Let’s not be short sighted. Most is mot all top tier programs (UG and non-UG alike and yes that includes MD and combined degree programs such as these) DIVERSITY is in fact an adult integral part of the educational experience. All involved (students, faculty etc ) benefit from a diversity rich environment that will serve you well in the next phase of your professional and academic career and when serving the public. It seems a not just to benefit URM.
Nobody is against diversity which is the core of this nation, but the question of HOW to achieve DIVERSITY is still open to debate. However, come back to the topic of BS/MD programs, I believe all the accepted students are highly qualified no matter what their ethnicity backgrounds are; they are just simply good.
@dadofd Your post #2343 beautifully states the soft skills every one should learn to succeed. That is where as a parent I struggle (and fail) in making my child to learn the untaught soft skills which is essential for a successful and happy life. Listen, observe, learn (from experience - others or your own), persistence, raise from failure, humble during success, will/determination, take advantage of the opportunity available to you, take calculated and measured risk, balance and be content with desire and need at times, utilize and value the treasure given to all of us in equal quantity with no discrimination THE TIME which no one can ever get back.
Does anyone know when NEOMED will send out results? thanks.
My point is not about qualifications as most whom dare to apply to BSMD programs understand the high standards and competitiveness. The point I am making is that we all have a vested interest to support diversity as it will have direct impact on our growth both academically and non-academically. That is why top tier UG and non-UG schools and programs support it as well even at the level of faculty (selection / world view).
A monolithic group in mind, body or soul will only hinder your ability to reach your God-given potential.
does anyone know when the last HPME interview date is for this year?
@GoldenRock Beautifully said and so true!!
@wptugs based on our experience this cycle, our son received interviews at several BS/MD schools, a large percentage of the interviees were south Asian women. However, based on the information provided by the schools on 2016 enrollment it was pretty balanced from a diversity and demographic perspective. For example, for 15 students enrolled at a BS/MD, the mix was 2 Hispanic, 2 Chinese, 2 Caucasian, 1 African American, 4 other Asian, … the mix between male and female was 10 female, 5 male.
According to AAMC, the overall acceptance rate to medical schools in US during the period of 2013-14 through 2015-16 was 43.58%(58,980/135,328). African Americans had the lowest acceptance rate of 36.2%(4,446/12,289), whereas Whites had the highest acceptance rate of 45%(35,789/79,260). Hispanics had the second highest acceptance rate of 44.3%(5,782/13,052), and finally Asian applicants had the acceptance rate of 42.2%(12,963/30,727). The acceptance rates of each group with the following stats( GPA 3.60-3.79 with MCAT scores of 30-32) are as follow: Hispanics (83.4%), African Americans (93.7%), Asians (42.2%) and Whites (45%).
Therefore, the notion that 2 percent acceptance rate to a certain medical school should not deter one from pursuing the traditional route since many pre-meds apply to more than 30 medical schools and have the overall acceptance rate of about 40% for Asian applicants. But we must also consider the fact that more than half of pre-meds drop out of the pre-med race even before taking the MCAT due to the reality of harsh grading of introductory science classes in most of colleges in US. Unlike English courses at Harvard, where getting B- is considered as failing, NOT more than 10 to 20 percent of students receive As in the introductory science classes. NOT more than 20 to 30 percent of students might receive Bs. Many of our patients switch their majors to English, Psychology and Political Science, to salvage their overall GPA after first year of college and subsequently pursue post bacc programs during their gap years to take science classes. In terms of choosing which UG to attend, I would recommend any top 100 schools, where one can balance social life, classes other pre-med obligatory activities. That school should offer a merit scholarship; it you are not receiving a significant amount of award money from a certain school, then you are unlikely be one of top tier students at that university and most like would have difficult time receiving As.
Good luck everyone!
Neomed said they would mail the results on Friday the 17
@upstream (and others) - Thank you for sharing your thoughts on traditional route.
Would appreciate your suggestions or thinking points for those with admission to BSMD programs at mid or low tier medical schools and UG-only admission to top tier schools (not necessarily Ivies) with solid scholarship (not necessarily full ride and maybe not even full tuition, but 50% off or more). Also, if someone was lucky enough to get into a mid-tier BSMD that does not allow applying out and a low tier BSMD that does not mind student applying out, what would you suggest they consider in choosing between the two?
Clarification: with many decisions coming out next few weeks, I hope some of us will become fortunate enough to have the above choices to consider and it would be good to have the veterans here start sharing their inputs in preparation, and also as a way to think positively and take the stress off the wait 
That 2% acceptance number I came up with for med school was by looking at various programs individually. I looked at 10 different med schools around the country and all of them ranged at about 2%. I am not doubting the stats the @upstream quoted by any means. Here is a paste for the data posted on the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine in Minnesota for year 2016:
2016 M.D. application stats
Applications received: 4,522
Minnesota applicants: 397
Out-of-state applicants: 4,125
Male: 2,574
Female: 1,948
On-campus interviews: 249
Acceptances issued: 86
New M.D. matriculates: 45
Male: 17
Female: 28
Average cumulative GPA: 3.8
Average total MCAT percentile: 90th percentile
As can be seen above with the acceptance rate for 2016 at this school it was 1.9%. That is not saying that there are other med schools that accept a higher percentage, but from my research last year at the schools I looked at using this method I saw the rate being pretty consistent.
I believe the admission numbers being compared are different metrics. Somewhere near 43% of all medical students are getting admitted to “A” medical school is a valid percentage. However, some schools like Mayo may have 2% admit rate while still accepting 45 students out of 21000+ students entering medical schools each year throughout the nation.
43% of all pre-med students getting admitted to ‘atleast one’ medical seems quite promising. However, all those who start off as pre-med in UG do not necessarily end up applying to medical schools, some due to change of heart and many due to GPA. Are there any established or informal stats around how many drop out?
Once again, most pre-meds apply to many many medical schools and thus ameliorating their chance of getting acceptance to a medical school, not the medical school. One of pitfalls of that pre-meds makes is that they do not apply to enough and appropriate medical schools. Many of them become too confident in their chance of getting acceptance into top tier schools with high stats and apply only to several top medical school without “safety” schools.
Just because Harvard UG accepts only 5% of applicants does not mean that other 95% will not be accepted into other UGs. In the same token, many of other 98% of unsuccessful applicants to Mayo probably got into other medical schools. Asian applicants with the stats provided by @Empire007 ( mcat of 90% with GPA of 3.8) had 83.3% acceptance rate into a medical school during the period of 2013-14 through 2015-16 according to AAMC:
Table A-24.3: MCAT and GPA Grid for Asian Applicants and Acceptees to U.S. Medical Schools, 2013-2014 through
2015-2016 (Aggregated)
With proper UG selection, I am confident that unsuccessful BSMD applicants have more than 50% chance of getting acceptance into a medical school in US.
Using data from AAMC (Table A-24.3: MCAT and GPA Grid for Asian Applicants and Acceptees to U.S. Medical Schools, 2013-2014 through 2015-2016 (Aggregated), Asian applicant with the stat of GPA of 3.60-3.79 with mcat of 30-32 had 57.7% chance of acceptance into a medical school. Students with same GPA with mcat of 33-35 had 74.3% chance of acceptance rate.
Even with above data, I am personally in favor of attending BSMD programs especially if they have either no or low MCAT requirement. I don’t think our son would have been a student athlete at a varsity level, take poetry class as a Freshman, take a class with a medical school faculty as an undergraduate and take a spring break in Europe with his friends now- instead of studying for mcat. Even though he has maintained high GPA, he chose not to take an mcat since he is quite content with his program. In previous years, some students decided to stay with the undergraduate and successfully apply out to such program as JHU medical school. One of them, transferred to Yale UG after 1st year.
So, there are many options even with BSMD programs. In order to apply out, you just need 3 letters of recommendations from the UG faculty members since it might be awkward to approach the premed committee, which also might oversees BSMD program.
It is true that many who start out as premeds never get far enough to apply to medical school. Most don’t make the cut due to credentials but there are a few who decide medicine is not for them too. I know at least one with a 42 MCAT and 3.9+ from a top school who chose software field.
Here is the link if any one wants to see various stats from AAMC.
Based on Harvard university newspaper Crimson article from about 2 years ago, in recent years, there are consistantly about 240 applicants from Harvard to US medical schools; and in those around 80 graduating seniors and 160 alumni. Harvard has about 1600 class size each year, so it means there are only 5% graduating seniors applying for medical schools without gap years or sidetracked. There are many reasons for this stat, but 5% is still a very low rate. This trend could be similar in other top universities.
@dadofd the question is why are so many alumni applying? Is it because they could not get in the first time… this is worth analyzing.
For full disclosure these were the 10 med schools I researched last year when looking at individual acceptance rates. The table is ordered by Name, total number of applicants, total number of matriculate, average MCAT score, average undergrad GPA.
Stanford 7197 90 517 3.76
Mayo 4622 53 515 3.8
Cornell 6183 106 518 3.84
NYU 7800 132 518 3.87
John’s Hopkins 6090 120 518 3.88
UCLA 8554 151 516 3.86
University of Pennsylvania 5435 156 518 3.85
University of Chicago 5082 88 518 3.88
Northwestern 6955 163 518 3.86
Vanderbilt 6831 90 519 3.87