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

Kindly help me shortlisting the programs.

My stats:
SAT : 2360 (CR-800, M-760, W-800)
SAT Subject : Math2-790; Chem-750 (taking it again in October)
APs: WHAP (4), STATS(4), APUSH(5), Chem(4), Eng Lang(5), Physics (3), Cal AB(5), Seminar(5)
So 4 APs with 5, 3 APs with 4, 1 AP with 3.
Senior year AP: Cal BC, Eng Lit, Biology, Research, Gov/Econ

Volunteer hours: 700+ (Hospital hours: 150);

Class rank: Top 6%
GPA: Weighted 4.56

Research hours: 500+ (including at a cancer center)
Started a club and position on another club.
Asian Indian Male.

Thank you for taking time to read and respond!!

@jhong you have some very impressive math/science talent and otherwise check all the boxes (with a slight knock against your standardized testing). I think you could be competitive for some of the top tiers like NW HPME, Pitt, Rice/Baylor, and everything below for the most part. You can probably land a few ivies as well with those achievements.

@narkor You’re standardized testing is certainly on the lower end for these programs, which usually have a lower end cutoff around 2100. Look into some lower-tier programs along the lines of Drexel, Albany, VCU, and some regional ones (NJ, FL, TX, OH have a few). Here’s a full list: http://www.ivyplanners.com/documents/BS-MD-IvyPlanners.pdf. You can apply to some better programs if you want but just realize that it could be an uphill battle.

@tunetheday it’s no coincidence that the top research ranked med schools would be the ones to send its students to the best residencies. The USNWR rankings correlate fairly well but there are some exceptions for specific specialties. For example, Miami and Jefferson have the #1 and #2 eye institutes (Jeff also has top 10 ortho) in the nation so med students who go to those schools have a plethora of research opps. and well-recognized mentors to help the students match into good ophtho programs.

@TXbsmd2016 You look like you could be competitive for some ‘mid-tier’ programs like Miami/BU/Jeff and below because of your scores. ECs would have stand out more for me to endorse you for the top tiers. Certainly apply to some of the texas programs since it seems like there’s quite few.

@dblazer Thank you for your encouragement! My top choices right not are UPitt, NW HPME, and Brown PLME. I am currently doing research and will be publishing it soon so hopefully this helps me to get in the Pitt program. So do you think if I could raise my ACT/SAT as 35/2300 and write good essays I should be fine for those competitive ones? Also, I am just wondering but would non-ivy schools recognize competitions like chem olympiad, AMC, and AIME stuffs like that? Thank you!

@narkor If you don’t mind living in Alabama, Alabama has two programs that do not have state bias. Look up University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of South Alabama BS/MD programs. The first one is quite hard (5% acceptance, top 30s med school) but the second one is super easy to get in


@jhgong You’re such a math/science-minded person that it’s almost excusable that you didn’t preform as well in the reading portions of the exam. But if you could hit that benchmark in either test, it could strengthen your app a little. So I recommend re-taking, but only if it would not be a significant burden with your other obligations. And you might be right that lower tier schools might not be able to appreciate those awards as much since they don’t receive too many apps with them, but I think they would be able to gather enough to understand. If you really want to make sure, you could ask your GC to explain it or describe it somewhere in your app.

@dblazer
Thank you for such a great advice! I have two more questions

1)The paper I am publishing at UPItt. I am submitting to Siemens competition as my last official competition before college. Would getting semi or finalist significantly boast my application? Or would it be a minuscule effect?

2)When I am listing top 5 awards for CA, should I make it more balanced rather than math/science-oriented? For example, I am quite good at art and will be submitting my portfolio for several schools including Brown, WashU, and NWU. Here is the award list that I might use.

  1. Chem Olympiad Top 20/ USAJMO Qualifier/ Science Olympiad Nationals 4th/5th at National Beta Club On Site Art Competition/Siemens Semi(not sure)
    or
  2. Chem Olympiad Top 20/ USAJMO Qualifier/ Science Olympiad Nationals 4th/ 2 Research Publications/ Siemens Semi
    Which one sounds better? I would do no.1 for Brown PLME and BU SMED since they are more liberal school like, but not sure about schools like UPitt, Case western, and rocchester


@dblazer
Thank you very much for your response. What other lower tier programs do you suggest.

@jhgong Semifinalist is nice but I think publishing is more impressive. If you reach the finalist level, however, I think that could be a boost.

you’ll want to highlight non-science aspects for PLME and HPME (there are enough BS/MD applicants with science-heavy backgrounds) but I don’t know if order is all that important as long as you have room to list everything. These schools will assess for themselves how impressive each accomplishment is regardless of what order you put them in. If you could absolutely only pick 5 though, I would prioritize art > science accomplishment since you have enough of them to go around. So to answer your question, I think you could stick with option #1 for all of them. Having a passion for art/humanities is something that all med schools can appreciate in their applicants. You’ll obviously want to mention your publications somewhere though.

Help me with chances for BS/MD and suggest which 10-12 programs I should focus. My school has a strict policy to provide recommendations (3-5 max outside common app) and hence I can not apply as many as I want. Not planning to apply HPME, Miami, Howard since their UG office doesn’t talk with their medical school and they need docs to be sent 2 times and that will reduce the count twice. Suggest 1-2 top tier reach, 6-10 target and 2-4 safety bottom tier based on my profile and what I have done. Tried & going no where on shadowing and EMT. Not allowed until 18 for EMT and docs keep saying can’t shadow without liability insurance in CA. .

Background: Asian Female
State: California
School: Large highly competitive public school
Class Rank: School doesn’t rank
Un-weighted GPA: 3.92 out of 4.00 (9, 10, 11th)
UC Un-Weighted GPA: 3.875 (only 10 & 11th)
UC Weighted: 4.20 (Only 10, 11th & 4 courses cap for weight)
PSAT: 236 CR – 76 M – 80 W - 80
SAT (1 sitting): 2300 CR – 740 M – 760 W - 800
SAT II: Math 2 / Chemistry / Biology - 800 each; Spanish 750
ACT (1 sitting): Composite 36 Writing 9

AP Completed in Junior year:
AP Chemistry 5
AP Stats 5
AP Spanish 5
AP Psychology 5
AP Computer Science 4

AP courses planned for Senior Year:
AP Biology
AP English Literature
AP Physics 1
AP Calculus AB

Extracurricular Activities:
Speech club 4 years – incoming President and Officer previous 2 years
History club 4 years – Co-Founder and President and Officer for all 4 years
Cross country team – 3 years
Reporter for school magazine coming year - Journalism class
Piano 5+ years and completed CA high school certificate
Participated at state meet for 4 consecutive years and CA state champion & was in National for 1 year in NHD

Community Service:
Total 600+ hours
Service oriented 150+ hours (Built free homes for poor in Mexico / Habitat for Humanity)
Tutoring 350+ hours(Tutored children who can’t afford in all subjects in public library for 1 year)
Hospital Volunteer 100+ hours (see below)

Health-Care related Experience:
Research Assistant in UCB and the research involves investigating developmental mechanisms underlying ADHD (will continue until senior year ends)
In-patient hospital volunteer in maternity ward (so far 70 hours & will continue until senior year ends)
Doing UG courses (3 credits) and lab (2 credits) for Introduction to Human Physiology & Lab in UCB this summer.

@dblazer
Thank you so much! But I am not much sure about Beta Art competition since it is not “prestiguous” but do you think it will do its job?

@jhgong Never heard about it so wasn’t aware whether or not it was less prestigious, but I think it would convey more than another science award. If I remember correctly, the order should be based on what was most meaningful to you which is not necessarily the same as what was the most prestigious. To repeat, however, I don’t think order is too big of a deal as long as you are able to list everything which you should be able to (if not as a separate item, at least in the additional info section).

@GoldenRock I would make every effort to make sure you are not restricted because that rule is absolutely ridiculous. Try talking to someone higher up and do not be afraid to get your parents involved - it’s one thing if you’re just applying to normal undergrads but BS/MDs have a more involved process and your school needs to be aware of that. You would be missing out on some quality programs that you could be competitive for in HPME and Miami if you don’t.

Top Tier: HPME, UPitt, Rice/Baylor, UCSD, REMS, CWRU, PLME
Target: PSU/Jeff, Miami, BU, GWU, NJMS, UCONN, UAB, U Cincinnati
Low Tier: VCU, Drexel, Albany, NEOCOM, Medical College of GA, Temple

They’re a mix of 7/8 year. Maybe missed a few but pick what you like; just so you are aware, public schools tend to have a strong in-state/regional bias so they might not be easy to land from out of state. I think you would be able to get a few interviews from targets/lower tier, but don’t feel totally comfortable saying this w/o you having any shadowing experience. See if you have a friend or relative who would not have an issue with letting you observe, otherwise consider explaining why you couldn’t.

@dblazer
 Thank you very much for your feed-back. However, I was a little confused. Are you suggesting that even the lower tier programs like Drexel, Albany etc are a difficult bet. Do they have a 2100 lower end cut off or is it the mid-high tier schools for BS MD which have the 2100 cut off? Thanks in advance


@jhgong
 Thank you so much for your response. Can you suggest of other lower tier programs that I may be able to apply to which may have a 32 ACT and 2080 SAT cut off.

@narkor, I think your scores might just make the cutoffs for these programs but I meant to make my statement in a loose sense. So while you might be eligible to apply, your scores would probably be on the very low end of accepted students’ even for the ‘lower’ tier med programs. No harm in giving it a shot though.

Can anyone tell me which of the BS/MD programs, if any, could be a match for me and which ones are worth applying to?

SAT: M 770 CR 800 W 800
Total: 2370

SAT II: Math II:800
Chem:800

GPA: 3.75 Cum UW
UC GPA: 3.96
Cum Weighted: 4.03

Weighted Classes:
Soph: Honors chem, AP Euro
Junior: AP Chem, AP Lit, Honors Spanish IV
Senior: will be taking AP Bio, AP Lang, AP Psych

AP Tests:
Chem:2
Euro:3
Lit:4

Extracurriculars:

  1. Piano (9-12): Completing all 10 levels of Certificate of Merit Evaluation Exam, received branch honors and qualified for musical convention recital in level 8, receiving senior award (completing 3 levels in HS)
  2. Conducted Research at Schmahl Science Workshops (10 summer-12): Submitted research on Parkinson’s Disease to Contra Costa Science and Engineering Fair (won 2nd place, alternate for CA State Fair)
  3. Attended Telugu (Indian Language) School: Completed all 4 levels of telugu school, learned to fluently speak, understand, read, write Telugu
  4. 250 hours volunteering at Veterans Affairs Hospital (9-12): Honorary Volunteer at Veterans Affairs (Volunteer 200+ hours)
  5. Internship at UCSF vascular surgery lab (11 summer): conducted vascular research along with other faculty at lab
  6. Solo author of submitted research paper/article (11th grade): Submitted research paper on Parkinson’s cure to Elsevier Editorial for Parkinsonism and Parkinson’s article to Imagine Magazine of JHU Center for Talented Youth
  7. Submitting research project on Parkinson’s Disease to Intel STS and Siemens National Competition (11,12)
  8. Attending Stanford Pre-Collegiate Conference (12): 1 of 50 students in CA selected to participate in conference where we share and discuss our scientific research with professionals and other students
  9. President and Founder of Charity Dress Club (10-12): Raised money and collected clothes to send to underdeveloped countries around the world: Sent two cargo shipments overseas to India and raised $5000
  10. Active Member of School Congressional Debate Team (9-12): Varsity member of congressional debate team in grades 9-12, won 3rd place in 2 invitational tournaments (Congress 3, MLK) and won 2nd at Congress summer camp in HS
  11. 224 PSAT score: Likely national merit semifinalist
  12. CSF (9-12): Active member of DVHS CSF for 5 semesters, 60 hours volunteering
  13. Piano Volunteering (9-11): Played piano for elderly at senior citizen homes: 50 hours
  14. Athletics (9-10): Captain of school Junior Varsity volleyball team
  15. Work experience (10-12): Teach piano to elementary and middle schoolers around my community

Hooks: N/A
Ethnicity: Asian Indian
Income: 150,000+

@dblazer Thank you much for the feed-back. The ACT will be taken again in October and hopefully the scores will be better than 32. Will keep things posted


@narkor

Let me give you a concrete data of RPI/Albany 2014-15 class profile on SAT: 2256 (736 cr/ 772 m/ 748 w).

Can anybody suggest compatible programs for me that I should apply to? I know that they are all quite competitive, but I’m not sure which programs I would have a shot at actually getting into
 Thanks everyone!!
Background: Asian female
State: NJ
School: very competitive school with moderate size
Rank: school doesn’t rank but I would estimate at least top 10%
UW GPA: 3.96 W GPA: 4.52
SAT I: 2390 (one sitting) M-790 W-800 CR-800
SAT II: Chemistry 790 Math II 800
PSAT: 232
Course Load: total of 11 APS (so far five 5s and two 4s)
ECs:
President/Community Service Leader of UNICEF club at school
principal violinist in school orchestra
varsity volleyball (perhaps captain)
teen board member at public library
Community Service (total of around 500 hours?)
school tutor (one year)
volunteer at children’s hospital
volunteer at chemo center
volunteer at blood draw center (same location as service above)
volunteer for foundation for genetic disorders
volunteering with UNICEF
Research/ Others
deidentified patient data and researched/analyzed correlations between gene mutations and leukemias (data to be presented at the largest hematology conference in the nation)

  • didn’t do much in the lab due to age and experience
    shadowed an oncologist (if that counts for anything)
    Awards: (very few)
    publication in community college journal
    piano awards
    violin awards
    NMSF/finalist
    some AP scholar award
    Recommendations:
    Counselor - amazing
    Teachers - pretty great

@tliu222

Once again, it is fruitless to ask the question," What are my chances?" Nobody knows! But you have the “stats” for all programs. Apply widely to programs that you will definitely attend over “regular” colleges. Also, apply to some top 100 colleges, where you can shine and able to receive merit scholarships.
Some questions to consider:
MCAT requirement, if any (36 at Wash U)
GPA requirement, if any (3.75 at U Pitt/ 3.8 at Wash U)
Residency placement (check the match lists)
Attrition Rate (only 60% at U of Miami)
AP credits (it would free up basic science requirements)
Cost (some offer merit scholarships)
Location (are able to handle extreme heat or cold/snow? 
 proximity to your family)
Good luck and enjoy the process!

Do you mind me asking what schools you got into?