No, I don’t have first hand experience with either program, but based my comments on what I’ve read on their pages. They give a lot of info. To find out about each school, look them up, read up about them.
I know a person who came from U Toledo. She’s brilliant. Based on what I read, they have a lot of opps for speakers and are assigned a BACC2MD specific advisor. Krista Kidd Lorenz on FB has a child in this program. You should reach out to her. I got her name from the Paying For College 101 FB group.
The requirements to get an interview and matriculate also seem very reasonable:
I can’t explain why only 42% of those interviewed got accepted. Perhaps, it’s something you should ask the program directly (reasons why people who met the initial requirements with GPA and activities still fail to be accepted)
At U Toledo, you can still take the MCAT with no penalty, unlike Texas Tech who would take away the guaranteed seat as soon as you take tha MCAT. There might be people who decided to take the MCAT and did well. Then, it occured to them that they should try to apply out. Once you apply out, you’ll forfeit your seat at UToledo. I don’t know if they included the stats for those who forfeited in the same stats for those who were denied acceptance.
What I know about Seton Hall is through people’s comments. It seems like every comment I ran across about it seems positive. My own experience with a private university vs a public one (in my family) puts my on the private side. They have more resources for advising, smaller classes that lead to closer relationships with professors. It’s hard to find a med school that gives out merit scholarship, but the one connected with Seton Hall does have 100M endowment for scholarships to help with med school cost.
Here are the requirements to maintain for matriculation:
80 percentile MCAT doesn’t seem like a deal breaker. I’m speaking based on my experience with my own two kids, both high performers, but I would not say that they are higher performers than any of the people applying to BSMD. One didn’t even prep for it because she saw it as a painful experience and that because her program had a 501 MCAT requirement. She got 505. I have to say that she is a good test taker. She knows enough about the content to rule out bad enough answers to get that score cold. Most people get in their top 490s range. The other one did prep for it, on his own with the AAMC prep bundle. He got 100 percentiles on all full-length sample and practice exams. Even though he was aiming for getting a perfect score, he’s conceded that it wasn’t going to happen, but is sure that top 90s percentiles are attainable.
The 3.7 GPA requirement may seem high, but unless that’s science, it’s also attainable. You should check with them on the GPA requirements. Right now, on their page, it reads like overall GPA. What matters is what it says on the contract.
It seems that your child has good options. Reach out to the schools and ask questions to help with the decision. Good luck!
@NoviceDad
How is Temple University Health Scholar Program? Does it guarantee medical school admission if you meet GPA (3.6) and MCAT (509) requirements? What do you recommend, UCLA Biology major or Temple University Health Scholar Program with full tuition scholarship for first 4 years? Please help…
Hello VikasP,
My D did got into the Toledo last year (infact it was her first admission) but ended up choosing regular BSMD at other place
Based on my research, I personally liked Toledo… good school… NOT busy city (no offense intended for Toledo or big cities)… and didn’t hear/see bad stuff about it. The drawback seems to be it’s in a small/rural place (same i heard about VCU, UCONN etc.,)… few like it …few may not. The only bad review i heard was that the first year program was tough (which is true even for my D in the other BSMD so don’t know what else)
Their requirements were achievable too and they gave good scholarships too (and pursued till the end).
As far as MCAT or why folks don’t get 100% admission rate… it’s very tough to decode.
I know my close friend son … who got into PITT BSMD guaranteed… but decided to do MD in TUFFS…why…no idea… he didn’t like it ( I assume )…so it’s very individualistic.
That’s why i believe even if it’s IVY league or T5/T20… it comes to individual choice (as not everyone likes the same)
1 in 3 students are not accepting their offer. One can assume that they are going through the traditional pathway at an UG school ranked higher than Brown
Temple/Temple program has an interview which is like any traditional med school interview.
They have in the past rejected students at the interview stage.
Having said that, many students do well and matriculate into medical school.
The cohort is usually small - 4-6 students.
I suggest reaching out to @grtd2010 whose D successfully matriculated into the medical school through the program.
I am not a big fan of doing pre-med at UCs - it is difficult to stand out.
So, even if Temple/Temple offers only an interview and is cost effective due to scholarships offered, it may be still worthwhile if the other alternative is UCLA-Biology.
@grtd2010
My son received an acceptance offer from Temple / Temple pre-med health scholar program. How was your daughter’s experience in that program? Our concern is that it is not guaranteed matriculation into medical school even if the student meets GPA and MCAT requirements. How many students are in the program each year? what is the average percentage of students in the Temple/Temple program that matriculate into medical school? We really appreciate your insight. Thank you.