Check last year thread. I thought Drexel no longer has BS/MD program from this cycle.
If you have 1500+ no need to put so much efforts on retest. Also if you have a good ACT score like 35 or 36, don’t worry about retaking SAT if you have 1500. If you have not taken ACT but have score from 1520-30 also don’t put efforts on retest. At this time of the cycle, all of you should forget test scores (ACT or SAT or Subject tests etc), and put your efforts on essays/ prompts and focus on your current HS coursework also.
Folks, Any suggestions/thoughts on hospital vs nursing home volunteering, and which one might be preferred while applying for BSMD programs? Would volunteering at a nursing home/rehabilitation center count as clinical volunteering or would it fall under just regular community service?
Most of the time hospital volunteer end of doing some admin work like front desk, gift shop but nursing home may help to expose students to reality and patient interaction. Both are clinical volunteering. Strictly speaking it is medical related activities than to say clinical unless student is really involved in some clinical work.
Thanks, @GoldenRock Since my son is still a Junior and we have not seen any real application process, I was not sure if the colleges ask for details such as what work was performed at the hospital, or just number of hours per week. Only when details and respective references are requested, one would know what ‘actual’ work was done. Else, it’s just # of hours/week at hospital/Nursing-home etc. From your response, I assume that the ‘kind’ of work done also matters in addition to the place. Thanks!
@redman108 Look at volunteering from 2 different perspective. One from the admission process and second has nothing to do with admission but it is more useful.
Admission perspective: What is critical from admission committee is demonstration of passion over a long period of time than just filling the dots or check lists. It is natural opportunities going to differ from place to place, mega city, rural area. Also if differs so much what kind of work will be offered for students. Also look at other logistics, closer to home , walking distance who can drop and pick etc. Really does not matter whether it is hospital or nursing home. Stick to some place and do consistently.
Second perspective: It is very hard for a 17+ year old to make a call if Medicine is the right choice. Adults know it is not about what subject interests a student. It is about the profession. Even if a student has extra ordinary innate talent in bio/chem s/he may not have the natural preference to work with sick people all the time (that is what a Doc does).
So will volunteering at a fancy hospital at the front desk / gift shop will expose the reality? No. Will working in a hospice, nursing home or any temp clinic which serves the most vulnerable population or senior homes or inner city camps may expose the hard work and reality.
Admission process expects integrity of students. It does not expect to give the official letters for # of hours volunteered and reference etc., But still doing the right volunteer work helps students to know what is in store for the rest of the life, which is more important than the admission to any BS/MD program.
“Check last year thread. I thought Drexel no longer has BS/MD program from this cycle.”
It should be “The Drexel BA/BS/MD accelerated degree program will no longer be offered after the fall 2017”
(NO accelerated one but it is replaced by Drexel BA/BS + MD Early Assurance Program, a 4 + 4 combined program)
Starting in the fall of 2018, Drexel will offer a BA/BS + MD Early Assurance Program, a 4 + 4 combined program that allows students to gain early acceptance into both their undergraduate program and medical school at the same time.
The program is open to the following majors:
Biological Sciences, Chemistry, or Psychology four-year programs
Engineering (bachelor of science)
Biomedical Engineering
Engineering
While in the undergraduate portion of the program, students must maintain at least a 3.6 GPA in all coursework, including all BCPM classes (all biological sciences, chemistry, physics, and math), without repeating a course and with no grade less than a C. The MCAT is required prior to matriculation into the College of Medicine. Students must receive a minimum MCAT score of 511, including:
128 or better in chemical and physical foundations of biological systems
127 or better in critical analysis and reasoning skills
128 or better in biological and biochemical foundations of living systems
128 or better in psychological, social, and biological foundations of behavior
Please note that due to the new version of the MCAT introduced in 2015, the College of Medicine reserves the right to revise the above requirements. Acceptance into the College of Medicine is not guaranteed.
It means Drexel no longer offers BS/MD program. So Drexel program should not be compared with other BS/MD programs OP stated. There are many Early Assurance Programs (EAP) and Drexel is one of them. EAP is after a student joins a school for UG. BS/MD programs are for students before joining UG. Wanted to make sure new students / parents are aware of this distinction.
@impressivemediocrity most BSMD’s do not give any tuition relief. The exception is if you are truly need based. But if your parents make an average income most likely you wouldn’t qualify for need based aid. If you get into a program that is a state school and you are a resident of that state then you would qualify for instate tuition which would be considerably cheaper than most if not all private institutions. Some schools do offer scholarships like RPI medalist ($25K/year for 3 years) but the entire 4 years of med school is on you.
@impressivemediocrity - RPI, Case Western and Rochester offer some merit scholarships (25K max at RPI, around 20K at Rochester and $30K at Case). Case and BU also have few full merit scholarships for UG, but seems like BS/MD candidates rarely get them.
Can any of the moderators or some one with past experience of the BSMD application process advise me on what is the usual length of a “Why Medicine? essay? There was no word or character limit stated for the RPI essay. Thanks!
Hello, Does anyone know if the University of Toledo Baccalaureate 2 MD Pathway Program (Bacc2MD) is a true BS/MD program. I reviewed their website and it says " Bacc2MD students are guaranteed an interview with the College of Medicine’s Admissions Committee if they have participated in special mentoring activities, maintained a cumulative college GPA of at least 3.5, and have been involved in extra-curricular activities demonstrating a sincere interest in a medical career as well as demonstrating a compassionate and caring attitude. The interview will occur in the fall of the 3rd year of undergraduate studies (4th year for BIOE students). " Thanks in advance.
Hey guys, do you know if shadowing a resident physician counts as physician shadowing? Also are there any stats on the average SAT score for the Penn State BS/MD and/or the Stonybrook BS/MD? thanks
4 on AP Chem and Bio are impressive and won’t hurt your cause, though I think 5s would have carried some weight.
These 2 are the subjects which give out some of the lowest 5s percentile wise. If I remember correctly, Bio had some 6% 5s and chem 9 something % last year (you can search for AP percentile statistics). So it sould be ok to report them. https://apscore.collegeboard.org/scores/about-ap-scores/score-distributions