BS/MD Results - Fall 2021 cycle

Pre-Med & Medical School Multiple Degree Programs
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All

Please keep this thread only for results, stats and perspectives.

All wishes, discussions, comments, - please post it on the discussion thread.

Link on my post #27.

For one-on-one discussion, please DM that person.

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delete

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Hi!! I’m curious, where did he highlight his struggles freshman year on his application?

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My DD has made a decision to go with Rice for Pre Med.
Her stats
GPA 3.9, 102 on scale of 100 as her school does it.
SAT 1500 (Taken only once)
ACT 36(Taken only once)
11 APs (4’s and 5’s)
Rank 30/675
Research projects 2, one with Dell Med School which culminated in publishing a paper in a Cardiology journal, 1 with Cleveland clinic, it is ongoing.
Founder and president of 2 Non profit organizations running successfully for last 4 years with legit healthcare work and certifications for high schoolers and Adults.
Volunteer hours- over 1500 over 4 years
Physician Shadowing- 30 hours only- due to COVID
Piano - State champion for 3 years- years in piano 13 years
Dance- National team and chair at National level organization- Years in dance- 13 years
Work -Teacher at Kumon for 2 years
Various leadership positions at local religious organizations for four years

Applied to-
UH biomedical honors- accepted with full ride
A&M- Pre med and combined BSMD- Accepted to only UG with full ride.
UT Dallas- pre Med- Accepted with full ride and Stipened
Baylor- combined BSMD- Accepted to only UG with full ride
UT Austin- Pre med- Accepted (Waitlisted for Dean’s scholar)
Rice- BSMD, Pre Med- Accepted to UG only with half tuition ride
Penn State- BSMD Rejection post interview, accepted to only UG
Case Western- BSMD- Accepted to UG only
BU- BSMD- rejected
Brown PLME- Rejected
JH- UG rejected
Debated between Rice and UT Austin. Decision made for Rice for the following reasons
Great research opportunities with 13 hospitals across from Rice, they have given her work study research already on campus, half tuition covered, very helpful admissions office and student community, positive feedback from past and current students and parents. Down side they do not have very strong dance teams that she wants to join compared to UT Austin. Social life muted compared to UT Austin.
Down side for UT Austin- even though that was her dream campus, rude email from admission office, big student body with limited resources, current pre med senior said health advising office not helpful at all. She will surely miss living in Austin, but at the same time she has a lot of friends going there so she will have no restrictions to attend social events at Austin campus with friends. Its 2 hours drivable distance.
Hope this is helpful to future students.

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Posting stats for my DD
4.0 GPA, 4.74 unweighted.

Class Rank: consistently in top 5% every semester per award given, but school does not rank

SAT: 1590 PSAT: 1520 (100%)

Subject SATs: Math: 800, Bio: 790, Chem: kept getting canceled, didn’t take

APs: 15 I think, standard ones, 12 5s, 3 4s

Ethnicity: ORM, no hooks, no favorable conditions

ECS: School initiatives, leadership roles in school and external clubs/organizations including journals and social activism. No Science Olympiad or such, no national level awards, but did extensive medical ECs since middle school that demonstrated a continued increase of interest and engagement in medicine.

Sports: Cheer at high school and dance since elementary school

Volunteering: extensive hospice activities since middle school, including non-profit leadership.

Essays: I read the common app essay and the main ones like Why BSMD, and she was very specific about medicine and her passions. I told her she would likely be rejected for fit at certain schools and she said that was better than finding out there wasn’t a fit after going there.

Recos: Likely very good cos she is well-liked by her school and teachers.

Applied to almost every single BSMD program out there that CA residents can apply to, along with many UCs, Stanford and USC

UGs: All UCs applied except Berkeley (waitlisted), USC. We didn’t rest track UG admissions to BSMDs
BSMDs: UConn (waitlisted), CNU, UCF, UMKC, W&J-Temple, Oklahoma University, Upstate, PSU-SKMC, BU SMED
Rejected: Brown PLME, pre-interview: Temple-Temple, Rowan-Cooper, Stonybrook, VCU, UAB, GW/GW, RPI/AMC, SBU/GW, CWRU, Pitt GAP, Hofstra, NJMS, Rice-Baylor, post-interview: FAU
DD Declined Interview: Drexel, U of Tulsa

Reflections:
DD started her application process in August as soon as school started. It would not have been possible for her to apply so widely without exceptional support from her high school and her counselor. We did not need to help her, hire external counselor, nor was my daughter flustered or stressed. She was so happy and on top of it that it was surreal, especially through CoVid.

Decision:
She loved both PSU and BU, and if Oklahoma had come through in time, that would have been a strong contender too. She felt PSU community seemed less stressed but chose BU because it required a minor that she could pursue in her area of passion, had both UG and SOM in same area, and BU seniors made themselves readily available for help and advice. BU SMED!!

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Posting with my son’s consent:

GPA: 4.0 no weighting at school

Class Rank: NA; Class Size 557

ACT: 36 (1 sitting). SAT: not taken

SAT Subject Tests: Chemistry: 800, Math 2: 800

AP’s (at time of application):
5 - Biology, Calculus AB and BC, CS Principles, US History, European History
4 - Chemistry, Computer Science A, Spanish Lang

Dual enrollment in college courses at flagship state school 11th, 12th grade - GPA 4.0 Honors Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Multivariable Calculus, Computer Science

Teacher / Counselor Recs: Not seen

State: Midwest

Gender: M

Ethnicity: Overrepresented Minority (ORM)

Income: does not qualify for financial aid

Awards:

  • Red Cross Leadership scholarship
  • State awards for violin and piano yearly during high school
  • National Merit Semifinalist (at the time of application, eventually Finalist/Scholar)
  • AP Scholar with Distinction (10-11); National AP Scholar (11)
  • Spanish National Honor Society
  • ACS U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad, 2nd Place in State
  • National Honor Society

Major ECs:

  • Violinist in school, city, and state orchestras. Played in chamber groups and electric string band
  • Piano - 10+ years
  • Tennis - Varsity team — 4 years, captain senior year

Community Service:

  • Worked at a food bank packaging food to give out during COVID19 pandemic
  • Shopped and delivered groceries weekly to elderly neighbors during COVID19

Medically related activities:

  • Volunteered at a local hospital and a free clinic
  • Research at state flagship university over several years in radiation oncology and mental health with a publication on mental health
  • Blood Drive Coordinator with National Honor Society and American Red Cross - organized, publicized, and conducted four (at the time of application) blood drives

Mentoring/ Teaching:
Tutored one middle school student in Algebra and Geometry.

Applied to the following BS/MD Programs:

  1. PennState / Jefferson - interviewed - ACCEPTED
  2. BU SMED - interviewed - ACCEPTED
  3. UMKC - interviewed - ACCEPTED
  4. Case Western PPSP - interviewed - ACCEPTED with scholarships totaling $35,000/yr x 4 years
  5. Temple/Temple - rejected pre-interviewed (accepted undergrad)
  6. UPitt GAP - received supplement application, rejected pre-interviewed (accepted undergrad, honors)
  7. U Rochester - rejected pre-interview (accepted undergrad, $20,000 scholarship)
  8. Rice/Baylor - rejected pre-interview (accepted undergrad)
  9. Brown PLME - rejected (rejected undergrad)
  10. GW/GW - rejected pre-interview (accepted undergrad, $25,000/yr x 5 years scholarship)
  11. OU - rejected pre-interview (accepted undergrad, NMF scholarship)

Applied to the following undergraduates:

  1. Harvard - REA - waitlisted, withdrew
  2. Michigan - accepted early action
  3. Flagship state university - accepted early action
  4. Northwestern - waitlisted, withdrew
  5. Tulane - rejected

DECISION: Case Western PPSP, but he would have been happy at any of the other BS/MD programs

Reflection:
He thought that his application, especially extracurriculars and stats, wasn’t nearly as impressive as many of his friends at school. He felt what made his application strong was that he could reflect on his extracurriculars, why he loved them, and what he learned from them in his essays.

Practice interviews. He was happy that every BS/MD that granted him an interview accepted him. He prepared using questions from the Student Doctor Network (SDN) and a book on medical school interviews. He knew the interviewers would ask about his activities. To keep the conversation interesting, he had stories to tell that were different from what he wrote in his essays, but still conveyed messages similar to his essays. We helped him practice, and it was fun to hear him analyze what he found fulfilling over high school. He tried to figure what’s important to the colleges granting interviews and try to convey how he represents those aspects. Often, the school’s mission statement helped him identify what the school was looking for in students.

Other parents have mentioned it as well
if finance is not a problem, consider investing in a college consultant who knows the process. We picked someone local but only met her virtually given COVID19. Our counselor was terrific. She helped him stay grounded and organized. She was a great motivator and cheerleader for him. She pushed him to keep working on his essays whereas I didn’t know better and thought they were great with the first draft. She also suggested scholarships in our area and encouraged him to apply successfully.

We have learned so much from this forum! Thank you, everyone, especially the senior parents and current students who supported us through this process. Good luck, future applicants!

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Long-time lurker here. This forum has been helpful.
Posting for my niece

GPA: 4.0
ACT: 35
SAT II Math: 800 ; Chem: 800

Teacher recs: Not seen but close to teachers
State: East Coast
Ethnicity: ORM
Income: does not qualify for financial aid

Awards

  • National merit finalist
  • AP Scholar with distinction
  • National Honor Society
  • Science Olympiad
  • Science Fair

ECs

  • EMT
  • Shadowing - curtailed due to COVID
  • medical volunteering - curtailed due to COVID
  • non-medical volunteering - curtailed due to COVID
  • research
  • tutoring - Kumon
  • Music

Leadership

  • School Council Treasurer
  • Club Secretary

Applied to following BS/Md programs

  1. TCNJ, NJIT, Rutgers / NJMS - interviewed - ACCEPTED with scholarship
  2. Hofstra - interview - ACCEPTED with scholarship
  3. Drexel - interview - withdrew
  4. FAU - interviewed - waitlisted
  5. VCU - interviewed - rejected
  6. Pitt - received supplement - rejected preinterview; accepted to undergrad with scholarship
  7. PennState/SKMC - rejected preinterview; accepted to undergrad with scholarship
  8. Case - rejected preinterview; waitlisted undergrad
  9. Rochester - rejected preinterview; accepted to undergrad with scholarship
  10. Brown - rejected
  11. Upstate - rejected
  12. Stonybrook - rejected; accepted to undergrad
  13. BU - rejected; accepted to undergrad with scholarship
  14. RPI/AMC - rejected; accepted to undergrad

Regular undergrad
Accepted to Emory, Georgetown and UNC.
Waitlisted Penn and Vandy

Decision: TCNJ/NJMS

Reflection:
To future parents/ students:

  • Let a parent spend time on this forum. Being here itself can cause anxiety but it is a good support network. One good thing we did was to avoid having my niece visit this forum. I was a lurker here and guidance from senior members here helped a lot. Though at times the conversation here went on a tangent, it helped us a lot.
  • The process is grueling. There were times where we lost faith and questioned everything. Be prepared for times when you doubt yourselves. It is natural but the key to stay grounded and focused.
  • We were fortunate to have 5 interviews; we were accepted at 2, withdrew from 1, waitlisted at 1 and rejected at 1. My niece is introverted and I think that hurt us in some interviews.
  • Letters of recommendations are important. Make sure your school counselor and teachers know you well so that they can write good recommendation letters.
  • Essays - if you can afford it, get external counselor. We benefited greatly.
    I believe we owe our success to the guidance we received from our couselor. Not only he but his team were fully behind us. We had similar ECs as most kids and in a large public school, we were unsure about the letters of recommedations. But our counselor really made us think through and challenged us. He guided us with conversations we needed to have with our school counselor and teachers. He talked about meaningful touchpoints. Our essays - especially the common app and why medicine - were reviewed by multiple counselors in his team and went through multiple iterations before we collectively felt comfortable with our essays. The difference between our kind of final draft which they reviewed versus the ones we submitted was stark. They were fully transparent. They hand holded us where needed and helped us stay grounded when we were losing hope.
  • Success or failure: This process is unpredictable and success or failure does not reflect the capabilities of your kid. A lot of it is just luck.
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GPA: 4.7
SAT- test-optional (lower than average accepted students)

Teacher recs: Not seen but got one from science and research teachers (amazing rec from counselor)
State: East Coast
Ethnicity: Non-caucasian
Income: middle-class

Awards
*award for advancing diversity within my community

ECs

  • dancer (began in high school)
    -mental health advocacy (leader in two school orgs)
    -research in performing arts medicine (in and outside of school)
    -volunteered at Hopkins over the summer of sophomore year
    -volunteered/shadowed at physical rehab center
    -tutor younger students
    -lead mentorship club

Leadership
-run my own non-profit

Applied to following BS/Md programs

  1. GW/GW: accepted
    2.Pitt Gap: accepted
  2. Syracuse/Upstate: accepted
  3. VCU GMED: accepted

Regular undergrad
Accepted to- Northeastern, Ohio State, GW, UVA, Wake Forest, UMD
Waitlisted- Boston U

Decision: Pitt GAP

Reflection:
I never planned on applying to BS/MD programs. However, I decided to take chance thinking “why not.” I really surprised that I got accepted into all of them. I think what made me stand out was that I created a narrative with how my life experiences and current activities make me who I am and motivate me to want to pursue medicine. I highly recommend that you just do what you love because that’s what they are going to ask you in the interviews (my Pitt interview barely asked me about medicine). Also, when it comes time to write supplements, connect yourself to the school and what it can offer you. I am interested in health policy so that’s how I connected myself with GW. Honestly do not know why I was selected to each of these programs but I know who I am was what they thought about first, what I plan on doing in medicine second, and my academic resilience third. Best of luck!

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Congratulations on Pitts GAP. Future applicants do not count on BSMD programs being test-optional. Please prepare and take SAT/ACT, IMO.

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Great reflections. Whether it’s BSMD or traditional path, ECs and essays are key to success once you have the stats above 75 percentile. Some schools like Pitt expect perfect/near perfect stats (except this test optional year) though.

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GPA: 3.96 (UW), 4.54 (W) at the time of application

Rank: top 2% of class
SAT: 1550 (single sitting - did not submit)
ACT: 36 (single sitting)
SAT Subject Math 2: 800
SAT Subject Bio M: 800
Area: GA
Gender: F
Income: Not eligible for need based aid

Advance Placement and Dual Enrollment courses: 17 APs (mostly 4s and 5s) and 2 DE at State University.

12 APs (at the time of application) plus 5 APs during senior year
Freshman, Sophomore, Junior Years-
AP World History, AP Biology, AP Physics 1, AP Psychology, AP Computer Science Principles, AP Lang, AP Calculus BC, AP US History, AP Human Geography, AP Computer Science A, AP Seminar, AP Calculus AB

Senior Year -
AP Lit, AP Statistics, APES, AP Research, AP Chemistry

Teacher / Counselor Recommendations: Don’t know, hopefully they’re good.
Essays: Pretty good. She worked hard on them.

Awards:
-20+ Science Olympiad Awards at different levels
-PVSA (Gold)
-National Merit Finalist
-National AP scholar
-Won many debate championships
-Few others

Medically Related Activities:
-Cancer Research (400 hours) at state university
-Volunteering (350 hours)
-Medical Shadowing (100 hours) – 3 different specialties

Non-Medical ECs -
-Several Leadership positions in school clubs, including honor societies, both as President and VP.
-Leadership positions outside school.
-Founder of a school club
-Member of other clubs and honor societies

Applied to the following BS/MD Programs:

  1. BU SMED 7yr BA/MD – Interview – ACCEPTED
  2. Penn State PMM 7yr BS/MD – Interview - ACCEPTED
  3. RPI/AMC PSP 7yr BS/MD - Interview – ACCEPTED
  4. TCNJ/NJMS 7yr BS/MD - Supplement received - Interview - ACCEPTED
  5. NJIT/NJMS 7yr BS/MD – Interview - ACCEPTED
  6. FAU BSMD – Interview - ACCEPTED
  7. Augusta 7 yr BS/MD – Supplement received – ACCEPTED
  8. USF - ACCEPTED
  9. VCU GAP 8yr BS/MD – Interview – Declined Interview (UG - accepted)
  10. Brown PLME – Rejected (UG – Waitlisted)
  11. OU MHSP – Rejected Pre-interview (UG - accepted)
  12. GW 7 yr BA/MD – Rejected Pre-interview (UG - accepted)
  13. Rochester REMS - Rejected Pre-interview (withdrew from UG)
  14. Case PPSP - Rejected Pre-interview (UG - accepted)
  15. UAB EMSAP – Rejected Pre-interview (UG - accepted)

Applied to the following undergraduate schools:

  1. GA Tech – ACCEPTED
  2. University of Florida – ACCEPTED
  3. UGA - ACCEPTED
  4. Johns Hopkins – Waitlisted
  5. Vanderbilt – Waitlisted
  6. Harvard – Deferred - Rejected

DECISION: BU SMED 7yr BA/MD
Reflection –

We are very honored with all the acceptances that my D has received. We began the process not expecting even 1 acceptance. After reading the results threads for the last couple of years we didn’t think that my D’s profile matched the kids who were accepted into the BSMD programs and to top that this year was beyond challenging with extreme low acceptance rates. Here is what we observed through our experience.

First of all, essays are very important. My D started writing back in May and ended up writing 100+ essays. They will take a lot of effort and it is okay to scrap them and start over multiple times. From our experience, we’ve learned that essays make or break your application since the entire applicant pool is extremely competitive in terms of the stats. Make sure your essays are formatted in an interesting way (simple plain essays do not work). My D formatted her essays like stories, because admissions officers read so many essays that nothing plain will stick out to them.

After the essays, you have to emphasize interviews. My D’s communication skills have always been good, and so she worked on perfecting her responses by reading online websites, watching videos, practicing questions so that she would be prepared. We think her interviews ready stood out as she got into every program she interviewed for. All the practice gave her confidence on what she needed to say and how to say it, and confidence really sells in the interviews. The interviewer isn’t really looking for a right or wrong answer, they’re looking for how you convey it.

And lastly, once you have your acceptances and rejections, don’t think about why something happened or why something didn’t happen. My D got accepted into top programs and rejected pre interview for a lot of lower tier ones. Don’t waste your time wondering why it went one way or the other because most of the time, it’s super random and a lot of it is based on chance. For these programs, all the applications are so good that the admissions officers have to be subjective and there may not be a reason they rejected you except for the fact that they just cannot select every good applicant and the process is really a lottery. So there’s no point stressing at any point throughout this process.

Good Luck to everyone!

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@rk1235rk Congratulations on BU SMED. Best of luck to your D.

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Posting for my D:
GPA: 4.0 (UW) and 4.83 (W)

Class Rank: N/A at D’s school

ACT: 35

SAT: 1560

Subject Tests: 770 Bio M, 780 Chemistry, 780 Math II

National Merit Scholar

AP Exams at time of application:

5s on Government, Comp. Sci. Principles, US History, Statistics, BC Calculus, Psychology, English Literature

4 on Spanish

IB Exams at time of application:

6 on Psychology SL, 7 on Spanish SL

Teacher/Counselor Recs: very strong, D’s teachers liked her a lot

Gender: F

Race: ORM

Awards: various awards for both science projects and essay submissions

Major ECs: classical singing and dance, debate (captain in senior year), HOSA (leadership role in senior year)

Volunteering: local hospital and senior center work

Medically related activities: shadowing at a cardiovascular hospital in India, immunology research on an Armed Forces base, local physician/surgery shadowing

Mentoring/Teaching: started a peer mentorship program, tutored for SAT/ACT locally

Applied to the following BS/MD Programs:

BU → Interviewed → ACCEPTED

FAU → Interviewed → ACCEPTED

RPI/AMC → Interviewed → ACCEPTED

VCU → Interviewed → ACCEPTED

TCNJ-NJMS → Interviewed → ACCEPTED

NJIT-NJMS → Interviewed → ACCEPTED

Rutgers-NJMS → Interviewed → ACCEPTED

Drexel → Interviewed → ACCEPTED

UCF → ACCEPTED

Sophie Davis → Interviewed → Waitlisted

Hofstra → Interviewed → Rejected BSMD

Temple-Temple → Interviewed → Rejected BSMD

Case Western → Rejected BSMD

GW-GW → Rejected BSMD

Penn State → Rejected BSMD

SBU-GW → Rejected BSMD

UPitt → Rejected BSMD

University of Oklahoma → Rejected BSMD

Upstate (through Purchase) → Rejected BSMD

REMS → Rejected BSMD

UAB → Rejected BSMD

Stony Brook → Rejected BSMD

Brown → Rejected PLME

DECISION: TCNJ-NJMS

Reflection from D:

This was definitely a really long, drawn-out process. Having worked hard for many years to set myself up to apply to these programs, the first rejections definitely stung. However, it ended up being exciting to get acceptances from schools! A few pieces of advice to anyone planning on applying to BS/MD programs:

  1. Set yourself up for success EARLY by working hard in classes and creating a good relationship with teachers/mentors. It goes a long way for recs and also just for personal engagement.
  2. When applying, choose a really broad range of schools, and don’t be afraid to apply to plenty of schools. I was really apprehensive going into this process, having applied to >20 schools total. Although it was quite difficult, more applications = more chances of success. Also, many essays could be easily repurposed.
  3. Start writing some key essays (eg. common app, why med, why this program) in the summer. It really helps, especially because many BS/MD deadlines are earlier.
  4. Stay organized. I created an expansive spreadsheet with requirements for each program, pending essays to write, and recommendations to request. Honestly, the hardest part of the process for me wasn’t writing so many essays - it was ensuring that each school received things that weren’t in my control (eg. transcripts, recommendations, SAT/ACT scores, etc.) This sounds like stupid advice, but it’s something I wish I had done earlier on.
  5. Don’t be afraid to show universities/programs that you have varied interests. For example, I talked about literature and the humanities in many of my interviews, because it’s something I am truly interested in. Also, make sure that you’re up to date with current healthcare topics (eg. insurance or barriers to obtaining care). Only talk about things you’re passionate about.
  6. Finally, don’t become obsessed with this forum. Although it definitely helped me out and there is definitely valuable advice and information to be shared while applying, steer clear of toxicity. Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not enough, or that you’re not fit to be a doctor if you want a life beyond academics. Stick to the universities that best fit YOU and block out all the noise!
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Thank you. This is helpful regarding UT Austin.

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copied from discussion thread
Elaborating on ECs, Why BSMD, Why TCNJ over BU SMED

My D was really interested in and passionate about her ECs, especially the shadowing in India. She got lots of questions about shadowing in India. The response from interviewers was overwhelmingly positive, as they were interested in how she can use that knowledge to benefit healthcare in the US. It also wasn’t a mission trip. She spent an entire summer working there. Further, she didn’t go to “help the poor” - this was a really solid government hospital in India (rare, I know), with state of the art facilities. She learnt a whole lot and conveyed that well in her interviews. My D is an excellent communicator, due to debate and being in a humanities-heavy program in school. I think this worked in her favor. She talked a lot about healthcare access in her essays and interviews, and used her knowledge of barriers to care in the US. Her research in immunology was also discussed a lot in interviews. It tied in especially well due to COVID.

As for why BSMD over regular UG, my daughter pretty much made the decision on that. She wants the guarantee of going to medical school and isn’t bothered too much with rankings. She also really liked NJMS and that it was in a city.

She decided to go for TCNJ-NJMS over BU SMED for a few reasons:

  1. Cost. With little to no scholarships, BU ended up being really expensive compared to the TCNJ-NJMS program.
  2. NJMS is a solid medical school, with lots of access to care for underprivileged. My D is really passionate about that, and this played a big role in her wanting to go to NJMS. Also, there are a lot of in-house residency options that appealed to her.
  3. When talking to students at TCNJ, many finish in 2 years and take the extra year to do a masters/research/travel/pursue any other interests. My D thought this would be a great opportunity for her to pursue additional research.
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Posting an update after I made my decision to be part of the VCU GMed program.

A decent medical school that’s in-state, a full-tuition scholarship, and 2.5 hours from home are all reasons that helped with my decision.

Other thoughts:
Before visiting the University of Rochester, I thought I’ll wait for REMS from the alternates list. The campus visit changed my mind. The location and its surroundings
 While I don’t mind the cold, I still didn’t think U of R was a good fit for me. Despite how good the program is, I can’t imagine myself spending 8 years there.

Results

BA/MD Programs:
SLU - Accepted
VCU - Accepted
UConn - Accepted
Union/AMC - Accepted
Rochester REMS - Alternate
UMKC - Interviewed and Waitlisted

Brown - Rejected
Augusta - Rejected
Rice/Baylor - Rejected
CWRU - Rejected (Even though I was selected for the interview during the last cycle)
TCNJ/NJMS - Rejected before being forwarded to NJMS
BU - Rejected before an interview
FAU - Rejected before an interview
Hofstra - Rejected before an interview

Other UG acceptances:

Columbia
Yale
Notre Dame
Emory
UVA
William & Mary

Dartmouth - Waitlisted

Harvard - Rejected (Waitlisted and rejected last cycle)
Stanford - Rejected (Rejected the last cycle as well)
Penn - Rejected

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Posting stats for my D:

GPA: 4.00 (UW)
Rank: our school does not rank.
SAT: N/A
ACT: 35
SAT II Subject: Math2: 800, Chemistry: 800
Race: ORM
Gender: F
Income: Not eligible for need based aid
APs: 6 APs all 5s (Chemistry, Psychology, Biology, Micro & Macro, Calc BC) + 3 APs senior year + 4-credit course at community college.

Teacher / Counselor Recommendations: Not sure, hopefully, they’re good.

Awards:

  • National Merit Finalist
  • AP Scholar with distinction
  • College Board National Scholar for Rural and Small Town Recognition Program
  • Seal of Biliteracy for Spanish

Medically Related Activities:

  • Biochemistry research at UMass Amherst (~240 hours)
  • Bioinformatics research at Rutgers (~40 hours)
  • Volunteering at ER/hospital (~220 hours)
  • Shadowed Emergency medicine physician (~25 hours)
  • EMT

Non-Medical ECs:

  • Marching band from grade 9 - 12.
  • National Honors Society
  • Science Honors Program (SHP) at Columbia University, Grade 10 to 12.
  • Several Leadership positions in school clubs
  • Founder of a school club
  • Taught at local KUMON for 5 years
  • Fundraising for various causes

Applied to the following BS/MD Programs:

TCNJ/NJMS & NJIT/NJMS - received supplement - interviewed - ACCEPTED
FAU - interviewed - ACCEPTED
VCU - interviewed - rejected
Hofstra - interviewed - rejected
RPI/AMC - received supplement - rejected
Penn State - rejected pre-interview
Drexel - rejected pre-interview
Syracuse/Upstate - received supplement - rejected
URochester - rejected pre-interview
GW/GW - rejected pre-interview
Brown PLME - rejected pre-interview
Stony Brook - rejected pre-interview
UPitt - received supplement - rejected
Case Western - rejected pre-interview
BU SMED - rejected pre-interview

DECISION: TCNJ/NJMS

Reflection:

It was an emotional roller coaster journey for us. We have hoped that we will get (interviews) into at least a few, but we were so wrong. It’s a cut-throat competition and unfortunately there’s no explanation why one rejects and another one accepts. This forum has been an exceptional help for me. My suggestion for future applicants is to give your best shot. Most importantly not to blame yourself if it doesn’t workout.

Good Luck to everyone!

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Reflection: Like many others have said, this is definitely an emotional rollercoaster ride. I received many, many rejections before I received my first acceptance from a BS/MD program. I’ll sum up my reflection in a few points:

  1. Rejections are completely normal! Don’t let them discourage you. These programs are super competitive. Just because you get rejected from a “lower tier” program does not mean you won’t get into a higher tier one, as each program might look for something slightly different. Schools are generally pretty good at determining your fit for a program - if you get rejected, chances are you will end up somewhere that is a better fit.
  2. It’s important to keep in mind this is only one way to get into medical school. Even if BS/MDs do not work out, the traditional route might offer more than you would have imagined at a BS/MD. Everything happens for a reason!
  3. Stay genuine! This will be important for determining your true fit for a program. AOs can also often see when you are being real or not. Especially for your interviews, don’t try to act like someone you are not. I think this tip definitely helped in my interviews, allowing me to stay relaxed, secure, and confident in what I was talking about.
  4. Don’t worry too much about stats. They are important so schools know you are capable of learning medical school material, but it is mainly the meaningful experiences and extracurriculars that make you stand out.
  5. With the pandemic, many might be nervous that they don’t have enough volunteer/shadowing/research hours. This will be a common trend for all applicants, which AOs will definitely consider. It’s okay if you aren’t able to get as many hours as you would have liked - it’s ultimately what you are able to draw from your experiences to convince the AOs that medicine is the right choice for you.
  6. Regarding this thread - If possible, I think it’s best if you have a parent use it. I was on it a lot because my parents weren’t very involved. However, sometimes it might be stressful to constantly check for updates from others, and it could eat up time. Overall, it is a very supportive community, as I have met many awesome parents (@Mom22DDs, @mom2boys1999) and applicants (@jawacat).

Good luck to all future applicants! You have a great future ahead of you :hugs:

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@gracewins It would help if you would add your stats and ECs. My guess is your are not an ORM. Nice to have another perspective than an ORM. BTW, @Mom22DDs is an ORM but other two mentioned in your post, @mom2boys1999 and @jawacat are not ORMs.

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Congratulations on your D’s achievements.

Something is wrong with my messaging as I am not able to find you.
I am able to DM other folks.

Can you please DM me the name of the counselor you had utilized?
Apologize for sending this public post.