@diaash
If you notice from @upstream’s post, kids were from Harvard, UPenn, Columbia, WashU, MIT, Brown, Northwestern, NYU, Cornell, Emory, Stanford, CMU, etc.
So, yes.
I may be wrong but I sense a little panic in your posts.
I think, at this point, you should take a deep breath and relax.
You have till Apr 30 to decide.
So take it slow and take one step at a time.
Ask yourself this question:
Do you want to be a doctor?
Or is going to a “prestigious” college more important to you?
Sleep over these questions.
If you still feel torn, use the technique that was indicated in one of the movies - toss a coin - be the time the coin lands, you will know exactly where your heart lies.
@diaash @srk2017 is correct.
Please note that these BSMD programs are not set in stone…one student at RPI/AMC program decided to stayed on one more year RPI and applied to medical schools as a traditional student and got into JHU medical school.
I’m recycling my old post from 2016:
03-25-2016 at 2:41 pm
It’s getting close for many students to make an exciting and difficult decision on where to enroll, especially between “prestigious” undergraduate programs and BS/MD programs. As a physician and parent who experience this, here’s my two cents on BS/MD programs.
For the PRO:
Since many students in combined programs are able to get credit for their AP classes, such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Calculus and so on, they have more “free” time to pursue such classes as Poetry, Philosophy, Psychology, Medicine and Sociology and Philosophy of Science. These are some of actual courses that our son will be taking first two years in the BS/MD program.
With less pressure to maintain “high” GPA (3.5 in most programs), one can actively engage in campus life. In our son’s case, he has joined an athletic team, which would have been difficult through the “regular” route since being in a sport team is very time consuming.
As an Asian "pre-med’, your chance of being accepted into an allopathic medical school in U.S. is about 41.3 % with GPA of 3.4-3.5 and MCAT of 30-32. Some of BS/MD programs does not even require MCAT. According to AAMC, 2014 matriculating Asian medical students average stats are: gpa of 3.73 and MCAT of 32.8.
For the CON:
Less “prestigious” colleges associated with some of these programs.
The question of: “What if… I could have gotten into better medical school through the regular route?” However, many students drop out of “pre-med” track even in highly ranked colleges. Most science courses do not give out more than 10 % A’s. I personally know a Harvard graduate who went to one of Caribbean medical schools. About one third of pre-meds at such prestigious colleges as U of Chicago drop out of the pre-med race by end of their freshman year.
But… if you choose such colleges as U Pitt, UNC and UMD, you have potential to become a BIG fish in those schools with continued motivation. I would avoid such schools as U of Chicago or Duke as your undergraduate college.
Go to IVY and other high ranked schools if you want to get a job in wall street.
Final DECISION:
Remember that you always have an option of transferring out of the program or transfer out of school entirely. I know of a student at low/mid tier BS/MD program, who transferred to Yale after first year. The final decision is up to YOU. Good Luck!!!
@upstream messages are always Gothic, just like a physician prescription. 
Our son chose RPI/AMC over Cornell/Northwestern/WashU/Vanderbilt. If he had not received any BS/MD offers, I would have advised him to attend either CWR or Rochester over previously mentioned schools.
Out of about 18 students, only one dropped out during RPI and another dropped out during AMC.
Good luck!
Some successful stories post IVY or equivalent:
Cornell…Albert Einstein ms…pediatrics at Albert Einstein
Williams College…U of Rochester ms (one year research)… urology at Columbia
Williams College… NYU ms… NYU radiology
Cornell…U of Florida ms…orthopedics at Northwell
@upstream , what year is ur son in now ?
@NoviceDad , am more than 100% sure about becoming a physician. My entire application even for undergrad was geared with that focus. In my mind I had decided that I would take bsmd over any undergrad except Brown plme/Columbia/Yale. I know except for bragging rights , am at a good place with rpi amc.
Our high school is ranked top in the nation and last year we had some really great acceptances. However, this year our school got hit really hard and specially the highest achieving kids in academics and ecs who happen to be ORM , have not seen any top acceptances. Am a bit shaken with that.
@NoviceDad - I don’t think 1-2 gap years are terrible if someone is using them to get into top medical schools. In fact two kids I know deferred their admissions from good schools (Columbia and USC) to get some work experience in non-medical fields they like.
Over past 4 years all regeneron semi finalists and kids who did research and forensics have been accepted to top schools. I have strong high power research with prestigious awards /debate/leaderships/philanthropy and great lors with good stats. However, this year the acceptances for extremely poor and am a little taken a back.
@NoviceDad , maybe thus the anxiety.
@sunitacarmen,I think Duke has some grade deflation.
Yes, my D got into Augusta. I will soon post her stats too in the results page. We were just too busy with the college visits and never got a chance to keep up with the blog. It was not intentional not to care posting. Thank you @rk2017! We did find a GroupMe for the admitted students so she is happy to make some new great connections with the Fall 2019 cohort.
@diaash With your background and achievements, you will continue to succeed whatever you decide to do. GL
@srk2017
I have a different view on gap years.
Medicine is 4 yrs undergrad + 4 yrs med school + 3 to 5 yrs residency.
In addition add 2-5 yrs for fellowship.
When you have atleast 11 to 13 years of training, I am very much against adding 1-2 gap years.
@upstream m just curious to know about where u have these stats from . Is it from ur school ?
Thanks for sharing them . They definitely very helpful
@diaash Don’t worry… attend RPI/AMC… especially if you like research. Who knows, you could become next Dr. Jeffrey M. Friedman. He is a graduate of RPI/AMC and the founder of leptin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_M._Friedman
@diaash I think you can brag a bit about RPI/AMC. That acceptance rate is about as low as any Ivy and many people will be really impressed that you have a medical school acceptance in your pocket. Its OK to be disappointed about the Ivy’s but you may realize that you are in a far better situation then you would have been if you had attended Columbia or Yale over RPI. Besides, the real bragging rights will come from actually being a doctor one day. At that point, no one will care where you went to undergrad.
@diaash
These stats are mostly from my patients and family members.
@NoviceDad One of our patients, who did 2 gap years after a high ivy, was envious of our son’s situation. I think her gap years were rather stressful.
@srk2017
Thank you
@NoviceDad and @upstream Yes, I agree gap years are stressful if you have a big setback in UG and after 1 or 2 years you endup with a school less prestigious than your UG school. Close family members went thru that, but I also seen kids having better outcomes with careful planning.
@medadmin2019 I’m not exactly sure how many interviewed in HPME and acceptance rate. @NoviceDad is an expert at HPME as his kid is a freshman there. I can ask him to comment.