Current PLME and student admissions rep, applying to PLME either ED or RD will not reduce your chances at getting accepted to Brown undergrad. A few notes:
If you make it incredibly obvious that you are only interested in Brown for PLME and mention it incessantly in both the UG and PLME essays → probably rejected from both
ED significantly increases chances at getting into PLME, but at the same time there is an inherent risk that you get accepted to UG only and not PLME.
It is also possible to get accepted UG, waitlisted PLME or waitlisted both UG and PLME and get into both during RD.
Happy to help out people who are applying this cycle, shoot me a dm
Applying to PLME does NOT reduce chance of regular undergrad.
If you like Brown (whether or not you get into PLME), then apply ED to Brown PLME.
As long as you are ok with the outcome of getting only the undergrad (and not PLME).
I just got my act score and got a 31… hoping to do act and sat again for a higher score, but is applying test-optional an option for bs/md programs this cycle?
Your post:
Lecom is DO :-
Is this is direct entry or we need to study premed and Mcat and DO?
Is too much expensive?
Can you please help me how is life for DO? How many years we need to study etc…
My Daughter is 11 grade, She want go BSN nursing.( Some people told me Nursing hectic lifestyle).
Her GPA is good (4.0/4.0 UW) but SAT/ACT not good (1310/26)
My thoughts:
You can become a Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) via BA/DO program and the traditional path by doing an undergrad (with pre-med requisites) and applying to medical (DO) schools.
Becoming a doctor is expensive - both MD/ DO medical schools can cost anywhere from $50K per year (for in-state students) to $100K per year in private schools/ out-of-state schools. Undergrad education can cost from $0 (if get a full ride) to $ 350K (for private schools or out-of-state schools with no financial aid). So, the total costs can range from $300K to $700K for both undergrad and medical school.
Lifestyle of DO: A large percentage of DOs practice in primary care. Lifestyle wise it will be what you observe at your PCP or pediatrician. Many DOs become specialists like cardiologist, orthopedics and others and the lifestyle associated with each specialty is different.
Lifestyle of BSN Nursing: It depends on what type of job/practice she joins. Hospital setting is different than joining a private practice which will be different than a university setting.
GPA: Her GPA is very good. For SAT/ACT, if she is interested in DIRECT BS/DO or BS/MD programs, you will need to have your daughter score SAT >1550 or ACT>34. If you plan to go to regular undergrad for pre-med, please check with your in-state schools freshmen admission stats.
If she does plan to do BSN in Nursing, her stats are adequate.
@ghermione - Like @NoviceDad, I would suggest preparing for the ACT or SAT and taking the exam again (maybe more than once). Try to aim for at least 34 & maybe 35
The reason I say this is due to the competition. Take a look at the successful student profiles in the RESULTS forum. Not only do the students have good SAT/ACT scores, but many have also submitted SAT subject tests even though it was not needed in the 2022 fall admission cycle.
Direct admit BSN is a professional 4-year degree so harder than maybe other undergrad degrees. But, you reap the benefits of the hard work in terms of jobs and salaries. After BSN, you could pretty much opt for research or academia or MSN or MPH or MSW and even go for DO/MD (if you took the pre-med track). If you pursue MSN, you can specialize, have a private practice and earn even more salaries.
I think the toughness in BSN comes due to the heavy clinical exposure on top of studying. Upon graduation, Hospital bedside nursing is very tough compared to working in private practice.
I don’t think the road to medicine (DO/MD) is going to be easy either. Certainly, it will be very long. In the UG, kids would need to get a lot of medically related experience such as volunteering in clinical settings, shadowing, and research (perhaps with a publication).
By all means, apply for BS/DO or BS/MD but also keep direct admit BSN (preferably with pre-med track) as an option. Not all colleges allow BSN with a pre-med track. But, you could do additional pre-med courses with extra semester/s
FYI, UPenn has top notch dual degree nursing/economics program. Not easy to get in, would guess 1500+ on SAT / equivalent ACT scores required. Besides, almost impossible to get merit awards (at any of Ivies for that matter) but need based awards certainly there. Something worth considering if admission requirements and finances fall in line.
What are the pro/cons if any for MD vs DO degree? Asking this for my friend who’s C has secured admission to BS/MD OOS program and BS/DO instate program, instate program will cost him less but he is concerned as it is DO not MD.
Well they need to look at the net difference between the two programs, not just less or more. If that figure is manageable for their particular family situation along with future student loans, then s/he can go for the MD (nothing against DO, but since they seem to have concerns)
It is a question of the perception of program directors (PDs) who decide on residency interviews and ranking students.
My doctor friends tell me that while there is no difference in practical functioning as a physician, PDs perceive MDs as relatively higher than DOs.
Also, 57% of DOs go onto primary care residencies against 43% of MDs (as per osteopathic.org and AAMC).
As per an old study by NIH, DO medical schools have a higher percentage of teachers who are primary care physicians (38%) as compared to MD medical schools (17%) (Not sure what the current mix is).
Another factor to weigh in, the attrition rates of BS/MD vary between 5-10% at most while it seems lot higher for BS/DO programs. Don’t have figures, but could be a variety of reasons, like the programs taking lot more students than the capacity and weed them out and students losing interest for whatever reasons etc. So cost vs benefit analysis.
Also I am reminded of a family who recently chose to switch to OOS MD after 3 years at an instate BS/DO.
@rk2017
A small percentage of students in BSMD/BSDO apply-out. I came across a contact did this switch BSDO to MD after securing a competitive GPA in UG and MCAT. Very few students in the BSMD path also do apply-out to get back to their home state and or better-rank MD schools. Usually in the parents’ session after the BSMD/BSDO interview, the program spokesperson discloses these numbers upon request. @carmaruti : what are the matriculation conditions for the two offers on hand (OOS BSMD and instate BSDO)? Is your contact made up their mind on residency specialization? More DO’s go to primary care when compared with MD’s. DO’s match rate is slightly less than MD’s. Is your OOS fee calculation account the possible instate fees for M2, M3 and M4 years? IMO just the program difference between MD vs DO will not play only the factor in the decision. Without knowing the program name and other details, it’s difficult to analyze and or advise. It’s like asking “I got OOS college and in-state college, which is better”. Hope you understand what I mean. LOL.