*** BS/MD Results For Class of 2017 ***

Pre-Med & Medical School Multiple Degree Programs
1

This thread is to post the stats and feedback/reflection from students / parents. Here is a sample on the format
This is a very nice post from last year’s results thread. You can copy & paste & update with your details when you post. Thank you so much in advance to help future students / parents.

GPA: 4.0 (UW), 4.3778 (W)

Class Rank: 1/421

ACT: 35
Subscores: Science (36), English (35), Reading (35), Math (34), Writing (10)

SAT Subject Tests:
Chemistry: 770
Math 2: 770
U.S. History: 760

AP’s (at time of application)
U.S. History - 5
Chemistry - 5
U.S. Gov - 5
Language & Composition - 5
Statistics - 5
Biology - 4

Senior AP’s: Physics C Mechanics, Calc BC, Literature & Composition, Psychology

Teacher Recs: Really great, well-rounded letter from APUSH teacher. Didn’t see my AP Chemistry teacher’s rec but she is known for writing amazing ones. Sent an English teacher rec and counselor rec to the schools that required them, and I assume they were both pretty good. Sent a letter from the director of the soup kitchen I volunteered at to a few select programs that had the options.

State: MI
Gender: F
Ethnicity: White, Native American
Income: 100-150k
Hooks: Nothing really! I stood out a little because I didn’t do a lot of research or academic ECs & focused a lot of my time on community service instead

Major ECs:

  • Varsity Cross Country: captain
  • Varsity Track & Field
  • Key Club: co-founder, president
  • Student Council: vice-president
  • National Honors Society: secretary
  • Paid AP Chemistry Tutor
  • Orientation Leader
  • Interact

Community Service:

  • Local food warehouse - 180 hours
  • Local homeless shelter - 300 hours
  • Teacher of religious education at my church - 300 hours
  • Volunteering through ECs - 150 hours
  • Local nursing home - 100 hours
  • Hospital - 50 hours

Medically related activities:
Physician Shadowing - 120 hours
Research in psychiatry department at Wayne State University - 60 hours

Applied to the following BS/MD Programs:

  1. Brown PLME - rejected ED - rejected RD
  2. Northwestern HPME - interview - ACCEPTED
  3. Pitt GAP - interview - ACCEPTED
  4. Case PPSP - interview - declined interview
  5. University of Rochester REMS - interview - ACCEPTED
  6. George Washington - rejected pre-interview
  7. Boston University - interview - ACCEPTED
  8. Penn State - interview - rejected
  9. University of Cincinnati DAP - interview - ACCEPTED
  10. Virginia Commonwealth GAP - interview - ACCEPTED
  11. UCONN SPiM - rejected pre-interview
  12. Wayne State University - interview - declined interview

Applied to the following undergraduate:

  1. University of Michigan - accepted
  2. Harvard - waitlisted
  3. Dartmouth - waitlisted
  4. Yale - rejected

DECISION: Northwestern HPME

Scholarship / Aid:

Reflection:
Where do I begin? This process was certainly a whirlwind!! I experienced so many mixed emotions throughout it and never in a million years would have dreamed that I would end up where I did.

My greatest advice, although cliche, is to be yourself and to take quality time to reflect and think introspectively. Dig deep, think carefully about why you’re doing what you’re doing (nobody enters this process willingly without a good reason) and go beyond the idea of a checklist of items that you must meet. Don’t be afraid to be specific - it wasn’t the hospital volunteering that impacted you but the patient you met in the lobby on the way in; it wasn’t the complex chemicals that you worked with in the lab but the relationship you forged with your research mentor that influenced you. Tell the admissions people and interviewers that. Think carefully about what you love about yourself and how these can not only enable you to be a successful doctor but can enable you to LOVE medicine. Speak from the heart and everything will fall into place.

As far as interviews go (as I know that time is getting close!), have fun! The second I started treating my interviews as a conversation instead of an avenue of getting accepted into a medical program, everything changed drastically. Don’t be afraid to laugh, ask questions that you truly care about, share a personal detail from your life here and there. Be a person to the interviewer and treat them as a person. They have seen you on paper and it’s time to show them who you truly are!

Overall, I could not be more thankful for my experiences with the BS/MD programs. I met some of the most amazing people and learned so much about myself in the process.

Please don’t hesitate to message me if you have any questions at all!!!

2

Hi, I applied to Rensselaer and WashU for their BS/MD programs and am waiting for an interview call. Any idea when they will come out, or has anyone gotten a call?

3

@devidush You should post and follow the thread to get any response. Yes, RPI folks got interviews. Wash, is too early for interview notification.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/multiple-degree-programs/1879830-official-thread-for-2017-bsmd-applicants-p114.html

4

Thanks. When will the FAU interview calls be out? I was accepted into FAU and Wilkes honors college but have not yet received any notification from their bs md program. The deadline for undergraduate acceptance was extended to February 17, so it might be too early as of now, but any idea when I can expect a decision?

5

FAU already interviewed starting 3/9. Do you get invitation yet?

6

@orangeflower7 did you interview at FAU?

7

Yes. I did interview at FAU last week. Did you also have interview there?

8

I am reposting this from http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/multiple-degree-programs/1879830-official-thread-for-2017-bsmd-applicants-p174.html and adding a little more:

Weighted GPA: 4.68/4 and 13.07/12

Unweighted GPA: 4.00/4
ACT: Math 35, Science 35, English 36, Reading 36, Writing 11: Cumulative 36

SAT Subject Tests: Math II (800), Chemistry (800), US History (800)
Class Rank: Unreported, but my best guess is top 5 out of 190

AP Classes (8 total):
Biology-5
US History-5
Chemistry-5
English Language and Comp-5
Physics C Mechanics and E/M-
US Government-
Modern European History-
Calculus BC-

Recommendations: Outside of my teacher recommendations (10th-grade Biology AP, 11th grade English Lang AP, APUSH) and my college counselor recommendation, I also got a recommendation from the Volunteer coordinator at the hospital I volunteered at that was quite good and I imagine helped quite a lot.

State: Fl

Gender: Male

Ethnicity: White

Hospital Activities:
280 hours volunteering in a local hospital, 35 hours shadowing an anesthesiologist at another local hospital

Other activities and positions (highlighting the most important ones):
President of the Symphonic Band
Varsity Football (1 year) and Varsity Crew (2 Years)
President of school’s Medical Society Club
Student Council Member, School Spirit Subcommittee Chairman
220 hours volunteering at a summer camp

Research: none

Awards (highlighting the most important ones):
History Award (Top history student) 9th, 10th and 11th
Science Award (Top science student) 10th and 11th
UPENN Book Award 11th
National Merit Finalist 12th
Spanish Honors Society 11th

7 and 8 Year Program Applications and Decisions:
Pittsburg GAP: Not offered interview. rejected, offered full tuition
George Washington Dual BA/MD-offered additional supplement, not offered interview, rejected
Penn State/Jefferson BS/MD- offered interview, rejected
Northwestern HPME-offered interview, rejected
Temple University Pre-Med Health Scholars Program-offered interview, accepted with full tuition scholarship
Boston University BA/MD-offered interview, accepted with Trustee Scholarship (full tuition)

Regular undergraduate decisions:
Georgetown, accepted
Johns Hopkins, accepted
UF, accepted
University of Miami, accepted with 35K/year scholarship
Vanderbilt, unknown as of the time of posting
Emory, unknown as of the time of posting

I will be attending BU’s program in the fall and am quite happy about it.

Thoughts about each of the programs I applied to:
What I hoped to gain out of a combined medical program was the conditional acceptance into medical school. Acceptance rates for medical schools, even middle-of-the-road medical schools, are dropping like a rock as more and more highly qualified people apply to them. I do not see this trend reversing anytime soon, so I was looking for the programs with the best matriculation requirements and most highly ranked medical schools. BU and NU were the two standouts, being the oldest and most well respected, with great medical school rankings and easy matriculation requirements. The other two 7 year programs (GW and Penn State/Jefferson) also had extremely doable medical school matriculation requirements, which is why I applied. I applied to Pittsburgh’s 8 year because the medical is very highly ranked (some rankings place it in the top 10) and the fact that it was 8 year did not dissuade me since I was more interested in the conditional guarantee. I was a little uneasy with Temple’s program since it has volunteering and rec letter requirements for matriculation, but I applied anyway since it was the least selective program out of the 6 I was considering.

Thoughts about the programs I didn’t apply to:
I ruled out some programs (UMKC and Virginia Commonwealth) simply because I did not think they had a strong enough medical school ranking for my liking, and because I would be more inclined to attend a regular undergraduate (like Johns Hopkins or UF) over those specific programs. I also ruled out some programs (such as Wash U and Case Western) because I thought their matriculation requirements were much too high and that it didn’t really give me the guarantee I was looking for. Others, like Neomed, I did not even know about until browsing through the forums in the past couple of days. My recommendation would be to evaluate programs based upon medical school rankings, matriculation requirements, and the likelihood of receiving merit-based aid.

Reflections:
I applied to only 6 programs so that I could take my time on each of the applications and rewrite them multiple times if it was necessary. My biggest piece of advice is to always be interesting and come across interesting and well rounding. No matter how intelligent and driven people that apply to these programs are, that will not pay off if the reader or interviewer is bored with your essays or interview (my college counselor posed this question: Would your interviewer be interested enough in you as a person to want to have dinner with you?). My second piece of advice is to be well-rounded. For me, my two big passions were medicine and history. I talked extensively during all my interviews about history and the philosophy of history.

Above all, make sure that a career in medicine is what you truly desire. Interviewers can smell people motivated more by their parents than by themselves a mile away, and this will tank any chances you have.

Please message me with any questions anyone has. Good luck to all!

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GPA: 3.87 (UW), 4.19 (W)

Class Rank: N/A

ACT: 34
Subscores: Science (32), English (34), Reading (32), Math (36),

SAT Subject Tests: Didn’t take

AP’s (at time of application): Full IB diploma

Teacher Recs: I think really good because I am very close to my teachers.
State: MI
Gender: F
Ethnicity: Indian Asian

Hooks: I think my ECs

Major ECs:

  • Softball 9-12
  • Dancer for college team
  • Founder/ Community Outreach coordinator for volunteer club
  • President/Coach for local chapter of international organization that focuses on creative approaches to combat global issues
  • Choreographer for dance groups for multiple charity shows

- HOSA/DECA

Community Service:
ER volulnteering, lots of hours spent with my club with various organizations (special needs, low income areas, etc.)

Medically related activities:
Physician Shadowing - 40 hours
Research in bioinformatics
Surgical Observer in Indian Government Hospital

Applied to the following Medical Programs:

  1. UMKC 6 Year BAMD- Interview, ACCEPTED
  2. NEOMED 6/7 Year BSMD- Interview, ACCEPTED
  3. Missouri Southern State 7 year BS/DO- Interview, ACCEPTED
  4. California Northstate 6 Year BSMD- Interview ACCEPTED
  5. Case western 8 year BSMD- rejected pre-interview
  6. WashU Med scholars- Rejected pre-interview
  7. Michigan State University Osteopathic Med Scholars(OMSP)- Interview, ACCEPTED
  8. St. Louis Med Scholars-ACCEPTED

Applied to the following undergraduate:

  1. University of Michigan Ann Arbor– ACCEPTED
  2. Wayne State University- ACCEPTED
  3. Ohio State University- ACCEPTED

DECISION: NEOMED! It was really hard to pick between UMKC, NEOMED, and OMSP but I decided on NEOMED because it is 7 years, has great financial aid, and is close to home

Reflection: This process was really something. I knew that direct meds are unpredictable so I made sure to have a plan incase I did not get accepted to any. I spent my whole summer writing essays and participating in ECs to strengthen my resume. After receiving my first interview invitation, I focused my time on prepping for those and was able to learn from each interview. Personally, I feel my interviews were what made it for me because I was able to stand out using my background and activities, and able to use a lot of personal experience. I can honestly say that being yourself does make a difference. There were so many kids that had perfect stats and resumes that still didn’t make it into these programs. Having a diverse background and leadership qualities helps you so much and I am glad I spent time developing my own personal skills before applying to these programs.
I am happy with the overall outcome of the process and really thankful to have a lot of options before I made my final decision. If anyone has any questions, feel free to message me :slight_smile:

10

I got into NW HPME, announced on Sat Mar 18, 2017

11

Hello everyone, I’m starting new thread BS/MD Results For High School Class Of 2017. I hope this everyone share your experiences here so that we’ll will help each other… Happy to see you some of them in near future either at interviews (if at all I get one) or in BS/MD program (if at all I get acceptance)…

BSMD2017_IL

12

Hello everyone, I’m starting new thread BS/MD Results For High School Class Of 2017. I hope this everyone share your experiences here so that we’ll will help each other… Happy to see you some of them in near future either at interviews (if at all I get one) or in BS/MD program (if at all I get acceptance)…

BSMD2017_IL

13

Hello everyone, I’m starting new thread BS/MD Results For High School Class Of 2017. I hope this everyone share your experiences here so that we’ll will help each other… Happy to see you some of them in near future either at interviews (if at all I get one) or in BS/MD program (if at all I get acceptance)…

BSMD2017_IL

14

Hello everyone, I’m starting new thread BS/MD Results For High School Class Of 2017. I hope this everyone share your experiences here so that we’ll will help each other… Happy to see you some of them in near future either at interviews (if at all I get one) or in BS/MD program (if at all I get acceptance)…

BSMD2017_IL

15

Hello everyone, I’m starting new thread BS/MD Results For High School Class Of 2017. I hope this everyone share your experiences here so that we’ll will help each other… Happy to see you some of them in near future either at interviews (if at all I get one) or in BS/MD program (if at all I get acceptance)…

BSMD2017_IL

16

Important Note: This thread is to post only the Stats and Reflections. If you have any questions / follow ups on other’s posts, please use the discussion thread of 2017.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/multiple-degree-programs/1879830-official-thread-for-2017-bsmd-applicants.html#latest
The reason for this guideline is to keep this thread simple with only few pages, so that any future students / parents to get an idea of BS/MD, can go thru this thread only with stats and not to go thru or search 200+ pages of the discussion thread. Thank for your understanding.

17

We are looking for your help to make a choice on bs/md between UCF and U Toledo. Thanks in advance for your time and expertise. We know its not top tier programs but its very critical for us, please do comment.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/multiple-degree-programs/1976874-ucf-v-s-u-toledo-for-bs-md-p1.html?new=1

18

Any suggestions on picking UCF BMS over FAU Medical scholars. B.S/M.D programs?

19

@florida789

Both are new medical schools with UCF (2006) and FAU (2011) with similar reputation, similar program length of time and both are very comparable in terms of their undergraduate requirements for promotion into medical school (ie. GPA, req MCAT, req med school interview, AMCAS requirements).

However, some differences to consider between the two:

-tuition, scholarships
-min 512 MCAT for UCF vs min 507-510 MCAT for FAU depending on your GPA.
-UCF requires BOTH min 3.750 GPA and 3.750 Science GPA
-FAU requires BOTH min 3.700 GPA and 3.500 Science GPA (the difference between a 3.5 science GPA and 3.75 is very significant)
-clinical requirements to be promoted into medical school for UCF are more extensive
-first year class size at UCF is ~120 vs FAU ~65

It’s hard to recommend one over the other without knowing more about your individual situation but based on my past experience, we have recommended FAU over UCF for the majority of our students.

Good luck with your decision!

20

GPA: 4.0 (UW)

Class Rank: N/A

ACT: 35
Subscores: Science (34), English (36), Reading (35), Math (36), Writing (10)

SAT Subject Tests:
Chemistry: 800
Math 2: 800

AP’s (at time of application)
Chemistry
Psychology
Calculus AB
English: Lit & Comp

Senior AP’s: Biology, Statistics, Language & Composition

Teacher Recs: Fantastic!

State: IL/IA
Gender: F
Ethnicity: Indian American
Income: 150k+
Hooks: I don’t think I have any hooks besides coming from a really small area with not a lot of opportunities but still being able to get awards and things. Also, I did a lot of independent research concerning energy sustainability and was super committed to it instead of JUST doing mentor-driven medical research.

Major ECs:

  • Started non-profit to raise awareness for climate change and alternative energy, helped build second-generation ethanol plant in India
  • LOTS of independent research concerning energy
  • Varsity Volleyball
  • Chemistry Club: Founder/President - planned STEM Seminars and TEDxYouth event
  • Student Council Member
  • National Honors Society: President/ Head of Service Committee
  • Paid Chemistry Tutor
    -Spanish Club member
    -NOW member
    -Iowa Physiological Society Member
    -Iowa Youth Congress and State of Iowa Youth Advisory Council Member

Community Service:

  • Local soup kitchen
  • Food drive planner
  • Temple volunteer
  • Arts Festival volunteer
  • Nursing home volunteer
  • Habitat for Humanity Home Builder
  • X-Stream Cleanup Volunteer
  • Taught english, math, and science at school for at-risk children in India

Medically related activities:
-Assisted in 4-year cardiology study at hospital (published 2 papers and analyzed data for the study)
-Shadowed orthopedic surgeon
-Shadowed reconstructive surgeon
-Volunteered at 2 hospitals
-Cancer research at the Wash U School of Medicine
-Medical research at the University of Iowa
-Helped disabled children with physical therapy in India

Awards/Honors (sorry I just vomited up my resume, not trying to seem egotistical here):
-Grand Award Recipient at Intel ISEF - 4th overall from Energy category
-2-time Intel ISEF qualifier
-Placed 2nd nationally at National JSHS (1st Iowa student in the history of 54 years of National JSHS to place at Nationals)
-2-time National JSHS qualifier
-Selected for AJAS conference in Boston (got to meet cool scientists at MIT)
-I-SWEEEP Finalist
-Award from Society for In Vitro Biology
-Commended with President’s Environmental Youth Award
-Awards from SSTFI and EISEF
-Received Partnership of Research Institution’s Award from Wash U for research
-AP Scholar
-Illinois State Scholar
-U.S. Presidental Scholars Candidate
-Scholastic Writing Awards Gold Key
-Borlaug Scholar and attended Global Youth Institute
-COSMOS Student of the Week
-National History Day National Qualifier
-Recognized on front page of national magazine
-Recognized in television segment for my work with food security

Applied to the following BS/MD Programs:

  1. Brown PLME - rejected RD
  2. Northwestern HPME - interview - ACCEPTED
  3. Pitt GAP - rejected pre-interview
  4. Case PPSP - rejected pre-interview
  5. University of Rochester REMS - rejected pre-interview
  6. George Washington - rejected pre-interview
  7. Boston University - rejected pre-interview
  8. Penn State - rejected pre-interview
  9. UCONN SPiM - rejected pre-interview
  10. Wayne State University - rejected pre-interview
  11. RPI/AMC - interview - ACCEPTED
  12. Rutgers/NJMS - interview - ACCEPTED
  13. UIC GPPA - interview - ACCEPTED
  14. UMKC - interview - waitlisted
  15. Rice/Baylor - rejected pre-interview
  16. Baylor/Baylor - rejected pre-interview
  17. Wash U USP - rejected pre-interview
  18. Drexel/Drexel - rejected pre-interview

Applied to the following undergraduate:

  1. Duke - accepted
  2. MIT - accepted
  3. Stanford - accepted

DECISION: Northwestern HPME

Scholarship / Aid: None. We don’t qualify.

Reflection:
I still remember reading these results threads OVER and OVER again for the past two years so writing up my own post is pretty surreal.

Okay, wow, this entire process was insane. It was tough dealing with all the rejections I got. I remember getting a rejection from PPSP and GAP and thinking, “Jeez, I must not be a good student. I just don’t cut it for these programs.” But I had great family support and everyone kept telling me to hold on.

My sister (who’s also in a top BS/MD program) gave me some great advice that I think everyone should consider. She said, “Don’t let all these rejections get you down. All it takes is just ONE acceptance to change your life.”

And she was completely right. Who cares that I got rejected from Pittsburgh or Brown? (which are both great, btw) All I care about is that ONE acceptance to HPME that changed my entire life and future. I’m never gonna turn back and feel sad about where I didn’t get in. It doesn’t matter anymore.

I advise people to not have expectations going into this process. My dream program was GAP because I figured PLME and HPME were out of my league. I really thought I would get an interview to GAP but guess what? Rejected. I opened that email expecting something and was crushed when I didn’t get an interview. Don’t make the same mistake I did. When I opened up the email from Northwestern, I had no expectations but ended up getting in which made me so, so, so happy! Now, I literally never feel sad anymore.

My advice is to find out what makes you unique and make it shine on your application. Really think about who you are deep down and be honest in your essays. Almost everyone has medical ECs and fantastic grades/scores. What sets you apart? Don’t be afraid to talk about how pasionate you are about something unrelated to medicine. I literally talked mostly about my energy research in most of my interviews.

As far as interviews go, my biggest advice is to just relax and turn it into a conversation instead of a question and answer session. I know my interview is the biggest thing that got me into HPME. I joked around, I laughed a lot, and I even teared up during an interview talking about a personal story. At first, I thought it showed weakness but my interviewer told me that he liked how thoughtful and real I was. Just be you. Be the raw, down-to-earth person that you are. Show that you’re much more than a list of extracurriculars. In addition to all that, BE PREPARED. They will ask you the classic “Why do you want to be a doctor?” question and you need to have an answer that is better than “I like science. I like helping people.” Make that answer unique to you. Include a personal anecdote to support it.

Overall, I am so glad that I went through this process. Even though at times I got really, really down on myself, I just waited it out and got a great result. Never give up. Also, this might be random, but I think colleges favor independent research over lab research under a mentor. It shows that you can be successful without someone handing you a project. Another random piece of advice: DO SCIENCE FAIRS. All the time that I spent practicing responses to challenging questions from a judge, summarizing my project, and thinking on the spot during a presentation has enhanced my interview skills so much. Put yourself out there and it will get rid of how nervous you could have been during an interview (which doesn’t look so good.) I’m now seen as a cool, calm, collected cucumber during interviews even though I’m internally freaking out.

Okay, I’m almost done but my last piece of advice is to just be charming. If you have a sense of humor, you have an advantage. Don’t be a giggling mess but know that a sense of humor is the greatest tool you can have. Okay, now I’m done talking. WOW, I AM SO GLAD THAT I NEVER HAVE TO APPLY FOR COLLEGE AGAIN. That was the worst time in my life.

Feel free to ask me any questions you have. I am an open book and would love to answer anything!

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