Common App Essay for BS/MD Program

College Essays
1

I want to apply for a number of BS/MD programs. Would you recommend my common app essay be related to medicine or can it be about something else? I have one good idea to write about, but it’s not related to medicine

2

The common app essay is supposed to be about you. It should highlight your personality - i.e. what makes you you.

You can write about your interest in medicine in the supplementals.

3

You can write about something other than medicine, or you can write an essay related to medicine. It really isn’t either or. Write about what you are moved to write about and yes, you can cover your interest in medicine in a supplemental essay.

I would be happy to read any essay attempts here on CC via private message (for free of course).

4

Thank you!

1 Like
5

Obviously, an application to a BS/MD program should reveal a strong interest in medicine. If not apparent from the other parts of your application, then you should write your common application essay on a topic that convinces readers of your dedication to the practice of medicine and/or dedication to medical research.

If interested, I will review a draft of any essay–but I strongly prefer to review rough drafts unedited by anyone other than yourself.

6

Your common app essay should clearly show who you are and the characteristics that make you, you. That may include some qualities that are important in physicians/care givers.

I wouldn’t write the main common app essay about your desire to be a physician, or your ECs that have led to that decision…I would save those for the supplementals. I assume you have significant healthcare ECs if you are applying to BS/MD programs…ECs including direct patient facing experience (how can one know they want to be a doc without this?)

If it’s affordable to your family, you might consider working with a counselor who has experience assisting BS/MD applicants with their apps. I expect you know the advantages of BS/MD programs but don’t discount the disadvantages:

-making a commitment before one really understands what it means to be a doctor

-some programs lock you into a certain med school

-the undergrad schools are often a lower tier and/or may not be the best fit for the student…especially if the student doesn’t continue on with the program

-some programs have fairly onerous undergrad GPA requirements to continue on, the undergrad experience is generally an atypical one

-may impact ability to ultimately choose non-MD healthcare career paths

@texaspg Can you share the link to the thread for Class of 2024 bs/md/do applicants? Thanks!

7

Are you willing to expand upon your comment “some programs lock you into a certain med school” as it is a bit ambiguous ? Thanks in advance !

8
1 Like
9

@GabetheBabe1 Your common app essay is about you and your aspirations. It shouldn’t be about medicine but it can be about why you want to be a doctor.

It is very hard to make the cut for BSMD and those students that are good enough usually will be conflicted about attending a prestigious program vs an BSMD program since most prestigious BSMD programs are disappearing. So plan to apply broadly and then figure out after what you want to do.

1 Like
10

Can anyone specify which–if any–BS/MD programs “lock you into a certain med school” ?

My understanding is that BS/MD programs reserve a spot for one in a specific medical school, but that the student is free to sit for the MCAT and apply to other medical schools. The inability to lock a student in at a particular medical school is the main reason that Northwestern dropped their HPME program. (The reason shared with me by NU.)

11

It is true that for many programs one can sit for the MCAT (thereby giving up a common benefit of many BS/MD programs) and apply to other med schools. If that’s a student’s intent, why apply to BS/MD programs, which often are at a lower tier program? Also, the timing doesn’t work…the med school part often starts in what would be a typical student’s 4th year of undergrad, before they can apply to other med schools. So…if they want to apply elsewhere, they have to leave their BS/MD program and take their chances they will get an acceptance thru the normal route.

Note also that the primary reason NU dropped their HPME program is because it offers an advantage primarily to affluent and/or non-diverse students (disadvantaged students generally don’t have access to all the various ECs that make one competitive for these programs), which in today’s higher Ed climate is not palatable. This is one reason these programs are disappearing at the relatively higher ranked schools as Texaspg noted above.

ETA: Adding, Often BS/MD students don’t get nearly enough patient facing hours during their first 3 undergrad years to be a competitive MD school applicant (outside the med school affiliated with their program).

1 Like
12

There are a great many flavors of BSMD and it is not a one size fits all.

  1. No MCAT and if you take it you are out and must apply in open (Brown PLME and there might be others)
  2. No MCAT and if you take it, you need 95%ile (dont remember the school)
  3. MCAT required and you can apply out - Baylor
  4. GPA and MCAT specific requirements
  5. GPA and MCAT specific requirements but you must not apply out and if you do your MCAT threshold changes or you have to apply in open
  6. all sorts of other requirements on top of GPA and MCAT
13

I don’t think it matters much, it’s important how you formulate everything and in general how you think.