<p>I was recently accepted to a couple of bs/md programs and my dream undergrad, UMich Engineering for the BME major. I am thrilled about both but now have to make a tough decision. The medical scholars program that I was accepted to is an 8 year bs/md program that is highly selective (5 are chosen) and I feel really lucky to be one of them. It will cost me very little to go there especially because I will be commuting for 3 of my 4 years there. The program is linked with Drexel University College of Medicine. On the other hand, UMich engineering is very competitive, the campus is beautiful, and the school seems like an overall great fit for me. Would it be a huge mistake to let go of med program in order to indulge in an expensive 4 years at UMich (it would cost me 50k per year)? Your help is much appreciated!</p>
<p>Go for the sure thing in PA! Congrats!</p>
<p>Both Drexel’s undergrad and med school suck compared to most other schools, but on the other hand the MD’s guaranteed, which is HUGE deal.</p>
<p>Go BS/MD, congratz on getting in.</p>
<p>The undergraduate school for the program is Monmouth University which is pretty low ranking but the only reason I find the BS/MD program more attractive is the exclusivity and the guaranteed med school acceptance. Is it worth settling with drexel med? Thank you for your input!</p>
<p>Drexel Med is more than fine-it will make you a physician. Congrats and enjoy Philadelphia!</p>
<p>There should be no question, as long as you can’t imagine doing anything else besides medicine in your 12 year education/residency and 50-60 year career, which IS the case for you… isn’t it? That’s kind of the whole point of BS/MD.</p>
<p>Guaranteed MD is the best thing ever. Props!</p>
<p>thank you everyone for your thoughts!</p>
<p>cestlavie, are you 100% sure you want to be a physician? Statistically speaking, approximately 50% of premeds change their mind while in college. If you are certain, go for the accelerated program at Monmouth. On the other hand, if you are not certain and end up dropping out of the program, you will end up with a degree from Monmouth as opposed to a degree from Michigan.</p>
<p>Honestly, if you are not comfortable with paying 50k a year, I think your best bet would be find another school that is cheaper but still has decent academics. I think the 8 year program isn’t a good idea, if you have the least bit of interest in anything other than medicine. There are plenty of great opportunities for ambitious students in a wide variety of emerging fields. Personally, if you are interested in biology or medicine I think BME would a great idea as this is a very active research area with a wide variety of applications. </p>
<p>I think you should go to college and get a feel for what you are interested in. I don’t think high school provides you with enough background for you to be really sure whether you want to be a physician.</p>
<p>My D also got into the BME at U Michigan and she is turning it down for a BS/MD combined program as well. Other than the cost of Michigan the other thing we found concerning was that you are not automatically in BME. Yes you are in their engineering but you must apply into BME after your freshman year and it all depends on the applicants that year. If you choose Michigan make sure that you have also considered the possibility that you won’t make it into BME and may have to choose another engineering discipline.
But if you have any doubts about medicine - do you want to lock yourself in?
Well I guess you can always transfer out too.</p>
<p>^The above is not true. There’s no application to declare BME or any other major in CoE. You just go talk to an adviser and submit a form to declare.</p>
<p>^Pro28 you are right I worded it incorrectly. It is not an application per se - you do just fill out a form to declare but there is a minimum GPA you must satisfy to be eligible to declare BME. We were told by the school that it was 3.5 last year. They were very adimant about clarifying that there is no quota of # of students allowed in any particular group but you did have to meet the GPA requirement.
Sorry for the miswording - please change “application” to “declaration” in my previous post.</p>
<p>3.5 sounds very high Midhelper. For most Engineering majors, it is 2.8-3.2. I cannot think of any Engineering major that requires more than a 3.2 GPA.</p>
<p>Yes we thought it was high too but thought maybe a lot of premed students were going down that route and that’s why. At UIUC bioengineering is one of the toughest engineering majors to get into as well.
Even though our source was a U of Michigan engineering staff, maybe they remembered it wrong? Don’t know.
Even if it is 3.2, it made us feel insecure about her future and the major she would end up in after first year.
We did LOVE U Michigan though. Ann Arbor is a wonderful place to live too.</p>