Even with 8 years BS MD it is somewhat difficult to apply out if targeting schools like Harvard Medical which required a One or two Gap years unless you are from their Undergrad
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Folks
If you have decided on NOT joining a particular college/program, please let them know as soon as you are comfortable.
Please share your stats + perspectives in the results thread.
They donât require gap years.
You are correct you can apply after undergrad and they do not require gap but most recent trend is to be competitive and folks take gap years and do not apply early to the T10 programs ( They do not want colleges to know you until you are ready)
anyway 6 and 7 year BS MD programs are not a option to apply out and only can be done with 8 year programs
The 6 year UMKC program has no option to get a UG if one wants out, IMO. Only option in 6 year UMKC program may be to transfer to another UG program and get a UG degree there.
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30%+ donât need gap year and probably 5-10% are taking gap years to get other experiences not for medical school application purpose. I know couple of ORMs who got Harvard in last 2 years without gap years. Anyway Harvard is overrated for medicine 
Ha!
Well I grew up in a very rural area of the US. We have these little old ladies who smile while they insult you. Their hair is higher to heaven so they are closer to God (and keep the hair spray industry in business). Casseroles are basically the 6th love language. And drinking isnât ladylike- but you can take your nerve medicine and thatâs fine.
Even though nerve medicine smells a lot like stuff my PawPaw used to make in the shedâŠ
Once when we went to visit, my son burned his hand when trying to help with the controlled burn on the fields. He told me when we were driving home that Great Granny had some âsketchy medical practices.â 
As there has been recent posts about BSMD and UG route, I wanted to chime in being recent graduate of 6 year program and provide some perspective:
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Undergrad/Combined Program: It is very rigorous, as the 4 year UG curriculum is compressed in 2 years and then directly to medical school. I high schooled from a very competitive high school and even then it was a big shock for me with the work that needed to get good grades in the 2 year program. Most of the BSMD applicants only looks at 2 years saving but does not look at the amount of work that will be needed to basically complete 4 year work in 2 years.
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Social Life: There was basically no social life, just running from one assignments/lab to another and as it is relatively small pool of students, there is lot of competition and can become overwhelming. Area is relatively small too and there is not too many outdoor activities that one can experience. I really missed this part and it impacted my mental health during the 1st year for sure.
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Residency Match: This is the other area that one needs to closely research. Most of my friends and class mates matched to relatively low tier hospitals. Based on my GPA, research and other ECs, I could have matched to much prestigious hospitals.
Finally, if given a choice again, would I go through the same route? In my opinion, I would think very hard and probably select the UG route, as I let go my Rice and Vandy UG acceptances. I missed out on making some life long friends, didnât experience entire UG, participated in lot of family events, missed out on long vacations and could have matched to speciality that I really wanted to. Dont get me wrong, Yes, I did become MD in 6 years and fulfilled my childhood dream but UG route would have allowed me to do the same with relatively less stress and heartburn.
Again, please consider my experience with grain of salt, as everyoneâs desires are different. As they say, YMMV.
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Thanks for sharing your experience. We need more of these direct experiences than tales of hearsay.
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@Mom22DDs congrats on finally reaching the decision. You stated âNo Science Olympiad or such, no national level awards, but did extensive medical ECs since middle school that demonstrated a continued increase of interest and engagement in medicine.â
Can you elaborate kind of extensive medical ECs you are referring to and how your D is able to do that since middle school (kind of resources/support available)
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@Mom22DDs Wow, your D applied to approximately 25 BSMD programs, with 7-8 admissions ( if exclude CNU, 7) , an approximately 30% success rate. Congratulations on BU SMED. Wish her best of luck at BU SMED.
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Like I said, she didnât do anything outstanding. She was purposeful in how she spent time, and tried to learn the most she could from any program she attended. She was also lucky that she had great mentors, including a Bio teacher in high school that had turned down a medical career and could provide relevant advice.
During middle school, she enrolled in a program with intense mentoring/ shadowing in hospitals abroad. She clicked with the general surgeon who mentored her about the different surgeries she observed - this was impactful. She also started volunteering at a senior residential care facility since middle school that gave her limited exposure to geriatrics, and that grew into hospice non-profit leadership role.
Every summer, she participated in programs at UCs and Stanford that provided medical pathway exposure/ training and access to mentors. She made the most of the time with mentors, and I think this stood out in her communications, essays and interviews. She also volunteered broadly beyond geriatrics, including VA hospitals and even traveled to New Jersey to spend some time with her sister while volunteering there because they have a good trauma hospital there. She said the discussion with BU SOM interviewer was her most enjoyable cos she finally go to summarize her journey in detail with someone who understood it. She couldnât attend BU RISE when it was canceled due to covid but she had some academic research that she followed up with student-directed research at a local lab that helped complete her profile.
Hope that helps.
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@srk2017 IMO, for regular MD, approximately 150-200 hrs each in clinical volunteering and community service, 60-80 hrs in physician shadowing ( primary care included) and around 400-800 hrs in research (1-2 summer full time research) may be sufficient for most medical schools including T10. A lizzym score ( MCAT >= 518 and UG GPA > = 3.8) 76 or more may be sufficient.
With these stats, AAMC data predicts 89% chance of admission into at least ONE medical school.
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Wow, she did a lot of medical related ECs. I am surprised that she didnât get more acceptance but happy that she got into BU SMED.
Also, thanks for sharing for future applicants. I hope you will stick around for few cycles and help the community.
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IMO, this may be far more than most UG students may do for regular MD route.
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I agree, you summarized it very well. As per T10s, essays and LORs are the differentiators. Some school (like UChicago) value more service though.
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@Mom22DDs - Congratulations to your D and the proud family on BU SMED.
Wish her the very best!
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Thank you foe your kind words. She did not turn in a SAT Chem and I was told some programs may use that as a condition to filter out candidates, not sure if that is true. She didnât have a strong research experience, which hurt her chances with Rice, CWRU and Pitt Gap. She could have asked one of her mentors for a recommendation - this she regrets not doing and feels could have given that extra nudge needed to be considered despite not having extensive research experience.
That said, she seems genuinely content to begin the next chapter, which is important for her to do well.
Hope this helps for future candidates.
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1 HPME student is deferring matriculating as selected for Fulbright scholarship.
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Great to get Fulbright in 3 yr program