Rising Senior looking at BS/MD programs!

Hi all, I’ve posted on this forum before, at the beginning of my junior year. I received great advice from the always helpful College Confidential community, but now as I begin the application process and have more information about my app I’d like to ask for advice again! My list is very ambitious, but I’d like to know how you all feel about my chances, things I can do to improve my chances, or schools I haven’t listed but you’d recommend! Thank you for your time!

My list, in order of preference, is as follows

  1. Northwestern HPME
  2. Brown PLME
  3. University of Miami BS/MD program
  4. Dartmouth
  5. Stanford
  6. Harvard
  7. Tufts (father received both BS and MD from tufts university, and is a donor)
  8. Bates
  9. Plan II honors program at UT Austin
  10. Honors program at CU boulder

Obviously I am very interested in medicine, with 3 BS/MD programs being at the top of my list. I would also like to study chemistry as an undergrad student That being said, everything on my list seems scarily competitive to me. My stats are as follows:

Freshman year:
Biology H
Geometry H
Government H
English H
Spanish III H
I ended up with a 4.00 GPA and an average of approx. 96. I got high honors (avg>95) both semesters, and ended with the highest grade or tied for highest grade in a few classes (bio and gov off the top of my head)

Sophomore year
Chemistry H
Algebra II H
World HIstory (not AP)
English H
Spanish IV H
Again had a 4.00 GPA, and an average around 96. High honors both semesters, no highest grade in any classes.

Between my sophomore and junior years I moved across the country, from a very small primarily white private school to a large primarily hispanic public school. I don’t know if this has any influence but if I do say so myself I displayed remarkable adaptability, it was honestly a huge transition going from my old environment to this environment and I’ve made good friends and became involved in the student body almost immediately. I’m pretty social/popular, which I think is fairly impressive and may set me apart a little bit with my grades and being the new kid a lot of my life (shows adaptability) , but I don’t know if I should mention that to colleges, or if they’ll care.

Junior year
Biology AP
Chemistry AP
US History AP
English Lang/Comp AP
Pre-calculus PAP (pre-ap, new schools equivalent to honors)
Soccer x2 (soccer at this school takes 2 of my periods)

EDIT
AP scores:
APUSH 5
AP BIO 5
AP LANG/COMP 5
AP CHEM 4

During my junior year I also took the SAT twice and ACT for the first time, my scores are as follows:
Best SAT scores:
800 Critical Reading
780 Writing
720 Math
ACT composite: 33 (I don’t remember the split, however I do remember I scored a perfect 36 on science)

Summer between my Junior and Senior year I attended The Congress of Future Medical Leaders.

Senior year tentative schedule (subject to change)
Physics AP
Anatomy and Physiology PAP
Economics AP
English Lit AP
Calculus BC
Statistics AP
Forensic science

There may be another class, but my schedule is kind of up in the air in order to make sure I get my graduation requirements since they’re different at the high school I came from and the school I’m at now

Extracurriculars:
Varsity soccer since freshman year and sophomore year (on a very successful team at my old school, reigning state champs), JV soccer junior year (Due to district regulations I was not eligible for varsity sports as a transfer student), no soccer senior year.
JV basketball Sophomore and Junior year, hopefully varsity basketball senior year
NHS, Spanish honors society
Musician (drummer) for 8 years, played at church, in the youth church, in a few rock bands, and in a kind of exhibition/promotion band for a local music shop. As of my junior year I have began to play piano, guitar and bass.
Worked at an asphalt plant laboratory doing quality control and assessment
Shadowed my father (a surgeon)
Some volunteer hours
very fitness oriented (cook my own clean meals, run 10+ miles a week in the mornings and lift on top of sports)
My father was in the military and was deployed for long periods of my childhood, and I’ve moved a lot, including living in germany for 3 years during elementary school.
WPI frontiers program summer of 2014
Lots of traveling and exposure to culture

I am currently ranked number 3 in my class, out of 350 students, and there is a good chance I graduate as valedictorian or salutatorian

I think I could write some awesome essays about soccer (I truly believe the dedication and discipline that my old soccer team required from me played a large role in molding me into who I am today) and moving (I think I’m a highly adaptable kid who can excel in almost any conditions.) I’m also very passionate about science and medicine.

So the specific questions I have are these:
Does it seem as if I have the appropriate honors for these types of colleges? There is an academic honors section of the Common App but in spite of my high academic performance from highschool all I really have for that section is NHS, SHS, NSHSS, Torch and Laruel Society and some school banquets and stuff like that.

How should I work my moving across the country into my app? I don’t want to come off as melodramatic and make it seem like it was the biggest deal in the world to me, but it was fairly dramatic (as all moves are) and I’d like to highlight both my adaptability on my application, and how I was able to turn such a scary occurrence into a net positive for my life (met new great friends, been exposed to Mexican culture in a way I never anticipated, had an amazingly fun and academically fulfilling junior year). And tagging onto this topic, I also want to demonstrate how integral Mexican culture is to my community, and how I’ve had so much fun being a part of that (ie crossing the border to Mexico to get tacos, speaking only spanish on the soccer team, speaking to many of my friends parents and even some of my friends in exclusively spanish) has been for me, but also the amount of effort it took as a white guy to fit into and enjoy this environment. I’m kind of at a loss as to how to demonstrate this.

Should I submit my ACT score? I have a composite ACT of 33 which is lower than my composite SAT of 2300, but I got a 36 on the science section of the ACT. So would it be better for me to submit this ACT score, even if it is lower than the school/program’s average (like HPME) and show off my 36 on science, or to just submit my closer-to-the-plme-average SAT score?

I see myself as pretty “popular” (lots of friends, well known among student community, well liked) and as having a good handle on my social skills, basically as able to fit in and make friends anywhere. I think this is a fairly unique thing among high academic achievers, not that committed students are uncool or anything but I think very few of them would be able to check the “I get invited to bunches of parties” box, and seems like a positive trait to me. Is it? Should I work this into my application? If so, how?

Thanks for the time! I know this is a wall of text but I feel like it’s a good summary of my application so hopefully I can get some great feedback!

bump

Hello, I am going to be a college freshmen this fall, and I was interested myself last year in the BS/MD programs. However I quickly realized the extreme competitive nature of them, and just how difficult it truly is to get in. I would say you are a reach for most of these programs, unfortunately, primarily because of your SAT score (math specifically). It’s a bit on the low end for a medical program as rigorous as this one.

As far as the Plan II Honors program at UT specifically, it is also very competitive and focuses on a liberal arts style learning. I will actually be attending UT Austin this fall (so hook 'em)! I would say that you have a good chance of getting into this program, and it’s a fantastic one. I’m obviously not biased at all. Are you an in state resident of Texas? If so, it makes it slightly easier.

I would say the first six on your list are all mid to high reaches (the high reaches being the Ivys and Northwestern+ Stanford), but they are a reach for anyone for sure. Continue to work towards possibly bringing up the math section of your SAT score and if possible your rank! Although you are already third, being the best definitely won’t hurt you. The other three programs (Tufts, Bates, and CU) I would say you have a good chance in.

And it terms of sending your ACT scores, I have always understood it as it’s best to send in everything you have, the best and the worst ones. It’s better to just give it all to them.

For working in the being social thing, I would say go about it as being someone who is gregarious and easily able to build connections to people. If you are looking to include this in an essay or something, I suggest you talk about how this skill will possibly help you pursue your dream to become a doctor and practice medicine as you will be more compassionate and understanding, etc.

I hope this helped a bit, and wish you the best of luck! Feel free to let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks for the info. I agree, my SAT score is weak for those programs (something not often said about scores of 2300). I’m hoping to up my Math II subject test, and to perform very well in BC calculus to make up for that weak spot. I am a Texas resident! thank you for your time.

So you’re a white guy living in a south texas border town. Your grades are good and SATs look great too.

Here are some issues that I see (for BS/MD programs):
Father is a surgeon, which is good
Why no volunteering in a hospital?
No research experience
No demonstrated interest in medicine apart from Dad’s influence
If med school is your #1 goal then why not more BS/MD programs on the list? There are literally dozens that you can add to your list. Many of which are in Texas.
No clear explanation on why YOU want to be a doctor. Just because your dad is a surgeon is not good enough.

Issues for Non medicine applications:
No hooks
Will be applying from an overrepresented state (TX)
If Tufts is high on your list, you are almost guaranteed to get in if you apply ED
I think your chances of both Harvard and Stanford are low without a compelling story

I have good reasons for wanting to go into medicine, which I will enumerate in my essays. I didn’t think I needed to state them here. Those are the only programs that I’d be willing to commit to undergrad and med school with, if I didn’t get in to those I’d rather go the traditional route to med school. You’re absolutely right about not having research/hospital volunteering, that’s a big weak spot in my app. I was hoping the combination of pretty unique hobbies (rock and roll band), having lived in many places including Europe and now being immersed in a culture very different from mine would be a decent “hook”, but I may be wrong there.

Bump

How long did you study for your SAT??

I did around ten practice tests over about 2 months.