<p>Hey Guys,</p>
<p>I'm a 4th year medical student who went through a BS/MD program and have some free time now. Ask me (almost) anything</p>
<p>Congratulations!</p>
<p>Was MCAT a requirement for you? And if it wasn’t, did you take it anyway? Why or why not?
My D is in a program where MCAT is not a requirement, but she’s trying to decide if she should prepare for and take it. She’s heard that MCAT score is required by many medical schools for scholarship consideration, as well as residency placement.
What’s your opinion?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Hey DrillMom,</p>
<p>They MCAT was a requirement for my program. I was in an 8 year program so I took it during the summer after junior year. My requirement was to score at least 28. I believe that medical schools that are looking to offer scholarships will take MCAT into account, as well as the student’s entire application. So if you think she may be eligible for such scholarships, it would be in her best interest to take the test. In addition, I believe that if you wanted to apply to summer research programs during medical school, such as the NIH programs, they require you to send the MCAT score as part of your application. However, I’m just starting the residency application process now, and have never been asked about MCAT. At this point, it shouldn’t matter in residency application as we have more recent standardized test scores available.</p>
<p>Hopefully in her program, there is no minimum requirement if she does decide to take it. You should look into that further.</p>
<p>Congrats. Thanks for sharing your experience in advance. I have few questions?</p>
<ol>
<li>What courses you took in each year of undergraduate?</li>
<li>How to balance in maintaining good GPA (3.7 above) and hard courses?</li>
<li>What is your thoughts in taking Honor courses? </li>
<li>When did you start preparing for MCAT? </li>
<li>What courses MUST taken that would help NEW MCAT?</li>
<li>My SAT score 2130, ACT 32, Three SAT subject tests with 800 score (M, Bio, Chm) and good EC activities. Any chances of me getting to BS/MD program?</li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks so much, @jayelectronica.</p>
<p>@Harrisburg </p>
<p>First, you need to RELAX. First, focus on college apps. Worry about college curriculum after you choose your school.</p>
<ol>
<li>I was a biology major, history minor, so I took gen bio, gen chem in freshman year. Orgo, physics, bio sophomore year…</li>
<li>Repetition when studying.</li>
<li>Honors courses are not necessary. I would first start off with regular courses in the first semester to see how you do. Then make decisions based on your grades.</li>
<li>I prepared during the summer after my junior year.</li>
<li>No idea about the new MCAT. I took my test ~4 years ago.</li>
<li>Nice job with those SAT subject tests. those are not easy.
You definitely have a chance to interview at some BS/MD programs. But if you are interested in BS/MD programs, it behooves you to apply to many (~ 15). As you know, they are typically more competitive than even most elite undergrad schools.</li>
</ol>
<p>My scores were slightly higher: SAT 2230, ACT 33. I’m not sure what i got on my subject tests, but I definitely did NOT get 800’s. Your medically related volunteering/EC’s are obviously critical for your application as well.</p>
<p>hi there! congrats on getting so far! my questions for you are as follows:
- do you need to write your college admissions essay on something medically related or no?
- how do you feel about bs/do programs?
- how do you feel about pharmacy programs?</p>
<p>The reasons I ask the last two questions is because i am almost sure i wont be able to get into a bs md (2140 sat, 33 act, meh gpa) so for the past two years i have been seriously considering the do route. the majority of my schools are bs do, with a few bs md.</p>
<p>however, recently a lot of people have been telling me that becoming a physician isn’t worth it any more- too much money, too much time, they dont make that much anymore, very difficult for a woman to have a husband, children, normal family life (which is something i really want). my mom says pharmacy is an option for me and i have heard many positive things about it, so i am applying to a couple pharmacy programs as well.</p>
<p>what is your opinion on md/do/pharmD and what would you do?</p>
<p>THANKS</p>
<p>@ppeaches </p>
<ol>
<li>If you are referring to BS/MD programs, then yes, I would recommend writing on a medical topic, scenario, encounter. It doesn’t have to be profound (as you are a high school student), but should have some relevance to patient contact, medicine, etc.</li>
<li>BS/DO programs are perfectly fine. I consider DO and MDs to be equivalent. However, this is not the case in residency. You should know that if you are a DO student, it is much more difficult during residency applications, in terms of types of fields you are competitive for and types of programs that will accept you. There are some programs that won’t interview DO candidates no matter how great the student it.</li>
<li>Pharmacy is a completely different career path/schooling that I know nothing about. But, you should look into the pharmacy job market. From what I have heard, its quite saturated. Also, pharmacy has very little patient contact. So you have to understand that a pharmacist and physician have completely different careers with little similarity.</li>
</ol>
<p>You’re correct in assuming that being a physician is not a typical career and does not leave room for a typical family life early on in your career. However, specific fields are more amenable to a 9-5 monday-friday lifestyle. Based on your SAT and GPA, I would assume you have a shot at interviews for several programs, but what happens if you don’t get into a program. Why not go to a regular undergrad? There’s no need to pigeonhole yourself by going to a pharmacy program right out of high school if you dont get into a BS/MD or BS/DO program. If you go to undergrad youll have more time to decide what career you want to pursue. If you decide on pharmacy, you can always go that route after undergrad.</p>
<p>Unfortunately its hard for me to give you a concrete answer because ive never met you. But, with your SAT, ACT taken into account, I see no reason why you cant succeed in college and get into med school through the regular route.</p>
<p>@jayelectronica
Thanks so much for doing this! May I ask which BS/MD programs you were accepted into? I’m applying to many BS/MD programs (a mixture of low-tier, mid-tier, and super reaches) but since I’m applying OOS for all of them, I’m unsure if this would affect my decisions a lot. Also, some people have told me that if you have a good SAT/ACT score, strong GPA, and medical experience (shadowing, research experience, etc.) then you will definitely make it into the lower tier programs. Was that true from your experience?</p>
<p>Also, would you say that most <em>accepted</em> applicants have high level academic awards or honors like Intel, Siemens, USABO, RSI, USAMO, etc? </p>
<p>@onlythebest13 </p>
<ul>
<li>From what I can remember (as this was a long time ago), I was accepted into RPI/AMC, Union/AMC, Drexel/Drexel, VCU, Miami, SLU.</li>
<li>I was rejected post interview from BU, TCNJ/NJMS.</li>
<li>And I didn’t get invites from several other programs (Case, Rice/Baylor, and a few others I can’t remember). I applied to about 15 total BS/MD programs.
-I don’t think being out of state matters a great deal, as many of the medical schools in these BS/MD programs are private schools. For those that are state schools (NJMS, etc), you will probably have a more difficult chance, but no reason not to apply as applications are (relatively) cheap.<br>
-If you have those attributes you described above, I would say you should be admitted into a couple programs. However, this means you need to perform well on interviews.</li>
</ul>
<p>-It’s hard for me to believe that most accepted students will have done Intel or Siemens. From my experience, those students who have been able to participate and complete meaningful research have done so only due to proximity to home. Many of the students lucky enough to perform research have just happened to live close to university’s that allow for high schools students to work there. There are only a few places I know of in which it’s more common for students to conduct this type of work (San Diego, Long Island, maybe a few others).
Don’t worry about the research. It’s really difficult to get a lab to give you a shot as a high school student.</p>
<p>@jayelectronica</p>
<p>My S is a Siemens and Intel winner. He spends a lot of time doing research and does not shadow docs at all. His main goal is to get MD/PhD more towards research side. He has good grades and scores. We hope he can get in BS/MD then apply for MD/PhD after finishing BS before going to MD. My questions are 1) Does he have to have shadowing hours in order to get in BS/MD? 2) If he does get in to a BS/MD program, does that help he get into MD/PhD? Thanks.</p>
<p>@love2cheeses </p>
<p>1) He does not have to have shadowing hours, but he needs some type of clinical experience to be considered. This clinical experience can come in the form of volunteering in hospital setting, nursing home, etc. Someplace where there are patients. Programs want to know why an applicant wants to become a physician. If the applicant has no knowledge of medicine and the care for patients, how can they know they want to become a physician.</p>
<p>2) Being in a BS/MD program will have no bearing on admission to MD/PhD. MD/PhD admission are largely predicated on stats ( high GPA, high MCAT), and research experience. His application will be considered independent from his standing in a BS/MD program. As long as he continues some lab work in undergrad, he will have a great start on his resume.</p>
<p>@love2cheeses: I’m an MS1 from a BS/MD program. In my program, your son would have to give up the MD portion, then apply separately as a MD/PhD student. If he’s strongly considering the MD/PhD route, he would probably be best off as a standard undergrad, not in a BS/MD program. Certainly he should not do an accelerated BS/MD program, since that’d take out valuable time for him to get research experience.</p>
would it be a bad idea to write your common app essay on something medical?
also, what are decent reasons for applying to bs mds? doesnt everyone say something along the lines of less stress, more freedom, etc.?
Hi guys! I’m currently a student in UCSD’s BS/MD program, the UCSD Medical Scholars Program. So I’d also be happy to answer any questions you may have about this program or the other similarly selective programs, Brown PLME and Northwestern HPME.
@love2cheeses If your son was accepted to the UCSD Medical Scholars Program (UCSD’s BS/MD program), he would have early acceptance to UCSD med school and would be allowed to apply for MD/PhD at UCSD and other schools without losing his guaranteed spot at the UCSD med school.
@atthejewel Thanks. Do you know whether BS/MD students have better chance to get in MD/PhD?
@love2cheeses Well, the UCSD Medical Scholars Program is very small–they can only accept up to 12 students each year, and they usually only accept 8-10. So, we med scholars tend to get to know many of the SOM faculty as well as the Dean/Director of admissions of the med school very well, which certainly can’t hurt when applying for MD/PhD at UCSD! 
@atthejewel Thank. Do you know whether there is advantage if the BS/MD student are to apply MD/PhD at other med schools? I mean do MD/PhD programs like BS/MD students over regular BS student?
@love2cheeses I’m not sure how much of an advantage it would provide. Coming from a highly selective program such as Brown PLME, Northwestern HPME or UCSD Medical Scholars could potentially help a bit by indicating the applicant’s strength, but it definitely wouldn’t push an application over the edge.