Thank you @OldSchoolMD. Just read your earlier post (#5718). Appreciate it.
@supbrah I will go with VCU. But that is me because I am frugal monster and I feel, still I can and should focus and do well in UG/MD and get good residency any where. But you need to make the decision based on your situation.
Setting aside that point,
- What is your state?
- Is VCU or BU allows to apply out with out losing the seat?
For example, if VCU allows apply out, for all you know still you may/can get in to BU for medical and could save $170k.
Also if your state has many medical colleges, still you may/can get in to any of your state medical college and may save a lot at MD fees.
[QUOTE=""]
I was talking to NJMS students… they were proud that students are matched to top
[/QUOTE]
Yes, both the New Jersey Med schools, NJMS and RWJS are excellent. Their rankings should have been at least half or even better than what some of these often cited faulty ranking agencies place them at.
It is your and family decision, but I would say if 170k is not too much of a burden financially, go with BU SMED. I have known students go there with no scholarship whatsoever and leaving their full ride instate direct med programs. Besides being a very reputed program, the 1 year you save at BU will easily make up for the difference in the extra money you will end up spending.
Also, the difference is more like 150k and not 20k more as you calculated which you will find out later if you choose to go there. Not a significant difference from what you think, but still some relief. You can perhaps save another 10 or 15k by some careful planning, which I may be able to help with later if you choose to go there (by Private messaging)
@rk2017, as per my D, many students are finishing UG in 2 years using credits and matriculate to NJMS… the NJMS kid spoke today said that it is not detrimental since they do research from first semester… they get residencies like UPenn Urology… not sure whether finishing UG is right thing…
I feel finishing undergrad in 2 years is like rushing it. There may be exceptions rarely where the student may be emotionally and intellectually more matured beyond his age, but I won’t advise it to most. You need to allow enough time for the changing adolescent personalities take the mould of a future physician and a better human being. If they have tonnes of AP credits (like my D did too) and can finish their core course work in 2 years, perhaps they can try enriching their horizons studying something they haven’t had prior exposure, such as psychology, sociology, philosophy and anthropology.
Also getting into med school too early can be academically challenging competing with traditional route entrants having richer exposure and life experiences. Saving an extra year facing some of these risks is not worth it considering the long careers they have ahead of them.
True… it makes sense…
@GoldenRock Thanks for the reply and I definitely understand your point. That has been one of my reasonings too. However, I am pursuing a combined program for the comfort of a guaranteed admission so I can also explore other nontraditional activities/interests so not really fond of applying out and building my resume again. For example, I am looking to just focus on one research internship for all 6-8 years at the same place to make significant progress in a project/field. Also, there is a lot of risk in that process and for all i know, i could also end up at VCU med school. I am from Maryland, so only one in-state medical school.
@rk2017 I would be taking those loans, so its really a question of if i am ready to take on that extra debt. having read a lot online about these financial situations, I definitely am ready to live frugally for a couple years if thats what it takes to go to BU, but the question is if its significantly better than VCU. Also, the extra 20k i added comes from the expenses of the summer session. I would be happy to PM. Could you message me first?
staying local some kids definitely perform well on home grounds and some away from home.
I guess I will post one more time.
Thanks for your support!
I guess it’s hard to believe that I have so many ivy league or equivalent students in my practice. Yes you are right about my location, where we have many specialized high schools and top nationally ranked public high schools as well. One of the schools usually has more than 125 national merit semifinalists out of 850 graduating students. Compare to John’s Hopkins University, which had 49 Merit Scholars out of 1300 entering class, there is more competition in this high school. Therefore, it’s not too surprising that many of our patients and their kids end up in many prestigious colleges.
But… prestige is not everything!
There are many successful outcomes from humble beginnings. Also, EQ is as important as IQ. Many patients do care about their doctors attitude as much as credentials.
In closing I would like to recommend these books:
Becoming Dr. Q (community college student to neurosugeon via Harvard medical school)
Of Blood and Hope (orphan to an international lawyer via Harvard law school)
A hope in the Unseen ( housing project to Brown U)
Living Loving and Learning
Finally a quote that I try to live by:
“To those whom much is given,
much is expected.” John F. Kennedy
I understand that many of my earlier posts were somewhat unrealistic, and it is logical to question the accuracy of my postings. But I hope this clarifies everything.
University of Cincinnati interview results arrived, check yours if you are waiting for it.
Visited Case on last Friday on their Spring open house. One of the slides they presented during their pre-med session was interesting.
- Case do not have screening committee for medical school applicants
- 78% of Case applicants enrolled at medical school within 2 years of graduation
- 81.9% Case students got into medical schools who have GPA >= 3.5 and MCAT >= 75%ile
Thank you so much for your input on Stonybrook @NoviceDad
something interesting for all hopefuls.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tuition-free-medical-school-how-the-nyu-school-of-medicine-is-going-tuition-free-60-minutes/
I was just accepted to the Connections Program at UCinn
Does anyone know the MCAT requirement for the program on the website its very vague and says “Earn a minimum score requirement on a single MCAT administration (no super-scoring); with a limit of 2 MCAT administrations that will be averaged to determine if the minimum required score has been met”
@bsmd456 This is how I interpret the above statement.
First you need to find out what is UConn minimum score requirements including sub-sections if they have.
Either they may have a set value or may state, it should be on or above the previous year admitted students average.
Assume it is 512 (128 128 128 128)
- As long as you score on or above the total and sub, you are good.
- If not, you can take second time MCAT. But all scores will be averaged and will not be super scored for sub-sections.
Thank you @GoldenRock
@GoldenRock UConn minimum score is a 516 with no subscore less than the 80th percentile.
When you say UConn do you mean UCinn @Cherax @GoldenRock