Thread for BSMD 2020-2021 Applicants (Part 1)

He is sure to follow his brother in medicine and surgical speciality but this can be done from Harvard also with better exposure although expensive option

Anyone here aware of the Interdisciplinary Honors Program @Loyola? Any benefits being enrolled in that? Why do these colleges have so many different Programs. Thanks in advance to anybody who can educate me. For sure i need a lot of education with all these different programs.

I can relate to you. Do not take it too much to heart. Honestly after doing some reading and collecting data, the traditional route is a very good option for various reasons. It for sure will make the kids hungrier, more prepared and motivated. We as parents have to keep things in perspective and help the kids to become stronger. I felt disappointed for a few mins after a bunch of rejections, but then there isn’t much we could have done when i look back. So i totally understand how you would feel. Keep smiling, All will be well.

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Congratulations! @alwayshappy25

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Info from today’s Hofstra 4+4 parent session

Applied to Hofstra 4+4: 2000, Sent to ZSOM (medical school) - they said academically qualified: 500, interviewed: 66, offers: about 20-24, Admits: 10
Interestingly on an avg, only 5 of these 10 students advances to the first-year medical school at ZSOM. Rest either dropped out in the middle of the first 4 years or some get into better medical school. Because ZSOM is asking for a 510 MCAT score in the first sitting, they let students go out of the 4+4 program if someone gets a better MCAT score and wants to pursue other medical schools.

Question to the “parents whose children have written MCAT before” OR seniors in this group: How difficult is it to get a 510 MCAT score in the first sitting?

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If one has taken all the pre-requisites including Organic Chemistry I, II & one Biochemistry course and prepares well ( use AAMC practice test 1,2,3,4 to predict the real MCAT score), it is not difficult to get 510 ( ~81%). Ideally one should take MCAT only once. D took it during Jan of junior year only once and did very well.
FYI, Hofstra SOM average MCAT and average GPA :slightly_smiling_face:


2020
MCAT 517
UG GPA 3.79

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Sorry to see hopeful students getting rejected from REMS (& other programs). Rejections are very hard but make you stronger as a person.

I am sure some thing better is around the corner for you. Hold on tight!

Btw, did anyone on this thread get into REMS, this cycle?

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I noticed some discussion about UIC’s GPPA early, and I’m by no means any expert on it :sweat_smile: but since I got accepted into the program I have done my share of research on it. There are around 25 GPPA programs ranging from health sciences to education, they all of the aim of guaranteeing highly motives high school students a more clear path to their desired profession. The only two GPPA programs that require applicant to be residents of Illinois are the medicine and dentistry ones. From my understanding these two programs are limited to only in-state residents to prevent from it becoming like a lot of other BSMD where the admittance rate is under 1%. The program has about an 8% acceptance rate, which considering it only takes in state applicants is very competitive but far less so than Rice/Baylor or PPSP for example. It’s also the only BSMD to have its own core curriculum revolving around the social aspects of medicine. I’m not sure how many applicants end up matriculating to a medical school but 80% end up going to UICOM and 20% to another medical school (however I’m not sure if this means 100% end up matriculating somewhere or not). The program allows students to apply out, however, it discourages students from finishing their BS or BA early. They rather encourage gap years to commit to research, study abroad, or other academic pursuits. They do have some higher expectations for students than other programs but they aren’t unreasonable. Also the director Dr.Chambers is an incredibly qualified doctor and research (he is also super nice). Overall, it’s a nice program for Illinois residents from what I’ve seen, and while it may be trying to attract more competitive students I think it’s main aim is to create an affordable and not unreasonably competitive BSMD program for students who are interested in medicine. I’ve also noticed they look more for uniqueness in applicants, as the school as a whole really appreciates diversity. Now some downsides is while Chicago provides ton of opportunities it is very high in crime and they provide good aid to low-income students but not a lot to the middle-class (although at most you’ll pay about $35,000 a year assuming you stay on campus in the most expensive dorm there is)

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I believe Harvard and Stanford are once in a lifetime opportunities for UG and if finances are not an issue I would say go for it. I won’t say same for medical school though, UCSF, Hopkins and Penn are better medical schools for teaching :wink:

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That 20% brings in good money and lot of schools do that, but given GPPA size it won’t make much difference as per finances and usually schools like that don’t care that much about rankings.

Hi,
Aspiring student - wanted to find how much does an average BS/MD programs cost.
I am interested in
PMM/SKMC - 1st choice
Union/AMC - seems expensive but will get MBA
Rochester/REMS- great research program
VCU -
Hofstra - seems very expensive.
Drexel - looks like 60k per year for 8 years - any scholarships ?
TCNJ/NJMS

how much does Penn state give scholarships ?

I am OOS for all the schools. I am doing some research, but cannot find more information on average scholarships.

Thank you

That’s what I have been preaching for almost 4 years but too many bird lovers here :wink:

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I was wondering what you think about taking the MCAT before taking junior year biochemistry. As I’m considering the places I interviewed at, I’m definitely concerned about the 7 year programs. I don’t know much about the MCAT, but it seems that those at BU take it during the summer before taking biochem. Would this greatly hinder scores? I’ve heard the students actually do very well on the MCAT.

Comes down to how much prep you do. Also, there is no pressure to get certain score so may be that works for some. However, don’t believe the stories that BU students are getting 100 percentile without any prep!

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It comes down to how good test taker your kid is. Some kids do struggle with MCAT (may be given the length and 4 sections) but in general not difficult to score upto 517.

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Similar situation going on over here. Early acceptance to Stanford and a likely letter from Yale. Waitlisted at Rice/Baylor and no idea what’s going on with that deal since they are only taking 3 this year. Guess it’s not an issue until accepted but not giving up hope bc it’s still #1. It was the only straight to med applied to.

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@Lil_Shortay

My kiddo was accepted via REA as well. So even if PLME or GW’s BSMD doesn’t pan out, he has a pretty awesome “safety.”

I am holding out hope for PLME. I actually bought the kid a hoodie from every Ivy to which he applied and if he doesn’t get in, well Amazon has easy returns :joy::joy:

We also found out today that I messed up on the CSS. I reported hubby’s VA disability under both our untaxed income AND under military benefits so it looked like we had twice the amount we did. Dartmouth’s FA Dean emailed us so I am grateful he did!! I sent in a correction to Stanford and uploaded a correction document to CSS.

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If you can learn the stuff taught in Biochemistry I course, online or self study, it may work out. There are a substantial amount of questions related to biochemistry content. You can see all the content covered in MCAT by visiting AAMC website.

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Penn State/SKMC will give you a little as a merit scholarship (2-3k, IMO). It is for the affluent OOS folks. On average, a guess-estimate only, it will be cost around 500k (any decent BSMD program).

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Yes. We did the math for DD. Just UG tuition, fees, room and board along with MED school tuition and fees (no room/board) is close to $500K. Then comes travel, food/snacks, living expenses, entertainment etc., and medical school room/boarding. However, reading through other website for doctors, feedback and comments over multiple years indicate SKMC students are genuinely happy and it seems to provide a healthy environment and a sense of belonging - priceless :wink:

I’d take a full ride if offered, but if PSU-SKMC is the only option for BSMD, DD is clear she would go there without misgivings.

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