<p>Why would one want to go to a BS/MD program?</p>
<p>Most BS/MD programs are tied to a bad med school. If you apply out, most programs take away your guaranteed spot at their med school. Accelerated programs are usually tied to terrible med schools (UMKC for example) and will limit your options due to the fact that you will likely be underprepared for the USMLEs, and that you would be going to a subpar school.</p>
<p>There are only a few programs worth going to in my opinion: Brown, Northwester, Rice/Baylor, and Case Western</p>
<p>You will most likely not get into these programs. </p>
<p>I feel that it is smarter to go to your flagship state school honors program with a full ride, or a hefty scholarship, do well, and get into a good med school. This will not limit your options, let you change your mind about medicine if need be, and save you a lot of money</p>
<p>This is merely my opinion, and i would love to respectfully debate others on this forum about this topic</p>
<p>possibly shorter number of years, dont have to take mcat, can explore other interests, less stress.</p>
<p>i did apply to bs/md programs, interviewed at the schools you mentioned, but didnt get in. I’m glad I didn’t. I would be in a ton of debt instead of going to a no name school on a full ride and now attending med school</p>
<p>what’s the rush? I don’t understand accelerated programs. Saving a year or two doesn’t do anything in the long run. Taking life slow and enjoying it is much better than rushing towards an end goal. you have to enjoy the path to the goal too. </p>
<p>The programs that dont require you to take the MCAT have ended, changed their requirements to require an MCAT, or are terrible.</p>
<p>BU, Jefferson, UMiami, and UConn/Stonybrook to a lesser degree are all midtier programs. They have average rankings, but are above Drexel, UMDNJ and AMC in US News. </p>
<p>Even then, the SDN consensus is that all US MD schools are roughly equivalent and that anything that’s average and above is fine. Med school ranking is considered well after other factors by residency PDs in their rankings of what they consider.</p>
<p>Look at the match lists for the programs you’re criticizing and compare several years of them, the difference is often negligible. Not to mention Step scores depend largely on the person, and more competitive schools matriculate stronger students rather than create them.</p>
<p>Programs offer assurance of medical school acceptance, that peace of mind and slight acceleration is their value. A 3.6 and 30 is competitive but doesn’t guarantee a US MD spot unless in a program. Plus, many state schools run cheaper combined programs.</p>
<p>Saving a year in UG gives you more flexibility to take years off later or go into longer training paths. Medicine is such a long road that saving a year or two that you don’t particularly care for is worthwhile to many.</p>
<p>@dineroman13: Browsing your previous posts, it seems that you, too, were interested in BS/MD programs. What was the impetus that caused your previous interest to switch into blatant criticism? I’m mildly curious…</p>
<p>“Med school ranking is considered well after other factors by residency PDs in their rankings of what they consider.”</p>
<p>Yes, and USMLE Step 1 are probably first or second in the most important factors. I dont think an accelerated program would adequately prepare you for Step 1.
But, lets say that it does. Why would I want to go to a BS/MD if it would be much cheaper to go to a good state school?</p>
<p>I’ve heard that especially for med. schools, it doesn’t matter where you go because you’ll still end up being a doctor. Of course, there are those few doctors who go to great med. schools and make more money in their lifetime, but in general, it doesn’t really matter where you go to med. school. It does matter for some other majors, occupations, etc.</p>
<p>Step 1 is higher on average in high ranked schools, but those schools also accept students with higher GPA/MCAT and therefore better test taking abilities. Causation isn’t necessarily proven.</p>
<p>Ignoring Step 1 scores, you get peace of mind by having a clear minimum for guaranteed admittance. Some people also are fine with 2/3 years of UG and want to be done quicker for a variety of personal reasons. </p>
<p>There’s no guarantee of getting into a cheap state medical school or receiving scholarships. Again, program students can do both of these things anyway. If you care so deeply about ranking and average step 1, the bulk of state schools aren’t ranked particularly high.</p>
<p>I just have to pipe in for AMC and ranking. AMC chooses not to participate in the ranking and is therefore unranked - which does not mean it is below or above any other place. If you look at AMC students’ matches (which is really based on the STEP1’s) they match well. I just met someone whose best friend just graduated from AMC and matched at Harvard and the lady next to her said that her nephew went to AMC and matched at Dartmouth.</p>
<p>"Most BS/MD programs are tied to a bad med school. "
-There are no Bad Med. Schools in the USA. All applicants are very happy to get accepted to any singel one.<br>
“There are only a few programs worth going to in my opinion”
-There are many programs (all??, not familiar with all though) worth going to in my opinion
“I feel that it is smarter to go to your flagship state school honors program with a full ride” - nobody said that you cannot get full ride or full tuition Merit award while being in bs/md. Program does not award schlarships, UG is awarding scholarships independently of being accepted or rejected from the program. </p>
<p>Overall, it is worthwhile to research before forming opinion about anything, let alone these combined programs that are so different from each other in any respect.
Good luck whatever you decide! You are right in one respect - it is much easier to get to certain Med. School than Combined bs/md that has this specific Med. School. However, being in a program is a huge advantage for your overall UG experience as well as applying out (if you have this option). It is very cozy feeling going to interviews when you know that you have at least one spot already, it gives you a great advantage while sitting thru MCAT and being interviewed. Overall, it removes lots of stress, making your UG experience much more enjoyable.</p>
<p>My brother matched radiology at a Harvard-affiliated program from Drexel, he had good scores, research, etc. I really don’t think US MD schools vary all that much in quality. Their requirements are pretty standardized for accreditation.</p>
<p>AMC has been around since 1839 and is the main trauma center for upstate NY, western New England and southern Canada. They are pouring in millions to build all new state of the art operating suites and upgrading the rest of the facilities.</p>
<p>The choose not to be ranked since they are very successful in all aspects and turn away hundreds of applicants each year. Their parent corp Union University also owns Albany Law and Union College. Their graduates are placed everywhere. You want a teaching hospital with a trauma center so you see all types of illnesses and injuries.</p>
<p>Finally, Dinero people apply to combineds because you have 80,000 bio/chem premeds fighting for 16,000 US med school seats. Unlike colleges and Universites which vary widely in quality, med schools are very close quality as evidence by the boards. </p>
<p>Go to student doctor net to see grads of ivies going over seas to get a spot. More than a few combineds still do not require MCATs, and do not require further shadowing so you are free to do research. Three years ago I met a woman with a bs and a masters completed in 4 years at an upper ivy that had 24 interviews at med schools all over the country until she finally got a spot. Her stress level was off the chart.</p>
<p>Every high school and even college student interested in medicine should read numerous posts at studentdoctornet to see the struggles they go through and to see what it is like in various medical schools.</p>
<p>^Well, I would not go as far as reading SDN. Most people agree that some posts there are realy too phycho for some people to read, I would say that most HS’ers should stay away from SDN. You have to have very strong filter to protect your psych before you plunge into SDN.
And again, somebody from Ivy who did not get into any US Med. School, either does not have stats (very unlikley as they would be filtered out by pre-med committee) or they appled to bunch of Med. Schools that are completely out of synch with their stats. Remember, applicant’s stats is the number one selection criteria, not his UG. These stats have to match to stats of accepted students to begin with or your are out. Smart list of Med. Schools is a must. My own D. (applied out of her bs/md) had 50% success rate and she applied only to 7 additional Med. Schools. Get your stats, (and EC’s), compile smart list and you will be all set.
However, it is very correct, being in a programs removes tons of stress. It is making college experience much more enjoyable, there is no big monster lurking in a corner ready to eat you alive (big monster is Med. School application process). And although my D. decided to go thru this (she was the only one in her program), it was not as big monster for her as for others.</p>
<p>Miami DAP, You have to remember most schools have. 20 percent acceptance rate into med school. Some of the 40 Percent filter heavily with their committees. What impressed me with Swarthmore was their 40 percent was unfiltered but it counted kids who took up to 10 years together in. They advised grad school, peace corps etc to build up applications. Even ivy kids scramble or go overseas especially with grade deflation policies at two of them and Princeton without a med school uses Robert Wood Johnson that will soon go back to Rutgers.</p>
<p>I did not get in 37 years ago but did very well without following my friends into pharm, research etc and I did not want to go overseas. The competition is only worse due to population growth without a big enough increase in the number of new medical schools and all the foreign competition.</p>
<p>Another thing about Swarthmore and a few little ivies is that have informal agreements not guaranteed or combineds with AMC medical school which I found interesting. Finally, most kids who consider combined are sophisticated for their age so StudentDoc is just a dose of reality just don’t fixated on it.</p>
<p>Now that I’ve actually started at BU, I’ve got to say the peace of mind is awesome. Knowing exactly what I need to get admission is a lot nicer than having to build a resume without a clear minimum. Also, the SMEDS were all grouped together within a few floors in the same dorm, so it’s really convenient to do work together and hang out, since we also have 2 classes together.</p>