Chances for BS/MD or BA/MD or combined medicine program

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello College Confidential community,</p>

<p>I am a high school junior with aspirations to eventually become a doctor, and I go to school in a rural and medically underserved area. In the pursuit of medicine, I've explored numerous ways to educate myself efficiently, and one of the program that I have interest in is the BS/MD and BA/MD programs of America. The purpose of this discussion thread is to gather a general assessment of whether my statistics and accomplishments can endure the rigorous admission process of the program and get me accepted.</p>

<p>Here are the stats:</p>

<p>GPA:
Unweighted - 3.91/4.0
Weighted - 4.17/5.0</p>

<p>Rank:
32/307 (Top 10.423%)</p>

<p>Major Awards/Academic Merit:
N/A</p>

<p>SAT:
2360 (M 800, CR 770, W 790) (One Sitting)</p>

<p>ACT:
35</p>

<p>Extracurricular (Leadership in parenthesis):
HOSA
Key Club
NHS
Mu Alpha Theta
American Cancer Society (Founder/President)
Red Cross Club (Treasurer)
Red Cross Club (Founder/President)
Tennis (Varsity Team Captain)</p>

<p>Volunteer Work:
Children's Hospital (30 hours)
Retirement Home 1 (40 hours)
Retirement Home 2 (100 hours and counting)
Local Hospital Volunteer Work (30 hours and counting)</p>

<p>Job/Work Experience:
Shadowing (Orthopedic Surgeon, 50 hours)
Shadowing (Family Practitioner, 50 hours and counting)
Research (9-10 Months, Local University, publication very possible)</p>

<p>Recommendation Letters (Haven't asked for them yet, but I expect them to be very good):
One from physics teacher
One from local university professor
One from counselor</p>

<p>Essays:
I plan on spending a lot of time on them so they should be very good as well</p>

<p>Basically all I'm asking is if these stats will get me an interview and possibly a spot in the program. I know the program is very competitive, and a lot of the students who are accepted have stats that make them appear as prodigies.</p>

<p>Does it look like I can get in with these stats? What am I lacking? Where should I improve myself? What already looks good to the admission committee?</p>

2

<p>I have been going through the process, and to me the most important things are GPA and showing a true passion that you want to become a doctor. The shadowing and research is awesome (I have only 10 hrs shadowing a no research and still got into bs/md programs) and is def a huge plus. Try to do an EC that is unique, although you have alot of them. I don’t have many EC’s, but the ones I have been doing are ones that barely anyone else does (EX: I volunteer at a therapeutic horseback riding facility, play Ultimate Frisbee for my school). The key to apps is to make yourself stand out from other nearly identical apps. Also, my SAT score weak for bs/md programs (2100, 33 ACT). The strong points of my app were my GPA/Class Rank (4.0 UW 10 APs 2/563) and my essay on Why Doctor? Your stats are nearly perfect. All you need to do is show a passion for medicine and you will easily get an interview. If you have any more questions feel free to message me! </p>

3

<p>Thanks so much for the reply @artiesoneleg1</p>

<p>Yeah I understand what you mean. I’m just trying to show more of that passion by getting some shadowing and volunteer hours and hopefully a recommendation letter from a health professional or a local university professor.</p>

<p>My main worry is that I will be deferred from these programs by the admission committees because of my low UW GPA and class rank. I made some serious mistakes in my high school career, and I’m not even top 10% as a junior in their second semester. Of course, I’m doing all I can in getting my GPA and class rank as high as they can be, but I don’t think that it’ll be enough. As you can see, I’m attempting to compensate for my subpar GPA and class rank through my SAT & ACT scores, ECs & leadership, and passion for medicine.</p>

<p>You had a perfect UW GPA and you were ranked at the top of your class, and I’m sure that those aspects of your application was a strong point for you. Will my GPA and rank be a severe disadvantage to me? Or will the admissions committee see past that? Will it be a deleterious element to my application?</p>

4

<p>Where are you planning on applying? </p>

5

<p>@Ctesiphon My first priority is to texas combined programs, more specifically UT PACT. In addition to those programs, I’m applying all over the country, such as the programs at St. Bonaventure. But my priority is Texas.</p>

6

<p>Your UW isn’t terrible, especially depending on how rigorous your classes were. Your SAT’s compensate for your GPA, but to what extent depends on where you apply. Every school is different, bottom line. Your EC’s will definitely stand out and if you write a great essay, admissions officers will look past any weak spots. Don’t worry and be sure to apply to a variety of programs.</p>

7

<p>@artiesoneleg1 What about my class rank?</p>

8

<p>The bad news: each and every BA/BS/MD program that need to be declared on the actual freshman application, other than UMKC, are reaches.</p>

<p>The good news: you can choose, as a non-reach, almost any college offering accelerated med programs that are applied to while in undergrad.</p>

9

<p>@Catria</p>

<p>Thank you for the reply.</p>

<p>What elements of my CV makes all BS/BA/MD programs unattainable?</p>

10

<p>Reach =/= unattainable. Just hard to get into.</p>

11

<p>By no means unattainable, they are highly competitive, having around 10% acceptance rates and all the kids applying have REALLY good stats. Your class rank shouldn’t matter when applying to most programs, only some look at it.</p>