@srk2017, OOS for NJ (Good merit scholarship), Instate for UVA (No scholarship). How about the class sizes
at NJIT honors college? UVA could have 300+ kids in a few premed classes. Wondering about the safety aspects for NJIT since it is in Newark area.
@best2018 If you are sure that medicine is your career choice and you have got exposure to medicine career life, go with NJIT/NJMS BA/MD program.
You have to take care of your self and don’t go alone especially in nights if the safety is a concern in Newark area.
Now a days some of the core classes like BioChem, OChem, Genetics, it is nothing unusual about 300+ class size.
@best2018, I agree with @goldenrock. Go with NJIT/NJMS.
Thanks for the advise @GoldenRock , @srk2017
@CottonTales - you’re absolutely right!
@srk2017 The different feeder colleges in NJ have different requirements to apply. Wonder how that works?
@bsmddad72 - Sorry, I don’t know anything about NJ schools. If this abut BS/MD program, ask in BSMD thread not in this MD thread.
Happy Decision Day to all 2017-18 applicants!
I think it might be helpful for next year’s applicants and parents if we would give an update now that decision day has passed.
I’ll start.
D had very good GPA and sGPA (but not 4.0) and had very good MCAT scores (95%<D<100%).
She had very good (but not tippy top) ECs.
D applied to 9 schools (atypical, I know).
She received 5 interviews and 4 pre-interview rejections
Of the 5 schools where she inerviewed, she recieved 4 acceptances and 1 rejection. No waitlists.
She withdrew from one of the acceptances before financial aid was given out.
Of the 3 remaining acceptances, 2 gave her $0 in scholarships (so full loans).
1 school gave her their top scholarship which amounts to approximately half tuition for 4 years.
As I mentioned in a previous post, the experience was full of unexpected moments. Many of the assumptions we made turned out to be inaccurate, some for the good, but most for the bad.
We learned the lesson that so many wise ones on this forum have tried to share: Be grateful for a single acceptance, no matter where. Otherwise, I think all but the essentially perfect applicants will feel demoralized before it’s all over.
The school D will be attending was a last-minute add-on to her application list, a “sure, why not?” kind of moment. Neither she nor I thought that would actually be the school she would attend. But we are absolutely thrilled it worked out this way.
I hope everyone else has had a successful cycle.
If you got any benefit from previous threads, I hope you’ll share your/your child’s results to help others.
@Belle315 you are so good to do this! My daughter’s story is not as sweet as yours. But I still think it’s important for people to hear this in the future threads.
My daughter applied to 4 schools (2 up north close to her then a-hole x boyfriend). She was rejected from the “reach school” up north. Her MCAT was “ok” 92%
Her GPA was in range at the schools she applied at, though science GPA a little low for all schools due to a few “C’s” in the “weed-out” classes.
Strong upward trend, and had Dean’s list and 4.0 senior year.
Extra curriculars good, leadership roles throughout college, including school trips to serve special needs communities during breaks, respite care for children with special medical needs and severe autism, service at local church with special need ministry, over 100 medical shadowing hours, published research at undergraduate level.
Since graduation, she is a research analyst at Vanderbilt, and is a first author on 2 studies, second author on 5 and her recent research won an award at a national medical conference.
All this to say… she is super smart, we are super proud, but at the end of this cycle this is where she stands.
She has 2 rejections.
She is on the waitlist at 2 schools. At this point, we are hoping a spot opens up.
She knew going in that her scores were not stellar, and that she might need a post-bac program to boost her application. She is applying/has applied to several. Her interviews went very well, but at then end of the day… these kids are ALL SO PHENOMENAL. It is hard to swallow, but she is the most amazing person I’ve ever met, and even with all her difficulties (she has an autoimmune disease that has taken her down many times) her attitude is way better than mine!
Hoping for a waitlist spot…
4 schools is way too few, plus the bar is getting higher each year.
First, thank you very much for sharing your D’s journey. It will be helpful to future applicants, I am sure. Your D’s accomplishments are tremendous, and you have much to be proud of. I am rooting for her to get off a waitlist soon. I know she will be a great physician one day, just like her older siblilng.
Second, not every applicant applies to 15, 20 or more schools. It is actually very common where we live (and we live fairly close to moonpie, at least within the same region) for applicants to ONLY apply to our 2 state schools. That’s it. They have no desire to go anywhere else. Are they limiting themselves? Possibly. However, in the case of our state, and I believe moonpie’s as well, the median MCAT/GPA is considerably lower than many/most other schools in the country; plus the applilcant gets the in-state admissions benefit. The med schools in my state admit at an approximate 85/15 (IS/OOS) ratio. My D could have cast a wider net, and she might have picked up another 1 or maybe even 2 acceptances, but most likely the results would have been the same. She only picked schools that she would like to attend either as much or more than her state school.
If an applicant wants to leave her/his “home” region, or if the state schools are difficult to get into (relatively speaking) or are ranked lower than an applicant would like, then I can see creating a larger list. Also, when money is not a concern, I can understand applying more broadly. But for many applicants, a state school is the best and cheapest option, and there isn’t a reason to apply to many other schools.
If the state school has a high instate preference like Arkansas or Texas, it is really not worth applying outside.
Oh well GL getting off WL…next cycle will start next month.
Actually applying to 4 may be on the low side, but it isn’t unusual or lethal…
The [2017 Matriculating Student Questionnaire](https://www.aamc.org/download/485324/data/msq2017report.pdf) reports that while the median number of programs applied was 15, 1/6 of matriculating students applied to 4 or fewer schools.
@Andorvw I agree, for most people, 4 schools is way too few. However my D did her research, and having the benefit of a sister who did it 2 years before taught her a LOT of lessons. It is VERY expensive to apply to med school. Her big sister applied to 18 and spent 1000’s of dollars. Was accepted to 2 (our 2 state schools my younger is on the waitlist for) and waitlisted for 2 expensive out-of-state schools. She went in state, because it was cheaper and she loved the school. My younger girl looked at her odds, and her best odds were with our state schools because they have a high preference for in-state applicants, and that is where she is on the waitlist. She knew with her science GPA being on the lower side it was a risk. She had no desire to go a long way away, and truly we hope she will get off the wait list at either school. Time will tell. I shared our story to help people who are applying in the future. This seemed like the smartest approach for her… every kid is different! Again, we have “been there, done that” and for her, we feel she made a good decision. She has a good “plan B” if things don’t go her way : ). FWIW, my oldest is an M3 and at the top of her class even though she was an “average” applicant 3 years ago. She is currently in rotations and doing amazing things.
Did anyone hire someone to help with the applications and school choices?
@kal123 and @vandyeyes - no updates from you.
@best2018. Haven’t looked at college confidential for awhile. Hope it’s not too late. I wouldn’t pick NJIT over Vandy. It’s not a great school in the worst area of Newark. A lot of kids commute so not sure how the social life would be. Which med schools is associated with the program? Robert wood johnson or the one in Newark?
Hi folks. I tried to find a 2018-2019 Medical School Applicants, but this thread seems to be the only one current. Just read over the past year’s info. Thanks to all the parents who contributed . We are just starting this journey. My son is planning on submitting his primaries any day now. He just took the MCAT’s last Saturday, and is feeling really bad that he didn’t do well. He has a very high gpa 3.97 and great extra curriculars, but feel is poor MCAT score will cause him to not be accepted. Trying now to research for schools that might be okay taking a lower MCAT (guessing close to 502) and high gpa. Can any of those parents who have been through this journey help with how to research schools to best apply and put his time into completing secondary? Seems both MSAR and US news World Compass and searching on the schools website is what we need to do. Any thoughts what particularly to look for best fit? hard that most schools just give you average gpa and average mcat.