Hello I am a rising senior currently applying for colleges. My list has a lot of schools which have BS/MD programs.
Race: Asian (South Indian)
Gender: Male
Income: High (no financial aid)
School: Top 2 high schools in Michigan, top 30 high school nationally according to US news report. Full IB Curriculum
Hooks: None
Stats:
1550 SAT (760 EW, 790 M)
3.99 UW GPA, 4.29 W GPA
222 PSAT index, expected semifinalist and hopefully finalist
Extracurriculars:
3 years Indian Students Association: Indian dancing club with a major school wide performance in the spring
3 years ultimate Frisbee club (founder and one of the central players)
N.H.S
S.H.S
Achieved a silver medal in the National Spanish Exam (89th Percentile)
One week internship at Janrise advertising agency in India (20 hours)
Volunteering:
2 summers therapeutic swim volunteering. Helping children with disabilities grow through swim exercises (25 hours).
1 summer as a patient escort in a hospital (30 hours).
Numerous Detroit based volunteering projects (Picking intrusive weeds, cleaning trash from the streets, creating art supplies for children)(30 hours).
Basic library volunteering (20 hours)
Medically Related Activities:
Summer biomedical research at Oakland University studying a certain aspect of cell division (50 hours).
Shadowing local physician (15 hours).
Attended Michigan State’s OsteoCHAMPS summer program. Competitive medical summer camp where only one in four applicants was accepted.
Attended local hospital’s weekend medical skills course. Over the period of 3 months we went to a hospital every Saturday to get exposure to different medical specialties.
Schools:
Michigan States OMSP , University of Rochester EMS, University of Alabama Birmingham EMSAP, University of Toledo Bacc2MD, Penn State SKMIT, Case Western BS/MD.
If I do not get into any of the direct med programs I will probably attend regular MSU undergrad, as it is the cheapest for me.
I guess you recently moved from India. There aren’t many places, especially for Asians. You have the qualifications, except you probably need some 800 or close SAT subject tests in relevant subjects. MSU is probably a good backup plan, due to med school’s emphasis on GPA.
@sattut Just curious but why do you think I recently moved from India? I was born here and lived here for 7 years before moving to other countries in Europe and South America because of my dad’s job. I came back here for the start of high school. As for the advertising internship, I did it during a summer vacation in India after my freshman year.
@GreenPoison Unfortunately I have not taken any subject tests yet. No AP classes either because all of my classes are IB. Hopefully colleges won’t prefer AP over IB.
They won’t care you did IB, but you will need close to perfect subject tests for BSMD, particularly as an Asian. If you go to MSU and are a competitive BSMD applicant, you are pretty much a lock to get into med school, due to med schools not adjusting GPA by school enough.
@BigMan1234 - you have great stats and have a good shot at a lot of BA/MD programs, but my recommendation would be to apply much more broadly. And even if you feel you don’t have a “hook” - you want to make sure you come with a “hook” for your essays based on your activities that is unique. Good luck!
@GreenPoison - Why would you advise against the BS/DO route with MSU? Is there some major negative I am not aware of? I was really interested in it because I am in state and am extremely familiar with the program.
I know five + students who ended up choosing BS/DO programs (Nova, LECOM, Rowan etc.) To be frank, 2 things immediately stood out to me.
Some of these programs have ridiculously low (academic and extracurricular) standards to get in. I know a student who got into a program with NO healthcare experiences (research, shadowing, hospital volunteering), and only good grades and sports. I guess at some point you really have to ask yourself- if DO's want to be treated the same as MD's, shouldn't they also be admitted in the way with the same selectivity?
Some of these programs have horrendous attrition rates. I know of a program in the Northeast that loses 20% of its class per year- that's a horrible number, and shows that there is either a problem in the school itself or the students they choose.
I remember sharing this link of usnews - which seems to be the Bible for some folks despite all the criticism on various fronts - on Nova South Eastern’s Osteopathic program. Besides, the residency match process seems to be unified for both streams from 2020 onwards.
I personally wouldn’t hesitate going to a DO practitioner in preference to an MD practitioner. Infact I was trying to get an appointment with an opthalmologist towards the end of last year and was told there was a 2 month waiting period for 1st time patients with the one who was a DO. Could get an appointment with an MD in a week’s gap. I guess success and popularity depends on a number of factors including one’s own committment to the profession.
One of my close friends who suffered a hair line fracture to the foot not too long ago went to his primary care DO instead of to an orthopedic specialist.
MSU is a very reputed institution, not only nationally, but worldwide. I believe any program affiliated with it must be of high standards. I would urge due diligence though in your own analysis, including talking to few MD and DO practitioners, and weighing pros and cons before coming to any decisions. There has been some discussion towards the middle to later portions of last year’s thread on this.
Also, according to usnews again, the most applied to med school/program is an Osteopathic one. Not that I am promoting DO programs any way, just sharing info. (D goes to a prestigious 7 year MD program in the north east)