Hi everyone! Current MABS student here! I just wanted to offer my own anecdotal experience with the MABS program: Honestly? Its been Overwhelmingly Positive. YES this program is hard. YES it can understandably feel overwhelming at times. But for what its worth, if I had been straight Accepted from the last year’s application cycle’s waitlist into VCOM instead of being Accepted this year from the in-person MABS program: I would have 100% felt more unprepared for my first year of med school than anticipated from having NOT gone through this program first, and would have more than likely have flunked out by now. While the MABS program teaches you at a FAR higher level than Undergraduate classes (as to be expected from a Master’s Program offering a potential for Guaranteed Acceptance), the program will definitely prepare you immensely for Block 1 by teaching you the same subjects taught by the SAME VCOM professors themselves to the OMS-1 students at the VCOM campus. While yes, the argument can be made that we in the MABS program have to meet that high benchmark GPA while the VCOM students do not necessarily, (“C = MD/ DO” as some say), It is definitely NOT Impossible for us. The rigors of this program taught me that I COULD NOT study & procrastinate like I had in Undergrad to fly by and that I needed to be flexible with changing/learning new study habits if something wasn’t feasibly “clicking”. I learned to be accountable for my actions and Inactions. I found reliable friends to struggle together with. And yet, we’re still making it. Again, anecdotal, but I for one had a 4.0 in the Fall Semester and am STILL maintaining a tentative 4.0 this Spring Semester.
The professors for the most part are great and friendly, but all of them definitely WANT you to succeed. All of them are more than willing to even provide you their own constructed study guides/lecture notes/practice mock questions/ exam reviews and other resources to help you prepare for their exams. This, along with openly communicating with the professors, gives you an idea of exactly what key things they’re expecting you to take away from their lectures and their thought processes to their exam questions. This program is definitely tough, especially this Spring semester where the subject material is for sure DENSE and challenging: But again, it is NOT impossible.
I will however STRONGLY advise you to have that MCAT benchmark already in the bag. The higher you have that MCAT score BEFORE this program, the better. The professors and program lectures will only test you on subjects from Block 1 classes hence: There is only Some MCAT material overlap at best, and you will have to study and prepare for the MCAT on your own time. I am personally thankful for being fortunate enough to hit that bare minimum MCAT score of 496, but quite a few of the people struggling in this program seem to be individuals who are unfortunate enough to be trying to study for this program AS WELL AS simultaneously trying to study for the MCAT. This program is tough. And you WILL have an especially rough time trying to juggle both if that MCAT benchmark is not there already.
But anyways: I apologize for the long post and congratulations to anyone who has made it this far. I hope my personal experience provides you all another perspective. That while the program is definitely tough, it is definitely not all doom and gloom. And I am not the only odd exception. Regardless, I sincerely feel that I and everyone else through this program will in the end all become better prepared Doctors from this. You are all more capable than you know. Hope this helps and good luck to you all!
