@PPofEngrDr - the research you described can definitely be signifcsnt. As mentioned by @GoldenRock, doing the research, almost any research, is key. Exposure to academic medicine, analytical thinking, data interpretation, is what med schools/residencie/fellowships look for.
@PPofEngrDr, @GoldenRock, @OldSchoolMD and others,
Perhaps I didnāt articulate well earlier. While I agree with the general premise that research at a high level is good in a number of ways at a macro level, choosing what one excites the most is equally important at micro level. That tends to make one to more productive, committed and it kind of becomes second nature.
When someone takes up the first opportunity coming oneās way, there are couple of issues. First, you are committing yourself for certain minimum duration and hours with that program. So tomorrow if something more interesting comes up you just canāt walk away to take that up. Second, when you are working on a particular research project, coupled with the rigors of the regular grind, you tend to stop looking for other opportunities due to lack of time and what not.
So sometimes it may be worth waiting if you arenāt sure if the opportunity in front if you is what you really want to be involved in. Of course not ruling out the possibility that the first thing that reveals before you may itself be the ideal one.
On a funnier note, those who followed big bang theory tv episodes may relate to this. Alex, Sheldonās post doc associate, who was asked to go shop a birthday gift for his girlfriend Amy (without involving Alex much with his research). When she complains she let go an opportunity at Fermi Labs to be able to work with him, he says something like, too bad, some one else will have to go shop for birthday presents for the girlfriends of the folks over there.
On a separate occasion, quoting Alex he says to Leonard or someone - she wants to contribute to my research, huh, 
Kids these days say the cutest things ā¦
Dear All,
I am new here. Please pardon me for being off the topics BS/MD. I have been following for the few last pages of discussions regarding BS/MD programs. Iāve found that many of you are doctors / parents of the doctors to be, etc. So, I am turning myself in to seek for advice which has no relations to BS/MD.
Iāve been accepted to
- Rutgers NB Honors College - Biological Sciences ,
2 Drexel Honors - Premed - UPitt Honors - Premed
- Stony Brook - Premed
- Case Western - Premed
The only thing I know of is Rutgers NB has 7 year BA/MD program, it allows sophomre to apply.
May I ask for your advice which school has better chance to get in the medical field, which provides better opportunities to work on research, shadowing, hospital volunteer, etc, from first semester - 1st year in college.
Your responses are greatly appreciated.
I will have to make decision by the next week or two.
Sincerely,
p.s: I have not visited the campus of UPitt, Stony, Case Western. Please ignore the financial factor.
I forgot few things: which school is better preparing MCAT for students? Has higher score? Has higher acceptance rate?
Sorry, I canāt edit the previous post
You can edit your previous post within 15 minutes of posting it. If you hover over the upper right corner of the post you should see a small wheel revealing itself within that time period. If you click on it it should open an edit window after which you can click save comments button at the bottom.
Without knowledge of any other details like state residency, financial awards, proximity etc, I lean towards Case Western.
@SkAdvice - I agree with @rk2017 that all things being equal, I would lean towards CWRU if interested in going to medical school. 13% of graduates go to medical school. Strong and abundant research opportunities. Hospital volunteer and shadowing are plentiful. There are more physicians than undergraduate students in their campus (University Circle). Cleveland Clinic affiliated and on campus.
Does anybody know when Cincinnati Connections will release their decisions?
Another vote for CWRU.
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Just won regional exploravision and competing for nationals , I thought that would be able to use that to add to my resume Incase I got waitlisted at brown /Yale/Columbia
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@diaash and anyone else in similar situations,
Wanted to say this yesterday but somehow slipped. If you feel you have any major accomplishments or publications that you missed out on taking advantage of due to timing issues, there is yet another option later. Transfer after 1st or 2nd year of undergrad. As long as you maintain good gpa in undergrad, you can put forth all your accomplishments till that point for consideration during transfer.
There are some limitations though which I will go through with examples of 3 students from Rutgers.
One of the students who had very high credentials and hoping to get into UPenn undergrad business program at Wharton after high school. That did not happen and he chose to attend Rutgers (probably full ride) and maintained 4.0 gpa and other accomplishments and applied for transfer the following year. They accepted him but insisted he will have to repeat all the course work at UPenn i.e. no credit for his coursework at Rutgers. He agreed and took a transfer losing a year.
One of my friendsā son also in the same batch and having high gpa tried transferring to business program at UT Austin and had to face similar predicament. They agreed to give credit to only 2 courses, he contemplated for some time and decided to not go for the transfer.
Another girl transferred to Cornell hotel administration program (still under the umbrella of business school there). Donāt know details of transfer credits though. Can find out if anyone interested.
I would advise against going to Cornell though, either now or later, if eventual goal is medicine.
@SkAdvice
Please visit these colleges and get a feel of the campus and student vibe. Remember you will have to spend 4 years there.
For research, you will have to seek it out.
The pre-med / health advising office may have an email list and you will need to reach out to Profs for research work.
I would suggest Case or UPitt.
Note: Case dorms are awful and there is not much activity outside campus.
Folks
If you are keen on medicine, a bird in hand is worth more than two in the bush.
Honestly, forget Ivies or other traditional path options at this stage.
Focus on your goal - medicine.
But you have to decide.
And when you do, please share it on the results thread:
@NoviceDad true
@NoviceDad - Shall I repost my traditional is not that bad and you need more than one bird to become a doctor argument 
I think me and @PPofEngrDr are the only traditional path parents here.
@srk2017
No one is saying traditional path is bad.
Let me say, In my past 15 years of helping kids, I have seen enough wrecks that I have come to a conclusion- if you have an BS/MD acceptance, take it.
In this forum focused on BS/MD kids / parents, there is atleast one part of them wanting to pursue the BS/MD path. I want to emphasize it is a good path (and in my opinion a better path than the traditional route).
You may disagree and I am fine with that.
In this forum, we share our opinions - folks have to take their own decisions.
Well said @NoviceDad
This forum is to help BS?MD students
@NoviceDad - Are you an admissions consultant? You make lot of valid points backed by data. As you know, we also went thru BSMD process but took dofferent decision and also know lot of students who went thru traditional path. So I bring that point of view. No offense intended.
After all rejections, finally NJIT call cameā¦ already made up our mind for UGā¦ it is NJIT/TCNJ-NJMSā¦ Thank you @rk2017 @srk2017 @NoviceDad @PPofEngrDr @grtd2010 @gallentjill @OldSchoolMD for your valuable inputs,motiivations and discussionsā¦ Cant thank you guys enoughā¦
@Mahikesh, Congratulations!! Did you get NJIT call yesterday or today? We are still waiting.
@jaswantā¦thanks,. this morning at 12:00ā¦it is a surpriseā¦didnt expect them to call on weekendsā¦ they will continue to call until Tuesdayā¦