Florida SMP advice

[apopin93]

I'll be graduating soon, and I know my application is gonna need some work.
3.5 cGPA
2.9 sGPA
513 MCAT
Great EC and LOR (I'm not gonna list them all, but I can if needed)
non URM (asian)
disadvantaged

I know I'm gonna need to do an SMP to even stand a chance at an MD so I was wondering which SMP was most beneficial in Florida.

There are may posts on the USF MSMS online program which doesn't have a good reputation, however, I haven't really found one specific to the in-class MSMS.

USF and FSU have almost guaranteed programs which they pick through the regular pool of applicants to their MD programs. Those would be great to get into, but I'm ruling them out since I can't really apply to those and have to be invited

If anyone has graduated or is currently in an SMP in Florida, What was your experience like and did it help you get admitted into medical school?

I have also considered just retaking my bad classes and applying after but that would only improve my chances for DO schools.

Just really looking for any advice.

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[The Knife & Gun Club]

Florida resident here. I strongly considered SMP, but decided against it because of the high risk. My understanding is that the USF SMP is probably the best SMP in Florida, although you are correct its reputation is pretty much confined to the state. I met many people at both Do and MD interviews in Florida that did the USF SMP and spoke relatively highly of it.

Think long and hard about doing an SMP before you disregard the DO route. A non-stellar performance in an SMP is an absolute death sentence to both MD and DO schools. You need to do better than a significant portion of both the SMP class and the M1 class, and doing just "so-so" could end your physician dreams completely.

Think about why your GPA was low in undergrad. Were you sick? Were you slow to adjust to college, but eventually produced multiple semesters of >3.8 GPA while taking multiple science courses? Basically, if you don't have a very good reason to believe you will do extremely well in an SMP, don't do one.

Grade replacement is a great option for DO, and the remediated grades will still help your sGPA somewhat for MD, as well as show an upward trend (provided you have a good reason for the initial low grades).

Also, many SMPs (although I dont think USF does this) require you first apply to MD medical school and have an unsuccessful cycle before they will consider you.

 

[Citygirl44]

You need to get your science undergrad gpa up. I don't think an Smp does that. You need at least a 3.0 undergrad sgpa ( that's just for your application to not be thrown in the garbage). You should take a Few science courses at a 4 yr college to get it above 3.0 first. Maybe during the summer before you start the smp

 

[GrapesofRath]

Even if your goal is to get into your florida state schools, I dont particularly recommend the Florida SMPs if you have other options. They just dont have nearly as good a track record of getting people into US MD schools as the SMPs like Tufts, Gtown, Cincy etc. Do well in one of those, and not only will your state schools recognize it, but so will many other schools. Going to an SMP without a great reputation or track record of getting people into US MD schools just isnt worthwhile. The top SMP programs, the majority of their grads will get into US MD schools. That's the company you want to be part of, not someone at a lesser known SMP.

And yes what KnifeClub said is spot on. Only do an SMP if you are confident you can routinely be at or better than the MS1 class average on their tests. It's big risk, big reward. Be honest in your assessment of yourself if you think you have what it takes to do well in an SMP.

And also try and get the sGPA over 3.0. It would be a shame to ace an SMP only to realize there will be schools that will automatically screen out below a sub 3.0 sGPA no questions asked.

 

[apopin93]

Florida resident here. I strongly considered SMP, but decided against it because of the high risk. My understanding is that the USF SMP is probably the best SMP in Florida, although you are correct its reputation is pretty much confined to the state. I met many people at both Do and MD interviews in Florida that did the USF SMP and spoke relatively highly of it.

Think long and hard about doing an SMP before you disregard the DO route. A non-stellar performance in an SMP is an absolute death sentence to both MD and DO schools. You need to do better than a significant portion of both the SMP class and the M1 class, and doing just "so-so" could end your physician dreams completely.

Think about why your GPA was low in undergrad. Were you sick? Were you slow to adjust to college, but eventually produced multiple semesters of >3.8 GPA while taking multiple science courses? Basically, if you don't have a very good reason to believe you will do extremely well in an SMP, don't do one.

Grade replacement is a great option for DO, and the remediated grades will still help your sGPA somewhat for MD, as well as show an upward trend (provided you have a good reason for the initial low grades).

Also, many SMPs (although I dont think USF does this) require you first apply to MD medical school and have an unsuccessful cycle before they will consider you.

I graduated high school with a bunch of science credits so I didn't have to take many in college. I had major family issues during my first 2 years in college (the sames years I took most my science classes) which lead to a big decrease in my GPA. I had a 4.0 the next 2 years in all my classes including the few science classes which brought my GPA up but sadly not my science too much

 

[apopin93]

Even if your goal is to get into your florida state schools, I dont particularly recommend the Florida SMPs if you have other options. They just dont have nearly as good a track record of getting people into US MD schools as the SMPs like Tufts, Gtown, Cincy etc. Do well in one of those, and not only will your state schools recognize it, but so will many other schools. Going to an SMP without a great reputation or track record of getting people into US MD schools just isnt worthwhile. The top SMP programs, the majority of their grads will get into US MD schools. That's the company you want to be part of, not someone at a lesser known SMP.

And yes what KnifeClub said is spot on. Only do an SMP if you are confident you can routinely be at or better than the MS1 class average on their tests. It's big risk, big reward. Be honest in your assessment of yourself if you think you have what it takes to do well in an SMP.

And also try and get the sGPA over 3.0. It would be a shame to ace an SMP only to realize there will be schools that will automatically screen out below a sub 3.0 sGPA no questions asked.

I mean I do have other options, but staying I'm Florida would make the most financial sense to me. I'm pretty confident that I'll do well so that isn't a big concern for me.

 

[apopin93]

Yeah I know that would help, but wouldn't doing an SMP help combat the bad science GPA?

 

[apopin93]

Florida resident here. I strongly considered SMP, but decided against it because of the high risk. My understanding is that the USF SMP is probably the best SMP in Florida, although you are correct its reputation is pretty much confined to the state. I met many people at both Do and MD interviews in Florida that did the USF SMP and spoke relatively highly of it.

Think long and hard about doing an SMP before you disregard the DO route. A non-stellar performance in an SMP is an absolute death sentence to both MD and DO schools. You need to do better than a significant portion of both the SMP class and the M1 class, and doing just "so-so" could end your physician dreams completely.

Think about why your GPA was low in undergrad. Were you sick? Were you slow to adjust to college, but eventually produced multiple semesters of >3.8 GPA while taking multiple science courses? Basically, if you don't have a very good reason to believe you will do extremely well in an SMP, don't do one.

Grade replacement is a great option for DO, and the remediated grades will still help your sGPA somewhat for MD, as well as show an upward trend (provided you have a good reason for the initial low grades).

Also, many SMPs (although I dont think USF does this) require you first apply to MD medical school and have an unsuccessful cycle before they will consider you.

Did you decide to go the DO route then since you decided against the SMP?

 

[prehealthadvisor55]

I would retake the sciences you didn't do well in & try the DO route.

 

[GrapesofRath]

I mean I do have other options, but staying I'm Florida would make the most financial sense to me. I'm pretty confident that I'll do well so that isn't a big concern for me.

That's fine and finances are always crucial but I'll just you are precisely making my point. If you do well you'll get much more bang for your buck at a more reputable SMP. At an SMP like USF I think they take maybe 15 of their graduates into the MD school. 15 out like 150. Way more than 15 people did really well in the program. And the problem is an SMP like USF doesnt have that much recognition so if you arent getting into USF, you are definitely more limited than somebody who does well at an SMP which is more reputable and established. Nothing would be worse than acing an SMP and not getting recognition for it and it not counting for that much.

In general if an SMP either a) gives no data on how their graduates do b) really vague and deliberately misleading data(ie 70% of our grads get into graduate programs or medical schools which includes plenty of caribbean and DO schools) that should set off red flags.

I strongly recommend also going on the post-bacc forum here. You will find many more posters with SMP experience and lots more information about them there.

 

[apopin93]

That's fine and finances are always crucial but I'll just you are precisely making my point. If you do well you'll get much more bang for your buck at a more reputable SMP. At an SMP like USF I think they take maybe 15 of their graduates into the MD school. 15 out like 150. Way more than 15 people did really well in the program. And the problem is an SMP like USF doesnt have that much recognition so if you arent getting into USF, you are definitely more limited than somebody who does well at an SMP which is more reputable and established. Nothing would be worse than acing an SMP and not getting recognition for it and it not counting for that much.

In general if an SMP either a) gives no data on how their graduates do b) really vague and deliberately misleading data(ie 70% of our grads get into graduate programs or medical schools which includes plenty of caribbean and DO schools) that should set off red flags.

Yeah that makes sense. I had a lot of red flags go up when they made those vague claims about their graduates. I know the online class has over 250 students so I wasn't considering that. I think the in-class one has significantly less students so I think it would give me a much better chance too. I really don't have any objections to going to USF MD so that doesn't bother me too much. I'm definitely gonna be applying broadly so hopefully I get into one of the more reputable ones. I really was hoping that someonewho had first hand experience at the Florida SMP programs could tell me their experience

 

[apopin93]

I would retake the sciences you didn't do well in & try the DO route.

Yeah I know that's the most realistic option, but I really wanted to go to MD so if thats still an option then that would be better

 

[GrapesofRath]

Yeah that makes sense. I had a lot of red flags go up when they made those vague claims about their graduates. I know the online class has over 250 students so I wasn't considering that. I think the in-class one has significantly less students so I think it would give me a much better chance too. I really don't have any objections to going to USF MD so that doesn't bother me too much. I'm definitely gonna be applying broadly so hopefully I get into one of the more reputable ones. I really was hoping that someonewho had first hand experience at the Florida SMP programs could tell me their experience

The linkage to the other program is still really rather low. There are just a number of other programs with better unofficial linkage and who get far more of their grads into US MD schools.

I can almost guarantee you you will find what you are looking for if you look through the post-bacc forum. Search function is your best friend.

In fact this can get you started.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/usf-msms-2015-application-thread.1114637/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/usf-ims-2014-2015.1033535/

 

[apopin93]

The linkage to the other program is still really rather low. There are just a number of other programs with better unofficial linkage and who get far more of their grads into US MD schools.

I can almost guarantee you you will find what you are looking for ie posts from people who have done USFs SMP and their thoughts if you spend enough time looking through it here. They maybe posts from 2-3 years ago, but they are still very valid.


http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forums/postbaccalaureate-programs.71/page-2

Yeah I read through at least 5 different posts. Most of them centered around the USF program; however, they were all regarding the online MSMS program there. They were old so the in-class option may have not been an option (I think it should have been), but I saw no mention of the in-person one. That was mainly the reason I decided to post this thread since I could not find any mention of that.

 

[deleted446889]

May I ask why you're against going the DO route, which kinda clearly looks like your best shot at becoming a doctor? It seems like your sgpa is your only weakness. SMP is kinda like a Hail Mary when you're just a good drive away from getting in the end zone and winning.

There's no question MD is preferable, but beggars can't be choosers

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Did you decide to go the DO route then since you decided against the SMP?

I decided SMP would only be worth it if I tried the cycle and was unsuccessful at both MD and DO. SMPs are a huge risk and I wasn't ready to bet the farm when I didn't have a strong reason to believe I'd beat out the majority of my peers.

Also, while usf doesn't have a huge linkage to their own program, they do feed many students into other Florida schools. Of my interviews at UM, USF, FIU, Fau, and lecomB, there were always 2+ people who'd done the usf in class SMP. One of the issues you can run into if you go to an SMP out of state is you may lose your Florida residency, severely hindering your chances at the Florida schools.

If you do go out of state, one I'd suggest is tulanes SMP. You can gain Louisiana residency while there and be eligible for their state schools + Tulane. Something like 80% of people who complete that SMP successfully matriculate into MD schools.

I ended up getting accepted to some MD Programs, so DO was never necessary (see my MDapps to the left). You seem like the perfect candidate for SMPs in general, but I would suggest you call them to be sure they'll accept you with a <3.0 science gpa. Best of luck and let me know if you have any other questions!

*as an aside, are classes taken during SMP counted into gpa/sgpa? I assumed they were but was never totally sure*

 

[apopin93]

May I ask why you're against going the DO route, which kinda clearly looks like your best shot at becoming a doctor? It seems like your sgpa is your only weakness. SMP is kinda like a Hail Mary when you're just a good drive away from getting in the end zone and winning.

There's no question MD is preferable, but beggars can't be choosers

My personal pride aside, from what I've read (on this site) DO graduates are generally less competitive than MD applicants when applying to residencies. It seems that they are really left with being in primary care. This is the next 2-3 years of my life vs. the next 40+ so I'd rather spend the time and energy now if that makes sense.

 

[intangible]

It's only a matter of time before FIU gets an SMP, now that their med school is more established. You might want to consider being part of their first class—a new school + a new SMP program = linkage.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

It's only a matter of time before FIU gets an SMP, now that their med school is more established. You might want to consider being part of their first class—a new school + a new SMP program = linkage.

I'm very familiar with FIU, and they have not indicated any intention of starting an SMP program any time soon.

Nova will be opening an MD school in Miami for the 2017 cycle I believe. That would be a good place to look into. One of the better Do schools in the country, so they already have an established network of clinical sites a relatively good name recognition compared to other newly founded schools.

Also, not all DO schools are created equal. If you go to a DO school like ACOM, Ga-PCOM, or LMU, yea theyre probably cranking out mostly primary care docs. But many of the more established DO schools produce high quality graduates that go into competitive fields and rival many MD schools. CCOM, AZCOM, and Nova (and many others) are all schools that produce respected grads who regularly specialize in all sorts of competitive fields like rads and surgical subspecialties.

 

[apopin93]

It's only a matter of time before FIU gets an SMP, now that their med school is more established. You might want to consider being part of their first class—a new school + a new SMP program = linkage.

Yeah that's definitely a viable option for sure. I just want to make sure I don't waste any extra time that wouldn't really help me later though.

 

[intangible]

I'm very familiar with FIU, and they have not indicated any intention of starting an SMP program any time soon.

Nova will be opening an MD school in Miami for the 2017 cycle I believe. That would be a good place to look into. One of the better Do schools in the country, so they already have an established network of clinical sites a relatively good name recognition compared to other newly founded schools.

Also, not all DO schools are created equal. If you go to a DO school like ACOM, Ga-PCOM, or LMU, yea theyre probably cranking out mostly primary care docs. But many of the more established DO schools produce high quality graduates that go into competitive fields and rival many MD schools. CCOM, AZCOM, and Nova (and many others) are all schools that produce respected grads who regularly specialize in all sorts of competitive fields like rads and surgical subspecialties.

You don't know 'em like I do. Trust.

NSU is definitely a good place to look into, too.