<p>Ok so here's the question I'm really really confused. i can't decide if the ivy leagues schools such as Harvard Yale Cornell pre med is a better option than going through a direct ba md program like UMKC. I'm a hundred percent sure I want to be a doctor and I've heard some things about nasty competition in the ivies. I've also visited UMKC and I'm totally in love with the program and campus and it's only 4 hrs from home. However, would it be making a mistake not choosing pre med at the ivies? I'm more interested in the clinical side of medicine idk really about research and above that i don't want to have to go through the MCAT stress Bc it's like another gamble to get into a decent medical school. With direct programs, I could just study hard and get my MD. I mean, a doctor is a doctor, right? The only thing I'm worried is that would it be passing up an opportunity ( and I would have awesome bragging rights) to choose a direct program that I am in love with for an Ivy League pre med?</p>
<p>Which are you accepted to? </p>
<p>UMKC is not for everyone. You do realize that it requires 20-23 credit hours per semester, summers are not off, you go to school then as well, and you do this for six continuous years. Compared to that, the MCAT is a walk in the park.</p>
<p>D considered UMKC for about two seconds until I waived her off. You might not need to go to an Ivy for pre-med, but UMKC is one intense ride - too intense for this father’s kid.</p>
<p>I live near UMKC and I have to agree with MrMom62 that it is very intense. However, if you are interested in finishing early, then it’s at least worth investigating. Plus, there are plenty of opportunities for UMKC MD grads around here, they have a very good placement rate.</p>
<p>are you a junior in HS? </p>
<p>do NOT think that an ivy education is a tix to med school…absolutely not. on that other med school forum, you will see ivy grads with no med school acceptances.</p>
<p>YOU have to have the grades and MCAT…and the ivies do NOT do anything special or different to help you score better on the MCAT.</p>
<p>I do realize that UMKC is in no walk in the park. However, my cousin and friends are all there and I’ve been hearing a lot about it so prepping myself for the stress(at least the best I can with that stress load). And mom2collegekids thank u for the advice, however does this mean going to an ivy for pre med doesn’t increase chances of acceptance into an Ivy League med school? And if it did, is it worth that much to study med school at an Ivy League?And peytonmg- I’ve been watching there match list - would you say that their placement overall is improving? And mrmom62- thank you for your input…where does your daughter go now? And brown parent- I’m applying this fall but my aunts been helping me with my resume. Her two kids got into Yale and JHU and Stanford but the first one chose the Konley Scholars Program at Mizzou and the second one UMKC. However, for me, I’m wondering if I should enroll in an ivy if I got in as well. We are going to try for northwestern and brown PLME as well, but again- costs and I don’t know much information about the program. A little background info: my family earns 6 digits about 100k, but the 100k feeds about 10/15 people for family back home and my sisters college. As a result, we have 75 k debt and are in very financially unstable times. So is it worth paying that much to northwestern home (50k a year) or brown or risk it with an Ivy League? My parents say thst if I get a seat there, they’d find some way to pay for it because they value education a lot, but is it fair to spend thst much if an md is the final result either way? But ivies also give me and my parents a lot of respect in our society. Also brown parent- I’m guessing ur student is in brown plme or brown undergrad? If u have info, could u please explain more to me? </p>
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however does this mean going to an ivy for pre med doesn’t increase chances of acceptance into an Ivy League med school? And if it did, is it worth that much to study med school at an Ivy League?
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<p>All US MD schools are excellent. No need to go to any ivy med. and, there are other med schools (including publics) that are ranked as well or higher than some ivies. </p>
<p>what is your goal? If it is MD/Phd academic medicine, then going to a top med school is important. but if your goal is to practice medicine in some specialty, then going to any MD school is fine. If you want a competitive specialty, then be sure to be in the top quartile of your med school.</p>
<p>Not necessarily MD/PhD, however I don’t want to restrict my chances into getting into a competitive residency like orthopedic surgery or neurosurgery in case that interests me. So, if I do want to match at say Harvard affiliated or JHU or WashU residencies, you’re saying as long as I work hard and stay at the top of my class in UMKC I could still get in?</p>
<p>And to get to brown plme should I bulk up my act from 32 to above 34?</p>
<p>You are making it sound like you think you can get into all of these high level schools somewhat easily…it’s not that easy. Don’t assume you will get into these schools…</p>
<p>Ik but I’m asking if I do…that way I’ll know if I should try sat 2 subject tests or not</p>
<p>D is going to a Top 15 NESCAC LAC - an ideal place to do pre-med in my (and her) estimation. She’s seriously considering double majoring in neuroscience and economics. The neuro coursework largely overlaps the pre-med coursework. All small classes, personal pre-med advising from Day 1 - and the schools helps anyone who wants to apply - no withholding letters of recommendation. For those students with a 3.5+ GPA, they’re claiming a 90%+ first-time acceptance rate. She’s also planning to apply to some early acceptance med schools after sophomore year.</p>
<p>We’ll see how all this works out. She’s free to change her mind, and may, but she’s going to grad school somewhere for something. But she had to get stitches the other day and wound up with an offer from the ER doc to shadow him this summer, so she’s pretty determined.</p>
<p>You may be 100 percent sure that you want to be a physician, but you are also 17 or 18. There’s a lot of things I was “sure” about at 17 or 18 that are different from the way I felt just 2 years later.</p>
<p>I work with and have advised undergrad students at my Ivy, including pre-meds, and the pre-med IS very competitive and stressful. I know students who have gotten in (including one of mine who had to choose between Harvard Med and Stanford Med) and some students who did not, and chose to do something else. I also worked with some students who began pre-med and changed their minds, some as late as their senior year (decided not to apply to any med schools and work in a different field). So no, pre-med work at the Ivies is not a guarantee of med school admissions, much less Ivy med school admissions. And if you are dedicated to clinical medicine, then you don’t need to go to an Ivy med school (or an Ivy residency). Any med school, and any residency, will be good enough to make you the physician you want to become.</p>
<p>Personally, I do not think that avoiding the MCAT is a good reason to do a combined BA/MD program. Overall I’m not a huge fan of BA/MD programs anyway (I don’t see what’s the rush; I think college is about exploration, and I think it’s not great to force 17-year-olds to choose their career) but I suppose that they are well-suited for some students. I do have some friends from high school who knew they wanted to be doctors in high school, some in middle school, and are in residencies now. So it’s not like no one ever knows what they want to do early. There are also some benefits, like getting integrated into hands-on medical education early (you’re in the hospital from year 1 in this program).</p>
<p>I just know so many more who changed their minds. I also teach in a summer public health program and every year there are students who come into the summer program deadset on being a doctor and leave the program being not-so-sure. Virtually all of the time, it’s because they simply hadn’t considered any other career field or really thought about the fact that there are a myriad of ways to have a fulfilling, well-paying career helping people in the health field aside from being a physician.</p>
<p>But with all that aside, trying to avoid the MCAT isn’t really a good reason to go into a BA/MD program. Med school IS stress. I have several friends at various points in the journey to becoming a doctor (most have finished med school and are in residency, but a few are in still after taking time off) and the MCAT was the least of their worries.</p>
<p>Besides, there are trade-offs to the BA/MD program at UMKC too. There are no summers off, which many students use to explore different career paths and get internships. Since you’re already guaranteed entry to med school that might not matter to you, but a lot of students foster an interest in a specific specialty during their summers - and some just use the time to recharge. You won’t really have the opportunity to study abroad because the course curriculum is so rigid, although that may not matter to you either. You’ll also be taking a very heavy courseload, so if your goal is to avoid stress of the MCAT, that’s like falling from the frying pan into the fire.</p>