@ThoughtWanderer
Congratulations!
You have received very good advice from the folks on this forum.
PSU/Jeff is an excellent program.
We are debating between HPME and PSU/Jeff.
PSU also has a great BME program and you can minor in that program.
To give our example, my daughter has an acceptance at the most coveted Carnegie Mellon’s - Computer Science Program.
She will be declining that program for BS/MD.
For the undergrad she still plans to do computer science - just not at CMU.
JHU has one of the best BME program - it is most coveted just like CMU’s CS Program - but the question you need to answer how critical is it for you to become a doctor. If being a doctor is your goal then please seriously consider PSU/Jeff. Minor in BME at Penn.
@GoldenRock@BSMDDAD this is a healthy discussion and we are literally getting torn. No wonder why healthcare in our country is so complicated. @GoldenRock thanks for AMCAS facts, never been on that site b4 so you can imagine feeling numb now that I have to understand that part of world and may be too late to change direction. Please help me to understand this ORM situation and how that affects Asian Americans (have to admit I am from Indian origin) for traditional med school admission. I heard med school acceptance rate is 30~33%, is that holds true overall? Is that also hold true for Asian Americans or its in much lower slab?
To put in perspective our COA after all aid would be ~12-15K/year for NU, UofM (they surprised us), SLU med scholar, UIC Honors, UIUC BioE. ~25K/year for Ga Tech BME. So cost become a non factor at this point for our front runners between NU, SLU med scholar, UofM.
2nd part besides his 34 ACT and valedictorian status (~650 60 of them are STEM academy including him), he has 10 APs includes Calc BC, Biology, Psychology, Spanish, Eng Literature, US Gov and Politics. It would be a wild to compare with my elder son (33 ACT, top 5%, same high school just a year ahead) cranking 4 GPA in his UIUC CS freshman (this program is ranked ~5 in nation). So his argument is he can achieve high scoring too in UG and even my elder son admits his brother is smarter than him. He thinks SLU course is definitely easier but he feels he is better than that and can do much better in NU route and willing to risk his medical profession career (it is tough to argue those high T) if he screws up in UG.
Trying to marry some data from NU with AMCAS.
As per NU 2015 and 2016 UG graduation data 24% (~100) of 20% (~400) UG class (~2100) goes to Medical Graduate degree/profession school.i.e ~100 are admitted to med schools. However as per AMCAS there are 245 total applicants from NU for 2017, means about ~40% of NU UG applicants end up with med school admission (assumption is NU 2017 data is more or less like 2015 and 2016).
For SLU Med scholar my thinking is little different and please correct me if I am missing something.
Option 1: If you are smart enough to maintain 3.65 GPA then why should you stuck with only SLU SOM? Only benefit is MCAT, but as a medical professional you have to give so many other tests, MCAT is just one of them.
Option 2: You can’t maintain 3.65 GPA and now you are in limbo, means you have to give MCAT and prove yourself and found another home for med school.
So thought process is if you are smart enough to maintain higher GPA, you are certainly smart enough to do good on MCAT, then why you stuck with one SOM and its cost?
Or if you can’t maintain that GPA in SLU, most likely you can’t maintain that GPA in other UG like NU and therefore you are not capable of being a MD profession and therefore go to other route. Why you want to be a bad MD?
@PPofEngrDr My 2 cents, What does your DS want? He is the one who has to do all the work and earn grades. Being closer to home makes a difference in MHO. It is an individual decision based on an individual situation. One size does NOT fit all.
@PPofEngrDr I think the main issue here is the caliber of the peer students at SLU vs NU. A 3.65 GPA at SLU does not mean you can get 3.65 at NU, you might end up with a 3.5 or even lower at NU.
@PPofEngrDr. I can see your point. There was a time when 3.65 GPA could pretty much guarantee you medical school admission but that is not the case now a days. I even know someone with 3.95 GPA with good MCAT almost not get any admission (finally got in a low tier school). So SLU is still a good deal and in your son’s case probably pretty much a guarantee. He also does not get stuck with SLU SOM. As I mentioned before if he is high achiever he can always apply out like one of my friend’s son did and went to Washington University SOM and today is a successful surgeon. However, if he is up to the challenge and wants to go to NU more power to him and good luck. The way I see it, as adults our job is to put facts in front of the kids and leave the final decision to them.
I’ve just been accepted to WashU’s Scholars Program in Medicine! I’m deciding between this, RPI/Albany, and UMKC. Do you guys have advice about what to choose? All guidance is very appreciated.
@BluePanther Since it is your first post, none of us know your background, though for sure can assume you are in the elite group. Reach out to current Wash Scholars Program in Medicine and get a feel on maintaining the program requirements since heard it is very high (both GPA and MCAT). If you feel you can maintain the rigor you had to get selected to this top tier program, then go for it. Otherwise go with RPM/Albany.
@PPofEngrDr Browsed SLU program. Could not find some details but you may know.
How many seats are given for EAP?
During EAP selection, was there any interview?
Did any one from SLU SOM part of that interview or only UG members in the interview committee?
Since even this EAP program is non-binding, would suggest, consider ONLY if your son is happy and prepared to graduate from SLU medical school. Because don’t assume that just because you got even 3.9 GPA & 516 MCAT and apply out you are going to be guaranteed with some MD admission. You will loose your seat at SLU also.
As some one posted even NU has EAP, but it is only 3-6 seats and I can assume it is very tall order. So pretty much regular route only for MD if you go for NU.
Hi all, I currently have to make a difficult decision between Stony Brook’s Scholars for medicine program and CAS at University of Pennsylvania. Finance does not play a major role in my decision, as I have received comparably generous financial aid offers from both schools. Please let me know your thoughts.
I concur. Infact we had been through this for D in high school itself, which was a highly competitive place like NU is for undergrad. No matter how smart D was and the effort she put in, she couldn’t get as close to perfect GPA as she wanted. Which may have costed her acceptance from some of the fanciest schools she applied to, including some BS/MD ones who perhaps didn’t even look at the application, filtering it out right away by their minimum 3.9 GPA requirement or whatever.
But no regrets, she got into one of the best in that pack as a BU SMED and cracking the course work there with ease because of her high school rigor.
One option in the traditional route is Early Assurance (without MCAT) at colleges like Mt. Sinai. This is done during the sophomore undergrad year and gives them freedom to pursue any undergrad (of course need to maintain GPA).
Something to think about.
I do not know if there are any stats available readily on such programs acceptances.
No issues @NoviceDad
One positive/not so bad thing that I need to point out though for the benefit of @PPofEngrDr, that I don’t think NU is on the list of grade deflated schools that I shared few days ago. But so weren’t Cornell and JHU, so not sure how much to trust that on face value
@PPofEngrDr To make the full picture of medical school acceptance data, I would like to add that normally in elite colleges like NW, JHU, etc, about 70% or more of annual applicants are from gap-year alumni, which means only 30% are graduating seniors. Most elite colleges encourage students to take gap year to become better applicants. It could be good or bad depending on personal situation
@ThoughtWanderer
You are asking a great question about planning to do research in future and role of BS/BME traditional route versus Guaranteed BS MD at PSU-Jeff(now Sidney kimmel)
First, Jeff is not easy to get in…10,000 applicants, 800 interviews for 200 spots only
Second, the PROG program can give you additional time or years if you want to pursue interest like PhD or additional year for degree for BME at Penn state…
Third, i have seen so many young people who walked away (even got -had NIH grants after PhD) and then walk away from research for "no money…lack of interest…frustration " to pursue a practice in medicine so i have learned that interest DO CHANGE!!! The only guarantee in life is CHANGE!
so we know who you are now is not the same person three years from now…
Three years from now, things change, life changes, and you says “I want to be a doctor mainly…”
the traditional route is doable but good luck for the it is hard…i have six people in my lab trying to get into medschool
The BSMD guaranteed (assuming you do the GPA, MCAT) is a" bird in the hand, not two in the bush"
