Does anyone have experience with Todd Johnson and his College Admission Partners for BSMD programs?
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seems like professor is too smart LOL
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Indeed, super smart I would say. Stanford alumnus. He keeps going away to this world renowned research facility in Europe almost every semester for a couple of weeks. Felt very proud that D topped in both his classes.
The Prof is also on the interview committee for smeds representing CAS. One of Dās high school juniors got interview with him and when she mentioned Dās name during conversation, he said of course I know her well. That must have reinforced the good impression about the high school and he may have given a positive feedback. Nevertheless the girl was not selected because she was in direct competition with the schoolās valedictorian who was offered admission and he enrolled.
As @sajju786 wrote,
A low MCAT (505) and GPA (3.2) requirement is the real reason for choosing BU SMED. Wonder how this will affect in medical school performance and getting top residencies compared to other students. Other BSMD programs have much higher cGPA and sGPA requirement like GPA > 3.5 and MCAT 508-513.
Most profs are bound by college/university policies in grading on a curve. This is from the real experience of giving grades to university students not from B,S.
@grtd2010 , BU SMED, MCAT retirement is 80 th percentile or above, which is equivalent to 510 or 511, not 505.
Seems like we are getting lot of inconsistent info about BU.
@srk2017, this information is from BU portal
https://www.bu.edu/academics/cas/programs/seven-year-liberal-arts-medical-education-program/
@cy2019bsmd - I am not questioning your info. I am familiar with BU, my son got admission 2 years back (but declined).
Hey, Iām stuck between two choices- FAU and W&J/Temple. Any opinions would be appreciated!
FAU
- smaller medical school class- only 64 students!
- safer location
- guaranteed research experiences from freshman year
- 7 years
- required: 510 MCAT, 3.7 GPA every semester, various extracurriculars
- far from home
W&J/Temple
-required: 3.5 GPA overall, 508 MCAT with no section score under 126
- medical school has own teaching hospital
-locations of both the undergrad and the med school arenāt the safest - large medical school class- 200+
- closer to home
- 8 years
Iād personally take Temple, itās a better med school with a high specialty match, as well as less stringent undergrad requirements. I see the extra year as an extra year to explore your passions, not as a hindrance to a long career ahead. Safety shouldnāt be too much of an issue, and research is basically guaranteed in the first year from either school. Iād also like to stay closer to home, but thatās just me.
Talk to some current students!
Yeah, donāt make decision based on 7 vs 8 yrs.
@Ersatzelevator1 My 2 cents: W&J/Temple over FAU
You didnāt provide enough info. What are your financial awards at the above places? Do you have a lot of AP/IB or college courses already finished at high school? If so, are you comfortable not getting any credits for them (with a 8 year program effectively you are letting them go). Will you be getting any additional benefit for the extra year, such as an additional degree or major? Do you have subsequent interview at either of the places as a requirement to matriculate into the medical school? Do you have any preference about the course work you want to undertake and if so, which place gives you more freedom in choosing your undergrad curriculum? ā¦
@caballero āyeah, some people think Univ Pittās under grade should be easy, but neither pre-med nor GAP.programā¦My DD study much harder compare with while she was in high school.ā
Totally agree.
@Cherax āUPitt 3.75 is pretty easy to maintain. HPME probably as well. BU 3.7 is a little harder, but not unattainable.ā
Pitt GAP program 3.75 GPA requirement actually is lower than the rest of accepted SOM students median GPA
(I believe Pitt SOM median GPA is 3.81 for 2020; 3.82 for 2019)
https://www.ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā /medical/med-selectivity-index
Based on the history, about half of GAP accepted students eventually arrived Pitt SOM.
(Another half of them? probably could not maintain the minimum GPA requirement and were weeded out.
Please note that GAP students have to study hard in order to compete with other strong academic students in classes.
FYI, A lot of non GAP students HS GPAs are higher than those who are in GAP programs. I can only say that GAP acceptance decision probably is affected by multiple dimensions.)
@bsmdegree
āBased on the history, about half of GAP accepted students eventually arrived Pitt SOMā
How did you get this data? We asked this question to the directors and current students in the program the day of our interview, and we were told only 1 person left the program in the past 5 years. Maintaining a 3.75 gpa is hard indeed, but the program director works with you every semester to boost it up if you need to by teaching as a TA and getting credits for your GPA.
@whitecane ā1 person left the program in the past 5 yearsā
means
this person is not interested in medical career path anymore or had a better opportunity from another SOM.
GAP program director definitely will help GAP students in volunteering, shadowing, research opportunities but not their GPAs.
You do not have to worry too much on GPA as long as you study hard.
(comparing 3.81 or 3.82; 3.75 is easier and GAP students do not have to take MCAT)
if you are an ORM, your chances of getting med school admission with less than 3.7 GPA are remote, so anyone worrying about GPA or MCAT after getting admission to these programs should seriously reconsider the career choice.
@rk2017
In terms of cost, both programs are equal. I do have a lot of AP credits; Iāve talked to students in the W&J program and itās possible to use these to accelerate undergrad to fit into 3 years. As long as you take the MCAT earlier too, LKSOM does take students after 3 years. FAU does have an interview before acceptance into the medical school, but according to the director itās just a formality. Coursework wise, W&J definitely has a lot more liberal arts foundation requirements than FAU and Iām not really interested in them.
The one fear I have with W&J is their high attrition rate.
That seems like a red flag to me. I advise to dig more into it in next 2 weeks, and not take chances if youāre not convinced.
Also factor in the campus vibes and which place seems to be a better fit for you. You need to spend a good number of years there. Donāt worry about distance from home unless for strong family reasons.