@rk2017 thanks… for some reason my daughter felt TCNJ is too small and depressing… she is not much worried about Newark safety… she is very much into art… she could take few courses in their architecture school as well…
@DocGirlMom
Disclosure: Have not looked at BS/DO program at all. But very familiar with BS/MD program and actively read all the posts in both CC and in SDN.
One area of caution I would like to point out about BS/DO with my limited knowledge. The BS/DO programs does not appear to be black and white, similar to BS/MD programs. That is why it is extremely important for your to read every fine print of BS/DO programs and also clarify any questions you have with the program (preferably in writing) and also discuss with any current students in the UG doing the BS/DO program and make an informed decision.
I will leave it to experts like @NoviceDad @GoldenRock but my two cents for instate cost and home ground edge based on skill set and passion of your D/S
@"@Margo55" my opinion is OU is highly underrated school and it is unfortunate that it is known only as football powerhouse… the college feel, research, community feeling, etc is great… as GoldenRock said, it is an excellent medical school with all specialties… That will be one of my top choices…
@DocGirlMom & @MaMaTEN and any other parents:
In order to make your decision, assume the WORST case scenario. Assume whatever college/program you choose is the final one for your next 7-8 years. Are you going to be happy and content? If yes, go for it. At that point it does not matter, whether why you got only this lower or upper college and not BS/MD or regular route etc.,
By design, we human are unpredictable and greedy. Student with lower tiers schools also worries and students with higher tier (WashU) also worries but for different reasons. We want guaranteed admission but want the Top20 also and ideally would prefer merit aid during UG as icing too!
@Mahikesh You brought 1 funny incident related to Football. OU as a tradition during the home game, will invite all NMF Scholars to the center of the football field during half time and celebrate them and give free ticket for that game.
My D and few of her friends that day came back to dorm after the half time ceremony itself. Me and some of friends who are all College Football followers asked her, why did you come back? (as such a crime and that too when got a free ticket!)
She calmly told, it is boring, so much noise and I don’t understand why it took almost 2 hours for a 45 minute half game and having so many interruptions during the game with timeout and who will sit there for another 1 to 2 hours? My friends were laughing, OMG, why did she get a free ticket, should have given that to parents!
That’s quite an honor and recognition ! That’s what I was mentioning earlier too about NJIT towards their BS/MD (and similar top students), they feel welcomed and treated with esteem (and also expected to help raise the profile of the school with their accomplishments)
Choice of BS/DO is dependent on a student’s very specific situation.
I have given two exactly opposite advice to two different families - for one (whom I know the student/family extremely well) - I have told them to go for BS/DO.
For another - where the student has an SAT score > 1500, I have asked them to consider the traditional route.
@gallentjill has summarized many of the points I have in mind.
Another perspective to keep in mind - if your MCAT > 505, you are a competitive candidate for DO (assuming your grades and other activities are in play). And if you are >1500 SAT candidate, you probably have in you to put in the rigor to get an MCAT > 515 and put yourself in play for regular MD route.
And as a >1500 candidate, you will find most undergrads of BS/DO program - relative easy.
Example: PennState/Altoona is NOT in the same league as PennState/Main Campus - both from the student profile and opportunities available. But if you want to do an undergrad as part of BS/DO for LECOM, PennState/Altoona is an option for undergrad - NOT PennState/MainCampus.
You know your kids and their capabilities.
@"@Margo55" Agree with @GoldenRock OK over UMKC.
@GoldenRock Agree with you - “We want guaranteed admission but want the Top20 also and ideally would prefer merit aid during UG as icing too!” - I would add - we want all medical schools to follow NYU and make it free!
@"@Margo55" I would recommend OU MHP with 5 year NMF based scholarship. DD go into MHP but decided not to attend not based on GPA 3.69 concerns.
@Mahikesh My concern with NJIT would be the location compared to TCNJ. No one from her HS batch chose NJIT/NJMS despite full-ride for UG. NYC is also a train ride away from Trenton.
Yeah 2 hr cab/train ride from TCNJ to NYC vs 30 min train only ride from NJIT :-), 5 min walk to njms vs ?? from TCNJ ?
Of course TCNJ beats hands down with the fluff (no offence any current students/parents there)
https://honors.njit.edu/sites/honors/files/ADHC-FAQs2018-2018Sep11_0.pdf
Anyways visit both places again and decide.
Just to chime in about NJIT vs TCNJ -
I have a close friend in the NJIT program. He lives in the honors college dorms and honestly LOVES it! Being in Newark is obviously going to be a bit of an adjustment, but having close proximity to NJMS means access to strong volunteering and research programs.
However, TCNJ is also a great school. Nice campus and great kids. Yes, being located in Ewing means you won’t have as much research or volunteering on campus… but some kids in the TCNJ/NJMS program I know do research at Princeton (which is 20 mins away from TCNJ). They absolutely love it at TCNJ too.
If it comes down to money though, NJIT would be the cheapest by far (because they offer full tuition scholarships). Yet, you would not be losing out at either school!
@rk2017 I would chose NJIT for a major like BioMedical Engineering for BSMD over TCNJ.
The MCAT language for NJMS is still not very clear. All UG says there is no minimum, but some places like NJIT says you have to score competitively with no other information, which sounds like they can make up their own rules at end.
@tam8000 At least a median MCAT score of entering regular NJMS class may be a competing score. For year 2018, median MCAT score for NJMS was 513 and median GPA 3.65, Total Enrollment 752, Acceptance Rate 7.9%
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School—Newark 752 513 3.65 7.9% 1725 86.6
Don’t worry regarding MCAT requirement, it is driven more by NJMS than by any of the feeder schools. And if they make up something for one school, it will be similar for all feeders consistently.
The general concept of going with these programs is to have a relatively stress free experience. So most of the programs don’t require you to be on par with their traditional route applicants in terms of gpa, MCAT, research etc and don’t enforce similar minimums. But you are better off using the opportunity and get good exposure of your liking, instead of going by the check lists as someone said.
more medical schools will be offering free tuition in coming years with mega rich making donations. I heard Mayo will be the next one. Also new schools tend to offer free tuition. Kaiser is opening on one CA and free tuition for first 5 batches (50 each) I believe.
@tam8000 BSMD programs may still require one to maintain high gpa and require a competing MCAT scores to matriculate to medical school. It is not easy to get A’s specially in weed out pred-med classes. So UG may not be so stress free after all when you have to compete with all those pre-meds.