BS/MD Results - Class of 2020

Pre-Med & Medical School Multiple Degree Programs
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Posting results for S

Thank you to everyone on this forum, the advice and help from everyone here has been extremely useful.

Rank: school doesn’t rank (but maybe 1 or 2), very competitive school
GPA: 4.0 UW, 4.8W

ACT: 36
Math 2: 800
Chem: 800
Latin Virgil: 760

AP’s: 11 (he took the toughest course load in the entire grade)

Teacher / Counselor Recommendations: He is pretty involved in school, hopefully they’re good?
Essays: pretty good. He worked hard on them. Also, teacher/guidance counsellor helped review

State: MA
Gender: M
Income: >200k

DECISION: Penn State PMM 7yr BS/MD

Applied to the following BS/MD Programs:

  1. Penn State PMM 7yr BS/MD – Interview -Accepted
  2. RPI/AMC - Interview – Under Consideration
  3. Stony Brook BA-MD –Interview upcoming (accepted UG: 28k/yr)
  4. Stevens/Rutgers Interview – Rejected (accepted UG: BME; 25K/yr)
  5. BU SMED 7yr BA/MD – Interview - Rejected
  6. Brown PLME - Rejected
  7. Rochester REMS- Rejected pre-interview (Accepted UG, Whipple Research Scholarship 11K)
  8. WashU - Rejected pre-interview (UG: waitlisted)
  9. NU HPME – Rejected pre-interview (UG: waitlisted)
  10. Case PPSP - Rejected pre-interview (UG: waitlisted)
  11. Rutgers/Rutgers - Rejected pre-interview (Accepted UG/Honors with 25K/yr)
  12. Drexel/Drexel – Rejected pre-interview (Accepted UG with 25K/yr)
  13. Pitt GAP - Rejected pre-interview (Accepted UG/Honors with 25K/yr)

Applied to the following undergraduate schools:

  1. Georgetown – Accepted
  2. Johns Hopkins - Waitlisted
  3. Duke – Waitlisted
  4. Tufts – Accepted
  5. UChicago – EA – deferred, finally Rejected

Medically Related Activities:
-Research (600 hours) at competitive programs in the local colleges; poster presentation
-Hospital volunteering & Shadowing (250 hours) –four different specialties

Awards:
National Finalist w. Regional rank/award – Science Olympiad
State Science competition - winner
AMC, AMIE qualifier
National Merit Finalist, National AP scholar & many others.

ECs:
-Community Service -250 hours, Boy Scouts (12 years) – Eagle Scout with significant leadership positions
-Robotics team Captain
-Math team Captain, Competitions (State level)
-Cofounder Programming club
–National Honor Society (taught Latin/Math to kids in MS & HS)

  • Many others
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Reflection:
BS/MD admissions are really competitive and getting interviews and finally admission is a crapshoot.

DS was really glad to get 5 interviews. Interviewing/travelling was a good experience slightly cut short due to corona virus scare! DS got more rejections than acceptance. Every rejection caused anxiety/worry. Hopefully this experience makes him stronger.

My S is popular in HS, into a lot of ECs and won awards in various fields. He enjoys his activities but doesn’t like limiting what he does for college application. This is the reason he decided to go for BS/MD programs because he didn’t want to spend all his UG preparing his application for Med school. He values his freedom and wants to enjoy his UG.

He preferred accelerated 7-year programs over 8-year programs. He preferred BS/MD over UG’s. He also preferred public universities or private universities only if they gave scholarship. He also preferred an 8-years BS/MD program over 7 years program.

Since BS/MD programs are competitive, I advised him to apply widely & to numerous programs. I also advised him to apply to a few strong UG’s. I told him he doesn’t need to worry about money. We told him, as long as he gets into a BS/MD program, we will pay.

It’s actually bizzare that he got what he was looking for!

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Congratulations on PSU/SKMC. Surprised at so many pre-interview rejections with such stellar stats and medical ECs.

44

What’s his essay topic? Also, what kind of clinical volunteering?

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My S stat

Thank you to everyone on this forum, the advice and help from everyone here has been extremely useful.

Rank: #1 in middle sized HS in NJ, median competitive

GPA: 4.3 UW, 5.6 W

SAT: 1570
Math 2: 800
Chem: 800
Biology: 779

AP’s: 8, all 5
IB: in progress

Teacher / Counselor Recommendations: Excellent
Essays: this is his weak point, and I think he’s hurt from majority of schools

State: NJ
Gender: M
Income: not qualified for any need-based scholarship

DECISION: Not decided yet, considering between Duke, RPI/AMC, and UF

Applied to the following BS/MD Programs:

  1. RPI/AMC - Interview – accepted
  2. Brown PLME - Rejected (UG: waitlisted)
  3. NU HPME – Rejected pre-interview (UG: waitlisted)

Applied to the following undergraduate schools:

  1. Harvard- waitlisted
  2. Princeton-rejected
  3. UPenn-waitlisted
  4. Duke-accepted
  5. Johns Hopkins - Waitlisted
  6. Rice-waitlisted
  7. UF-accepted (honor college, young research scholar, Benacquisto scholarship, full ride)
  8. Northeastern-accepted (honor college, 30k/yr)
  9. Rutgers- accepted (honor college, presidential scholarship, full ride)

Medically Related Activities:
-Research - 4 weeks internship at top medical school
-Hospital volunteering & Shadowing local hospital, 200 hours

Awards:
National merit scholarship Finalist
Rensselaer Medal- makes him 30k/yrx3 yr to go to RPI/AMC

ECs:
-Organized STEM symposium by drawing several known professionals to local area
-Organized and teach youth science enrichment program in local library
-Founder of HS science experiment club
-Founder and participant of several other school clubs

  • Varsity swimmer
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Hello, I’m here to contribute to the results blog!

Thank you to everyone for being so helpful!

My stats:

Rank not reported by school but top 10%
UW GPA: 3.91

SAT: 1580
Math 2: 800
Bio M: 780

APs: 4
Dual Enrollment at 4 year university for last 2 years of high school through early college program; took courses up to an including organic chemistry (65 credit hours)

Teacher Recs: probably good, i had well established relationships with them
Essays: common app may have been mediocre, BS/MD essays and supplements were fairly good

Medically related activities:
Certified EMT
Decent shadowing and hospital volunteering
Extensive research at 4 year university and scholarship funding

ECs: Math tutor, dancing for charity, VP of red cross chapter, public health advocacy, track captain, etc.

State: TX
Male ORM

Applied to following programs:
SUNY Upstate Accelerated Scholars; SUNY Poly/Upstate-Accepted with $8500/yr for undergrad
Baylor2Baylor: invited to Round 1, rejected pre-interview, accepted to undergrad
UTulsa ECCM: invited to interview, did not attend
Texas Tech UMSI: invited to interview-rejected, accepted to undergrad
UMKC 6-year BA/MD: invited to interview-did not attend
FAU Medical Pipelines: interviewed and Accepted with full ride undergrad
Texas A&M S2M: interviewed and Accepted with NMF full tuition for undergrad
Siena/Albany Medical College: rejected pre-interview, accepted to undergrad
Yours to Lose BS/DO: invited to interview, did not attend

Applied to the following undergrads:
UF: accepted honors with full ride Benacquisto
USC: accepted as spring admit to Keck med school major with half tuition for NMF
UT Austin: accepted
UMich Ann-Arbor: accepted
WashU St. Louis: waitlisted
Notre Dame: deferred, rejected
Cornell: waitlisted

Decision: Undecided, between USC half-tuition spring admit and TAMU S2M

Final thoughts: Didn’t even think I’d get one BSMD acceptance, but guess I was wrong. Wasn’t happy about Cornell and ND, but I’m glad to have at least gotten into USC for their Keck majors. UF full ride+honors very tempting, but TAMU S2M and USC are both better. USC willing to accept all my credits so coursework there would be ridiculously easy, however I would lose guaranteed acceptance to med school. TAMU also cheapest med school in the country, and undergrad cost is probably <$30k total due to NMF full tuition scholarship. USC would be around $100k for undergrad.

Any ideas as to which one I should pick?

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Hi everyone,

New to CC, but decided to create an account and post my BSMD results for future applicants. I don’t want to go into too much detail on my stats for privacy, but I’ll include a little bit.

Applied to -
BostonU SMED: invited for interview mid-Dec, interviewed late-Jan, accepted!
Brown PLME: accepted!
George Washington: rejected pre-interview mid-Feb
Hofstra: rejected pre-interview mid-Feb
Northwestern: granted application late-Nov, rejected pre-interview late-Feb
Rice: rejected pre-interview early-Feb
URochester REMS: rejected pre-interview mid-Feb

I’m so excited about my two offers from BU SMED and Brown PLME! I’m now at the dreaded stage of comparing the two programs to decide which to join, as well as thinking through finances. It’s a really tough decision, and I honestly have no clue what I’m going to do right now. I have likes and dislikes at both… and they pretty much balance out. If there is anyone on this forum that is a current student at either, or even just wants to offer some kind advice, I’d be interested.

Stats -
1550+ SAT, no essay taken
3 subject tests - Chem, Bio M, and Math 2; all above 770
Taken a total of 20 AP/IB classes throughout high school
Did not take exams for all APs (did take AP World History 9th [5], AP Physics 1 10th [5])
Will take 6 APs this May
Received IB Diploma last year (I was an IB Diploma candidate during 10th and 11th), scored above 39. Special note: my HLs were in NON-STEM subjects (I hated it, but I had to do it because it was what aligned with my schedule)

Essays -
Honestly thought they SUCKED. I hated my CommonApp; thought it was really cheesy. I guess it did the job, though. I discussed some personal circumstances and how I used my experiences to then advocate for others in my situation. Not a “how I overcame” story, because I didn’t overcome it - more that it is an ongoing battle for me personally and for others that I want to help.

For BSMD essays, I explained how personal experiences with healthcare have molded my interest in medicine from a young age. I discussed both things I admired about medicine, but also where I saw shortcomings. I focused on my “why medicine?” statement as being that I want to be apart of much-needed changes in healthcare and to increase equity. My essays were very much from the heart, though reading them back, I realize they are so poorly written, haha! My essays very much had a service-oriented focus, so this might be a reason why BU and Brown accepted me/why Rice, Northwestern, GW, URochester rejected.

My Hofstra essays were straight up garbage, so I’m not surprised I was rejected there. I was really tired of college apps by the time the Hofstra BSMD essays were released online (like mid-Jan).

ECs -
-Volunteer (admin position) at my religious center’s Sunday School from 6th-ish to 9th (promoted to VP 9th)
-Financal Manager/VP at my religious center’s Sunday School during 10th (now paid)
-Vounteer (admin position) at nonprofit health clinic from end-10th to now (promoted to Co-Manager mid-11th)
-LINK Crew Leader at my school during 11th and 12th (promoted to Officer over LINK Crew end-11th)
-Initiated a school assembly celebrating diversity in 10th, current Director of the planning committee
-Member of a club that plans TOLO
-At-home responsibilities for caring for grandparents and younger siblings (bathing, feeding, administering meds, etc.) all throughout my life
-Volunteered at a couple medical conferences and symposiums here and there, but didn’t include this in my apps
-Internship at a prestigious medical school 9 hrs/wk, lab research on a personally relevant topic (both assisting with others’ projects and performing independent projects), started summer before 12th
-Internship at a well-known biomedical research organization 6 hrs/wk, assist in clinical research and observational trials for transplant patients, started fall of 12th

I didn’t join any science or STEM-related clubs because honestly it all seemed so pointless. Felt like everyone there was doing it to fluff their resume; absolutely hated the mentality. Even the three “clubs” (LINK, school asembly, TOLO) I were in at school were rather non-traditional (wanted to spend my limited time doing something I was interested in, so pursued my own opportunities in the community). My focus was all about positively impacting others, not really in participating in competitions or in awards. For that reason, I literally had like 2 awards on my apps. One for being an “honor” student at school, the other for getting my IB diploma. (Moral of my story: don’t worry about getting awards, publications, wins, etc. just to boost your college app, you don’t NEED them and it’ll add a lot of stress).

Also note that I don’t have any significant med-related activities until 11th. I remember during this process I was really stressed that other applicants had publications and national awards under their belt, whereas most of my extracurriculars focus on community service. You don’t need to be in a lab or volunteering at a hospital from the start of high school to be a successful applicant. Just make sure that your activities fit your narrative (mine is all about community service because that is my passion and focus, this is what I discussed primarily in my essays).

I think that’s everything I have to say. Hope this was helpful! Let me know if you have questions or input on choosing SMED/PLME.

2 Likes
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Sorry forgot to include some stuff -

GPA: 4.0 UW, school doesn’t do W

School Rank: N/A, honestly probably like 40/500

Teacher Recs: most likely good bc I had really strong relationships with them, but probably not stellar. None of them reallly understood what a BSMD program is, so they most likely just wrote whatever they felt like with limited time (each of my recs had like 30 others to write)

Personal info: POC (Tibetan/Desi/Middle Eastern), I think I’m technically ORM? F. Minority religion (discussed a little in essays bc relevant to my perception of community). Middle class, but income high enough that don’t receive much/any aid.

1 Like
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Hi Everyone _ relatively new to CC, I looked it up a few times before this, and the info I found here was valuable.
This is for my son. Asian Indian. male
We never had intention of BS\MD program till senior year even though he showed interest to be a physician. After seeing the pain for med school applications for my older son, we decided to try a few pgms. Our process was pretty haphazard. He lucked out in the end I think…

Rank: 2/580
SAT: 1570
Subject SAT: Math 800, Chem 790, Latin: 750
GPA: 4.0 unweighted
Aps :11 Taken 6 exams so far, all 5s
IB: 1
Won’t qualify for need based

ECs : 4 yr varsity cross country runner, 4th in state
Piano: 7 yrs
Tutoring algebra to underclassmen
Wind ensemble in band ( Frenchorn)
Worked at a restaurant over the summer

Medical related activities: 2 years volunteering in hospital over the summer
Shadowed: A doctor for a few weeks.
Science fair: first in state
Summer intern: animal hospital

Leadership: captain of cross country team
President of chemistry club
Treasurer : Mu Alpha Theta
Captain: Certamen club _ Latin
Vice President: geo mapping club
recommendations: one teacher shared it and it was very good
Essays _ was strong, he wrote about his running but tied in other activities too
Awards: National Merit finalist, STAR student ( one kid is selected per school), positive athlete award, book award for pi beta kappa.

Results:
Upitt GAP - rejected preinterview
UNiversity of Alabama BSMD _ Rejected pre-interview
Northwestern HPME - rejected pre interview
Boston University BSMD: rejected
CASE PPSP - ACCEPTED, with 1/2 scholarship for UG and 2500$ additional
Tulane: rejected
Brown PLME: ACCEPTED

UG:
Emory: Accepted, 10K scholarship
UNC Chapel hill : accepted
Duke: rejected
Washington u : wait-list
UPenn: rejected
Georgia tech: accepted
Stanford: rejected
UMiami: accepted

All I can say is the whole process is very gruelling and painful (but less painful than med school application) My son worked hard on his apps. And the decisions seemed v random to me. It’s v subjective based on essay…My advice is apply to more BSMD programs to increase your chances. (We didn’t)
He has 2 good choices and he is debating which is better…CASE PPSP and Brown PLME. Leaning toward Brown

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Congrats! I think PPSP and PLME are two of the hardest programs to get in, let alone some scholarship. What do you think that worked for your son, for these two programs?

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Thank you! I honestly don’t know… As you can see he got many rejects and waitlists. Forgot to add that he got a waitlist in Vanderbilt too.
My speculation: he is a diverse kid with many interests and this played well in Brown. His essay was also about many activities. In fall a prof from Brown reached out to him about Latin and their classic dept ( he got an AP 5 in Latin) and I think that helped him.
In Case: he did v well in the interview and he got positive signals during the interview itself.
I’m so glad it’s over, very happy ad relieved.

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@priapat thanks for these additional info

54

Wow, did not think Latin can be so useful and rewarding now a days like ancient Sanskrit language used in Indian Vedas/Upnishads/Other holy scriptures. .

55

Thank you for sharing you perspectives. Can you please share for Case, what were his essay themes also?

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Gentle Request: Do not make this thread as a discussion thread. Please use discussion thread of the current cycle for that purpose.

This request is to benefit exactly the same folks who are about to start their cycle in the future. Discussion thread runs in to 300 pages and you will find hard to search what you are looking. This thread is normally 20 pages and will give the glimpse of what enabled students to matriculate and not matriculate.

Thanks for your understanding and support.

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Hello, new to this forum - actually my first day. My daughter has been accepted into the 7 year program at RPI/Albany Medical. The email from Albany Medical was received last Thursday, April 2nd. RPI sent their email today. Can someone help with when we should expect any financial aid communication. Thank you in advance for your help.

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@Thnkfulparent Post in the discussion thread. This thread is only for results.

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/multiple-degree-programs/2143599-official-thread-for-2020-bsmd-applicants.html#latest

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@GoldenRock Thank you, will do.

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So here we go… posting for My D

Rank: school does not rank
GPA: unweighted- 3,99; weighted- 4.23

ACT: 35
SAT I : Did not take
SAT Bio Molecular: 800
SAT Math 2: 800
SAT Chem: 790
National Merit Finalist

AP’s taken as Sophomore and Junior : Seminar(5) Biology(5) Language and Comp(4), Chemistry(5), Psychology(5), US History(5),

AP’s taken senior year: Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Physics 1, Literature and Comp, Calculus BC, Spanish Language

Teacher/counselor recommendations: 2 extremely glowing ones, others were probably very good too

State: New York
Gender: F
Ethnicity: ORM
Income: >200k

Medical ECs:

  • Shadowed 4 physicians, 80 hours
  • Biomedical Engineering: The Smart Design of Medical Implants and Devices (Brown Pre-College), 45 hours
    -Hospital Volunteering, 250 hours

Other Community Service

  • Children’s Museum volunteering, 75 hours
  • Public Library, 50 hours
  • Traditional Indian Dance Teacher, 150 hours

Science Research more than 600 hrs:

  • sophomore Summer ICare Summer Research Program, 60 hours( summer before sophomore)
  • Junior Year Summer: Chemistry Project (8 weeks)
  • Senior Year Summer: Environmental Engineering Project ( 8 week)
  • took part in various research competitions and winner in some.

Other ECs:

  • Traditional Indian Dance (9-12)
  • Multicultural Club (President; 9-12)
  • School Tennis Team (9-12)
  • Science Olympiad Competitor (9-12), won competition state level
  • Online News Blog Secretary (9-12)

Major Awards/Honors

  • National Merit Finalist
  • Regional Semifinalist for the Lexus Eco Competition (X2)
  • Gold Medal Recipient at Math Fair
  • Silver Medal for National Spanish Exam

Essays:
I think could have been better specially why medicine. I think we lack story telling in why medicine essay.

Applied to the following programs:

  • TCNJ/NJIT/Stevens & NJMS → Interviewed at all three feeders → Interviewed at NJMS → ACCEPTED
    (TCNJ- Scholarship, NJIT- Scholarship, Stevens- Scholarship)
  • Hofstra: Interviewed–> rejected
  • Temple: Interviewed–> rejected
  • FAU: Interviewed–> alternate list(wait listed)
  • Northwestern HPME: received supplement–> rejected pre-interview
  • Drexel: received supplement–> rejected pre-interview
  • RPI/AMC: received supplement–> rejected pre-interview
  • Adelphi/SUNY Upstate- Interviewed at undergrad–> rejected
  • Case PPSP: rejected pre-interview
  • Boston: rejected pre-interview
  • Penn State: rejected pre-interview
  • Stony Brook: rejected pre-interview
  • University of Rochester: rejected pre-interview
    -Brown PLME rejected

Applied to the following undergrads:

  • Emory University: ACCEPTED (scholarship)
  • Georgetown University: ACCEPTED
  • Rice University: ACCEPTED (scholarship)
  • University of North Carolina: ACCEPTED
  • Northeastern University: waitlisted
  • Wesleyan University: waitlisted
  • University of Pennsylvania: waitlisted
  • Tufts University: waitlisted
  • Vanderbilt University: waitlisted
  • Johns Hopkins University: waitlisted
  • Duke University: rejected
  • Columbia University: rejected

Decision: TCNJ/NJIT/Stevens & NJMS!! (Still trying to decide undergrad between TCNJ or NJIT)

Reflection:
Wow , Finally we are done…what a stressful journey this was. Lots of ups and down for last 10 months. We started this journey with some higher expectation and that is why all these rejections were not so easy to make peace with. But now so glad and feel blessed that it is over, and we have one strong acceptance. We knew it is going to be hard, but this process is far more than just hard (not going to lie). In My D point of view this is the hardest thing she has done so far in her life. This process brings lots of self-doubts when you get rejection, you question your ability and hard work.
On positive note this process Definitely makes you strong (what does not kill you makes you stronger) and bring you one step close to being ready for Med school. Via all these interviews process my D learned lot. BSMD process showed My D even being competitive, hardworking and well qualified candidate is not enough. You need to do above and beyond to get what to want. Even then sometimes you do not get what you want.
Advice for future students:
BSMD process is not fare, no one knows what admission office are looking for. I advise to read all the past results and process threads. Plan ahead, start early, apply widely. Please do not take any rejections so personal. You only need one. When you get rejection please come back and read this results thread you will see all the applicants get lots of rejection. All the advises given in past and this thread are very valuable I am not going to repeat.
One advise wish I have gotten early that would been very helpful. Strategy. Strategy … This process also needs very good strategy to apply. If you apply with good plan and guidance you will have better results (no guarantee) .I know it is very sensitive topic ,I do not want to start any war on this topic if you disagree with me that is fine. This is just my two cent if people want to take it. My advice is (if finance is not problem) please invest in getting professional service or consultant who is well qualified in BSMD process (not just college app consultant) Who knows this process inside out. Who has read hundreds of BSMD essays, who knows which programs will have better chances for your geography area etc… We came to know someone very late during this process,. Even it was kind of late but it was helpful. My advice is to get help early. PM me if you want more info.

Wish all Senior… all the best as they start new journey enjoy your accomplishment ,you have work very hard and you well deserve it .Hope Covid 19 situation gets better and you get proper graduation ceremony .

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Deleting duplicate