***Official Thread for 2016 BSMD applicants***

The overall yield is much lower due to many of the same people getting admitted in many places but being able to attend only at one. So to fill 800 seats, in all likelihood, 2000 or more are admitted/waitlisted.

@GoldenRock and @texaspg Thanks’ for your prompt response. The second Q was just another way of framing the first. But, you have me the answer. Thanks again!

Even though BS/MD selection process is a holistic approach, if I have to pick ONE that made a difference, it’s my essays. Check the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYcXTlGLUgE

@HS2DirectMed Thanks for sharing with every one. I heard about it in an article. So you are sharing that the power of your essay related to some real life experience made a good impact. Hope it benefits future students. GL.

@AdmissionsAdmin @GoldenRock @texaspg, present and former CC parents and students:
Taking into account all the factors in ranking BA-BS/MD programs which of the following colleges do you place above REMS (example: NW > Rice/Baylor > REMS) and why? Appreciate your help.

NW

Rice/Baylor
WashU
Brown

BU

GW
RPI/AMC

Union/AMC

UMiami

UMKC
UH/ UTHealth/UTMB
VCU
TCNJ/NJMS
Drexel/Drexel
Hofstra

@HS2DirectMed
Lovely! Each of us have different strengths and how we display it is critical especially when you attend personal interviews. I’m sure @AdmissionsAdmin will agree with me. My sentence is based on experience I had watching my D as she went through this journey. I will update everything in detail for the benefit of the future applicants within another few weeks.

Check this link for internship and research opportunities:
https://people.rit.edu/gtfsbi/Symp/highschool.htm

Also,go to university websites and contact professors/ Principal Investigators expressing your interest. Remember

opportunity doesn’t always arrive gift wrapped.

@HS2DirectMed
It depends on your personality. I have been through NW and REMS. One of my kids fit into NW and the other didn’t even apply to NW. But, rediscovered herself at REMS (despite other options which were given up in a heartbeat)

@HS2DirectMed, based upon the medical school reputation, ug (honors college), academic medical center and hospitals, Pitt GAP arguably should be on the top of your list excluding WashU USPM which needs higher GPA and MCAT scores that most if not all bsmd applicants want to avoid in various reasons. Did you apply to Pitt GAP? If not, NW HPME is the best one in my personal opinion. By the way, you should be very proud of your accomplishments and outline your case with reflections to help other applicants who want to be a physician in high school.

@HS2DirectMed Oh Boy! It is a tough job. I am not an expert on anything related to medical related area or colleges. Also I think it will help if you can ask the audience to comment on 2 different ways, 1 with no consideration to finance and 2 financial situation also part of the overall decision making.

For example, if finance is not a constraint, knowing NW and Brown is need-based school (and if you have not applied FAFSA) then will eliminate them and focus on Rice, REMS and WashU depending on how much merit aid they have given.

The other way is, since you have a huge list, eliminate college as much as possible based on your own holistic process and have a short list.

Then again, rather than comparing each college against each college, put them in to 2 or 3 buckets top, middle and bottom. Then focus on the top and there compare each individual college against another in the same bucket.

Hope others who are expert in this area, shed some light for you. Sorry, I am not that much help here. GL.

Besides, your personal interests/ wants and needs- program length, cost, proximity to home, with/out MCAT, weather, UG and med school reputation etc. I personally don’t care about med school rep- FYI: How many of us know from which school our PCP is from? I will switch my doc if I am not comfortable even if he/she is from the number one med school on earth. So, it all varies
 but, based on my tunnel vision:

NW=REMS>Wash U>Rice Baylor>BU>Brown>RPI=Union>U Miami>VCU>UH
This is just based on my knowledge of your credentials/ acceptances/ messages here. I will not rate the rest of the schools.

NW= REMS- like I said, based on your own individual personality (considering one is 7 and the other 8 yr program)
Wash U- great school but very stringent GPA
Rice-Baylor- low cost. But, Rice is a very small school
BU- Based on school reputation. I don’t know much
Brown- UG reputation, benefit of open curriculum which some kids love. Med school rep is not the greatest.
RPI = Union- based on your passion for research or business aspect of medicine, although students at Union are much happier than RPI
U Miami- UG and Med school reputation, don’t know much
VCU- great med school reputation, some students love the campus
UH- good scholarships, inexpensive, best med center, but not the best UG school

@HS2DirectMed - As a parent, my primary concern would be overall cost when selecting a combined program. When considering cost, it is important to account for all 6,7,8 years and not just undergrad when considering costs.

If you have parents who are not concerned about cost, then you pick the program that most appeals to you.

Here are my opinions based on what I know and I don’t know about everyone of them, only those that people I know went to.

WashU - hardest to get into and hardest to meet the qualifications after entry. If someone can maintain 3.8 and get a 36 or whatever the new number is, they can just do undergrad anywhere else and get into WashU med.

NW - Easiest to meet the qualifications and saves an year.

Rice/Baylor - used to have a lot more seats and has become harder to qualify with only 6 now. It is really hard to get into this program but many figure out they were too good and most likely settled and apply out. Common complaint - Many Rice students end up at Baylor and they didn’t need to have done the combined. The admit date is not flexible and many who finish in 3 years at Rice do something else and may end up at a different medical school.

Brown - The open curriculum with very few restrictions for PLME seems to appeal to some.

UMKC - seems to appeal to Asian families because most of them were able to complete medicine in 6 years back in their home countries and this is one of the very programs left in US. The rap seems to be that many residency programs claim the students are too young when they join residency.

UH - too new a program with no graduates yet. Specific to Texans?

Drexel - one of the highest student debts for graduating students.

VCU - the few I know who attend seem happy.

Juniors, don’t wait until Aug/Sep to request recommendation letters. Talk to your teachers NOW
 In many cases it’s first come first serve. Note that BU requires a foreign lang/ history, lab science, and english teacher recs. Bond with your teachers and academic counselors
have lunch with them, go for a short walk on campus during lunch time 
express your passions. A good rec reflects your personality and social skills (not repetition of resume and stats). Also many teachers and counselors don’t know much about combined/accelerated BS/MD programs. Schedule a meeting and explain to them clearly. Tell them it is very competitive
tougher to get even an interview
compare with ivy acceptance rate (5 to 7%) vs BS/MD 1 to 3%.

I only took two subject SATs: Math2 and Chemistry and scored perfect in both. You only need TWO subject SATs: Math2 and Chemistry. The others won’t add much value for BS/MD.

Also apply to as many programs as possible. Common App allows 20. There is also Universal App.

Prepare a list of essays that you need to get ready by August: common app essay, why medicine, why accelerated program, why xyz college etc
 email your essays to english teacher(s) and academic counselors for feedback.

I will write more when time permits.

@HS2DirectMed I don’t know if I can decide without all the variables. However I say the following

NW/HPME - if money is not a consideration or you get a lot of need based aid then you can’t go wrong. Great UG, Great Med School and excellent residency matches

Rice/Baylor - Same as above but will enable you have a full 4 year college experience (if you attach importance to that)

PLME - Ivy League UG, their matches seem to be great and same criteria as above for cost and 4 year UG experience

TCNJ/NJMS - Cant beat the value if you are NJ resident and I heard the matches for these students are pretty good.

All others you can join if there is that ONE particular thing that you overwhelming liked

These are my 2 cents on how I would evaluate them

@narkor @GoldenRock @texaspg I highly appreciate your time and effort. THANK YOU!!!

@dudefromnowhere Thank you. Appreciate it!

In December @dadofhskid posted statistics of BS/MD programs (post #690). Similar to this data is there a link where we can access residency matching info for these accelerated/combined med colleges.

Hello, I was wondering what opinions you guys had of the Penn State/ Jefferson program.

@HS2DirectMed I am in charge of one of the program’s you listed, and so am naturally very biased about one of them; thus I will refrain from ranking. “We” are really good, but for the right person. I will stress that each applicant should forget about the names and do a blind resume comparison to the best extent that they can. Try and match who you are with what the schools offer. Visit the campuses. Have frank conversations with students in the program’s you are looking at that are in the undergrad and medical school portions. One size does not fit all.

@HS2DirectMed
It’s a moving video, beautiful story! I assume you will visit again, talk to the current students in (few of) these programs, and get a first-hand experience before making your decision. Best of luck!

Joobycooby

I did the program and Jeff residency
Training was great
It is always hard to judge because one can only live one life but people walk away as good md and there is lots of resources

And football is great

We are.

Penn state