On a lighter note:
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Clarifying it again: If you have read my first post and follow up posts, I mentioned that my older one that got into BA/MD went to public high school where there was no guidance to get into ivys or these competitive programs. Also, spending $250k over 4 years is not indicative that you can afford to spend a million dollars on both kids education in 8 years.
Congratulations!! I can imagine, so much work went in to all of this and I am delighted it paid off. Amazingly blessed w/ PLME acceptance. Prayers for your sonâs continued success!
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Not bad. Most of the kids on this forum are capable of making it to Magna cum laude level there (guess ~3.75 ish) if stay focused.
The BA/MD folks may have slight drawback though since few classes like Physics are to this exclusive cohort, with potentially tough and relative grading with the bottom 1/3 of the class getting Cs. But a 3.5 ish overall shouldnât be a big deal.
(One of the distinguished Profs who handled that class in the past even warned, if he thinks the current batch not on par with the previous ones, he may cut the As given in his class. Not sure if he is still teaching the SMEDs)
------ del
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Yeap, have one kid only.
Haha - Grass on other side is always greener. Kids and folks long for NYC and choose NYU just for that inspite 4 Bld. in Engg.
There is NYC attraction second to none and if Wall street is ever a possibility, the connections. I live 1-1.5 hr away and get the best of both worlds.
Perhaps similar to Bombay and IIT Bombay - Top 100 IIT rankers are mostly in Bombay for decades.
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I know one student who dropped out of BU SMED due to GPA.
My kid didnât want go to NYC and fortunately no school offered admission 
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And grading differs from class to class. Univ level grading applied to final grade for that Q/Sem.
In a class 77% can be A because that was the highest score in that class. Prof also takes into consideration relative strength to previous classes, if they think the current class somehow gets high score easily, they may tighten the screw or vice a versa. So there are lots of grading factors, which are beyond oneâs control.
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So letâs say for a Univ, 90%+ is A. Now in a tough class,school history suggests hardly anyone gets 90%+. In that case Prof dictates certain % of class to be awarded A and cutoff for that A may very from year to year. That cutoff defines baseline and everything else falls/curves from there.
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Your assessment of ORM physicians would be an N=1 example, right? If everything works out (like for your sonâs classmate) obviously that is optimal & expected to the point where no one is even impressed or willing to acknowledge all the work & dedication that achievement took from the student. Thatâs why personally I like to look at/hear about the downside risk more when making a decision.
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Irrespective of the route, downside risk is always not becoming a Dr. At the same time, someone who gets multiple ivies/BSMDs is way above BS/MD threshold, they are true cream and shouldnât short sell themselves to a BS/MD carrot without even making an attempt to explore their potential.
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This thread is full of n=1 examples or claims of doctors kids are separate breed and gets beneficiaries of nepotism.
No risk no rewards is the way I look at it
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Couple of things for anyone going traditional route, especially if ORM backgrounds.
The expectations would be that one is at a Magna cum laude school or higher irrespective of schools. They may cut a slight slack of like 0.05 or so if the undergrad school is notoriously difficult, but not much more. Another complicated factor would be how many top students from the same undergrad applying to same set of med schools as oneself, but wonât get into that.
Second, donât go by the median MCAT scores often quoted here (with perhaps one exception of your own instate med school). The general trend is to exceed it by 4 or more points for competitive med schools (1 point more per each section of MCAT).
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Lol those are quoted from AMCAS, official manuscript of SOM data.
For a change I agree with my good friend 
I always said 3.7/515-517 should be used as baseline. As my friend says students who are capable of getting into BU SMED can easily get those numbers.
I know someone with 3.9/511 got 3 MD As during current cycle.
Again I heard UCLA, UCB, Cornell and Princeton as grade deflation but not UPenn. May be my sample is different than yours.
I donât think schools set curves, either departments or individual faculty.
@mom2b2003 - living in NYC is unique. Usually thereâs something for everyone. Culture, restaurants, nightlife, etc. obviously, everyone has to decide what interests them, but those are some of the advantages. It truly is the city that never sleeps. Few, if any in the world, is like it. Due to the cost of living in NYC, not many get to live there. If one were to do so, even if only for a short time period, ideally it would be when one is young (doesnât have a family) and having housing subsidized (via college). But again, as you pointed out, itâs not for everyone. My D prefers a more traditional campus feel.
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@Mom22DDs - BU grading like many schools, will vary from class to class. While SMED is a rigorous program, there is a curve for most classes. The biggest challenge I find is that for the SMEDâs chemistry and physics classes, they are taking a more advanced class with their fellow SMEDs and those majoring in Chemistry and/or Physics (not the typical general student population). Thus, while there may be a curve (where in most public universities the BSMD student can ride the curve to their advantage), this is not always in oneâs favor given the quality of students in the Physics/Chemistry class taken by SMEDs at BU. Having said that, most will get through it successfully but will have to put in genuine work.
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