Can my high GPA (4.0 Uw, 4.7W with an A+ in Bio, Chem, and BC Calculus) and SAT score (1560) make up for the fact that I was not able to take any subject tests?
Hope you have taken the AP tests and have done well in them. They can be used to gauge your subject level proficiencies in a standardized way given this situation. Especially may help to have a 5 in Bio to stand out since it is a little difficult to achieve (even Chem to some extent).
First of all, your question is only applicable to programs that are not mandating subject tests.
IMO, these stats (GPA/tests/APs) put together provide a level of screening even for all other programs not mandating subject tests.
In addition to what @rk2017 mentioned, I would like to stress that once screening is done based on GPA/test scores and APs, focus will be on the Extracurricular activities including leadership, research, volunteering, shadowing with clinical focus. Other ECs are important such as Science Fairs, olympiads (state, national) levelsâŚ
In addition to these, your essays will decide whether you get an interview. During the interview, you still need to be able to convince the Admission team that you are a candidate worth selecting!
âThe Honors Program in Medical Education (HPME) encourages students to pursue unique interests and enriching opportunities.â Itâs not meant for those who worry about getting into medical school without gap years or worried about MCAT scores or parents who worry about their kids changing their mind. Medical schools constantly compare how BSMD students are doing in comparison to traditional path and make adjustments.
would strong ecâs and gpa make up for lower ACTs (34 for ORM)?
I personally donât think other long standing BS/MDs would discontinue any time soon considering how good their BS/MD cohorts are. As good or even better than their traditional route peers. Even without all the gap years, not having the luxury of time for elaborate preparations for MCAT in a condensed schedule, being involved in research and ECs that matter most to them (with true zeal and not to impress someone down the road in few years) and all that.
In one of the accelerated programs I am intimately familiar with, a good number of BS/MD students of the entering class this year earned the med school deanâs scholarship given from the common pool of funds irrespective of the track or the pathway. My estimate is that percentage wise that rate is probably 50% higher compared to their traditional route peers. May have been even a reason for another program, Penn State/Jeff increasing their intake numbers for BS/MD track couple of years back.
Donât think discontinuation of HPME by any means disapproval for their cohort or alumni, or if any more programs decide to do so. NYU started free tuition in last few years and attracting high profile candidates now, it doesnât mean paid tuition Drs were lesser Dr.
It is completely misleading and not surprised by your narrow views of MCAT, ECs and Research activities. It is not necessarily quantity but quality that matters. I doubt step 1/2 and whatever other exams as a Dr has to give are designed to impress someone down the road.
The answer is âit dependsâŚâ
Questions with GPA:
- How does a student compare to other students in your HS? ⢠How good is the High School? Is it nationally ranked < 50 or <100? ⢠How many students in your HS get âyour GPAâ or above? ⢠How many AP courses have you taken? How many Honors courses?
However, a strong GPA proves that in your school, you consistently showed good results and that your teachers appreciated your work.
How GPA compares to Tests:
- How do you compare to students from other high schools in the nation? ⢠Subject tests, ACT/SAT tests or AP tests are taken by students across the nation and the scoring criteria is same. But this is not the case for GPA since there are many variables.
With tests, there is no way of proving consistency or hard work over a period of time.
Comparison of GPA/tests with ECs:
- What extracurriculars are we talking about? Say a student got a national/state rank in a national STEM Olympiads (Bio, Physics, Chem, math) â this should prove how a student compares to othersâŚSame for science fairs. In such a case, AP scores or SAT scores may not matter much.
Say, a student has extra ordinary leadership as a youth president of a national level volunteering organization making the student stand out⌠Will leadership be considered in lieu of GPA, tests or Olympiads or Science fairs? May be, since this might add diversity to the class? However, this may or may not apply to all BSMD programs equally.
And, what if there are some students who have excellent academics, tests as well as leadership?
Ultimately:
The Admission officers look at everything since all these parameters together tell them a story about you.
You just do your best to put together the best profile possible for you. You then, apply to a wide variety/number of colleges (BSMD as well as UG). Its not possible to predict the results!
I have no issues about addressing diversity.
My issue is with the gutting down of the HPME program.
Even with the traditional route and NUPSP, NU has not been able to meet its diversity goals. Does that mean they shut down their med school?
And alumni views are very important - the $300 million that NU raised a few years ago for their brand new research center was all due to alumni efforts/ money.
Alumni donors are very vocal about their views and $$$ which was the key reason for HPME to even organize an alumni call.
ACT=34 is within the range and competitive.
Create a good application, apply broadly and pray.
Experts out here:
Can you please clarify the following.
Does applying to bs/md programs automatically applies us to the undergrad program?
My basic instinct says that most colleges do consider candidates for the undergrad program
if they canât give admission to bs/md program.
Is there a particular college that doesnât do this practice?
Thanks in advance!
May be they are resetting the clock, to correct their failures, like I said before diversity wonât be a sole reason to make such big decision. I wonât be surprised if they announce to discontinue NUPSP or any other program. Ofc, that would begin with an admission cycle, not with people already in pipeline.
Alumni, represents big source for endowment, however alumni is generally aligned with school vision in past as well as future when they made decision to donate. I donât think that for a 12% of med school seats to diversify more, alumni would have a knee jerk reaction. IIRC, quite a few leadership in Feinberg is HPME alumni. So I donât see this as an against HPME decision, rather a decision that aligns more with school future vision. Who knows if same alumni is demanding more diversity?
Rice/Baylor program website says that they âseek to enroll underrepresented students of high-achievement that desire to work in healthcare and represent the diverse communities in which they serve.â Is there a point in applying if you do not fit in the underrepresented category?
BU states that it wonât consider students for undergrad AND BSMD. My son had this confirmed during an admissions meeting. However there is a parent on here who posted his daughter was able to do so.
Many of the programs require acceptance to undergrad first and then a consideration for BSMD moves forward. My son received his Pitt acceptance this week- hopefully he will continue the streak and hear from them again!
Except BU all other schools consider you for UG. As a matter of fact, first one need to get into UG for to be considered for bsmd.
CWRU asks if you want to be considered for UG, in case of bsmd reject. However BU does not inform and one has to be aware on when to move that application for UG consideration - by calling them.
One aspect about BU - if you do not hear from them by mid-Feb for BS/MD interviews, call them and tell them to consider you for undergrad. They will then switch your application to undergrad only.
The words âunderrepresentedâ and âdiverseâ have varied meanings.
For example, Houston city is majority Hispanic. How do you think a college like RICE, located in Houston, will consider an Hispanic student?
How many Hispanic students apply to BS/MD programs?
At the end of the day, colleges have to select students from their applicant pool.
Here is the info from last year thread for those interested in SLU:
Thanks to @suku1zar and @PPofEngrDr
@suku1zar: 03-02-2020 at 5:34 pm
They said regular mail. SLU Received 900 applications will give offer to 200 applicants or so and may be 70 to 80 will join. This is not a combine medical program but they offer you a interview with medical school at the end of first yr. 85% of the kids make it.
@PPofEngrDr: 03-02-2020 at 6:12 pm
Here is official SLU response from 2 years back.
Roughly 120 students enroll in the Medical Scholars program each year.
About 50% of those students leave the program by the time the interviews roll around sophomore year. The majority of the students that leave the program leave because they are no longer interested in being doctors. They donât have the breakdown between not meeting grade vs. losing interest.
Typically 89% of the remaining students are offered spots in the SOM.
Folks
BS/MD programs are hyper-competitive.
Barring a few, most programs have 5 to 20 seats.
So, when you choose to apply to a college, be aware of your critical factors - the ones we call âgo/ no goâ factors and see how that college lines up to those factors.
For some, location may be a critical factor and for many, it is a non-factor.
Any factor that is not in your âgo/ no goâ list is a secondary factor.
Be wise in terms how much weightage you want to give to these secondary factors.
âFreezeâ your college list and move on. There is always be the urge to keep fine-tuning your list but at some point you need to decide, freeze that list, and move on.
Remember, we have Less than 5 weeks to go for Nov 1 deadline.
Totally agree with you. For our D, we started out with a very long list of schools (mostly BS/MD) a year ago but the final list is much shorter now with more match/safety schools and just 2 BS/MD schools due to several factors (location, cost, Dâs input, etc âŚ) and the uncertainty future.
Hopefully, our D get accepted to 1 of the school in the list. Good luck to all BS/MD applicants. I am still be here and will post update and ask for advices.