<p>I was accepted to Tufts as well as an 8 yr med program with union/albany med school. I am having a hard time to decide between the two. How strong is premed at Tufts, and is it farely easy to get into the early acceptance program to tufts med school? By going to union I don't have to take the MCAT, but I am locked in for albany med school.</p>
<p>Congrats on being accepted to the Union/Albany Med School program. I know how highly competitive it is!</p>
<p>My son is a Tufts freshman (chem major, music minor and hopeful premed) and recently went to an advising session at Tufts for those considering applying to med school in general and the Tufts early acceptance program in particular. Last year, between 2 and 3 dozen kids from Tufts applied for their early acceptance program and 17 were accepted. I suppose you could call that good odds but keep in mind that the freshman/sophomore science courses are rather challenging and there is a natural "weeding out" during those years.</p>
<p>My son is very very happy to be attending Tufts and finds the premed track extremely strong, with wonderful profs, supportive TAs and surprisingly noncutthroat amongst the premeds. He reports that he participates in many study groups with those strong in chem helping those strong in bio and viceversa. (Would you find this at Hopkins? I think not!)</p>
<p>He says that so far his science classes are challenging but not too overwhelmingly difficult for him. So far, he's received all A's but he reports only the top few receive A's, thus the "weeding out." We'll see how he does next semester when he takes organic chem and advanced bio simultaneously! </p>
<p>Personally, I think that because you have a sure thing with Albany Med you should do the 8 year program with Union. I was hoping my son would apply for a few 8 year BS/MD programs but he was IN LOVE with Tufts and the die was cast. :)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for your candid comments to my son's question. I am just curious if your son came from which highschool and is thre any advantage in having done AP Courses in high school? My son likes Tufts very much and struggling to accept that he would not go their to assure himself spot in medical shcool.</p>
<p>Well, let's see. He went to a public high school in a middle class area of New Jersey, and I believe he was in the top 3% of the class. Due to the public nature of these message boards I'd rather keep the actual high school name and location confidential. </p>
<p>Regarding APs: I know that Tufts does not offer credit for the courses skipped over, but allows you to advance to higher level classes. Because he received 5's in his various AP exams as a freshman he advanced to honors chemistry and advanced calculus, was exempt from freshman English -- not sure about the real names of these classes, but I know he was able to skip to higher level courses. </p>
<p>I can only imagine how difficult it must be for your son to make a decision such as the one you face! Getting into medical school is very very difficult indeed and your son has it guaranteed as a 17-18 year old! You must be so proud of him! </p>
<p>In many ways I think that's why my kid decided not to consider the 8 year BS/MD plan. He was so smitten with Tufts and didn't want to make a choice like your son's. It's entirely possible my son will have a great 4 years at Tufts and will not get accepted to medical school. His Plan B is a PhD in chemistry and do research, but of course that's not his ideal. Life is full of hard decisions and sacrifices, it's just unfortunate that your son has to deal with a biggie like this one so early in life. But it's a HAPPY decision, really, I mean, either way he has the opportunity to do something others only dream of doing: a guaranteed in to medical school or a wonderful 4 years at Tufts. I really don't know anything about Union, how does he feel about the school?</p>
<p>Actually Tufts does give credit, it just depends on which courses. Some of them are only acceleration, but some actually do count as "one" credit (APs. British- A levels may count for two)</p>