Thread: Pre-Med at SGU

Hey guys,

How competitive is entrance into the Pre-Med program at St. George's?

T-Jay

hey, the premed program isn't hard to get into at all...I have seen people with a 2.5 gpa...they wll place you in a specific year for the courses you are missing...for example, I was missing organic chem 1,2 and physics 1,2 so they placed me in premed year 2...then I go into premed year 3 and take the PSCME's(equivalent to the MCATS)...you have to pass that test and have a 3.0-3.2 I believe to get into the Med program...so it definetly isn't hard to get into...one thing you have to keep in mind is that there is no financial aid or loans for the premed program..

This is a very good point you brought up about the financial aid. I would advise to do the premed in the states at a community college or state university to save money. Med school will be expensive and going to the states for premed would save you money and give you a chance to get into med school in the states.

Good luck!

What about TERI loans, Sallie Mae private loans? There's gotta be someting!

there is nothing believe me....I tried everything and all I just got yelled at by SGU financial aid everytime I would call them and tell them well teri loans said that they would give me a loan for premed...SGU told me over and over again that these loan people do give loans for the Med program but they dont know that the premed isnt a part of that loan program...so say for instance you call teri loans and you apply for a loan and get accepted ....the loan then gets sent to SGU and then SGU denies it because they dont have anything to do with premed...I asked SGU well what do students do?how do they pay?they told me that 90% of the students have scholarships, the rest pay out of pocket and others get private loans in which you have to start paying immediately...believe me I tried EVERYTHING!!

Wow,

That's kind of odd. In a way I guess that sort of rules me out because I definately couldn't pay out of pocket, nor would I want to get a private loan (not sure I'd have a way of paying it back immediately).

I'm in the same situation as you, ZnS. I am lacking Orgo and Physics and since I'm already in my third year of undergrad (but only first full year of pre-med coursework) I wanted to start at say, Year II of pre-med at SGU and do it right at a GOOD school, since my undergrad GPA is lacking for direct admission due to a bad, bad, BAD sophomore year. There were lots of mitigating circumstances as to why I didn't perform well academically (namely infectious mononucleosis) but I will be honest and say that I certainly did NOT apply myself to the extent that I was capable of, but that was when I was an MIS/compsci major.

Unfortunately, as is the case with most people in my situation, I am feeling the effects of my poor judgment now. I wish I had just started on the pre-med track to begin with and saved myself all these headaches.

Other than my GPA, I know I would be a strong medical student (I have lots of experience/volunteer work under my belt and I am convinced this is the only profession for me), which is why I was wanting to prove myself in the SGU pre-med program.

Unless there is a way financially, it might not work on sheer willpower alone, huh?

Thanks, guys for all the help,

T-Jay

Do you have to go through an interview for Premed? I know that the Med students do.

Are their a lot of first year premed students right out high school there?

Yes Swift you do have to go through an interview for the premed program... I studied so much for that but there was no need to ....there really wasn't ...the guy who interviewed me told me straight out that he is much harder on the med students...for premed its not such a big deal...GPA doesnt matter so much to get in...but once ur in you have to maintain that 3.0-3.2 GPA ..and now for DeansRedHalo...I am sorry to say but I really tried to find any loan possible or anyway to pay because my family really couldnt afford it and my dad was relying on loans...when we really tried to get those loans ,that you can pay back like after u graduate...we found out that they dont do that for premed..its only for med..you can call up SGU financial aid and they will tell u that...i know it really sux...but it came down to where i told my dad lets just get private loans and pay them back like $40 a month or something...with this high interest...but my dad just managed to do this ~~>....he had a limit left on his credit card...so what we did was called his credit card company and told them that we want to do this wire transfer type of thing...that is like where they would sent a check in the amount I want to the bank where SGU has an account with...its very complicated...u have to keep up with everyday and see if the bank got the check from the credit card company because the check goes in the account and SGU would never know it was urs...it could be any students...so its like VERY hectic...its not like ur charging it on ur credit card because SGU said they dont take credit cards for the tuition...so its like a bank wire transfer...but thats the only way we had to pay for me to go...and its a 0% till like 12 months citibank card..and then my dad just gave me the $2500 for my everyday spending which they tell u that u need and $600 cash for books....but i recommend if u come tell everyone that ur going into premed year 2 say and ask them wat books u need and get them used from the states they are VERY expensive here....if u have any ques u can write it here or just PM me...