<p>Hello, I am a rising junior student at my high school in Cincinnati, Ohio. I have been researching schools and of course my top schools are in the Ivy League. But, due to costs and certain transferable credit only in Ohio, I have been looking in-state. Well, I discovered at OSU the Biomedical Science Major, and that really interested me as I aspire to become a physician. My question is how hard is it to get into the BMS program at OSU such as how many people apply as I know they only accept between 20-25 students a year. Also, What is it like to be in this program, and what are the pros and cons of this program. If you have any other relevant information about this program, please feel free to divulge this info. Thanks.</p>
<p>Hi M42097, I am currently a student in the biomedical science major at Ohio State and can provide some insight into some of your questions. Typically in any given year, a little over 100 students apply to the major (my year I believe around 120 people applied), around 50 of those are interviewed and of those around 30 are offered admission. This leads to a typical class size of around 22 with the expectation that a couple of people will switch majors over the years. The program itself is amazing with a very helpful adivsor overseeing your education. I would caution you to think about what kind of physician you want to be. If you primarily want to work with patients and are not interested in lab work (you must do research for a minimum of two years to graduate from the program), then I would not recommend the major for you. BMS is not “the” pre-medical major, it is more focused on research.</p>
<p>My recommendation is that you do as much shadowing (even better if you can actually get some research experience) as possible and try to make it to a program overview with the academic advisor asap. The appliation instructions are available on the major’s website and it looks like the priority application deadline is November 1st, so definitely try to make it to a program overview and apply to OSU early so you’re application isn’t delayed. </p>
<p>The only con of the major I can think of is that some people think it is too structured. You take the BMS classes in a specific sequence with the rest of your class and there are several GECs you have to get out of the way too (you must be on campus in autumn and spring semesters due to this, summers are free for you to do whatever). I personally don’t think it’s a problem, there is still a great deal of flexibility (you can even take graduate level courses if you have completed the rest of the requirements). </p>
<p>Let me know if you have any other questions!</p>