@2019NewB
Thanks for that perspective.
I did not know that.
@sunitacarmen,
Yes, if your kid got into JHU, he is definitely good enough for SLU med scholars. I wouldnât personally recommend BME at JHU because of cut throat competition, but other majors should be mostly fine.
The owner of the auto repairing place where I take my car, sends his second son to JHU (either bio chemical engineering or bio chemistry) and he seems to be doing quite well. But then he may be shelling out a quarter million for the undergrad itself with no guarantees of whether or not he will make it to a med school and high likelihood of having to take a gap year (especially @JHU). Also just to put in perspective, it seems the kid was 3rd in his high school, not a very rigorous one though.
Likewise, I was speaking to my D yesterday (who is in a BS/MD program), went to a very rigorous high school and it seems one of her classmates who was not a stellar student when at high school seems to be doing quite well in premed at the local public university (rigorous one) with a 4.0 gpa.
With SLU I think more or less free ride for undergrad? Is it 7 or 8 years in duration? How do the match results compare? And if I remember correctly, your elder son went through direct med path in preference to Ivies? What is his take on this?
So you got to weigh in multiple factors with your son and choose what you think is optimal.
@sunitacarmen - Adding to what @rk2017 said and based on my family experiences, those who havenât gone to a rigorous HS will most likely struggle at JHU especially first year or two and then itâs very hard to come out of the hole and make the required GPA (3.7+) for med school. JHU name wonât help with < 3.7 GPA for non-URMs.
By DD is reaching out to local universities for research opportunities and has raised this question. Would it matter if they are MD or PhD professors with lab, is there any preference one over the other?
@Smilescreen - if interested in Medicine, i donât think it makes a difference. Itâs the experience that matters, getting to see the academic side as opposed to the clinical side of medicine. Having said that, I would guess that basic science research may be viewed a little more favorably than clinical research, but that may be just splitting hairs.
@sunitacarmen
If your kidâs interest is in bio-medical / bio-tech research, JHU BME is one of the best programs to be in.
If it is medicine, I would give preference to a BS/MD program.
With BME as major at places like JHU, Georgia Tech and UC Berkeley, chances are high (50% or more) that one has to forego pursuing medicine later. As mentioned earlier from my Dâs erstwhile high school, 1 out of 11 chosen went to UCB and 0/10 went to GaTech and I am sure some of them were accepted to BME.
So it may come to deciding how much one needs to choose the BME as major.
@rk2017 add my son in that list for GA Tech too. 
not sure what exact issue being referred, but distant wise all 3 medical campuses are within ~2 hrs drive for most students.
@OldSchoolMD Thanks for your input.That helps.
my D applied for biology major for BS/MD in VCU. Unfortunately we did not get an interview call.
VCU sent a letter inviting to move to BME as those students get clinical rounds and research opportunities etc starting from freshman. They are trying to entice students to get into BME. I believe many BME students in VCU get into MD programs.
https://egr.vcu.edu/departments/biomedical/academics/undergraduate/
Anyone have any feedback on VCU BME? Is it suggested path (BME) compared to going with sciences/arts?
I see lot of math& physics related subjects in BME.
Folks thx for your feedback. Based on our elder sonâs input, itâs clearly slu. Heâs seen it all with so many of his friends at top ug schools who never made it into medicine via the traditional path, for one reason or another. From what Iâve heard on this forum its not impossible to maintain gpa requirements at slu âŠleaning toward thatâŠ
One of the other reason the premed drop out of premed in top if schools is that there are lot of other options and opportunities which give quick returns
Let me say this. BME is certainly an attractive option at most places except the likes of ones mentioned above, since worst case scenario one can land in an engineering position as opposed to teaching or something with pure arts or science majors. Also the exposure to clinical setups is very attractive. However one has to take oneâs own personality into consideration. How exciting is it for someone to design, create, build etc? Any exposure to Robotics and such in high school? Things of that sort.
From my personal experience though D excelled in Math and Science, she was never an engineering person and probably wouldnât have enjoyed doing it. Surprisingly she has strong affinity to liberal arts in spite of her superlative strengths in math and science.
@DSOF20192023 sorry, I am not familiar with VCU or its vigor w.r.t BME.Tbh, if one still has engineering mindset then BME is not necessarily wrong program and if one able to maintain GPA (hard with engineering design classes) then medicine doors are still open, if one doesnât then BME can be a safety net, but one has to have that mindset and willing to settle with that career path. I had that thought too, but when my son finally said he doesnât want to deal with any engineering design anymore that shuts down the door for GA Tech BME and UIUC BioE (as a parents we wish both brothers have good time at UIUC, oh well, our desires are not necessarily kids choice).
Also to elaborate further to what @rk2017 said, my son was part of robotics club, like to program, but not a mechanical engineer mindset.
Last stretch creates lot of anxiety, excitement. But go easy on gas. For all you know, it may be beneficial for many.
No need to put in efforts to evaluate the options until the offer in hand. The best gift is no choice.
Specialty/residency match. At the right time, the right person will figure that out, not now but probably in 3-5 years time.
You can not quantify every aspect in life.
You can not have it and eat it too.
Listen to every tips, facts, stats and story shared by every one in CC or anywhere but give 1% weight.
Because the 99% weight need to come from individual Personal situation (not even just because sibling did this or that)
Only student knows who they are, what they want to do, and certainly parents/family know what kind of a kid, how s/he is brought up and exposed and what stage of maturity, what personality.
Some kids wants challenges all the time and they love and excel it. But some are easy going. But may be very focused on their goal and know how to achieve.
Some kids can take the setback. Some kids may have never faced and may not know on the first failure how to handle. But they will learn that also (similar to how they learned to walk after falling 99 times)
Some kids may think (right or wrong) they know for sure they want to be a doc and medicine is their career choice. Some kids still not sure, but donât mind exploring.
Some kids gets more influence (right or wrong) from family and for some they are encouraged to make their decision.
But they know brain is not fully formed until 25 (future doc knows that!) so be open to take the input from family, at least with the grain of salt!
Personal special situation (locked some money in specific State funding, or may need support system initially and need to be in driving distance etc)
This context may help some to make decision or at least shorten the options. It is important decision since next few adolescence years are trans-formative and can facilitate to come out of the blocks quickly. Best wishes to all.
Any update on REMS results ?
Does anyone know if FAUâs BS/MD program sends out rejection letters or is there a permanent waitlist?
@PPofEngrDr
The issue what I was referring too is Peoria and Rockford campuses are not equivalent to UIC campus not only from city to small town atmosphere and also vicinity to other hospitals. From what I know the top kids in the program gets higher chance of staying at Chicago campus. Someone can correct me if I donât have correct information on this.
@2019NewB That is what I remember posted in previous years threads. As long as this program is flexible, then it is great so that students can apply out with out loosing their seat here.