It is April 19 and still not a single entry in the RESULTS thread.
Parents and students: Please share your perspectives and stats on the RESULTS thread - this is helpful information for future students and parents.
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Parent of a HS senior here - newer to this thread.
Have a decision to make.
Even though only direct BSMD option is quite expensive as less merit aid was offered and no way to appeal again - have tried appealing once already and no give w merit aid and donât qualify we think for fin aid.
So our choices:
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In-state (UoM AA) for premed/regular undergrad biology type major w taking the needed premed courses and def thinking one gap year to finish the MCAT and apply etc. donât know that timeline too well but will explore if not going the premed route. Have other in-state options butâŠstudent wants UoM if in-state. So thatâs that. Makes it simpler.
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Drexel BSMD. Went to one admitted student day w a BSMD session but didnât learn anything new even though asked about How Many Make It Into their COM from their BSMD group. The program moderator didnât know this yearâs numbers and when someone else asked again said each maybe a few donât make it but no reasons were given. And there seems to a swing in numbers: example two years ago only 20 in the cohort and last year 32-35 came in. Maybe this means only so many accepted their BSMD acceptance? Their MCAT score seems high at around 513 w/ 127 on science / psy sub-sections. Any comments on this program in general? Any comments on the MCAT score and how tough that will be given needs to be done by April of senior yearâŠthink w a gap year then this type of MCAT score maybe is easier? Gpa to meet is 3.6 and here too two science courses each term are a must. The quarter system also may add some workload we thought but current BSMD students said after a few terms one gets used to it. One other complex thought was the med school after you meet all requirements will select the med school campus as they have two: one in Philadelphia and one in Reading PAâŠwhat are your ideas about these two campuses and been placed at one w no way to express a liking for one over the other? Both parents are not in Heath care so not sure if campus matters for residency or anything else. Know they had a hosp close in 2019 but seem OK after that.
Has a few other BSDO options but thinking of going out of state then maybe the BSMD route is best or stay close to home and take a chance w gap years. Campus for drexel seems nice and city is very nice. Dorms etc. also seem solid and student seems OK w the campus and likes the city. Has always had the dream of going to UoM though so seems torn to give that up but we see ORMs struggle a bit after UoM premed and go into DO schools which could be OK if a nice DO med school like PCOM or MSU in a city / town.
All thoughts are welcome. Really havenât found much about this specific program vs in-state premed on CC but will keep looking. Also this program seems to have morphed so maybe there isnât much history on CC about the new 4+4 all at Drexel sequence.
Thanks.
You can DM me to discuss the options
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You can PM me also. I am not partial to one path 
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There was a time Drexel lost their residency program due to losing their hospital (Heinemann hospital 2019) and residency and it might have impacted the students in their decision making over the next year or two until the situation became more stabilized. I would bear that in mind while considering stats from 2-3 years ago.
In order to do an MD, the bare minimum for GPA and MCAT usually are 510+ and 3.6 anywhere. Schools like Drexel and George Washington show averages close to this but more than 10,000 people apply to each of these schools so the success rate of matriculation is lower than 5%. Oakland shows 510 MCAT but 3.84 GPA and I consider that as one of the easier schools to get into in Michigan.
University of Michigan will be tough for premed but he will get great education and if he doesnât mind one gap year (lot of kids are actually planning that way) he should have success thru that path.
I know friends kids who went to tougher schools like UC Berkeley and UCLA and took one gap year and got into very good medical schools.
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If your student has a lot of college credits, he can easily graduate in 3 years at a state school like UofM. Then take a gap year or two to work and save for med school, to recharge his energy before starting med school, to shore up the application with more volunteer/clinical hours or to retake the MCAT for score improvement, etc. Traveling for interviews while not in school is ideal as thereâs no classes to skip.
Iâve stated here before, do not worry too much about the MCAT. Have a plan for it and execute that plan well. Maybe he wonât get a perfect score but heâll get a decent score for traditional admission. Public in-state med schools should cost less than Drexel.
This is the 1st time I hear of random campus assignment at Drexel. Would that be after enrolling or as soon as they extend you an offer. Iâd be leery of these random assigments.
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Not sure taking too many AP credits in sciences will impact MCAT. Even though my son competed in Chemistry nationally, he didnât use credits and he found general chemistry class wasnât as easy as he thought but found it to be worth taking it.
No, probably not the MCAT foundational courses, but other electives and generic core classes. My son did AP out of intro to biology but he took genetics, cellular bio and human physiology before taking the MCAT. Public universities are usually very generous with credits for electives and gen core. That can easily erase a whole year of college.
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I am not sure AP coursework does much for MCAT other than provide you with basics.
I used to attend all the big college presentations about a decade ago where they discussed AP credits and their policies. Many of the schools maintained that their courses are fundamentally much more detailed than what an year of AP covers. MIT said they would never give a biology AP credit because they cover most of the AP material in one week of one semester class.
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Good summations of your situation (one of the few times i have seen folks state their concerns than just asking compare A vs Compare B)⊠thanks for doing that so your concerns/questions can be answered.
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Please double check on Drexel⊠they had some issues few years ago losing their residency(and got rectified i believe) so see whether those issues exists ( did u hear them address in their in their admitted day)
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Seems like you/your kid is more interested in UoM ⊠with pursing traditional (nothing wrong in it⊠if thatâs what your kid wants). I wonât sweat over MCATâŠnow itself. I wonât sugarcoat ⊠Yes itâs a big deal⊠but nothing to be scared. Your kid may need to build their resume during his premed years (with experiences, GPA, other skills etc.,). Itâs very much possible.
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BSDO vs BSMD⊠âkind of like politics topicâ
⊠Like it or not ⊠there is a âperception/biased issue with BSDOâ similar to how âdoctor parents or siblings get much easier path than othersâ (there is some truth in this though from certain colleges give weight for Alumni)
If your kid is not âstigmatizedâ⊠then nothing wrong with BSDO.
Either way good luck
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No one here got into the Baylor2Baylor program? This is the first year students will be going through random campus assignments when they matriculate Baylor COM. Iâm wondering if that would change anyoneâs mind if they got multiple offers. The past few cycles have had at least one off the waitlist. Would this random campus assignment policy increase this number?
On the other hand, Baylor COM has improved on their organization and communication with their feeder programs. They are now adding mentoring for their BSMD students by MS2 and has moved the intensive premedical summer camp for students in their feeder programs to the summer between soph and jr. Itâs filled with anatomy and physiology lessons, plus a full-up MCAT CARS class.
@BSMDDad1 â Thanks for sharing your detailed perspective and reflection on your childâs BSMD and regular application process and decision in the RESULTS forum. This will be very useful to the future applicants. The college application process to most selective colleges/programs (bsmd) is becoming cut-throat, especially for the ORM students. Your child has a strong profile. They will flourish in Drexel bamd.
Congratulations to your child and proud parents. Best wishes to your child at Drexel and beyond!
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Agree, people jump to take AP and IB credits but I wouldnât recommend for premeds. If you take credits you need to show higher level of courses in sciences and work extra hard for grades. DS did hard sciences major so he has to take upper level courses anyway but I still told him to take only math credits since did IB HL and college math takes much more time.
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If finances are a concern, then, your kid should choose the instate option. Spending more than you can afford for undergrad when your kids dream is to become a doctor would mean that you end up with two loans (UG and SOM) and donât have the ability to pay back until the child completes their residency/fellowship. Parents should try not to spend their money out of their retirement funds.
Any in-state college would be fine. But UoM is more than fine - it is an excellent college and will provide a solid foundation and great career options for your kid. In my opinion, UoM is one of the top/best public colleges in USA and totally worth getting educated there â gap years or not! If you consider the big picture, you should not worry about gap years, and they are tiny portion of your kidâs life. Gap years provide opportunity to gain life skills, experience outside of college and give uniquely define their profile as a med school applicant.
MCAT score of 513 is not too high. Infact, as an ORM student he would need to aim for 520+ as a regular route MD student. A 3.6 GPA is also a minimum for a premed student. As an ORM student they would need to aim for 3.8+ If they can maintain this GPA, with consistent effort for 3-4 months, they can achieve required MCAT score as well as section wise scores
Congratulations to your child and his proud parents.
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Yes, gap years are over blown by some here. Whether you afford or not, you should also think whether a private school is worth the full price over good in-state schools. Few of our friends and family said we were cheap to go for Vandy full tuition over UPenn UG but my kid said itâs not worth paying full price for premed.
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Would be interesting to understand what it means for residency placement or med school success when the med school picks the studentâs campus or do we assume they know what they are doing and the campus has no impact to residency or teaching etc. FollowingâŠthanks.
Have you asked Drexel if they track residency placements based on campus?
Thank you @BSMDDad1 for sharing your stats and perspectives on the RESULTS thread.
Congratulations and all the best for Drexel.
Agree with @Vicky2019 assessment. Drexel seems to be a good option. The requirements are not too harsh and should be easily achievable (unlike the erstwhile WashUâs). Unless of course finances are a major concern.
Drexel did have issues with bankruptcy of one of their institutes few years back but they managed it well with no one seems to have suffered due to that including the students of that batch. They were accommodated into others programs or residencies and it must be relatively stable and smooth now and going forward.
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