I have a friend from high school who got into the program at Brown, but she also got into Harvard. For her going to Harvard was worth dealing with the uncertainty of applying to med school. Those programs are so selective that students often have a lot of options.

Anonymous wrote:Advantage...you apply once and 6 years later, you are an MD.
Disadvantage: You are committing to a place for 6 years.

But, most are 7 or 8 years program.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always wonder what the rush is??
Like people who push their kids ahead in school. (Those freaks who start college at 12 or 14?)

Life goes by quickly. We learn as we go along. What is the value-added of accelerating it all?

Agree with you re starting college at 12-14 (lose both social aspects (age inappropriate) and intellectual ones (by not having experience necessary to understand lots of texts/debates)). Shaving a year off college plus med school doesn’t come with those downsides.

LOL. You do you.

- dp

Why the LOL? Someone doesn't agree with you that shaving a year off of higher education is a bad thing, and you feel the need to laugh at them? Rude and idiotic.

I graduated from a selective college at 20. No regrets.

- DP

Which means you were 16-17 as a freshman, not 12-14.

Right.... Which is why I completely agree with the PP who you mocked that there is nothing wrong with shaving a year off.

Anonymous wrote:FYI northwestern no longer has this program. In general, these programs are falling out of favor. Med school are becoming more interested in non-traditional students and feel that these types of programs are at a disadvantage because students are often very young and not as able to handle the emotional components of connecting with patients and getting through the rigors of med school.

Website says they aren’t taking apps this year; doesn’t say they’ve discontinued the program. Do you have a different source of info?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always wonder what the rush is??
Like people who push their kids ahead in school. (Those freaks who start college at 12 or 14?)

Life goes by quickly. We learn as we go along. What is the value-added of accelerating it all?

Agree with you re starting college at 12-14 (lose both social aspects (age inappropriate) and intellectual ones (by not having experience necessary to understand lots of texts/debates)). Shaving a year off college plus med school doesn’t come with those downsides.

LOL. You do you.

- dp

Why the LOL? Someone doesn't agree with you that shaving a year off of higher education is a bad thing, and you feel the need to laugh at them? Rude and idiotic.

I graduated from a selective college at 20. No regrets.

- DP

Which means you were 16-17 as a freshman, not 12-14.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always wonder what the rush is??
Like people who push their kids ahead in school. (Those freaks who start college at 12 or 14?)

Life goes by quickly. We learn as we go along. What is the value-added of accelerating it all?

Agree with you re starting college at 12-14 (lose both social aspects (age inappropriate) and intellectual ones (by not having experience necessary to understand lots of texts/debates)). Shaving a year off college plus med school doesn’t come with those downsides.

LOL. You do you.

- dp

Why the LOL? Can't you disagree more maturely and respectfully?

Anonymous wrote:I always wonder what the rush is??
Like people who push their kids ahead in school. (Those freaks who start college at 12 or 14?)

Life goes by quickly. We learn as we go along. What is the value-added of accelerating it all?

What does starting college early have to do with this?
Most programs aren’t about accelerating. In many ways, they programs should take pressure off the medical school application.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always wonder what the rush is??
Like people who push their kids ahead in school. (Those freaks who start college at 12 or 14?)

Life goes by quickly. We learn as we go along. What is the value-added of accelerating it all?

Agree with you re starting college at 12-14 (lose both social aspects (age inappropriate) and intellectual ones (by not having experience necessary to understand lots of texts/debates)). Shaving a year off college plus med school doesn’t come with those downsides.

LOL. You do you.

- dp

Why the LOL? Someone doesn't agree with you that shaving a year off of higher education is a bad thing, and you feel the need to laugh at them? Rude and idiotic.

I graduated from a selective college at 20. No regrets.

- DP

I know in Europe the BS/MD programs can be accelerated, but I don’t know of any in this country. As another poster mentioned, these programs are very difficult to get accepted into. Remember that many pre meds change their mind as they slog thru the undergrad science courses. My advice would be to compare the costs. Calculate the cheapest route. Med school is expensive and training is long.

They can also make more money without them.

FYI northwestern no longer has this program. In general, these programs are falling out of favor. Med school are becoming more interested in non-traditional students and feel that these types of programs are at a disadvantage because students are often very young and not as able to handle the emotional components of connecting with patients and getting through the rigors of med school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not all programs are accelerated.

Do you know of a good resource that lists out and summarizes the program? My kid may be interested.

I would assume you need to have incredible HS scores to gain admission.

https://blog.prepscholar.com/ba-md-bs-md-programs-list

VCU’s combined BS/MD program attracts the cream of the crop. 5% admit rate.

“Profile of 2020 Applicants
Applications were received from 680 high school seniors for the Fall 2020 entering freshman class. Sixty-four students were selected for an interview. In mid-March, 31 students received an acceptance letter. The average unweighted GPA for accepted candidates was a 3.91, and their SAT scores ranged from 1330 to 1560 (critical reading and math), with an average of 1490. ACT composite scores ranged from 31 to 36 with an average of 34. In addition, accepted candidates had accumulated an average of 450 hours of healthcare-related experience.”

https://honors.vcu.edu/admissions/guaranteed-admission/gmed-app/

For kids who know they want to be a doctor, these programs remove a massive amount of uncertainty and anxiety. The med school application process is relentlessly awful. And if you can shave a year or two off? Even better.

Life is long. And medical degrees are expensive. The quicker and cheaper you can make the credentialing process, the better. But a kid who wants to be a doctor is clear-eyed about the gauntlet they need to go thru to become a doctor in the US.

The cheap tuition at some of the public schools in the linked list is absolutely worth it. The only kids getting MD degrees at Harvard or Columbia are already wealthy.

Anonymous wrote:I always wonder what the rush is??
Like people who push their kids ahead in school. (Those freaks who start college at 12 or 14?)

Life goes by quickly. We learn as we go along. What is the value-added of accelerating it all?

Most BS/MD is not about acceleration.
It is for students who know they want to be doctors and want to apply to college only once.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always wonder what the rush is??
Like people who push their kids ahead in school. (Those freaks who start college at 12 or 14?)

Life goes by quickly. We learn as we go along. What is the value-added of accelerating it all?

Agree with you re starting college at 12-14 (lose both social aspects (age inappropriate) and intellectual ones (by not having experience necessary to understand lots of texts/debates)). Shaving a year off college plus med school doesn’t come with those downsides.

LOL. You do you.

- dp