If UMich is a DREAM school, seriously consider it.
College is once in a lifetime experience and being in a dream college is worth some risks.
Drexel’s second campus in Reading PA is within walking distance of Reading Hospital.
Reading Hospital has a level 1 trauma center. I have had a personal experience of the care they provide have been in an unfortunate car accident a few years. We received top-quality care.
Having said that, Reading is a semi-urban town with limited student life.
When Drexel lost Hanneman Hospital, students rotated through Jefferson and UPenn, limiting the impact of that event. Drexel is building a new medical building/center and should be open to students sometime this year or next.
It is best to view the Reading campus as a new medical school with an established parent.
Another factor you may have to weigh in, if not already done. The local factors with respect to med school competition. Generally it will be easier for students to get into their respective state med school(s). In case of Michigan there is an added advantage since it cuts off most OOS students being prohibitively expensive for them I believe. So who knows, perhaps Drexel’s ask maybe competitive enough (3.6/513 MCAT) to get into MSU’s MD med school? Believe they also have DO.
Even if so, another thing to consider is 3.6 at Drexel vs at UMich. The caliber of students at U Mich will be lot higher attracting top students not only from the state, nation and even other countries also. The class sizes may be massive. You will have to ask around about the grading rigors and expectations of the faculty there in general and the school/major in particular.
I know in our state a 3.6/513 will get someone nowhere. Have known those with 3.9 / 95% ile MCAT not being able to make it the state med school(s). Two states further south heard of students with 99 %iles unable to crack the state school. Another state up north to us, though the competition is not so cut throat, for the relatively low number of seats in the single med school they have, nothing can be taken for granted. So lot of variables state to state.
NO acceptances with 3.8+/95+ percentile is not a normal situation and indicates a deficiency in app (poor essays, low clinical and non clinical hours are main reasons) and poor school list. It amazes me that same individuals (who show up around this time) keep repeating same stuff( no admissions despite high stats but no specifics) every year to scare people purposely.
Anyone really interested, check SDN, one applicant this cycle with 4.0/527 didn’t get admissions and was given good feedback by adcoms and those who follow the process closest.
@GuideUs I believe that Michigan has at least 3 med schools (@GoldenRock pointed out there are seven med schools in MI). I’ve only had a chance to look up three of them. UMich-Ann Harbor (MD) matriculation stats have a higher average MCAT of 515 (90%) whereas MSU College of Human Medicine (MD) has an average MCAT of 508. Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) has an average MCAT of 504. That’s the stats for 2022.
If the goal is to go to med school at the lowest cost with no gap year, I think it can be achievable if both MSU med schools are on the school list. UMich Ann Harbor does not lean in-state and is known as one of the OOS friendly med school. Only 10% of the 2022 entering class is without any gap year.
If a student did well in AP exams and got mostly 4 or 5, that can potentially shave a year or so of UG. Another option is to take fewer credits per semester and take time to fulfill other med school “desirements” such as volunteer, clinical hours and research.
At this point, you need to follow your guts. If you are good in sciences, are a good test taker and are passionate about sciences and medicine (as in not thinking of doing the “desirements” as boxes you feel that you need to check), you can do it again in undergrad as a traditional-route applicant. Think of it as a dressrehearsal for med school because you’ll definitely be doing that to get you matched into a residency of your choice. After all, 95%+ of med school students are not BSMD.
Thanks for looking it up. I wouldn’t go by the general stats at face value per se that they may furnish. For ORMs I would add 3-6 points on MCAT as a safety factor depending on the competitiveness of the med school (approximately 1-1.5 points higher in each of the sub sections, that’s what I have been told). But still MSU MD seems achievable as long as gpa can be maintained decent. So if UMich is a darling place, probably worth taking a shot from there.
Then no reason to do BSMD or BSDO if you are. Strong student fronMI One girl I know joined BSDO in MI and then applied out and got into UPenn! So far I know multiple kids who did like that but you never hear that from advocates.
I trust the stats from AAMC more than anecdotes for MD admissions. Always believed it takes more for Asians and that turned out to be quite true. Those numbers are currently at 3.8 and 514 as an average last year.
The 517 if gpa is 3.8 The 517 can go a point or 2 lower if GPA is closer to 4.0 Of course ECs etc have to be good
SO 3.8/517 or 4.0/515 ish all work depending on other aspects of the application
Possible 515 needs to be the base. People with 95%ile (518) and 3.9 and going admissionless is not what happens out there, definitely not for people on east coast. I can see this for Cal residents because they simply dont have enough instate seats and need to apply very broadly.
Drexel deal of 3.6 and 513 is very good if one has enough money or dont mind borrowing. One can’t easily apply out for an MD program with those numbers since GPA will turn out to be too low for an Asian. With the right guidance and packaging, it is possible to get to DO without any issues with those numbers.
One thing about Drexel needs to be taken into consideration on a case by case basis.
Drexel is a quarter system so gets very rigorous and not all students can handle it and some run into GPA problems.
Also every year there is a sizeable attrition rate for the Drexel BSMD program. Drexel ppl do not give proper answers and nor do the students altho there r ways to get an idea.
Umich is a great school like UC Berkley and others with instate COA incentive which is one part of the equation, but same time equally competitive with weed out Premed classes with large class sizes.
UMich Med school is even higher ranked than undergrad and definetly self selection to medical school with gap years is tempting but one should not count on it as as the target. Premeds have done very well with admissions to T20 med schools from Umich and is not a bad choice if you have confidence in your kids ability and resilience. If not than other safe options would be pertinent. You know your child.
Interesting. Are you aware of any students who had to drop because of GPA/MCAT not being met? I understood that the admins are not willing to be too open about the exact number of students that needed to drop vs those who left for other schools. They were trying to be as anecdotal as we are here when questions are asked.
Lol
Actually they are much more vague lol
I do knoe a few students and I have gotten some numbers from students who made it to the med school phase.
The BSMD cohort size is large so there is bound to be attrition but it is not just a couple of people. From what I understood it is a good amount.
One girl I know joined BSDO in MI and then applied out and got into UPenn! So far I know multiple kids who did like that but you never hear that from advocates.