Thoughts on how many shadowing hours needed
@manjitkaur there is not a definite shadowing number as admission requirements. Being entire profile in balance, ~25, +/-10 hours is suffice. As usual if there is a weakness in one part of application, you may want to strengthen other parts of application. In general, BS/MD programs looks for well round applicant, too much imbalance is also not desirable.
Hi all! I know I’m kind of late to posting results, but I used CC all throughout the college process and thought I would share my results to give back and help future applicants:
SAT I: 1550 (Math: 800, Reading: 750)
SAT II: Chemistry- 770, Math 2- 790, Bio (M) - 780
GPA: 96.35/100
My school did not rank but for what it’s worth my class size was < 75 and I’m fairly certain I was in the top 5
AP: I took AP Calc BC at the time of applying but didn’t have any other APs before then. My school did not offer any besides Calc BC.
Medical Activities:
- Active EMT on local EMS squad for 2 years
- Attended selective, medically focused vocational high school
- Hospital rotations with school (every week for a marking period we would go to a different department of the local hospital, ~20 hours total)
- Shadowed inpatient physical therapist at hospital (~70 hours total)
- Shadowed neurosurgeon at hospital OR and private practice office (~110 hours total)
- HOSA member for 2 years and participated in annual competition cycle both years
Other meaningful ECs:
- Attended honors program of a music school in a nearby city on Saturdays all 4 years of high school where I was concertmaster of the orchestra, played as 1st violinist in chamber music groups all 4 years, and took advanced music classes (i.e. theory and ear training)
- Attended summer music festivals in Europe and US
- Co-founded violin quartet which performed for senior citizen homes and was successful in several competitions
- Gave volunteer solo violin concerts and performances at local church and senior citizen homes
- Taught violin to underprivilaged children
- Tutored at school in anatomy, chemistry, biology, and physics
- Produced hip-hop instrumentals, worked on classical/hip-hop hybrid music form
Awards:
- 2nd place in state-wide HOSA parliamentary procedure competition (president of a team of 7)
- 1st place in regional HOSA medical terminology competition
- 3rd place in state-wide HOSA medical terminology compeitition
- 4th plade in national HOSA medical terminology competiton
- Music school concerto competition winner (prize was playing as a soloist with the school’s orchestra)
Male, caucasion
Income: not qualified for need-based aid
Applied to following BS/MD programs:
Brown PLME – rejected at program and UG
George Washington – rejected pre-interview accepted UG ($25,000/yr merit)
Northwestern HPME – recieved app → rejected pre-interview and UG
Pitt GAP – recieved app → rejected pre-interview accepted UG HC ($15,000/yr merit)
URochester REMS – interview → waitlisted → ACCEPTED ($22,000/yr merit)
Stevens IT/NJMS - rejected pre-interview accepted UG ($33,500/yr merit)
Applied to following UG schools:
State school – ACCEPTED with HC
Dartmouth – waitlisted → withdrawn
Stanford - waitlisted → ACCEPTED
Duke - rejected
UVA - waitlisted → ACCEPTED
UMiami - ACCEPTED
Johns Hopkins University - rejected
UNC - rejected
Decision: URochester REMS!
Reflection: Going into this cycle I knew that I was a completely different type of applicant. Despite what people say about the “typical successful BS/MD applicant” I didn’t do a single bit of research, didn’t go after leadership positions at my school besides some tutoring and academic team (nothing really major), and didn’t participate in any sports apart from the occasional pickup basketball game. In a nutshell, my entire application was centered around how being a conservatory level violinist has shaped me and the way I view the world and that I want to combine music and my fascination for medicine to understand how music affects the brain. Of course, I had enough medical experiences for BS/MD programs to back up that I know what being a doctor and caring for patients is like, but the vast majority of my application was about my extensive experiences related to the violin/music.
For anyone curious about my strategy when applying: I only applied to BS/MD programs and UGs that I actually wanted to attend. I know this sounds obvious but I know so many people who shotgunned every single BS/MD and T20 they could find regardless of if they could see themselves there. For example, I personally didn’t like Penn State’s med program and therefore didn’t apply even though it’s a BS/MD program. Same with a school like Harvard, I just couldn’t see myself there (even if by some miracle I got in) so I didn’t apply.
But anyways, from my results it’s clear that some programs did not value my different, very focused type of application or maybe I just got unlucky (these programs are extremely competative after all). However, it only took one program that believed in me to work out. I will say that I have had a connection to REMS since the beginning of the application cycle (besides loving the program I know a doctor at Rochester’s hospital and I went to campus for an interview early on), so I knew that if I was getting into a BS/MD program, it would be REMS. With a huge stroke of luck I landed an interview and I honestly worked my ass off to nail it, so I was very disappointed when I was waitlisted.
It’s funny how things can change so quickly, though. I committed to my state’s flagship honors college literally the day before I got off of the waitlist for REMS. About 2 weeks later I was also accepted into Stanford off of the waitlist which was awesome (I’m the first person in my school’s history to be waitlisted or accepted there ?). All of a sudden I was in the wonderful but at the same time difficult dilemma of deciding between some of the best UG and BS/MD options: Stanford is a top 5 UG and REMS is arguably a top 5 BS/MD program. I was admittedly very swayed by the Stanford name, but in the end REMS was just too good to pass up for the points that were important to me. I get a guaranteed seat in a top med school EVEN IF I APPLY OUT (an often overlooked perk), basically personalized medical mentoring since there are only about 10 people in a REMS class (8 in mine), and I will be treated like a person rather than just another number. To wrap things up, I’m extremely grateful that I had such amazing options to choose from even if it was crazy delayed gratification (probably due to COVID but who cares, I got in). Never doubt yourself because things can literally change with one phone call.
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xbmw2002 - Congratulations! on your admission to UofR REMS. Its an excellent program!
Thank you @Vicky2019 much appreciated!!
Congratulations on UOR bsmd and Stanford admission. You seem to be a graduate of a county Health Academy school in NJ ( a class size < 75 is a give away ??). Not many apply to Stanford from the health academy schools.
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@grtd2010 Thank you! I’m really not sure about the Stanford thing, I don’t have any numbers that would confirm that not many people apply. Maybe you are right but I will still celebrate my admission!
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Sure, you should celebrate. Most students apply to nearby states around NE from health academy high schools IMO.
You may also want to keep it as a memoir for the future, perhaps laminated or framed or something like that :-).
Apparently some student or alumnus of Penn State/Jeff who was the key note speaker of the open house or orientation or some event like that was showing off his admission letter from MIT which he had let go to choose that program! 
@rk2017 Absolutely! I’m not the type to brag about it, but I will definitely keep the letter for the future.
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How did you manage to apply and keep track of all colleges. Common app allows only 20 applications. Any suggestions. my daughter planning to apply more than 20 applications.
My son splits his applications between common and coalition websites.
He has a running excel sheet with multiple columns- due dates, required materials, college specific logins, fin aid reqs and dates, etc.
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thank you this is very helpful
My D is applying to Stony Brook BS/MD program. Can any one suggest which of the two honors program is a better choice at Stony Brook if you want to get into their BS/MD:
WISE program OR University Scholars program?
Thank you to everyone on this forum, being a first timer posting in this forum for my S, I hope I can get some advice and help from everyone here has been extremely useful. In the below text I refer to my S.
Question: After reading several postings here in this BS/MD forum and looking at BS/MD results posted here in the past, I thought I better apply to additional BS/MD programs to cast a bit wider net. Being CA resident, I am OOS for almost all colleges located outside CA. Please suggest 2-3 additional BS/MD programs that are good ones and still accepting applications. Appreciated. Hope it’s not too late in the game.
GPA: 3.95 UW, 4.45 W
SAT: 1570
ACT: not taken
Math 2: 800
Chemistry: 790
Biology - Molecular: 800
AP’s: 12 to date.
Rank: School discontinued ranking.
Teacher / Counselor Recommendations: 3, hopefully they’re good!
State: CA
Gender: M, Asian
Income: >180k
Medical ECs:
Published 4 Research Papers to date.
Shadowing in doctors/physicians : 100+ hours.
Volunteered at a local hospital since 10th grade : 70+ hours.
Other Volunteers hours for various organizations: 500+ hrs to date
Relevant Awards/Honors:
Received Regional/national-level Brain Bee awards
Received few other community service awards
Applied to the following BS/MD Programs:
Baylor - Accepted undergrad with Presidential Scholarship; Rejected for BS/MD.
CNU - Accepted BS/MD.
CWRU - No decision on interview yet.
BU - No decision on interview yet.
Hofstra - No decision on interview yet.
U of Rochester REMS - No decision on interview yet.
Applying to the following BS/MD Programs:
Brown
???
???
???
Applied to following UG programs:
U of Chicago: Deferred to Regular Admission/Early Decision 2.
Duke: No decision on interview yet.
Vanderbilt: No decision on interview yet.
UCs (6 of them): Application is being reviewed.
USC: Application is being reviewed.
U of San Diego (Private): Application is being reviewed.
U of Nevada - Reno: Accepted.
Applying to following UG programs:
Stanford
John Hopkins
U of the Pacific (private)
U of San Francisco (private)
Decision: Don’t know yet! Maybe in March/April I will know.
Thanks in advance for responding to my question on additional BS/MD programs I can apply.
We are using Common and Coalition
Looking back, do u think being an EMT was quality EC? Can any h.s. student apply to become an EMT?
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Could you give some advice on the virtual interview? I am in the process of preparing and am unsure of what to expect. Thank you!
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