<p>Do you like USciences as a school, though? If it is not guaranteed and you don’t like the undergrad, Emory might be a better choice.</p>
<p>IMGDAD - I remember D received an application from UT last year for SHAPE (I think it is open app this year). I was surprised all choices for essay topics were pretty much medical ethics. </p>
<p>I think your D will be just fine at BU. I don’t see any reason she can’t pursue her own research opportunities at BU since she is in an elite program. She just needs to ping a few professors before she even gets there and sign up. I also suspect RPI might not be as good an experience for a girl when the school is so lopsided in boys to girls ratio. So she might be better off on the long run. </p>
<p>Sanguinee - is your scholarship 40k an year? Emory is considered quite good for premed training. You will get the opportunity to spend time at the medical school and line up some research opportunities. </p>
<p>Have you asked what makes USciences/TCMC not guaranteed? OTOH, how many people do not make the cut is what you need to find out if this is your dealbreaker. If it is 10% it is no big deal but above 30% is where I draw the line.</p>
<p>@sanguinee, Emory is obviously a very established school and will provide a good premed education.</p>
<p>Although TCMC is not guaranteed, it probably provides “more guarantee” than Emory. Having said that, please bear in mind it is a community-based med school, i.e. most of your learning will be from practicing physicians in the community. The qualities may, therefore, be variable. Also, academicians usually look at community-based med school as being second class, even though some of the best and most astute clinicians are practicing in the community and you may have the chance to learn to be first class clinician. You will also be exposed to the “real world”. I used to be an academician and practicing of medicine in high level teaching hospitals is a lot easier than in the community where there are many other factors that one has to consider. I remember when I first came out to practice in the community, I was shocked at how different the “real world” is and how difficult it is to treat a very unselected group of patients in the community. </p>
<p>So there are pluses and minuses for both choices.</p>
<p>@texaspg When I visited USciences last year (because I was curious about the school, not the program) and learned they had an “agreement” with a medical school, I inquired further. From what I understand, they have never had any success putting people through to the school. That is what I remember, do not quote me on it, but still, I don’t think it is a very successful program.</p>
<p>@TheBombingRange you’re right. That’s because TCMC is a new medical school, and therefore, the affiliation is also new. TCMC’s first graduating class is this year.</p>
<p>USciences’ campus looks like an elementary school though.</p>
<p>[News</a> Story | University of the Sciences](<a href=“http://www.usciences.edu/newsevents/newsdetails.aspx?Channel=%2FChannels%2FAdmissions%2FAdmissions+Content&WorkflowItemID=ed111dfe-a2c7-458d-aef2-649c37c8fd83]News”>http://www.usciences.edu/newsevents/newsdetails.aspx?Channel=%2FChannels%2FAdmissions%2FAdmissions+Content&WorkflowItemID=ed111dfe-a2c7-458d-aef2-649c37c8fd83)</p>
<p>It sounds like they have upto 7 seats. So unless they are accepting more than 7 students in the program each year, it will come down to meeting GPA/MCAT requirements?</p>
<p>As long as they do not take more than 7 for the program, it would be as safe as any other programs. I must admit that I was rather impressed by the TCMC match list for their first graduating year this year.</p>
<p>Yeah, if they accept only 7 after the interview, it’s sounds more like a guaranteed program to me if you maintain GPA and get an appropriate MCAT score. I’m going to call them up on Monday and ask them how many they accepted/interviewed.</p>
<p>@sanguinee, if you had been accepted into the WUStL program, would you have accepted it? Obviously one cannot compare WUStL to USciences but the WUStL program is not guaranteed either. No program can guarantee admission to med school. If you do badly in your UG, of course they should not let you proceed to med school. It is just whether or not they spell it out clearly that the guarantee is contingent on fulfilling certain requirements. I have read of a posting by a student who fulfilled the GPA and MCAT requirement in the WUStL program and yet did not get into the med school because at the med school interview, the interviewers did not think “she was the right fit for the med school”!!! So do not be too worried about whether it is guaranteed or not. Just go there, work hard, get good GPA and MCAT, so that you will be guaranteed to be picked and if not, there are always other schools you can apply too, as long as you have good GPA and MCAT score.</p>
<p>@IMG wouldn’t I be able to do the same at Emory? Emory is now cheaper, has a better quality of education, is ranked much higher, has many more opportunities, and is closer to home.</p>
<p>@sanguinee, you are correct, yes you can. But as I said earlier, Emory offers you less guarantee than USciences. If you do not mind that, do not mind going through all the application process again and you want to keep your options open, then you should go to Emory. It is good and well established. It will be cheaper and nearer home. I always feel that students who apply to the combined programs are a different breed of students, students who have already decided that they want to do medicine, they do not mind narrowing their options, and that they will go wherever they are offered a place.</p>
<p>I understand now about the three important attributes for the BS/MD application - research, volunteering and shadowing. Do the programs look for the volunteering activities strictly in the medical field? DS14 has many volunteering hours (Gold President’s Volunteering Award) but they were not in the medical field. I am wondering if it’s too late or too little for him to start volunteering in the medical field now. If so, maybe he should not even waste his time applying for BS/MD which is too bad.</p>
<p>What did he volunteer in? Any volunteering should theoretically be ok if it is a health related activity but hanging around hospitals tells the schools that there is an affinity for the field.</p>
<p>DS’s main volunteering activities were in Boy Scout (he is an Eagle Scout) as well as being a Teaching Assistant at a nonprofit community language school. None were medical/health related.</p>
<p>Sanguinee: Here is the wording from the USciences TCMC agreement:</p>
<p>Clearly the advantage for students is an identified seat at the start of their collegiate careers, </p>
<p>The agreement allows for up to seven students per year to be accepted into TCMC by way of the USciences/TCMC articulation agreement provided they meet program requirements including such things as undergraduate prerequisites, minimum GPA and MCAT as well as an interview. </p>
<p>Link: [News</a> Story | University of the Sciences](<a href=“http://www.usciences.edu/newsevents/newsdetails.aspx?Channel=%2FChannels%2FAdmissions%2FAdmissions+Content&WorkflowItemID=ed111dfe-a2c7-458d-aef2-649c37c8fd83]News”>http://www.usciences.edu/newsevents/newsdetails.aspx?Channel=%2FChannels%2FAdmissions%2FAdmissions+Content&WorkflowItemID=ed111dfe-a2c7-458d-aef2-649c37c8fd83)</p>
<p>That wording is similar to any other BSMD program and appears to be a guarantee as long as you meet the criteria. The only catch is the “interview” which is not required for some other programs. I hope it helps.</p>
<p>@4beardolls He still has some time to find some clinical experience. There is no reason for him to not apply if he knows he can explain in his essays why he wants to go into the medical field. The clinical experiences are important, but if he still can articulate his reasoning well enough, he might be able to get some interviews.</p>
<p>@BSMDDAD yeah I guess you’re right, it kinda is a guarantee.</p>
<p>@sanguinee
Wish you the very best in your future. You had the drive and motivation to achieve your goals. I am very happy that you got what you wanted. </p>
<p>I am sure you will be a great doctor. You will be an inspiration for the future BS/MD applicants. Good Luck.</p>
<p>@tamtiger</p>
<p>aw thanks!! :)</p>
<p>Some health related volunteering and shadowing will help with the application. I looked at HPME and WUSTL apps and they are not very specific about these activities. GAP was more specific in each area.</p>