@Hakhan
The interview process at Penn State Jeff was approx 90 people invited for interview in Late Jan Feb and approximately 40 are offered. At the interview phase---- you are all approximately equal–all have great scores, resumes etc…
The interview is to see if you are " regular person" the why to become a doctor, why this place…
I have known many brilliant smart people who were at the interview but sadly not because their personal wishes, desires but their parents desires…It will show in the interview process but sadly … few people can fake it well…and the end result is not ideal later on…
This can be a recipe for disaster for the child has to want this…College is College… Medical school is tough, residency is touch and being a doctor is tough
I heard 8-10 kids through Rice and similar number through Baylor. Also heard they don’t like people applying through both the channels, can’t vouch for it though. Yes, it is super competitive, but so are most of these programs. GL.
@Hakhan I believe the interview is about 50% of the final decision. Like @bearchichi mentioned, the interview process does not have anything to do with building a relationship with the progs beforehand. I personally did not know any of the progs during the interview day. Being honest, humble, and yet confident will get you through. In my experience, several top-scoring, impressive candidates were not offered admission because they were arrogant and/or showed no genuine interest in medicine. If you seem pragmatic, caring and passionate about medicine, Penn/Jeff will most likely strongly consider you. Good luck! Focus on your grades, extracurriculars and medical activities now, worry about the interview later! You have plenty of time.
An update on our choice between REMS and TCNJ/NJMS. We finally got the updated scholarship offer from REMS with NMF factored in. It’s a $23k Rush Rhees scholarship plus the $2,500 NMF scholarship per year. This is a little disappointing because it’s less than the “$25k to $30k University scholarship plus $2,500 NMF” amount the admissions office told us on the phone last month. On the other hand, TCNJ doubled the amount of Raise.me and upped their scholarship offer to $16k. This widens the cost differential between the two BS/MD programs from my previous estimate of $120k to over $170k.
I have 2 questions:
Is $25,500 the max that REMS gives for NMF? Has anybody gotten more? Maybe we misunderstood the admissions office on the phone.
How easy or hard is it for a student to be reclassified as a NJ resident for med school? The TCNJ acceptance email says all you need is a NJ driver’s license, NJ voter registration, and a NJ address by junior year to qualify for in-state tuition for NJMS.
We’re planning to attend the TCNJ open house for accepted 7 year BS/MD students tomorrow to help us make the final decision.
I have no clue regarding your first question, as I didn’t apply.
However, for your second, from what I understand, there’s two ways to go about this:
1: Petioning Dr. Heinrich to allow you to get in-state tuition rate during med school. I know several people from states like PA and NY to get this great incentive (all were traditional applicants, and had great stats).
2 The method you listed, is actually not that hard. Properties in certain areas (like those in or surrounding Newark) are certainly affordable. Getting a drivers license and voter registration is definitely do-able in three years, even though the wait-time can be fairly long.
@bearchichi@TheElusiveGod
Thanks for the advice. I definitely have a strong passion for medicine not borne out of family pressure etc. I also realize the many benefits I have vs. others and try to be down to earth, so hopefully the interview should not be too difficult.
However, my parents are both physicians - will this make me seem pressured by family (I am completely not - my parents want me to pursue whatever path is right for me)?
@Hakhan Not at all! Many BS/MD students have physician parents. Focus on your own reasons for wanting to pursue medicine, but if your parents helped you realize that passion along the way, that’s perfectly fine.
@elixir-of-life@GreenPoison Hi I’m actually a student in the program at TCNJ. Residency isn’t too hard to get in NJ, and NJ is actually one of the easier states to get residency in compared to others. I have a couple friends in the program that are from out-of-state, and they are on track to become NJ residents by the time they go to NJMS. Look forward to seeing you guys today at the accepted students event!
I know everyone here is expressing their personal views so take it in that spirit, but there is no comparison between HPME and Penn program. This is not a shot at Penn Program, but a relative comparison. HPME is the best program there period, followed by Brown, RB, Case, Rochester and so on… However, if the criteria is cost benefit, then of course we are talking about other aspects than the merits of the program. Otherwise, it is non comparison.
I was reading through the previous posts and I saw that people were helping each other with choosing between colleges, and sharing statistics on some UG and BSMD programs.
I got into both the UMKC 6 year BAMD program, and UIC GPPA Medicine 7-8 year BSMD program. I am having a tough time deciding between these two. I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.
@srk2017 you bet, I am on it. @Discover8 GPPA is obvious choice from academics, research, residency point of view. Also cost can be a factor as GPPA will give you instate tuition for UG part.
@BS_MD2017 you clearly and blindly adopted med school ranking as criteria for your choice of better programs, fit is important for 18yr old starting college, location is important for 22-25yr old in their prime years, regional bias is important as residency match goes, can someone see themselves in Rochester for eight years after growing up on the coast. Speaking of Jefferson in your post, why not asking doctors in philly, their status in the city is neck to neck with UPenn, and surgical specialties are stronger, which help to match lot of students in competitive surgical subs each year
@pcb1604 I don’t think you read my post clearly - I simply compared the two programs and YES based on rankings and not which one is a right fit for a particular kid.
When two programs are compared HPME is far superior and this is not just my opinion but a published fact all across. If you want to say the Penn is better program then sure go ahead if that makes you feel better based on individual situations but that does not change anything. Its like saying Rutgers in better than Harvard for a certain kid but then does not change the stature of each of these schools.
Also, I have no bais here as my DD did not go to either HPME or Penn, though she was accepted to both programs.