Need Help Deciding on Masters Programs (SMP)

[g.o.a.t]

Hey guys, this is my first post on SDN!

I have applied to several 1-year master's programs in order to have a better shot at med school. I was hoping I would get some advice from other applicants or even previous master's students. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has applied to some of these programs so a detailed reply would be of help to others as well.

These are the programs I am considering:

• [EVMS] Eastern Virginia Medical School - Medical Master's Program
• [CWRU] Case Western Reserve University - MS in Medical Physiology
• [TUSOM] Tulane School of Medicine - MBS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• [BU] Boston University - MS in Medical Sciences
• [BROWN SCM] Brown University School of Medicine - MS in Medical Sciences still waiting to hear back)
• [UCCOM] University of Cincinnati College of Medicine - MS in Physiology (still waiting to hear back)
• [NJMS] Rutgers New Jersey Medical School - Medical Scholars Master's

The end goal is to obviously get into med school (MD or DO) so I'm just trying to figure out which one of these will give me the best chance. Thanks for the help!

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[MedicallyEnthused]

I personally think Cincinnati is the best program. It offers a conditional interview, half the curriculum allows you to take MS1 courses, has some built in research in the curriculum, and has top-notch advising, as well as excellent success rates of their master's students getting into med school.

Then after that I think Boston is a close 2nd.
Boston has amazing advising, has built in research, and an excellent curriculum. Their linkage is "preferential" consideration, where you are put into a separate applicant pool over the general applicant pool, but again they seem to have pretty good success rates from what I could gather. They also have an amazing reputation, as one of the oldest / original SMPs. So other schools will most likely know about them.

After that Rutgers is 3rd in my opinion. There, you have the option to take up to 3 medical school courses, depending on your background in the material, as well as some research built into the curriculum. The downside of Rutgers in my opinion is that their curriculum is so open and designed more for part time study (a lot of the courses are once a week in the evenings and some are online). Not too sure about their advising though, but it seems decent. They also offer a conditional interview, but you would need a higher MCAT to meet the requirement. They still tend to interview plenty of students that do not strictly meet the requirement.

As for the other programs, in your list, they are still good programs, but I would consider them lesser than what I mentioned above.
I can give reasons for each, but that would take too long. Keep in mind this is all my opinion, and others may think differently.
The only one I am unfamiliar with is Brown though.

For me personally, from your list, I got accepted to Rutgers and Boston, and have decided to go with Boston.

I think it may be more than just the reasons listed above, but look at also cost and location. Look at the school you think you will thrive at the best.
No matter where you go, you want to make sure to excel in the coursework and being happiest with the program you choose can greatly impact your performance.

I think the best thing to do to help you make your decision is to make a pros and cons list and see if that helps narrow down your decision.
But again, if I got accepted to Cincinnati, I would take that offer in a heart beat (sadly I got rejected).

Hopefully this helps, good luck!

 

[drillteam]

FWIW. EVMS SMP classes are with 1st year medical students Almost half go to EVMS the year after finishing the program. Over 80% end up in medical school somewhere

 

[drillteam]

FWIW. EVMS SMP classes are with 1st year medical students Almost half go to EVMS the year after finishing the program. Over 80% end up in medical school somewhere in the US

 

[drillteam]

To clarify: over 80% end up in US medical school

 

[MedicallyEnthused]

This is true with the vast majority of SMPs for people who perform well. EVMS is not unique in this regard.

 

[drillteam]

This is true with the vast majority of SMPs for people who perform well. EVMS is not unique in this regard.

Completely agree. All of the listed programs can get you into medical school if you do well

 

[g.o.a.t]

I personally think Cincinnati is the best program. It offers a conditional interview, half the curriculum allows you to take MS1 courses, has some built in research in the curriculum, and has top-notch advising, as well as excellent success rates of their master's students getting into med school.

Then after that I think Boston is a close 2nd.
Boston has amazing advising, has built in research, and an excellent curriculum. Their linkage is "preferential" consideration, where you are put into a separate applicant pool over the general applicant pool, but again they seem to have pretty good success rates from what I could gather. They also have an amazing reputation, as one of the oldest / original SMPs. So other schools will most likely know about them.

After that Rutgers is 3rd in my opinion. There, you have the option to take up to 3 medical school courses, depending on your background in the material, as well as some research built into the curriculum. The downside of Rutgers in my opinion is that their curriculum is so open and designed more for part time study (a lot of the courses are once a week in the evenings and some are online). Not too sure about their advising though, but it seems decent. They also offer a conditional interview, but you would need a higher MCAT to meet the requirement. They still tend to interview plenty of students that do not strictly meet the requirement.

As for the other programs, in your list, they are still good programs, but I would consider them lesser than what I mentioned above.
I can give reasons for each, but that would take too long. Keep in mind this is all my opinion, and others may think differently.
The only one I am unfamiliar with is Brown though.

For me personally, from your list, I got accepted to Rutgers and Boston, and have decided to go with Boston.

I think it may be more than just the reasons listed above, but look at also cost and location. Look at the school you think you will thrive at the best.
No matter where you go, you want to make sure to excel in the coursework and being happiest with the program you choose can greatly impact your performance.

I think the best thing to do to help you make your decision is to make a pros and cons list and see if that helps narrow down your decision.
But again, if I got accepted to Cincinnati, I would take that offer in a heart beat (sadly I got rejected).

Hopefully this helps, good luck!

Hey! Thank you for the thorough reply and huge congrats on the acceptances!

Right now I’m personally split between EVMS and Tulane. Both programs have roughly the same post-masters med school matriculation rate (around 80-90%). However that percentage includes matriculation into ANY med school that same cycle, 1, or even 2 cycles after the program.

With EVMS, roughly 25-30 out of the 60 masters students get into EVMS med school that SAME year. Also EVMS is an MD school so I think this would be my best shot at MD without really worrying about having to retake the MCAT. I talked to a previous masters student who matriculated into the med school and he said he literally just slept, ate, and studied to get a 3.83 masters gpa. After chatting with the program director I was told I would need around a 3.9 masters gpa to have a good chance of matriculating into their med school. Also the masters students take classes alongside the med students.

With Tulane, the 6-8 out of the 20-25 students get into Tulane med school when applying in the cycle AFTER the masters year. Tulane med seems to have more name recognition than EVMS. I talked to a previous Tulane masters student and she told me a lot of good things. Apparently the faculty really wants you to do well in the program so they offer lots of help and even give extra credit in a few classes. She said that most of the courses are pretty straightforward and that getting a 3.9 or 4.0 gpa is very feasible. She apparently got a 3.9+ gpa while doing research on the side. Masters students don’t take the med school classes with the med students but they are taught by the same faculty. To me it seems like this masters program isn’t as rigorous as EVMS or Boston so more potential to get a good gpa I guess? Only issue I see is that I don’t know how well this program will prepare me for the actual rigor of med school.

Still waiting to hear back from Brown and Cincinnati.

Struggling to make a decision but hopefully talking with others and my family will give me some clarity.

Best of luck this coming fall!

 

[MedicallyEnthused]

Hey! Thank you for the thorough reply and huge congrats on the acceptances!

Right now I’m personally split between EVMS and Tulane. Both programs have roughly the same post-masters med school matriculation rate (around 80-90%). However that percentage includes matriculation into ANY med school that same cycle, 1, or even 2 cycles after the program.

With EVMS, roughly 25-30 out of the 60 masters students get into EVMS med school that SAME year. Also EVMS is an MD school so I think this would be my best shot at MD without really worrying about having to retake the MCAT. I talked to a previous masters student who matriculated into the med school and he said he literally just slept, ate, and studied to get a 3.83 masters gpa. After chatting with the program director I was told that since my MCAT is a 504, I would need around a 3.9 masters gpa to have a good chance of matriculating into their med school. Also the masters students take classes alongside the med students.

With Tulane, the 6-8 out of the 20-25 students get into Tulane med school when applying in the cycle AFTER the masters year. Tulane med seems to have more name recognition than EVMS. I talked to a previous Tulane masters student and she told me a lot of good things. Apparently the faculty really wants you to do well in the program so they offer lots of help and even give extra credit in a few classes. She said that most of the courses are pretty straightforward and that getting a 3.9 or 4.0 gpa is very feasible. She apparently got a 3.9+ gpa while doing research on the side. Masters students don’t take the med school classes with the med students but they are taught by the same faculty. To me it seems like this masters program isn’t as rigorous as EVMS or Boston so more potential to get a good gpa I guess? Only issue I see is that I don’t know how well this program will prepare me for the actual rigor of med school. Also the program director said that I would need to get a 509+ mcat to have a good chance of getting into their med school after the masters.

Still waiting to hear back from Brown and Cincinnati.

Struggling to make a decision but hopefully talking with others and my family will give me some clarity.

Best of luck this coming fall!

Thank you! I'm very excited to start at Boston!

But for you, I would personally go with Tulane over EVMS.

Although EVMS also has good rates for matriculation, I have heard their master's students not getting interviewed as much as previous years and false promises by the school.
I also think a smaller class size is to your advantage, which Tulane has over EVMS. And I wouldn't sweat the rigor too much, as all SMPs are considered rigorous; it is just EVMS may be slightly more rigorous, which isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things as long as you perform well.

I also think, regardless of which school you go to (if you want to matriculate into said school), you probably need an MCAT in the range of 508+

A good way to help with your decision is check out the threads for each school's SMP on SDN (or posts on reddit) and see if past students posted at all.

 

[g.o.a.t]

Thank you! I'm very excited to start at Boston!

But for you, I would personally go with Tulane over EVMS.

Although EVMS also has good rates for matriculation, I have heard their master's students not getting interviewed as much as previous years and false promises by the school.
I also think a smaller class size is to your advantage, which Tulane has over EVMS. And I wouldn't sweat the rigor too much, as all SMPs are considered rigorous; it is just EVMS may be slightly more rigorous, which isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things as long as you perform well.

I also think, regardless of which school you go to (if you want to matriculate into said school), you probably need an MCAT in the range of 508+

A good way to help with your decision is check out the threads for each school's SMP on SDN (or posts on reddit) and see if past students posted at all.

Thank you so much for your feedback MedicallyEnthused!! This was my first post here and I was totally unsure of what kind of response I was going to get. I’m so happy to get such positive and helpful replies from you and drillteam!

I had the same kind of ideas running through my head in regards to Tulane so I am definitely leaning towards them. Gonna do a bit more research and pondering before I finalize my decision.

Hopefully we both survive this inevitably stressful academic year. Good luck out there!

 

[premed_wa]

I personally think Cincinnati is the best program. It offers a conditional interview, half the curriculum allows you to take MS1 courses, has some built in research in the curriculum, and has top-notch advising, as well as excellent success rates of their master's students getting into med school.

Then after that I think Boston is a close 2nd.
Boston has amazing advising, has built in research, and an excellent curriculum. Their linkage is "preferential" consideration, where you are put into a separate applicant pool over the general applicant pool, but again they seem to have pretty good success rates from what I could gather. They also have an amazing reputation, as one of the oldest / original SMPs. So other schools will most likely know about them.

After that Rutgers is 3rd in my opinion. There, you have the option to take up to 3 medical school courses, depending on your background in the material, as well as some research built into the curriculum. The downside of Rutgers in my opinion is that their curriculum is so open and designed more for part time study (a lot of the courses are once a week in the evenings and some are online). Not too sure about their advising though, but it seems decent. They also offer a conditional interview, but you would need a higher MCAT to meet the requirement. They still tend to interview plenty of students that do not strictly meet the requirement.

As for the other programs, in your list, they are still good programs, but I would consider them lesser than what I mentioned above.
I can give reasons for each, but that would take too long. Keep in mind this is all my opinion, and others may think differently.
The only one I am unfamiliar with is Brown though.

For me personally, from your list, I got accepted to Rutgers and Boston, and have decided to go with Boston.

I think it may be more than just the reasons listed above, but look at also cost and location. Look at the school you think you will thrive at the best.
No matter where you go, you want to make sure to excel in the coursework and being happiest with the program you choose can greatly impact your performance.

I think the best thing to do to help you make your decision is to make a pros and cons list and see if that helps narrow down your decision.
But again, if I got accepted to Cincinnati, I would take that offer in a heart beat (sadly I got rejected).

Hopefully this helps, good luck!

Hope you don't mind me bringing this up 3 months later, but do you know if any of the aforementioned SMP programs have a strong linkage opportunity / conditional invite or acceptance the same year that you'd complete your Master's, or would you have to undergo a gap year and apply the following cycle after graduation

Thanks

 

[Dorsey DO]

Is it too late to join a master's program this Fall that has linkage/interview guarantee? I ask because I'm in the med. school cycle right now, and two post-interview rejections said the same thing: Do a structured SMP. I don't want to waste yet another year, so does anybody know of some program that can help me save a year?

 

[_med21_e]

Is it too late to join a master's program this Fall that has linkage/interview guarantee? I ask because I'm in the med. school cycle right now, and two post-interview rejections said the same thing: Do a structured SMP. I don't want to waste yet another year, so does anybody know of some program that can help me save a year?

PCOM or LECOM or Touro are honestly your best bet.

 

[MedicallyEnthused]

Hope you don't mind me bringing this up 3 months later, but do you know if any of the aforementioned SMP programs have a strong linkage opportunity / conditional invite or acceptance the same year that you'd complete your Master's, or would you have to undergo a gap year and apply the following cycle after graduation

Thanks

In general, this is really only the case for strong applicants who apply summer before starting an SMP.
In other words, it would really only be meant for people who could get into med school without an SMP.

In regard to linkages, it is usually based on how you perform in your SMP, so these are only for after you complete the SMP, to apply the summer after your 1st year (or completion) of an SMP. That being said you can still attain interviews at your program by applying before the start, but this is usually on your own merits, and not through any linkage agreements.

The point of an SMP is to show to med schools you can handle the rigor, so applying before you have any SMP grades on your transcript is kind of pointless.
And if you are competitive enough to do so, you are wasting your time and money by doing an SMP in the first place.

That being said there are a few schools that will wait until fall grades, and possibly spring as well to make any kind of decisions on you, but these are kind of rare. The best examples of schools that do this usually offer conditional acceptances to go straight from your SMP --> med school (for 1 year programs).
The only ones I can think of on the top of my head are Temple and Drexel, but I'm sure that there are others out there as well.

 

[MedicallyEnthused]

Is it too late to join a master's program this Fall that has linkage/interview guarantee? I ask because I'm in the med. school cycle right now, and two post-interview rejections said the same thing: Do a structured SMP. I don't want to waste yet another year, so does anybody know of some program that can help me save a year?

Most SMPs start in August or September, but there are a few that have Spring start which are your best bet. You are just going to have to do the research and find what school if any allow for this.

If it were me, I would just try to have faith in the application cycle and wait to see if you REALLY need an SMP until the spring.
The only reason for an SMP is if you have a poor gpa, and doing more undergrad isn't enough.
Feel free to PM and and I can let you know if I think you need one or not. Also keep in mind, where and to how many schools you apply to can make a world of difference sometimes.

 

[Abraxas65]

Thank you so much for your feedback MedicallyEnthused!! This was my first post here and I was totally unsure of what kind of response I was going to get. I’m so happy to get such positive and helpful replies from you and drillteam!

I had the same kind of ideas running through my head in regards to Tulane so I am definitely leaning towards them. Gonna do a bit more research and pondering before I finalize my decision.

Hopefully we both survive this inevitably stressful academic year. Good luck out there!

Former EVMS med masters student and EVMS medical student and I highly recommend the program. I attribute getting into medical school entirely to the med master program. One of the nice perks at EVMS is if you do the med master program and get above a grade above a certain cut off (believe it was 92% my year) in a core medical school class (ie micro, GI, MSK, etc) then if you get accepted you dont have to retake that course you just get a straight honors and they give you the opportunity to either spend that time doing research or TA (and getting a small amount of $$$ for doing so).

From what I remember when I was looking at SMP all of your programs are well thought of with proven histories so in the end you should make the decision on where you think you will excel the most. SMPs are kind of a last shot kind of chance in my opinion. Doing poorly in one (say <3.0) makes it near impossible to get into a US based MD/DO program from what I remember.

In the end hope you got into the SMP you wanted to the most and good luck going forward this year.

 

[M3_SixSpeed]

Former med master here (graduated 2021) Abraxas basically covered it but if you have any questions feel free to post it on here or reach out to me.