Thread for BSMD 2020-2021 Applicants (Part 1)

[NoviceDad]

@love4bsmd

@ttb1263

All,

My D applied to Stony Brook and she is current working to write essays for both Honors and BS/MD. I have couple questions:

1. Which honors is good out of the 3 programs: University Scholars, Honors College or WISE? I heard conflict info with some says Honors is the best out of the 3 and others said WISE is harder to get in.
2. Should we send in SAT subject scores? She took Math 2 and Bio recently and got a good scores. I did not see SBU required for SAT subject tests but I'm thinking it doesn't hurt to send them in.

She only applied to 2 BS/MD schools so just need to make sure her application is competitive.

Thanks all !!!

I heard varying information on 3 programs too. Not sure which one to go. WISE program got better over the lat few years it seems, per a student who just graduated from SBU w/ WISE.

You should send the subject SAT scores provided they are good. They will consider the scores for honors college.

Do SAT II test scores matter in Honors College admission?
SAT II Subject test scores provide additional information about the scholastic abilities or applicants. We encourage students to submit SAT II scores if they are available, but these scores are considered in the context of the entire application.

@ttb1263 and other SBU applicants: I have a question-
I know SBU is three step process. 1) admission to UG 2) admission to one of the three honors programs 3) admission to BS/MD

In CommonApp, there are no additional honors or bsmd essays.
After submitting commonApp , do we l get the options for applying to honors and bsmd through SBU portal?

FYI - There should have been a place to check for Honors program in the common app

https://www.stonybrook.edu/undergraduate-admissions/apply/freshman.php

APPLY FOR HONORS PROGRAMS (OPTIONAL)
Students using The Common Application or Coalition Application can apply to honors programs on their application. Those who submit the SUNY Application must apply for honors programs and upload an essay (on a topic of your choosing) in your SBU admissions portal. Applicants to the Honors College, University Scholars and WISE: Upload a brief statement in your admissions portal on why you believe you will be a good fit for your preferred honors program. Scholars for Medicine and Scholars for Dental Medicine applicants: Upload an essay on “What aspects about medicine (or dental medicine) intrigue you? Describe how these aspects influence your life” (up to 650 words). All items are due January 15.

[highschoolinnj]

BU portal shows the “3 teacher forms” under “Required section” even though all 3 teachers submitted last week.
Everything else shows under Received .
Anyone else having this issue?

[mygrad2021]

@highschoolinnj, My daughter emailed them asking if they received everything. They responded that they received all the recommendation letters and it takes 10 days for them to upload it to the portal. So you can email and check with them.

[rk1235rk]

@mygrad2021

@highschoolinnj, My daughter emailed them asking if they received everything. They responded that they received all the recommendation letters and it takes 10 days for them to upload it to the portal. So you can email and check with them.

Same here. Called them. They said received but will take 2 weeks to show up on portal. Call them and confirm. Calling is faster. They take upto 3 days to reply to emails.

[highschoolinnj]

mygrad2021 and rk1235rk - Thank you

[love4bsmd]

@highschoolinnj

BU portal shows the “3 teacher forms” under “Required section” even though all 3 teachers submitted last week.
Everything else shows under Received .
Anyone else having this issue?

Its the case for us too. BU says it may take 2 weeks to update that information into portal status page! Its crazy.

[love4bsmd]

@NoviceDa: Thank you. Yes, they do have the prompts on CApp for selecting yes/no for each of the three honors programs.

But do not have prompts for any essays, but for one generic 250 word essay for activities and experiences.

It seems that the essays need to be uploaded into portal after submitting the CommonApp, per earlier reply from @ttb1263

Else where in instruction they mentioned that bsmd essay propmt is in commonApp, but its not the case. (cause for my earlier concern)

"If you are applying to the Scholars for Medicine Program, submit an additional essay within our Common Application Writing Supplement on the topic: “What aspects about medicine intrigue you? Describe how these aspects influence your life.”

@NoviceDad

FYI - There should have been a place to check for Honors program in the common app

https://www.stonybrook.edu/undergraduate-admissions/apply/freshman.php

APPLY FOR HONORS PROGRAMS (OPTIONAL)
Students using The Common Application or Coalition Application can apply to honors programs on their application. Those who submit the SUNY Application must apply for honors programs and upload an essay (on a topic of your choosing) in your SBU admissions portal. Applicants to the Honors College, University Scholars and WISE: Upload a brief statement in your admissions portal on why you believe you will be a good fit for your preferred honors program. Scholars for Medicine and Scholars for Dental Medicine applicants: Upload an essay on “What aspects about medicine (or dental medicine) intrigue you? Describe how these aspects influence your life” (up to 650 words). All items are due January 15.

[rk2017]

@love4bsmd

@highschoolinnj

BU portal shows the “3 teacher forms” under “Required section” even though all 3 teachers submitted last week.
Everything else shows under Received .
Anyone else having this issue?

Its the case for us too. BU says it may take 2 weeks to update that information into portal status page! Its crazy.

Consider the number of applications they get for the whole of undergrad. ~65 K. Of course it is staggered, mostly BA/MD, ED and may be few other programs open up early. But still probably ~10 K range. So understandable.

[rk1235rk]

@rk2017

@love4bsmd

@highschoolinnj

BU portal shows the “3 teacher forms” under “Required section” even though all 3 teachers submitted last week.
Everything else shows under Received .
Anyone else having this issue?

Its the case for us too. BU says it may take 2 weeks to update that information into portal status page! Its crazy.

Consider the number of applications they get for the whole of undergrad. ~65 K. Of course it is staggered, mostly BA/MD, ED and may be few other programs open up early. But still probably ~10 K range. So understandable.

I think the lag is because those Reco Letters are to be send separately on a pdf via email. The ones that you attach via common app shows up as soon as you get access to the portal.

Same with other programs. The things to send via common app shows up pretty quickly.

[love4bsmd]

@rk1235rk

@mygrad2021

@highschoolinnj, My daughter emailed them asking if they received everything. They responded that they received all the recommendation letters and it takes 10 days for them to upload it to the portal. So you can email and check with them.

Same here. Called them. They said received but will take 2 weeks to show up on portal. Call them and confirm. Calling is faster. They take upto 3 days to reply to emails.

Thanks for the tip on calling BU. It literally took 2 minutes to get the answer.
However, they were able to find 2 of the teachers (plus counselor’s) sent a week ago and could not locate the one teacher’s sent on 15th.

AO said “if it was sent within last week we may not see it as its not yet processed. Sometimes it may take up to 10 days to initial processing” ?

So, status is not only available in the portal, but also BU staff may not be able to see them right away! I will make another call a week later, unless portal is updated meanwhile.

[Vicky2019]

@rk1235rk

@Vicky2019, so from what you saw during last year cycle for RPI/AMC, what is required of AMC supplement? Do kids need to write more essays? IIRC, they cancelled CASPer this year.

@rk1235rk - Based on my memory, my S told me that every supplement including AMC supplement had more/additional essays.

I noticed about CASPER from the chat in this forum

[Vicky2019]

@ttb1263

@Vicky2019

Several factors: Cost, distance from home and “daughter’s choices of schools” resulting with only 2 BSMD schools (Pitt, and Stony Brook).

Before the pandemic, we planned to apply many more BS/MD schools but now she most likely will go with traditional premed path. I have a little “regret” feeling about the decision but we want to be sure that she can success. her goal with little stress and hopefully, we can help her paying some of the cost for med schools later.

Question regarding which honors program to choose. In the app, I think they give YES/NO choices to all 3 programs. My D chose YES for all 3 and she also chose WISE as preferred. According to SUN AO, she can choose 3 but have to write 3 essays for them. Any advices ? and why did your son chose University scholar? Is it better ?

@ttb1263 - Thanks for sharing your thought process . WISE is a good choice!

For my son, “Women in Science & Engineering” option was not available

However, he must have picked Scholars for some reason unique to him. I never asked!

IMO, I don’t think either of these is better than others. My understanding is Stony Brook treats them equally based on the information I got…& undertood.

[Vicky2019]

@ttb1263

@mygrad2021

From Stony Brook website:

“…Stony Brook University offers an integrated eight-year program for students interested in attending medical school following their undergraduate degree. The Scholars for Medicine (SFM) track offers selected students in the Honors College, WISE Program or University Scholars Program an opportunity to complete a combined Bachelor’s/MD course of study while participating in pre-medical classes and activities…”

I assume that the BS/MD offer is for selected students from three honors programs (scholars, Honors and WISE). Maybe I’m wrong.

Can someone chimes in ?

Thanks

@ttbl263

You need to get accepted to UG and then one of the three Honors programs (WISE, Scholars or Honors) to be considered for Scholars for medicine program.

A few kids out of the three honors programs are selected for the interview

You have a in person interview during the 3/4th week of march.

Please note-

-Being selected in one of the three Honors programs (WISE, Scholars or Honors) doesn’t automatically get them selected for the interview.

-Being selected for the interview does automatically mean you are admitted to BAMD program either

[rk1235rk]

@Vicky2019

@rk1235rk

@Vicky2019, so from what you saw during last year cycle for RPI/AMC, what is required of AMC supplement? Do kids need to write more essays? IIRC, they cancelled CASPer this year.

@rk1235rk - Based on my memory, my S told me that every supplement including AMC supplement had more/additional essays.

I noticed about CASPER from the chat in this forum

@Vicky2019, thanks for the info.

[Nebula1]

My s have an interview scheduled at NJIT, any idea how many kids get filtered at the first interview or stats
Thank You

[rk1235rk]

@Nebula1

My s have an interview scheduled at NJIT, any idea how many kids get filtered at the first interview or stats
Thank You

@Nebula1, here is the stat for 2019/2020 cycle(from NJIT FAQ page).

Total Applicants - 388

Invited for Interview with ADHC Committee - 122

Selected by NJMS Committee for Interview - 74

Offered admission to BS/MD program by NJMS - 25

Enrolled in NJIT BS/MD Program with NJMS - 8

[Vicky2019]

@love4bsmd

@ttb1263

All,

My D applied to Stony Brook and she is current working to write essays for both Honors and BS/MD. I have couple questions:

1. Which honors is good out of the 3 programs: University Scholars, Honors College or WISE? I heard conflict info with some says Honors is the best out of the 3 and others said WISE is harder to get in.
2. Should we send in SAT subject scores? She took Math 2 and Bio recently and got a good scores. I did not see SBU required for SAT subject tests but I'm thinking it doesn't hurt to send them in.

She only applied to 2 BS/MD schools so just need to make sure her application is competitive.

Thanks all !!!

I heard varying information on 3 programs too. Not sure which one to go. WISE program got better over the lat few years it seems, per a student who just graduated from SBU w/ WISE.

You should send the subject SAT scores provided they are good. They will consider the scores for honors college.

Do SAT II test scores matter in Honors College admission?
SAT II Subject test scores provide additional information about the scholastic abilities or applicants. We encourage students to submit SAT II scores if they are available, but these scores are considered in the context of the entire application.

@ttb1263 and other SBU applicants: I have a question-
I know SBU is three step process. 1) admission to UG 2) admission to one of the three honors programs 3) admission to BS/MD

In CommonApp, there are no additional honors or bsmd essays.
After submitting commonApp , do we l get the options for applying to honors and bsmd through SBU portal?

@love4bsmd - You should find additional Honors and BAMD program esssays in Common or Coalition application itself -

See below -

https://www.stonybrook.edu/undergraduate-admissions/apply/freshman.php

APPLY FOR HONORS PROGRAMS (OPTIONAL)
Students using The Common Application or Coalition Application can apply to honors programs on their application. Those who submit the SUNY Application must apply for honors programs and upload an essay (on a topic of your choosing) in your SBU admissions portal. Applicants to the Honors College, University Scholars and WISE: Upload a brief statement in your admissions portal on why you believe you will be a good fit for your preferred honors program. Scholars for Medicine and Scholars for Dental Medicine applicants: Upload an essay on “What aspects about medicine (or dental medicine) intrigue you? Describe how these aspects influence your life” (up to 650 words). All items are due January 15.

[Nebula1]

@rk1235rk Thank You

[grtd2010]

@HopefulBSMDMom

There was a session on this program yesterday where they said that AMC will be sending supplemental application and then interviews will be conducted all the way from January to March.

It is the secondary application from AMC (the medical school).
You will need to submit it with a fee ( not waived).

[grtd2010]

@rk1235rk

@HopefulBSMDMom

The above post is for RPI/AMC Timeline.

@HopefulBSMDMom, are you saying there is a supplemental application for RPI/AMC? There is already supplemental section on common app for RPI BSMD and I believe there is none that gets sent later. Can you please clarify?

@rk1235rk
You are wrong. It is the secondary application sent by AMC (the medical school). You will need to submit it with a fee ( not waived). If you do not get called for an interview, please do not complain. Regular route MD applicants pay these fees to nearly 20-25 medical schools on average.