I would go with BU SMED if you didn’t get any merit at Rice. Duke has grade deflation as @NoviceDad said.
Have you competed in any science competitions like SciOly or Olympiads?
I have heard from programs/students that they do not pull from waitlists when accepted students turn down spots at BSMD programs. Rather they simply take less students. So that means when applicants keep themselves in the running for multiple schools they are actually keeping other students from spots. If this is true it is very unfortunate. Let me know if you have heard otherwise.
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probably 517.
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There is a difference in these gap years vs medical gap years. Very few apply to such programs once they have started medicine since it is very helpful to do them before you apply to medicine but you have already started medicine, it is of no help. Many of these scholars get the scholarship and immediately apply to medical or law schools on that basis. A kid who attended Rice got a fulbright in 2020 and was admitted to Harvard law at the same time with a deferral. I met someone else almost a decade ago who had a rice/baylor but did Marshalls (lost baylor because they admit for specific year and dont let anyone change - come early or late) and was going to Harvard for medicine. Another person did a year in India in aids clinic after rice and went to Harvard.
The gap years during medical school are typically taken after 3rd year to polish their resume for tough to get into fields because they are unprepared to apply and research is usually expected for that field.
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PLME requires 4- one of them you could test out (BIOL 200) but my kid chose not to as he didn’t want to get into the higher levels with a 9 month gap between the last one he took.
So you take:
-BIOL 200 (or comparable AP/IB/placement test)
-Two additional courses with some options (mine will be taking Genetics and Immunology)
-BIOL 280 (Biochem) which can be taken as S/NC if you get a B or better in the others (but you have to get a B or better to remain in good standing so always seemed odd like hey here’s a privilege but also not)
Now they can always concentrate in a science or something to take more but they just have to meet specific program requirements and the rest is up to them 
What if you change your mind and decide that you want to drop medicine. Then, you’re stuck at BU?
That’s what GW told us. Maybe it changed this year?
My D got into VCU GMED and Siena/ AMC. These are her 2 choices and she is not considering any other UG admissions.
Siena UG might be more expensive than VCU based on the scholarship she received.
Please provide any feedback between these 2 BS/MD programs considering money is not the factor.
We are OOS and are visiting both colleges this month.
@NoviceDad
Can you share more info on this new baseline…like how many MD schools (avg #) these ORM students have applied to in the recent application cycle? For example TX Public SOMs mostly in-state favored so as many other States. Is this baseline more or less the same across all States and for all sorts of SOMs( public and private) or only for T20 SOMs?
Why would there be a waitlist if they are not willing to use it if there are openings?
If they are willing to take only those admitted and no backups, no waitlist should exist.
How does VCU treat OOS for medical school tuition?
I always felt their OOS tuition was too high despite the undergrad scholarships if OOS students have to pay in full.
Just want to say - T20s have averages of 3.9 and 520+ MCAT scores.
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Biochem has become a requirement of late for all medical schools but AAMC typically requires 6 hours class + 2 hrs lab for biology and only texas requires 4 biology classes.
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Well I shouldnt have said “waitlist” when I meant candidate. In other words if 100 people interview for 10 spots and out of the 10 spots awarded only 8 accept then the school just takes 8 students for that year.
That makes me worried. I don’t have an acceptance as of yet, but i have 4 waitlists. So should I not place much hope into this?
Thanks for the input and the plea for people who have multiple admissions to withdraw quickly enough to allow the schools to move the waitlist. However, I have seen an instance before where a BSMD added a few students from the waitlist after the first semester of UG exams to fill the space of those who declined too late.
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My suggestion is for VCU. VCU has better UG and SOM. VCU allows you to apply out of the program without penalty. Also, the VCU location is much better than the Siena college location.
When you visit, ask D which one she likes better. After all, she needs to attend for the next 8 yrs!
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VCU OOS medical school tuition fee (56.5K appx) on par with OOS medical school tuition fee for other States include SUNY SOMs. Not sure what are the in-state resident reqs for VCU…for the OOS BSMD students.
@gary2022, @buffswife, - It’s a not a generic rule that applies to all programs.
Some BSMD programs do not have waitlists and some do. This is not hidden information. Admission officers are open about which of the programs have waitlists and which ones do not!
For example - In the past, BU and PMM programs have mentioned not having wait lists. However, Baylor and Oklahoma took students from waitlist. RPI/AMC calls their waitlist “under consideration”
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