Chance me for bsmd programs.

Pre-Med & Medical School Multiple Degree Programs
1

I am a rising senior, and I live in Texas so I was planning on applying to the RIce/Baylor Medical Scholars, Baylor 2 Medical Track Program, A&M Science to Medicine Program, and the Texas Tech bsmd program (and maybe the Rochester bsmd program). Here are my stats:

Profile: Pakistani, female, moved to US before freshman year, highly competitive high school

ACT : 35

GPA: 4.0/4.0(unweighted) 5.7/6.0(weighted) - top 2.8% of class

APs (all 5s): Chemistry, English lang and comp, Psychology, Statistics, Computer Science A, World History, Computer Science Principles, Human Geography ( taking AP Calc AB, Physics, APES, Econ senior)

Leadership: President of HOSA(2019) , Chapter Coordinator of HOSA(2018), Historian of Outreach(community service club), Health Science Governing Ambassador

Notable ECS: on the robotics team, over 200 hrs of volunteering at an Alzheimer’s Care center, volunteer at a hospital, organize events such as sending letters to Parkland shooting victims and Christchurch shooting.

Honors/ Awards: First Place in the world at HOSA internationals, won numerals other awards for HOSA at state and regional competitions, First place in Texas at FBLA, Robotics team qualified for and competed at world competition, AP National Scholar.

Also, if you had any other good bsmd programs that I might have a chance please let me know!

2

Any such program should be considered a high reach for all applicants.

3

I would try to do some Doctor shadowing for sure…and if it is possible to do any research that would be good to.

4

@lookagain

  1. For future posts use the yearly thread.
    http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/multiple-degree-programs/2143599-official-thread-for-2020-bsmd-applicants.html#latest
  1. I don't chance since it is futile. But you have covered key areas and have equal chance like many other students.
  2. There are few programs which has SAT2 requirements, like BU.
  3. Always apply to few BS/MD programs but also apply to few regular UG universities/programs and it is very important.
  4. Here are some of the BS/MD programs: Rice / Baylor, Baylor / Baylor, Wash U, Northwestern, Pittsburgh, Rochester, CWRU, Brown, Stonybrook, RPI/AMC, UAB, UConn, NJMS (multiple feeder schools), BostonU, Oklahoma, Tulsa, George Wash, Temple, UMKC, Howard, FL based programs.
5

@lookagain
I wish you have had more AP level courses related to BCPM stream in your curriculum so far. Admissions committees of various, if not all, programs tend to give consideration to your level of exposure in Bio, Chem, Phys and Math and how well you have done in those. Some like programs of North Western, Boston and perhaps RPI? require you to submit scores in some of those subject SATs. So far I see you only had C at AP level. Though Statistics can be considered a M curriculum, it is more of a complementary subject and doesn’t carry the weight of something like say Calculus. Also as some one mentioned, some kind of research exposure would have been a good addition.

Don’t bother about research at this stage, because it is late to get into now. But perhaps you can still have some flexibility in your senior year course selection. Try to replace some of the planned courses with AP Bio and Calc (preferably BC). Try to do well (As) in those courses till 1st mark period. Hopefully that will take care to some extent.

6

Thank you for the response. I am taking chemistry and math 2 subject test this august. Do you think that would be enough or should I switch one of my classes to Biology too? Is it possible to self study biology and take the sat subject test in this time period? Also, I do have an opportunity to volunteer with a professor on his research in psychology. Do you think volunteering for the short amount of time before college apps are due will make a genuine difference in my application?

7

Would you be able to rank these programs from most competitive to least?

8

Are you a US citizen or do you have permanent residency (Green Card)?

9

Yes

10

Some bsmd programs are going to expect a lot more direct involvement in healthcare. The more challenging, the more focused on the needy, the better.

In general, shadowing is more for med school apps than UG admissions. HOSA is mostly a hs club and writing letters isn’t the level of stretch and challenge or impact.

11

Does working in another county count? I volunteered with a UN affiliated organization in Afghan camps in Pakistan but I was not sure if that was something I should include since I heard that US colleges don’t give a lot of value to experiences in other countries. Don’t know if that is true.
Family friend applying to med school said his internship in Pakistan didn’t help his application.

12

@lookagain,
To your queries -

  • Yes, if feasible you should replace something like APES with AP Bio in senior year. Looking into your background, I am not sure what exactly is your primary interest and likely field of study going into college. Is it Business, Computer Science, Health care or liberal arts (at some Ivy)? I am sure the same will cross the minds of admission committee folks of these programs as they review your application. Taking good core science courses in senior year can provide some clarification and direction to them.
  • You don’t need SAT subject tests unless you want to apply to programs that specifically need them (some of which mentioned earlier). But bear in mind, those programs offer no or little merit awards (max up to around 20 k per year for undergrad), so you may or not want to apply to them anyway. (they offer generous need based aid though if one’s family income and assets are low enough to qualify)
  • I don’t think a short stint of research will make a significant impression, but I will let others here opine about it. However you also have an option of taking AP research seminar (or something like that) in senior year. I don’t know too many specifics but my understanding is that the school / college board will setup some kind of arrangement with a local university or research facility. You can perhaps continue it with the same professor you mentioned also. Your high school counselor will be able to provide more info on that. You need to find out how time consuming that will be though. Since you can’t get too ambitious in senior year when you need to maintain a fine balance among all your ongoing activities, studies and the whole application process. You don’t want to stretch yourself too much and risk any of them.
  • I am not sure what is the reason for planning on applying only to aforementioned programs by you, all in TX. Is it cost, proximity or both. You may be aware that the total intake of both the Baylor programs together is 12 or so? I think anyone seriously interested in these programs should cast a wider net. There are a couple of programs in neighboring Oklahoma and Tulsa. Alabama also has a good program, though they seem to be giving extra preference to in state and regional applicants . All these programs give good price breaks for the undergrad portion if cost is an issue. If location is not an issue, you can consider NJMS with either NJIT or Rutgers as feeder school. The latter two seem to give almost free rides for the undergrad portions though the med school portion is relatively expensive compared to TX med schools. Also remember someone posting on the latest BS/MD results thread about Texas A&M program. if or once you have crossed 15 posts here, you can personal message him or her on college confidential to get more expert opinion specific to your state or region.
  • Yes, do mention any activities outside the country too. I remember someone’s experience outside the country did help during interviews, essays etc. Do read all the posts of 2019 results thread and some followup queries and answers in the main thread too, around that time frame (since folks normally don’t ask the questions on the results thread but switch to the main one for that purpose)
13

Local generally tops international. A longer term commitment than most trips offer and involvement with healthcare delivery (the medical-related work. Not, say, teaching kids at the camps or stocking supplies.)

As Pakistan is your family heritage, yes, this makes sense (and I applaud you.) But a lot of kids go to visit family and do something short term. Then little back in the US. What do you do at the hospital? Is the Alzheimers work mostly social? Put the Pakistan work on your Common App Activities, but defineitely consider dropping the letter writing.

I can’t tell if you meet the range of hs courses colleges recommend. A number of your APs are easy ones- psych, stats, APES. Do you have the other rigorous cores? And subscores will matter.

Bottom line is, if CC keeps saying tippy tops are a reach for all, bsmd programs tend to be even more uber-reach. So have a happy Plan B.

14

@lookagain Have you taken at least One year of HS Biology as shown in your HS transcript ? Biology and Biochemistry are the main subjects of studies in Medical School. Please take at least two SAT II exams (BIOL,CHEM,PHYS,MATH). Some BSMD programs require you to submit SAT II for Chemistry. Being an ORM(you are one, being a south-asian), you are competing with other highly qualified ORMs. Please spend some time shadowing a physician( there are a lot of Indian or Pakistani doctors in Texas). You should apply in various programs for UG(Engineering, Computer Science, BA/BS). Medical Schools in USA do not require any particular major to matriculate. Apply widely for BS/MD if you want at least a shot at one admission. Good Luck. If you are a NMS (National Merit Semi-Finalist), then apply to OU’s MHSP.

15

I took biology freshman but that is nothing compared to AP Bio. I have taken the SAT subject tests but I plan on retaking them because of the low scores( Math2: 760 Chemstry: 740). Do you recommend applying to less competitive majors for the bs/md programs or something that more closely matches the courses I have taken?

16

I realized that I have not done research like most other bs/md applicants. I do have the opportunity to volunteer with a psychology professor on his research. Would working in the lab or the short amount of time before college apps are due have a significant impact on my application? Aka is it worth it?

17

@lookagain You can take BIOL SAT II with regular hs Biology. You donot need to retake Math and Chem SAT II again. AP Bio is not necessary. You have all areas covered - Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Math ( AP Cal AB). Popular premed majors are Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry. You should choose whatever you like as your major. The pre-requisites courses for the most Medical schools at college level are - 1 year Biology with labs, 1 year General Chemistry with labs, 1 year of Organic Chemistry with lab, 1 semester of Biochemistry, 1 or 2 semester of Calculus/Statistics, some sociology and psychology courses. Most BA/BS/MD programs have minimum MCAT score and minimum GPA requirements to meet before you can matriculate to medical school.
Taking a lot of AP courses is not going to help with BA/BS/MD. You already have a plenty (being an AP National Scholar).

18

@@lookagain The pre-requisites courses for the most Medical schools at college level are - 1 year Biology with labs, 1 year General Chemistry with labs, 1 year of Organic Chemistry with labs, 1 semester of Biochemistry, 1 year of Physics with labs, 1 or 2 semester of Calculus/Statistics, some sociology and psychology courses. Some colleges will give college credits based on AP score for some of these pre-requisites. You can not get AP credits for all BCPM requirements.
The BA/BS/MD admission process is very unpredictable and no one can predict anyone’s chances. Anything can happen and there is no sure shot formula for success.

19

I will be doing an internship with a school program this year but do you think doing research in this short time will make a difference? I have an opportunity to volunteer with a psychology professor on his research but I don’t know if it will make a difference in the short amount of time I have before I have to submit applications.

20

@lookagain You can do research but the medical schools which value research like AMC/RPI require substantial research prior to application. They will ask a lot of details and your contribution to the research conducted. Research is not required for most medical schools except for Top 20 medical schools via regular route. D has accumulated close to 1000+ hrs of research before the start of junior year in college.