Chanceme for BS/MD, lowish GPA, high SAT and Extracurriculars

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys,
I’m applying to colleges now as a rising senior, and BS/MD programs are my top picks . I don’t know if I can get in cause I’ve seen people with strong GPA and SAT being rejected, so ig I’m just gonna ask here.
I would honestly appreciate any help I could get.

My stats are:

Demographics: high income asian

School: competitive high school in central jersey

GPA: 3.72/4 UW, 4.32/5 W (rlly weak freshman yr, 3.4 uw, 3.8 w, but last 2 years have been all A’s with hardest classes that I can take, so last 2 years is 4.0 UW and like 4.6 W)

SAT: 1560

SAT Subject tests: Taking math 2, bio and chem in august, expecting at least 770 for all of them

AP scores: Psychology (5), Chemistry (5), Language and Composition (5), Statistics (4), Calculus AB (5), taking 5 more next yr, gonna suck for senior yr ig

Medical ECs:
Created business w/ 10k revenue and 880 profits selling a special type of soap for eczema (I used to have severe eczema which is why I wanted to be a dermatologist)
30 hours of clinical volunteering/shadowing (monitored patient doctor relationship, sterilized instruments with steam tool)
40 hours of hospital volunteering
Did research this summer (role of ICER to potentially suppress DNA replication and binding, killing the disease)

Non med ECs:
Founded and VP of school’s model congress team, made partnership w/ top 5 in nation model congress team
Founded and pres. of Amnesty International chapter, raised over 700 hours collectively
Invited to be speaker at an Amnesty International regional conference to experts + 150 ppl (not rlly regional conference, its more a national conference)
I’m in a top 5 mun team and have a few awards
Part of school’s NHS
Officer of school’s speech club

I expect my essay and LOR to be pretty good, but honestly idek how to judge them, so ig they’ll be like an 8 or 9 /10

If I could get any help to see my chances, that would be great. Thanks a lot!

2

You have really strong ec’s which I applaud. However, they cannot be a substitute for grades. No one has a good chance at bs/md programs unless you have special connections so definitely apply with the expectation that they are reach schools. Try to bump your gpa up beginning senior year and you may have a decent shot at best.

3

Which BS/MD programs are you applying to? I’ve heard good things about the new program at Rowan.

4

ORMs have a much higher hill to climb for BSMD programs. Your medical ECs are a little weak- you have a lot of experiences more closely connected with poli sci type field.

That being said, all you need is one acceptance. Good luck!

(Have you not started your essay! Some of those programs have a LOT of supplemental pieces. You need get moving!)

5

Are ORMs being evaluated differently?

6

Yes. It is harder to get in as an ORM

7

ORM (over represented minority) means Asian and Indian, correct?
Why is this harder for ORM? Do they have quotas on races or what?
Are you saying that other races are in a separate competition?

8

Universities in the US want to have a “diverse” student body. One of the main ways that they measure diversity is by the race and ethnic origin of students. Geographic diversity also might matter. They get a lot of applications from exceptional Asian-American students. This means that Asian-American students need to be academically very strong to get accepted to the top ranked universities in the US.

Public universities in California are not permitted to use race as a criteria for admissions. However, public universities in California are very expensive and very competitive for out of state students. The Universities in Canada mostly admit by academic strength. However the top ranked and best known universities in Canada are known for grade deflation which is not ideal for premed students. Public universities tend to admit very strong in-state students regardless of any concerns for diversity. Since you are from New Jersey, you have very strong in-state public universities (I am most familiar with Rutgers).

This entire issue is very highly controversial. People on both sides sometimes accuse the other side of being racist. The Trump administration sued Harvard over Harvard’s use of race in admissions. Harvard won the lawsuit. However, a lot of information was made public due to this lawsuit.

All of this will reduce your chances to get admitted to a BS/MD program. If you instead first get your bachelor’s degree and then apply to MD programs, you will need to be academically excellent to get admitted. However, these programs are very highly competitive for any student.

With such strong sophomore and junior years, you should be able to get accepted to some very good universities, such as Rutgers. If you continue the excellent trend there, you should have an excellent chance at strong MD schools, and being in-state will help you if you end up applying to Rutgers (which has quite a good medical school).

Perhaps the bottom line on all of this is that you should apply to programs that you are interested in, but make sure that you have solid safeties. Again, since you are in-state in New Jersey, there are some very good public universities in New Jersey that should be able to provide you with solid safeties.

One more issue that has not been discussed on this thread: Even if you are high income, if you are interested in medical school you need to budget for a full 8 years. Doctors often graduate with an MD plus a pile of debt. If you can minimize or avoid debt this will make life easier down the road.

9

Hi! I’m currently a sophomore and I am hoping to get into a BS/MD program too! Can you give me advice on how to improve my application?

9th Grade Courses:
Honors Math 2
Honors English 9
Global Studies
Physics in the Universe
French 1
Freshman PE Course 1
Honors Principles of Biomedical Science (PLTW Course)

10th Grade Courses:
Honors Math 3
Honors English 10
AP World History
Honors Chemistry
French 2
Lifetime Fitness
Honors Human Body Systems

9th Grade GPA: 4.42
10th Grade GPA: 4.71

Extracurriculars:
HOSA – 9th, 10th
Science Olympiad – 9th, 10th
Acts of Random Kindness – 9th, 10th
California Scholarship Federation – 9th, 10th
Virtual Clinical Shadowing – 40 hrs (signed up but don’t have all of them done)
Early College: My high school offers a program that allows me to get an associate degree by the time I graduate. I take 2 college courses a semester on top of my high school courses.

Testing:
I did the PSAT 8/9 last year and got a 1410/1440, but I didn’t do PSAT 10.

So, I don’t have any leadership positions unfortunately and I feel like I have less clubs. I am planning on applying to a research program this summer and doing hospital volunteering/shadowing next year if COVID permits :D. Any advice on how to make my application stronger are greatly appreciated!

10

Thank you for your detailed reply!

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