Saturday, August 20, 2011

Jefferson Medical College

Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University is affiliated with Penn State University at University Park.The program is unique in that it's one of the few six year programs in existence. However, they also give students the option to do a seven year route as well (3+4). Students spend at least one summer at Penn State during the two years of their undergrad years.

This program is pretty competitive. It places very high emphasis on SAT scores. I would say the average is close to 2300. About 100 people get interviewed and 50 get in. 25-30 chooses to matriculate. Interview notifications are sent in early January and the actual interview takes place in early February.

Satisfactory performance on MCAT exams also is required for matriculation to Jefferson Medical College. The current MCAT requirement is a minimum composite score of 30 with no less than 9 on any subsection of the exam on a single test date. If students in the accelerated program are not performing at a 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) level, particularly in the sciences, they could be asked to withdraw from the program. Typically, such a student would be eligible to remain at Penn State in another program of study.

Admission Requirements:
  • Apply by November 30th
  • Official secondary school record showing grades received for all courses completed since the start of ninth grade;
  • Rank in class at the end of the junior year (exact rank is preferable);
  • Schedule of senior courses;
  • Official SAT or ACT test scores;
  • A one-page resume listing the applicant’s most meaningful accomplishments and extracurricular activities during the high school years;
  • One letter of evaluation from the applicant’s high school counselor or high school teacher;
  • Required application fee;
  • Required responses to questions from Jefferson Medical College. These questions are available through Penn State’s online application.

6 comments:

  1. I would just bring this up to anyone who is not aware of Penn state's BA/MD cost policy. I noticed that under their "cost" section, it states:

    "While attending Penn State, students pay the regular University tuition rate (http://tuition.psu.edu/), and while attending Jefferson Medical College, they pay the regular Jefferson Medical College rate. Because students enrolled in this cooperative program complete only two or three years of undergraduate study at Penn State, they are not eligible for tuition scholarships from the Schreyer Honors College or Braddock Scholarships from the Eberly College of Science."

    I still need to figure out if "paying the regular tuition rate" means no financial aid, what the policy is on outside scholarships.

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  2. Yep. This means no scholarships (merit based), but maybe they will give you some need-based aid. Keep in mind that if you choose to attend this program, you only pay 2 years, effectively halving the costs. Think of this as a form of financial aid.

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  3. do you know if 2 SAT subject tests are required if you only submit your SAT?

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  4. Does this program prefer in-state students? I read that it does in a recently published bs/md book, but I don't see it anywhere on Jefferson's website.

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  5. I don't think so. I was from the Midwest and still got an interview.

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