Hi everyone,
I will be applying for colleges in a few months. MY SAT score isn’t where it should be [2100] and my GPA is a 3.81. Today I was looking at possible options for pre-med in college and saw that many required scores higher than mine.
I was looking at Johns Hopkins, Brown, UPENN, Rice, Washington State of St. Louis.
I was wondering if anyone could help me broaden my options? I’m not very optimistic about getting accepted into a good pre-medical program.
Thanks!
Pssst----It’s Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) not Washington State in St. Louis
There's a special forum for BA/MD programs--
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/multiple-degree-programs/">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/multiple-degree-programs/</a>
You can get specific info about those programs there.
Pre med is an intention, not a specific program at any university. You can major in any academic field and still be eligible for medical school so long as you complete all the pre-reqs. You can attend any of the 3000 or so colleges and universities in the US and still get accepted to medical school. The name of your undergrad plays a negligible role in your ability to gain an acceptance. It’s really all about you do/achieve in college.
Don’t count on BS/MD programs. they’re highly competitive and typically the accepted students have stats that are so high that the school is confident that they’d likely be accepted into their MD program if they had applied the traditional way. Plus, these applicants have a resume that supports their claim that they want to be MDs. Most high school students who “want to become doctors,” have few/no medically-related activities to list on a BS/MD app.
I'm not very optimistic about getting accepted into a good pre-medical program.
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There’s really no such thing as a “premed program.” Being premed just means that you take the required bio, Chem, physics and math classes that are NOT unique to being premed. There will be other STEM students in those classes. There isn’t anything “medical” about them. They don’t prepare you for med school. They don’t prepare you for the MCAT. They don’t place you into med school.
Any good accredited established college or university is fine for a premed student.
What will your major be??
What is your home state?
What is your M+CR of your SAT? Are you retesting and taking the ACT?
What are your parents saying? How much will they pay each year?
With due respect, but I think your stats are not good enough to get into any BS/MD or even BS/DO programs. I think you should apply for a normal, affordable 4 year college and do really well there with pre-med requisites fulfiled. Shoot for med school from there.
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I was looking at Johns Hopkins, Brown, UPENN, Rice, [WashU}
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There are some aspects to the premed process that are counter-intuitive.
Med schools don’t care about which undergrad you attend as long as it’s not some Podunk school and/or lacking in proper regional accreditation in the US.
You’re making the typical mistake that premeds make, particularly those w/o tippy top stats…considering tippy top schools as a premed.
Often, that is a big mistake. These schools are grinders. They’re filled with premeds with very high stats. And, like all schools, they weed their premeds.
What do you think your chances are of getting the A’s in classes when many/most of your classmates will be stronger students than you?
Some on this forum may remember the premed that posted here a year or two ago. He had gone to UTDallas (probably on a large merit scholarship). He had a 4.0GPA while there. Like many naive folks, he thought, "I need to transfer to a more prestigious school so med schools will accept me. He transferred to Vanderbilt and a year later he was posting that he no longer had a med-school worthy GPA. He was crushed.
His story isn’t all that unique. I get a lot of PMs. I hear from premeds and parents who are trying to figure out what to do with a damaged GPA. Some were never up to the challenge, no matter where they had matriculated.
But, others “reached too high,” because they strongly believed that a top school would help punch their ticket to med school. It’s amazing how similar their stories are. They had been a top student in high school, great stats, and of course they believed that a top university was needed to get them into med school…(or as I often hear, “get me into a good med school”…or…“get me into a TOP med school.”)
I was recently learning about Rice’s premed numbers. About 400 of the 1000 member frosh class begins with being premed in mind. (It’s not unusual for a top school to have a huge number of incoming frosh wanting to be premed). Each semester, a chunk change career paths. In fact, the weeding is so brutal that after 4 weeks of the semester, 1/4 of those premeds have already moved on (probably after the first tests in Bio and Chem.).
In the end, after the 2nd & 3rd years’ weeding and less-than-favorable MCAT scores, only about 200 Rice premeds apply (this is a mix of rising seniors, new grads, and alums).
OP,
You did not list any medical ECs, so it is hard to tell your chances at bs/md’s. You stats would be on a lower end for these programs. With GPA=4.0uw while taking the most rigorous classes available at HS and lots of medical EC’s, including research, and higher SAT / ACT, one might have about 50% of acceptance if they apply smartly and not only to the very top programs. I do not believe that there is any chance to get into any bs/md without medical ECs during HS.
On the other hand, there is no need to apply to any top colleges (bs/md or regular route) if you are planning on medical school. Attend at the cheapest (for you!) UG and save family resources for the medical school.
My D. attended the in-state public on full tuition Merit scholarship (for UG part) in bs/md program and it worked fine for her.
In fairness, the OP didn’t ask about BS/MDs, that was brought up by someone else explaining options. OP was asking about getting into premed programs. Good advice already given on that except that I would add you need to have an affordable undergrad to make it easier to pay for med school so look at net costs.
Your stats are in range for many good schools including merit aid.
“In fairness, the OP didn’t ask about BS/MDs” - How about the title of this thread? Of course, the OP is asking about bs/md’s, and it has to be addressed specifically, ba/md is the same as bs/md with only difference is that at some colleges the UG degree is ba and at others it is bs:
“2100 SAT, 3.81 GPA] What are my options for pre-med colleges (B.A. M.D. Joint Programs, etc)”
Hi everyone,
Wow your responses blew me away. Consider me a little naive. I am only 16 (Class of 2017). I was a little devastated to find out that all my stats were at the lower end of my dream schools. Thankfully, you guys have reassured me into considering my state school. I am a very motivated student. Unfortunately, I got accepted into a Magnet Program and took classes that lowered my 4.00 GPA. I’m terrible at standardized testing (I took the June 2016 ACT). Regardless, I know my standardized test scores will never be up to par so I think I’ll be smart about my options! Thanks 
@MiamiDAP , can you let me know what your daughter’s GPA, SAT Scores, SAT Level 2 Scores, extracurriculars were? I really want to apply for a full ride opportunity at my in-state school, but once again I don’t have a 2400 SAT score or a 4.00 GPA.
@mom2collegekids When you said you were looking at Brown, JHU, etc, was it because you had the same scores I did? What were your scores?
Ah thanks, I look forward to a reply
1999HighSchooler,
It was very long ago, my D. is finishing her first year of residency. In addition, the combined program at her college has been cancelled. So, her experiences are not exactly applicable to you. But since you have asked, here are her stats. She graduated from the most rigorous small private HS in our area at the top of her class. She never had a B in her life, she was the only one in her class with GPA=4.0uw and was able to maintain the same at college. Her ACT was 33, took one time. She had worked for couple summers at the medical research lab where her responsibilities were similar to the ones that she had later while interning at the medical research lab during college. She was volunteering in the hospitals and shadowed several physicians. She applied to several of combined bs/md programs and was accepted to 3, all at in-state publics. She choose the non-accelerated 4+4 at the university that offered her full tuition Merit scholarship for the UG part of the program. She never considered to apply to any Ivy/Elite colleges, prestige was never on her mind. PM if you have specific questions.
Your state university can get you where you want to be w/r/t med school. (I have 2 daughters; both went to medical schools. One graduated from a our state U; the other graduated from a top 30 research U. Both attended the same med school. Older D matched into her chosen specialty at a top academic program. I’m sure younger will do the same.) Med school admission isn’t so much about where you got to college, but what you do while you’re there.
One thing you need to be aware of is that any college coursework you may take at your magnet program will be included in your GPA when you go to apply to medical school. Take your coursework seriously and do your best.
Unfortunate for you, standardized testing will be a big part of your life if you plan to pursue to med school. The MCAT (for med school admission), the USMLEs (to advance thru medical school and graduate), specialty boards (to get your specialty certification once residency is completed, plus again every 4-8 years for as long as your practice medicine).
Test-taking skills are something that can be learned–perhaps it’s something you can work on.
RE: Mom2collegekids' reply--she was quoting your original post. *She* wasn't looking at JHU, Brown, etc. (Her sons have long graduated from college and gone onto graduate and medical schools.) She was responding to you saying *you* saying you wanted to attend those schools. I wouldn’t really worry about USMLEs when it comes to advancing as that only requires passing and passing the USMLEs is quite easy (96% of US medical students pass on their first try). The concern for USMLEs and a poor test taker is that there are no retakes, and simply passing is not enough if one wishes to have any real say in where or what they do their residency in.
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@mom2collegekids When you said you were looking at Brown, JHU, etc, was it because you had the same scores I did? What were your scores?
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I didn’t say that. I was quoting YOUR quote.
If you read my post, I was saying that it’s a mistake to target schools like that as a premed unless your scores are tippy/tippy top because you’ll likely get weeded.