<p>To anyone who is familiar with these programs (and especially to people who are in these programs) what is the main difference? do you get a good education in both programs? which one is more reputable and gets the student better chances of a job?</p>
<p>also, is it easy to change between programs since they are both Vagelos?</p>
<p>Thanks :)</p>
<p>Don’t take this the wrong way, but you could find the answer out easily by using Google, searching College Confidential, or going to Penn’s website itself. Still, I’ll humor you since I’m already here. Vagelos Molecular Life Sciences (MLS) nets you a major in (bio)chemistry and allows you to take a second major or submatriculate and earn a master’s in (bio)chemistry. MLS is intended for people who wish to be research scientists and is not at all recommended for pre-meds. You cannot apply to MLS; it is invite-only.</p>
<p>Vagelos Life Sciences and Management (LSM) is a dual-degree program between CAS and Wharton; you earn a BA in a life science and a BS in Economics. You can apply to this program, but it precludes you from being considered for MLS.</p>
<p>I’m inclined to believe that the set of people interested in MLS and the set of people interested in LSM are mutually exclusive. This means that, in regards to which program you choose to pursue, it’s not a matter of which is more prestigious. In fact, the two programs can’t be compared. They’re both top-notch, but they serve different purposes (these purposes should be self-evident, and if you can’t figure out the career paths stemming from either program, then you probably shouldn’t apply to either one - my apologies if that sounds harsh).</p>
<p>I’m not sure if one can transfer into MLS. Considering the tiny size of each MLS and LSM class, you’d better be a top-notch applicant to transfer into either. It certainly wouldn’t be easy to switch into one of them.</p>
<p>yeah you can totally find this on penn’s site, and they have information better than we do, so you should try that first instead of creating threads. anyways, transferring into LSM is on a case basis based on the number of spots that may open up…they usually have about 3 or 4 spots open up though…obviously difficult to transfer into…mls is not “particularly” difficult to transfer into, you just have to show a sincere love and aptitude for the physical sciences. but be warned that MANY people drop mls b/c it’s so difficult and time consuming…only a few people remain after 4 years. but i agree 100% with the above poster–the two programs attract different students. mls draws those interested in being research sciences–mstp, md/phd, phd, what have you. lsm, on the other hand, draws those interested in the cross-section of business and medicine i.e. pharmaceuticals. but to be perfectly honest, after lsm, i’ve heard most people go into business rather than medicine b/c they feel it’s safer and makes more money…i don’t have a real opinion on it, just some from the program have said that.</p>
<p>I completely agree with the other posters that the goals of these two programs are mutually exclusive. LSM is meant to help people study the life sciences in a business context, MLS is meant to produce research scientists and professors and potentially Nobel Prize winners according to the director. My friends in MLS are not interested in business, they plan to go to grad school (phD or mD/phD) and eventually go into research. Because the requirements of MLS are very intense, the attrition rate is over 50%. For many people, dropping out is not due to grades but to having different interests. A lot of Vagelos dropouts go on to concentrate more heavily in physics or math.</p>
<p>for my year in MLS, we started off with 37 and are at 15 with 2 years left.</p>
<p>MLS and LSM as people above pointed out are quite different from one another. It should be noted that MLS is SIGNIFICANTLY more challenging in terms of your courseload compared to LSM. Furthermore, most people who end up graduating in MLS have much more rigorous academic schedules compared to what is minimum requirement for the program.</p>