***Official Thread for 2020 BSMD applicants***

Pre-Med & Medical School Multiple Degree Programs
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Just an FYI but the majority of BSMD programs are actually public; most of these public programs tend to very heavily favor their own state’s residents and residents of neighboring states.

So discounting private university BSMD programs (where typically anyone from any state has a fair shot of getting into), your best chance of getting into a program comes through living in a favorable state.

The best states (states with the most public programs) include states like NY (by far the best), NJ, and Alabama. Texas used to be really good, but they recently have closed down a lot of the public programs like UT-PACT.

On the other hand, living in a state like California is tough since there are no public programs that favor California residents. Likewise, private university programs don’t particularly care about your location (besides a few exceptions).

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IL state has a BSMD (UIC GPPA ) program for state residents only.

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My daughter is leaning towards SAT subject test Biology M. Not sure which one is recommended. Any advice from experts.

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Thanks @grtd2010 and @GreenPoison for your responses.

My S has been in club swimming since he was eight and will likely be a top swimmer for D3 BS MD school, and he would like to swim in college. I wonder if BS MD admission office unfavors applicants who want to play sports in the the first 3-4 years of the program because they worry that these students may not be able to keep up the GPA.

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Can anyone please share the BS/DO results thread for 2019. Thank you

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@gradedu Not at all. On the contrary it will be an advantage for his application. It also reflects his passion, commitment and tenacity in the activities he undertakes like swimming.

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@purpledaisies

Just went to my D’s med school graduation. 70% of the graduates are ORMs, that is why. The shear competitions among ORMs is the main reason that stats are higher for ORMs in the medical field. The med school wants to diversify, therefore ORM got the blunt of higher standards.

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@GoldenRock In regards to swimming, realistically, how hard it is for a student to do both bsmd and swim D3. Will their schedules conflict? (I read that some labs are in the afternoon at some schools and conflict with swim practice). How about bsmd and D1. Is that possible? Was it ever done? My DD is also a competitive swimmer but I discourage her to look into swimming for college thinking that it would be impossible to do if she gets into a bsmd program which is the main goal.

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@rara-avis BS/MD does not mean it is nothing but academics and there will not be any time for anything else. It is not true. Folks will have enough time to do whatever they want. I don’t have any knowledge on D1 level commitments.

In general for students who are pursuing regular MD, it is recommended not to pursue Performing Arts major in UG because that takes up significant amount of time both for practice and the actual play/performance etc., That gives little time to do EC.

But when you have got in to BS/MD that pressure won’t be there to do tip-top EC and to ensure to maintain top most GPA and MCAT etc., So I would presume pursuing sports in BS/MD is doable.

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@GoldenRock Thank you so much for your advise! Really appreciate it.

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@rara-avis Most pre-med prerequisites like Biology,General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics will have lab session about 3 hrs long with multiple sections. So it all depends on one’sr schedule whether one can do other activities like swimming practice in afternoon or not.

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@GoldenRock
Thank you for your comments.

My son and I have talked to one coach who came to recruit at CIF and approached my son about swimming for a D3 (not a BS MD school). We asked him about the swimming time commitment. He told us that they normally practice 3 hours a day. One in the morning for dryland and two in the afternoon/evening. He said since this is D3 swimming, the requirements aren’t crazy like D1, and he is flexible with the students by looking their schedule before setting up the swim practice schedule for the team. He said if they can’t make it, there are time like weekends and so on…

I agree with you that it is possible to do a sport at D3 as long as the swimmer’s social life is or evolves around swimming only (just like my son’s now). One can’t just study all day and night. There has to be breaks and relaxation in between. For my son, I see that his break is swimming and dryland. He doesn’t like it when he Is away from the pool for too long. For example, he only swam two times this week and this afternoon after he just finished with the subject SAT, he hit the pool. Time in the pool is his relaxation and his passion. I would hate to see that is taken away from him to study day and night no matter what he studies.

I appreciate the reassurance of the lab time in the afternoon. This will be an art of balancing between school and swim… just like how he has been doing in the last eight years.

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@gradedu You nailed it. Not only during UG, even during MD, students who have gone thru say it is best to have some interest in some thing. That is the best way to get out of the stress and to relax. My D says her recipe when stressed is to tinker and do cooking. We were surprised since she never stepped in to kitchen for 18 years when at home!

2 Likes
34

Hey everyone! Just a rising junior who is planning on applying to many BS/MD programs.

I’m focusing on my SAT and grinding out these next couple of months. My SAT was a 1250 and I just got it up to a 1350 in 3 weeks of effort. Hopefully I can get my SAT to a 1550 by October.

I just wanted to have a reasonable chance me for BSMD programs. I understand that these programs are extremely competitive and chances are low for anyone.

Ultra Competitive high school
No class rank
Indian
Male
Will not need financial aid

GPA: 4.46 Weighted and 3.93 Unweighted (By Senior Year, as of now it’s a 4.31 Weighted and a 3.85 Unweighted)
I’m retaking a class (Spanish), which I got a C freshman year first semester. I would easily get an A now, and if I replaced the C it would be a 4.39 Weighted and a 3.91 Unweighted.

SAT: 1350 (will get 1550)

SAT Subject Tests: Math ll, Biology, Chemistry

Freshman Year: 4.23 Weighted and 3.92 Unweighted
Algebra 2 Acc (A-/A-), Biology Acc (B+/A-), Freshman English Acc (A-/A-), World History (A-/A), Engineering (A/A), Computer Programming Acc (x/A), Spanish 2 - 3 Acc (C, retook A/x), Spanish 2 (x/A)

Sophomore Year: 4.55 Weighted and 3.93 Unweighted
Geometry Honors (B/A-), Chemistry Acc (A/A-), Sophomore English Acc (A-/A-), Health (A/x), Applied Health (x/A), Engineering Honors (A/A), AP Computer Science Principles (A/A), Spanish 3 (A/A)

Junior Year: 4.62 Weighted and 3.93 Unweighted
PreCalc Acc (A/A), AP Biology (A-/A-), AP Physics (A/A), Junior English Acc (A/A), APUSH (A/A), Spanish 4 (A/A), AP Microeconomics (x/A)

Clubs + Sports
Vex Robotics Varsity
Debate Team JV and Varsity
Class Board (10, 11, 12)

Volunteering + Community Service
Senior Citizens Home Care 100 Hours (10, 11)
Class Board 60 Hours (10, 11, 12)
Library Work 15 Hours
Various Innerview Events 20 Hours
Dance Marathon: School raised 30k for a Foundation 20 Hours (10)
Fundraiser 15 Hours (10, 11, 12)

Medical Related Work
Mini Medical School [20 Hours]
Teacher Assistant [40 Hours]
Cancer Research [150 hours, will have 500 hours by the start of senior year]

Recommendation Letters
Cancer Research Director

Mini Med School Director
AP Biology Teacher

Awards: [more vex awards coming]
Vex Robotics World Championship 2018
Vex Robotics World Championship 2019
Vex Robotics State Design Award 2018
Vex Robotics State Design + Tournament Finalist Awards 2019
AP Scholar with Honor [most likely]

I will have a lot more stuff by the start of senior year, including shadowing a doctor and working in a hospital.

How are my stats looking like for BS/MD programs? I’ll be applying to a ton and hoping I can get accepted to 1.

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Your stats seem more geared to engineering than medicine.

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@8thgradekid How, just cause of Vex? Medicine will also be geared towards robotics in the future.

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Just read over my resume and it’s totally geared towards medicine ?

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Your Stats look good. Like you said, SAT needs to improve, by a lot. How did you do in SAT subject tests? Aim for close to 800. As someone said earlier, apply widely. Find out if your state schools give preference to state applicants. And don’t forget to apply to solid safeties. All the best.

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@txmom19 Thanks for the advice! I haven’t taken the subject tests. After I finish AP Biology and PreCalc I’ll take Biology and Math 2.

From IL, will be applying to Northwestern HPME, UIC GPPA, and Loyola (they have one?).

Thanks!

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@bearsfan21
Your profile will be competitive if you achieve your stated goals.
Continue with robotics - it can only help.

Question 1 - are these official scores or practice scores?
You should analyze your weak areas in SAT - score of 1350 suggests that you are on average scoring <700 on both EBRW and Math sections.

Question 2 - what are doing this summer (apart from studying for SAT)?