@mygrad2021 For a raising junior, she has already done quite a few stuff. Continue volunteering in hospital and if possible get some shadowing. Let her enjoy school and focus on course work also.
We are just realizing that when the kids do MD, the way the program is structured it is absolutely insane and they can do nothing but study. So anyhow when they are going to be stressed out during MD, at least let them have a reasonable life in HS and UG.
We never felt the need for any paid coaching. I see the one you referred is only $400. But no idea what they do etc.,
Normally you need to report only anything done in HS and not earlier years.
Follow the thread this year and you will get an idea to short list the schools for your D when next year comes. If IL there is a BS/MD for in state residents, which you may be aware already. Besides you can apply to few like NU, CWRU, SLU, Rochester, AMC, OU, Tulsa, UAB, NJMS etc
@mygrad2021
If she manages to get lot of hospital and/or volunteering, let her consider VCU since they seem to give lot of weight age to that.
Also you may have to go through this thread and look for the web link I posted some time ago to find NIH funded research projects in a given area and try to contact each of the institutions to see if they have any openings for high school students, either during the school year or next summer session. That can have good addition to oneâs background. (If the moderators here have deleted the link as per their policies, you may have to look painstakingly for it in last yearâs since I posted there too)
Also let her do quite well in AP Bio and Calc BC (preferably 5s in the AP exams). Some programs gauge that as a true indication of rigor and achievement since they are standardized and not prone to the grade inflation and fluctuations in regular high school course work at most of the schools.
BU gives 20k a year for each of the undergrad years for NMFs who nominate them as their top choice by March or so of senior year. But their BA/MD is one of the most competitive out there. Likewise, GWU, another popular and super competitive one gives about 25k price break for most getting into their BA/MD (irrespective of NMF status) and seems they look for research exposure (publications and such).
Also remember someone posting about PremedHQ or similar professional outfits guiding students in this path. Though they may be expensive, in the range of ~10k, if you can afford it may not be a bad idea to reach out to them and consider.
Thank you @GoldenRock and @rk2017 !
I thought SLU is not really a guaranteed program. Any idea?
I think the Ruin program is in IL and I live in OH so I donât think itâs an easy option to go every weekend. Thanks for looking into it.
She found few shadowing opportunities locally and trying to schedule time during school break this year.
@rk2017 , I tried searching the forum and found the following link. Are you talking about this? https://report.nih.gov/award/index.cfm?ot=&fy=2018&state=VA&ic=&fm=&orgid=&distr=&rfa=&om=n&pid=&view=statedetail. I was looking at this and looks like most of them are Universities. Do you think I should call the institution and find out? I do not any contact details on that page. Could you please guide me further on this?
Youâre talking BU BA/MD. Is the option youâre talking about early decision? Is it not going to be binding? Also I see their price tag is too high. Any light on this?
@mygrad2021
Look at my post #241 in page 13 for SLU
That post has most the programs including some may be of interest to you like Cincy, VCU etc.
If finance is a critical factor, take a hard and closer look before accepting BS/MD programs in May 2021. Because going in normal route also she may wind up in CWRU or OSU or Cincy as IS with less fees for MD and all 3 are great choices. She can choose OSU for UG to reduce the fees further.
General rule for BS/MD students, donât apply for Early Decision for any program. Apply few BS/MD programs and few good UG Schools.
@mygrad2021
As far as I know none of the BS/MD programs have an early decision option except for Brown PLME.
Yes the link is the correct one. It need not be universities necessarily that get NIH funding. Lot of private setups also do get the funding. Explore the link further and I believe you can drill down to PI level (principal investigator). If it is confusing, PM me and I may be able to shed more light on.
Regarding âPrice tagsâ, the med schools of Brown, NU, BU, UPitt, Thomas Jefferson (Penn State), GWU all are in the same ball park, give or take. If that is a concern, you should give it a top priority in your selection of which programs to apply to.
And I am sure there are few more med schools that fit in that tag. Half of the programs affiliated with them donât give any price breaks whatsoever for the undergrad portions, except for need based.
Thank you @GoldenRock ! I looked at your post and came to know the real difference. As my daughter is the first one to study here, weâre totally new to this process. Of course, Cincy is our first preference as itâs IS and a good program.
Thank you @rk2017!
I could drill to the level of PI in NIH links. Itâs very useful information. She will try to contact few locally this Summer as she is already tied up with Research, volunteering and School work. Thank you so much for sharing.
Itâs not that price tag is a concern. I am sure definitely itâs not something we can pay from our pocket. I am curious how do all parents really manage that high price tags for their kids. Do most of the kids get some kind of scholarships or UG? I heard you donât get any scholarships in medical school and whatever you can save is only during UG 4 years. I have another kid getting ready in another few years. I would like to know the ideas and advice from experienced parents. Do everyone take loan even for UG?
@mygrad2021
It is reasonably possible to control the cost. But there is one BIG IF.
If the student is very clear (knowingly or unknowingly or for whatever reason) and dead set on medicine, then there is a path to control UG cost. There is no need to go to IVY or top 20 schools for UG if not qualified for need based aid. Choose a state school or a school which is ready to give NMF or free tuition or substantial merit aid.
Definitely, UG you have more control to contain cost. MD is much less.
For example, MD/Ph.D is free. But should not do just for free tuition, unless student has genuine interest in it. Few schools do give merit aid, surprised to know UCLA gives free tuition for a good chunk (like 25% of so). Of course you need to be top notch in all aspects to get the attention from UCLA. Some times that is hard for students who are graduating directly from UG in 3 or 4 years with out gap years.
Texas is a good place to contain cost but they give admission only for 10% of OOS.
Best is to focus on IS schools during MD. It is a long way to do in your case. So donât spend too much time on this.
@GoldenRock, @mygrad2021
In my daughterâs high school batch some 5 students got into UT Austin, some of them into their famed business school. None of them were given any merit awards and so none went there ( think it comes to around 55k per year oos).
UCLA has a bad reputation for extreme competition and grade deflation, so should be kept in mind for those deciding to go to medicine eventually. You can check common data sets of the schools you are interested in to check what percentage of students there get some kind of merit awards.
Regarding âPrice tagsâ, the med schools of Brown, NU, BU, UPitt, Thomas Jefferson (Penn State), GWU all are same and cost is more than instate â
For us the instate schools do not have BS MD programs so going out of state is the only option but my d/s with excellent stats and EC is adamant to only apply to 2 top tier and 3 low tier BS MD programs. Here need your help how to rank them and identify as we are not planning to apply to many. Any thoughts suggestions ???
@mi2019
It is difficult to opine not knowing where exactly is your daughter on the academic path and her exposure thus far. One thing to keep in mind, 90% of students applying in this path have very strong academic and other credentials and so should be open for any possibility.
I can only tell what I would be do if I were to repeat the process all over again for a child and have to apply only for a handful of these:
I will look for any outliers with extreme low chances. For ORMs Brown falls in this category even as they have one of the highest slots available in direct med path. Hope you don't fall in this disadvantaged category.
I will eliminate programs with very low intakes and/or very high expectations from the students in their programs. That will rule out both the Baylor programs and WashU.
On the same token, I will consider programs with decent intakes and so higher chances of getting in and having good names and no known biases in their selection process (in state, regional etc). That will add NU, BU, Penn State/Thomas Jeff and NJMS (either TCNJ or NJIT as feeders)
I will include programs where some kind of price breaks may be available for undergrad (NMF, presidential etc). That will add the likes of BU, UPitt and GWU (though the intake is kind of low for the last one)
I will try to take the child for visits to as many as possible of these schools and meet with the admissions folks there so the child can get first hand impressions and can help making their decisions on where to apply.
Lastly will consider if it is a 7 or 8 year program and if latter, is the additional year really justifiable (especially if the child already achieved tonnes of AP or college level credits already).
Hello Everyone,
My son is aiming for BS/MD program and he is all A student till now and in Jr. Year. He has been doing band since his 6th grade. He is selected for the top band group in high school. He was doing Marching band program since his freshman year and he is working as Drum Major (Top leadership position in Band). Looking for advice on the list of colleges who would be interested in his application for a BS/MD program.
Thank you In Advance.
@SkyAndLight
My daughter was in marching band, not a drum major though. Their high school team were the state championships in their category for all 4 years and 2nd in Nationals (inter state). She is in BA/MD program but donât believe being in band helped.
It may help more in regular undergrad than in these programs. The drum major of their team got into Princeton. Stanford has a good marching band if he has plans of applying there.
@rk2017 thank you for your feedback. Somewhere in my mind, I was thinking Band kids may get advantage to get into BA/MD than BS/MD. Any Observations around that point? And please help to share your daughterâs stats if you can.