<p>This is from word of mouth, but my friend told me that UCSD has some program that can guarantee admission to the UCSD medical program, which combined with the undergraduate years come out to be about 6 years. I looked all over (books, internet, etc.) but I couldn’t find that info. Also, if this is true, my friend told me that only students with extremely high GPAs could get an application. My instinct tells me that there is no such program, but I could be wrong. Can someone please tell me whether such a program exists? Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>UCSD has 8-year medical scholar program that guarantees a seat in the Med School if the student satisfies GPA requirement (3.5). No MCAT required. The program application is by invitation only. To be invited, your weighed GPA must be minimal 4.0 and your (older-test) SAT score must be minimal 1500. When invited, you are asked to send in an essay. The school will interview if they like your application and up to 12 applicants (CA resident) a year will be admitted into the program.</p>
<p>wow. guaranteed admission to the med school.</p>
<p>Yes, proton. Thanks, ceetee. I found the link for anyone interested. The new SAT requirement is a minimum of 2250 or a minimum of 34 on the ACT, or else you're not invited, haha. Dang... I got 2110.</p>
<p>well good luck with that stuff</p>
<p>Same to you, proton. Of course, I'll need to score at least a 2250 before I actually get an application.</p>
<p>in other words, the program is designed to admit people who probably would have gotten in anyway</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Good job reviving a 6 year old post.</p></li>
<li><p>Undergrad and med school admissions are nowhere near the same, both in rigor and qualitatively. Even students who get into top schools in the US are routinely denied from med schools.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>It’s actually much easier getting into Med School directly from high school than from any undergraduate college. And cheaper. UCSD’s Med Scholars program, Brown, Rice, etc. all have fasttrack programs that admit pre-med students into special honors programs, and the numbers are about 10x better getting into these than working your butt off for another 4 years and applying endlessly to ‘impacted’ med schools.</p>
<p>Meaning - undergraduate college is basically 4 more years of high school for people who did it wrong the first time.</p>
<p>My family in the medical field strongly discourages these “guaranteed” programs because 1) they view undergrad as the best time of their life and wouldn’t want to mix that with med school pressures and 2) there are plenty of people end up deciding med school isn’t for them. Even if I could go back and retake my SAT to qualify, I wouldn’t. I’d rather take the long, dirty path experiencing the medical environment firsthand, steel myself for the incoming debt, and really find good reasons for why I want to go to medical school other than “this school gave me guaranteed admission.” </p>
<p>I just want to say that just as med school’s not for everyone, neither are these programs.</p>
<p>^^Your reasons for not endorsing these programs are actually the very reasons for endorsing these programs, at least for some people and some schools.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The people who have the most pressure and the worst time of their life are the poor premeds who have to maintain high gpas, study for mcat, go through a litany of time consuming ECs, perfect their primary and secondary essays, expend thousands of dollars for the applications and interviews, stalk the professors incessantly in order to get decent LORs, practice for the interviews, and pray for random mercy from the God of med school admissions.
As a UCSD Med Scholar, you only have to maintain a gpa of 3.5 in any major of your choice. That’s it, you’re in.</p></li>
<li><p>Attendance of UCSD medical school is not binding. You’re free to pursue your new found interest for which you have ample time to experience and prepare while in undergrad. OTOH, the options for unsuccessful premeds, who are typically bio sci majors, are not that rosy. Many have to give up another year or two of their life to strengthen their applications and try again.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>My reasons against these programs are:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If you’re strong enough to be admitted, you’re probably strong enough to be competitive at “better” schools through the regular process. So why sell yourself short? Obviously, this reason doesn’t apply to UCSD.</p></li>
<li><p>Some programs may make it difficult to have a change of heart. Again, this reason doesn’t apply to UCSD.</p></li>
<li><p>As a California resident, anything OOS will likely cost you more.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>p.s. unfortunately, med school admissions is a contact sport that requires 110% upfront commitment before you set foot on campus as a freshman. Dabbling will likely set back a couple years of your precious time and/or reduce your chances of winning.</p>
<p>^^ fair enough points 
I guess I personally feel that having to do all that and managing to get in validates your effort. Or maybe I’m just weird and a workaholic and probably wouldn’t enjoy my undergrad as much without the crazy workload, the ECs (that I actually find a good “waste” of time haha), the stalking of professors. </p>
<p>And it’s not like you don’t have time at SD to pursue other interests just because you’re premed–I still find time to dabble in behavioral economic labs, write a 70k word novel and volunteer at the local shelter. It’s tough (and expensive!) to go through the premed process but I’ve never felt like it’s the root of all the stress in my life. As you and I have agreed on, whether or not you do the Medical Scholars program still depends on the person and circumstance and ambition :D</p>
<p>I agree fully with HappyDaddie and sunfish haha.</p>
<p>You have to remember that admitted students to these programs go through a handful of interviews in which the interviewers can actually tell if the student is going to stick with wanting to pursue an MD or if they are just dabbling. </p>
<p>You also do have to realize that to get over a 3.5 in UCSD is tough for most premeds at UCSD to do (which is actually a little sad), considering the average GPA of students from UCSD APPLYING to medical school is around a 3.4 (according to the stats in the career services). So, to most pre-meds at UCSD, retaining that 3.5 would be considered a “dirty path”. In other words, if you gave premeds at UCSD the opportunity to get an automatic admissions to Medical school if they had over a 3.5, (which only 20% of biology majors have, also according to stats from the school), most people wouldnt even accomplish THAT. Keep in mind the average admitted GPA to UCSD medical school is around a 3.8.</p>
<p>“I agree fully with HappyDaddie and sunfish haha.”</p>
<p>Smart dude!</p>
<p>The Med Scholars program is designed to relieve all the soul-destroying work thrown at the average UCSD undergrad by allowing them to pursue other more creative and personally interesting classes instead of Bio Bio Bio. This is exactly what makes a good doctor later, and one that is ready for the new frontiers opening up in the 21st century.</p>
<p>The bizarre thing is that it works incredibly well. These kids keep excelling despite the auto-in to Med School and routinely get 3.8 and above GPAs, but don’t have to mix this with studying for the MCAT, (which can really blow a hole in your time and take your GPA down) and endless Honors Chemistry classes. Med schools aren’t looking for overworked Bio Majors, they’re looking for really healthy, inquisitive, creative and motivated students.</p>
<p>AND -</p>
<p>I think that one of the reasons they do the Med Scholars program (you heard it here first) is to take the financial pressure off kids to take out loans at the undergraduate level. They want Med School students with no debt, it’s often the primary requirement at other Med Schools, and these UCSD kids walk in clean and financially fit. Try doing that after 4 years at Columbia and applying/being MCAT tutored/traveling to all your target med schools. We know someone who is attending NYU on a partial scholarship, meaning they still have to take out a loan for half their costs. They’ll graduate with $120,000 in debt; if they were applying to medical schools afterwards (which they ain’t) this could keep them out just through the sheer obvious idiocy of their financial decision making. It’s something they justifiably look at very closely.</p>
<p>With their new ultra high-tech $70 mill teaching facility the UCSD program is the best in the nation and by far the most underrated.</p>