What is yoyr take on the Caltech UCSD med scholars program?

toughyear
Sat, 12 Mar 2011 10:41:53 +0000

^ bs/md programs are so small that it just does not make a statistical sense for open discussions in an open public forum. it is like helping your opponents in a sports game with tips and information. also, as some folks said in other threads, this bs/md combined program appears to cater to a single ethnic group predominantly (indians – r u one?). This is a very peculiar phenomenon. some programs are not popular because there really is not much ‘benefit’ for being in the program than the more free, premed course of undergrad education — for the psychological loss of freedom that the rigid requirements place on the students, there really isn’t much of a benefit – if you are so committed to medicine, wouldn’t you not be ‘naturally’ passionate and active about clinical experiences and volunteer services and medical researches etc.? some programs are too small such as 5 or so to 10 or so to even mention them in a public forum. if you go to harvard or yale where the average gpa is 3.6 or higher, an average gpa there basically puts youin a qualified pool of applicants, gpa wise, to good medical schools. why would you limit or sacrifice your top notch undergraduate experience for this so-called ‘security’? there is good reason why kids through premed route will tend to perform better in the long run … if you consider this: the same kid – will he do better in college after going through a compettive high school or after attending a sleepy rural high school where he is val working only fractionally as hard as he would had he been in a competitive school? Well, my post became long without addressing your question, but in a way answered it already tho – that some of these programs are way way too small for an open public discussion. some programs kids will be highly qualified for regular, prestigious premed schools where one can get the ‘quality’ undergraduate experience AND attend a top notch medical school.