Just wanted to post this on the results thread:
GPA: 3.97 (UW), 4.63 (W)
Class Rank: Don’t have it at my school.
ACT: 34
SAT Subject Tests:
Bio: 750
Math 2: 740
US History: 720
AP/IBs (I was initially at an IB School, but had to transfer because my family moved states before my junior year):
IB HL Math 1, AP Calculus AB/BC, AP Comp Gov, AP Human Geography, AP U,S Government, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Macroeconomics, AP World History, AP US History, AP English Literature, AP English Language
Teacher/Counselor Recs: Haven’t seen them, have no doubt they were very strong, even with my situation transferring in junior year because of how involved I got on campus.
Region: West Coast
Gender: M
Ethnicity: Asian
Income: A number
Non-medical ECs:
Student Council
Intern on a Gubernatorial Political Campaign
Model UN President
Mock Trial
History Club President
Board Member on the Family to Family Foundation
At-Large Delegate for my state to the World Food Prize
Medical ECs:
Had a lot of lab research as an intern at two separate accredited cancer research laboratories
Published an official scientific review paper
Shadowed with two physicians
Did a lot of volunteer work at a free clinic and at the VA
I applied to the following just mainstream undergraduates:
University of Arizona (my instate) - Accepted with Full Ride EA
University of Pennsylvania - waitlisted, still waiting to hear back RD
Harvard - rejected RD
Emory - waitlisted, waiting to hear back RD
Vanderbilt - Accepted RD
Carleton College - Accepted
Duke University - Rejected RD
I also applied to the following BS/MDs:
Penn State/Jefferson - rejected pre-interview
Brown PLME - rejected undergrad and for BS/MD
RPI/AMC - got interviewed, waitlisted, and in off of the waitlist
Case Western - rejected pre-interview
SUNY Purchase/Upstate Medical - interviewed and accepted
SLU Medical Scholars - In with a full ride
Augusta University Medical Program - accepted without an interview
George Washington - rejected pre-interview
Temple - Rejected pre-interview
TCNJ/NJMS - rejected pre-interview
Hofstra - rejected pre-interview
Oklahoma - rejected pre-interview
UMKC BA/MD - interviewed, waitlisted, waiting to hear back
Cal Northstate - accepted 2+4 (as if that were some kind of huge accomplishment)
Decision: RPI/AMC
So, this gets a little complicated. I really debated hard between Vanderbilt, Carleton, Purchase and SLU. I ended up committing to SLU, because I just genuinely didn’t like Purchase as an undergraduate institution. Augusta was never really an option for me because of the high MCAT requirement. I figured with the Presidential Scholarship at SLU, I was being considered one of the best students there so I could probably make it through that program. Vanderbilt gave me no aid and so I had to turn that down. Same issue with Carleton, plus both were traditional premedical programs and I would have preferred a BS/MD.
Boy, am I glad RPI came back an acceptance. I’m still waiting on a couple more things, but I’m definitely going to stick with this decision. 7 years is no joke and I enjoy the research focus of the program. Additionally, I’ve always been interested in politics, so I have extra time to pursue an MPH after I graduate. I’m really excited with this decision. I don’t see myself changing it at all, regardless of what comes off of the waitlist.
Advice for anyone out there in the future:
Just know that this process is not simple at all. I am going to the place that I am going now because I got off a waitlist and before that, I turned down a full-functioning guaranteed BS/MD program to go to SLU Medical Scholars, which is very much considered a downgrade. Maybe people would have laughed at me for doing so, but I did it because I did not get the right feeling from the undergraduate. The guarantee is huge and you should consider it, but you should also look for a good fit. Don’t take some terrible undergraduate that you don’t like just because there’s a guarantee. At the same time, know that if certain compromises have to be made for the guarantee, they are most likely worth it. Like, I never got into Temple, but I know I would have had to make a couple of compromises just because of the area, but I probably would have taken it with the options I had back then because of what the guarantee can offer. A counterexample would be Purchase. I diss Purchase a lot, but for some people it was a really good option and I know personally of someone who turned down the Rutgers program to go there. It’s all about what you are willing to give up in this process. Just know that the guarantee is big, but it is not everything and should not completely dictate your decision.
Also, a lot of you who get in will be faced with just general confusion around you from your classmates and friends about where you are going in the future. Maybe not so much on the East Coast, but at least on the West, not a lot of people know what RPI/AMC is and I find I’m having a hard time explaining it to people. You may also have to turn down much more prestigious undergraduate institutions to go to less prestigious ones, but at the end of the day, it is worth it. I have no doubt that the BS/MD track can work for you if you are honest with yourself about the type of undergraduate/graduate experience you want.
Finally, for all applicants who are wanting to get into a BS/MD program, just know that the most important thing for me I think and the eventual success that came with my application was that I may not have had the top, top scores, I had good ones, but not the best scores, but I showed interests in other things. I think that’s a really important and mostly underrated quality about your application. Show a genuine interest in something else outside of medicine and pursue it throughout high school in addition to your medical extracurriculars. For me that was politics, but for someone else, it could be psychology or a sport, or literature. It also can end up shaping your medical career because there are a lot of different ways and areas in which you can practice as well.
Just general program-specific advice:
- Case is basically a throwaway application. Same with Brown. Don't put your hopes on it.
- Don't put too much stock into the MCAT requirement stuff. You will definitely be able to achieve the minimum score, almost no one in those programs drops out for missing the MCAT score, they drop out for other reasons. Yeah, it's nice not to take the MCAT, but if you do really exceptionally well, you can always consider applying out to better medical schools, which is an opportunity non-MCATers won't have.
- Cal Northstate is fake. Don't do it. It is way better to go in-state, yes, even if you live in California. It's just a straight joke. It's like committing to a downgrade. You will be at a disadvantage come residency time. Also, they will harass you to commit to their program. Don't do it. Just don't. Do you really want a diploma on your wall as a physician that says Cal Northstate? Just think about that.