SLU medical scholars program

Colleges and Universities A-Z Saint Louis University
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So I have done some research on all the colleges, and the one college that has me most stumped is SLU.
I’ll post my stats here to give you guys an idea:

ACT: Composite- 30, Writing- 10
SAT: didn’t take
SAT I: (didn’t send to colleges) 650 in Molecular biology (to be fair, I found out THE DAY BEFORE the test my mom had signed me up)
Unweighted GPA: 3.9
Weighted GPA: somewhere around 5.8-5.9
AP Classes: AP Human Geography, AP Chem, APUSH, AP bio, AP Calc AB, AP Studio Art, AP Stats, AP Java II (Computer science), AP Literature, AP Gov, AP Physics.

To be honest, I don’t know how I got in. With an ACT of 30 I thought my application for Med Scholars was a crapshoot. What I’m super concerned about are two things:

First, the retention rate. They raised the GPA you have to maintain for med scholars to 3.65, and I think they check that every semester/year. From what I have gathered, there are around 120 people accepted into this program. At the end of each year, roughly 30% to 40% drop, for whatever reason (don’t want to do medicine, can’t keep up GPA). I’m worried that (and okay, you’ll think this is stupid) SLU gave me this Medical Scholars program/$20,00 scholarship to kind of lure me in, because they know I won’t be able to maintain the GPA. I’m not sure if I will or won’t be able to. All I know is that I’m horrible at standardized tests and its pretty much ruined my chances at a lot of places.

Second, IF you survive, you aren’t GUARANTEED a spot in their medical school. I’ve read so many horror stories about kids who met all the requirements for the program, and ended up getting denied (and with my luck, that WOULD be me lol). And their statistics on how many people make it, their average test scores for even getting in, MCAT scores, etc., aren’t very clear. I’ve done a lot of digging and I haven’t come up with anything, so it really feels like this is too good to be true.

Here are the advantages:
IF you survive past sophomore year, they make getting research opportunities/volunteering hours very easy. So even if you don’t get into THEIR med school, you still have a shot at others. And they also make this easy because you find out your sophomore year if you’re in or not (I think), so you still have a chance to gather yourself and figure something out.
It’s pretty close to home.
I have half my tuition paid for through that scholarship.

SO if you’ve been patient and read this, here is my question:
I’ve gotten into two other honors programs (UW in Seattle honors, UIUC James Scholar), both of which have their respective advantages. Both of these colleges are also ranked higher than SLU. Knowing this, would it be worth it to do medical scholars, even though it’s not REALLY a guarantee? I mean I love the idea of SLU, I think on its own its a good school, their dorms are nice, the people are nice, etc. What I’m worried about is that if the med scholars program drops me, then I would have given up two honors programs that could have potentially benefited me more in the long run than just being a regular SLU student.

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Anyone…

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Bump

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Helllpppppppp

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bump

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I am currently a pre-med at SLU and I have a lot of friends who are med scholars. You actually find out the summer right before your junior year whether you get in or not. This can be an advantage because you would get into Med school, and not have to worry about taking the MCAT again. However, it could be a disadvantage if you don’t get in, then you have to prepare for the MCAT all over again if you decide to take it again. Just know, that if you are accepted into SLU Med School through the med scholars program, you can’t apply anywhere else unless you risk you seat at SLU’s medical school. So, I would make sure that you know SLU is where you want to go for Med School. It is true that many students are not accepted into the Med School. However, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t accepted anywhere else after undergrad. In terms of research, as a freshman, I have already started researching even without being a Med Scholar. It is very easy to start researching at SLU, even if you are a med scholar or not. There is also an Honors program at SLU if you wanted to you wanted to join that early on. Ultimately, the choice is yours, but I would say that SLU has given me so many great opportunities for research and contacts for shadowing through the Pre-Health office. Even though you may only be guaranteed an interview, you are still one step closer to becoming a doctor than many other students their senior year of college.

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@spmo96 what year are you in at SLU?
I visited recently and I really loved the campus and the overall vibe. Everyone was very kind and being a Jesuit school, it seemed like the faith aspect was low-key. I talked to someone who made it to SLUs med school through the Med Scholars program, but decided to apply elsewhere and actually got accepted.

I think I’m most likely going to go there, but I have a few more questions.

What would you say the difficulty of the courses are?

Are your first science courses in lecture halls or smaller classrooms and how hard are the tests?

Can you still double major or minor in something as a med scholar?

Do you know if dual credit courses transfer over?

If I didn’t apply for the honors program, can I apply as a freshman and get in?

Thanks!

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@failinglife I am currently freshman. SLU’s environment is great, I absolutely love it here! I personally do not think that the courses here are impossible. As long as you put in the effort, get help when you need it in office hours, and pay attention in class, it is really not to bad. The first semester will be difficult to adjust, because it is an adjustment to live in college and having your own time management. But once you get in the hang of things, you know what methods work best for you.

So my Biology and Gen Chemistry courses were both in lecture halls, while the labs were all in a smaller group setting of about 25 students. The tests for Biology are not difficult as long as you study the notes from class, the homework questions, clicker questions that are done in class, and also the practice test they put online. The practice tests for me are the most helpful as they give a good representation of the question type and what the tests will focus on. For me, Chem tests were easier, but I like Chemistry and managed to get As on most of the tests. Practicing along the way definitely helps, and doing all the practice tests and studying what you did wrong helps a lot because the actual test looks a lot like the tests from previous years. The finals though are a whole different story…they are really hard. But if you did good on the other tests, it would act as a buffer.
You can minor in something else as a med scholar. Most do biology or health care ethics minors. I have heard a few who have double majored, but it would depend on what you would want to do. I would talk to your advisers about that.
I believe dual credit does transfer, but I didn’t do it so I would make sure.
Yes, you can apply to the honors program as a freshman and get in. I know a few people who did it, so it is possible!

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@spmo96 Thank you so much for your input and advice! The thing I’m most scared of is chemistry, because my AP teacher ruined it for me (and everyone else who took it).
I’m committing to SLU today. If you don’t mind, I might message you with more questions if I have any.
Thanks again! :slight_smile:

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Can u major in biomed engineering while being a med scholar?

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It’s not easy but people definitely do it!

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My D applied for SLU Medical Scholar Program. She got deans scholarship and they mentioned that they will review her application for medical program. Is there anyone applied for med scholar program and got dean scholarship? is there an advantage to the students who got scholarship? When do they call for interviews?

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Yeah, they also gave me the vice-presidential scholarship, which is $22,000 a year. I don’t think it has anything to do with the BS/MD program but because your daughter earned this distinction, she probably has the qualifications to get accepted. I believe that they do not have interviews.

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I got accepted to the SLU Med Scholar program. I heard it’s a tough program and acceptance to med school is 60%. Any advice to go for it or not.

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babySimba1… if you did not get into any other BS/MD program, I would say go for it! As someone previously said, SLU will help you get research AS A FRESHMAN! If you have not visited SLU yet, try visiting before you make your decision. The med scholars program will definitely give you a edge for medical school. NO MATTER WHAT ANYBODY SAYS, medical school is hard to get into and med scholars would definitely make it more plausible. Follow your gut because your choice is what matters… Also, I do have 4 questions to try to see what type of students they admitted to the SLU medical scholar program… sorry if i sound too personal :
1)what was your unweighted/weight gpa?
2) what was your ACT/SAT
3) Are you from Missouri?
4) Do you have high school medical related experiences?