Re-posting part of post that I had posted on the results thread earlier this year ——-
Somethings we learned:
About 3500-4000 students apply for BSMD programs. If you add up the BS/MD seats available across all universities, they are < 500. So, you know the odds of getting in.
Many universities prefer in-state students e.g. NJ, TX, CT, OH universities.
Universities constantly re-calibrate their yields - i.e. ratio of offers to accepted students. For example, Rice this year had over 2000 applications compared to 750 last year. But they sent offer acceptances to 199 this year compared to 233 last year. You may be on the wrong side of their yield management.
UPitt: Apply only if you have a FULL score on SAT or ACT; it is a wasted effort otherwise. It has an OUT-of-state preference (one of the odd ball universities in this regard).
Rice/Baylor: they have 6 seats; RICE will send around 200 applications to Baylor and Baylor will invite 25. Odds for out-of-state are low.
UCinncinati: If out of state, put it on a very low priority; very strong in-state preference.
Same for UConn - if out of state, do not waste your time.
BU: should change its name to "Mute" university for lack of any communications.
Rice/Baylor and Brown PLME - I would like to call them "apply and forget" - after applying, think about them only after March 21.
Northwestern: HPME program officials were absent for HPME session on Admitted Student days; I believe this is not respecting time and money parents spend visiting the university; excellent HPME student interactions - kudos to them; Regular Undergrad faculty present for other sessions - good interactions with them; good vibe at the campus.
Penn/Jeff: The best and most well organized interview day. Kudos to the university. Great speakers; good financial aid session; excellent student interactions; good vibe at the campus.
Stonybrook: No parent sessions; could not form any opinion about the school/ program; student-to-student interactions with WISE students; daughter liked the university.
Hofstra Medical: Very good and small group parent session; very informative and open to all kinds of questions; other universities should emulate them.
Temple: Was chaotic.
Drexel: was on a Saturday; limited student or faculty interaction; informative session and Q&A.
Lastly, be judicious about the time you spend on College Confidential. Spending more time here DOES NOT increase your chances of acceptance. But it can definitely increase your anxiety levels, especially as folks get interview calls. But, it remains a great source of information and support.
Thank you for a great forum and all the best to future aspirants!
Folks quick question: Do Medschools have access to the personal statement submitted as part of the UG app? Is it ok to reuse some or most of it in a Medschool supplement? Thx
@NoviceDad@grtd2010@GoldenRock Thank you all for the encouragement and input.My bad D sr yr math is differential equation not multivariable calculus.Update on Pittsburgh scholarship for 15k/yr undergraduate.
Though you can browse through 2016 results thread above, don’t try to draw too many conclusions from that. The level of competition may have doubled or more for most of these programs from that ancient time of reference besides direct entry programs of Miami, UCSD, Neomed and may be more closing their shutters since then, changing the landscape further
If you have time and bandwidth, not at the expense of traditional application process, you can try applying and seeing what happens … They also give undergrad merit awards of upto 30k.
Regarding RPI/AMC or any other college prompts, I am not sure if it’s a good idea to share the prompts in this forum. AMC would provide them to the shortlisted students giving exactly 7 days to turn them in. They, in fact, lock the system till 5pm EST and open it to make sure no one is at advantage on timing. There is a reason why they give just 7 days to every shortlisted student. Of course, you can always discuss some generic questions on prompts but perhaps not real prompts itself.
Just to add to all of the helpful postings here. DC was accepted in the last cycle to U of Rochester REMS and TCNJ/NJMS BS/MD. Both are wonderful programs and we were really impressed with both schools. Both also offered merit scholarships as well. U of R only has 10 spots, I believe, but they have a waitlist that moves. TCNJ/NJMS last year made 30 offers but there is no waitlist and there are 16 in this year’s class. I agree with what someone earlier said about Northeastern and Emory as being great undergrad premed schools that give merit scholarships. DC got $33,000 from NEU and $20,000 from Emory. Wishing all of the BS/MD candidates good luck but do not be discouraged with whatever the result are. As someone said, let the chips fall where they may. DC applied to several BS/MD programs and these were the only 2 acceptances for BS/MD but we were super happy. We were very realistic going into the process.
@TulipBox D has an interview invite for UoRochester (rems) with alumini can you please shed some light on how to prepare for it.D is tensed on how to interact with him as he is a physician himself and very elderly person.Thank you
besides direct entry programs of Miami, UCSD, Neomed and may be more closing their shutters since then, changing the landscape further 