Good info… and @BSMDDad1 if i may add 1 more important which i tell students (which many don’t notice it) it’s also “location” (apart from race, sex and other diversity factors) that plays a crucial decision.
As an example,… say you are in Alaska and 10 other folks from your same place apply … the odds are now more “diluted” ( 1st - OOS applicant, 2nd -the college can’t allocate all seats to 1 state too )
So it’s kind of like number game and also college selections with “fit for student profile” is important
(Mods… please delete it if it’s against the norm… don’t want to cause political/religious debate here)
@NoviceDad …it’s NOT a Jewish only University… but in their curriculum …"you have to take take full religious curriculum which is NOT optional " … this apart from 1 year abroad. So in other words… they DON’T say NOPE … but asks you to do things which may not be suited for even an unorthodox/non-religious jew.
That’s what i saw/told by student (years ago… not on their website )
Don’t want to post link here… but you can see discussions on this and other case issues (like wanting religious exception) on internet.
Discussing the requirements for admission I dont believe is against CC rules as long as we are stating facts and not opinions. So please feel free to post the requirements if you have any official links.
@BSMDDad1
you need to be a Junior Member (15 posts) in order to be able to Private Message another user. CC reintroduced this requirement to deal with spam PMs.
You can respond if someone else PM’s you! So, you have to wait for @NoviceDad to PM you
The CommonApp essay is the easy part. It’s the medical personal statement is the thing that takes the most time because chances are each program would want to know why your student chooses to apply there. I’ve seen The College Essay Guy showing people how to go about the “why this school? why this program?” essays. You can look up The College Essay Guy’s videos on how to write this type of essays. Be specific about each program.
The “why medicine?” part of the medical personal statement can be reused or tweaked to fit a specific program. Here is where I think that taking a glimpse at the medical school mission statement and the AAMC’s physicians’ core competencies and somehow bring the medically-related ECs in to show how your student would fit in would do some them good. Don’t forget what they can bring to the communities, both undergrad and med school. Hindsight, my son got tired of writing essays by early Dec, he basically tweaked very little for the later programs where he applied. He didn’t have much luck with those but did get three advancements to the semifinals with the earlier programs. I hope your student get better luck. The more people know about BSMD programs, the more competitive they become. I think the best strategy is not to apply to a bunch and hope some would stick. Instead, cast a relatively wide net but be meticulous about each application.
Check @Vicky2019 's checklist. If your student checks a lot of those boxes, then concentrate on the medical personal statement. It’s not too soon to start brainstorming for it. If you wish to get professional help, here is where I think a professional who specializes in these programs can help best. We had a budget and that didn’t include a consultant, so I had to step in as one. It took a while for my son to come up with a strategy to showcase his strengths and help him limit his rewrites (instead of showing that he was among the best fit by targetting each program’s specifics). Since he got one offer, he’s not looking back. Had he not, I’m sure there would have been regrets. Good luck to your student!
@NoviceDad
For YU/Albert Einstein BSMD program matriculation requirement includes 3.75 UG GPA and 515 MCAT, I guess parents would get relief by their children not applying to this program.
“Washington University in St. Louis” had somewhat similar reqs for its BSMD program before they eventually canceled it.
Yes, saw the high requirements but that is a separate issue compared to saying only Orthodox Jew or someone who agrees to study Jewish Religious texts are only permitted.
Despite WashU’s draconian requirements, there were students applying to it.
Yes, I agree. However, WashU also was a T15 undergrad and T5 medical school and had high bar for their BSMD students. This was the reason why they expected their BSMD students to match their regular route MD students!
Students with a BSMD seat only needed to maintain a high GPA, MCAT (no other selection process such as interview) to get into a T5 SOM. And, if they slipped slightly, they would lose a seat in WashU SOM but could likely try for other SOM via regular route MD!
I am not sure if yeshiva university comes close in comparison to WashU for its UG or SOM.
Curious what everyone thinks. LECOM has 3 branches of programs: medical, dental and pharmacy. Which one, in your opinion, is the most/least competitive?
One of my kids got into WashU SOM. Trust me when I say 3.8 and 36 was a low bar compared to what she had from a far higher ranked undergrad school.
The other one, despite being reasonably close to those numbers, again from a top 5 undergrad, didnt merit an interview despite being invited to apply (WashU sends letters to students to apply from their dean based on MCAT scores).
They are looking for 3.9+ and 521-522 to invite even for an interview.
I believe you regarding the low bar My friends DD is currently in the WashU ba/md program (the last one) so will be observing her journey in the years to come!
Wow, 1st time I’ve heard of LizzyM scores. Someone with a 90th percentile in MCAT, together with a 4.0 GPA, barely gets a LizzyM score of 74. To get a 77, the MCAT score has to be at least 519. Outside of the tough admission criteria, WashU SOM is also outregeously expensive. What’s the point getting burnt out in the admission process then only to carry a huge loan that will take a long time to repay?
I personally know a family that has an anesthesiologist who graduated undergrad from Stanford (no debt due to low income), then went to TX A&M SOM (low in-state tuition). He worked his butt off in clinical rotations and got good enough LORs for his ERAS applications. Two of the Ivy League programs wanted him. He the cut a deal with them: he went on to residency with one and got his fellowship with the other. Now at the age of 30ish, he only works a 3-day week and plays the rest of the time. My point of view is that unless you have good enough resources to pay for the top schools (undergrad and med) without jeopardizing parents’ retirement, the T5, T10, T25, etc. designations don’t really matter much in the long run, but the budget and your work ethics matter.
@junebug20 - I do get your point about ROI. But, you might be aware that some people pay/invest a lot of money for top private elementary, middle, high schools in the hope of getting the right experience. Not everyone who goes to prestigious private/prep schools even gets into iT10 institutes in college. But, they feel the experience is worth it. What do you think they will be willing to pay for a T5 SOM? Probably, at least to me, it makes better sense to spend $$$ on a top medical school instead of for a private/prep school (elementary, middle, high)
Many kids in combined admissions are ORMs based on my observation (therefore causing popular BSMD’s to close shop due to lack of diversity). Also, institutions (including WashU) are increasing the bar for ORMs in pursuit of having a diverse class! Seems they are trying hard not to have the majority of their class constitute of ORMs - LOL!
This is the first I heard of Lizzy scores so was googling to see what it meant.
WashU gives financial aid and some scholarships for both undergrad and in SOM. If someone is making 150k, they may still have to pay a good chunk compared to Texas med schools.
OTOH, not everyone has the luxury of depending on Texas tuitions. Most instate tuitions are starting at 37 to 40k and in Pennsylvania, they are 45k+. So WashU is not a big reach for the residents of these states if it can so happen they get some income based FA that is not a loan.
It’s hard to prove discrimination. There are a lot of subjective scoring during the admission process. The interview portion, which carries a hefty weight, can be evaluated with subjective standards.
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