - couple hundred bucks at most? And that's for a chance at a program that will give you guaranteed admission to med-school. I think getting that chance is worth the money. Hence, I really don't see the downside in applying. </p>
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I know someone who is now working on her PhD in psychology at a top 20 school who was also not accepted (she was, I believe, pre-med at the time).
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<p>How exactly can you be premed if you're still in high school?</p>
<p>USF's 7 year program isn't too difficult to get into. Three of my friends got into it (all from the same high school) and one of those people didn't even get into Hopkins and none of them had over a 1450 (two were under 1400) on the old SAT</p>
<p>I am completely discouraged. Somebody help!</p>
<p>My daughter's SAT is below 1400, a 1350 to be exact and why in the heck would a med school want a high school SAT score anyway??? High school GPA was a 3.03 at a college prep school with mostly APs.
She is now at OU with a 3.9.</p>
<p>Does anybody think there is any hope that she could get into med school?</p>
<p>P.S. Did I mention she is a terrible test taker? God help us.</p>
<p>^^^med schools shouldn't ask what her SAT or high school GPA was. what we're talking about is programs that accept students into a joint undergraduate/med school program, for which high school is the only reference on which to base admission. </p>
<p>basically, don't worry how she did in high school. when she started college she got her slate wiped clean.</p>
<p>MaryAnna, not to discourage you further but if your daughter is a terrible test taker, she won't enjoy the MCATs. They make SATs look like a walk in the park.</p>
<p>yes, this is what we understand.
But with Kaplan prep and the correct college courses and some aderol, do you think it is possible or still impssible?</p>
<p>Prep courses aren't miracle workers. The goal of Kaplan and Princeton Review is to get your score up to a 30. And that's for normal test takers. I'm taking Princeton Review right now and I can confidently say that half of my class isn't prepared enough to take the MCAT next Saturday.</p>
<p>Your daughter has a nice GPA but she will still need a reasonable MCAT (27 or above) to have a good shot of getting into a couple of med schools.</p>
<p>thanks. At least that gives us a ballpark. If the practice tests don't give her a 27 or higher, she will know to keep studying and take the MCAT later.</p>
<p>What do these kids do who want desperately to be doctors? Do they get advanced degrees in Public Health, join the Peace Corps, what???</p>