@rsmith0208 - if you meant BU, we stayed @ The Verb (.3 miles from BU). Very nice and interesting hotel. Parking is very expensive, but street parking is free 8 PM-8AM.
do you guys know when PPSP decisions are coming out?
DD got email acceptance to UH Honors Biomedical Sciences program. Email mentions that selection for 3+4 BSMD interview will come out in a couple of days.
Also, we toured CNU yesterday. Pros: administration seemed trustworthy, program seems guaranteed. Cons: Very small school and facilities, no dorms.
Also, I have been looking into USF, FSU and UCF. All these programs have a not-guaranteed BSMD. It seems like they admit a large number of students with Pre-med interest (anyone know rough numbers for each?) but weed aggressively in the first two years so that their eligible cohort is significantly smaller (somewhere it was mentioned 200 students started out in the USF BSMD program, but they ended at 7 students matriculating into MD). I understand that Pre-med is tough and not everyone will maintain good GPA etc, but 7/200 seems a bit shocking.
Questions:
- The few comments on CollegeConfidential indicate that the UH HBS Pre-Med (not BSMD) has produced strong results last year for MD admissions. Eager to hear more from those already in the program or knowledgeable about the program as a viable Pre-Med option for BS.
- Are there programs that provide a reasonable path to BSMD without weeding policies intended to draw in students but minimize MD matriculation? Comments on USF, UCF and FSU also welcome, but hoping to also hear about more such programs (e.g. UToledo)
- What about Early Assurance programs like that at Georgetown for which enrolled students apply during the sophomore or junior year? Are there early assurance programs with high success rate the veterans here would recommend?
Iām hoping the above questions will help not just me but many other parents and students trying to understand all their options for paths to medical school and relative success/challenges.
Edit: @17junior about UH HBS program notification.
@Mom22DDs
I have also been wondering about question 3. I read in an older thread about Tulaneās Early Assurance Program that about a third of the students that applied to TAP (before entering freshmen year but after enrolling) got in. It also seems more economical as they have 3 years undergrad and 4th year of undergrad is 1st year of med. They place a lot of importance on HS APs as they are an accelerated program and students can use APs towards premed requirements.
Georgetown: students apply the second half of sophomore year and have to have maintained high grades as well have a solid argument for why they would benefit from a bs/mdā¦ in other words- what else (besides premed) will they do before med school to warrant the bs/md guarantee.
I dont what percent actually survive these programs to become doctorsā¦
Last year, REMS came out at about 4 pm. I hope its tomorrow, good luck everyone.
@What???!! - Iām sure weāre not the only ones. I bet there are many more students and parents that will benefit from getting these answers.
My DD considered all BSMD programs and applied to many of them. However, she chose not to apply to Tulane because she was not comfortable being away from college/study environment for a whole year in the middle to do service. She applied to some of the not-guaranteed BSMD programs but felt many of them were mostly just feeders of top students into these colleges. Nothing wrong with that, especially when they give full tuition or full-ride scholarships, but it is important to understand the risk of being weeded out at these schools and ending up with low GPAs, making them unable to apply to MD anywhere. I heard from a mom whose DC just started Fall 2016 in one of these schools and is already pulled down with 50%Bs in first semester. Iām sure the student will now work very hard to pull the grades up, but still not what theyād anticipated going in.
@Mom22DDs
Iām not sure if I am missing something w.r.t your Q. But, in my opinion all guaranteed and non-guaranteed BS/MD programs do have weed out criteria. For example even schools which have no MCAT requirement to matriculate into med school through their BS/ MD program will would like their students to have a GPA of 3.6-3.7 if not above that. This is to make sure that there BS/MD students are competitive/ competent enough to enter med school because we all know how competitive and outstanding regular route students can be. So, I donāt think there are any programs where there are no weed out criteria. Basically, BS/MD programs even in schools like NU, U of R, RPI, Union, UPitt GAP etc which have no MCAT requirement still use GPA for weeding out. They want their students to maintain a set GPA- I think NU is the lowest at 3.4 (two years ago). Most others have 3.6 or above.
@mom22DDs - Are you from Texas? I was under the impression that the combined program is for residents but you have been discussing schools all over the map so I am wondering if it is instate.
Getting into medical school is an arduous task whether guaranteed program or not because the GPA requirements are usually rigorous even without MCAT. The best program in Texas, UT PACT, was cancelled and the rumor is that UTSW felt the students were not welltrained coming in after 3 years at UTD. I can see that because there are kids coming in with strong resumes and gap years to pad the resumes from top schools to UTSW. UTD trained students without much of a restriction would have a hard time because they were bright but not challenged. From what I have heard, UH honors forces the students to take 15 hrs each quarter with stringent subject requirements. This is their way of preparing them for med school and MCAT. However, bright students should find this manageable.
@narkor - regarding weeding out, the grade distributions posted on USF indicate that some freshman year required classes have ~20% A grades, which would make it a harder challenge for the students in their not-guaranteed BSMD to maintain the grade requirement. I understand all pre-med courses are tough but expect a normal distribution of about 30-35% A grades, rest B, C etc. This was the number thrown around when we visited UCLA, which is supposed to have tough grading. Joining a college where grading bell curve is even tougher seems like high risk for medical dream. Please let me know if the grade distribution in college is tougher than what I expect. I donāt know much, so glad to be corrected.
@texaspg - we are from CA. UH HBS program must be open to all states, or my DD could not have applied. I donāt know about other programs in Texas. My DD did apply āall over the mapā as you said and that seems to be the recommendation for anyone intent on BSMD. UH HBS seems like a great program from all I have read. We are considering for Pre-Med regardless of the BSMD outcome and would appreciate thoughts. DD works smart and hard, so the expectation is that she will do her best to maintain high grades.
@texaspg I agree about UTD PACT cancellation. I heard that UTSW students grading is very difficult even for the students who came through regular route. I am not surprised with a very minimum MCAT requirement and not too high GPA and no guaranteed requirements for research or volunteer work, its difficult for students to motivate themselves to work hard than whats required. It is possible that these students have struggled at UTSW. I have heard the similar complain about NU HPME students from regular admits.
@Mom22DDs do you know if Houston has started their interview invites for HBS/ Med Program.
@AllenTx15 - they said there are only two dates, Jan. 26 & March 2, and that theyāll announce the interviewers in 2 days. Weāve fingers crossed, though weāve been primarily seeing rejects, probably cos of DDās lower GPA.
@Mom22DDs I am confusedā¦ Jan 26th seems too close for people to make place if they announce in 2 days.
Also they have not sent interview notices but sent out rejects? My son has not heard anything yet. Did u daughter get any email? Thx
@Mom22DDs Sorry I just saw your note about acceptance HBS. I missed that part. So from the HBS invites they pick 3+4 interviewers? Also did anyone get UH rejects? Looks like we may have missed it if we not heard from them. When did ur daughter get email? Good Luck to your daughter.
@AllenTx15 - I referred to other BSMD programs when I meant the rejects. DD has been accepted into UH HBS program. That acceptance email mentioned interview candidates for 3+4 programs are being shortlisted and will be communicated over the next couple of days, and that the interview dates are January 26 and March 2, although I wonder if the email meant to say February 26 and March 2.
@Mom22DDs, Congrats on HBS notification. Good Luck to her to be one of the finalists for the 3+4 program.
Thank you @AllenTx15 , thatās kind of you. Hereās wishing all our DCs to land in a place theyāre happy to be at 
Also want to call out that they accept more students into HBS program (BS part) though they only accept 10 for the 3+4 program. If anyone applied, they must have heard back already, but no one has updated here. Is there less participation this year on the BSMD topic than previous years?
@Mom22DDs
If you want information on UH 3/4 or Texas schools or VCU please refer to my detailed post on the 2016 thread- link attached below:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19457200/#Comment_19457200
With reference to your Q about college grading. It is definitely different and just depends on the college you choose. It is very clear that grading at MIT will be different from Amherst College. Grading is dictated by the teacher and the students which results in determining the quality and success of students getting into Med school. We do see students at one University who score easy āAsā not standing chance of an āAā another. I can say this comparing UH to UT-Austin. Obviously the quality of students at UH is different from UT-Austin and hence the chances of getting into med school is different too. If your student like smart and hardworking as you eluded to, she should not have a problem with maintaining a required GPA at any school. Every school has its own grading scale and most med schools will give preference to a B/C student at at Ivy an A student at a lower tiered/ unranked school.
@narkor ā¦ thanks for your analysis on TX BS/MD programs. Its very helpful.
On grading scale, a B at Ivy may be better than A, but I am not sure if preference is totally based on school. From what I read, for all schools the student MCAT Score is an equalizer for their knowledge. Grades may be different at different schools but the MCAT score which is subject based tests their knowledge irrespective of which school they belong to. It should matter only for students with same MCAT scores, yes a Berkley or Cornell student who supposedly have very tough grading standards are not given a less preference compared to 4.0 at UH or small school even if they have less GPA.
@Mom22DDs
Also, this yearās thread definitely has less activity than last yearās, at least that is the case till now.
@texaspg
UH 3/4 is not restricted to Texas residents and accepts out of state applicants (although some preference maybe given to in-state). If you remember HS2DirectMed was selected last year and he/she was out of state.
@AllenTx15
You are right about MCAT being one of the decisive factors (besides emphasis of interview approach of the candidate and resume). However, I was referring only to GPA because @Mom22DDs had removed all other factors and was only talking about grading curve at colleges. As a past med school selection committee member we are trained to know the intensity of grading of various schools and hence their GPA highs and lows when candidates come for their interviews. We would definitely factor that into their resume and interview skills besides their MCAT. In summary, I was trying to explain the importance of GPA consideration without factoring in the other criteria. In all, med school selection is definitely a holistic process- challenging for selection committee as it is for the candidates themselves with such outstanding students.