@UMKCPanda, I was not aware previously that “UMKC reviews the applications without knowing the applicant’s name or race so unless they volunteer this information in their essays”.
@midwestFem when did I say 36 in ACT should deserve a seat in any program? You seem to be confused. I have all along said that Indian Americans (99% of the cases) has to be in the top in everything (academics/ACT/extra curricular activities, etc) to be even considered for any selective programs and I have proof of actual records comparing apples to apples from this year from PLME, HPME, PPSP, etc. It’s utter nonsense who claims their record is low but they wrote an excellent essay that got them in to the selective program. I can understand essay explaining family issues/hardship (which I have no qualms) might get you a seat with decent academics/scores.
So, if you want to take this argument out of this thread, we can. So, please don’t try to miss quote or wrongly quote.
Hey guys, COOL IT. If you want to argue about this inane point about what someone said or not said or what someone was implying or not implying, take it to the private messages and hash it out there, instead of in the forum thread. First off, and I’m talking more broadly here (I’m not referring at all about this specific back and forth, bc I honestly don’t care to know the details), Bachelor/MD programs have NEVER been about solely taking people with the highest GPAs and standardized test scores. That’s just the facts. I think that’s something that high schoolers tend to sometimes forget, be confused about, or fixate over, especially now when there are so many standardized tests students have to take from elementary school on up (too many, IMHO).
It’s only one metric that only tells admissions one aspect, but it’s not the only factor, since it’s not the only thing that dictates success in medical school or success in medicine overall. As someone who has gone through it, it is actually true and not just admissions hot air. GPA and standardized test score don’t tell the entire story as to whether someone will be successful in completing a Bachelor/MD program (if it was, we wouldn’t need the rest — your entire CV of what you’ve done including but not limited to the extent of your healthcare experiences/exposure, personal statement, interview, etc.) and it would make the med school’s job a LOT easier. Not to mention, after a specific GPA/standardized test score cutoff, a higher score doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be more successful esp. once we start getting to the higher end of the score rubric (Is there really a huge difference in career trajectory once we get above an x ACT score?)
That being said, more “prestigious” or reputable institutions can demand higher test scores and GPAs (which has always been the case since the beginning). That’s just more the institution itself and the current applicant pool in a particular year (since the Bachelor/MD population is a subset of the overall undergraduate population). So the so-called “barrier to entry” to getting a BA/MD interview would naturally be higher. That being said, even in this forum, I’ve been surprised by instances in which someone didn’t have close to the average matriculating GPA/standardized test score for that particular Bachelor/MD program and got into a really prestigious Bachelor/MD institution (and before someone assumes, race was not the differentiating factor here). Once seeing their ENTIRE application (as sent by the person to me), it clicked much more, but I would not have known that just from their GPA and test score.
With respect to tying race to specific scores (which I won’t go into), one thing I would warn about is using personal anecdotes as overall data trends. The problem is that as an applicant you aren’t privy to an application group’s entire application file. In assessing an interview or not, often that decision is very “holistic”, to use the higher education lingo. I sort of think of it as putting together the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to create a whole picture. It’s not any individual piece that dictates a result.
Hey guys, I was wondering if you could give me a rough ballpark on my chances of admission. I’m from Iowa if that matters.
Stats
30 ACT
3.9 GPA
AP American History
AP European History
AP German
Achievements
Eagle Scout
Norman Borlaug Scholar from World Food Prize Institute
FFA President- 2 years
Participated in Subdistrict and District FFA speech contests
175 Volunteer Hours
Coordinated Children’s Veterinary Camp at Iowa State Fair
Summer Camp counselour at an open air agricultural museum
Animal Veterinary Science classes from local Community College
~25 hours shadowing veterinarians.
~25 hours shadowing physicians
Took Biomedical Research classes at DMU (our local D.O. school).
Thanks for the help guys.
Did anybody receive an email saying “All the spots has been filled”?Still hoping to get in!
@missourigrad, just heard that offers were sent to in-state waitlisted student(s) a week ago.
Did UMKC tell you that? @midwestFem
Heard from a student outside UMKC. @uni5374, did you try calling UMKC ?
Yes but they don’t ever give out any information sadly @midwestFem
Yup, the UMKC Med Admissions office won’t tell you where you are on the waitlist (which is different from previous application cycles, just based on anecdotal thread posts from previous applicants). You’ll only be contacted (thru email) if you’ve received an offer for matriculation. EVERYONE on the waitlist will be contacted by email/thru the Student Portal, when the entire Year 1 class has been filled and to confirm that there will be no more offers extended.
Hello @Roentgen. I am very interested in this program and I’ve been looking through this thread for info. I see that you are a major contributor and it would be awesome if you could maybe send me a link to all your posts that you think would be beneficial for me. I hope you are having a great summer. Thank you!
Oh I didn’t know that. Thanks!
Hi! I’m a rising senior at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy who is applying to the 6 year Med Program at UMKC this fall! Unfortunately, the prompts for the short answer and essays aren’t out yet and I was wondering if someone could post 2017 prompts up on this page? It would be a huge help!
Thanks!
Priya
Hey @rghanem, so it’s quite a lot, in terms of specific posts that I would consider to be important to understanding the UMKC Med School admissions process, as well as the experiences of people who are in the program (which is also important), and it’s definitely not just limited to my posts by any means. I think high school applicants, current UMKC BA/MD students, parents, & alumni give great contributions to the thread discussion, so the thread is best taken as a full cohesive discussion, to gain the most out of it, vs. just searching solely for my posts, which I don’t think will be as helpful in isolation. I really believe that’s why our BA/MD thread has had the most views in this subforum, 1.1 million and counting (humble brag).
What I would do is look at posts starting from the 2015-2016 application cycle and onwards. Each cycle sort of starts that summer (June/July) before the application comes out in the fall. The 2015-2016 application cycle was actually pretty extensive & comprehensive in terms of applicant/parent involvement, questions asked both about the application and the medical school itself, as well as applicant posts regarding what happened on interview day, etc. You can also use the magnifying glass at the bottom of the thread near the page numbers to look up specific terms as well.
http://med.umkc.edu/admissions/ – Look under “Current Admissions Updates”
When the School of Medicine Supplemental Application is ready: http://apply.bamd.umkc.edu/, there will be a tab for “New Applicant” that appears. The supplemental app will be available sometime during August.
In the meantime, you can fill out the General Application for Admission for the main university here:
https://umkc.umsystem.edu/psp/prdpr/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/UM_ADMISSIONS.UM_WEB_APP_LOGIN.GBL?AITS_HDR_CODE=3&IsFolder=false&campus=STNKCITY
You can also start working on your personal statement, which you can see the prompt here under “Essay”: http://med.umkc.edu/bamd/apply/
2015-2016 Application:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18737712/#Comment_18737712
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18737716/#Comment_18737716
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18737719/#Comment_18737719
2016-2017 Application:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19888646/#Comment_19888646
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19888650/#Comment_19888650
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19888652/#Comment_19888652
@Roentgen I see that you are extremely knowledgeable about the requirements for possible interview candidates and was wondering about your opinion on my chances being that I live in Kansas but go to a catholic school in Missouri:
ACT: 30 (taking again with a class in hopes of improving) GPA unweighted 3.6
AP English Language and Composition; 4
AP Studio Art: 2-D Design Portfolio; 3
AP United States History; 4
AP World History; 4
AP Chemistry; 3
This year I am taking:
AP Calc AB
AP Environmental Science
AP English Lit and Comp
AP Gov
Anatomy and Patho
Received first honors/Summa Cum Laude all years
Capt of the Lacrosse team
Founder and President of a social awareness club
Interfaith Club member
Student Council all years
National Honors Society
Peer Minister
Employed at IHOP
Volunteered at a research for the past two years
Shadowed at clinics and hospitals
Im also fluent in arabic with a duel citizenship
So the average unweighted high school GPA for a student admitted to the B.A./M.D. program is 3.80, and the average ACT is a 31. You seem to be slightly below on the ACT score, and about 0.2 below the 3.8, although you do go to a private Catholic school, which is likely harder than a local public school in the area. UMKC tends to know the public schools and the private schools around the KC metro area and in St. Louis, both in MO and KS, very well so that may be taken into consideration. AP Exam scores are not taken into consideration and only matter AFTER you’ve been accepted.
The GPA used is based on the 17 core requirements: http://med.umkc.edu/bamd/admission-requirements-eligibility/, so it’s not exactly the cumulative GPA that high schools will print out on a high school transcript.
Because you’d be a regional student, the pool and the number of spots allocated is larger than the out-of-state category, but smaller than the in-state category, so about 30-35 students in a Year 1 class of 110-115 students.
Your activities listed aren’t that specific, in terms of variety and in terms of total number of hours, so it’s really hard to tell, but I think you do at least have a chance of being interviewed as part of the regional pool, assuming you do well on the personal statement and the short essay questions.
While doing the BA/MD program at UMKC, if one wants to take a required course ( for example SOCIOL 101) at another university and apply it to BA/MD for waiver of same course, is it allowed?
I just re-read your post more closely of “While doing the BA/MD program at UMKC, if one wants to take a required course” somewhere else. No, you CAN NOT. Once you’re enrolled at UMKC in the BA/MD program, you can not enroll somewhere else for credit to transfer it in (it would be pointless to do so, anyways, since the program runs year around & it would be easier to just take it at UMKC).