There is a BS/MD program in my state that is binding for all eight years.
Pro: All eight years are paid & guaranteed admission to the university’s medical school.
Con: You can’t apply out of it at any time. You have to be there for eight years. Highly competitive, accepts only 10 people a year.
Graduating with no debt is dreamy but the binding part sets me off about applying.
A lot of BS/MD programs won’t let you apply out without losing your seats. It’s a personal decision, on the one hand, you’re guaranteed to attend med school if you meet the requirements (some programs have extremely high requirements, so keep this in mind,) but on the other hand, as you said, you’ll be in the same place for 8 years. As most BS/MD programs are not binding admissions-wise (however, if this is the school I think it is, you HAVE to apply binding ED, so that’s another discussion,) my recommendation would be to apply widely to both undergrad and BS/MD programs and consider your options once decisions have released in the Spring.
Hope that helps! Good luck with admissions!
Almost 90+ of BS/MD programs are binding. But you can apply out but your MD seat is no longer guaranteed.
Not heard/familiar about BS/MD program which offers free ride for 8 years. If there is a school go for it.
Is it Wayne State BSMD you are talking about ? It is a great deal for 8 years of free education.
Unless you have the goal to save the world by inventing a cure for cancer, you should be honored to be the one of ten that receives a free UG/MD education and become a great doctor. Not many people can have that honor, not even those are qualified for NYU or KP free medical school education because they still have to finance their UG education. An MD from your state school is just as good as any other MD from a medical school, who is going to qualify for any medical specialty residency of your choice. Residency acceptance is based on your performance and test scores during your medical school, not from which medical school you attend.
@artloversplus
Yes it is. I haven’t applied yet, but I’m a senior.
I do not know if I should bother applying though because I have 0 health-related EC’s :/. My GPA is a 3.96 UW, though, and my SAT is a 1430. My EC’s have nothing to do with medicine which sucks
All of the BS/MD programs are reaches, and even reachier without health/healthcare/medicine ECs. How do you know you want to be a doctor if you haven’t spent time around patients?
The good news is that most physicians did not attend BSMD programs. Make sure to get patient facing experience during your undergrad years, to help you decide if that is the career for you.
Good luck.
Yeah you’re probably right. This program is binding so even if I somehow did get in but ended up not liking medicine, I would be bound to it. Thank you for your response 
@GoldenRock I like both WSU and U of M but if I got accepted to U of M and just regular undergrad at WSU, I would pick U of M without money even playing a factor because I think a big chunk of my tuition at U of M would be covered because of my family’s income.
I don’t think the program has an option of backing out because of the limited seats (didn’t really research this) because you can’t even apply out of admission to their medical school … but I would probably need loans to pay it back lol
@grtd2010 I meant to tag you in this !
As others have alluded, if you do not have the medial EC and cannot commit to medicine, you should not waste your time apply for a binding program. First of all, your chance being accepted is near zero, even if you have been accepted, you might not like it and backing out is a painful experience.
My 2 cents, if it is not a too much of a hassle, just apply to WSU BSMD. The worst possible outcome is already known - no acceptance. If lucky, decide in April next year.
Ohh I was not aware of tuition free WSU BSMD .
are there any other universities which offer free BSMD like WSU BSMD
Are you looking for free college and Med school…or are you looking for a good undergrad experience that will possibly lead to medical school?
BS/MD programs have the advantage of providing medical school funding but as noted, these are more competitive than admissions to elite colleges. They are a reach for everyone.
A program that offers free undergrad AND free medical school in a combined acceptance and accepts 10 students is going to be highly competitive.
Has your student ever been to Detroit? Do they want to spend the next 8 years there? There are several hospitals in Detroit with affiliations with Wayne State in some way or another. Has your kid researched these hospitals where more than likely they will be doing a lot of rotations?
There is way more to applying to these programs than the freebie possibility. IMHO.
I’m wondering if the WSU program is available to OOS students and if so, how many OOS students have been in each cohort each year.
My first pref is BS/M … But its hard to get …
Hence having plan B with less expensive undergrad degree with Maths majors along with Pre med requirements, which may lead to Pre Med so that we can afford to pay if require
or
in worse case Masters from elite university for another career option as undergard is done with Math major.
This has to be the student’s preference, not your parent preference.
And college major and masters and all that…needs to be the student choice, not yours.
Sorry I meant… Its my kids preferences… Not mine… Just kid typed those