Yes that is the reason why son took some advanced courses at community college to be competitive.
As a ChE myself, BME is closest to MD unless you do PhD ChE specializing in Biomed. ChE is broader discipline and UG barely touches Bio. BME combines bio and engg. Although she is determined to be MD or MD/PhD, we all think BME is the best UG option ( until I started learning here that Med schools dont care about Major). We all are engg. family most in CS/EE, usually the most sought after Engg. branch.
It is difficult to get admitted to Stanford or Caltech Biology, even more to BME and virtually close to impossible in CS ( Google guys are CS Stanford). And yes Caltech is mostly math and physics unless BME and then it is bio, chem, math and physics. Not sure how many go to MD vs. PhD or pharma/start own biotech company.
So we come back to same thing- Not sure how many waitlist will move at Caltech ( small school)- She would have eliminated JHU by itself but 4 yr schol with 3.0 GPA makes it attractive should Caltech or other top school not offer money.
She was rejected by Rice/Baylor ( Son is EE/CS at UT-Austin - tough school to keep GPA above 3.00 in EE/CS- Not sure about Biology).
Next few weeks will be more confusing.
We got via email as well. @Sooriya2021
D thinks she will either go to Harvard if admitted or Caltech if waitlist cleared.
You have tough decision- Perhaps I would give up JHU schol for Harvard or Caltech even full pay.
The reason you get Schol at JHU/Duke/NW/Rice etc. is perhaps to get Harvard kids.
Yes Harvard gives more opportunities if end goal can change from medicine but in our case like his sibling he is closed eyes with medicine with surgical speciality in mind and I am trying to convince him to be flexible. I think his elder sibling has exposed him to medicine a lot and he is not aware of other areas which he can get exposed at the top Ivy.
Did anyone here who applied to Stony Brook Scholars for Medicine get into any of the Stony Brook Honors Programs?
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So if SBU offers her BS-MD (full ride BME undergrad at SBU- also instate), it is better to take that compared to say Harvard or Caltech or JHU schol? She is also determined to be MD or MD/PhD and hence BME.
I agree Caltech is mostly engineering but have some joining medicine seen research profiles with UCLA medicine
For MD PHD wont be a bad option. Prestige and ranking matters and both UCLA and Caltech are ranked.
Same way Pitt med has program with Carnegie Mellon a top engineering school for MD PHD
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Although full ride at SBU is attractive you want to check if it has MD PHD option and assess the ranking of the PHD program too
I got into honors
CMU is topmost in CS ( close to 1) - Doesnt have BME. ChE is way low ranked- Even UT- Austin ranks top 5 in ChE whereas CMU is nowhere in top 25.
She was selected to UCLA BME yesterday - OOS. No mention of $$ so far. Berkeley/CMU ( ChE) are pending. I am sure CMU is in her pocket - not sure on $$.
One kid from our HS did chemistry major at CalTech and got Northwestern medicine with full scholarship.
Good question to ask at SBU interview- Does anyone have idea on them??
I know a student who went to Caltech but took 2 years gap, worked full time and did MD/Residency at USC and doing Cardio residency at UC Davis now.
Got into Stony brook honors (16K scholarship) but did not get interview email invite for Stony Brook BSMD. Is Stony brook done calling for BSMD ?
Perhaps this group ( or actually most) do not know or have heard about golden gem- Harvey Mudd in LA near Caltech. It is UG only ( 700 total) and teaching school, ranks 1 in schools without graduate school, and is considered of the same caliber as Caltech. Also it has 2nd/3rd highest BS salary and highest number of students for PhD to top schools like MIT/Stanford/Caltech etc.
Not sure on MD as they have biology and biology/chemistry ( or biochemistry) major although it is considered top engineering school.
Perhaps folks from CA may know.
One does not need BME stuff during medical school except may be physics, biology, and biochemistry. IMO, BME is much closer to mechanical engineering e.g. mechanics, fluid-dynamics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, computer-aided-system design etc.
If one wants to pursue a MD/PhD, research oriented UG schools (like CalTech, MIT, Harvey Mud) may help during application cycle, not much for MD.
yes rigor of undergrad and atmosphere to buildi quality EC’s is helping Harvey Mudd college to join top programs.
Doubt if a 3.7 from JHU will take one to a lot of places these days. Unless they end up making the cut for magna cum laude honor level so it can be emphasized on the med school applications (may want to check what is the cut off).
Vaguely remember someone mentioning here few cycles ago about a 3.6 and 99% ile JHU student not getting in anywhere. Same goes with places like MIT, Princeton, Cornell …
Most medical ECs are meant to show that one has the attributes necessary for being a physician (like compassion, altruism, patience, perseverance, communication skills) and realize what one is getting into as a MD. This should reflect in one’s personal statement.