BA/BS/MD Program: Chance Me?

Pre-Med & Medical School Multiple Degree Programs
1

<p>I am an Asian american male who is currently a junior in high school. I am trying to get into BA/MD or BS/MD programs next year and I am not certain about my chances...here are the credentials I will likely have when I apply:
SAT: 2340 (800 math, 800 writing, 740 reading)
SAT II: 800 Math Ii, 780 Chem, 790 Physics, 760 Bio
ACT: 34 (36 math, 35 english, 34 science, 30 reading, 9 essay)
GPA: 4.0 unweighted, 5.21 weighted (will be 5.35 after 1st semester senior yr if I get all A's)
Total AP exams at end of senior yr: 12-14 (hopefully mostly 4's and 5's)
Total AP classes at end of snr yr: 16
ECs: Eagle Scout in BSA; service clubs (so far): NHS (3 yrs), Key Club (3 yrs), Beta Club (2 yrs), High School Marshals (2 yrs), Medical BioScience Academy (4 yrs), Health Occupational Students of America (reached State competition), Red Cross Volunteer, WakeMed Career Pathfinders, Job Shadowed 45 hours at cardiology center, CPR certified, First Aid certified, Duke Healthcare Volunteer (100 hrs)
**other service hours close to 500-600. medical hours between 200-300. Total: 700-900 hrs
PSAT score: 219 (yikes); probably will be National Merit Finalist in my state (NC)</p>

<p>this summer, i am going to volunteer 8 hrs a day for one day a week at Rex Healthcare (under UNC). also going to volunteer 8 hrs a day for three days a week at Duke Med. i am going to job shadow a doctor on the other remaining weekday and on the weekends, I will participate in the Red Cross activities, Blood drives, etc. I may also possibly do some more volunteering as well on weekends. </p>

<p>Those are pretty much my credentials and I am trying to get into the direct med programs at: Northwestern University, Brown U, Rice/Baylor, REMS (University of Rochester), Washington University in St. Louis, Case Western, Boston, or Drexel. I would preferably like to get into one of the first five programs listed, so what do you guys think are my chances of this? Will Eagle Scout help me out, as not many Asians have it in their credentials? </p>

<p>**btw, the scores are already done so disregard the "credentials i will likely have" for that and the Eagle Scout. guys seriously please help me out, I need to figure out if I need to do anything else to optimize my chances and time is running out in junior yr!! </p>

<p>and thank you for your time everybody!</p>

2

<p>I got into BU and Drexel with stats a little lower than yours, you have a good chance at the other programs you listed too, but they’re all too competitive to really know.</p>

<p>Take a look at the results thread for this year’s applicants, best thing to do is compare your stats with someone</p>

3

<p>Hey, you definitely have great grades/scores/medical extra curriculars and I think you will most likely get into SOME programs. For the most competitive programs (Northwestern, Brown, etc), they want you to be more well rounded, as in you have some unique interest in addition to medicine, whether that’s art, drama, business, politics, public health, research, etc.</p>

4

<p>here’s a reference thread of this year’s applicants’ stats: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/multiple-degree-programs/1300355-bs-md-results-class-2012-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/multiple-degree-programs/1300355-bs-md-results-class-2012-a.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>well, I have been involved in scouting for over 6 years and am an Eagle Scout. I took one year of Orchestra (and hurt my weighted GPA as a result) and played violin for about 3 years. I have also played tennis for 5 years (only one yr of Varsity though, after that I shattered my wrist and couldn’t play competitively, so my coach didn’t take me).</p>

6

<p>what other kinds of things should i do? do you know any competitions or programs that could boost my chances into the BS/MD programs?</p>

7

<p>Have you done any research? I think REMS and NU really like applicants with research experience, and it looks nice for all the programs.</p>

8

<p>I got into Case Western and BU’s programs with stats lower than you as well. </p>

<p>You definitely have a lot of activities that are medically-oriented, and your Eagle Scout status should make you stand out. As neoevolution said, research would surely help you out (if you still have enough time left in the day). I think that, if you show passion for your activities and compassion for others in your essay(s), you should be able to make it to the interview stage…but it’s honestly impossible to predict because the top programs are just so competitive. For Brown PLME, which doesn’t do interviews, I’ve noticed that they seem to put a lot of focus on high GPA and test scores…which you’ve got. </p>

<p>For the interviews, having some speaking experience through a debate club or something would be helpful. However, if you’re just a natural charmer, then there’s no need to stress about that. :slight_smile: Having a unique talking point for interviews is important, as they won’t really care about your resume as much. For example, I talked about writing poetry in the three programs that I interviewed at and ultimately got in to. In your case, you could choose any of your non-medical/science activities, as long as you can expand on them and show passion. </p>

<p>Congrats on all your success so far! Good luck :)</p>

9

<p>thank you so much for the insight guys this really makes me a bit more confident. i always knew it was a toss-up after the interview with such insane competition, but this made me feel better about my chances of making the interview in the first place. i sincerely tried for an internship at NIH and Harvard CURE and some other places (including emailing principal investigators), but it just isn’t meant to be i guess. I may still get NIH if i get lucky…can you guys chance me for Harvard Early Action as well?</p>

10

<p>Chancing Harvard EA is sort of impossible. You have as decent a chance as most applicants, but Ivies look for different things than progs and they care more about hooks than just scores/grades and certain ECs. And Harvard is too competitive to really guess about.</p>

11

<p>OP, UCLA HSSRP is still accepting applications. The only thing is that room and board is about $3500 for OOS students. There is an $800 stipend if you are instate, however.</p>

12

<p>Even if you can’t get an internship through a competitive research program at a big-name university or research institute like the NIH, try to get one at a local university lab. I sent emails out to about 40 research scientists/professors at my local university and eventually got a great research internship that I entered into science fairs/competitions. Any research at any institution can look good as long as you show that you learned something from the process!</p>