Anyone's opinion on.....

[ironman20]

I'm a soon-to-be senior in H.S lanning on studying medicine after H.S. I have gotten information on the combined B.S./M.D. programs (in particular the NEOUCOM program). I wanted to ask anyone to give their opinions, experiences, what you like or dislike about these programs, or any other info.

Thanks

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[Mikado]

Don't worry about that stuff now. A kid your age should be out breaking the law.

 

[Mango]

You asked for it: My opinion is that college is the best four(or more) years of your life. Why rush and squeeze it into 2? That, and the fact that every friend of mine that went to NEOUCOM hated it(Ok, so there were only two). They regretted rushing college, and regretted wasting the best years of their lives in a mad rush toward med school. Besides, if you can get into their program, chances are you'll have no problem getting into med school. So don't be swayed by that "you won't have to apply" crap.

That's just my opinion, I could be wrong...

 

[ironman20]

Thanks for the input

 

[dude7]

I think you should go for it. IT gaurantees a spot, and trust me, the fact that I odnt have to take the MCAT is awesome. All my friends are studying like hell or it. So I say go for it, but...2 years of undergrad..that just isnt right. you will never get a chance to drink because chances are you have a test the next day.

 

[calaxer19]

I was offered the same kind of program with UCLA/UCR and turned it down. As Mango said, if your competitive enough to get in, and more importantly, to stay in, you should be capable enough to gain admittance the normal way. That's just the way I feel and I am looking forward to a full 4 years of undergrad.

I've heard these programs can be extremely competitive (ongoing GPA and course requirements, etc.) and only a small fraction of the original students make to the end; it's by no means a free ticket to med school.

 

[fishtolive]

I was considering one of those programs when I was in high school and boy am i happy i didn't get the 1480 on my SAT that my college required for entrance.
As great as it is to be assured a spot in med school, that is not what this is all about. by having no pressure to study for the mcat, i have found that 7 year meds at my school are lazy, barely maintaining the 3.3 they need to stay in the program. your good high school performance entitles you to a break during college? tell me if that makes sense considering the type of field you'll be going into.
personally, i needed to study for the mcats to know i could do well in med school. last semester i was in aedvanced molecular biology and biochem, an independent study, and two gen ed courses, plus TPR hyperlearning (12 hours/week) and my own mcat study group (20 hours/week) and i ended up with greaat numbers on my mcat and gpa...if you're gonna be a med student (and i am not speaking from experience, but as an undergrad who thinks he knows something about this crap) you need to be able to thrive in that kind of situation. in my opinion, a 7 year program takes you out of the loop,.. my friends in the program asked me, "that mcat's pretty hard, huh? yeah, maybe i'll take it to see how i do." are you kidding me? when they get to med school, they'll be in for a rude awakening.