*** BS/MD Results For Class Of 2014 ***

Pre-Med & Medical School Multiple Degree Programs
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<p>Class Rank: top 1% (not sure about exact #)
Unweighted GPA: 4.04/4.33
Weighted GPA: 5.6/ 6.05
(GPA in my school is on weird scales…)</p>

<p>SAT:
Math: 800; Critical Reading 710 ; Writing 730 ; Total: 2340</p>

<p>ACT:
English: 33; Math: 36; Reading: 33; Science: 32 ; Composite: 33</p>

<p>SAT II:
Math Level 2: 800
Chemistry: 770
Biology: 700</p>

<p>AP’s (at the time of application to BS/MD programs):
Biology: IP
Calculus BC: IP
Calculus AB 5
Chemistry: 5
English Language and Composition: 5
APUSH 5
WHAP 5</p>

<p>Seniors Year AP’s: Bio, Calc BC, Gov</p>

<p>Major EC’s:
Model UN President + Founder
Science Club VP
Latin club VP
Student council Officer
Tennis (varsity)
Doctor Shadowing
Tutor for STEM program
NHS</p>

<p>Major Awards:
None</p>

<p>Work Experience
None</p>

<p>Community Service:
Hospital Volunteering
Other Community service through school (Key club, Rotary, Make an Impact, etc)</p>

<p>Research Experience:
None</p>

<p>Applied to the following BS/MD programs
1.NU HPME- Rejected after Interview, Waitlisted at UG
2. Drexel/Drexel- Rejected after interview
3. Nova/ Drexel- Rejected after interview
4. PSU/ Jeff- Rejected
5. VCU GMED - Rejected
6. NJIT/Rutgers/TCNJ + NJMS - Rejected (All 3)
7. GW/GW- Rejected Waitlisted at UG somehow…
8. Pitzer/Western (DO) - Rejected Waitlisted at Pitzer</p>

<p>Other schools: JHU (rejected), Penn (reject) Pitzer (Waitlist) NU (waitlist), USC (accepted) Cal (accepted), UC Irvine, Davis, NYIT, accepted all other UG schools for programs</p>

<p>Decision: University of California at Berkeley</p>

<p>Reflection: God honestly the entire process was a disaster… I had no clue I wanted to do BS/MD until this year (Senior year) and luckily by the I had some volunteer and hospital experience. As a result of some last minute Bs/MD aspiration, I completely messed up my application process. I should’ve applied to other regular UG schools instead of wasting my time with some schools like GW and Pitzer. </p>

<p>Overall though, I realized I’m not really that competitive an applicant. What shocked me was the NU interview, which was most likely because of the essays I wrote. Sadly I was rejected after the interview. It goes to show that no matter what you do, if you’re able to articulate why you want to be a doctor and are able to put it into writing, that something will come your way. I was suprised after awhile as to why I got rejected from all the programs I applied to then looked at the stats of everybody else on CC. I was competing against a bunch of geniuses lol</p>

<p>End story: Know what you want to do well in advance. I thought I was a competitive applicant for some regular UG schools because of what I had done throughout high school. In the end, not knowing about Bs/md programs until my final year put my at a serious disadvantage. I failed to stand out in ways other than my regular school extracurricular activities which were frequently brought up at interviews.</p>

<p>Also… start really early too, not just with your activities, but also with essays. I have so many regrets… and I wish I could do the entire process over again. The essays truly matter a lot. </p>

<p>I won’t be doing Bs/MD and in the end I guess I’m a little happy I won’t be. I might discover I have other interests and I really don’t want to lock myself up in two schools. I’m excited to be at cal and I’ve learned a lot from this process. Even though nothing came my way, I know I’m going to be using this experience to help me out in the future when I’m applying to med school in four years. Congrats to everybody on their programs and decisions, I’m truly happy for you all. You put everything into this and reaped the benefits so great job! :slight_smile: Hope this was somewhat helpful for future readers!</p>

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<p>^ Many of us can empathize with you about that feeling of regret. Your stats look fantastic too. Sorry you didn’t get any combo programs. Sounds like you will do well at Berkeley.</p>

23

<p>Background: Chinese-American female and family full of doctors (I’m talking parents, brother, grandparents, aunts and uncles). No alumni ties. </p>

<p>Class Rank: 1/414
Unweighted GPA: 4.00
Weighted GPA: 4.71</p>

<p>SAT: 2300 (superscore) - took this stupid exam like 4 times before realizing I’m a lot better at the ACT. </p>

<p>ACT: 35</p>

<p>SAT II:
Math Level 2: 800
Biology: 790</p>

<p>AP’s (at the time of application to BS/MD programs): My school is IB and doesn’t offer AP classes, so all my AP tests were self-studied.
Calculus AB: 5
Chinese: 5</p>

<p>IB: I come from an extremely well established IB school (one of the best, if not the best, in NorCal). I’m pretty tired so I won’t type out the complete and very long list of all the IB classes I’ve taken (if you want to know, just PM me). In a nutshell, every class I took was IB and the absolute hardest possible. <em>sigh</em>
eg.
HL Biology
HL History
HL Chinese
HL English </p>

<p>Major EC’s: This is where I get a little unorthodox. Bear with me.</p>

<p>Youth Director of (Unnamed) Nonprofit for victims of domestic abuse
–> Mentored at-risk teens in Oakland, CA. (FANTASTIC experience, perfect to talk about for interviews)
Founder/Manager of my own anti-bullying campaign.
–> Nationally successful, 500+ participants, talked to/worked with a diverse population in the process
–> Invited for interview on TV about it.
Shadowed a primary care physician for 100 hours
Various club leadership/Honor Societies/FBLA/etc. </p>

<p>Community Service:</p>

<p>Primary school teacher in rural China for two summers.
Free health clinic in downtown Sacramento
Shriners Children’s Hospital
Ronald McDonald House Charities (provides services for patients’ families)
Total (including others): >2000 hours </p>

<p>Research Experience:</p>

<p>Anti-cancer research @ UCDavis Cancer Center
–> First helped in other researchers’ projects
–> Developed and executed own research project with so much autonomy that I’m not sure it was completely legal haha
Site Leader for schoolwide ecological research project </p>

<p>Applied to the following BS/MD programs:</p>

<p>(CA resident)</p>

<p>Boston University - No interview
Case Western - No interview
UMKC - INTERVIEW - SELECTED FOR PROGRAM
SBU/GW - INTERVIEW - not selected
TCNJ/NJMS - INTERVIEW - SELECTED FOR PROGRAM
RPI/AMC - INTERVIEW - not selected
Siena/AMC - INTERVIEW - not selected
YSU/NEOMED - initially waitlisted - later INTERVIEWED - WAITLISTED (OOS)
Penn State - No interview</p>

<p>Other schools: Dartmouth (accepted), Cornell (accepted), Duke (accepted), Northwestern (accepted), Rice (accepted), Wash U in St.Louis (accepted), UC Berkeley (accepted), Scripps (accepted), Pomona (waitlisted), Claremont McKenna (waitlisted), UCSD/UCI/UCD/UCSB/UCSC/UCR (accepted), USC (rejected, weird), Case Western undergrad (waitlisted, also weird). </p>

<p>Decision: TCNJ/NJMS. (narrowly) </p>

<p>Reflection: I read the suggested questions of “why the program” and “strengths/weaknesses” and I just think, oh god this is my interviews all over again, haha. </p>

<p>I ultimately narrowed it down to TCNJ/NJMS after also seriously considering UMKC, Rice, and Dartmouth, but ultimately it came down to the 2 BS/MD programs. Yes, UMKC is amazingly short (6 years!) and provides phenomenal hands on clinical experience basically from day one (you get your own office by the 3rd year!). And judging from my tone, yes, I love the UMKC program very much. However, I love TCNJ more, some is for personal reasons. I have ties to the area and have a strong desire to work in an inner city area that Newark provides in abundance. I get to help out an area that is so in need, AND get so much experience in the only level 1 trauma center in all of NJ (tons of patients, lots of hard work and hard cases = more prepared for residency and beyond). </p>

<p>In terms of strengths, I think my unorthodox EC profile made me stand out from the rest - every single interviewer was keen on bringing up my experiences. I was able to demonstrate that I was committed to a fuller understanding of society, people, and life. Yes, I had the stats. But overall, I am not your typical Chinese female who does Science Oly and Robotics or something. I was able to spin this in my favor in the last of my interviews and could logically answer the “what would you be if you couldn’t work in the medical field” question (which I got for every interview but one) with a unique answer that sparked interesting conversation. (I said photojournalist btw).
Essays. I knew that writing was one of my greatest strengths, so I devoted a huge amount of time to perfecting the application essays on not only my BS/MDs but also my undergrads. </p>

<p>Hmm, weaknesses. I was lucky to get so many interviews, but was arrogant and not thorough enough to prepare for the first few, which are the ones I got rejected from. The two I got into were literally the last two interviews I had and thus, benefited from the experience I got from the preceding ones. Interview can literally make or break your acceptance. Humility, MATURITY, thoroughness (NJMS asked me about the HISTORY of the med school), sincerity, uniqueness, and a bit of well placed humor got me a long way. And for UMKC specifically being solely MMI, I found that a realistic and fastidious understanding of medicine and most importantly, being able to think logically and thoroughly on the spot was essential. Remember, your behavior from the moment you enter the parking lot, is liable to be under intense scrutiny. Even the secretary may very well be reporting back about your manners. Maturity, therefore, is beyond important considering these programs are selecting teenagers to be future physicians with lives in their hands. </p>

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<p>@drsheen I am very impressed with your resume and actually am surprised that you haven’t had a greater success in securing interviews/admissions than your list indicates. I suspect your essays were not as strong as you think. </p>

<p>You seem to have a supporting family of doctors. I am curious, in spite of being from CA, why did you not apply for the UCSD program? From outside CA, it appears that the UCSD program is a “no brainer” for every medical-aspiring California kid. </p>

<p>Anyways, good luck in your chosen path, I am sure you will make a fine doctor. </p>

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<p>I actually have very few medical related volunteer hours. Maybe 35 or so, and it was something two interviewers actually brought up and asked why I didn’t do more. I didn’t apply to ucsd because it was later in the year and only gave me a week or so to get additional recommendations. Also, the program is ridiculously difficult to get into and the min gpa is not as easy to maintain as I would’ve liked. Lastly, cal tech and ucsd med school aren’t my thing. As I mentioned, I’d actually prefer to be in the inner city. </p>

<p>Thanks a lot! I’m sure you will be an amazing doctor too. </p>

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<p>Decision: ACCEPTED Northwestern HPME Program!! Also Accepted to Univ of Kentucky BS/MD Program and Univ of Louisville GEMS Program</p>

<p>Objective:
•ACT: 35 Composite (one sitting in Grade 10)
•SAT II: Math Level 2 800, Chemistry 790, US History 800
•Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
•Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/278
•AP (place score in parenthesis): Calculus BC 5, Chemistry 5, US Govt & Politics 5, US History 5, World History 5, Spanish Language 4, English Language & Comp 4, Psychology (self-studied) 4
•IB (place score in parenthesis): NA
•Senior Year Course Load: AP English Literature, AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP Physics, Multivariable Calculus Independent Study, Medicaid Nurse Aide, Senior Seminar
•Honors/Awards: National Merit Finalist, National AP Scholar, Kentucky Governor Scholar, HOSA 1st Place State & Region Medical Math</p>

<p>Subjective:
•Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): 4-yr Varsity Soccer (Team Captain, Defensive MVP, All-Region, Academic All-State), Math Club/Mu Alpha Theta (Founder & President), Track & Field, Health Occupations Students of America HOSA (President, VP of Programming, Secretary), Club Soccer (Team Captain), Church Youth Group (3x Mission Trip Volunteer, Small Group Leader), National Beta Club (President, Treasurer), National Honor Society (President)
•Volunteer/Community service: 3x Mission Trip Volunteer and other church volunteer activities, TOPSoccer volunteer for young athletes with special needs, volunteer math tutor
•Summer Activities: KY Governor’s Scholar 5-week summer program in Physical Science (12), DukeTIP Institute of Advanced Cancer Therapies (11), “So You Want to be a Doctor?” online course while recovering from ACL surgery (10), Three Mission Trips (9, 11, 12), Soccer conditioning every summer
•Essays: Common app essay was very personal about a family set-back that we all had to overcome
•Teacher Recommendation: Great (requested way in advance)
•Counselor Rec: Great - she loves me
•Additional Rec: Club Soccer Coach and Church Youth Pastor
•Interview: Intense & thorough but pleasant </p>

<p>Other:
•State (if domestic applicant): KY
•Country (if international applicant): USA
•School Type: Public
•Ethnicity: White
•Gender: F
•Income Bracket: Middle class
•Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): ??girl who is good at math from Kentucky??</p>

<p>Reflection:
•Strengths: High test scores & GPA , Rigorous course load & AP classes/exam scores, focused elective course load in Health Sciences, Valedictorian, good ECs with leadership and continuity, good essays and recommendations, doctor shadowing experiences
•Weaknesses: Non URM, no USAMO/Intel/Major Awards, no research experience
•Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: ??Took time on my essays, prayed!
•Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:
Accepted to Northwestern and HPME Program, Harvard, Princeton, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt with Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship, Georgia Tech, UVA and Jefferson Scholar Finalist, UF, UGA, Auburn, Alabama, Clemson, UK, UofLouisville; Wait Listed at MIT and WashU; Rejected from Yale and Stanford</p>

<p>General Comments: So thrilled and thankful!! Can’t believe it!! :). Big decisions to make over the next few weeks!</p>

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<p>Objective:

[ul]
[<em>]SAT I (breakdown): 2360 (800M, 800W, 760 CR, 10 Essay)
[</em>]SAT II (place score in parentheses): 770 Bio M, 790 Math II
[<em>]Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.99/4.33
[</em>]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): My school profile breaks students up into GPA brackets, and I just missed a 4.0, so schools can see that there are 10 people in my class with a higher uw gpa than I have. I probs have more APs than most of those people though, so idk if colleges even look at that. I’m in a class of 132, so academics probs hurt me a bit.
[<em>]AP (place score in parentheses): AP Bio (4), AP US (5), AP World (4), AP English Lang (5). I know, my APs are definitely not as strong as other people applying to these programs. My school is really non-science oriented (no competing math team, no science research, no science olympiad, and scheduling didn’t allow me to take more than two AP sciences, so that probably had some impact on my results).
[</em>]Current Courses: AP Physics, AP Macro Econ, AP Micro Econ, AP Spanish, AP BC Calc, AP Eng Lit
[li]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Rensselaer Math and Science Medalist, National Merit Finalist (nothing much haha)… got a few sports awards for skiing sectionals. [/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Subjective:

[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Spanish Club (President), Environmental Club (Co-president for 2 years), Pencils of Promise (Co-founder, Co-president), Varsity Tennis, Varsity Skiing, Columbia Science Honors program, Math Team (we can’t compete in states b/c we aren’t funded to travel), Model UN, Clarinet player
[</em>]Job/Work Experience: 6 week medical internship (150 hours)
[<em>]Volunteer/Community Service: Hospital volunteering (150 hours), Research at Columbia (250 hours), Peer Edication (100 hours), Teaching Spanish to students with autism and down syndrome (60 hours)
[</em>]Essays: Solid. I’m a good writer and I spent a lot of time on them.
[<em>]Teacher Recommendations: One was fabulous (he said I was the best in his career) and I’m sure the other was pretty good too.
[</em>]Counselor Rec: I would assume it’s pretty good, but my counselor is kinda lightheaded sometimes so don’t hold me to that.
[/ul]</p>

<p>Other

[ul]
[<em>]State (if domestic applicant): NY
[</em>]School Type: Small public
[<em>]Ethnicity: Indian/White (I’m a halfie!)
[</em>]Gender: F
[<em>]Income Bracket: +150k
[</em>]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None (actually, maybe single-parent household counts?)
[li]Where else you are applying or have already applied: Harvard (rejected), U Penn (wait listed), Brown (accepted), Fordham (accepted) [/li][/ul]</p>

<p>Results

[ul]

  1. U Miami HMPE: Rejected pre-interview
  2. Case Western PPSP: Rejected pre-interview
  3. GW: Rejected pre-interview
  4. U Pitt: Rejected pre-interview
  5. Northwestern HPME: Rejected pre-interview
  6. UConn: Rejected pre-interview
  7. Stony Brook: Rejected pre-interview
  8. Rice/Baylor: Rejected pre-interview
  9. Brown PLME: Rejected (no interview)
  10. Villanova/Drexel: Forwarded to med school, rejected pre-interview
  11. Drexel/Drexel: Interviewed–> SELECTED FOR PROGRAM
  12. Rutgers/NJMS: Rejected pre-preliminary interview lol (thought it was weird…)
  13. TCNJ/NJMS: Interviewed–> SELECTED FOR PROGRAM
  14. NJIT/NJMS: Interviewed–> SELECTED FOR PROGRAM
  15. RPI/AMC: Interviewed–> Not selected for program
  16. Brooklyn/Downstate: Interviewed --> Waitlisted
  17. BU SMED: Interviewed --> SELECTED FOR PROGRAM
  18. PSU/Jefferson: Interviewed --> SELECTED FOR PROGRAM
    [/ul]</p>

<p>Reflection
Wow. Where to even begin. This was one of the most extensive processes of my life. I applied to A LOT of programs because I know that I want to be a doctor, and I know that I didn’t want the stress of applying to medical school in a few years. I only applied to 3 regular ugs; the rest were all programs. I had no idea what to expect from this process because I’d never met someone who applied to medical programs, and I’m the first person from my school to do so (I go to a very non-sciency school). Applying widely was one of the best things I did, and I recommend it for anyone who wants to pursue BA/MD programs. What I found through the process is that a lot of the decisions are quite random, so, as hard as it is, I suggest not getting attached to any one school and try to emotionally distance yourself from the rejections that are thrown your way. I don’t know of anyone who got into every med program that they applied to. I had no expectations so rejections didn’t hurt as much as they may have. I honestly didn’t even realize how small my success rate was until just now when I was typing this out lol; I suggest the same to anyone else applying. It’s hard not to attach a sense of validation with getting into a school, but it really does come down to some element of luck and randomness. Hand in hand with applying widely is starting early! I started essay writing over the summer, and it made for a much less stressed fall. I wrote the majority of my essays before October 1st (shoutout to mamacita for pushing me); I had a much smoother application season than most of my friends. That said, I don’t think I realized how much essays matter through this process. I have a solid resume, and I wrote solid essays (I personally think they were good, but I’m biased :stuck_out_tongue: ) so I didn’t have anything that really stood out. I think that’s pretty much why I was rejected from most of the places I applied. Most of the people applying to programs have stellar stats, tons of research and volunteer hours, and tons of ECs. It’s hard to stand out among such a qualified group of applicants, which is why the essays really do matter. As for interviews, I strongly suggest preparing for them. Obviously be yourself, but I found it extremely helpful to have responses prepared for “Why Medicine,” “Tell me about yourself,” “What’s your strongest quality,” etc. I also looked into several ethical dilemmas and I know health care like the back of my hand; this also came in handy during interviews. There are a lot of resources out there for medical interviews– use them. I video taped myself a few times using practice questions. I’m an extremely expressive person, so seeing a video of myself, though hilariously painful to watch, helped me realize my quirks (I’ve got lots of em). Also, before each interview, I would research the school’s history and curriculum and all the good stuffs that they put on their website. I found this really helpful when I was asked “Why this school” because it shows that you’ve done your research and you really want to be there. For Brooklyn, I was late to my interview (it was a series of unfortunate events) and that probably hurt me, resulting in the waitlist. RPI/AMC was my last and worst interview. I was already into Jefferson, and I honestly had no desire to go there, so my interview was really iffy. I’m glad that spot went to someone else haha. Other than that I was selected everywhere I interviewed, so I think preparation and confidence really helps. Overall, I’m really happy with where I am. I’m having a really tough time deciding because I have a full ride to Drexel and NJIT, whereas Penn State and BU are awesome programs. I’m leaning towards penn state though, and hope to commit after accepted students days! Good luck to everyone in the future applying to these programs. It’s an extensive but rewarding process, and hopefully worth it in the long run. This journey wouldn’t have been the same without all of you CC peeps– thanks for your constant support and understanding! It’s nice to have others who are going through the same thing as you. Congrats to everyone who was accepted to programs, and best of luck to those who choose to pursue the 4 year route. We’re all gonna make kick-ass doctors one day either way :slight_smile: </p>

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<p>very nice starlight27 - you really should be proud of yourself being the first to apply to this sort of program from your school. When I was reading your description of your school it sounds like my son’s school. His doesn’t even have model UN or anything like that. When he told his guidance counselor he got invited for interviews to 2 of the 3 programs he applied to she just said, “Oh that sounds nice.” They have no clue.
And you did it on your own. You are amazing!!! Congrats!!</p>

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<p>@starlight27‌ Wow, this sounds so much like myself! haha. My school also lacks a lot of sciency AP courses, and I was the first to apply to these programs as well! But congrats on all of your acceptances :slight_smile: I was also offered a full tuition scholarship at Drexel and am considering that vs PSU/Jeff. It’s hard to turn down a full scholarship though! Any thoughts?!</p>

<p>Also, looking at the PSU curriculum, are you still considering the 6 year option? I’ve heard most of the 6 years don’t end up giving up their second summer because they have enough AP credits for Chem and Calc, but looks like both of us are kinda in the same position coming in to PSU with not many AP Science credits. Hopefully it won’t be too hard to try to fit in all 4 chem classes, physics, and bio classes in 2 years of undergrad!</p>

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<p>@midhelper- Thank you!! I actually had the support of my amazing mother, so definitely not alone haha. But it really is a struggle when the guidance counselor’s don’t understand. </p>

<p>@dumich- Hahaha thank you!! I’m leaning towards penn state though! :(</p>

<p>@eastcoast96- Congrats!! (Side note: If you ever have a chance, consider posting your stats for the future applicants :slight_smile: ) Personally, I’m justifying penn state in my mind because it’s one less year– that’s one year to specialize, one year more of income (no small thing when you’re a doctor) and one more year to have a family. Also, experience is worth some value, and the exprience at psu wayyyy surpasses that at drexel! As for AP credits, PSU pretty much accepts all of them, so I think we’ll be ok. Obviously we’ll be a little behind, but I’m sure with a lot of careful planning and a little hard work we won’t have to go for the second sumer! hopefully we end up there together. I’m about to PM you so we can talk more there! :)</p>

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<p>Class Rank: 2/563
Unweighted GPA: 4
Weighted GPA: 4.4
2nd best school district in PA, top high school in district</p>

<p>SAT:
Math: 760; Critical Reading 640; Writing 700 ; Total: 2100</p>

<p>ACT:
English: 35; Math: 35; Reading: 29; Science: 34; Composite: 33 (one point from 34)</p>

<p>SAT II:
Math Level 2: 800
Chemistry: 790</p>

<p>AP’s (at the time of application to BS/MD programs):
Environmental Science - 5
European History - 4
Chemistry - 5
Calc AB - 5
Physics C N/M - 4</p>

<p>Seniors Year AP’s:
Biology
Calc BC
Computer Science
Macroeconomics
Physics C E/M</p>

<p>Essays - I thought they were decent but when I finally let one of my teachers read the “Why medicine” essay she that is was amazing so idk</p>

<p>Teacher Recs - both were amazing (I think) because I had a strong relationship with both teachers</p>

<p>State (if domestic applicant): PA
School Type: Medium public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: M
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First-generation doctor?
Awards - Rensselaer Medal</p>

<p>Major EC’s:
National Honor Society
Scholar’s Bowl (trivia team)
Ultimate Frisbee
FBLA
Peer Tutoring</p>

<p>Community Service:
Special Equestrians
Red Cross</p>

<p>Summers:
Biotechnology course @ UPENN during sophomore summer
Shadowed a radiologist at Brandywine Hospital during junior summer</p>

<p>Applied to the following BS/MD programs
Penn State/Jeff - INTERVIEWED & SELECTED
Pitt GAP - rejected pre-interview</p>

<p>Other schools: Rensselaer (accepted w/ scholarship), Boston University (accepted with scholarship), Wash U in St. Louis (wait listed like everyone else), Northwestern (wait list)</p>

<p>Decision: Penn State/Jeff 7-year program</p>

<p>Reflection: </p>

<p>Strengths: 4.0 UW GPA & took mostly science & math AP’s, class rank, strong essays?, strong recs, REALLY good interview
Weaknesses: SAT/ACT scores (clearly I hate reading comprehension and it hates me back), lack of research
Why you think you were accepted: Clearly showed a passion for medicine</p>

<p>Last thoughts: </p>

<p>Be yourself. If you truly have a passion for medicine then no test scores or GPA will ever prevent you from becoming a doctor. Keep trying hard and never undersell yourself. Sorry for the terseness and any grammar errors kind of wrote this quickly!</p>

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<p>@artiesoneleg1‌- Congrats!! Hope to see you at PSU! Those other schools that you mention-- did you apply to their programs? Becuase all of the have combined programs haha</p>

33

<p>I did not apply to any of their bs/md programs, and I knew they had them. Wash U was way too far of a reach, RPI I didn’t really like (felt obligated to apply due to scholarship), Northwestern was a far reach, and BU I really don’t have a good explanation for why I didn’t apply to their bs/md program. I definitely thought i wasn’t good enough for these programs due to my standardized test scores, and in retrospect I wish I applied to more programs. But I am very happy to end up at PSU close to my hometown.</p>

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<p>@starlight27 CONGRATS to you as well!! I wish you the best of luck!! >:D< </p>

<p>To answer your question about where all I applied… I am assuming you mean where all did I apply for BS/MD programs? </p>

<p>I only applied to three BS/MD programs and was blessed to be accepted to all three:</p>

<p>Northwestern HPME
UK BS/MD (In State)
UofLouisville GEMS (In State)</p>

<p>I didn’t apply extensively to just those types of programs. Other schools I applied to but that did not include a combined BS/MD program:</p>

<p>Accepted: Harvard, Princeton, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, UVA, UF, UGA, Auburn, Alabama, Clemson
Wait Listed: MIT and WashU
Rejected: Yale and Stanford </p>

<p>18 is my favorite number and the number of schools I applied to! I still haven’t made my decision…I didn’t expect to be admitted to so many fantastic schools. I have attended overnight programs at Notre Dame, Princeton, & Northwestern; am visiting Vanderbilt next Friday for their COAS Admitted Student Open House; Attending Harvard Visitas weekend of 25th</p>

35

<p>Update: I committed to Penn State! </p>

36

<p>To all prospective students and parents reading this – PLEASE READ MY REFLECTION AT THE END! It’s so much more important (in my opinion) than my stats. </p>

<p>Class Rank: Our school doesn’t rank.
Unweighted GPA: 3.99 (all As, three A minuses in first semester of senior year)
Weighted GPA: 4.47 </p>

<p>SAT: 2210 (750 M, 750 W, 710 CR) first sitting, then I retook in January of my senior year and received a 2270 (800 CR, 750 W, 720 M). So, my superscore is 2300, but I’m not even sure if most of the schools I applied to received my new SAT score since I took it after all of my applications had already been submitted. </p>

<p>ACT: did not take</p>

<p>SAT II:
Math Level 2: 770
Biology: 720</p>

<p>AP’s:
Psychology (5)
US Government (5)
Note: My school does not offer AP classes, so I took Psychology online and self-studied Government. </p>

<p>IB’s:
No IB exams taken at the time of my application since most IB exams are typically taken at the end of senior year.</p>

<p>Junior Year Courses:
IB English HL, IB History HL, IB Biology HL, IB Math SL, IB Physics SL, IB Spanish SL, and Advanced Orchestra.</p>

<p>Senior Year Courses:
IB English HL, IB History HL, IB Biology HL, IB Math SL, IB Economics SL, IB Spanish SL, IB Theory of Knowledge, and Advanced Orchestra.</p>

<p>Major EC’s:
President and Co-Founder of a nonprofit organization, President and Founder of a club at my school, Concertmaster and President of the school orchestra, member of a youth orchestra, writer for a well-known online newspaper, community team basketball player (I’m keeping this intentionally vague). </p>

<p>Community Service:
Volunteer at my local hospital</p>

<p>Research/Work Experience:
Paid Biomedical Intern at the NIH, Biomedical Intern at two other university laboratories, violin teacher </p>

<p>Programs I Applied to:
GW BA/MD – INTERVIEW & SELECTED FOR PROGRAM
VCU GMED – Rejected pre-interview</p>

<p>Other schools:
Accepted: Duke, Johns Hopkins, UVA
Waitlisted: Princeton, Columbia
Rejected: Harvard, Yale </p>

<p>Race: South Asian
Income: around $90k-$100k
Hooks: Absolutely none. </p>

<p>Decision: GW Seven-Year BA/MD</p>

<p>REFLECTION: </p>

<p>Looking back, I am EXTREMELY happy with how this whole process turned out. Applying to GW BA/MD and VCU GMED were spur of the moment decisions. I didn’t even know these types of programs existed until the summer before my senior year. I only applied to two programs because even though I knew I wanted to be a doctor, I always thought that these programs were super competitive and that it would be worthless to even try and apply to many of them, especially with my stats. My application definitely had a lot of weaknesses. Although my SAT was by no means horrible, it definitely wasn’t as high as many of the other people who applied to the same schools and programs I applied to. At the time of my application, I had only taken two AP tests and no IB exams. And although I have had substantial research experience (I’ve been doing research almost continuously since tenth grade), I’ve never published a paper or abstract, I’ve never shadowed a doctor, and I only volunteered at a hospital for one summer for about 30 total hours. </p>

<p>So, on paper, I can see why people would doubt that I’d ever get into any of these programs. My strengths, however, lied in the areas of my application that you can’t put into numbers. I’ve always been a good writer, and although my essays for GW were by no means incredible (I wrote them in like 3 days), I really emphasized why I love GW, why I love the 7 year BA/MD program, and why I want to become a doctor. The GW BA/MD application process is different in that there are no specific essay questions that are specifically for the BA/MD program, so you have to incorporate your love for medicine into the essay questions that they do give you. I wrote my last essay specifically on why I love medicine and want to become a doctor, even though the prompt didn’t directly ask for it. I think that the GW BA/MD admissions officers are really talented in that they can separate the people who want to be a doctor for superficial reasons and the people who want to be a doctor because they truly love it and want to help people. My ECs were also excellent. I didn’t waste my time on activities that didn’t interest me. I started debate, hated it, and quit after my first year. I really love community service and music, so those were the activities that I spent the most time on. I’m only in two clubs at my school, but they’re both clubs that I’m very active in and have leadership positions in. When it comes to ECs, it’s definitely quality over quantity. </p>

<p>So, I definitely think it was my essays and my ECs that got me to the interview stage for the GW program. I was SO nervous going into the interview. Like most of the people there, I had no idea what to expect. I went over a few of the basic questions (why do you want to go into medicine, why do you want to go to GW, etc) before the interview but didn’t really prepare for it in any other way. My interview only lasted 20 minutes max, so afterwards I thought that I definitely blew it. Looking back though, I think I was really able to emphasize why I want to go to GW Med. The Track Program perfectly fits my interests because I’m very passionate about global health, and I was able to convey that in my interview. I also had some personal stories that I told my interviewer that directly SHOWED why I wanted to be a doctor. </p>

<p>To wrap it all up, my advice for future applicants would be this: contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to get a 2250+ to be considered in these programs. I had a 2210 when I was called for my GW interview. After I retook the SAT and got a 2270, I called the GW Office and they said that they had already pretty much made their decision and that it was no use sending in my new score. Considering this, I NEVER in a million years thought that I would even be called for an interview at GW, nonetheless accepted into the program. I applied kind of just to see what would happen. What I did show in my application, though, was a passion for medicine, for helping people, and for GW. Also, I do think that some sort of medical experience (whether it’s research, volunteering, shadowing) is important (but not the most important thing). </p>

<p>Good luck to all future applicants. I probably won’t be posting much on this website anymore, but feel free to PM me if you have any questions! </p>

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<p>@starlight27‌
Congrats! Was gone for a mini-vacation so only just saw your post. All the best!</p>

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<p>Class Rank: 1/345
Unweighted GPA: 4.18/4.3</p>

<p>SAT:
Superscore: 2260 (760 CR, 750 M, 750 W)
Best one sitting: 2210 (710 CR, 750 M, 750 W)</p>

<p>ACT: N/A</p>

<p>SAT II:
Math Level 2: 680
Biology: 760</p>

<p>AP’s (at the time of application to BS/MD programs):
Biology: 4
Calculus BC: 3
Calculus AB Subscore: 4
US History: 5</p>

<p>Seniors Year AP’s:
Chemistry
Psychology
Macroeconomics
Language and Composition
Statistics</p>

<p>Major EC’s:
Varsity Tennis (Captain for 2 years, won a couple of county awards)
Key Club (Treasurer (11), President (12))
Religious Youth Group (Co-Founded and Coordinated my mosque’s local chapter)
National Honor Society
Student Council
Academic Quiz Bowl Team
Math Team</p>

<p>Community Service:
Volunteering at my local hospital’s surgery recovery unit (61 hrs)
Youth- group based volunteering (clothing drives, hurricane relief, soup kitchens) ~200 hrs
Miscellaneous volunteering through school clubs ~150 hrs</p>

<p>Research Experience:
Internship at a local hospital where I created a database of patient progress/ blood work
-Worked with doctors/nurses/community health workers

  • Really got a feel for how a hospital works as a whole/administratively
    *Note: I DID NOT have any hard lab research experience at all!</p>

<p>Applied to the following BS/MD programs:

  1. Stony Brook Scholars for Medicine – INTERVIEWED AND ACCEPTED
  2. Drexel/Drexel – INTERVIEWED AND ACCEPTED
  3. Villanova/Drexel – INTERVIEWED AND ACCEPTED
  4. Rutgers/NJMS – Rejected pre-interview
  5. TCNJ/NJMS —UG Interview – Rejected
  6. NJIT/NJMS Program – UG Interview -> NJMS Interview – Rejected
  7. Stevens/NJMS– Rejected
  8. RPI / AMC- Supplement forwarded - Rejected</p>

<p>Other schools: All above UG schools, Rutgers New Brunswick (Accepted – Full Ride), Northeastern (Accepted), Cornell (Rejected), UPenn (Waitlisted), Wellesley (Waitlisted)</p>

<p>Decision: STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY SCHOLARS FOR MEDICINE – SEAWOLVES BABY!!</p>

<p>Reflection: Like many others have stated on this thread, you really don’t need the best test scores or stats to get an interview or even get into a combined medical program. Above average scores and unique medical experiences (and a bit of luck) are what get your foot in the door, but having a good interview can really seal the deal. Be sure to pursue unique medical experiences (I worked extensively in the administrative realm of a hospital) and if you can’t, do something that really excites you that you can talk about passionately in essays and interviews. As clichéd as it has become, it really is quality over quantity. </p>

<p>When it comes to interview day, be sure that you are PREPARED. Do whatever it takes to make sure that you project confidence and professionalism. Practice the questions that will inevitably be asked at one of these interviews until you can speak about them in a casual (think not freaking out/hyperventilating), yet succinct manner (eg. Why do you want to be a doctor? Why a 7 year program? What do you think is the biggest problem with healthcare?). Remember to smile and be friendly and throw in a few appropriate jokes if possible to ensure that your interviewer sees you as a personable individual, not some sort of drone who lacks social skills. </p>

<p>Finally, when you are at an interview or even applying to these programs, remember that it’s okay to NOT BE 100% SURE that you want to be a doctor! You’re a confused high schooler, and that’s okay. In fact, when I was talking to one of the students in a program that I interviewed at, they told me that they weren’t sure they wanted to be a doctor until their final year of college. You should worry about making that decision when all of your options are laid out in front of you and you are deciding where to commit. And on that note, APPLY WIDELY! One of the few regrets that I have is that I did not apply to many regular UG programs because I got so caught up in combined program applications. This is where starting early and drafting your “Why Medicine” essay over the summer will really come in clutch. In the unfortunate case that you don’t make it into any program, you want to make sure that you have “back-up” schools that you will be equally happy attending. Don’t sell yourself short either!</p>

<p>I am always open to helping prospective students in this process as I wish there was someone there to lend me a hand along the way. If you have any further questions, feel free to shoot me a PM :)</p>

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<p>I’ll be seeing you next year @thejerseygirl! SFM through WISE right?</p>

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<p>@closertothestars‌ how did you get that paid/unpaid biomed internship. i would really appreciate it if you could share what steps you took to do this</p>