St. Louis University School of Medicine

 

Introduction

SLU Med has a 8 program with its undergrad St Louis University called the Medical Scholars Program. 

Admission Requirements:

- ACT of 30 or SAT of 1330

- Application deadline is 12/1

Program Requirements:

- Maintain a 3.65 cumulative GPA and 3.65 science GPA at the end of every year.

- Take MCAT and score at least a 500

- Apply again in your sophomore year of college.

Pros

- Easy to get in. Seems like an interview is not even required to get into this program.

Cons

- NO GUARANTEE. This defeats the purpose of a BS/MD program. Seems like the program only mildly boost your chances of admission at SLU's own medical school. 

- No accelerated option

Admission Difficulty

1 out of 10

Admission class of 120 people tells you they let just about everyone in here.

Conclusion

This program is an awful excuse for a BS/MD program. No guarantee to SLU's own medical school despite fulfilling all requirements. I would not even consider going here unless they gave me a fat scholarship and I have no other BS/MD acceptances.

Prestige Rating

1 out of 10

See 40+ other programs better than this one.

Reviews from former Med Scholars:

"The program is particularly tough. If I had to rate the difficulty, I would say that the demands are significantly more than your average state school but slightly less than an Ivy league university. As with most pre-med schools, there is a lot of pressure in the freshman science classes – particularly Gen Chem I. I would say that roughly 10% of students drop out of med scholars after first semester, and probably a little less than a quarter after second semester. In addition, a lot of students find the core curriculum (non-science classes) to be somewhat rigorous too. Out of all the non-science classes I’ve taken so far, I would say hardly any were “blow-off” ones. The year which is toughest is sophomore year. This mainly because two of the hardest courses are coupled with each other: Microcellular Biology and Organic Chemistry. If I recall correctly, more than half of our med scholar class was eliminated by summer time (due to 3.5 math science GPA requirement). This is also the year you have your interview and find out if you have been accepted to the School of Medicine. It is definitely a stressful time.

I’m a Junior now and things have eased up significantly this year. I still have a few hard classes (physics), but it is much more manageable. Senior year looks fairly light as well as I had a bunch of credit coming into the university. 

If I had to do it all over again, I certainly would. Being in the program definitely alleviates the stress of taking the MCAT and what not. Don’t get me wrong, you still have to have an excellent work ethic and struggle sometimes, but I think that this has helped prepare me for the rigors of med school. The SOM is also excellent and few people seem to realize this. A few years ago, we achieved the highest USLME Step 1 score in the nation. I would seriously consider the program for your son."

"I just finished my sophomore year at SLU as a med scholar. My GPA was a 3.7, with 3.65 in the math/sciences (comfortably above the 3.5 requirement). I had over 300 hours of shadowing experience, as well other a few hundred other hours of non-shadowing clinical experience.
After i finished my med school interview a few months ago, i was confident that i would fall into the the 98% of scholars who make it into SLUMED. My interview was a breeze.

However, a few days ago, i received a letter in the mail. It was a letter of declined. I was outright rejected from med school. 

As you can imagine, my family and I are extremely disappointed. I've spoken with the associate dean, Dr. Willmore, two times since then. Both were lengthy conversations about why i didn't get in.

He went on to say that the committee had major concerns about my understanding of the medical field and the lifestyle of a physician. In my essays and interview, i tried to convey my belief that helping others in need, provides a sense of fulfillment and reward. Yet, he abruptly shot this down, telling me that my reasoning was entirely wrong. He stated that "doctors don't feel fulfilled or rewarded, they're tired, over-worked, and depressed." 

I was rejected because apparently I don't understand that. 

He would not specify what portions of my application caused my rejection (essay, interview, etc). 

Anyways, i would advise people to stay away from this program. 5 other students were declined like me, even though they had the GPA.

The 98% stat is far from the truth. It's false advertising at it's finest.
In actuality, only 18-20% of the original pool of medical scholars make it into med school.
Willmore gave me the 18-20% percentage.

Best of luck to you all"

As you can see from the reviews, there are some conflicting views that you need to take into account before going to this program. Do not blindly accept the advertised numbers as is.

Drexel University College of Medicine

Back in my day, Drexel Med had a gagillion affiliation programs with other undergrads. Seems like that is no longer the case. The only program left standing is the program with their own undergrad- Drexel. One other thing that changed is that this is now a 8 year program, or 4 + 4. The requirements haven't changed much. I'm kinda disappointed that they added an extra year to their undergrad. Last year of college is definitely not necessary. It was the most unproductive year of college. I spent that year being bored out of my mind. In reality, it only takes about 2 years to finish all the premed requirements. My guess is they want to squeeze an extra year of tuition out of these poor students. 

Application Requirements:

- 1420 on SAT or 31 or ACT. Average accepted score is 1538 or 34 on ACT

- Application deadline is 11/1

How hard is it to get in?

7 out of 10

65 students are admitted out of 2298 applicants (2.8% acceptance rate). 125 applicants were interviewed.

Matriculation into Med School Requirements:

- Maintain a 3.6 GPA (used to be 3.5 back in my day)

- 513 on MCAT

Pros

- Philadelphia is a great city to be in. Extremely walkable, lots of great food, endless things to explore- you will have never run out of things to do in this city.

Cons

- No accelerated option

- The medical school is in turmoil due to loss of its primary teaching hospital (Hahnemann). It is recurrently in the rebuilding stage, having recently partnered up with Reading Hospital (NOT in Philly but in Reading, the poorest town in Pennsylvania).

DREXEL HISTORY

Drexel undergrad is located in University City, a neighborhood in Philadelphia. It is in close proximity to University of Pennsylvania, that Ivy League school that your Asian parents know about. So right there you have some inferiority complex. Drexel has an interesting history. It had a lot of financial issues in the 1990s and was close to being bought out by its neighbor UPenn. But it managed to turn things around and even bought the med school that bears its name in the next few years. You can read more about this exciting comeback story here and impress your interviewer with your in-depth knowledge of Drexel.

MY EXPERIENCE AT DREXEL UNDERGRAD

I was accepted into the Drexel BS/MD program in April of 2010. It was one of the greatest moments for me at the time. I thought then my life would be much easier from then on. However, little did I know how much work lay still lay ahead of me. My dad helped me move into my dorm in September of 2010. After that, he returned to Taiwan. And just like that, I was on my own for the first time, in an unfamiliar city.

When I moved in back in 2010, the school was undergoing rapid expansion. Walk a few blocks in any direction and you will see construction. There were some very old buildings (>50 year old) and brand new ones. The dorm I moved into, called Millennium Hall, was just built when I first moved in. Some say it looks like a PlayStation.

College life was very different. No longer are your parents around making any decisions for you. You decide for yourself when to eat, study, have fun, and sleep. With that being said, I never felt like I needed to pull an all-nighter. The party scene was not for me, as I have an inherent dislike of loud noises (how do people hear each other talk?). The classes were challenging. I realized the amount of effort needed was much more than I thought when I received an 80% on my first biology test (an A is >93%). Even so, there was much more free time. The structured life that was high school, where one goes to school at 8 then leaves at 3:45- was no longer there. There were some days where I had no classes at all. One could build their schedule to suit their liking.

College was also where I discovered there were much smarter people than me. Some people were so smart that it made me question why the world was so unfair. Tests after tests, they would score much better, despite studying much less. My roommate was an example. It definitely puts into doubt the statement “All people are equal”. Perhaps people should have equal rights. But equal abilities? No. There are vast differences in the capabilities of each individual.

And so I grinded away during my college years, just like during my high school years. This particular BS/MD program had a GPA requirement of 3.50 and a MCAT requirement of 31 (old scoring system). Our program started out with 30 people, then gradually dwindled down as some people either had a change of heart about doing medicine or couldn’t keep up with the grade requirements. Some simply overindulged in the college partying lifestyle and slipped up.

Being allergic to alcohol certainly prevented me from straying too far into the dark side (no alcohol, no party). I kept my head down and checked each requirement one by one. GPA requirement? Check. MCAT requirement? Check. And just like that I was off to medical school.

COST

A quick calculation of how much it will cost to come to Drexel:

Drexel runs on a "term" schedule, which is basically a quarter. There are 4 quarters per year. Normally people are in school for 3 quarters and get the summer quarter off for vacation.

Undergrad tuition (listed price is per term)

18k per term x 3 terms a year = 54k per year

54k x 4 = 216k for 4 years of undergrad

Med school tuition (listed price is per semester)

60k per year x 4 years = 240k for 4 years

Tuition is 456k for 8 years

Granted, you will probably get some scholarships for the undergrad portion to lower that cost, but this price tag is ridiculous. I think when one is applying for colleges as a student without any prior job experience, the value of money doesn't really sink in. So let me just tell you as someone who has gone through it- go to the cheapest US MD school you can get your hands on. 

Conclusion

This program gave me a chance at becoming a doctor. And for that, I am eternally grateful. With that being said, Drexel's med school is undergoing a painful change due to the fallout from closure of its primary teaching hospital- Hahnemann University Hospital (where I did my internship). Whether it fully recovers from this setback is yet to be seen. 

Prestige Score

6 out of 10

Below is some old info that no longer applies

Drexel Med has quite a few linkage programs. The most popular programs (at least from my perspective) are Drexel, Villanova, and Lehigh because these schools accept the most students. They are 7 year programs, meaning that students spend three years at the undergrad and the traditional four at the med school. Credits taken from first year medical school at Drexel Med are applied toward your baccalaureate degree.

The Scholar programs have less stringent requirements for admission.They are geared towards students who wish to become generalist in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. During their clinical years in medical school, students rotate through the designated hospitals, as indicated in brackets. To be admitted, the applicant needs to complete three interviews: one at the undergraduate, one at Drexel Med, and one at the designated clinical campus. The goal of the scholar programs is to encourage student to complete local residencies, preferably in generalist specialties such as internal medicine, family practice, and pediatrics.

University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry

Introduction

The Rochester Early Medical Scholars program is an 8 year BA/BS/MD program. Rochester is a small town in upstate New York. Their medical school has a great reputation. About 10 students are accepted per year. 

Application Requirements:

- No score requirement is listed on their website

- Application deadline is 11/15

Pros

- No MCAT required

- Great medical school

Cons

- Expensive. The listed price tag on their website for undergrad is 78k per year. For undergrad it's 80k.

78k x 4 = 312k for 4 years for undergrad

80k x 4 = 320k for 4 years of med school

Total cost of attendance = 632k 

I'm glad I'm not your parent footing the bill for this. 

- Depressing location

- No accelerated option. Program is 8 years.

How Hard Is It to Get Into REMS Program?

8 out of 10

The small number of applicants accepted (~10) makes this an extraordinarily difficult program to get into. Their website mentions having an 3.95 unweighted GPA as well has being in the top 3% of your high school class. Both of which can be quite difficult if you go to a challenging high school. 

Conclusion

I will say that I did interview at Rochester for my radiology residency back in 2017. Their hospital is brand spanking new. The cost of living was cheap. They have a great reputation. But.... Rochester was cold af. The town feels incredibly depressing during those dark, cold winters. Or maybe I'm just getting old. My goal in high school was to get into ANY BS/MD program. Now I just want to be as comfortable as possible. Lol, oh how quickly things change. I'm sure most of you reading this will have the same fire inside you to go where your destiny takes you.

Prestige Rating

8 out of 10

(below was last edited on 9/9/2011)

Rochester Med has a program with its undergraduate school, University of Rochester. The program is called Rochester Early Medical Scholars (R.E.M.S.).

The program is extremely competitive. About 800 apply each year and only 15 are accepted. Research is strongly emphasized. Students without strong research extracurricular activities generally are not accepted.

Here is some opinion from a REMS student (stats included):

The Rochester Early Medical Scholar's Program is an 8 year guaranteed program. MCATs are not necessary, and you can apply out if you so choose. It offers a lot of flexibility, research opportunities, etc. I honestly think that what deters a lot of people from applying to the program is 1) weather (im from the west coast, so I'll be the first to say it's very different, but it's not actually that big of a deal to me) and 2) that they havent heard about it. I didnt think for a second that id be attending rochester until i visited the campus for interviews and had a great experience, so keep an open mind and ask questions!

California Northstate University BS-MD

 Introduction

The California Northstate University BS-MD program is the only BS/MD program in California. I'm sure lots of you aspiring doctors are from California and staying close to home would be nice. This program is very new, as its medical was only established in 2015, and its first graduating class matched in 2019. There is a lot of controversy about this program, for which I will list below.

Requirements for Matriculation into Medical School

- Maintain 3.50 GPA in college

- Score 510 on MCAT

Pros

- There is an option to finish the program in 6 years. That is a major win in my opinion. Save 2 years of tuition + feel less old when you graduate med school. 

- Location. California is the promised land for many.

- Opportunity to save money on room and board if you live at home.

Cons

- New medical school was established in 2015. It currently has provisional accreditation. 

- A for-profit medical school seems rather contradictory to their purpose, which is to serve people. 

- Their match list is very unimpressive for a US MD school. A rough measure of a medical school's strength is the ability to place students into competitive specialties such as neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, ENT, urology, and dermatology. I see very few matches here. One could argue that their mission is to place students into primary care. Even so, the primary care matches have thoroughly unimpressive names. You would think that a school in California would be able to place multiple students into UC schools, Stanford, or USC, but I see very few listed. 

- They do not have their own hospital yet. Their students rotate at Kaiser and Sutter. Not having your own teaching hospital means students will be forced to drive long distances for rotations.

Conclusion

Similar to the stock market, you must take risks to gain rewards. If you feel like the location and cost savings outweigh the unknowns of a new medical school, then consider this program. I think I would take the chance on this program. I took a similar risk with Drexel, and I came out fine (I think).

Prestige Rating

4 out of 10

Interested in other BS/MD programs? Get the complete list here. 

Application: Sample Essay

Brown University's Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) is a highly selective 8-year program for undergraduate at Brown University and medical school at the Warren Alpert Medical School. Here is the link to the website if you're interested in more information about it. Here is an essay I found online. The author of this essay was accepted into PLME in 2008. I thought it would be worth looking at for anyone applying to BS/MD programs.

Most high school seniors are unsure about eventual career choices. What factors led you to decide on a career in medicine? And why did you choose to apply to the PLME in pursuit of this career? When I was growing up, my parents would take me to the hospital where they worked, but all I remember is that it was a fun place for Christmas parties. As a fan of medical television like House, MD, and Scrubs, I decided in high school to explore medicine for myself. Volunteering in a local emergency department, I became privy to a different side of health care, past the science of blood gas measurements and pupil dilations. What fascinated me was the unique language in the hospital delineating a divide from the rest of the world. Turfing inconvenient patients, nurses soothing the most hysterical of people, and skeptical doctors sniffing out drug seekers-all highlighted medical terminology and knowledge not found in any textbooks. Part of this manipulation of language seemed, at times, cold and detached- for example, “practice,” which can mean allowing an intern to try CPR on a person long gone. Referring to the patient in room 11 by the diagnosis of “chest pain” instead of his name protected confidentiality, but it struck me still as lacking the warmth I thought health care was supposed to embody. Then I saw my first dead body. “FULL TRAUMA” sounded overhead, and a few minutes later paramedics hopped off the ambulance and wheeled the patient into the trauma bay, performing CPR the entire time. After they called it, I was left to stare at a nameless, lifeless person who had, an hour ago, been as alive as I. I don’t remember now what he looked like, but I’ll never forget the ER nurses and techs making jokes during the process, seemingly unaffected by the haunting specter of death that so disturbed me. Looking back, their behavior was far from callous, though. I have realized that people in the profession use euphemisms of language, dark humor, anything at all, in order to protect themselves. Even simple things like calling the dead “deceased,” dehumanize the process and let workers do their jobs, day in and day out. The special diction and use of language is a barrier guarding their own humanity. That is the basis of health care, the human relationship between two sides—patients and professionals, giving and taking, both in search of the elusive goodness in everyone. Thus I believe I have found a way of life that I wish to explore. This decision was not instant, but rather a culmination of my experiences in the hospital as a volunteer and intern. The euphoria I feel from helping a patient is an emotion I desire to sustain my entire life. And any opportunity to ensure me the privilege of entering this complex world, where life and death interact daily, is one that I value highly, especially a program such as the PLME. The years in undergraduate spent with a secure position in medical school would not be filled with complacency, however. My confidence in my future would allow for greater pursuits of a variety of activities, research and internships, and in the end, equip me to be a better student, doctor, and person.

Here is another example of a successful PLME essay. 

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to anything regarding this essay.

High school to BS/MD

 A bit about me- I grew up in Taiwan and moved to the US when I was 11. While in high school, I made the decision to become a doctor. However, I had heard horror stories about the difficult nature of the medical school application process. Normally, one applies to med school during their college years. With the BA/BS/MD programs, one obtains conditional acceptance into medical school during their senior year of high school. After hearing about the existence of BS/MD programs, I decided to give it a shot.

I was not the first one in the family to go into medicine. My father is a doctor in Taiwan. My 2 cousins were already practicing physicians at the time I was applying. One was valedictorian at the same high school I attended and went on to Harvard for undergrad followed by Columbia for med school. The other had gone to Brown’s PLME program, another well=known BS/MD program. My sister, who is 4 years older than me and a senior in college, was also applying to med school as well. To summarize, the level of achievement in my family was through the roof, and that expectations were high for me and my sister.

I had done well in high school. I wasn’t exceptional , but I had decent grades. There were many people smarter than me in high school, though some may not have worked as hard. I knew I wasn’t the smartest but I had a great work ethic. The whole 4 years felt like a grind where I was constantly calculating what grade I needed to get on the next exam to get an A for the course.

The grind included the SAT’s. I scored initially a 2100, then 2200, then 2270 on the SAT’s (back then when it was out of 2400). I envied those who took the test without studying but still managed to still score higher than me. My score only came after endless practice questions. My grades in school were decent- mostly A’s and I think 2 B’s for the whole 4 years. By the time I got ready to apply, my GPA was 3.95.

I received only 3 interviews- UMKC, Drexel, and Jefferson. Got waitlisted at UMKC, rejected at Jefferson, and accepted at Drexel. The day I got the acceptance was incredible. It was almost as if all those years of hard work had paid off. Looking back now, I feel like I probably paid too much emphasis on this event. Even if I had not gotten in, things would have turned out fine.