Thread for BSMD Applicants 2019

I have leadership ( debate club captain and dance team captain), volunteering ( ngos to teach English and volunteering in health care) and hard core college research for almost two summers and won few regional competitions .
Which feeder school would u recommend if I can apply to only one school

@diaash I believe you are correct. Its unfortunate, as my D would have liked to apply to 2 of them. The three schools are very different. Union is focused on public health policy. Sienna is very focused on community service. RPI is the most technical. Pick the one that is best for you. D will probably be applying to Union.

I would need some advice and help in figuring this out . I feel I have criteria for all three . Are the tuitions/scholarships/ all similar . There must by some differentiation. Are they all similar size colleges . Are all three under grad similar tier?
Rpi I feel is more of a boy school, and being a girl I would prefer a balanced boy/girl population. Really tough to decide which one to apply To

Are their requirements for AMC Md program similar in under grad ?

@diaash Just a thought — RPI is actively seeking more girls. I don’t know if that applies to their BS/MD program, but it might be a slight edge.

@diaash Your SAT/ACT score may NOT be enough for AMC/RPI. You are an ORM from your previous post. Is this correct ? What is your UW GPA ? My 2 cents, please concentrate on regular UG route to Medical School. Just apply to a few BS/MD programs.

Here is Temple BS/MD data for 2018 cycle

Applicant Academic Profiles for 2018
329 Total Applications
40 invited to interview
11 accepted as Health Scholars
Total Applicants (n = 329)

Average SAT Reading: 710
Average SAT Math: 760
Average SAT Combined: 1470
Average ACT: 34
Average GPA: 3.93

Successful candidates
Accepted Health Scholars (n = 11)
Average SAT Reading: 750
Average SAT Math: 780
Average SAT Combined: 1510 ( I think it is a typo since 750+780 = 1530 )
Average ACT: 34
Average GPA: 4.0

I also have act score of 34 along with sat 1480. Am planning on sending my act to schools that accept act. I know I do not have great test scores .
Most of my time last two years ( almost 10-20 hrs a week after school) were devoted to my science research and my leadership responsibilities in our debate club and dance clubs. I have a decent gpa with all rigorous aps in math and sciences . And volunteering at senior homes .
I have been gearing up these programs since 9th grade . Sat scores were little let down but given time I had , I think I did my best and I do not want just that to deter my three years worth of work being on track for these programs and trying to get everything done in favor of these .
Yes am definitely applying to 4 year colleges too , but my first choice are these programs .
Was very challenging to find mentors for my research assistantship and finding all these internships and I want to believe that it was all worth it

Yes, I just saw the stats while I was looking for deadlines for these programs . Thank you so much for the info

@diaash Good Luck to you. My DD is currently in Temple 4 yr BS/MD program.

Wow, very happy for her . Do u mind sharing her experience or maybe I can connect with her directly . If she is ok with that .

@disash If you schedule a visit to Temple Honors program, you may request them to meet with a current Health Scholar. Here is the url for scheduling a visit.
https://honors.temple.edu/visit-us

@diaash Yes, you have taken efforts on research, leadership and volunteering. So true, you can apply to either RPI or Union or Sienna. So to decide which one to apply:

  1. What is your heart says? Since you did all 3 different type of activities, which one did you enjoy most.
  2. Is there any financial constraints for UG? Example: RPI is 3 years, Union is 4 years. Also Union, though they give merit aid ($20-25k only), still UG fees will come out pretty stiff.

3. If possible visit all 3 schools campus and get a feel for it.

A. Being NY resident, apply to Stony Brook and use your research to your advantage.
B. There is a person who is always willing to help on Union program. Check his handle and PM to understand Union. He choose Union than so called other top ranked BS/MD program (NW or Brown or something). So s/he can give different perspective.

C. Apply to few BS/MD and few UG regular programs since no one will know the outcome of either BS/MD or later MD admission process. Always need to have Plan B.

@GoldenRock , thank you so much for your encouragement and supportive message .
I have visits scheduled for union and sienna but am really crunched with time with all my ap course work, essays and research . Appreciate you sharing about helpful person at Union. How do I get in touch with him.? Will love to speak to him.
Though , after all the advice on this post , I am leaning towards RPI / AMC

@diaash I would be happy to give you some insight on the Union program. Feel free to PM me!

What are the good premed friendly undergraduate colleges for traditional medical school track?

@diaash I was referring @Undecided3494. So PM directly.

@gallentjill, @diaash,

Good point about RPI being proactively seeking to enroll more girl students. They may also be generous with their financial awards, though unlikely to award full rides. Also they tout the program with AMC as a Physician Research program so someone with decent research exposure may stand an advantage. On the flip side, if you are claiming a lot of research exposure, is it possible for RPI or AMC to be expecting a publication or two?

Even though RPI may like the candidacy of someone and forward it to AMC and even push for it, I have learned either on this forum or talking to people that AMC is very much bent on high school GPAs. So they may pretty much consider only ~4.0 gpas (school caliber may not count). But again, who knows, it is possible they may revisit and revise their policies from time to time. Especially if and when there are changes in the admissions committee.Also they consider two SAT subject tests and there is some new test they are asking for I believe starting this coming cycle.

So it is perhaps worth giving a shot with the stats of @diaash and anyone with similar backgrounds. But you can only choose one feeder school amongst RPI.Union and Sienna.

Also wanted to mention to @GoldenRock 's point, that StonyBrook may be pretty much ruled out for gpa reasons. I had shared information from their web site for the same reason. Nevertheless no harm in applying and seeing what happens. But don’t count much on it.

@sangsun,

It is difficult to give list of good pre-med friendly schools. I would suggest talking to your high school counselors and students from your school who are already in colleges. However there is a list of 25 or so supposedly tough schools, so double check if the school you want to go to happens to be one of them. Also add Cornell and JHU to the list if not already in there.

https://gradeslam.org/blog/the-top-25-colleges-with-the-hardest-grading

Also click on any school of interest in this link to follow the trend:

http://www.gradeinflation.com/

I’m worried about my SAT score. I have a 1540 (740 ERW, 800 Math), which I feel like is too low for BS/MD, especially because I got a 34/40 on the Reading and a 40/40 on the Writing (pretty sure reading is more important for BS/MD). Am I overthinking this? I signed up to take the October ACT, as I haven’t tried the ACT yet.