copied from discussion thread
Elaborating on ECs, Why BSMD, Why TCNJ over BU SMED
My D was really interested in and passionate about her ECs, especially the shadowing in India. She got lots of questions about shadowing in India. The response from interviewers was overwhelmingly positive, as they were interested in how she can use that knowledge to benefit healthcare in the US. It also wasn’t a mission trip. She spent an entire summer working there. Further, she didn’t go to “help the poor” - this was a really solid government hospital in India (rare, I know), with state of the art facilities. She learnt a whole lot and conveyed that well in her interviews. My D is an excellent communicator, due to debate and being in a humanities-heavy program in school. I think this worked in her favor. She talked a lot about healthcare access in her essays and interviews, and used her knowledge of barriers to care in the US. Her research in immunology was also discussed a lot in interviews. It tied in especially well due to COVID.
As for why BSMD over regular UG, my daughter pretty much made the decision on that. She wants the guarantee of going to medical school and isn’t bothered too much with rankings. She also really liked NJMS and that it was in a city.
She decided to go for TCNJ-NJMS over BU SMED for a few reasons:
- Cost. With little to no scholarships, BU ended up being really expensive compared to the TCNJ-NJMS program.
- NJMS is a solid medical school, with lots of access to care for underprivileged. My D is really passionate about that, and this played a big role in her wanting to go to NJMS. Also, there are a lot of in-house residency options that appealed to her.
- When talking to students at TCNJ, many finish in 2 years and take the extra year to do a masters/research/travel/pursue any other interests. My D thought this would be a great opportunity for her to pursue additional research.