BS/MD Results - Class of 2020

Pre-Med & Medical School Multiple Degree Programs
62

BSMD mom,

The acceptance and rejections to BSMD are crazy. Can’t believe the number of rejections pre-interview but then she into such good UG schools. Since you are out of state for NJMS, isn’t the better option to go to Rice or Emory with scholarship and expand your daughter’s options if she doesn’t like premed?

63

@2027dad
Agreed she did get into some great undergrads. Rice was very hard to let go as my D loved the school. Even Emory and Georgetown are Great school. But life is tread off. Being ORM We think it would be very hard to get in to med school without gap year if she would go to traditional route.

Personally we would rather save her energy and potential for Med school and the road ahead. We think this three year of undergrad ( NJIT and TCNJ) as kind of little breathing time . She will continue research, shadowing, other things and build her resume. Tristate area has abundance of opportunities she will continue to work hard. I give mental sanity and stress free life a very high priority. Specially now when physicians are really burned out.Having physician in family we know she will have some stress in her life( hope not alot) just trying to prevent what we can by going to stress free route.

64

Hello all - Please do not discuss here. We are attempting to keep this clean for only stats/perspective. For discussions, move to BS MD 2020 College Confidential discussions. Thank you for your cooperation!

65

Hello everyone,

I can’t believe I’m finally posting on here. The BS/MD application process was such a challenging, yet rewarding experience. My main reason for posting this is to prove that ORMs DON’T need perfect stats to get in to BS/MD programs. Here we go!

SAT: 1520 (1560 super scored)- 720 EBRW, 800M
SAT II: Chemistry-760, Math 2- 800, Bio- 800

GPA: 4.0 (uw), 4.43 W

APs: 12 total, 7 at time of application (all 5s)

Teacher Recs: Don’t know, but I assume they’re good. I maintained pretty close relationships with my teachers. One of my interviewers actually showed me my teacher recs, and said she was impressed by the compassion that came through in them :slight_smile:

ECs- won’t elaborate too much for privacy reasons, sorry!

Medical ECs:

  • 2 year summer program at urban children’s hospital
  • Volunteered at local hospital
  • Shadowed in small amounts, mostly with a pediatric surgeon
  • Pharmaceutical research at local college

Other meaningful ECs:

  • President of a nonprofit for mental health advocacy
  • President of school’s volunteering club (300+ members)
  • President and founder of a language club
  • President of a language honors society
  • 10+ years of swimming- club/ 4 year varsity
  • Freshman Mentor

Awards:

  • National Merit Scholar
  • State poetry competition bronze medalist
  • Silver award for national language exam
  • Local volunteer awards
  • 4 year varsity letter winner

Results:
Northwestern HPME- interviewed, ACCEPTED
Boston University SMED- interviewed, ACCEPTED w/ presidential scholarship
Temple HSP- interviewed, ACCEPTED w/ full ride
Union/AMC LIM- interviewed, ACCEPTED w/ presidential scholarship
NJIT/NJMS- interviewed, ACCEPTED w/ full ride
TCNJ/NJMS- interviewed, ACCEPTED
Stevens/NJMS- interviewed, ACCEPTED w/ scholarship
Hofstra 4+4- got interview, withdrew
Oklahoma MHSP- got interview, withdrew
Brown PLME, Rice/Baylor, UConn SPiM, Rutgers/NJMS, CWRU PPSP, Drexel, PSU/SKMC, GW/GW- rejected pre interview

UG schools:
UMich- accepted
GA Tech- accepted
OSU- accepted
Rice- accepted
Brown- waitlisted
MIT- deferred, rejected
Harvard- rejected

Decision: Northwestern HPME

Reflection:
It’s been quite the year! I’m still shocked by and grateful for all of the options I have. I’m so happy with my decision to go the direct route- the process of applying and interviewing has made me grow so much as a person. I’ve come out of this process as a more confident and poised version of myself.

Some of my advice:

  1. Apply Broadly- this process, for lack of better words, is a crapshoot. You never know where you’ll end up; it seems so random at times. Apply to programs of all “tiers”, and remember that it’s always okay to turn down some interviews.
  1. Don't "check the boxes"- this is probably my biggest piece of advice. Diversify your experiences and truly engage in activities you are passionate about. Yes, it's important to demonstrate interest in medicine, but it's equally as important to explore outside passions. This will give you a great story and a fulfilling high school experience. The activities I did were all out of genuine interest, and this is something that came through in my interviews. My interviewers took the most interest in my non-medical activities, and I think this helped a lot.
  2. Scores are important, but not THAT important- I remember going into this process feeling like I needed a 1550+ to get an interview. This brought on unwarranted anxiety and pressure, and I honestly wish I focused less on my stats. It is completely possible to get into top BS/MDs with relatively noncompetitive stats.
  3. Essays are SO important- I started in May, and wrote over 100 essays. I highly recommend starting early if you want a relatively stress-free fall semester. And don't be afraid to go outside the box with what you write (I had some very out-there essays)
  4. Have fun with your interviews- the process is much easier when you have fun with it! I made friends at my interviews that I am still in contact with, and I loved all of my interview experiences because of all the interesting, inspiring people I met
  5. Be confident and kind to yourself ALWAYS
66

Congratulations on NJMS. With these kind of stats and medical ECs, surprised at so many bs/md rejections. Even with regional preferences and one parent being a physician did not make much difference for some bs/md programs. This bsmd process is a crapshoot.
Good Luck at NJMS. Which UG are your leaning towards TCNJ/NJIT ?

67

Congratulations on NU HPME. You are certainly an exception to get into NU HPME with not so perfect stats. Even NJMS seems to be very picky about near perfect stats according to some posters on CC.

68

@grtd2010 With all due respect, I don’t think it’s appropriate to call someone who worked incredibly hard to get to where they are an “exception”

I don’t want to start a debate, but that is not a kind thing to say to a teen you don’t know.

2 Likes
69

If you want to become a physician, think twice before making a statement like that. Just some advice. That was not an insult at all.

1 Like
70

Hey guys I have a question. I got interviewed for the RPI/AMC BSMD program but I was placed on the “under consideration” list. This is my second time receiving that email but I am not sure what that means. Do my chances of getting in decrease? Will I be considered only after they fill all the seats?

71

He said it in a positive way, otherwise he could have said it was a fluke. General consensus is you need perfect stats otherwise you need to have something exceptional like service or essays.

72

Folks

Let’s move the discussion on the discussion thread.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/multiple-degree-programs/2143599-official-thread-for-2020-bsmd-applicants-p304.html

73

Congratulations! Great program. Focus on Org Chem sequence at NU - a few HPME students have stumbled in that course :slight_smile:

74

We did not succeed in getting any BSMD admission so not sure these results would be useful for any but posting

  1. To pay back to the forums which have been helpful during this journey
    2 ) To let people know that all cases do not have success in this journey. When I was going through BS/MD 2019 results thread last year, I got the impression that every one ended up with at least one BS/MD option. It was probably because only success cases were posted. Sharing our case to show that it is not case all the time and to help future applicants prepare differently.

ORM male

SAT: 1560 (one time in 9th summer)- 760 EBRW, 800M
ACT: 35 (one time in 10th summer)
SAT II: Chemistry-800 (one time in 10th summer), Math 2- 800 (one time in 9th summer)

GPA: 3.9 (uw), 4.47 W

Rank: School does not rank. Competitive school with 900+ class size so can’t be sure about the rank but expect to be in top 10%

APs: 11 total, 7 at time of application
Calc BC, Statistics, Comp Science, Biology, World History, US History (5)
Chemistry (4)
Senior Year - AP Micro & Macro Economics, AP Government & Politics, AP Physics, Multi Variable Calc

Teacher Recs: Don’t know but probably good.

Medical ECs:

  • Urgent Care volunteer at a local hospital from 10th grade (3 hrs a week for 250+ hours by the application time)
  • Volunteered at another hospital in summer (one day a week for 50 hours)
  • 2 weeks medical mission trip to Costa Rica
  • No research
  • No specific shadowing other than the glimpses during volunteering

Other ECs:

  • Robotics (Involved from elementary level. Leadership roles for all four years in HS. Many community service projects to promote STEM in this area)
  • Speech and Debate in HS- - Leadership roles for the last two years
  • Piano from 1st grade with all certification levels completed
  • Mentored middle school children to help them compete in science fair projects
  • Paid job to run summer camps to teach robotics for middle school children.

Awards:

  • AIME qualifier
  • National Merit Finalist
  • Speech and Debate awards
  • Robotics state level awards
  • Science Fair awards
  • Piano competition awards

Results:
Northwestern HPME, Brown PLME, Rice/Baylor
Boston U SMED- rejected pre interview- accepted to UG with 25K scholarship a year
CWRU PPSP - rejected pre interview- accepted to UG with 25K scholarship a year
UPitt - rejected pre interview- accepted to UG honors with 20K scholarship a year
Baylor/Baylor - rejected pre interview- accepted to UG with 21K scholarship a year
PSU/SKMC - rejected pre interview- accepted to UG

UG schools:
UMich - accepted
GA Tech - accepted
OSU - accepted
Wisconsin-Madison - accepted
UCs (UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCD, UCSB, UCSC, UCR) - accepted. UCI - waitlisted
UPenn - waitlisted

Decision: Still deciding

Reflection:
My DS had been interested in medicine but was never showed interest in the BSMD route. Even we thought traditional route would give him a more well rounded college experience so we did not bring it up a lot. In the beginning of his senior year, a family friend managed to convince him to give it a shot as he will get two chances to apply to med school (one as a HS senior through BSMD and second one as a traditional UG senior if the first option do not work out). It was his choice to apply for a selective few or go with the traditional route if BSMD option does not materialize. We are glad he tried though it did not work out eventually. The process helped him to grow him better as a person, to get a glimpse of what to expect in the four years and to know what to focus on in his UG years.

Although we cannot be certain about what was lacking in our application, here are a few that can be improved if we get to do this all over again.

  1. Aim for better UW GPA as it can only help.
  2. Plan better with medical ECs from 9th grade
  3. Finalize your college list by May of junior year so you will have ample time in the summer to prefect your essays. DS started with the application process late August which added a lot of stress with the senior year activities and did not leave much time to perfect his application.
  4. Apply broadly if it is important to land in a BSMD option.
2 Likes
75

Hola,

I am new to this forum and one of my parents has used this forum to gain insight into this excruciating process (of course it was worth it in the end). Here are my results and best of luck to everyone!

GPA
-4.00 Unweighted
-4.50 Weighted

Tests
-SAT: 1470 (1500 superscore)
-Math 2: 750
-Biology: 800
-US History: 730

AP’s: Euro, Chemistry, Calc AB, Lang, Biology, US, Physics 1, Human Geo, Environmental Science, Statistics, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Psychology, Literature

Letters of Recommendation: Don’t Know

State: California
Gender: M
Income: 200k+
Race: ORM

Medical Extracurriculars
Shadowed at university medical center for two weeks: ~80 hours
Research in biochem at local university for two summers: 100 hours
Shadowed two private practices: ~60 hours

Other Extracurriculars
Club Sport for 8+ years
Varsity High School Sport all Four Years and qualified for CIFs
National Honor Society (Club Officer)
2 Volunteer Clubs including starting one (Club Officer for both)
Science Olympiad (Club Officer)

Undergraduate Programs
UCLA - Accepted
UCSD - Accepted
UC Riverside - Accepted
Cal Poly SLO - Accepted
Cal Poly Pomona - Accepted
University of the Pacific - Accepted
Howard University - Accepted

BS/MD Programs
Hofstra - Rejected before interview
VCU - Rejected before interview
GW - Rejected before interview
Stevens/NJMS - Rejected before interview
University of Cincinnati: Rejected before interview
Rutgers/NJMS - Phone Interview, Rejected
Augusta - No interview, Rejected
UMKC - Interview, Rejected
Union/AMC - Interview, Rejected
SUNY Upstate: Interview, Accepted
SLU: No interview, Accepted

Decision: SUNY Upstate Medical University

1 Like
76

@BSMD%20mom, congratulations and all the best to you D. I am unable to PM you as I am a new member. Can you please PM me? Thanks.

77

Posting for my D.

So here we go… posting for My D. She is not too crazy about me posting but I thought it will offer some insight for future applicants.

ORM

SAT: 1570 (one attempt)
SAT II: Chemistry-790, Math 2- 790, Spanish <700

GPA: 96 (uw), 103 (rounded)

APs: 10 total, 5 at time of application (all 5s)

Teacher Recs: Don’t know, this and essays are big variables for us. Although she maintained a very good relationship with all of them.

Our school doesn’t rank, but a competitive school. Probably in top 10.

ECs- won’t elaborate too much for privacy reasons.

Medical ECs:

  • Research at local hospital since Sophomore year few hours every week
  • Shadowed in small amounts.
  • Mini med school at George Town, Summer program at BU in Psychology
  • Officer for Red cross

Other meaningful ECs:

  • Volunteered for a school of underprivileged kids online 9-12
  • Founded a club for Public speaking with another friend
  • Varsity tennis player
  • 10+ years of Indian dancing
  • Taught dance for kids since Freshman year
  • A year long local leadership program (on weekends)
  • SHP at columbia for 2 years

Awards:

  • National Merit Scholar
  • National honors society (Spanish)
  • NHS for school
  • 3 year varsity letter winner

Applied to the following programs:

  • TCNJ/NJIT/& NJMS → Interviewed at both feeders → Interviewed at NJMS → Rejected
    ( NJIT- Scholarship, )
  • Northwestern HPME: received supplement–> rejected pre-interview (UG rejected)
  • Boston: rejected pre-interview
  • Penn State: rejected pre-interview
  • GW/GW: rejected pre interview UG with Presidential scholarship
  • UPitt GAP: rejected pre interview. UG Honors with scholarship .

Applied to the following undergrads:

  • University of MIchigan - ACCEPTED
  • University of North Carolina (UNC) - ACCEPTED
  • Emory University: Waitlisted
  • UVA deferred and rejected
  • University of Pennsylvania: rejected
  • Duke University: rejected
  • Columbia University: rejected

Decision : University of Michigan.

Few thoughts: Probably essays didn’t deliver as we expected specially Why medicine. But again she gave her best in the entire process which is what matters. We were really surprised to get rejected from NJMS since both the feeder school interviews went really well. Apparently no one from our HS got accepted for NJMS. I guess the interview didn’t go as well as it should have been, few curve balls, but who knows. It was definitely disappointing not to land with a BSMD option. I don’t know what else she could have done ?!? I guess too many qualified players.

D didn’t really want to apply to any other BSMD programs other than those listed. I feel like if we had applied to few more our chances would have been better. But if she didn’t really want to , then no point. She always wanted a great UG experience and a big school which is why we chose UM. We are ready for traditional route and in a way it opens up more options for her and still providing a quintessential college experience. I guess we have to make most with what we have on hand. Onwards and upwards.

2 Likes
78

This is no reflection on your D’s abilities and/or achievements. There seems to be a trend here - She had better outcome from public schools/universities ( NJMS being an exception here) than private universities inspite of having great Stats. Are you from NJ ? It seems that NJMS does not give any preference to NJ residents for bsmd. Probably, NJMS should give preference to NJ residents in bsmd selection process IMHO. Shubh Managal (Good Luck) to your D.

1 Like
79

Hello, new CC member but longtime lurker here. Was accepted to Baylor2 yesterday and accepted the offer. Hoping to find the others that got in and maybe find a roommate or at least know some people before the first day of school. Message me on reddit (same username). I can also answer questions about the program/process.

1 Like
80

@fp2028 & all others -

This forum is for stats/perspectives only. Please share your details.

For messages/comments/feedback etc. please use Official Thread for 2020 BSMD applicants

81

@“BSMD mom” Congratulations!

Based on your post, I wanted to PM you and get the Consultant’s name. My son is junior and is interested in BSMD program but with the current situation not sure how things will turn out. Since I am a new member, I couldn’t PM you. Any help will be appreciated a lot.