Physician here. I personally think this student hasn’t yet figured out her final path yet from the information presented… Unless she has enthusiastically done medical exposure volunteering in HS I would recommend going the more common route of going to college with an intent to major in one of her favored STEM fields. Give herself time to fully realize what she wants without discovering she really doesn’t want that path and needs to get out of the program. Of course, she could be one of those few who know early on that being a physician is the best path for them.
Her freshman year in college will include premed courses and show her which fields she likes most. She will also figure out her academic strengths in college. Perhaps she would find she would rather do another field than becoming a physician. It could be that she applies for BS/MD programs but isn’t accepted. Then she goes to plan B as above. You don’t need to be the most brilliant in college but you need to desire to be a physician and apply yourself to get top grades. Maturity will come with age and experiences.
She needs to concentrate on a good fit school- academically, socially and financially. Do not look at expected savings from condensing the process with the combined degree as the most important factor. Look at potential majors and schools with good programs. It still isn’t necessary to decide on medical school by the time a person graduates from HS.
Even though my school experience was eons ago I know there is a wide variety of backgrounds among successful physicians. All need to be hard workers who prioritize academics over other activities but there are many different interests and paths to the goal of being a physician. There are many different types of physicians as well- surgeons and psychiatrists tend to be on the opposite ends of traits and work.
Is now the time to talk about my H’s nephew the…??? Or other people I know ??? As I stated, many different ways to do things. PS- my college grad son’s last chemistry was AP, he’ll never be a physician!