So we don't need to submit a personal statement and letters of recommendation to apply to this program? Is the admissions just going to evaluate applicants based on GPA and the MCAT?
So we don't need to submit a personal statement and letters of recommendation to apply to this program? Is the admissions just going to evaluate applicants based on GPA and the MCAT?
I am debating between taking Embryology or Biochemistry this spring. Any advice appreciated. Which is more time consuming?
Biochem at MC is cake but only if you do the work. About 3 hours per day of outside study. Embryo is super difficult and tricky. Dunigan isn't the best professor and her tests will often times leave you scraching your head wondering why you bothered to study at all. Requires at least 6 hours per day of outside study.I am debating between taking Embryology or Biochemistry this spring. Any advice appreciated. Which is more time consuming?
I've heard they are both time consuming but from the professors perspective, Dunigan is harder. I can attest to that from the difference between Reiken and Dunigan for Histology. I kind of hate the students in Reiken this semester for how easy they had it.
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Biochem at MC is cake but only if you do the work. About 3 hours per day of outside study. Embryo is super difficult and tricky. Dunigan isn't the best professor and her tests will often times leave you scraching your head wondering why you bothered to study at all. Requires at least 6 hours per day of outside study.
I can not agree with you more. There were so many of us in Dunigans class that went from an A to a C working our butts off while Reiken's class had nothing difficult and were commonly shown slides that were shown in class. Reiken had well over 18 As. It just goes to show that if your professor expects that you learn a year long medical school course in 3 months your performance is going to suffer.
Do what you can to avoid/minimize Dunigan and Baldwin classes.
I had a huge rant lined up but decided against it. Quite honestly, the class distribution of the grading scale for the two histology classes was unfair and should be addressed in the future; if there should ever be a difference in professors in separate classes again.
Afternoon Im Jada an in-coming MC student for the spring. I am currently enrolled in med phys, endo/g.i. phys and immuno, is this a doable schedule?
My second question is concerning pharm I and pharm II over the summer are the courses intense? I will be taking my Kaplan prep course over the summer and will only be enrolled in these two courses.
You seem to really know your stuff WorldChanger and I have a few questions to ask someone that is already in the program. I've read through the majority of this thread and just wanted to verify some things and get your opinion on my specific situation.
I'm graduating in spring with my BS from LSU. I have a 3.26 cGPA and a sGPA very similar. I have taken the MCAT twice and planning to take it again. Would you suggest going to MC or Tulane for the master's program? I'm planning on applying to LSU-Shreveport and LSU-NO (and probably Tulane as well). I'm a Louisiana resident so I understand the advantage that gives me as far as in state schools are concerned. Considering I do well at either (3.6-4.0), what chances do I have at medical school? I'm sorry if my post has been covered tirelessly, but I've only recently heard of these master's programs and what they can do for a low UG GPA.
Thanks in advance!
My microbial genetics professor at LSU, who is on the pre-med committee, kept telling me that Kennedy (I didn't realize until afterwards who he was talking about) really recommended the MC program. The only thing keeping me out of MC would be my low MCAT (22) so my priority this semester is to raise it up to 27-28.
You seem to really know your stuff WorldChanger and I have a few questions to ask someone that is already in the program. I've read through the majority of this thread and just wanted to verify some things and get your opinion on my specific situation.
I'm graduating in spring with my BS from LSU. I have a 3.26 cGPA and a sGPA very similar. I have taken the MCAT twice and planning to take it again. Would you suggest going to MC or Tulane for the master's program? I'm planning on applying to LSU-Shreveport and LSU-NO (and probably Tulane as well). I'm a Louisiana resident so I understand the advantage that gives me as far as in state schools are concerned. Considering I do well at either (3.6-4.0), what chances do I have at medical school? I'm sorry if my post has been covered tirelessly, but I've only recently heard of these master's programs and what they can do for a low UG GPA.
Thanks in advance!
Yeah, Kennedy is the one who I was talking about. MC would accept you even with the 22 MCAT most likely. I would NOT take the MCAT to score a 27-28. If you need better studying habits, enter this program and then take the MCAT. If you can survive and get A's at MC, you will have a solid foundation of studying abilities for the MCAT later; plus many of the biological science topics will be discussed throughout the courses which will help you. Many students say they don't even study the bio section and score high because of histology/cell phys/med phys breezes them through it.
If you want to get a better picture of where you stand, call Dr. Baldwin, he is a great guy and will give you a realistic picture.
Afternoon… I'm Jada an in-coming MC student for the spring. I am currently enrolled in med phys, endo/g.i. phys and immuno, is this a doable schedule?
My second question is concerning pharm I and pharm II over the summer are the courses intense? I will be taking my Kaplan prep course over the summer and will only be enrolled in these two courses.
You need a better MCAT score if MC is your goal. Going from a 22 to 21 is going to set off Baldwin's care o meter and he will advise you not to do the program. Get that mcat fixed before thinking about post baccs.I appreciate ya'll taking the time to answer my questions so I will be as thorough about everything as I can...
A few minutes ago I received an email stating that I was in fact graduating this Friday with my BS. The online degree audits are wrong and a lot of people were confused about whether they had actually completed everything. So, I called, and my college verified that I had completed everything. Huge relief!
I took the MCAT the first time and scored a 22, waited a few months and actually got a lower score, a 21. I know that I can do better, just have to make a change in the way I study for it and guarantee me a spot at MC next fall. I'm planning on taking it in April and it's a priority for this upcoming semester.
Even though I'm graduating this semester, I'm taking some post-bacc courses at LSU. I plan on taking 2 upper level bios and am starting a job as a scribe to get some patient exposure. I also am planning on doing some volunteering at a local nursing home.
So I guess what I'm asking is, what do I need to do to get into MC? I know that if I can get in over there, surround myself with people that have the same goals as me and can just focus on school, I can prove I have the mettle for medical school.
Your thinking is backwards here. MCAT is changing in 2015 so this program will go from some what helpful to no help at all then. You dont want to be in an smp with MCAT looming in front of you. When would you study for it? Would you apply to med schools late? How do you know you are ready for an insane amount of work that MC will put out? You see people get this backwards all the time. MCAT needs to be its own study catagory. People have to get use to its passage style of information. MC can not do this for you as MC is a rote memorization program. Also MC people are horrible with mcat score exaggeration. But hey you guys dont have to take my word for it get an msar and look at the average mcat scores for ummc you will notice a low 30 median score. This is where most of the mc people go to medical school. Another really popular spot is willam carry and the mcat average is not to hot there either.
If you want to do well on the mcat guys and gals there is one way to do that block out 3 to 4 months go to the mcat section on sdn and find either a prep course or sn2ed study plan and get it done.
I appreciate ya'll taking the time to answer my questions so I will be as thorough about everything as I can...
A few minutes ago I received an email stating that I was in fact graduating this Friday with my BS. The online degree audits are wrong and a lot of people were confused about whether they had actually completed everything. So, I called, and my college verified that I had completed everything. Huge relief!
I took the MCAT the first time and scored a 22, waited a few months and actually got a lower score, a 21. I know that I can do better, just have to make a change in the way I study for it and guarantee me a spot at MC next fall. I'm planning on taking it in April and it's a priority for this upcoming semester.
Even though I'm graduating this semester, I'm taking some post-bacc courses at LSU. I plan on taking 2 upper level bios and am starting a job as a scribe to get some patient exposure. I also am planning on doing some volunteering at a local nursing home.
So I guess what I'm asking is, what do I need to do to get into MC? I know that if I can get in over there, surround myself with people that have the same goals as me and can just focus on school, I can prove I have the mettle for medical school.
I think I mentioned this before but your situation is vastly different than most people. Most take a gap-year and finishing this program in 1.5 years. That's plenty of time to fit in 3-4 months over the summer. If you start in the spring, then you have a whole spring semester to fit in the MCAT if you finish the program in 1 year. Also, many people already have an MCAT score upon entering MC, they apply with their current score and re-do it over the summer. MCAT consists of three sections, ask anyone around and majority will say bio is their highest score and MC classes helped them with it. Most people lack verbal out of any section in this program, which is the norm.
I'm assuming people realize how much work SMPs are and giving them the benefit of the doubt. Hence, why I prefaced with "if they do well in classes". Honestly, studying MCAT the first round did squat for me because I didn't know how to study before this program. I got a 3.95 in upper-level science courses my last two years in undergrad and still had no clue how to really study. After this semester, I feel like I could study any material in the world and do amazing in it because I KNOW how to study.
If you are capable of getting a 32+ score in MCAT beforehand, I would absolutely do it. I thought I did have the capability but I ended up a little short. I (like many others) didn't have the capacity or discipline to do a self-study and hence needed a habit-altering lesson in learning how to study, at least this was the case for me obviously. This is all from personal experience and could vastly differ in what others think.
But in the end, I think entering this program early is better than later for the above poster since he is an LA resident. Assuming he has the capacity to do well in the classes (which, with careful planning and not overloading, I feel anyone can do).
Actually, the first time I took it, I had zero pressure going into it. I was quite pleased with the result and figured I could improve it over the summer. I struggled with studying and come test time, I had a bit of test-day anxiety.
I have obvious weaknesses in my application and my professor urged me not to take the semester off just to study for the MCAT. He advised I get some patient exposure, take a class or two more at LSU, and on top to study for the MCAT. He basically said that if you can do all that, you can prove to an admission board that you can handle a large work load.
I understand your points. I am not so sure I am all that rare of an MCer but I guess when it comes to scores most are a bit under mine. Anyway i think our differing view points are helpful to many others including the LA poster. At least we agree on Histo .... Ha.
Pssh, I would be ecstatic if I were in your shoes lol.
What classes are you taking next semester? Gross or neuro?
First off, I apologize to those of you who have previously responded to my posts and have suggested that I contact Baldwin directly. I will certainly do so after the holidays--
My currently burning question is..
Do people get in with some failing grades? I imagine so since some of you have mentioned that there is quite a wide array of GPAs from people in this program. What I'm trying to get at is do I need to remove a failing/subpar grades on my transcript prior to applying to the program? I only have one semester left in undergrad and I don't want to sign up for a bunch of classes in an attempt to improve the grade just so I can get into MC (because with my track record, I'll end up overloading and creating an even bigger problem for myself). I'd rather not retake any classes, get into MC with the GPAs that I have (BCPM approx. 2.5, cumGPA 3.0), take a few classes in the summer at MC (like an informal post bacc kinda thing) and then start the program in the fall. Is this possible?
Does anyone know where I can find the syllabus for Neuroanatomy and Medical Physiology? I tried MC site can't find them and no response from from Dr. Baldwin.
WorldChanger36 or chayo234 : does anyone take med mycology and DNA forensics during Maymester, together versus only one of them w/ say grad sem? Just trying to plan out spring and summer. Thanks.
Hey, anyone who did well (like As) in Med Phys and Endo while taking them together, could you message me? I'm wanting to see what your study tactics were and what advice you might have...
Hey, anyone who did well (like As) in Med Phys and Endo while taking them together, could you message me? I'm wanting to see what your study tactics were and what advice you might have...
I found a girl that made A's in both at the same time, so we're going to meet up once I get into Clinton.
I found a girl that made A's in both at the same time, so we're going to meet up once I get into Clinton.
Tomorrow I move to Clinton...crazy times! Anybody know when orientation is?
Well I didn't hit that 4.0 but I still did pretty good. Outrageously hard work will get you something. Just keep in mind As up front don't help that final makes your grades here.
Worldchanger36, It appears that you had a slight downward trend in your exam grades (which inhibited you from receiving a 4.0 this semester). What do you feel may have caused this? I am trying to gauge study tactics. Thank you.
Like I tell everyone that asks if you want a 4.0 only take one 5 hour class per semester. Histo, med phys, and gross are extremely accelerated courses compared to medical school. It is a lot of information. Now yes there are some people that did manage to just barely hold it together and land that 4.0 with more then one 5 hour. Now what happened to me. Yes it was all too much and everything piled up and there was nothing I could do. I was studying about 12 to 13 hours per day and still could not get to everything. Everything is cumulative so it just builds up and builds up so eventually I found that if I wanted that 4.0 I had to study 16 to 18 hours per day towards the end. This just wasn't feasible because obviously my 3rd and final exams were much weaker then my first exams. The tutors were also little help. If you want to do well there is only one way, don't think just memorize everything. Every note, diagram, page in every book and lectures your professors talk about. If you are a critical thinker like myself this is difficult and will take a lot of time. Still you will miss things so you will have to re-review multiple times.
The key to success... for every 5 hour class you must study 6 to 8 hours every day while for other classes you must put in at least 3 times the amount of time into study that you put into class. This must be done from day 1 until after the final. There is no other way. Tutors can be helpful at first but towards the end their help becomes worthless. Every tutor's advice is solely based on what they remember from the tests. You can guess why the earlier the materiel the better the tutor is at helping. So go to tutors at first and continue to go but trust their advice very little after the second test. When a tutor tells you X will be on a test but Y won't be DONT believe them. Tests change and materiel is shifted between the different tests. I trusted the tutors advice to make up for the areas of study I just couldn't get to. This hurt me on the final. I should have just continued to memorize everything. All in all I didn't do bad and I am still able to get a strong 3.8 by graduation. Best of luck.
Hey worldchanger, what was your class schedule this past Fall semester?