I really would not worry about seeing a previous resume for BS/MD applicants because if you are currently applying it will not really be able to help you much. And if you are going to be applying in the future, I would not suggest trying to replicate someone else’s resume and experiences because what worked for them might not work for you. Try and building your experiences and resume based on what you think you need to for a BS/MD or what you think you need to understand if an accelerated medical path is right for you.
In case you haven’t already come across, the following and other posts in the thread might help. Somewhat old information though.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21954975/#Comment_21954975
Hi! I’m not really sure if anyone has asked this yet but do you guys think SAT subject tests will still be a big factor in BS/MD admissions? I plan to take it in the fall but I think it may be cancelled due to COVID. I’m also not sure if I will be able to do so well.
Not all BS/MDs required SAT subjects. But whichever programs required them, it will matter even now even as they declared test optional.
Reason, many students who will be applying would have already taken these well in advance, scored well and mentioning their scores in the common app. (Students usually take these tests as early as sophomore year, soon after completing their honors or APs in Precalc, Bio and Chemistry). Don’t count on test optional. Give your best shot at them if and when you can. If you can’t, don’t worry about it and mention it in your application supplements (preferably attaching something from college board to confirm that).
vicky2019
So REMS and PPSAP are higher ranked than Washu BS MD in terms of overall program and other aspects of undergrad.
Washu is very good undergrad and it is not in your top 6 list. How about medical school ranking weight vs undergrad ranking weight. What is your opinion on UPitt and Cincinatti ?
As I hear from others here, WashU is discontinuing their tiny (4-6) program going forward. Even if it continued it may not be right choice for most considering their sky high expectations in a highly competitive environment from the selected students, for them to be able to matriculate into the med school. Better off going regular route elsewhere and save some money.
Also perhaps better to bother about all these considerations after getting into them first?
Thank you @rk2017.
Does anyone can put approximate time needed for following applications, it will help students apply-
Northwestern HPME 7 yrs
Rice/Baylor
University of Rochester REMS
Brown PLME
BU SMED 7 yrs
Case Western PPSP
UPitt/UPitt
Baylor/Baylor
Penn State/Jeff 7 yrs
GWU/GWU 7yrs
RPI/AMC 7 yrs
Stony Brook
Temple/LKSOM
UT-PACT BA/MD Program 7 yrs
UCincinatti
University of Alabama med school EMSAP
Rutgers medical school & it’s feeders 7 Yrs
VCU
Drexel
Hofstra
I didn’t include WashU since they discontinued their BSMD program from 2021 onwards.
Whether UG or Med school ranking weight is important?
Since a student is considering a Top UG vs. a BSMD program, both UG and Med school ranking is important. However, UG should have more weight since a student will spend 4 years immediately after high school, with other factors being equal.
Opinion on UPitt and Cincinnati:
UPItt and Cincinnati are public universities and the cost of UG + med school would be a great deal for instate students. They offer good scholarships for OOS students as well. For both Med school ranking is excellent. Upitt is a T20 public university and at 57 usnews ranking, UPitt could be a student’s top pick. A few cycles back, I remember a student leaving HPME for UPitt…
REMS
Combined ranking (with Primary)- 45
UG ranking – 29
Med school ranking primary -16, research-34
PPSP
Combined ranking (with Primary)- 96
UG ranking – 40
Med school ranking primary -56, research-24
Upitt
Combined ranking (with Primary)- 74
UG ranking – 57
Med school ranking primary - 17, research-14
Cincinnati
Combined ranking (with Primary)-182
UG ranking – 139
Med school ranking primary -43, research-44
How to add other parameters to the combined ranking value (depending on what is important to a student)?
Since we don’t have ranking based on cost, we could come up with our own value such as the below-
Cost of attendance
Below 300K for UG+ med school - 10
Below 500K for UG+ med school - 20
Below 800K for UG+ med school - 30
REMS Combined ranking (with Primary)- 75
PPSP Combined ranking (with Primary)- 126
Upitt Combined ranking (with Primary)- 84
Cincinnati Combined ranking (with Primary)-192
You can add many more parameters and add assign quantitative values to these, and come up with your own ranking!!!
Does anyone know how is LKSOM Temple University. Is it fairly safe environment around the university? Appreciate the reply.
@ksmed1 - @helperdad mentioned that UT-PACT BA/MD Program 7 yrs was discontinued
Application work would be the following off the top of my head (may be more)-
Resume
Applications
Essays
requesting recommendations
secondary/supplemental applications for medical schools
prep for interviews
traveling for interviews
So from July to March (3-9 months)!!!
3 months of hard work, rest for additional work as needed
FYI: No student is able to put 100% focus on their applications since they have senior courses and other commitments.
@Vicky2019 , thank you for the reply, but my question was more specifically regarding each college application time. I thought some college applications might take longer with writing more supplemental essays and some might be easier. or each college application approximately same time. Please share your thoughts on this.
Can someone please chance me?
GPA: 3.61 (UW), a bit higher than a 4.0 (W)
Class Rank: N/A (Go to competitive HS with around 900 people in my grade. Hopefully in the top 10%).
ACT: 35C (35 E, 36 M, 34 R, 36 S)
SAT Subject Tests: N/A (Due to Covid)
APs: Human Geo. (5), Biology (4), Stats (4), Calc BC (5), US History (4), Chem (4), Lang (3).
Taking Seminar, Physics C, Psychology and Spanish senior year.
Teacher/Counselor Recs.: Definitely above average. They all know me well. Also seen me struggle and go the extra mile to succeed.
State: Upper - Midwest
Gender: F
Ethnicity: South Asian
Income: > 200k
Hooks: N/A
Awards:
- Multiple MMTA (Music Teachers Association) awards in piano theory, popular styles and examinations. Been playing for about 10 years.
- College Board AP Scholar w/ distinction
- State Speech, FPS, Science Olympiad Awards
- Made it to Internationals for FPS on multiple occasions (could only afford to go once and placed in the top 20%)
Medical-related activities:
- Shadowed at a Dentistry (not my field, but the only opportunity I could find)
- Volunteered > 300 hours in hospital (making charts etc.)
- Started a non - profit to raise concussion awareness
- Conducting research with a doctor at Mayo Clinic (sadly won’t be published by the time applications are due, but I will refer to it in my essays)
Other ECs:
- Have my own piano teaching business
- Tutored a student with ADHD (getting a letter of rec.)
- Peer tutoring in ACT and general subjects
- Have a blog and social media following of over 85k for a NFL football team; will not name for privacy (have done player interviews, etc.)
- publishing a YA novel in mid August (displaying my passion to write, although I didn’t write it for college apps.)
Major: Neuroscience?
Schools I’m looking into for BS/MD:
- CWRU
- Penn/Jefferson
- WashU
- UMin
- Albany
- U of Illinois - Chicago
- Brown
- Northwestern
- Boston University
Schools I’m looking into for Undergrad:
- Vanderbilt
- Duke
- UW - Madison
- NYU
My concern is my low GPA, but I’ve been steadily trending upward. I’m just worried I will be filtered out too early. My ECs and ACT are both solid, but I’m not sure what else to do to explain my low GPA.
Have covered and all round except as you high lighted low GPA.
Simply apply to few BS/MD programs, no pain no gain.
Apply to schools which like various aspects including humanities than boxing on GPA and Scores. OU and Tulsa look for varied interests.
Wash no longer has BS/MD. Illinois & UMinn are in state and apply to which ever one is applicable since you can not claim 2 states as IS.
@crispypataa
Your resume seems pretty well rounded except for your GPA just as @GoldenRock mentioned. If you are keen on getting into these programs, I would suggest that you make a list of top, middle and lower tiered BS/MD programs and apply far and wide to diversify your chance of getting in. It is always a hit or miss.
Frankly, I can’t think of a way for you to get out of the gpa hole, being of ORM background (South Asian). Just to give you a perspective from the personal front, during the application cycle of C few years ago when the competition was less fierce, we were not sure if C would get even into a single program with a gpa about 0.25 higher than your’s from an Uber competitive, super rigorous, grade deflated high school.
Things that may have helped could be if you are from URM background OR things that prove to the admissions folks that you are from a very rigorous / competitive background not withstanding the gpa factor, such as having a 5 on every AP test and 800s on subject tests (you should have taken them earlier on) OR if your school mentioned your class rank on the transcript and yours is in the top 5% at least OR if you had won some prestigious science competitions etc.
If you had any unique personal challenges during high school which explains the drag on the gpa, you can try writing about in the supplemental sections of the application and it may help sometimes. Anyway no harm in turning in few applications and seeing what happens.
Regarding going traditional route through regular undergrad, if medicine is your ultimate destination, it is important to go some place where you feel comfortable and can succeed. Getting carried away by fancy brand names may in fact kill one’s chances altogether. Going to the state school may not be a bad option. If medicine is good to have option but not necessarily the ultimate goal, then going to a fancy name can help land in other alternatives more easily.
Do you think a higher GPA/class rank might balance out a lower test score? My UW GPA is a 4.0 and my weighted is a 4.7. I am also 7/550 in a very competitive school (the difference in GPA between me and the valedictorian is .03). My test score, however, is not great because I made the mistake of taking the SAT at the start of my junior year to see my baseline and got a 1470. I took a ACT on the 18th and am hoping for a 34/35.
Sure an ACT of >= 34 would put you in a comfortable position, but again, nothing is predictable in this game.
You can perhaps give another shot at SAT too? Guess you have till October test date for the scores to reach the programs on time? And who knows, they may even extend the application deadlines this time around?
@ksmed1 - Its not that straight forward. You write a bunch of essays. Then, you reuse them wherever you can and save time that way. It will take a long time to write the first set since you would need to think of examples and refine your message and language.
If you are trying to be efficient, here is a suggestion - If you feel the colleges are really important for you, take time to write new essays otherwise pick or drop a college based on whether you are comfortable with the essay requirements.
@crispypataa - Apply widely to 18-20 colleges.
Are you looking for a guaranteed BSMD seat or do you prefer a seat in Top UG? Based on this, select either -
12-14 BSMD’s and rest UGs
12 UGs & rest BSMDs
University of Minnesota and University of illinois accept only in-state students. Apply depending on where you live. WashU doesn’t offer BSMD any longer however you could apply to UG there.
Add 8-10 from following BSMD’s
- TCNJ/NJIT/Stevens & NJMS
- Hofstra
- Temple
- FAU,
- Drexel feeders & Drexel
- Adelphi/SUNY Upstate
- Stony Brook -Oklahoma MHSP
- Hofstra -Tulsa -Tulane -UMKC -U Cincinnati -UPitt -VCU -Temple/LKSOM -GWU/GWU
Add from following Undergrads:
-University of Notre Dame
-U Mich
-Carnegie Mellon
- University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
-WashU - University of illinois at Urbana Champagne or University of Minnesota
@
I would add Baylor/Baylor, Rice/Baylor, and UAB EMSAP to the list of BSMD programs to choose from. All three of those BSMD programs feed into top ranked medical schools.