Question: Son is a Junior, will be applying to BSMD programs in Fall. We have been planning this for the past year and have really tried to explore his passions (science and medicine) but in a way to also further his competitiveness for ug admissions. Is he missing any key components?
Enrolled tribe/Native American (father is enrolled, mother is white)
Current rank: 21/388
GPA: 4.15 weighted (both rank and GPA will go up as every class this year and next are all weighted)
ACT: 36 E/35 R/ 31 S/28 M (struggled with the timing on math as he is a check and rechecker so got him a tutor and def expect to see that increase A LOT)
SAT in March
SAT subject tests in May (Chem, Bio, and Math2)
Clubs:
-Key Club 11 and will do 12
-NHS 11 and will do 12
-Mu Theta Alpha 11/12
-Phi Theta Kappa 11/12
-Medical Explorers at local hospital (anticipates being President next year)
-Band (9 and 10)
-Class Representative 11 and prob run 12
-Volunteering at hospital 10 and 11
-Research internship 11 and will do 12
-Tutoring at cancer ward for pediatric patients 10, 11, and 12
Self taught German 9th grade while living there
9th grade was a mess. Military kid- dad injured during deployment his 8th grade year. 9th gr wasn’t good and a lot of stuff from all that so affected his grades and rank. Turned it back on last year and has really thrived at the early college program so will have his associates as well.
Just trying to maximize his chances. That 9th gr year is a worry. He has also applied to 5 summer research programs- fingers crossed!
My D has a Neuroscience(Cellular and Molecular Biology) and Computer Science double major. Other popular premed majors are Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Bio-medical Engineering, Mathematics. A few also chose Business/Finance, liberal arts (Psychology/Sociology). For UG, choosing an institution where a high GPA ( > 3.8) can be achieved, is desired. My D did not choose to attain UCB CS (OOS) for this reason.
Let your child decide for him/herself.
Good going so far! No need to worry too much about 9 th grade. Colleges as well BS/MD programs give you chances on the applications to explain any special circumstances. Also they love to see an upward trajectory as is in your son’s case. Let him stay focused and keep up the good work. Also they look at holistically. In case of C we were worried on the GPA front having attended an Uber competitive high school. But now in a reputed BA/MD program thanks to their holistic evaluation.
@mom2boys1999 - S and M sections are low. Did he take any SAT IIs? As other said get some tutoring and have some serious prep time.
BSMD programs are dominations by Asians due to risk aversion so your S will be a big diversity pick for some schools. Some school looks for specific things like research or service to less fortunate, so you need figure out which ones to target. Which state are you from? Also, there is some regional bias.
Rice/Baylor is out. Congratulations if you are one of the 25. I’m out.
This year, more than 1,400 students applied to the program. Only 25 students advanced to the interview stage to contend for one of the six slots. 0.4% acceptance rate if these numbers are true. Wow!
Wonder for @mom2boys1999 race/ethnicity (Enrolled tribe/Native American (father is enrolled, mother is white)) makes any difference for relatively lower statistics otherwise.
This waiting for any news is becoming hard!
Does anyone know if these schools are still offering interviews? Just wondering if we haven’t heard anything by now that it means we should consider it done. Thanks!!
@screen321 The email was from BSM. I’m sure Rice may have finalized their decision as there was an email about submitting midyear grades. However, I don’t expect a notification from them until the regular decision dates. I’ve been wrong before. ?
