@Mahikesh Here is our story. My daughter has wanted to be a physician since she was in kindergarten. That is not an exaggeration.The kids did a unit on the organs of the body and she was hooked. I assumed that her desire would fade away eventually but it only grew stronger through the years. When she is asked what she would do if she couldn’t become a doctor, she usually comes up with some kind of answer, but the reality is, there is nothing else she wants to do. If necessary, she would take a gap year or two, get a masters, go abroad…whatever it took to eventually practice medicine.
Right now in this country, the competition for medical school spots is so intense that even for the brightest, hardest working kids, nothing is assured. That is terrifying to a kid with a true passion and no back up plan. So you can understand how the opportunity to secure a seat at a reputable US medical school would be irresistible to a kid like that.
She did not apply to NU and so I don’t know what it is that disappointed you. But I believe my daughter would gratefully spend four years studying medicine in a hole in the ground for the chance to be a doctor one day.
Medicine field is not easy and fun
U need to have deep interest focus and dedication and lot of students apply to fewer medical seats in the nation hence very very competitive and will become more competitive every year
I am in Norrhern CA and all kids I know tool took traditional route snd got into good medical schools. Only one took gap year to recover from lower GPA (from UCB). In my own family we have kids entered medical schools recently and took gap years due to grade deflation. With all that my DS decided to forego BSMD and taking traditional path. So there is no one size fits all solution
Just wanted to add some more inspired by others here
The case study of my daughter’s large and distinguished public high school.
3 or 4 years ago a bright student went to UCB. His feedback to successive batch of students. Don’t come here.
Despite this kid being at or near top of his high school caliber, no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t get more than B to B+ grades in most classes there. UCB is a known grade deflated school. To make it worse a disproportionately large percentage of the kids are Asian origin (both from within US and from international). And that makes it extremely difficult to shine. You can refer to the common data set of any school to look at the composition of the student body. The school charges a very high tuition from oos students offering no cuts whatsoever. In D’s batch 11 students of those who applied there from her school got accepted. But only one chose to go for CS. Likewise 10 students got admissions to Georgia Tech and none chose to go. On the private side Cornell and Princeton are also known to crush many dreams. So do your homework to figure out where you are heading and not just be guided by glamour, name or fame and whether you are fine with the consequences, good, bad or ugly. Not trying to scare anyone away, just urging to think practical and factor in your willingness for risk tolerance.
@rk2017 - May I ask why “Cornell and Princeton are also known to crush many dreams“? Is it because of grade deflation? Is it because their admission committees have a big influence on whether they would allow a student to apply to medical school (e.g. pressure student to take a gap year if credentials are not stellar)?
Correct. Grade deflation, kids who tend to be valedictorians of their high schools find themselves to be average Joes in the classes surrounded by similar or smarter kids. No leniency shown in tough grading taking the high caliber nature of the kids in the classes into consideration. Top 20% or so may be given As.
If the kids don’t measure up to the med school applying stats, they discourage the kids to pursue and heard even refuse committee letters. But hide all these facts and boast of a “96% med school applicants success rate” when you go for their college visits during high school. Not revealing all these dirty tricks behind the scenes with not all of those subset of successful applicants making it to stellar med schools either.
And yes JHU is known to discourage kids from applying to med schools right after and insisting on taking gap year(s)
@Mahikesh What do you mean by
“my perception has completely changed after seeing NU”
“I didn’t do any college visits prior to any interviews”
Curious…what would you have done different if you had visited NU prior to the application process?
@OldSchoolMD on a lighter note, healthcare is in your family DNA and some of us on this thread are completely opposite end of spectrum. So to see input from folks like your background, certainly helps.
I took that you have +ve vibe about NU after visit, at the same time few others read that as -ve vibe about NU. This is what exactly happens everyone is reading/understanding within their own perspective.
As lots of NU talking going on, just sharing if some of folks mayn’t have noticed yet. @NoviceDad D and my S both are in NU freshman. His D is in HPME and my S is in traditional route. So his D has secured route and my S has an open route. So far both are enjoying their choices and outcome. So not to create any hype, but it would be interesting after few years how this rodeo will be played out for both kids.
I am searching for some rough stats on how many BA/BS/MD undergrads do not matriculate to any Med school (corresponding med school or move out to different med school)
Temple
Drexel
NJMS
UMKC
PennJeff
Pitt
NU
BU
Brown
CaseWestern
VCU
Roch
RPI/Union/Siena-AMC
This is to get an idea of how many students fall-out of Med track during or after undergrad from each of the above list.
It could have been due to not maintaining requirements, GPA, MCAT, distractions, ‘not-that-pushy-parent-around-anymore’, or just change of mind.
I understand it could vary each year - is there any rough number or % dropouts from this track after enrollment?
Heard from current students in the program at Drexel that before they changed the program to 8 years, there was a give or take 20% attrition rate among the 7 year students.
Regarding NU, anyone who does not qualify for any “Need Based Aid” will end up paying a lot…approx $77k per yr for first 2 yrs as NU mandates even if you live within 30min from NU still have to stay at their dorms…I had a talk with the admissions when we went for a visit and they said it is mandated to stay at NU for first 2 yrs.
Cost of 7yrs BS/MD at NU-HPME for students who do not qualify for any “Need Based Aid” will be easily around $600k- $650k…
I am a physician and as many had mentioned here that any Medical School in USA is excellent when compared to overseas or Caribbean…
There is no lowly or highly US Medical Schools what people keep mentioning here…it all depends upon the student what kinda physician he or she wants to become…
Medical students even from FAU - SOM in Florida have done to big universities with excellent Residences and some even in tougher like Neurosurgery…
Also the most important thing hospitals or practices look to hire you is "Where you did your Residency/ Fellowship " from…never I was asked where I did my UG and which Medical School I went too and is never a factor in getting a job…
Every family and student has to be wise in not coming out of Medschool with lot of debt…and having tough time to get rid of it during many yrs of their practice…
I have seen physicians struggling with UG and Medschool debt and having speaking to them they say if they could go back in time would not spend a ton on UG and Medschool…
Absolutely agree with @sajju786 . I am a physician and I have never been asked which medical school I went to. Where I did residency has not mattered either beyond my first job. When I was faculty at a private medical school, almost every student was anxious about the debt they were faced with. As my kids are preparing for BS MD programs, my main advice is to not worry about the name of school, and go to any medical school that will give them the cheapest education. I know some here may not agree…but almost every doctor that I know generally agrees.
