Any opinions on how the Covid affect in school budgets will in turn affect the admissions cycle?
I am thinking some of the need blind schools might not be so need blind
As my C is going through the application cycle, I notice the following:
- Schools have trouble filling seats. Even the elite schools that rarely went into their waitlist have turned to their waitlist earlier and deeper this year. Seeing students taking online classes not as being worth the big dollar amount parents pay to send their kids to college, parents begin to question the value of the elite schools with online classes (since COVID-19 is here to stay until there is a vaccine)
- Small schools that are having trouble filling seats are competing with larger schools and are willing to give more money to recruit. I donāt know how these schools will survive in the long run
- Schools will be spending a lot of money on COVID testing, cleaning, retrofitting spaces to protect people. Theyāll have to recover that from somewhere
_ I wonder the same about school funding in the future because weāre in the midst of it.
How to get into BSMD checklist
I would recommend looking at stats/perspectives posted in the BS MD results cc forum for 2020/2019/2018. The later ones are better. Admission process in my opinion keeps getting more competitive year over year.
Based on the stats /perspectives shared by many students/parents in BS MD results forum, I have summarized the findings into ten points -
- For BS/MD admissions, strategy is very important for coming up with a college list (BSMD programs vs. UG college ratio). Many people including @rk2017 has posted on these.
- Soft factors (essays, interviews) are also important and many people have quoted this to be the deciding factor
- Medical ECs are more important than regular ECs. These provide material for essays and interviews. Some questions to think on - "Why medicine? Why BSMD?"
- BSMD programs seem to care for clinical research and patient facing volunteering.
- Stats such as GPA, Test scores, APs are all important and used for screening students. Once interview invite is received, all students are at the same level.
- STEM awards at national, state level for competitions (USNCO, USABO, AMC/AIME), Intel research, science Olympiads etc. are considered best for BS MD. Some students also have mentioned publishing papers or holding patents on their inventions. On the other hand, having a holistic, balanced profile with music, sports etc. cannot go wrong either. BSMDs are looking for very well accomplished students beyond their near perfect stats.
- Non-medical ECs such as varsity sports, Robotics etc. take up a lot of time. Kids need to strategize, pick and choose their ECs carefully at the beginning of the high school.
- Earlier Admission guidance (via CC or any other) could be important for coming up with a strategy, college list. Many people have quoted benefit and wished they look at CC earlier.
- Competition for BS MD is cut-throat (there are way too many qualified candidates). Apply widely to BSMD programs and some strong UGs (reach, match, safety). On an average, students interested in BSMD have ended up applying to 18 colleges not including the secondary medical college application/essays.
- Start working on applications early during the summer of junior year. Start with a resume, some staple essays (Why medicine, Why BSMD program, Why particular college) etc.
Finally, there are two major ways of becoming a Doctor - 95% of the students apply to medical school via Undergrad route and only 5% via BSMD.
I wonder if similar tread will be seen for admissions for fall 2021? Will acceptance in Ivy leagues/T20 get easier since economic hardships will deter some students from applying to them and preference will shift to stay instate? I doubt same will happen to BS/MDs.
Couldnāt agree more about the role of non medical and/or academic ECs such as sports, athletics, marching band and music.
In addition to showing apart the ones excelling with such background from the rest of the pool, they project positive holistic profile in terms of the life lessons while pursuing them. Such as physical and mental stamina, work life/study balance, time management, team work , work ethic etc, all crucial in oneās journey to being a good physician of the future.
Does anyone know anything about the University of Delawareās BS/MD program? Is it a true BS/MD?
Hi, My DD is an applicant for 2020-2021 and we seek your advice. She planned to take the SAT in March, SAT II in June with back up SAT in August- ( we all know how that worked out). Now she is scheduled for the August SAT and I told her that she should sign up for the September SAT just in case she needs to upgrade her score. This leaves her with October for the SATII ( Chem and Math II). She has taken in 10th grade the SAT II for BIO with a good score. She is not planning to take the ACT.
What do you think of this layout? Is it too late to take SAT II in October( some schools have October deadlines for applications)? Any suggestions and advice is greatly appreciated.
Is it true that Sophie Davis (CUNY) require both SAT & ACT scores for BS/MD? ACT test score alone not sufficient as it seems. Please confirm.
Your plan looks good for the CB available test dates. However, I keep hearing that C will try to squeeze in more test dates for the fall. The Oct test date is actually in early Oct. When they close the window, the programs with deadlines in Oct probably would give you some grace period, given recent issues with the tests. You do the best you can, if the programs (few have such early cutoff dates) are that inflexible about their processes, itās their loss.
Okay I donāt understand the NJMS options. Itās one school with multiple paths/options?
Would someone explain it to me and probably like I am a small child?
Today was our last day of school (work for me) and my brain is fried!
@mom2boys1999 multiple UGs feed into NJMS. After submitting application, each UG will send out interview invites and then choose some students to be forwarded to NJMS. Then there is a second round of selection. If accepted by NJMS, one can choose any UG program that forwarded their application to NJMS. (from what Iāve heard apparently NJIT gives the most money out of all the programs)
One way to understand is to look at two parts to BS/MD -
- undergrad Application/ admission
- medical school admission
NJMS is the medical school.
NJIT, TCNJ, Stevens, Drew and Caldwell and Rutgers- Newark are all undergrad colleges I.e. feeder schools.
NJMS will allow you to apply to multiple undergrad as part of its BA/MD Program.
You will get only 1 interview with NJMS (but You will do as many undergrad college interviews as you apply).
If selected, you have option to choose any of the undergrad you applied to (provided they offered you undergrad admissions).
Example:
- letās say you applied to two undergrads - say it is Stevens and Drew - as part of BA/MD
- Both review and call you for first undergrad interview
- both like you after first interview and forward it to NJMS and offer you undergrad admissions
- NJMS calls you for an interview but is communicated via Drew
- You interview at NJMS - mostly in person
- NJMS Likes you and offers you admission
- You can choose either Drew or Stevens as undergrad (even though you got the NJMS interview letter from Drew).
Hope this helps.
SAT test dates are Aug 29, Sep 26 (no subject tests offered) and Oct 3.
Effectively there is not much prep time between Sep 26 and Oct 3.
Have you thought about the following - give subject tests in August and SAT in September?
I donāt think that is the requirement. (You can optionally submit both if you have taken both and scored well on both). I think the wording below on their site is the cause of confusion but donāt think thatās what they meant.
"To be considered for the program, each applicant must submit a high school transcript, SAT I and ACT scores by the deadline. "
Keep in mind though that CUNY/Sophie Davis BS/MD and PA programsā mission is to promote the participation of Under represented minorities (URM). Will be particularly challenging to gain admission if applying as an ORM.
UG admission is independent of bs/md process for each feeder school i.e. they can admit you for UG only with generous scholarship.
Once the files are forwarded to NJMS, it is only NJMS which decides who to invite for an interview and ultimately offer a bs/md admission. The feeder schools are out of picture for MD selection process.
I did not. It feels like too much of a risk. I do not want to be reckless with the SAT score. Thatās why we decided for a back up day ( in case of an off day in August). This will affect the regular undergrad much more than SAT II and eventual scholarships ( we count on some). I wonder what the other candidates In the same situation are doing. She worked so hard and I am infuriated at the situation on her behalf but I guess we have to make ālemonadeā. I have been following this form in for the past 3 years and it helped a lot. Never expected for things to turn so unique. People say that seniors got affected the most but I beg to differ. I think juniors are the ones that got cheated the most by the quarantine. Thank you for all your support.
Most bs/md programs are nearly full pay and there is a very little chance of much merit scholarships. Is your C willing to give up a bs/md admission for a traditional UG route MD with UG scholarship.?
I donāt expect free rides. We are in the state of New York and there are few programs with state schools for undergrad like stony brook, SUNY upstate and downstate; some of NJ feeders offer some scholarships to bsmd too. I totally understand what a lottery this program is. Will she choose undergrad over a bsmd? Not sure. Money is an important factor. ( I have a son as well that is a rising junior) Becaue we canāt afford to pay sticker price we are looking and researchIng all the ways we can make it most affordable.
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Most of the 8 year programs too give some kind of price breaks for the undergrad independent of state residency. Also if she is into research background RPI/AMC will be a good choice even though private since RPI while being an excellent undergrad institution is considered generous with financial awards especially for girls.