<p>I'm a High School Senior right now and I'm done with college applications, 12 apps. to be exact. As for a potential major/career, I'm stuck between a 6 year pharmacy program (northeastern, st. johns, rutgers) or doing pre-med. My friends all applied to the 7/8 year Bs/md and bs/do programs but i only applied to 2 bs md programs. The question here is, is it worth it for an Asian American (Indian) to go into the regular pre-med (4, mcat, 4) route? I was thinking about the countless others who end up going to the Caribbean because they couldn't get into a US medical school. What exactly does it take to get into a decent/good US medical school. (my first choice of undergrad college is Boston U; i will probably be majoring in Biomedical engineering and pre-med; wise/unwise?) I was thinking, to differentiate myself from the rest of the med school applicants, i would do a lot of science research in college, join clubs, shadow a doctor, and try to get done maybe 1000 or more hours of medical community service. Does my plan sound good? Also, will such extracurriculars like research/community service make up for a not too high college gpa such as a 3.5 and an mcat score of like 30-32?</p>
<p>Top med schools care most about GPA and MCAT scores. I have a heavy suspicion that they even have a cut-off for those two areas. If you don’t make above a certain score/GPA, they won’t even look at your application.</p>
<p>BME will likely be tough on the GPA, which you want to maximize, so perhaps reconsider that route.</p>
<p>Several facts based on my D’s pre-med experience (she is in combined non-accelerated bs/md 4+4 by choice, was accepted also into accelerated 2-3/4 bs/md).</p>
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<li>“decent/good US medical school” - I believe that ALL US medical schools are good.</li>
<li>there is no reason to set up low goals like "college gpa = 3.5 and an mcat score of like 30-32. Why not to strive for 4.0 and 35? It is achievable</li>
<li> yes, it is known unfortunate fact that Asian American (Indian) are not in front of the line. But so some other un-hooked non-urm’s without connections. The last one is important (based on personal experience) and most people do not have connections.</li>
<li> All pre-meds have tons upon tons of EC’s. They literally have very few hours for sleeping, working out…, etc. Do not forget that GPA and MCAT score are still much more important than EC’s and your physical condition (enough rest, gym,…etc.) has a lot to do with your grades and MCAT preparation.</li>
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<p>These could be different from person to person, so, please, adjust to your own circumstances.</p>
<p>I would not do a combined undergrad/professional program personally…too many people (I would estimate like 50-70% at my school, Duke) start off as pre-med and decide against it, so you don’t want to lock yourself into it.</p>
<p>Don’t get caught up in what undergrad school you go to and what your major is. Medical schools have very comprehensive databases, so they know how good a 3.5 at University A compares to a 4.0 at University B. They also understand that engineers have lower GPAs. Trust me, it doesn’t matter in the end. The medical school admissions office will normalize everything for you. Go where you want and major in what you want.</p>
<p>“I was thinking, to differentiate myself from the rest of the med school applicants, i would do a lot of science research in college, join clubs, shadow a doctor, and try to get done maybe 1000 or more hours of medical community service. Does my plan sound good? Also, will such extracurriculars like research/community service make up for a not too high college gpa such as a 3.5 and an mcat score of like 30-32?”</p>
<p>lol to be honest, that is nothing special. That is what a typical overachieving pre-med’s resume looks like. If you want to stand out, do something special like organize a large scale charity event or start a successful club that does something cool/unusual/philanthropic or something. But this isn’t to say that you HAVE to do something like that.</p>
<p>^There are combined programs that do not lock anybody to anything. Students can have any major / any number of minors, they are not accelerated and they are with general student body with most kids around them are not even aware that they are in any kind of combined programs. They also allow to apply out and still retain your spot at Medical School in the program. I do not see why not to be in such a program. My D is in combined program, she has 2 minors (one is Music), in sorority, will spend 4 years in UG (actually they are not allowed to graduate earlier, yes this one is restriction) and will apply out. The advantage is she needs MCAT=27 to retain her spot. So, it is less stressful, she knows that if she does not get high score, she has a spot.</p>
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<p>Usually, one attends an undergraduate program that one would not have otherwise attended. This is a very high cost.</p>
<p>from what i have read it seems like simply being a biomedical engineering major wont really help chances, and i might hurt ur chances because it is such a difficult major your gpa will most likely be lower than other pre med majors. so basically, dont do it just to help your chances unless it is what you want to do.</p>
<p>BDM,
Sometime it works for a better, it is very hard for HS graduate to evaluate where they feel happy before attending. Yes, D. went to #2, not her #1, because she was not accepted to the combined program at #1. But looking back as a college junior, she feels that her school fits her better anyway. The case could be different if kid is dreaming about some elite/Ivy school. It has not been the case with my D., and she has no desire to apply to very top Med. Schools either while she might not apply out at all, since she will have a choice (hopefully) to stay in her program. There are kids like her, they do not care about school name recognition and all prestige that comes with it. They still care about academics very much and find the ways to challenge themselves.</p>
<p>i can tell u that i went to BU and was in the combined program that you get accepted into as a sophomore called mmedic. for biomedical eng there’s an engmedic program. you get accepted to BU Med as a sophomore and start taking med school classes in your junior and senior years. it was amazing for the transition from undergrad to med, and i loved BU, and it gives you 2 years of undergrad to explore your options before making a decision on med school. and even after being accepted, though it’s a commitment you’re making, there’s always a couple instances every few years of people dropping out because they decide against medicine, so you aren’t penalized for that. the 7 yr program is great too but you are locked into a major and have no other options as far as that goes. biomedical engineering is essentially premed for the most part (i.e. you won’t have to take many, if any, additional courses to fulfill the premed requirement). however, its an intense curriculum. my friends in it would be up til 4 am on a consistent basis during exam weeks, and senior project is very demanding. but it is absolutely do-able.</p>
<p>AliAngel,
My D’s combined program is much more flexible than yours. She has chosen it because of flexibility. She was also accepted to accelerated program, but declined it because she wanted to have regular college experience. She likes her school, could be any major, she has 2 minors, campus job, Medical Lab Research internship, has done volunteering at the place that she choose, member of sorority board and used to be part of intramural sport team. Again, she is not different from general student body…except, she needs lower MCAT to get to Medical School. She also has an option of not applying at all, since she is accepted if her GPA and MCAT meet requirement. However, she has an option to apply out and still retain her spot in her program. There is no locking into anything at all.</p>
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And yet they feel so sure about the pre-med track – a track which manifests itself much farther down the line – that they’re willing to forego an awful lot in order to get it.</p>
<p>Can’t have it both ways. Either they’re mature enough to know what they want, in which case they should pick the college that’s best for them, or they’re not – in which case they should pick a program that preserves exit options for their career paths.</p>
<p>^BDM, most of them are not sure at all about pre-med. And yes, they can have it both ways, not being sure and being at the place that guarantee them a spot in case they decide and allow them flexibility to explore other opportunities and at the same time fit them the most in any aspect. I think we agree more than disagree, just having difference prospective - you are very sure that the very top students always want to go to the very top UG, There are kids, who have different priorities than school name and prestige. Believe it or not, pretty campus, non-urban location or other “insignifacant” aspects might be higher on their list.</p>