SLU Medical Scholars Program

<p>brown plme, bu smed, uic gppa, washu med scholars, rice/baylors…and then i applied to a few undergraduate schools as well (northwestern, u of c, stanford, etc)</p>

<p>How many people are accepted into the med scholars program?</p>

<p>Yay! I got in…the letter came in today…so excited…but I definitively need to wait and get some more feedback…I have a feeling SLU is the only BA/MD program I’ll get into… it’s weird, all the good new and all the bad news come and go in droves…</p>

<p>I never got any word of interview or specific essay…</p>

<p>I was notified of my acceptance three days ago via mail, too. I’m super pumped about this program though I’m waiting to hear back from BU’s and Wash U’s before I make my final decision. Congratulations to everyone else that made it as well! Perhaps I’ll see you around in St. Louis next year?</p>

<p>so any opinions about the program?</p>

<p>From what I’ve heard, 80 students were selected from a pool of 700-800. </p>

<p>Is anyone else attending the Presidential Scholarship interviews this weekend?</p>

<p>Soccergirl4usc, did you get into Wash U’s program? I was notified online that I was not a finalist. SLU is becoming my school of choice more and more everyday it seems.</p>

<p>Youwillsee1–I did some research with my mother, a physician, on SLU’s program. It’s not the best program in the country, nor is it the worst. It falls in the mid to upper-mid echelon. These ranks are based on the average MCAT scores from past students. SLU’s program is also non-binding to an extent. If you perform well on your MCAT and think you have a good chance at a better program, by all means SLU will let you do that, the only penalty being the revocation of Med Scholars. No financial penalty, nothing else. With med scholars status, you’re given priority over other non-med scholars when trying to find research opportunities or shadowing position–anything medicine related. To me, SLU seems like a win overall. That’s my take on it. I hope it helped.</p>

<p>Hey everyone, </p>

<p>I happened to come across this discussion and wanted to give you some more info on the program. I am currently a freshman in the medical scholars program here at SLU. I think it’s a great program, and think that if you really want to become a doctor in the future, you should take this opportunity.
Exactly a year ago, when I was notified of my acceptance, I had a really hard time deciding between this school and this program, or going to the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. I loved U of M’s campus and it was just a short 20 minutes from my house so it was perfect in my eyes. Having to move out of state to St. Louis, MO where none of my family or friends were scared me. But, I decided to attend because of this program. I tell you this because some of you may be in the same position I was in.
Now that I am here at SLU in the program, I feel like I did make the right decision. What would be so great about attending a regular 4 year undergrad program, and apply as any other applicant to med school when I can have an upper hand at another school?
While I am only a freshman in the program, I see more benefits than any other negative aspects. I’ll start with the negatives: Once your GPA slips below the requirement, that is it, no second chances. This is pretty harsh, the way I see it, because other programs like this at other universities put you on “probation” and give you a little bit of time to improve. Not here! This may seem harsh, but It only makes you work harder, if you are really passionate about your goals. As of now, many people will drop the program within the first week, semester, or year. This is normal. Usually by the end of the four years, ~100 acceptances leads to a class of about 30 who actually matriculate into med school from the program.
I don’t want to scare anyone off, I just want to say this: What I have learned so far is that if you really know you want to be a doctor (which you probably don’t even have a solid reasoning why, or are 100% sure of it) take advantage of these programs. If you aren’t really sure, you could always accept and change your mind, but keep in mind, you really don’t want to go through gen chem, and gen bio which are just weed out classes to see who can “keep up.”</p>

<p>I hope this helps!</p>

<p>hey arster2 or anyone else, can you guys give me a hand. </p>

<p>I have fairly decent test scores and 4.0 UW gpa and I am in IB program.</p>

<p>Could you give me an idea on weather some of my ECs are up to par with what St. Louis is looking for? Thanks</p>

<p>School ECs:
-Participate in Policy Debate, have won a couple tournaments
-Chemistry Club
-Model UN
-Amnesty International
-Volunteers in Action
-Other various clubs</p>

<p>Test Scores:
-Hope to get 4s or 5s on all my AP tests
-PLAN score of 28 without studying, so hopefully a 34 or 35 on the real ACT.
-currently planning on getting 2200 + on my SAT
-SAT IIs are still pending, but I will take Math, Bio, and Chem for sure (IB classes should help me prepare for these fairly well)</p>

<p>Volunteering/ECs outside of school:
-Volunteer at 3 hospitals: plan to reach 900 hours by the end of senior year at the rate i’m going (activities included general patient care: cleaning up, talking to, etc. , some office work, actual onsite helping nurses, working in the E.R. helping doctors out, etc.)
-Volunteer at the VA, plan on reaching about 200 hours here at the rate I am going
-Volunteered about 150 hours at a village hospital in India helping out the poor.
-Co - created a medical abstract with some medical students and researchers
-Internship with radiologist in Chicago
-Volunteered at a large indian hospital (in India) for about 50 hours.
-Have done research in a lab as well
-Taken college courses relating to medicine and science outside of school
-Went to South Africa and spent the whole summer volunteering to help AIDS patients as well as researching with doctors stationed there. (did some shadowing as well). The volunteering was almost everyday for about 5 - 7 hours for about 2 months, so almost 375 hours of volunteering there
-Volunteered at a local center where I actually got to work with disabled children (this was about 40 hours, and I plan to go back for about another 40 hours)
-Have shadowed multiple doctors in the town.
-Also had an active role in campaigning for and actually collecting donations for Cancer research. (almost like a door - door request system).
-Also, with the VA, I also went around trying to collect donations for veterans as well.
-Lastly, other random volunteering experiences as well, such as library, which I would consider at least 100- 150 hours.</p>

<p>Harvard (likely letter) or Saint Louis Medical Program??? I know the answer is obvious to some, but Saint Louis has a pretty great med school and nothing compares to a secure future.</p>

<p>You will never have to make that choice. If you get into Harvard, you will get into other BA/MD programs that are better than SLU. You should have a good shot at HPME, PLME. Rice /Baylor etc…</p>

<p>If you think that you would enjoy bragging that you are a Harvard graduate, go to Harvard. Harvard grads always command a lot of respect. However, you have no guarantee that you will get into a top 20 med school just because you went to Harvard. If you do go to Harvard you will almost certainly get in to a Med School of SLU caliber. If your choice is really between SLU and Harvard go to Harvard. If it is between HPME and Harvard, go to HPME.
.</p>

<p>I kind of want to see someone turn down Harvard for SLU.</p>

<p>Kids! you are so young, 17 and thinking of combined degree already? Get to enjoy a little of the life that you will not get back. If you got into an Ivy,then is great, at least is 4 years. Doogie Housers are not better doctors at the long run than somebody with a few more years on them. Life experience should be mandatory before going to med school.</p>

<p>my friend who is in the SLU med scholars program now told me that his roommate turned down Stanford for SLU</p>

<p>actually, im starting to sort of not like these bs/md programs compared to top schools HYPSM…Why not work as hard as you can, instead of looking for a guarantee which is almost never as expected.</p>

<p>If you got in to Harvard and you continue to work hard you will do very well. If you happen to change your mind about medicine, you will definitely have more options coming out of Harvard that SLU.</p>

<p>Hey guys</p>

<p>I was just scanning this website to see what people are saying about SLU’s BS/MD program. I am currently a freshmen in the medical scholars program and I can see where all of you are coming from. I was in the same place last year. I didn’t really know that much about the program and was skeptical about coming here however I believe I made a good decision. After spending nearly a year at this campus there are a lot of benefits that some people have alluded to already. Being in the program does give you some advantage over other students in getting medicine-related activities. Also, SLU promotes every medical scholar to be a well-rounded individual. Most medical scholars that i know are involved in multiple clubs on campus, competing dance teams etc and many of which have leadership positions on these clubs. These are the qualities that all medical schools look for in their applicants. We have had numerous medical school Dean of Admissions (including SLU Medical School Dean) come and speak to the medical scholars about the processes of applying to medical school. All of them have stressed that they wish to see a student who is able to balance extracurriculars and academics. Also another thing to point out. SLU does not accept AP credit for science courses. Although this may frustrate many of you who are in AP science classes (I was in the same situation last year) it is a very valuable thing. Most high schools cover the most of the material that are taught in the gen chem/bio courses however not everything is covered. these classes are the foundation to upper divisional coursework that many medical scholars pursue and by making everyone take the course, it allows all students to be prepared to handle the upper divisional coursework and not to mention it will help tremendously on the MCAT. thse courses are mainly designed to teach you HOW to study…and trust me they do. i know there are some negatives such as there is no second chances given to students but in reality, the gpa requirement helps students stay focused on their goal and not slack off.</p>

<p>also to reply to those people who feel that because SLU does not interview its applicants for the program, that its program might not be as credible…that is not true. Even though they do not interview the students, once students get to campus to stay in the program requires effort and dedication. some other medical programs taht i know of are extremely competitive to get in, but are fairly easy to stay in. this program instills a strong work ethic amongst its students which helps them in the future to deal with medical school.</p>

<p>i know i wrote alot but i figured id give my review of the program. i was in the same situation as all of you last year but this program does have its benefits…although they are not as apparent they become very clear as you continue your undergraduate coursework. hope this helps all of you who are trying to reach a decision!</p>

<p>My situation: I’m stuck with a “good dilemma.” I must choose between SLU Med Scholars and Johns Hopkins University’s Biomedical Engineering program. While the choice may seem obvious to many, my major problem is giving up the virtual guarantee (as long as GPA reqs are met) to medical school right now. On the other hand, I’ve been admitted to the top BME program in the country. I feel inhumane dropping either for the other, but I must.</p>

<p>Opinions?</p>

<p>i would choose BME</p>

<p>Do you think that you can get a GPA of 3.6 + at Hopkins BME ?
If you can get a decent GPA and MCAT and do some research at Hopkins, you should do a lot better than SLU Med School.</p>