<p>i'm a junior in high school right now and am considering a straight 7 yr med program at Sophie Davis. A lot of the people i know have been telling me its better off to be a doctor the "general" way b/c straight med programs require ALOT of work and many people lose the motivation in the fierce competition. is this true?</p>
<p>From what I have heard, 7 year med programs tend to be a trap. They lure students who are solid candidates who, if they picked a traditional path, would have gotten into medical school anyway, and perhaps even a better medical school than the 7 year program.</p>
<p>Besides, why would you sacrifice 4 years of the best time of your life?</p>
<p>Unless you would like going to that school normally, I would advise against it.</p>
<p>lol lollybo..I never thought of it that way</p>
<p>If you get into a program that allows you to NOT take an MCAT if you keep a solid GPA then go for it. My cousin is in one of those programs and says it takes a lot of stress off, since he KNOWS he’s going to med school if he keeps his grades up, while other kids have to worry about the MCAT even after their grades come in.</p>
<p>I know a lot of Canadian students who choose to do this type of schedule in the UK and seem very happy with it. My DD did not know for certain she wanted to be an MD when beginning university. If you are one of those people who knows for sure and if the school is one where you could see yourself having a good experience, you certainly would save a great deal of time and money over the MD app procedure, especially if you did not have to pay for the MCAT & and MCAT prep course and AMCAS and LORS and sending transcripts and paying travel costs to interviews, you would save several thousand dollars and you would save a huge energy investment…if you are some place you wanted to be!</p>
<p>Well, to break some PC boundaries I notice that your name includes the south asian slang desi. I agree that that MD/BS programs tend to be traps to get really good candidates into the program that are, statistically but not 100% guaranteed, to be competitive medical student applicants. However, there is unfortunately a significant amount of bias towards south asians and, believe it or not, older adcom members can still be heard to make racially generalizing comments about going into medicine for the wrong reasons behind closed doors. If you are satisfied with that university, I would consider doing it with the assumption that you are going to apply out. If, when the dust settles, you don’t feel like you are a sure bet for another medical program, at least you got in somewhere. However, if you think a different undergrad would suite you more, I would strongly recommend going there instead. Happiness cannot be quantified, but it is the most essential material in building a good medical application.</p>
<p>
This is just annecdotal: DS happened to know an applicant with this background who seems to need to work very hard before she could be admitted to a couple of schools. (Her ECs are very good.) Do not know her stats though. Is it possible that, a higher percentage of your ethnic group apply to medical schools, the harder it may get?! (Well…I may have crossed the PC boundary just like you did.)</p>
<p>I do not understand how the name includes a south asian slang, as I am not familiar with its language. Do you refer to “desi_”? What does it mean (just curious)?</p>
<p>My D. is finishing off 8 year combined bs/md at state school and very happy that she has chosen this route. Never felt trapped. She had exactly the same experience that other pre-meds at her school, freely choosing her major/minors, various EC’s, sorority. And now when everybody is panicky, she has at least one spot in her pocket and applied out to several other med. schools. However, hers is 8 years program, not 7. She had a choice of accelerated bs/md, but wanted to have “normal” college experience. Her program requires certain MCAT score, but it is lower than for regularly accepted applicants. It is very personal decision, but definitely worked very well for my D.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I am Indian, and I def. see where they are coming from. I know a lot of Indian pre-meds that go into medicine for the wrong reasons (I know that each ethnic group has a group of people who try to go into medicine for the wrong reasons, but for some reason, the percentage of Indians/East Asians who try to go into medicine for the wrong reason is A LOT higher than other ethnic groups). — probably has a lot to do with how doctors are viewed in each culture.</p>
<p>I am a CCNY student. LOL, but not Sophie Davis student. I can ask for close reference from my friend. But I heard that you are signing a legal statement with the school, and I don’t know is it true that you have to work for one of its partnership for a year or two.</p>
<p>However, what I know is that Sophie Davis produces primary care physician. So if you are not interested in that, you might have to re-think about it.</p>
<p>Moreover, the GPA needs to graduate is extremely high. It is very rigious. If you are worry, I would not go to Sophie Davis. Get into CCNY, and sign up for Columbia’s pre-med program in the summer. My friend is doing this for this summer, and the next couple summers.</p>
<p>I think it’s better to explore the world, rather than restricting it. Unless you are very very very sure that you want to become a physician, then it might be good to get into SD. However, it is a primary care education. Not surgeon. You still have to a medical school for other medical fields. Otherwise, attend a regular program is a better option. One day you might just want to switch to a different major because you find interest in a different path. You can’t switch in SD program.</p>
<p>Some good comments, but FYI, this thread was started a year and a half ago. While the OP is still active on CC, I believe she will be attending URochester in the fall.</p>
<p>Lol, and I"m usually so good about checking…</p>
<p>It’s hotblunt fault. She answered it. OH WELL.</p>