What kind of unweighted GPA is Northwestern and Brown and BSMD schools like that looking for? Can you give me a range?
Look at the GPA range for the regular UG admissions and then go higher.
GPA will not make much difference at this point as vast majority are 4.0 uw, I believe.
The competition has gone up since my D. applied. She did not apply to HPME / PLME. However, she applied to PPSP at Case and was rejected pre-interview. For references, she had 4.0 uw, graduated #1 from #2 private HS in our state. But the irony and funny part of it happened later. D. ended up attending in bs/md at in-state public and applied out of her bs/md (still retaining her spot at Med. School in the program). She got accepted to 3 additional Med. Schools and had to turn down Feinberg (Med. School at Northwestern) anyway.
So, being in bs/md is a great advantage as it provides a peace of mind and normal worry free college experience. However, getting to top 20 Med. Schools seems to be easier regular route than to respective bs/md
@MiamiDAP How many volunteer hours should one have under one’s belt by the end of 9th, 10th, and 11th grade, respectively? All official hospital volunteer programs in my area have a minimum age requirement of 18! I really don’t know how to get around this age requirement. Did your daughter volunteer in those grades, and if so, how? Thanks!!
Clinical volunteering doesn’t have to be done at a hospital. Try local nursing homes. Or a group home for the physically or mentally disabled. Or a therapeutic summer camp/program for disabled or autistic children. Try Special Olympics, esp if you can get a longer term position, such as assistant coach. (IOWs, not just a cheer person at a meet.) Also try Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
D2 (who didn’t do a BS/MD) volunteered at Special Olympics as an asst coach for a co-ed volleyball team, with Big Brother/Big Sister (where she was worked with/tutored a younger mentally disabled child) and at a special Child’s Life program at a local public hospital during high school. (The Child’s life program wasn’t run thru the hospital’s volunteer office.) She also ran a support group for adolescents who had lost a family member or close friend to sudden accidental death or suicide. So I know there are opportunities. You have to look a bit harder and maybe broaden your scope beyond just hospitals.
“How many volunteer hours should one have under one’s belt by the end of 9th, 10th, and 11th grade, respectively?”
- I do not know. D. did not have many hours of volunteering. She was one of the youngest (maybe youngest) in her HS class. She was in a special volunteering program for HS’ers, had to apply in February. I believe that Med. Research was more important. She had paid position in the Lab fro couple summers before she started driving. Was not convenient as we both work, had to hire her a driver sometime. Her HS experience at the Med. Research lab was very similar to what she was doing later at college.
…btw, D. did not get into any of the top bs/md, she applied only to one at the top - PPSP at Case and was rejected pre-interview. So, apply to programs at state schools - better chances. I believe that the competition has gone up.
Thank you for your reply! Last question about volunteering in general (not necessarily for BS/MD programs): if clerical work at a clinic is the only volunteer position in a medical setting I can find, is it worth doing it, in your opinion, a few hours a week? @MiamiDAP
Depends on what the clerical work is. Are you working in a clinic that specializes in the un or under insured helping them fill out forms to apply for medicaid and drug assistance programs or are you filing away receipts for expenses incurred by a physicians traveling to conferences and compiling the daily lunch order for the staff?
Unfortunately, cannot answer about clerical volunteering.
However, during college, D. was volunteering at non-medical facility for 3 years during school year and it was one of the major topics during her Med. School interviews. She was the only pre-med volunteering there, the others were all psych majors. She had 10 hour training there and saved at least one life according to police, so it was an interesting conversation for an interview. However, in addition, she volunteered in the hospital during summers (both while in HS and college). If in doubt, do some additional volunteering, if it would give you peace of mind.
@logosoverpathosm I’m only 14 years old, but I have pretty good advice to share. Like you, I have an obsession with BSMD programs and want to get into top tier ones even if the chances are low. I don’t mean to sound pretentious or cocky, but I think I have great activities and I THINK I have close to a complete package. I got accepted to volunteer at the junior honors program at a GREAT hospital in the Bay area. I volunteer twice a month for 3 and a half hours each. In a year, I should have about 90 hours. You don’t have to volunteer every week, but twice a month at a good program is good enough. Make sure the shift is long enough though. I hope that helps!
Alligator34…
Just cool it! Enjoy your HS years - this is the most important for you now, much more than you think. This precious time will never repeat, do not loose it on worrying about bs/md. At 14 and as a HS senior, my D. had no knowledge of bs/md programs, no idea at all. Granted, she never had a goal of attending at the top ones. Her goal was to enjoy her HS, which we selected ever so carefully.
Learn to take one step at a time. Do not pile up on yourself. Bs/md is NOT the end of the world. Again, while D. was in one, she applied out. So, we have an experience with both bs/md and a Regular Route. You may not know that now, but the ultimate goal is NOT bs/md, but rather to be accepted to at least one American Med. School, ANY ONE is good enough and a great accomplishment, believe me. On this long and sometime torturous road, the only thing that you will be able to rely is YOURSELF, not any top and cream of the top place will to it for you, not at college level, not in Med. School. So, as I said, taking one step at a time is very important in this journey, or there is a great danger of getting depressed, overwhelmed and even derailed. The focus for you now should be getting A in every class and participate in REASONABLE amount of ECs, which should include those of your personal interests, not only the ones for bs/md program. Take care of yourself, be surrounded with friends, have fun, this part is overlooked by many, but developing the interpersonal skills is one of the most important aspects here. The only way my D. could accomplish everything that she had in her mind set for back in HS was to ALWAYS STRIVE FOR A BALANCED life. I wish the same to you!