SLU Medical Scholars Program

<p>She stayed at Reinert Hall. It is a nice place. You have to get used to its location because it is one street from campus. As far as I know that is where pre-med students stay but there are other places but I don’t know about them first hand.</p>

<p>Here is an excerpt from an email I wrote to a parent who was interested in the program. I’m willing to answer any other questions people have.</p>

<p>"The program is particularly tough. If I had to rate the difficulty, I would say that the demands are significantly more than your average state school but slightly less than an Ivy league university. As with most pre-med schools, there is a lot of pressure in the freshman science classes – particularly Gen Chem I. I would say that roughly 10% of students drop out of med scholars after first semester, and probably a little less than a quarter after second semester. In addition, a lot of students find the core curriculum (non-science classes) to be somewhat rigorous too. Out of all the non-science classes I’ve taken so far, I would say hardly any were “blow-off” ones. The year which is toughest is sophomore year. This mainly because two of the hardest courses are coupled with each other: Microcellular Biology and Organic Chemistry. If I recall correctly, more than half of our med scholar class was eliminated by summer time (due to 3.5 math science GPA requirement). This is also the year you have your interview and find out if you have been accepted to the School of Medicine. It is definitely a stressful time.</p>

<p>I’m a Junior now and things have eased up significantly this year. I still have a few hard classes (physics), but it is much more manageable. Senior year looks fairly light as well as I had a bunch of credit coming into the university. </p>

<p>If I had to do it all over again, I certainly would. Being in the program definitely alleviates the stress of taking the MCAT and what not. Don’t get me wrong, you still have to have an excellent work ethic and struggle sometimes, but I think that this has helped prepare me for the rigors of med school. The SOM is also excellent and few people seem to realize this. A few years ago, we achieved the highest USLME Step 1 score in the nation. I would seriously consider the program for your son."</p>

<p>I am so glad to found this forum since my daughter needs to make the final decision in about a week, we had such difficult time at whether she will be coming to the SLU medical scholars program or not. Have just read through this forum, it definitely helped a lot at making her final decision of going to SLU. Thanks all for your posts especially from those who provided insider knowledge and views about the med scholars program.</p>

<p>So now, today, her decision is made, she will be a Billiken in the fall. As we were told when we visited SLU at the beginning of the month, she has the choice of living in the honors dorm. What are your suggestions for her between the Med Scholar living community or honors community? Any suggestions would be appreciated.</p>

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I just finished my sophomore year at SLU as a med scholar. My GPA was a 3.7, with 3.65 in the math/sciences (comfortably above the 3.5 requirement). I had over 300 hours of shadowing experience, as well other a few hundred other hours of non-shadowing clinical experience.</p>

<p>After i finished my med school interview a few months ago, i was confident that i would fall into the the 98% of scholars who make it into SLUMED. My interview was a breeze.</p>

<p>However, a few days ago, i received a letter in the mail. It was a letter of declined. I was outright rejected from med school. </p>

<p>As you can imagine, my family and I are extremely disappointed. I’ve spoken with the associate dean, Dr. Willmore, two times since then. Both were lengthy conversations about why i didn’t get in.</p>

<p>He went on to say that the committee had major concerns about my understanding of the medical field and the lifestyle of a physician. In my essays and interview, i tried to convey my belief that helping others in need, provides a sense of fulfillment and reward. Yet, he abruptly shot this down, telling me that my reasoning was entirely wrong. He stated that “doctors don’t feel fulfilled or rewarded, they’re tired, over-worked, and depressed.” </p>

<p>I was rejected because apparently i don’t understand that. </p>

<p>He would not specify what portions of my application caused my rejection (essay, interview, etc). </p>

<p>Anyways, i would advise people to stay away from this program. 5 other students were declined like me, even though they had the gpa.</p>

<p>The 98% stat is far from the truth. It’s false advertising at it’s finest.</p>

<p>In actuality, only 18-20% of the original pool of medical scholars make it into med school.</p>

<p>Willmore gave me the 18-20% percentage.</p>

<p>Best of luck to you all</p>

<p>wannamed, </p>

<p>I am so sorry to hear that you are rejected from SLU medical school after two years of being a medical scholar and hard work at SLU. Thanks for posting about your experience so the future SLU medical scholars can have an idea about this program. I really can feel your pain and understand your frustration. Personally I know medical scholars are high achievers, and are those who excelled in high school. With your good grade in this intense program, I am sure there are other good opportunities for you to reach your goal of being a medical doctor. I wish you the best in your future endeavor. </p>

<p>Do you have any plan about what to do next academic year since it is very late to transfer to other school for 2010-2012 academic year, or are you going to stay at SLU to finish your degree?</p>

<p>I recognize you wannamed.</p>

<p>It seems that this year, the med scholars program has been very stringent/erratic in their accepting/declining of people. One of these people was a sophomore who had a solid 3.9 GPA, had done research, volunteering, shadowing, and was all in all, a very solid candidate, but for some reason got declined. Not deferred, as is the case sometimes, but declined. I found that exceptionally weird, because, on paper, we had similar qualifications-- roughly (same GPA, he had done little volunteering, whereas I had done loads of, he had done research, I had done none, but I had done more shadowing, etc.). Hell, we even had the same <em>interviewer</em> for both interviews (we had one in the fall and the big one, the one in the spring). Yet I got accepted and he got denied.</p>

<p>I’d contrast this with the year above us, in which almost everybody I knew got in. Heck, everyone in the year above me pretty much told me “This interview is a formality… you’ll get in if your GPA is solid”. I guess not.</p>

<p>What really ticked me off was how Dr. Wilmore presented the program to us when we were freshman in Med Scholars Seminar. He, almost verbatim, said “All you need to do is maintain a 3.5 GPA and not seem like a sociopath in the interview, and you’re in”. They also flaunt the 98% acceptance rate. That’s a lie, as wannamed pointed out. There are, give or take, 100 Med Scholars in the class of 2013, but I personally know 4 who were declined and one who was deferred, and that’s just among my small group of friends.</p>

<p>This had better be an anomaly, and not a trend.</p>

<p>Does SLU Med Scholar program provide any places for Med Scholars to do the shadowing? or research? It is hard for a OOS student to have connections with local Doctors because usually OOS are not familiar with the area, where are the places they can go to find the shadowing opportunities? through their advisers? Any ideas? Thanks!</p>

<p>Well, it looks like decisions are going out tomorrow!</p>

<p>I know I won’t get in (Math/Science grades are horrendous) but good luck to everyone else!</p>

<p>After reading the post from wannamed, it sounds like a very mean program. Think long and hard before going to this program.</p>

<p>I got in! Yay! This is surprising because my math/science were almost all Bs.</p>

<p>I was accepted as well. Some basic stats to help those looking to apply to this program (I am not going unfortunately):</p>

<p>Class Rigor: 8 AP/IB Classes senior year
GPA: 4.39 Weighted/4.0 Unweighted
Class Rank: 2/589
ACT: 34 Composite
SAT: 2270 (single sitting)
National Merit Finalist
ECs: Mostly medical volunteering and some cancer research</p>

<p>Hope that helps!</p>

<p>Congratulations! How did you hear it? by email or by post?</p>

<p>It was by snail mail.</p>

<p>Thanks! I applied from Toronto, canada, have not received a mail yet.
Will you accept the offer? I read several posts on this blob, it seems very low % (20%) people can finally get in Med school. So far, this is not on my priority list.</p>

<p>Well, I want to hear about the prez scholarship and some other places first.</p>

<p>I would not hold my breath for the prez scholarship. It seems that they interview hundreds of students and very few actually get the the scholarship. </p>

<p>As far as med scholars program: it is an early application program not a guaranteed program. Even if your grades are above 3.5 you can still be rejected from the program based on your essays and interviews which you have at the end of the second year.</p>

<p>Who said anything about holding my breath? I just want to hear if I at least get a finalists scholarship. And there are a LOT more of them than you might think…</p>

<p>Good luck on the full ride. Med Scholars IS a good deal if UG is free.</p>

<p>Hello, would you please tell us how she likes it?</p>

<p>This program seems pretty awesome, and hopefully the 98% matriculation rate is accurate. Any information on that? I’ve heard some scary stories, but we’ll see.</p>

<p>I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA with a rigorous course load, and I am getting my ACT score back in a week (expecting a 30+), but I have virtually no medical experience. I have a decent amount of extra-curriculars and volunteer work, but none of it is medical related. Does the application ask for medical work, or is it mostly based on academic accomplishments?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>