There is a section for Personal Comment on AMCAS(~5300 chars) application. IMO, it is for candidate’s Personal Statement. One should not leave it empty. The Experience section allows maximum 15 activities, three of these may be designated as ‘most meaningful’ (which allows a larger char counts).
Each activity needs to be categorized as one of many choices like Community Service/Volunteer-Medical/Clinical, Community Service/Volunteer - Not Medical/Clinical, Extracurricular Activities, Honors/Awards/Recognitions, Teaching/Tutoring/Teaching Assistant, Research/Lab, Physician Shadowing/Clinical Observation, Leadership, etc.
D graduated today(Bachelor of Science degree with summa cum laude honors, top 2% of graduating class) and is looking forward to her future journey. D was also a Phi Beta Kappa.
7 Likes
Congrats! I thought Summa is top 5%
Thanks. The UG GPA cutoff’s were set to yield 2% Summa, 5% Magna, and 9% Cum Laude awards. It was 3.94 for Summa, 3.84 for Magna and 3.74 for Cum laude, IIRC. Congrats to your S on his upcoming graduation from Vandy.
1 Like
Interesting. At Vandy it’s 5%,8% and 12% in A&S. I guess each school sets based on GPA bands. Vandy commencement is on Saturday. I will post an update after that.
I watched the writings in this forum with amazement.
The minute planing, management, coordinated dancing between parents and children are just astounding. Some parents are already looking forward to kid’s specialty, future postgrad medical career planning in the stall, pending.
I read this forum with amazement, wondering what cultural upbringing is behind those seemingly success stories. I am absolutely not sniping. But genuinely amazed.
I can’t even see my kid’s college grades, let alone MCAT score. Nor do I have the privilege of knowing where they are applying. I just know he will be a physician. And I am proud of him.
Saying congrats would be graffiti on master works. I am simply amazed.
As long as parents let kids dance to their own tune not parents tune it’s all good. I never tried to impose or decide anything for my only child and that’s why he likes my input and consults with me constantly.
Amazing work, down to personal statement.
The culture is inherited from the country of origin for immigrants.
DS graduated from Vanderbilt today with triple honors (Summa cum laude, Highest Honors in biochemistry and Honors in College of Arts & Science). He also received two awards.
10 Likes
yes, to some extent it is cultural and necessity.
Cultural "We’ vs ‘I’: Each has its own pro and con. Not saying one is better than other, It is best to take the good part.
Necessity: Many Asian countries especially in 70s, 80s before computer & internet a person can get a job only if they are either engineer or doctor.
Though it is critical to provide the ambience before kid reaches 16, afterwards they are going to be the way where they are born and raised and will adopt.
Each kid is different and in my case told don’t need any input and would like to make own decisions. Can’t complain, since gave access to half of college sites. Only I see the bursar account and pay any bills and file her tax !
In Medical another advantage, mostly it is P/F. So at the end we are told P.
Is this pure P/F at your D’s medical school ? Some places have Honors/ Pass/Fail, just curious.
Varies by school, UPenn is P/F for first 2 blocks only
Congratulations!!!
Thanks, @NoviceDad.
1 Like
@srk2017
When is your S medical school starting ?
1 Like
@grtd2010 - Next week is orientation and classes start week after. Whitecoat ceremony is delayed to September. Congratulations on whitecoat ceremony. I am seeing photos from kids from other schools on social media.
1 Like
Hi all, I am a MS3 at NJMS who has completed 6 years in the TCNJ/NJMS BS-MD Program. I have attended TCNJ—I think that the discussion here between parents is great and I/my parents didn’t even know about this community when applying to BS/MD Programs. I honestly think that BS/MD programs are great if you want to get into a medical school and that is your only goal. The residency matching for BS/MD students is great (they match competitively) and medical college admissions has been a relief for me, I don’t think I could have gone through the stress that other people that I know have gone through. Any Questions, I’d be happy to answer for you.
4 Likes
Thanks for your feedback. Which competitive residencies are TCNJ/NJMS BSMD students matching? Also, any of them took gap years in medical school to get research experience?
Looking at NJMS Match Results for the year 2021, nearly 70% (126/180) of the matches were for the less competitive residencies (Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Psychiatry, Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine, IM, etc). That leaves about 30% (54/180) were matched to the competitive or other residencies. I think off NJMS’ 180 intake, 50% or more coming from the BSMD pathway. Interesting to know the BSMD share in competitive residencies. Hoping @charlemagne11 would comment on this.