Chance me- anxious junior looking at t100 and 8 year med programs!!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Demographics:
-Upper middle class
-Indian but born in America (first one to be born in America in my family so first-gen?)
-New York
-Competitive high school (top 1% in America)

Major: Biology or Neuroscience

School’s I’m planning to apply to (all in NY for cheaper cost, + med school is expensive):

Reach: Cornell, Hofstra 8 year BS/MD, Columbia (?)

Target: SUNY Stony Brook (dream school), SUNY Binghamton, NYU, NYIT 7 year BS/DO, RPI, GW

Safety: Hostra (regular undergrad), Hunter College, NYIT (undergrad)

Stats:
GPA: 3.7 UW 3.9 W (subject to change b/c covid changed the entire grading system)
ACT: 33
AP’s: World History, American History, English Lang, Psychology, Physics 1 (probably 4’s and 5’s on all tests)
AP’s senior year: US Gov, Bio, Chem, Calc AB, Spanish Language

Ecs:
-160 hours of volunteer at a university setting hospital
-Research into EEG brain scans with a distinguished professor at a university online and will continue into senior year when the campus opens again (won’t state the actual college b/c of privacy)
-Editor-in-chief and senior writer at CEC, a student-led organization that writes current events articles
-Clubs: Model UN, science olympiads, stem club, future medical frontiers, quiz bowl

Please let me know if my targets and reaches are realistic!!

2

Sorry GW is the one exception that isn’t in New York.

3

For an ORM and with such a low GPA, you are a very weak candidate for BSMD programs. Your test scores are very low there as well.

I would suggest if you want to pursue that option, cast a much wider net and really really work on those essay- they need to be phenomenal if you are going to have anyone overlook your weak stats. It’s a small chance but every now and then strange things happen in the admissions process.

4

You’re a first generation American citizen, but not a first generation for college admissions, unless your parents didn’t attend college anywhere.

5

BS/MD programs vary from very selective to extremely selective. If you are doing BS/MD at an extremely selective place like Northwestern, Rice or Brown, you have lots of fallback options if it turns out that you don’t want to be a doctor. At the other end of the scale, a non-medical degree from a place like Augusta University isn’t all that marketable.

A few years ago my D was considering becoming a doctor when applying for undergrad and had applied to the BS/MD programs at BU and Pitt. She was accepted into the #3 college on USNWR, but rejected from both BS/MD programs. Her stats were the following:

  • 35 ACT
  • National merit scholar
  • Top 1% of class from high school that sends many kids to top 20 schools
  • Lots of APs (all 5s) and perfect SAT subject tests
  • 3 summers of neuroscience research at a top-5 medical school
  • 80 hours shadowing doctors

That said, I think your choice of Stony Brook as a target for regular admission with a super-reach to get into their BS/MD program is a good one. Stony Brook is a respected university, as are other state flagships that have BS/MD programs like UConn, and Colorado.

If you don’t get BS/MD, hit the books in undergrad, and show the world you have the talent it takes to be a doctor.

6

the combined programs aren’t really my top choice, I’m kinda hoping for a miracle when I’m applying there. I’m more focused on the undergraduate schools since my chances there are more realistic

7

They didn’t attend college in America but in another country, how would that work?

8

I appreciate the feedback. Stony brook undergrad is definitely my top choice both academically and financially. It’s a great school with a strong science department, commutable distance so I don’t have to dorm, and a public instate college with cheap tuition.