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

Pre-Med & Medical School Multiple Degree Programs
161

@steven02
Good background you got. For these programs as well as regular undergrad, what the admission committees will be looking for, is how well the candidate has used the opportunities at hand, whether academics, extracurricular or research. So give enough of thought from now itself in presenting your “story”, what limitations and challenges you faced, how you made best use of what you could avail, what made you form your decision to go to medicine that early in life etc, all within the limited space allotted for those. If you can have the publication you were mentioning in time for their consideration, and the different kind of background of your’s, both can form a good hook for you.

I vaguely remember someone with similar situation posting in the 2017 results thread I think (towards the end). She too had half of high school away. You may benefit by referring to that. You may also try to contact her (or him?) by sending a private message on college confidential for any suggestions and guidance (you need to cross a threshold of 15 posts or so first before that feature gets activated for you). Good luck!

162

Hey guys, I’m a rising junior planning on applying on applying to BSMD programs senior year and was just curious as to where I stand.

GPA: 4.0 (UW), 4.15 (W)
Class Rank: 4/850 (Top 1%)
SAT: Not taken (consistently scoring in the high 1400s, low 1500s right now)

APs:
Sophomore Year: AP Human Geo (5), AP Calc AB (5), AP Biology (3)
Junior Year: AP Lang, APUSH, APES, AP Physics C, AP Calc BC, AP Psych

State: IN
Gender: M
Ethnicity: White
Parents Income: >75k

Major ECs:

  • Founder, President of HOSA-Future Health Professionals (1 year)
  • Vice President of Medical Club
  • Science Bowl (1 year)
  • Captain of team at TEAMS competition (2 years)
  • Chemistry Olympiad Club (1 year)

Major awards:

  • TEAMS Nationals Qualifier
  • AP Scholar
  • Science Bowl State Champion

Community service:

  • Volunteer at local hospital (>25 hours)
  • Volunteer at my church (>100 hours)
  • Volunteer for mission trip (lol) to Guatemala (70 hours)

Research activities:

  • Research in lab at university cancer research institute (>75 hours)

Future plans:

  • Founding a LaunchX entrepreneurship club as I plan to combine my passion for science and entrepreneurship
  • Launching a new science outreach initiative/nonprofit in my community as many of the elementary schools have low rates of proficiency in science
  • Shadowing doctors and other medical professionals in the area
  • Shifting my research focus with the goal of a presentation or paper in mind
163

@JaydenB03 You are in the right track. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Whatever AP or SAT II or Course work focus and do well than doing too many APs and get diluted. Make sure to do AP and/or SAT II in Chem and Bio. Don’t check CC and focus on your studies and activities you are doing in HS.

164

Hi, I’m a rising senior and the time has come to accumulate what I have done over the years. I’m interested in early assurance MD/DO programs, but I don’t know which would be the best tailored towards my CV. Any feedback on my chances and which programs I have the best chance in would be appreciated.

GPA: 4.0 UW, 4.6 W

Class Rank: 1/70

SAT: 1530

SAT Subject Tests:
⁃ Chemistry: 760
⁃ Biology M: 760
⁃ Math Level 2: 750

APs (at time of application):
⁃ AP Calculus AB: 5
⁃ AP Chemistry: 5
⁃ AP US History: 5
⁃ AP Biology: 4

APs in Senior Year:
⁃ AP Physics 2
⁃ AP Calculus BC
⁃ AP Latin
⁃ AP Statistics

Teacher and Counselor Recs: Very strong mutual respect and knew each other well, focused on work ethic, commitment to service and maturity

State: NY
Sex: M
Ethnicity: Asian
Income: >150k
Hooks: Great public speaking skills, bilingual

Awards:
⁃ Bausch and Lomb Honorary Science Award from the University of Rochester (National)
⁃ AP Scholar with Honor (National)
⁃ National Latin Exam silver and gold medalist, Magna Cum Laude (National)
⁃ English Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition Finalist (School)
⁃ Valedictory award (School)
⁃ Chemistry award (School)

Major ECs:
⁃ Science Bowl - club head, qualified for quarterfinals at a GE Science Bowl Competition
⁃ Latin Honors Society - president, arranged several events and ceremonies in which the Latin Honors Society sponsored
⁃ Director of Community Events - director, helped set up and arrange several school events
⁃ Varsity Tennis — 4 years
⁃ School Musical Production — 4 years

Community Service:
⁃ Work with a group that provides first world dental and medical care to orphans in developing countries
⁃ Volunteered at a rehab and nursing home, spent quality time with the elderly, helping them with activities of daily living and keeping them happy
⁃ Volunteered as a teacher assistant and librarian at my Sunday school, helped establish a tutoring service for children of refugees and non native English speakers
⁃ Volunteered at the local VA, helped veterans get from one place to the other, and gave them company
⁃ Initiated a fundraiser at school to build wells in rural Pakistani villages in need
⁃ Served the homeless dinners at a local soup kitchen
⁃ Provided clothes, candy and sponsored a large feast for an orphanage during trip to Iraq

Medically Related Activities (more to come before the time of application):
⁃ Pulmonary and Critical Care researcher at local hospital, pending co-author of its publication
⁃ Independent science research project on autism in mice, presented my research project to the science department at my school (submitting to Regeneron Science Competition senior year)
⁃ Lab experience/bench research assistant at the local Department of Medical Science
⁃ Edited four research articles in anesthesia and cardiology, acknowledged in each publication

165

@busboiiiii
You covered all the key areas. So focus on writing good essays for PS and Secondary and interview preparation.
Identify which programs meet your individual needs (academic opportunity, cost, location and anything else).
If you are tight on finance, try your best to do UG with minimal expense and apply for regular MD with or without BS/MD while doing UG.

166

@busboiiiii
Here are some of the BS/MD programs:
Rice / Baylor, Baylor / Baylor, Wash U, Northwestern, Pittsburgh, Rochester, CWRU, Brown, Stonybrook, RPI/AMC, UAB, UConn, NJMS (multiple feeder schools), BostonU, Oklahoma, Tulsa, George Wash, Temple, UMKC, Howard, FL based programs.
Make sure to apply to few good UG universities of your choice also.

1 Like
167

@yikesitsjen
Daughter applied to Texas Tech and B2B programs in 2019 cycle- following are some points:

  • Texas Tech BSMD seems to require Casper from this year. Please check with admin if its hard requirement and if so please plan to take it early to meet deadlines etc. Also, need to complete Honors application/reccos.
  • We found Texas Tech is generous with scholarships (full ride for NMS).
  • Interview: About 45 students are interviewed . 8 accepted. Daughter was wait-listed (she has decided to attend UT Austin). Interview format is two one-on-one interviews with med school prof or student.
  • B2B: There were 2 deadlines to choose from. My guess is - it may be better to apply to the earlier deadline if possible (just a guess that there will be lesser number of applicants for the earlier deadline). Please check it out. Baylor is also generous with tuition breaks.
168

Folks

Re: chance me
If you have a decent GPA (>=3.85 unweighted), SAT >=1520 or ACT>=33, and other EC activities, please apply to as many BS/MD programs as you can.

No one on this forum knows how Admissions Committees (ADCOMs) come up the students they will select for their program. They all have a view on student mix, diversity, acads, etc but it differs from university to university.

Know that the process is long - starts Aug 1 and continues way upto Apr 30 - and you will need all the patience you can muster for this roller-coaster ride.

Know also that many universities will NOT give you financial aid/scholarships if you apply for BS/MD and it can cost you > $500K for the 7-8 year BS/MD program. Some do but you may or may not get into such program. Make sure you and your parents have a plan for addressing this.

If you are a student, see if you can get your parents to spend time on this forum. Your time is better spent on your applications or improving your SAT/ACT scores or volunteering or shadowing or research.

169

Is BSMD geared to all types of medicine? My DD20 is interested in academic medicine (research) at this time.

170

@busboiiiii - this thread is for combined BS/MD programs, not exactly what you mentioned below. You’ve got great stats & ECs for combined BS/MD programs, so apply broadly if interested. Since you’re NY resident, SUNY Upstate has early assurance program (with heavy in-state preference) which you can apply at end of college’s sophomore year. Upstate used to host open-house events twice per year for anyone (this is rare for med school), so make sure check it out and you can talk to their AdComs during the event, tour the med school and talk to current med students (med schools typically only doing this for invited interviews, not for anyone).

171

@Cheeringsection
Yes - via BS/MD you can pursue all medical specialties.
You can even pursue MD/PHD via this route.

172

@busboiiiii,
As @Andorvw pointed out early assurance programs are not the same as guaranteed or direct med programs (which are right after high school). If you actually meant you are interested in these, then this suggestion may be of use.
You may want to either reappear for the SAT subject test for Math 2 or not submit it at all. I guess the percentile for that score must be rather low. Some programs like NW and BU do require these scores submitted for them to kind of gauge the school rigor or standardize across a wide landscape of standards in high schools across the country, from where the students apply to their programs.
Other than that all other credentials seem to be in the ball park range of most students applying to these programs.

173

@GoldenRock Thankyou! I spoke to my counsellor and it looks like AP seminar is considered as ELA credit, so I do have English credit every year.

174

Does it look bad on the resume if I don’t take math in my senior year? I already completed the highest level of Math my school offers ( AP BC Calculus) in junior year and I have 6 math credits. I can apply for dual enrollment, but was thinking to take it easy in senior year so I can spend more time on college applications. I am taking AP Biologly and physics in the senior year as well.

175

@coolguy456 No need to take Math in Sr. Year. Stick to your plan.

176

@goldenrock Thankyou!

177

My son’s school does not offer AP-Bio and AP-Chem, and he already took SAT-Math2 and SAT-Bio. Does he need to take SAT-Chem as well? Thanks!

178

@seapdx2002

  1. If he plans to apply to a program and if it has any specific requirement, take SAT2 for Chem. For example Boston needs Chem and Math2 subject tests.
  2. On a different note, though schools do not offer AP courses, if the student is interested, s/he can take AP tests with college board on their own. It takes extra efforts. Stating as FYI.
179

I’m taking AP Biology and AP Physics 1 next year, and AP Chemistry Senior year. I’ll also be taking Math 2, Biology, and Chemistry Subject tests. Will this be fine for BSMD programs?

180

@bearsfan21 YES