*** Official Thread - BS/MD Results for Class of 2018 ***

[threeslykids32]

GPA: 3.98 (UW), 4.45 (W)

Class Rank: <5/240 (my school does not give a full rank, just a range)

ACT: 35
Subscores: Science (36), English (34), Reading (34), Math (35), Writing (8)

SAT Subject Tests:
Chemistry: 750
Math 2: 770

AP’s (at time of application):
Chemistry - 5
Statistics - 5
(my school doesn’t allow APs until junior year)

Senior AP’s: Physics 1, Calc BC, Comp gov, computer science principles

Teacher Recs: I obviously have no idea of the quality of the LOR, but I can guess they were pretty good. I was told in an interview that my recommendations were impressive.

Region: Northeast
Gender: F
Ethnicity: White

Major ECs:
-Debate team four years— broke school records, won competitions, qualified for world championships
-Economics team— I won’t name the competition for sake of privacy, but my team placed nationally in sophomore and junior year, along with a monetary prize
-Student council treasurer since sophomore year
-One research project completed with my AP chemistry teacher for which I won two awards at a regional JSHS
-NHS
-Spanish NHS

Community Service:
-Coach of the debate team at my middle school since sophomore year
-Organized a color run for an autism charity one year, and another run for students with medical needs the next year (part of role as treasurer)
-organized toy drive for underprivileged elementary school (part of role as treasurer)
-assisted in creating sensory garden for students with special needs
-member of my town’s EMT corp

Medically related activities:
-Fully licensed EMT— taken as a night class during my sophomore year
-Conducted research project with a local ophthalmologist that was presented at a national cataract conference (by the doc, not me)
-30 hour medical internship at an Urgent Care facility- Won healthcare internship award
-Doctor shadowing

Misc Awards:
URochester Honorary Science Award
Spotlight Award (school level)
Nominated for Women of Innovation award (state level)
Achievement award in mathematics

Applied to the following BS/MD Programs:
BU- ACCEPTED
Brown- rejected PLME, waitlisted undergrad
Case- rejected pre-interview, accepted undergrad
HPME- rejected pre-interview, rejected undergrad
RPI- interviewed, waitisted, declined position
Union-interviewed, waitlisted, declined position, accepted undergrad
Uconn- rejected pre-interview, accepted honors prog
Urochester- rejected pre interview, accepted undergrad

Applied to the following undergraduate
Amherst- waitlisted
Dartmouth- waitlisted
Harvard- rejected
Tufts- ACCEPTED
UPenn-Waitlisted
Wesleyan- ACCEPTED
Williams- waitlisted
Yale- deferred SCEA, rejected

DECISION: BU SMED

Scholarship / Aid: 20k/year pres scholarship

Reflection:
Like I said, I can’t believe it’s all over. I’ll keep this short: I honestly have no idea what gets you into these programs. I thought my stats were pretty good, but reading all the threads I felt like a major imposter. I seriously have no idea what stood out in my application for BU, so my advice to you is to apply extremely broadly because you never know what a committee will see in you. Remember: you only need one ‘yes’! I never thought I’d end up in Boston, but I’m so happy about it. Also, don’t take your essays lightly— in a world of near-perfect scores and similar EC’s, it’s the one thing that sets you apart. Overall, good luck and I hope my story helps— I wish everyone the best of luck on this crazy journey.

Feel free to message me with questions.

[pantsmalone]

GPA: ~99.5 (UW), ~105 (W)

Class Rank: 1/300 (not officially reported by school)

SAT: 1590 (1600 Superscored)
Writing: 7/8/7

ACT: 36
Subscores: Science (36), English (36), Reading (35), Math (36), Writing (11/11/11)

SAT Subject Tests:
Biology M: 790
U.S. History: 800
Math 2: 800
Physics: 770

AP’s (at time of application):
9 5s

Senior AP’s: 5

Teacher Recs: Not sure what’s considered good or not, and didn’t necessarily read them. However, an interviewer told me they were very good, so I guess that’s pretty trustworthy. (2 Science teachers, 1 English teacher, Research Mentor)

Region: Northeast
Gender: F
Ethnicity: Asian

Major ECs:
-Research Summer Program, presented at various fairs
-Orchestra- numerous clubs, All County, etc.
-Class Treasurer
-NHS- Treasurer
-Mu Alpha Theta- Treasurer
-Tri-M- Treasurer
-Science Olympiad- President, ~15 medals, State Qualifier
-Varsity XC/Track- 2 years
-Random academic competitions

Community Service:
-Numerous walks/races
-Environment and Recycling Clubs

Medically related activities:
-Spent some time in the hospital :)- wasn’t allowed to do much volunteering/shadowing because of this, but it was an experience, to say the least

Misc Awards:
-Siemens Semfinalist
-National AP Scholar
-National Merit Scholar
-Presidential Scholar Candidate
-probably some small things I forgot

Applied to the following BS/MD Programs:
Brown PLME- ACCEPTED
HPME- rejected pre-interview, waitlisted undergrad
Stony Brook- interviewed, rejected (accepted undergrad)

Applied to the following undergraduate (oof, a lot… I’ve omitted some)
Brandeis- ACCEPTED
Columbia- Waitlisted
Cornell CALS- ACCEPTED
Johns Hopkins- Waitlisted
Harvard- rejected
MIT- Waitlisted
UPenn (LSM)-Waitlisted
Yale- deferred SCEA, rejected
UChicago- Waitlisted
T20- accepted Full-Ride Scholarship

DECISION: Brown PLME

Reflection:
Looking back on it, my application seems kind of unimpressive… don’t roast me please.
Sorry for omitting quite a bit, but I’m slightly paranoid. However, a past year’s thread convinced me to post for the “greater good”. I didn’t really use CC much while applying, but I know some students find it to be a very valuable resource.
In hindsight, my essays were quite weak, with my CommonApp vacillating between idiosyncratic and overly didactic. Same for supplementals. However, I will concede that they are important and advise others to put in more work than I did, as they’re really the only part you can control when you’re applying to schools. Enjoy writing them, but don’t have too much fun like I did.
As for fit, hope that the college that is right for you can recognize that through your application. At least in the college application process, things tend to work out in the end.

[Dermerk]

GPA: 4.0 (UW), 4.82 (W)

Class Rank: 1/155

ACT: 36
Subscores: Science (36), English (36), Reading (36), Math (36), Didn’t take writing portion

SAT: 2350 (yup, I took the old SAT, too)
Subscores: Math (800), Reading (800), Writing (750), Essay (9)

SAT Subject Tests:
Chemistry: 800
Math 2: 800

AP’s (at time of application)
Chem - 5
Calc AB - 5
Lang - 5
Macroecon - 5
Microecon - 5
EnviSci - 5
Psych - 4
APUSH - 4

Senior AP’s: Physics C Mechanics + E&M, Calc BC, Literature & Composition, Bio

Teacher Recs: Pretty sure I had solid recs from both my Latin and Math teachers; I was co-captain of Math League and President of Latin NHS, so I had the chance to really get to know both teachers well. Happened to get a new guidance counselor senior year, but he worked with my previous guidance counselor to author a nice letter of rec. Asked the professor who I researched with over the summer going into senior year to write one, and he said he was absolutely glad to. Best LOR probably came from the LPT at the PT office I volunteered at, since we knew each other before I started volunteering there.

State: NJ
Gender: M
Ethnicity: Pacific Islander
Income: 100-150k
Hooks: Community service, essays, interest in music technology

Major ECs:

• Latin NHS - President
• Math / Science League - Co-captain
• FIRST Robotics - Co-captain
• Model UN / Youth and Government - Vice President
• Music Production (I created my own album)

Community Service:

• Founder of local non-profit standardized tutoring organization - 200+ hours
• Tutor for individuals with Down Syndrome - 70 hours

Medically related activities:

• Volunteer PT Aide - 500+ hours
• Cognitive Test Supervisor - 80 hours
• Medical Mission Trip to Mexicali with CERT - 100 hours
• Physician Shadowing - 50 hours
• Volunteer on local first aid squad - 50 hours
• NJIT’s High School Summer Research Program - 420 hours

Applied to the following BS/MD Programs:

1. Stony Brook Scholars for Medicine - interviewed - ACCEPTED
2. UPitt GAP - rejected pre-interview
3. Stevens/NJMS - rejected pre-interview
4. NJIT/NJMS - interviewed @ NJIT - interviewed @ NJMS - ACCEPTED
5. TCNJ/NJMS - interviewed @ TCNJ - interviewed @ NJMS - ACCEPTED
6. Hofstra - interviewed - waitlisted
7. Rutgers/RWJMS - interviewed - ACCEPTED

Applied to the following undergraduates:

1. Fordham - accepted
2. Lafayette - accepted
3. Lehigh - accepted
4. Muhlenberg - accepted

DECISION: Rutgers/RWJMS

Scholarship: Presidential Scholarship - Full Ride

Reflection: What a ride… Can’t believe it’s all over, but looking back at it, this entire process taught me a lot about who I am and really reaffirmed by drive to become a doctor. Going into the process, people will say to apply to as many programs as possible, since many of these are a crapshoot. While that is definitely true, I feel that putting in genuine time and effort into just a few applications is much better than applying to 20+ BS/MD programs, which many of my friends did. Remember, it’s never too early to start thinking BS/MD, so getting that hands-on exposure in your freshman and sophomore years is key!

[NoviceDad]

Posting for my daughter …

GPA: 4.0 (UW), 4.75 (W) at the time of application

Class Rank: NA; Class Size 350+

ACT: 34
SAT: 1510

SAT Subject Tests:
Chemistry: 800
Math 2: 800
Bio: 800

AP’s (at time of application)

AP Calculus BC: 5;
AP Physics C-Mechanics: 5;
AP Computer Science A: 5;
AP Biology - 4;

AP Chemistry and AP Statistics (both will be taken this year);

IB – MYP certificate.

Teacher / Counselor Recs: Not seen but assume to be Very Strong, teachers knew my daughter well and mutual respect existed at both ends.

State: PA
Gender: F
Ethnicity: Non-Caucasian
Income: >150k
Hooks: None

Awards:

• SWENext Northrop Grumman Community Award – Winner
• Aspirations in Computing Affiliate (Regional) Award Winner and Honorable Mention
• Associate Scientist Award (Regional Science & Engineering Fair)
• Junior Scientist Award (Regional Science & Engineering Fair)
• Top 5 International Finalist at a well-known competition
• Data Jam - Winner (twice) (also Captain)

Major ECs:

• FIRST Robotics - member; Qualified four times for World Championships in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC)
• Piano - 10+ years ; Winner of competitions
• Martial Arts - 3rd degree Black belt – 10+ years
• Golf - High School JV and Varsity team — 4 years
• Music technology - 3 years

Other:

• AMIE / Math League
• Verizon App Challenge
• Cultural Communications Alliance International Marketing Competition

Community Service:

• President of the Local Youth Chapter of a foundation focused on education (involvement > 5 years)
• Volunteer - at an Independent Senior community &
• Volunteer - at a Rehabilitation and Wellness Center:
  - Teaching and playing piano to patients needing memory support due to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Medically related activities:

• Physician Shadowing
• Research Assistantship at a local University
• Research Survey at a Medical center

Mentoring/ Teaching:
Peer Tutoring: Tutor other students at school in the subjects of Chemistry and Geometry.
Robotics: Founded a FLL Team and mentored middle school kids; mentored 3 other FLL / FTC teams
Martial Arts: Volunteered to teach children

Applied to the following BS/MD Programs:

1. Northwestern HPME - interviewed - ACCEPTED
2. PennState / Jefferson - interviewed - ACCEPTED
3. Stony Brook Scholars for Medicine - interviewed - ACCEPTED
4. Drexel/Drexel - interviewed - ACCEPTED
5. Temple/ Temple - interviewed - rejected (accepted undergrad with scholarships)
6. Hofstra - interviewed - rejected (accepted undergrad with scholarships)
7. UPitt GAP, CaseWestern, URochester, UCinncinati - rejected pre-interview (accepted undergrad with scholarships)
8. Rice/Baylor, Brown PLME - waitlisted undergrad; rejected BSMD
9. BU, UConn - rejected
10. GW - withdrew

Applied to the following undergraduates:

1. Carnegie Mellon - Computer Science - ACCEPTED
2. Stanford, JohnsHopkins, MIT, UPenn - rejected

DECISION: Northwestern HPME
Scholarship: None

Reflection:

It is a Roller-Coaster ride; be prepared for a long 6 month ride!
God only knows what these admissions committee folks look into the applications;
Interview acceptance or rejections APPEAR to have NO relationship with your score or accomplishments; a “higher” rank university may invite you for an interview and you may be rejected by a “lower” ranked university!
So apply to 10-15+ programs and pray for the best.

Somethings we learned:

• About 3500-4000 students apply for BSMD programs. If you add up the BS/MD seats available across all universities, they are < 500. So, you know the odds of getting in.
• Many universities prefer in-state students e.g. NJ, TX, CT, OH universities.
• Universities constantly re-calibrate their yields - i.e. ratio of offers to accepted students. For example, Rice this year had over 2000 applications compared to 750 last year. But they sent offer acceptances to 199 this year compared to 233 last year. You may be on the wrong side of their yield management.
• UPitt: Apply only if you have a FULL score on SAT or ACT; it is a wasted effort otherwise. It has an OUT-of-state preference (one of the odd ball universities in this regard).
• Rice/Baylor: they have 6 seats; RICE will send around 200 applications to Baylor and Baylor will invite 25. Odds for out-of-state are low.
• UCinncinati: If out of state, put it on a very low priority; very strong in-state preference.
• Same for UConn - if out of state, do not waste your time.
• BU: should change its name to "Mute" university for lack of any communications.
• Rice/Baylor and Brown PLME - I would like to call them "apply and forget" - after applying, think about them only after March 21.
• Northwestern: HPME program officials were absent for HPME session on Admitted Student days; I believe this is not respecting time and money parents spend visiting the university; excellent HPME student interactions - kudos to them; Regular Undergrad faculty present for other sessions - good interactions with them; good vibe at the campus.
• Penn/Jeff: The best and most well organized interview day. Kudos to the university. Great speakers; good financial aid session; excellent student interactions; good vibe at the campus.
• Stonybrook: No parent sessions; could not form any opinion about the school/ program; student-to-student interactions with WISE students; daughter like the university.
• Hofstra Medical: Very good and small group parent session; very informative and open to all kinds of questions; other universities should emulate them.
• Temple: Was chaotic.
• Drexel: was on a Saturday; limited student or faculty interaction; informative session and Q&A.

Lastly, be judicious about the time you spend on College Confidential. Spending more time here DOES NOT increase your chances of acceptance. But it can definitely increase your anxiety levels, especially as folks get interview calls. But, it remains a great source of information and support.

Thank you for a great forum and all the best to future aspirants!
I will be lurking around!

[Metsfan7860]

GPA: 3.93/4 (UW), 4.19/4.3 W (School uses A+ (97-100) as 4.0, A as 3.8, etc…) Lowest grade is an A- in an 8th grade Geometry class

Class Rank: NA; Class Size ~300

ACT: 35
SAT: 1590

SAT Subject Tests:
Math 2: 800
Physics: 750
US History: 800
Literature: 750
Chem: 720 (Not Sent)

AP’s (at time of application)
European History-5
Physics 1-4
Calc BC-5
US History-5
Language and Comp-5
Statistics-5

Senior Courses:
AP Literature
Multivariable Calc
AP Gov
AP Spanish
AP Bio
AP Chem

Teacher/Counselor Recs: I didn’t see them, but I would assume all were very good, 8/10+ for all. I was close with all the teachers (3) and my guidance counselor, so they had a lot to write about. I also had one from my research mentor, that I assume was stellar as well.

State: NY
Gender: M
Ethnicity: Indian-American
Income: $150k+
Hooks: Not sure, but maybe my religious involvement

Major ECs:
-Memorizing the Quran and teaching others (My most involved activity. Took up the majority of my time (9-12)
-Teaching at mosque Sunday School(10,11,12)
-Study Arabic Abroad in Egypt (10)~ 200 Hours in 1 month. Learned Arabic and studied works by Ghazali and Ibn Sina
-Leading Taraweeh (prayer services during Ramadan for Muslims) (10-11)~(240 hours)
-Substitute Imam at Mosque (10,11,12)~400 hours
-Invited to recite the Quran at Interfaith events all over New York (7,8,9,10,11,12)
-Peer tutoring Club (11,12)
-Junior Scope (raise money for children’s health charities) (11,12)
-NHS

Community Service:
-Volunteer at Summer Camp for kids with disabilities (11,12) ~ 80 hours

Medically related activities:
-Internship at Infectious Disease Hospital in India (11,12) ~ 240 hours
-Shadowing Infectious Disease Doctor in America (11,12) ~ 240 hours
-Orthopedic Research at Med School (12)~ 800 hours + Coauthor of paper submitted for publishing
-Research at Med Center (11)~90 hours

Awards:
-State Quran memorization competition 1st place (Category 2 out of 4, 4th being the hardest) 11th grade
-State Quran memorization competition 3rd place (Category 4) 12th grade
-National Quran memorization competition 2nd place (Category 4)
-Other local awards for volunteer work

Applied to the following BS/MD Programs:
URochester REMS- rejected pre-interview—>withdrew app from UG
Case Western PPSP- rejected pre-interview—>withdrew app from UG
BU SMED- interviewed- rejected post-interview
Northwestern HPME- rejected from HPME and UG
Brown PLME- rejected from PLME, waitlisted at UG
Hofstra 4+4- interviewed- rejected post-interview (Accepted at UG)
Stony Brook SfM- rejected pre-interview- (Accepted at UG with Full Scholarship)
Brooklyn College BA/MD- interviewed- waitlisted at BA/MD program
Sophie Davis- interviewed- ACCEPTED
Rice/Baylor- rejected pre-interview- ACCEPTED TO RICE

Applied to the following undergraduates:
-Columbia- rejected (Accidentally applied to School of Engineering)
-Duke- waitlisted

DECISION: Sophie Davis 7 year med program with CUNY SoM

Scholarship: N.A.

Reflection: What can I say? This was a wild ride. I took more Ls then expected, which goes to show that one must keep 0 expectations when applying for these programs. I worked extremely hard on all my essays, I started them early, and I applied to a mix of low-high tier programs. I thought I was a lock for BU’s med program after my interview, as they usually take one person from my school. The other people from my school who did interview had less medical experience than me, but both were accepted. They did have other strong aspects of their apps (both top-notch students, one did heavy research throughout high school, the other was involved in sports and won a local medical research competition in 10th grade), so I’m happy for them. After that, I really didn’t know what would happen. I was ready to go the traditional route, as I wasn’t thrilled with the other med programs I had interviewed at/knew I wouldn’t get in.

My acceptance to Rice somewhat blindsided me. I hadn’t really considered the undergrad, and I didn’t even know that it’s a top 15 school until I was accepted. I did a lot of research about the school afterwards, met students accepted as well, and fell in love. I wasn’t offered an interview at Baylor, but I was expecting that, being from NY.

A few days later, I heard back from Sophie Davis, and I was honestly crushed that I was accepted, as I knew my parents would force me there. I applied because I was forced to, and I attended my interview out of pressure from my mom. I didn’t really see myself fitting in with the restrictive curriculum there, as I was looking forward to studying a lot of humanities in college as well.

Over the course of April, my fears were confirmed. My parents initially being open to sending me to Rice, told me to forget about it and that I was going to Sophie Davis. Tears were shed, I argued, gave them stats about how the overwhelming majority of applicants out of Rice get into med school, many getting into top-tiered ones. They didn’t budge, saying that they wouldn’t pay for my education then, and that I would have to take out loans unless I went to Sophie Davis. I finally gave in, and though I’m still not happy, I’ve accepted it and will try to make the best out of my time in NYC.

Somethings I would’ve done differently if I could redo high school are definitely doing more clubs/sports and doing research from 10th grade, even if it meant decreasing my religious activities. I am proud of who I’ve become now, so I have no regrets, but I definitely could’ve done more clubs in 9th and 10th grade, and maybe done volleyball or track throughout HS.

Some advice to future applicants: make a plan from 10th grade at the latest, if you know you want to go into medicine/will most likely end up as a pre-med. It’ll give you time to make the most out of high school/build up a competitive app. Also, only do what you’re passionate about. You’ll be able to take it “the whole 9 yards”, as they say, and that’s really what colleges are looking for. Also, research is a HUGE plus to your app. It’s a topic you’ll be asked about in interviews, and you should know it really well and be able to speak passionately about it.

Good luck everyone; I’ll try to be as much a help in the future, as others were to me during this process.

[ilylily112]

GPA: 4.0 (UW), 4.45 (W)

Class Rank: 1/468

ACT: 35
Subscores: Science (32), English (36), Reading (36), Math (34)

SAT: 1500
Subscores: Math (740), Reading (760)

SAT Subject Tests:
Didn’t send

AP’s (at time of application)
Calc BC - 4
Calc AB Subscore - 5
AP World History - 4
AP Gov - 5

Senior Courses: Chamber orchestra, IB French HL, IB Psychology SL, IB English HL, AP Statistics, IB Biology HL, Theory of Knowledge

Teacher Recs: I had a recommendation from my IB Biology teacher and my former debate coach. The latter recommendation showed a lot of leadership, as I became captain my junior year (we’ve never had captains before, so it was a unique circumstance). The first talked probably talked about the way I interact with my peers and the research I conducted independently. Both were fairly strong, I believe.

State: VA
Gender: F
Ethnicity: White
Income: No financial aid
Hooks: nothing that stands out. My interest in medical ethics seemed to stand out in the interview–both of my interviewers were really interested in hearing about it.

Major ECs:

• Debate - Captain, Coach, Varisty member
• Founded two organizations at my school focused on music and community service (involves medicine too)
• Played with a university symphony (an interviewer asked me about this during my interview)
• Some summer camps focused on medicine (not a huge thing for my application, but I did get a scholarship from NSLC!)
• Manager and violist of a quartet (we just played for the NSF!)
• Work at a veterinary clinic

Community Service:

• Founder of organizations mentioned above
• Some volunteer work at a hospital

Medically related activities:

• 1 organization relating music and medicine (fundraising basically)
• work at a clinlic
• volunteer at hospital
• summer camps for medicine

Applied to the following BS/MD Programs:

1. Rice/Baylor - ACCEPTED (from waitlist)
2. PLME - rejected
3. WashU - rejected

Applied to the following undergraduates:

1. Rice - ACCEPTED
2. WashU - ACCEPTED
3. UVA - ACCEPTED
4. William & Mary - ACCEPTED
5. URichmond - ACCEPTED
6. Harvard - rejected
7. Yale - rejected
8. Johns Hopkins - rejected
9. UChicago - deferred, then rejected
10. Brown - waitlisted

DECISION: Rice/Baylor

Scholarship: from NSLC for Rice

Reflection: Getting to the interview was definitely the hardest part, and I’m still surprised they chose me. I didn’t particularly like my essays for that application–they definitely could’ve been better. In fact, the essays I submitted for the other schools and BS/MD programs were better. But in the end, everything turned out perfectly, because Rice/Baylor was my top choice from the start! Just remember, if you’re applying to a BS/MD, that you’re probably going to get into a great med school anyway, even if you don’t get this program. The fact that you’re applying this early shows a unique initiative that will follow you throughout your life. Good luck!

[GreenPoison]

GPA: 3.805 (UW), 4.31 (W)

Class Rank: N/A out of 720-780 students; No rank available

SAT: 1580 (superscore), 1550 individual scores

Subscores: 780 Reading/Grammar, 800 Math, 21/24 (7-7-7) Essay

SAT Subject Tests:

Chemistry: 780

Math 2: 780

AP’s (at time of application)

European History - 5

Calculus AB- 5

Statistics- 5

Environmental Science- 5

US History- 4

Chemistry- 4

Senior AP’s: US Gov. and Pol., Calc BC, Biology, Psychology

Teacher Recs:
a.Statistics Teacher

b.European History Teacher

•Both were really good, was told by multiple interviewers that they really liked how the keywords and main message of the two LOR’s were both “maturity” and “helpfulness”

State: NJ

Gender: M

Ethnicity: Asian-American (Chinese)

Income: 250k+

Hooks: Pretty much the definition of an anti-hook LOL. Chinese, too rich, isn’t a woman, lives in an overrepresented area, no one special talent etc…

Major ECs/Awards:

• Varsity Hockey: co-captain
• Honors Wind Ensemble: First chair and section leader of clarinets
• NMSF
• RPI Medal
• Honors Society- Social Studies, Math, Music, Science

Community Service:
•Hospital (call-bell volunteer)- 250+ hours

Medically related activities:
•Research (co-wrote paper sent for publication to multiple online journals about use of digital medicine in disadvantaged populations)- 50 hours

•Physician Shadowing (Internist)- 80 hours

•Research at Novartis Pharmaceuticals- 50 hours

Applied to the following BS/MD Programs (comments in brackets):

1. Brown PLME - rejected RD (hail mary, never expected to get in)

2. Drexel- interview/ rejected post-interview (got absolutely destroyed by MMI interview format)

3. UMKC- rejected pre-interview

4. Case PPSP- rejected pre-interview (again, another long shot)

5. SBU/GW- rejected-pre-interview (surprised, didn’t know they heavily favored in-staters)

6. George Washington- rejected pre-interview (should have realized they had so few spots)

7. Boston University- rejected pre-interview (expected, didn’t really meet their reqs.)

8. Penn State- rejected pre-interview (toss-up, didn’t have particularly high hopes)

9. Rutgers/NJMS- rejected pre-interview (surprised I didn’t even get an UG interview)

10. Virginia Commonwealth GAP- rejected pre-interview

11. UCONN SPiM- rejected pre-interview

12. Union-RPI/AMC- received supplement for both/ rejected 2 days immediately after (still ticked off about this, they need to refund my 400 dollars smh, only found out later that AMC is a GPA whore)

13. Hofstra- received supplement/ received interview/ ACCEPTED

14. TCNJ/NJMS- received undergraduate interview/ received NJMS interview/ ACCEPTED

15. NJIT/NJMS- received undergraduate interview/ received NJMS interview/ ACCEPTED

16. Stonybrook- rejected pre-interview

17. UAB- rejected pre-interview

Applied to the following undergraduates: (should have put a lot more effort in these essays… really slacked off in terms of quality)

1. UCLA- ACCEPTED

2. U Chicago- waitlisted

3. UCB- waitlisted

4. Brown- rejected

5. UVA- waitlisted

6. Cornell- rejected

Decision: TCNJ/NJMS

Strengths: Pretty good at one on one interviews, good at tying whole application together (technology in medicine aspect), unique sport (hockey) and leadership experience, strong letters of recommendation, solid test scores

Weaknesses: average to mediocre essays, nothing really exemplary about me, TERRIBLE GPA (barely ranked in the top 10 percent of class, 10 BS/MD applicants from my school who had higher unweighted GPAs than I did, accumulated 5 B’s and tons of A-’s through freshman to junior year)

Admissions Stats:

3/15 BS/MD Acceptances: 20%

4/15 BS/MD Interview Rate: 26.7%

3/3 traditional BS/MD interviews: 100%

0/1 MMI interview: 0%

Reflection:

I was a pretty weak applicant, mainly because I came from a hyper-competitive Indian dominated school. In terms of grades, I was near the bottom of the 15 other BS/MD applicants. To illustrate, my school ended up sending one person to Brown PLME, another to BU SMED, another to UPITT GAP, and 7+ other students to low-mid tier programs like Drexel.

Ultimately only 5 people didn’t get into a single program, and the majority of them ended up at top-30 undergrads.

Regardless, at the end of the day, the application process for these programs is an absolute crapshoot. ATM, the highest acceptance rate hovers around 5%, while the lowest is at 0.5%, and all the programs have declining acceptance rates year after year due to more and more applicants. My advice would be to: apply to as many (guaranteed) programs and/or dental programs as possible, while still writing kickass essays. Personally, I would highly suggest not bothering with non-guaranteed programs (SLU, FAU, UCF) and programs that have prohibitive matriculation requirements (WASHU is the blatant offender here) and DO programs.

[j7thletter]

Congratulations! You seem to be quite an accomplished student. Just wondering did you go to a Magnet school ? possibly a Monmouth county vocational?

[ppst]

All I know, a week out from decisions, once it’s over, a great weight has been lifted off from our shoulders. The classes of 1999/2000 have produced one of the most competitive classes in the history of applications per her guidance counselor. I’m amazed she got the interviews she did.

Stats:

ACT: 35 ss, 36 E, 31M, 35R, 36S
GPA: 4.43, 10th in class of 560

Awards:

National AP Scholar
President’s Volunteer Service Award
Coca Cola Scholarship Semifinalist
State Choral Award
John Philip Sousa Award
National French Exam
HOBY rep
Chamber of Commerce Youth Council

Activities;

HOSA President
French Club
annual international volunteering
peer tutoring
Key Club VP
NHS Treasurer
band and choir section leaders
ensemble director
collegiate band ensemble

Programs Applied:

Siena/Albany: rejected
Union/Albany, ug acc with scholarship
UMKC: int, W/L regional, ug acc
Tulsa: int, W/L, ug full ride scholarship
Hofstra, Drexel, PSU, ug acc
SLU: no int, ACCEPTED to program and ug acc with scholarship

UG: Rice W/L
Duke accepted

This has been a roller coaster experience for the whole family, from the early admission letter highs to the rejection lows and the travel and interactions in-between. While I am shocked at her getting some of these interviews, I am not totally surprised by the results. The reason for hospital/medical experience is to have the student visualize himself in these settings and learn, giving them subjects to be excited and passionate about intrinsically and to talk about during an interview. If the student has limited exposure to this setting, how can he justify his desire to pursue a medical career with integrity. Of course, he can embellish and make up things and experiences, which, while attaining the goal, should have nothing to do with being a physician. He has to want to do this through experience, while knowing the realities of it.

She also learned who her competition is: ORM’s like herself who are pushed into medicine culturally. Not only that, she got a lot of experience (ptsd, I hope not) from the whole interview process. In order to level the playing field, while learning more about medicine, she chose SLU’s EAP as opposed to TU’s full ride. It’s nice to have guidance to make her final decision on pursuing medicine or not, but the tuition break would’ve been great as well!

Thank you @GoldenRock, @Roentgen, @bearchichi , @PPofEngrDr, @suecollege , @TTV2018 for all your support, guidance, and advice!!

Congrats and best of luck to all of your children!!!

[GreenPoison]

@j7thletter

Nope. I have the misfortune of going to a highly, highly competitive Asian-dominated NJ public school.

Just for comparison: this year, my school had more people get into BS/MD programs than JP Stevens (a hub of Chinese and Indian students).

The three kids I mentioned before, who got into the aforementioned top programs, pretty much all had perfect GPA’s and perfect ACT’s/SAT’s (35+,1570+) and amazing EC’s.

[ppst]

Sorry, wouldn’t let me put her AP’s down:

3’s: Seminar, GoPo
4’s: BC Cal, Chem
5’s: AB ss, Apush, Lang

Senior AP’s: Stats, Psych, Phys1, Research, Lit, Bio, World

[GoldenRock]

@ppst Call TU and find out if and when a decision will be known since you are W/L. In case if TU offers BA/MD (since currently W/L), review both SLU and TU and what ever your D feels comfortable and fit. TU free ride and non-binding (assume it is similar to OU, check it out) and flexible will enable her to decide if medicine is her call or not. GL.

I hear and agree with your perspective. The same fear we had when my D out of the blue told she wants to become a Doc at the end of junior year. She did not have any shadowing and did not color and applied and did not get interviews. All that we told her is how do you know what is medicine career or how do you know you will like it. That is important, they should like the nature of job, hospital environment, dealing with sick people, rigorous academic etc., This year she spent time shadowing and volunteering at free clinic and still she says she would like to pursue medicine.

[GreenPoison]

@8thgradekid

Nah. WWP has a pretty even split of Indian and Chinese kids. My public school is absolutely Indian-dominated- more Indians than Caucasians.

Interestingly enough, word on the street is that WWP sent 10 kids to MIT (an obscene number). Obviously, my school didn’t come close to this impressive number.

However, I do believe that the number of kids we sent (10-11) to med. programs is more than that of WWP.

Granted, even though the sample size is very small, based on the above, it seems like Indians are the overwhelming applicants to BS/MD programs. This is corroborated by my three interview experiences, where typically, around 2/3’s of my fellow interviewees were brown.

[j7thletter]

In another post, the idea that an overabundance of Asian American Students (all born in year 2000 for the sake of having a " millennium Dragon Baby") with similar, commendable profiles, created an overflow of applications to difficult to admit colleges/programs in the end making it even more difficult for Asian Americans to "reach " these schools? Thoughts?

I feel if you believe that there really are quotas in admissions this might have validity (BTW I have ABSOLUTELY no proof) would be interested in what other people think?

[PPofEngrDr]

Even though my son ended up taking traditional route, we hope our experience helps future applicants.

GPA: 3.98 (UW), 5.000 (W) at the time of application

Class Rank: 1/650+

ACT: 34 ss
SAT: Irrelevant score as Mid-West is more focused on ACT then SAT, From this year SAT become mandatory in IL.

SAT Subject Tests: None Taken

AP’s (at time of application):

AP Statistics: 5
AP U.S. History: 4
AP English Language and Culture: 4
AP Spanish Language and Culture: 3

Taking this year:
AP US Gov and Pol
AP Psychology
AP English Literature and Composition
AP Macroeconomics
AP Biology
AP Calculus BC

Teacher / Counselor Recs: Teachers know my son and haven’t seen but assume to be very strong.

State: IL
Gender: M
Ethnicity: Indian
Income: Low enough to qualify for FAFSA
Hooks: ORM

Major ECs:

• VEX Robotics - Treasurer; Qualified for the World Championships in the 2016 VEX NbN Challenge
• HOSA International Competition Qualifier (CERT Skills)
• IL TSA State competition winner (Marine Challenge)
• IL DECA Regional Competition winner (Marketing Management)

Other:

• Fresenius Kabi STEM Day
• Verizon App Challenge
• Designed, Built, and Tested Gel Electrophoresis from scratch
• Built and Donated prosthetic arm to the disabled
• Self-research in Pathophysiology
• SASA (South Asian Student Association) Actor and Dancer

Community Service:

• Youth Leader (>2 years) - Spread thoughts of the meaning of humanity to families
• Volunteer at local hospital (>1 year)
• Volunteer at Feed my Starving Children

Medical field related activities:

• Physician Shadowing
• Summer Internship with primary care physician
• Blood Drive Helper
• Intravenous Infusions

Mentoring/ Teaching:
Peer Tutoring: Tutor other students at school in the subjects of Math and Spanish.
Peer Leading: Executive board member; organize various events for freshman.
Robotics: Created PID Control coding libraries for future students to utilize

Applied to the following BS/MD Programs (additional info):

1. Penn State PMM - Rejected pre-interview
2. CWRU PPSP - Rejected pre-interview
3. UMKC Direct-Med - regional interviewed - Rejected - (visited 3 times including interview day, had high hope based on previous years acceptance from his highschool and he is only one who was offered interview this year)
4. SLU Med Scholar - Early Access Program - Accepted
5. UIC GPPA - Rejected pre-interview (another high hope nail biter, students with lower credentials offered interview from his highschool)

Applied to the following undergraduates (additional info):

1. Penn State - PMM rejection resulted in pre-medicine acceptance
2. WashU STL - Rejected
3. UMich - LSA - Accepted - (very generous OOS financial aid offer, provost award, certainly was one of top choice)
4. UIC Honors - GPPA rejection resulted in UG Honors acceptance
5. Ga Tech BME - Accepted - (he doesn’t want to design stuff, reasonable financial aid being OOS)
6. UIUC BioE - Accepted - (it was parent choice being his elder brother CS freshman, he doesn’t want to design stuff)
7. Northwestern - Accepted - (Couldn’t apply HPME because of sub test requirement that he can’t fulfilled due to STEM academy course requirements, However it pleasantly surprise us with admission and financial aid offer)
8. Harvard - Rejected
9. Yale - Rejected
10. UPenn - Waitlisted
11. John Hopkins - Waitlisted
12. CWRU - Wailisted and finally offered a slot for class of 2023 - Withdrawn (I guess CWRU never worked for us, both kids didn’t make a cut 2 years in a row)

DECISION: Northwestern Weinberg Undergraduate

Decision Rational: After going through senior year, he realize he doesn’t want to be an engineer, also engineering would be grade deflation for medical school and that eliminates UIUC and Ga Tech from list. Based on his preferences it boils down to UMich, Northwestern and SLU Med scholar. Ultimately Northwestern was choice being local, have more medical schools options after UG if he proves himself during UG (both kids love challenges), keep options open for other majors/minors like CS, health policy and administration in case he changes his mind after a year or unable to achieve required results for medical school. (cost become neutral in those 3 choices)

Scholarship: Generous offer that we are able to afford Northwestern

Reflection:

My son didn’t want to apply to all BS/MD programs available in country, but top tiers only and that resulted in lots of east coast schools that he didn’t apply.

If you are uncertain about BS/MD, better to throw a wider net of mixed colleges (BS/MD, Undergraduate, Engineering). This will provide better perspective to applicants after 6+ months application/decisions wild ride then their wishful thinking.
Apply to atleast 12 colleges, anything more its a plus.

Plan for the worst and hope for the best. Prepare for unexpected surprises, pleasant and unpleasant. It is a true roller coaster, as you may experience both feelings in short amount of time (we had an unexpected pleasant acceptance at Northwestern UG and unexpected unpleasant rejection at UMKC direct-med in 10 minutes span).

Well it is a theory that if you visit schools you have better chances to get acceptance. Our experience was completely opposite, the school we had visited (UIC GPPA, UMKC Direct-med, SLU), only one offered admission. All others we didn’t visit, he got an acceptance (Northwestern, UMich, UIUC, Ga Tech, Penn State) or waitlisted (UPenn, John Hopkins) or rejected (Harvard, Yale, WUSTL). So I won’t read into that visit theory too much, rather visit to schools that you are truly interested in to learn more about that school, not with the mindset of boosting the acceptance.

Something we learned during this admission journey:

• ~5% of doctors are coming though BS/MD route. So don't sweat if you didn't make into BS/MD program of your choice.
• Top tier schools have seen ~5-10% increase in applications pool (2017-18) from previous year. Number of seats being relative static, leaves only one definite outcome, lower acceptance rate from last year (2016-17). Top tier schools acceptance rate (2018) is down anywhere from ~0.5-2% from last year (2017).
• Don't exclude OOS public or instate private school, just due to cost factor. UMich is a big surprise on this end, OOS public school offered generously, so does instate private Northwestern.
• So called holistic procedure make you feel and believe so unholistic, however at end it works best for you. I am a firm believer that things happen for good.
• Previous years info is only good for you to better understand and prepare yourself for applications and your net. Like financial world states, past performance is not guaranteed for future results. We experience that first hand from his highschool, no one was even offered admission at UMich in last few years, this year we know atleast 6 had accepted the admission, so may be about ~12 offered admission. UMKC offered admissions to 2 student for each of last 2 years from his highschool, this year, my son, only interviewed from this highschool, rejected post interview.
• At the end quote from @skieurope "Love the school that loves you back"

During this journey lots of agreements, disagreements, humor, nervousness, fear mongering, offended others and others to you. That is part of College confidential journey and don’t let that into your skin. You will build relationship with strangers, private messages, even phone calls. You will find lots of useful as well as misleading information, do your due diligence, just simple common sense will prevent lots of grief.

We will post his college experience at
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/multiple-degree-programs/1989563-bsmd-applicants-college-experience-report.html

[CuteCatsKittens]

Congratulations to all! I’ve been a lurker here over the past year and have yet to post. I wanted to share my son’s experiences and results as a way of helping future applicants.

SAT: 1580, ACT: 35
GPA: 97 (uw) Rank: na/820 (no official ranking).
Competitive, NYC specialized HS
12 or so APs
ORM
National Merit Scholar
AP Scholar with Distinction
Scholastic Gold Medal
USABO semifinalist

BS/MD results:

1. TCNJ/NJMS - interview - ACCEPTED, ATTENDING
2. URochester - REMS - interview, ACCEPTED
3. Brooklyn College/Downstate, interview, Waitlisted
4. Case Western - no interview, rejected
5. Boston University - no interview, rejected
6. Stony Brook, no interview, rejected
7. Drexel - no interview, rejected
8. Union/AMC, interview, rejected
9. Sophie Davis, interview, rejected
10. Hofstra, interview, rejected
11. Brown PLME - rejected

Regular results:

Cornell - accepted
Georgetown EA- accepted
Emory - accepted
Northeastern EA Honors - accepted
NYU Honors - accepted
Williams College - accepted
Macaulay Honors - accepted
Stony and Bing - accepted
Columbia - waitlisted
Penn - waitlisted
Brown - rejected

My son won’t allow me to post his activities because some of them are quite unusual and would be identifiable, but he has the usual mix of very strong health-care related and research activities plus some other community service and creative work for which he’s won awards. We live in Brooklyn, so all of his experiences are in the inner city. It was a long, hard process, much more difficult than we could have anticipated. The many rejections and the agonizing decision between REMS and TCNJ were really, really hard to take and maybe knocked a few years off my life :-). But all is well that ends well and we’re very excited about TCNJ/NJMS!!

My advice is apply very broadly and not just to so-called prestigious programs. ALL BS/MD programs are very prestigious imho. I echo Green Poison that you should apply to as many as you can write strong essays for while preserving your sanity. Also, work on the interviewing skills. My son felt that hands down this was his biggest weakness. The 2 acceptances he got were the last 2 interviews he had and he had at that point spent weeks trying to get better at his interview skills by practicing with me and watching youtube.

Lastly, make sure that you have a genuine drive and passion for medicine. If there’s any doubt, there’s no shame at all in going the regular route. I knew my son had the drive and passion but he really had to work on articulating his thoughts in the interviews and containing some of his nervousness. There was never a question in his mind that he wanted bs/md over regular if he could get it.

A hearty congratulations to all of those who were accepted!! For those who were not accepted, please do not be discouraged and do not give up if this your dream!! To go through this arduous process at 17 puts you at a distinct advantage over other premeds. You’ll have solid med school interviewing experience already. It’s true that these programs are more difficult to get in to than Harvard with just incredibly low acceptance rates. The outcomes are never predictable either, as they all look for different things and different interviewers like/dislike different things.

[rk2017]

@CuteCatsKittens,

That is an interesting observation you made regarding interviews. There were some arguments in this forum earlier on, with some one(s) expressing strong opinions as if the interview is THE deciding factor in final selection, which I differed from. May be it is in some of the programs, I don’t know.

My take was and has been that, if a program is truly holistic as they claim, they should not attach too much weight to any one component (as some of the programs seem to have done w.r.t. gpa in D’s case last year) but take a combined assessment of various aspects of the candidate’s background along with the interview for final determination. Of course, the background also does show up during interview to varying degrees.

For some kids talking and presenting comes naturally whereas for others it may not be that easy and they may struggle, no matter how accomplished they may be in everything else. If these programs are in fact using interviews as the sole deciding factors, then it basically ends up being a contest of talkative and presentation skills than what it is claimed and supposed to be.

This is BU’s common data set from last year, any one who may be interested can refer to section C7, page 10:
https://www.bu.edu/oir/files/2018/03/cds-2018.pdf

[bearchichi]

@rk2017
@CuteCatsKittens

“For some kids talking and presenting comes naturally whereas for others it may not be that easy and they may struggle, no matter how accomplished they may be in everything else. If these programs are in fact using interviews as the sole deciding factors, then it basically ends up being a contest of talkative and presentation skills than what it is claimed and supposed to be.”

Hello folks
I have to be really blunt…we are training doctors…doctors are people who sit there, hold their hands with the patients and their family, patients who will pour out their inner secrets, problems and often dreams and desires,… if the candidate cannot hold a conversation, cannot carry small talk, and sits there as a robot…then this is not a doctor who people will flock to, who will be community leader, who will be the ideal person…i realize many communication skill sets can be taught or learned…but it helps to start at good baseline…

I know for a fact that the med school interview occurs for one main reason…is to look for that brilliant test takers who cannot and will not hold a conversation…We send 3-4 student or research fellows or Master to medical school each year from our lab(i do run a lab in addition to running a practice) and there sadly is one person in every 3-5 years …once in a while whose biggest flaw is he or she "shows up to the interview " and thus cannot get in…
I am merely stating a fact…
It is sad for they are brilliant but need to "show up " and carry the day on interview day

[rk2017]

@bearchichi,

Any comments on why a prestigious medical school like BU gives 3rd level priority (considered) to interview instead of 1st (Very Important)? If you are not sure what I am talking about, there is a link in my earlier post on their factors of consideration during admission, including for the accelerated programs.

[bearchichi]

@rk2017
That is a good question
BU is a great med school in a city of many great med school ( Harvard tuft etc)
I don’t know how each school does a priorty ranking of their admission composite … I only see one shaded picture of one med school criteria where I work …
But…
I also have insight into penn state jeff bsmd program …that once you get an invite for bsmd interview— approx 80-90 are invited,

offers are sent to 40-45 so the odd are one of two
Almost all student are similar on paper at this step or level … the interview is KEY and then I will be honest perhaps one factor like legacy(they always asked do you have family involved in the penn state jeff or Jefferson medical school or residency in their application ).

So our observation of the interview (now at n=4) at penn state jeff- Sydney Kinney was an non pressured interview in a laid back social discussion. I do felt that they did an excellent interview process wth nice program for parent students etc during the day
I guess this is why I do feel the interview can be very important