1. What is the difference between the IMS and MSP program. Which one were you in?
- I was in both. I did the MSP year followed by the IMS year. In a nutshell the MSP is for the MCAT with other classes to enhance your science background and IMS is the first year of med school classes at Drexel (minus gross anatomy, and a few others).
2. Is the school in the hood? I live close to Philly so I can check this out myself.
- Well, yes and no. The school is located next to Hahnemann Hospital at Broad and Vine. In fact, the classrooms you sit in for the IMS year used to be the classrooms of the medical students who went to Hahnemann University School of Medicine long before the merger with Medical College of Penn, which then became MCPHU which then became Drexel Med.
The school is located in Center City and as to whether or not it is the hood may be up to you. Personally, I felt like it was the hood when I first moved there. I then realized that the area (within Center City) is safe. I would walk around at all hours of the night and feel comfortable. However, if you walk about 5 blocks north of school things look a lot different. It is very similar to UPENN and Drexel University in West Philly. The campus areas are fine, but a few more blocks west and the landscape changes drastically. I always thought that philly was tough, but not dangerous. I am glad I was there as I got a unique perspective on living in a city that I hadn't had before.
3. What's with the guaranteed interview at Drexel medical school given a certain level of performance in the IMS program?
- To get an automatic interview you need B's or better in all your class. This is not a B average, but B's or higher. They do make some exceptions but it is best not to bank on an exception.
4. What was your strategy on getting in? How was your performance. What are the advantages or dis of the school. What was the, "not for everyone." you were talking about.
I will PM you my performance stats and strategies. As far as the advantages and disadvantages: well, first of all you get the first year of med school twice. I stuggles in Histo last year at Drexel (as most first years do) and I am killing the class this year. So, seeing everything twice has been a huge advantage. Also, there curiculum at Drexel is all intergraded. This had its ups and downs. It was nice as when you study the lungs you really study all aspects of it (histo, physio, biochem, nutrition, etc) but I also felt like the studying never ended. It has really prepared me a lot for this year. You learn fast how to pace yourself and what is worth stressing over and what is not.
As far as it being "not for everyone" I simply mean that the program is very demanding (as is the first year of med school) and it should not be done unless you are ready for it. There are people who do post-Baccs and they bring issues (boyfriend fights, parents forcing them to succeed, etc) or have a hard time adjusting to being away (they feel the need to be very social with everyone in class - drink all the time) and they don't perform well. If you don't preform well in a post-Bacc then things are kinda over. So, they are awesome in terms of helping you out, but you can also burn your last bridge by screwing around.
Best of luck and let me know if you have anymore questions.
WISC-ite
