@Mimic17
I believe about 6-7 kids on this forum received HPME interview invites.
There were more invites from UPitt this year >9
If you have the ear of Adcoms there, give them one feedback - stop raising the GPA requirements beyond 3.7. It’s on the path of making it unattractive.
@NoviceDad You are so right about the GPA requirements. Once you start raising it too high, there really is no advantage to the BSMD program. Washington University requires a 3.8 GPA and MCAT in the 97th percentile. I thought that was a joke the first time I read it.
And if I am not mistaken, WashU is one of those brand names that people go crazy after going traditional route, but ending up struggling due to tough grading and intense competition.
@rk2017 Yes, WashU seems to be a very hot school from what I have seen in our community. I really don’t know much about it except that it has a beautiful campus and award winning dorms.
I know one good student who went there for BME and ended up dropping the plans to pursue medicine further (sample size may be too low) , urge anyone serious about it to do due diligence and assess if they are ok with the worst case scenario.
Couple of D’s high school class/batch mates went there too but she is not in touch and so no first hand info.
@NoviceDad @rk2017 @GoldenRock
@PPofEngrDr
If it boils down to VCU gmed, UMKC 6yr and PITT gap how to choose the best one among these. D is saying PITT>UMKC>VCU.We are OOS for all.
15k>No Scholarship>Provost.She says what’s the point of going to Bsmd route if you have to take MCAT no matter how low the requirement is for MCAT. Maintaining Gpa (3.75) is not a problem for her itseems.But I am nervous about Pitt’s Gpa requirements.
@whitecane Is 3.75 GPA at UPitt every semester/quarter or at the time of matriculation?. One can easily slip in any semester by not having all A’s. Something to consider. Usually A- is 3.7. VCU may be a safer choice,UMKC (6yrs) most stressful, UPitt most risk. My 0.02 cents.
@sajju786 when will be your UC interview??? Do you know when are they going to release the admission decision??
Agree that Pitt gap may be best option, but 3.75 is a rather high bar. If possible try to get some gpa distribution stats of premed students there which may give you an idea. (I remember someone sharing similar stats about NU last year). Also you may want to check the results threads and PM any students who went there. If I find ant contact I will pm you later …
UMKC - two concerns. I feel 6 years is a short span and wonder the implications on the residency matches. You may want to go through their match lists for few years to identify quantity and quality of the matches and the trend year over year with special attention to latest years.
I believe UMKC is not rated by usnews and some folks who are ardent followers of that site will have issue with that (I wouldn’t have had issue with that if I were in your position)
Don’t know enough about VCU but would have been concerned about extra mandatory year with D having tonnes of AP level courses and the reputation of that institution not warranting sacrificing a year for (like for Pitt gap).
@whitecane MCAT score seems to have a good correlation with USLME Step 1 score in medical school according to some published studies. It may give some indication of how well one may perform in MS-1/MS-2.
@whitecane
If it were us, we would have chosen UPitt over others without a second thought.
UPitts 3.75 GPA is not at all difficult to maintain. Undergrad education is decent.
Plus UPitt is a research powerhouse and UPMC is a great health system. They attract top level doctors and researchers.
MCAT - just take it as one more requirement like Step1 exam.
Going the BS/MD Route is that you have a guaranteed seat at medical school.
I am against UMKC mainly due to 6 years and horror stories of lack of support.
This is what the program website info says…
Maintain an overall GPA of 3.75 with a Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics (BCPM) GPA of 3.75 as an undergraduate.
As far as I understood it’s the science Gpa by the time you finish your undergrad ( correct me if I interpreted wrong ).If it’s not semester wise then probably its doable.Regarding Mcat prep and Usmle correlation is a good point to think about before saying no no to Mcat. Thank you.
Congrats @whitecane
I am not familiar with VCU. As I mentioned previously, I’m not a big fan of 6-year accelerated program (too intense, risk of burnout, less likely to have ‘normal’ undergraduate experience). So based on that and before getting the opportunity to visit UPitt in a couple of weeks, I would go with UPitt.
I have somewhat similar concern re: GPA at UPitt GAP. However, given state school with large student body, I would expect with the caliber of most BS-MD students , that they should rise to the near the top of most classes. Only thing is safety net may not be as wide. Anyway, it’s a moot point at this time. Key is to get info (what the experience is off current students with maintains that GPA requirement) at interview next month.
@rk2017 and @NoviceDad
Here one more thing to consider is good middle and high schools for her little brother aswell … as we will be relocating with her.Good schools and Safe neighborhoods are also our priority at this time.
Not sure its necessary for student to take the MCAT just to prove they can take the Usmle. After all, all these kids have already proven themselves on standardized tests. On the other hand, a reasonable MCAT requirement shouldn’t deter someone from an otherwise good program.
@gallentjill Your point is also valid and true…torn between everything for now as I said there are other factors also are involved for our family to make the decision.Thank you.
@whitecane - if I may ask, why is family relocating? Is it to get in-state status? Just curious since they’re all in different locations.
UMKC ball dropped overnight…
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/01/health/professor-accused-of-stealing-invention-lawsuit-trnd/index.html
@whitecane
If you move to Pittsburgh, the best school districts are Upper St. Clair, North Allegheny and Mt. Lebanon.
Upper St Clair also has the IB program from first grade - one of the very few such school districts in the country (most have it for junior / senior year of high school).
These school districts offer education on par with if not better than private schools of the area.
UPitt would be 30-40 min drive from these locations.
@whitecane
All the above are very safe neighborhoods.
They are all suburbs.