Our September test was cancelled just few days before test date. Luckily my DD was able to take it on Sept 23rd(School test day). However the results are not due until 10/15 and college board says it will be few more days to get complete scores if taken with essay and scores will be delivered to schools within next 10 days after that. We are super worried that we may not be able to submit scores for Nov 1st deadline schools.
Is that true we need to order the official scores 2-3 weeks ahead? Do we stand any chance to have scores delivered by Nov 1st? I have been advised not to use the rush service which costs additional $31 and adds no value. Donāt know why would it take that long as they are electronically submitted. I plan to order scores as soon as they are available on 15th.
Yes if you apply the places like you havenāt thought at all is a sign of immaturity or forced by parents, especially apply to all direct BS/MD med schools available in world because wants to be a Dr by 24 and not checking off against core competencies recommended by AMCAS. What kind of n are we talking here?
If SOMs thinks that many high schoolers are matured and determined enough to be a Dr, are they naive not to expand that over so many decades? A simple online search will provide more insight about brain maturity in teens and beyond.
Core competencies likely to overlap with other professions but has different measuring tool as well as different severity, e.g. a resilience for medicine will be far different than law, service in medicine will be far more intense than businessā¦
Nothing wrong to think about any profession in high school or even in middle school. Thatās why one explores different activities and try to figure out what they may like or not in a long run, perfectly ok to change routes on that journey.
More than happy to debate CS, Business, Law or even graduate programs on their own merits, but it is out of scope as focus is on medicine. For PhD programs, focus is not on GPA rather research activities one is engaged in, so a kid with 3.5 GPA and research experience has upper leg over a kid with 4.0 GPA without any research experience, plenty of articles talked about it on Quora, other sites and by actual professors and faculties who knows what they are talking. An alignment of candidate interest with professor research activities is equally important as no professor would invest 6 years in a student who has different interests.
PhD is another 6 years after UG, so generally talking age ~28, very similar to Dr and yet how many opts for PhD after UG, very small subset.
Most STEM PhD programs in major US universities are filled by ORMs. One may get a MD/PhD in 6-7 years beyond UG but only a few ORMs opt for this route. Most ORMs want to become a Dr (looking for a 6-7-8 years BS/MD options) ASAP. Most gap years are taken due to some un-planed reasons.
exactly, and also international affluent students, if you see profile of assistant or tenure professors in CS, you will find plenty of ORMs, however it is not the case lets say philosophy or other liberal arts.
Just last month my elder son UG, UIUC, made a big hiring splash, https://cs.illinois.edu/news/23-new-faculty-illinois-cs-expands-prowess-education-research, check out profiles, very outstanding PhD ORMs from top schools.
Everything is not measured by ROI only (core competency of business major) in life, especially noble profession like medicine. n=1, even being a senior, he is actively debating to go for PhD but feels himself that he is not ready for that or unsure for that 6 years commitment, inspite 3.9+ GPA, internships, CS research experience (may have 2nd or 3rd author paper sometimes this year), a FAANG job already lined up to start next summer. Still he is taking thoughtful steps and hopeful to be accepted in MS with thesis as 5th year continuation. Among his strong options, a FAANG job with 150K TC, a MS RA offer (MS become free of cost, his interests are different though), MS TA offer (far less money but interest are aligned), or go 2-year MS somewhere else in top 10 schools only where research interests are aligned, needless to say his GRE is in 330s.
Point is GPA, standardize score is not everything and a slam dunk for graduate admission. If he thinks ROI is only what matters in life, he is taking 450K hit by joining 2 year MS program (300K TC, 150K MS cost), but as a parent told him donāt worry about money only in life, it will follow you as long as you follow your passion and where your heart finds happiness. Does it mean that everyone in similar boat should sacrifice? May be not, circumstances and priorities are different from person to person, very similar to how one become a MD, again this example is just another n=1 and have no interest in bragging or to suggest it is the best option for everyone in similar boat.
I was looking at the previous year thread and it seems they all took CASPER for Union/AMC. I do not see this any where on their website. Anyone know if this is required even for this year too?
Look at the list of your colleges with Nov 1 deadline.
Check how many of those require Official scores vs self-reported scores by the Nov 1 deadline.
For colleges who accept self-reported scores, you add them to the common app and you will be good.
For colleges that require the official scores, call/ email them and lay out your situation.
Most Admissions officials will work with you on this.
Generally, they will ask you to self-report and send the official scores as soon as they are available. But it is important that you have this communciation with them.
While you are sending official scores, send it to all colleges that require official scores including ones with later deadlines.
Re: Time to receive scores:
It is dependent on when the College Board sends the scores and when the college downloads them. While most colleges download on a daily basis, some do on a different frequency.
Just wanted to mention - We ordered ACT score to be sent to one college on Wednesday and it showed up on their application status page today (in 3 days). I was surprised by the quick turnaround. Obviously, this could differ for SAT/ACT/College combination but I would think colleges will be downloading them on very frequent basis as we are in middle of an application cycle.
after many cancellations and reschedules, ds was able to take sat and act, scored 1460 (superscore 1490) and ACT 32. have 2 more sat and act scheduled, hoping to get higher than it.
so with those scores in mind, following are the stats:
GPA: UW: 3.95 W: 4.55
SAT: 1460, Superscore: 1490, 2 more tests pending by nov
ACT: 32, 2 more tests pending by nov
APs: 10 by senior
Recommendations Letters:
Bio 2. Physics 3. Director of Cancer Research (University) - very strong
ECs:
Cancer Research at Top University
UC Berkeley Neuroscience Class, along with other college students, scored A (could be added to transcript)
VEX Robotics - World Championship qualifications, awards
Mini-Medical School as student and teacher assistant (mentoring)
Community, Senior Citizen center
Are we competitive enough for BSMD or pre-med is the only option. Our preference is:
Northwestern Regular (HPME cancelled due to COVID)
Brown PLME
Rice BSMD
Case Western
UIC GPPA
Pre-Med:
Northwestern
Brown
Rice
Johns Hopkins
UMich
Uchicago
Emory
Tufts
Duke
Columbia, Penn
What are our chances, please provide some feedback. thanks in advance.
IMO, unless your DS scores much higher in SAT ( SAT >= 1550 or SAT 35 ) , your list is unrealistic for both BSMD and regular UG. Please add your state universities for UG. Are you from IL ( UIC GPPA is only for in-state applicants ) ?
I can relate to you being a IL resident and quite a few activities are aligned with what my son did 3 years back (he is a junior at Northwestern). From your previous postings, it is obvious that there was planned efforts for research, 500 research hours in high school is far more than even pre-med needs (most high schoolers does HOSA, not research), but that is just quantitative part, the quality of that research can be a difference. Certainly his GPA/standardized scores are at low end, can be offset with too much ECs. You didnāt mentioned class rank, but from GPA one can assume he is most likely not in top 3% in class and that can be a kicker when you are competing against your classmates for same GPPA seat and they can only pick certain number from a high school. Having said that his profile is imbalanced and wider net is advised. Donāt rule out UIUC either if there is an interest in engineering. Personally prefer UIC over UIUC for premed track as Chicago provides great resources for ECs.
Unless you are from a non ORM (Asian) background, the scores can pull you down most likely. Unless of course you have something that makes you really stand out, such as a published research paper or a patent - some programs have been lately skeptical of these two categories though - or being finalist of Intel Science or national level olympiads in Bio, Chem, Math or Physics or are from a rural or underserved geographical background and have been involved in activities there. Take into consideration also how strong your AP test scores are, especially in BCPM subjects. Perhaps you still have a chance at UIC BS/MD with these scores too.
Try to find out what is the absolute latest you can send the SAT/ACT scores for these programsā consideration and if the Nov test scores can still reach them by that time, focus on such programs. Other alternative may be not to submit the SAT/ACT at all since many programs have gone test optional and pray for the best.