@kush22 : Son took AP Bio freshman year, this year self study SAT bio to 800 . Sat chem , math 2 also 800 .
@mi2019,
Total agree with your second paragraph. I have learned on that every student who applies to BS MD has something special to offer. It is up to the admission counselors/committee to have that special connection with the students to invite them to an interview and eventually admit them. I canāt recall who said it on the forum, but the person said 25% is luck; now I see it. The school that we would not expect an interview invited us to the interview.
I have been trying to be quiet about this, but now I think I should share with you guys. A student does not have near perfect or perfect scores to be invited to the first or face-to-face interviewā¦ my son is one of them.
@brainbuilder02,
AMC essays were due for Union a while ago (last month). When are your essays due?
That was an outlier, perhaps URM, socio economically disadvantaged school district or someone with unique circumstances. The academic credentials were decent though.
The biggest challenge with traditional route for most is not MCAT or GPA but ECs. The competition for ECs get more intense in undergrad.
As recently mentioned BS/MD example, someone with couple of research publications with good citations can easily ruin the chances of everyone else from that undergrad institution at all the med schools applied to as he or she did, while will be joining only one of them. Just look at the number of matriculants at a given med school by undergrad institution if possible to explore further.
Long ago, like 5-6 years, I happened to check the composition of the incoming class of Miami med school.
I was under the impression that being in neighboring state Georgia Tech students/graduates will be a significant number. Was surprised to find only one or two.
It is perhaps because of this unpredictability that a typical pre-med student applies to 20 med schools on an average. A decade ago it was perhaps half a dozen or so per applicant with folks with decent GPA and MCAT getting multiple admissions to choose from.
Well both GPA and ECs could be issues for traditional path. So many students stumble first year due to variety of reason and end up in catch up mode and neglect ECs. Also, ECs are evolving each year and you should be aware of the trends (like not all public top schools are valuing research like before) and plan and apply accordingly. Thatās why every one is applying for 20+ schools.
Regional preferences goes down with top schools since they want to maintain their ranking.
I know this will bring back to why take chances, bird in hand and MD from any medical school is OK arguments 
The data https://www.aamc.org/media/6091/download provides different picture about MCAT and GPA than being portrayed. <25% applicants are in highest pool (GPA > 3.79 and MCAT > 502) out of ~148K. We have to realize as expected course vigor gets tougher and tougher as one progresses in academics. Not all high school 4.0 are UG 4.0, UG filters out easy high schoolers, same goes from UG to medical school to whatever. Thatās why med schools look for well round applicant, not just perfectionist in GPA/MCAT/SAT/ACT/APs.
As far as ECs, it is only true for some ECs, not all. Donāt believe how a volunteer non-medical service, e.g. working/volunteer at senior care center, nursing home or similar service paid/unpaid is difficult for any student to find. UG choice may make difference for research opportunities.
Hmm ā¦ Am I reading something wrong? The digits for MCAT flipped? Is it 502 or 520 for the āhighest poolā?
So looks like all the more reason to go for a direct route, given an option?
Also I have been hearing all along here that med schools donāt have time to distinguish the quality of GPA between easy and tough under grad schools during selections and only look at GPA as an absolute number? That goes contrary to the above regarding course rigor getting tougher and easy schoolers falling off the mark.
@PPofEngrDr : If you look at matriculated data at med school, that 3.79 /MCAT 502 would not get into ANY ranked school .
NJMS , Sidney Kimmel - 514
Brown, U. Penn - 517
Baylor, Boston U, Case Western -518
It is not even SAT 1500 vs 1600 argument. Become 514/517/518 , GPA 3.8 ,3.9 or 4.0 
The chance of 514 getting into Baylor ? Luck.
The chance of 518 ending up in NJMS ? No Luck.
The marathon just get longer and longer till one qualified for an Ironman race !!
Hospital hours, doctors shadowing, NIH research experience compared by years, not hours.
through RPI, the 15th.
@srk2017 : As BSMD applicants prep years and half way swimming towards the destination , we would see if end up with a bird first.
Only those with a bird on hand will determine to go for the next round or take the āsmallerā prize. Others still want to pursue MD dream will go onto traditional path UG anyway, and have another 4 years plan.
Read that First row of table only, sum the number of applicants from >=502 that is indeed <25% of total applicants 148K. So it is not flipped at all. Also pay attentions to acceptance rate for each GPA+MCAT combination in that first row only. It shoots to 48%+ at 502 mark. Ofc one can argue GAP year as it is not posted in that table.
Surprise you missed the acceptance rate in same First GPA Row/MCAT combination. 3.79+ GPA, 502+ MCAT has 48%+ acceptance rate to (aka ANY ranked school).
@PPofEngrDr
You are quoting a statistics without considering background of those figures. My take is many of the students in 502+ , 3.79+ GPA category that were accepted had hooks - URM, Veterans, Unique Story, SMP programs, Multiple Gap years with Masters degree, BS MD students who have low MCAT cutoff etc. If you donāt have any such hook (like most ORMs) then it will not be 48% acceptance rate but more like 10% acceptance rateā¦
Also from the same data source - with 3.79+ GPA and 514+ - Even then it is only 82% that are accepted - 18% do not get in anywhere - That risk is one of the argument for direct programs.
@PPofEngrDr : It doesnt sound that you want to take 4 year traditional path just to get into any MD/DO program 
Would one catch a bigger bird if give up the one on hand ? 50/50
This was no way to argue w.r.t. any BS/MD, rather spun from argument made by @rk2017 that āThe biggest challenge with traditional route for most is not MCAT or GPA but ECs.ā All I am saying is that is not true. GPA, MCAT and ECs are all necessary evil for traditional route.
Agree on that 82% / 18%, if you look at AMCAS table 3.8+,520+ quadrant has only 89% acceptances, other 11% ofc variety of reasons didnāt get selected. There is no slam dunk in any processes.
@Totototp
I called Pitt and they told me my S did not get passed on. Sometimes it is worth the call to know.
@Phil G
Was he not invited for the coming interview with UPitt or he was not invited for the GAP application? Thanks!
It is especially true when kids are not decisive about MD/DO route. One should be very well aware of personal strength and weakness. We as a parents have very good intuition about our kids abilities and strength. My both kids went against trends and pre-med track kid let go BioM at GATECH and BioE at UofI, choose NU UG, so far so good in his decision. I know kids who let go Top 5 CS school and pick BS/MD at T20 med school, not just any BS/MD.