Shot at redemption or total scam?

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JackOfTrades

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I'm sitting on an acceptance to BU MAMS, but considering the fact that I would be paying entirely with loans - I need to be sure that this program is the right move, considering my candidacy holistically.

I could really use some sagely advice.

uGPA: 3.17, sGPA: 3.01 (strong upward trend)
MCAT: 32 (Apr 2012)
ECs: Very good, but basically no research.

The weakest aspects of my candidacy are my early undergraduate grades, lack of research, and lack of non-clinical volunteering (I was a volunteer EMT for two years).

I'm reading that BU is a great school, that their SMP is one of the best, and that they can provide the research/volunteer opportunities I need. After two failed cycles, I've been told to go for the jugular, take out loans, and move to Boston.

I'm also reading that masters GPAs are inflated, and cannot augment a poor uGPA. Does this mean that no SMP will improve my chances?

I know nobody can make this decision for me, but I would appreciate any input on this program and my situation in particular. Thank you.
 
A scam would be a program not hosted at a med school that makes vague claims about being intended for students who need to improve their chances at med school admissions. I won't name names, but there seem to be a LOT of these in Florida. Buyer beware.

Regular grad work may or may not have inflated GPAs, but the point is that grad GPA is always separate from undergrad, and grad GPA doesn't carry as much weight, because there's no "grad school MCAT" for med schools to use to normalize GPAs. Regular grad work is not an answer to a low GPA, but doing rigorous research and publishing in grad school is a terrific heavyweight "academic EC" for plenty of schools, and having research done before med school is incredibly convenient. In a state like California where 3.6/32 is no guarantee at all, rigorous grad work is a very good thing to do.

Now, the "S" in SMP is supposed to mean "special": the program is hosted at a med school, and serves as an audition for med school, because you take a large chunk of the 1st year med school curriculum with the med students. How might this be viewed by med schools? Well, it's pretty easy for adcoms to understand if you get great grades and your SMP director writes letters. It's pretty easy to understand if the program has been around a while, because some of its grads will have already come through. There are very, very few SMPs (about 15) and at my low tier US MD school it seems like about 50% of my class did one. We've got Gtown grads, Boston grads, Cincy, Tufts, and our own SMP grads.

Point being, know what you're talking about and pay attention to the details. If you haven't been in the postbac forum yet, to read commentary from current and former students, good lord why not?

In sum, Boston is an SMP, not a scam, and is a reasonable choice. (Another reasonable choice: 2nd bachelors.) Since the 2nd year at BU is a research year, you're set up to apply MD after the first SMP year, and then you spend your app year productively. Boston is super expensive, as are all the SMPs that have successful records.

But: applying with a 3.17 cumulative is sketchy and terrifying, and in your shoes I'd be leaning toward at least another strong year of undergrad to get that up a bit. Presumably there are a whole bunch of C's on your transcript if a strong upward trend only got you to 3.17. You are at the mercy of reviewer eyeballs to see that upward trend, and you'll have to apply very early and very very broadly. You should know that the punchline of this whole big fat endeavor may be DO school.

Your MCAT is going to expire before you can use it. Plan accordingly. Don't be afraid of 2015, just do it. Just plan on 6-8 weeks of hard prep after school gets out next spring.

Best of luck to you.
 
Thanks for your quick response. Based on what you've said, I'm leaning toward entering the BU program.

Yes, I am at the mercy of the reviewer's eyeballs. My first year of undergrad went terribly awry when my father died. I considered returning to my old university to retake some chemistry classes and earn a B.S. in Chemistry, which I would be close to anyway (having taken on a chem minor while earning my bio degree).

However, I'm more attracted to the idea of proving that I can handle med school classes, not proving I can handle undergraduate chemistry classes that I've already taken. Plus, the infastructure for ECs and the excellent application advising at BU tips the scales even further.

I agree that a 3.17 is terrifying to apply with, but after four years of full time undergraduate classes, some retakes and some fresh grades won't raise it much. My candidacy needs a steroid injection and I don't think going back to undergrad is the right direction, considering that a M.S. from BU is now in the cards.

Thoughts?
 
I do not have much input as my knowledge on the subject is rather limited. That being said I know I would push to write the 2014 MCAT if it were me, than risk the unknown and try to tackle the 2015.
 
Why not just apply DO, yes your GPA is still a little low but your whole package and pretty good MCAT score should get you in the door somewhere if you apply broadly.
 
I applied to a few DO schools last year, and did not get interviewed.

My first MCAT attempt was a 30
Retook to 32, which will "expire" 04/2015

Would I really want three different scores on the same test? Or should I hold onto a strong 30-32, and have a new updated score on a newer exam?
 
I am totally against being in a big fat hurry to "beat" the 2015 MCAT. Are you guys thinking your undergrad coursework doesn't apply to the 2015 MCAT? Are you thinking that the vast hordes of premeds and their prep course dollars are just going to sit out the year?

Sit out the first few months of the 2015 test, sure, let them work out the bugs. But it's completely irrational to fear the 2015 MCAT if you're serious about going to med school. It's not like they changed the point of the test.

There are 80,000 attempts at the MCAT per year. That's not stopping because of this format change any more than it stopped because the test went to computers in '06. (Yes, really, it was that recent.)
 
So I've also been accepted to Loyola's MAMS program. It would be much easier for me to attend Loyola because I live in Chicago, they also offer scholarships and are cheaper to begin with.

But the general feeling I've gotten is that BU MAMS is a much better program. If that's true, why is Loyola telling me their matriculation rates are 90%, "mostly allopathic", while Boston says 70% on their website?

With a 3.1 uGPA, I'm counting my blessings, but this is a tough choice.
 
Loyola's a good program, long strong history, well known to med schools.

You're in the wrong subforum for finding info on these programs. Find the postbac forum for info from current & former students. For the record, the word "postbac" is totally useless, but it's been in use on SDN for over a decade.
 
Did you look at Temple's program? They guarantee matriculation if you get a certain GPA MCAT.
 
Can you talk to current students in the program or see if you can talk to some students in med school who were in the programs.

Would you apply DO?
 
I didn't apply to Temple's program, but I did consider it. It seemed to me that if you can get in there, you don't need an SMP - and if you need that SMP, you arent likely to get in.

I'm talking to people from both Loyola and BU, and they both seem to both be great programs which know how to deliver on their promises. I'm going to pay the deposit at Boston to buy more time, visit the city and then decide.

I would apply both MD and DO.
 
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