Learn the New Bells and Whistles

To my pleasant surprise, the words fly effortlessly out of the mouths of my rising seniors. They want “accelerated,” “combined,” “direct entry” and “3-2.” More focused on the future than any group of teens I have worked with over the last two decades, many of today’s independent school students are ready to start their careers and are looking for programs that will allow them to speed up the process.

Certainly this mindset is a reflection of larger economic trends. With the cost of undergraduate education skyrocketing, students and parents are looking for greater assurance that college graduation will be followed by seamless entry into the work world.

More importantly, colleges and universities are quite aware of this trend and are developing new and varied program options for future physicians, lawyers, and engineers.

Combined BA/MD programs: the next generation of doogie howser MDs

The traditional path to becoming a physician starts with four years of undergraduate education at an accredited university. Typically, students take the MCAT exam at the end of their junior year, followed by four years at an accredited medical school. Students are then required to pass the USMLE 1, usually taken after the second year, and USMLE 2, usually taken in the fourth year. Finally, medical students are required to take a clinical assessment test! Quite the process, with lots of testing hurdles along the way.

Combined programs allow students to matriculate into medical school directly from an undergraduate program. Some of these programs allow students to complete their studies in six years; others offer admitted high school applicants guaranteed admission into their medical school.

For example, the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) recently established the Medical Scholars Program, which allows students admitted into the university to apply concurrently to the UCSD School of Medicine. “Med Scholar” students are then integrated into the medical school and given the opportunity to attend special lectures and classes—as well as participating in research with medical school faculty. More importantly, students admitted to this program are not required to take the MCAT as part of the subsequent medical school admission process!

Before applying to a combined program, a student should really explore the field. Specifically, volunteer work at a hospital once a week is expected. Furthermore, by junior year of high school applicants should have arranged internships and/or shadowed local doctors. Quite frankly, most combined medicine programs will no consider an applicant if they have not done any interning, and hopefully, some research. It is important to have these experiences to show the admission committee that the student is fully committed to the profession.

And, as expected, most combined medicine programs are looking for an outstanding academic track record in high school, with outstanding standardized exam test scores. I make a point of requiring my students to take subject tests in chemistry and biology.

Finally, students must research and understand the difference between the six-, seven-, and eight-year programs. To explain, the six- and seven- year programs are quite intense and require a tremendous commitment to the profession. In the eight-year programs students are given much more flexibility, and they have the ability to double-major and take electives courses. A thorough listing of combined programs can be found at http://www.medicalhelpnet.com.

“3-2” programs: for the patent lawyer in all of us!

I work in Silicon Valley, and all too often I hear stories about high-tech companies wishing their engineers could communicate more effectively with customers and co-workers. Moreover, while the region is blessed with some of the best law schools in the country, far too many lawyers lack the technical know-how needed to keep up with the advances made each year.

Perhaps in recognition of this gap, I am dealing with more and more high school students who are looking at “3-2” engineering programs. To explain, 3-2 programs allow students to attend a liberal arts college for three years and obtain a bachelor’s degree in a major such as physics or chemistry. The student transfers after three years to an engineering school, such as Washington University in St. Louis, for an additional two years to earn a bachelor’s degree in engineering.

I wondered how successful these programs were, so I contacted the 3-2 coordinators at Washington University and Columbia University—these two universities happen to be popular 3-2 destinations for liberal arts/engineering students. The 3-2 coordinators at both schools raved about the programs, and about the caliber of the liberal arts students who participate.

The Columbia coordinator called 3-2 programs a “hidden jewel” and her peer at Washington University said that if he had to do it over, he would get his engineering degree through a 3-2 program.

Because the liberal arts students take their prerequisites, including four semesters of mathematics, in small classroom settings, they are well prepared for the rigors of engineering—and sometimes better prepared than those who start at engineering schools, where classes are typically much bigger. Employers love the liberal arts/engineering majors since they not only possess the technical skills, but also know how to write papers, make presentations, and think beyond the requirements of an engineer.

Moreover, I was thrilled to see that several of the liberal arts institutions involved in 3-2 programs really welcome international students on their campus. For example, Sewanee University has a 3-2 agreement with Vanderbilt; the University of Richmond is affiliated with Columbia’s engineering school; and Hobart and Smith College in New York state has a 3-2 program with Dartmouth.

Will each of my 3-2 students eventually go on to law school and work with Google? I am not certain. But, there is no denying the thrill I find on the faces of students and parents when they are exposed to the possibility that they can have an undergraduate experience that incorporates the liberal and the technical. A list of great 3-2 programs can be found at http://collegelists.pbworks.com.

Parting Thoughts

The point here is this: the economic playing field has changed, and many colleges are trying to respond to market forces. Students can now get their law degree in five years at many institutions, and may be able to get an MBA within five years of graduating from high school. It is in the best interests of the international school counselor to read up on the many “dual,” “combined,” and “accelerated” programs now on offer in the United States. Let’s face it, today’s nervous Grade 11 student may be tomorrow’s public defender. Or, if not tomorrow, certainly by 2018!

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COLLEGE COUNSELING WITH MARTIN WALSH