@NoviceDad Was the new thread for 2021 initiated? I searched the forum but i could not find it. I am one of the worried parents and I really appreciate all the input from the senior members on this page… Could you please notified us on this page when the new thread is activated?
@rara-avis
Not yet. Waiting on moderators to create it.
Will do.
Folks
Today is May 6. Hopefully folks have made your decision.
Please share your stats+perspectives on the Results Thread. As you have benefited from such information, this will help future students.
Here is the link:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/multiple-degree-programs/2167174-bs-md-results-class-of-2020-p1.html
@“BSMD mom”
Hello,
My son is preparing for the upcoming bsmd cycle, and we were thinking about receiving advisor services specifically for the BS/MD process. you mentioned you had done something similar, would you please be able to PM me regarding that? Thanks, I can’t PM you for some reason.
@Junebug20 - Congratulations once again on your son’s Baylor/Baylor acceptance. Baylor is an excellent COM.
Thanks for taking the time to share your stats and the detailed perspective. It is very helpful.
I remember reading that a few years back, a person with 1000+ hours of volunteering got accepted into Northwestern HPME. If I remember correctly, this person didn’t have any research. Somehow I feel that the requirements for BSMD applicants keep changing over the years and at a relatively faster pace.
Your S has 800 hours of medical volunteering and 200 additional hours of other volunteering is huge. On the top of that he has physician shadowing for more than 5 specialties and IB Biology experiment/research. In addition to this, very good leadership as well. Good GPA/rank and test scores. To me, it’s hard to pin-point the reason for the rejections at the pre-interview stage.
I feel, that your child’s profile once again proves that the competition for admissions to BSMD programs (especially for ORMs) is cut-throat - everything (GPA/RANK/TESTs/ECs etc.) matters. Even excellent students need to apply widely and be happy with one admission.
Wish your S the very best!!!
@Novicedad, Grtd2010, rk2017, Goldenrock, Srk2017 and other seniors
Our situation changed recently. My DS got is struggling between UPenn (WL to offer) and REMS (8yrs). Your opinions are greatly appreciated.
Congratulations !!!
Recalling your post # 6491…
Did you commit to a college by May 1? If yes, which - GW or Duke?
You now have additional options - so, are you looking among these four - REMS, UPenn, GW, Duke - or just these two UPenn vs REMS?
Depending on how your S resolved the GW/Duke dilemma, I suggest the same thought-process.
If chose T10 over BS/MD, probably that is where his heart lies and UPenn may be the place.
If he chose BS/MD over T10, then REMS is the path.
Thank you for your comments.
DS withdrew first from Duke and then from GWU. (On April 31st).
We are unable to discount the guarantee that comes with the BS MD programs.
Given that REMS is a good medical school (rank res/primary 35/19) we cannot ascertain how better his chances would become for going to a better medical school.,
While going to an Ivy is once a life time experience, the uncertainty that comes with it for medical path is making this decision so difficult.
If your final destination is medicine, chose REMS.
You get both a very good undergrad and medical school.
One more stat - 24% of UPenn kids do NOT make it to any medical school.
My preference is for REMS.
Congratulations on having two great options. Both better than Duke and GWU in the respective streams I feel.
Just to reiterate, if the idea of going to UPenn is to be able to go to the med school there, your son will need to be at least at summa cum laude level there, besides all other credentials. Otherwise may have to land elsewhere, not necessarily a fancy brand name med school that some folks keep advertising here all the time, as being the benefit of going traditional route. Will he be fine with that?
Also you need to consider the financial feasibility of going to med school after spending upwards of 300k on the undergrad.
By the way nephew also chose to go to UPenn this fall, hopefully (he has no ideas of going to med school as of now and so is not a factor)
REMS is a great med school and the guarantee and the financial benefits are wonderful, but the one complaint I keep hearing about it is the rather dull student life there due to the location. Something you need to consider if going to commit 8 years there.
2016 cycle a girl went to REMS and should have graduated or already in medical school. So pm her dad narkor to get their view points. He may or may not respond since he is a busy physician running a group practice in south.
my take if medicine is clear, REMS and later target fancy / dream school for residency. If not go to UPenn. As I repeated multiple times, my contact C went to UPenn and did BioMedical Engg and got MCAT 39 and got zero admission for MD and went in to engineering and no regret. No comparison since don’t know how many schools applied and what other factors contributed etc. But I never believe just because you go to a school for UG, you get any preference for MD. It is a new ball game and need to be top notch and meet all other criteria to get MD admission.
Is there a thread for the 2021 bsmd applicants?
@sguni_2016 Congratulations on UPenn and REMS. For a safe choice take REMS without any hesitation. UPenn is a great choice if your son wants to explore other area like Business/Finance as a minor. As others have pointed out, it is a bit risky to get admission into UPenn’s medical school.
Check in the 2018 results thread I believe. Someone chose TCNJ/NJMS over REMS. This may have been the reason. Also the acceleration. May want to PM and check if you have sufficient time and if they respond.
Just wait for some more time. Just post your questions here for now.
At times there are reasons, why it may be beneficial to wait to open a new thread.
Results thread for this cycle was opened in a rush. That thread has more discussion than the results. Same thing, until this cycle closes out, if you open, for new folks it is hard to know where to post.
@Junebug20 is for some reason not able to post due to technical difficulties with College Confidential . This message is from @junebug20 (privately posted to me) for all the members of the BS MD 2020 forum -
We truly appreciate the seniors and all contributing members of the BSMD 2020 forum for their inputs, guidance, and consolations as the HS Class of 2020 BSMD applicants were going through the tough BSMD application process - a process that most people would deem them as too young to be going through. We are glad to be able to chip in by posting our results and reflections. It’s the least we could do!
@Junebug20 - I totally concur with you that this forum has been very helpful to us as well.
@junebug20
Congratulations to you and your son.
It is very nice of him to share his perspectives. Many times we get parent perspectives but not students - so this will be very helpful to future students.
On average, most kids spend 800+ hours on medical ECs - volunteering, shadowing and research…If after this, your DS is unsure of medicine, then he should go to UPenn.
If thinking of BSMD and if ranking is important to him - you should look at ranking of both UG and Med school.
University of Rochester Undergrad us news ranking is 29th.
University of Rochester is ranked No. 34 (tie) in Best Medical Schools: Research and No. 16 in Best Medical Schools: Primary Care.
University of Pennsylvania’s ranking in the 2020 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, #6. Getting into T30 medical school after UPenn is not guaranteed.
If medicine is the career choice, he should go to REMS. With REMS, you have a guaranteed seat in a T20 medical school for primary care
@gogetter1234 - Congratulations on your acceptance to RPI/AMC. I have heard good things about the physician-scientist program. Wish you the very best!
Thanks for sharing your stats and your experience behind the closed doors. You are right that the BSMD application process is a black box because it is hard to predict. The reason for this could be due to the cut throat competition. Near perfect stats, test scores, amazing ECs including medically related ones seem to be resulting in only one BSMD seat for most. A few lucky ones end up with a few BSMD’s to choose from…
Your experience with Rice/Baylor is rare and unique. Atleast this is the first time, I have heard the story from an insider 