I have read many posts that a Special Master's Program or post-bacc helps an applicant more than a traditional Master's. How is this so? If an applicant is initially screened for uGPA, how will exceptional grades in a SMP help?
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2012
- Messages
- 5,456
- Reaction score
- 4,226
That's just it, you need to get your uGPA beyond the minimum threshold of the screen (which is usually a 3.0 uGPA). Once your GPA is beyond this point only then can they look at your SMP grades. SMP grades, unlike traditional masters grades, shows that you can handle both medical school classes and a medical school load (YMMV for certain types of SMPs). People do SMPs because they have done so much damage to their uGPA that taking additional course won't do jack squat to reach a competitive uGPA.
Thanks for your quick reply.
So if I am able to complete undergrad with a cGPA = 3.5, sGPA=3.4, and then complete a SMP instead of a Master's in say... Microbiology, the SMP would help my application more?
Do schools screen for their 50th percentile GPA or what?
So if I am able to complete undergrad with a cGPA = 3.5, sGPA=3.4, and then complete a SMP instead of a Master's in say... Microbiology, the SMP would help my application more?
Do schools screen for their 50th percentile GPA or what?
- Joined
- May 5, 2015
- Messages
- 5,266
- Reaction score
- 3,922
Nobody(outside of perhaps a small handful of absolute top tier schools) screens out for a 3.5 GPA.
You don't need an SMP as much as you do a) A strong MCAT score b) Good EC's and an early well written application. Your GPA is above the 10th percentile for many fine schools and within a standard deviation of MD matriculants. It's below average, but with it a good MCAT score you can work with it
The average GPA for even top SMPs is around 3.3/3.15. You are well above that. It'd probably be a less risky route to do DIY post bacc work to try and get your GPA around 3.6/3.5. If you can get your numbers near that, you should have a competitive workable GPA.
If you want to do an SMP go ahead. Yes, if you ace one, it'll help you out a lot. But SMPs are also rather risky in their nature; do you think you have what it takes to beat out 60+% of MS1's on their exams? Because that's what you'll need to do in an SMP really. And these programs are also expensive as hell and the unofficial "linkage" of these programs to their host med school is also declining. In other words, there's a lot of risk. Just to give you an idea check out this forum, in particular page 3-5.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/university-of-toledo-msbs-2015-2016-smp.1114197/
Long story short, the Toledo SMP program historically took about 65% of their grads into Toledo's SMP program. But last year the number dropped down to 20% out of nowhere? Why? Because SMP grads aren't a high priority for many med schools; they are the ones with the lowest UG stats. Hence, you can never predict how a school will treat its SMP grads and shove them to the side. They simply arent the schools priority. Note, this same exact type of thing has happened at other SMP programs such as Eastern Virginia, and Drexel.
Do your research on SMP programs. Study hard for the MCAT. Assess how realistic you think it is that you can out performance many MS1's in their classes who will have better UG GPA's than you and will now be studying way more than they did in UG. The SMP route is a good one for many, but it's also a poor choice for many; a poor choice that will have lots of repercussions.
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2012
- Messages
- 7,691
- Reaction score
- 13,035
Moving to pre-allo
The rule of thumb I've heard is that if you have a cGPA and sGPA over 3.4, then a SMP is probably not for you. If you graduate with these stats, like grapesofrath said, you should really just focus on the MCAT ane EC's. Apply early and broadly, and if you don't get an acceptance then think about applying to an SMP that same year (they typically have a later application cycle). Also, getting waitlists that cycle will open up doors for you in terms of which SMP programs you would be eligible for.
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2010
- Messages
- 72,796
- Reaction score
- 116,020
Agree 100% with this and the posts above. I just want to add that an SMP is an audition for med school. Ace it and you demonstrate that you can handle a med school load. I like to describe them as "back doors to med school" because the SMP Faculty are often the same as those teaching the med students, so you are a known quality.
The downside is that unlike a traditional research MS, you don't get any marketable skills from a SMP, unless the program has some sort of research lab component built in.
The downside is that unlike a traditional research MS, you don't get any marketable skills from a SMP, unless the program has some sort of research lab component built in.
- Joined
- May 21, 2013
- Messages
- 2,125
- Reaction score
- 4,803
Essentially, it is very easy for people to get close to a 4.0 in a regular science masters program. The grades are inflated and the number of credit hours is not intense enough for adcoms to replace the uGPA with. An SMP is an extremely rigorous curriculum. You take close to an MS1 course load, but rather than being pass/fail as it is for most med students, you have the stress of competing for a GPA. The very nature and difficulty of an SMP program allows adcoms to, for the most part, heavily weigh the SMP GPA in the admissions decision.
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2015
- Messages
- 214
- Reaction score
- 84
I would highly disagree with the post above. Here is my situation. I did not think about applying to medical school until after undergrad. I had a 3.8 something and could have easily got an acceptance somewhere. I went to a masters program and got two masters one in physiology and the other in nutrition which I literally just finished. For both of those it cost me way less after scholarship and teaching assistantships. It was by no way inflated. I actually did worse in my science classes (3.7x. GPA as of this last semester) as I took 15 grad hours per semester to finish both masters early and do research. This impressed the heck out of all the med schools and I got interviews to 19 of the 21 I applied to as of today. It all depends on the university, but graduate school is not easy at all of them and does look very good. IMO a SMP takes your money and gives you a certificate you cannot use if you do not get in. On the other hand my two master degrees landed me a sweet community college job making over 35 an hour until I start med school. Either way in the end your hard work and stats will decide if you get in. Go get that acceptance, you can do it.
Congratulations on getting into medical school. However, you were never really in a position where you needed to remediate a poor undergrad gpa. With a 3.8, you had already proven as much as the next person that you can handle medical school. I don't want to sound pessimistic, but one could infer that your graduate degrees were sort of icing on the cake. I'm not taking anything away from your accomplishments, and I am sure that you did have to work hard for your graduate gpa, and that they were difficult and rigorous. I am just stating that someone who didn't use undergrad to demonstrate that they could handle medical school may be in a different situation with respect to the importance of attending a well-known and rigorous post-bac/SMP.
Last edited:
