Dear @GoRoyals12345: Congrats on your acceptance- you did well!
I am sorry to say this, but your advice about “if I can get in, you can as well” is highly disingenuous and misleading (esp. when your ACT is 27 and GPA 3.5; And, how does one get multiple research papers while playing video games?!!!). Notice too that while you managed to enter with a dismal ACT score, the low ACT of the incoming pool is partly why UMKC med (and, by extension, its students) is sometimes viewed as a “poor” school.
Some very smart and hard working applicants with perfect scores do not get in because they lack connection to the medical field/ advice from someone in this domain. I was surprised, almost mildly shocked, to observe so many wards of medical doctors in this program. I could be wrong, but that connection definitely seems to plays a role here; it is tough to suppress this strong suspicion after meetings so many doctor parents in the interviews etc. Prospective applicants should have full information on these soft aspects too, to estimate their chances. And we should admire the hard work that all applicants and their parents put in, including several exceptional students who did not have any connections to the medical profession in their family. I wish them all success!
@naive101 @GoRoyals12345
I by no means am all knowing of this program, but I can offer some valuable information and educated opinion’s on these topics. In selecting people for any combined medical program, one of the toughest challenges is choosing 18 year olds that will stay dedicated to the health care field. Many times, people go to undergrad doing ‘premed’ and come out undecided or switching paths completely. Therefore, UMKC places a high emphasis on health care experiences.
As far as the ACT score…it does not determine everything. I know of someone who had a 28 ACT and then went on to get a 99+% (percentile) on USMLE step 1, which is extremely respectable and prestigious in the medical field. While this isn’t the norm, a person with limitless passion for the healthcare field can achieve amazing things despite certain tests that are partially determined by aptitude.
I agree that everyone must be congratulated and encouraged to continue on in their passions even if they got rejected. There are very few spots, especially for OOS, that selecting candidates will never be an exact science. MMIs are used in the current day. Maybe in the future you can scan someone’s brain and assess their knowledge, intentions, ethics, abilities, emotional intelligence, etc, etc, etc :)) . but until that future day, this is the reality.
Next year’s application comes out in less than a month. Good luck to everyone!
https://info.umkc.edu/unews/umkc-cuts-out-of-state-tuition-for-15-states/
I’m from out of state, but I am part of the Midwest states where the tuition has been cut, will this improve my chances of getting into the 6 year medical program as they are accepting more out of state people? Is it no longer a ‘crapshoot’ as one of you noted earlier?
Hey @AngryViolist, so the School of Medicine actually has a “regional” tuition rate for BA/MD students which is half way in-between the in-state (Missouri) rate and the out-of-state rate. This rate started in the Fall of 2007: https://www.umkc.edu/news/news-release.asp?id=551. Those who live in Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arkansas or Illinois qualify for this regional rate. You can see it here: http://med.umkc.edu/bamd/finance/.
The 6 year program at UMKC has you pay a School of Medicine rate per credit hour that is different from the regular undergraduate rate: https://www.umkc.edu/finadmin/cashiers/school-of-medicine-tuition-fee-rates.asp. This is different from other Bachelor/MD programs in which there is a clear separation between undergrad and the medical school. When I was referring to out-of-state in a prior post, I was referring to those in the other 44 states who don’t qualify for in-state or regional tuition.
You can see here: http://med.umkc.edu/bamd/faqs/
So just from a pure numbers perspective, there are a lot more seats allocated to the regional category, than the out-of-state category. So at least IMHO, it’s still a crapshoot for the out-of-state category just bc that pool tends to be the most competitive & has the least number of seats allocated.
Can some one comment on “how to increase my chances of admission to UMKC”.
@Roentgen Are there any other accelerated medical programs like the UMKC one where you can skip the MCAT, or is UMKC a one of a kind. There were some other schools I searched, but I didn’t find much information.
I am a rising Senior and have a GPA of 3.8 from a challenging private school, ACT 34 ( taking it again to move it up). I have lot of physician shadowing ( 200hrs), cancer research experience ( no publications yet) and volunteering. Several other ECs, strong recommendations from Dept of Surgery head and Neurosurgeon as a result of my shadowing. Started my own non-profit that has raised funds for many local causes. What are my chances for a BSMD? I am open to any tier as I am truly interested in pursuing medicine.
I want to ensure I pick a college list that is realistic( maybe more geared to UG vs BSMD) so requesting your advice
@Allwisdom, that’s a great ACT score and a very good GPA. Your ECs sounds like they’re pretty good as well. Your chances at getting in are heavily dependent on where you’re applying from. If you’re IS, your chances are very good. However, if you’re OOS, the pool is extremely competitive, the candidates are truly exceptional and your chances might be marginal. Great job on building a strong resume and good luck!
Hi @klong12303 , did you include dates on your application when you listed your extracurricular activities and community service?
@GoRoyals12345 , Thanks for your input. I plan to apply in several East coast BSMD programs in addition to UMKC.
@Allwisdom, No Problem! Also, when you’re applying to all of the schools, keep the costs of med school in mind as well. OOS rates are pretty high at UMKC from what I understand. If you (or your parents most likely) can pay it out of pocket, it’ll give you a huge leg up when you graduate in terms of quality of life.
@AngryViolist UMKC’s BA/MD rates for all 6 years are different than the post about UMKC cutting tuition! This doesn’t apply to BA/MD program tuition/fees structure.
Regional tuition & fees only as of last year is $260K, out of state is $355K and in-state is about $165K!
Good Luck!
Hey @WGSK88 , how big of a role did the interviews (MMIs) play in the admission process to the UMKC BA/MD program as compared to the application?
Hey @AngryViolist,
So at the top of my head I believe that Northwestern HPME and Brown PLME still have it where you don’t have to take the MCAT. Some Bachelor/MD programs have changed. For example, I believe the Baylor College of Medicine Programs (Rice University or Baylor University for undergrad) now have you take the MCAT. The ones that do have you take the MCAT, some require a minimum overall score and/or minimum scores on certain subsections, some require you to get the incoming class matriculant average, etc. It all depends on the particular program. Here is a starting list, but I don’t know how updated it is: http://www.ivyplanners.com/documents/BS-MD-IvyPlanners.pdf & you can go to each individual program’s website.
All this being said, DO NOT use the presence or absence of the MCAT to decide which programs to do. Medicine is a career in which you will take a LOT of exams, one of them being standardized exams. So using the skipping of the MCAT tends to not be a good reason, as the exams after that tend to be higher stakes – shelf exams, USMLE exams for licensing, etc.
Hey @allwisdom, I think you have a pretty good chance esp. w/your CV. Here’s a list of programs which you can research, which you can than whittle down a list to places that you would feel comfortable going to their undergrad and their medical school, keeping in mind that you’re evaluating both when entering a combined program like this:
http://www.ivyplanners.com/documents/BS-MD-IvyPlanners.pdf
@Ridhikulous I feel it does play a significant role. In fact I was mentioning this to my daughter the other day. When she was selected in to class of 2023, during interview instructions they stated that the interview does play a key role in the selection process.
Good application (essay) showing good amount of interest in the medical field (shadowing/research/other medical related experience, etc.) which shows your interest to do medicine. Of course good academic record (with rigor of class work), ACT/SAT scores do matter if you are especially Regional or out of state applicants as well based on ethnicity for regional and out of state applicants. Again I am not stating for in-state applicants it’s easy. But the program allows more in-state quota (almost 70% to 75%) than regional (about 15 to 20%)/out of state (5% to 10%) (more regional than out of state). Again don’t quote me on this percentage. This is my close guesstimate!
This program as you are aware doesn’t give any other option but to get a MD degree. So, once you are in the program it’s hard to switch majors to go out of medical field. Yes, you can get a BS degree from UMKC (if you drop out or get kicked out of the program). but what value will that give you? I am not sure? Note, I am not implying that BS degree alone from UMKC would not do any good. If you take the students coming into this program are very high achieving and high caliber students. I hope you connect my point here! So, they make sure from the applicant perspective how much the applicant has the interest to do medicine?
For example 1450 applicants for class of 2023, they interviewed about 385 applicants and 106 were admitted/accepted into the program. They don’t give breakage of in-state/regional/out of state application numbers. So, roughly if you get to interview stage, you have 1 in 3 chance (Yes higher chances for in-state applicant than regional and out of state).
Good Luck!
Thanks @WGSK88 !!! …
Also, assuming a high ACT score, high rank in the class, 15+ AP classes taken, 4.0 unweighted GPA, and 4.45+ weighted GPA, what is like a good number for the total number of hours of medical related volunteering/shadowing/other medical related experiences?
And one more thing … Is there a limit on the application on how many activities (medical related experiences like shadowing and volunteering, extracurricular activities, leadership, etc) you can list? If so, how should I go about listing them? I have quite a few medical related experiences but I also have quite a few extracurricular activities and leadership roles. How should I prioritize them if there is a limit? Should I list all my medical experiences and then list a few extracurriculars and a few of the leadership roles? Or, should I cut back on a couple of the medical experiences and include a little more extracurriculars and leadership roles? In other words, how can I show my dedication to the medical field while also showing that I am a well-rounded individual?
@Ridhikulous - You can list as much as you can. But make sure your medical related experiences comes first. You should list all other activities you were involved as well especially leadership roles. Everything counts. Try to prioritize based on the number of hours you have spent on these activities as well. This gives an all-around application! Again they are looking for applicants who are sure about pursuing their Medical degree. This is key for any integrated medical program.
Don’t forget about a good essay that talks about your interests and why you want to pursue a Medical degree? They don’t expect here for you to repeat the activities you already listed.
I am no expert in any of the above, just an experience from my daughter’s application in 2017 and we are getting ready for my son’s application this year to UMKC under regional quota!
@AngryViolist - No, it will not unfortunately, as several others noted. Earlier they used to offer some breaks for national merit scholars, but that is also gone now. Its a school with very little to offer, other than the program itself.
Hello. I was wanting to know if there is any importance of nationality when undergoing application to UMKC medical college. My daughter is planning on applying to this college and I want I know if being Indian is not helpful or it is. I speak to parents of other children who applied and they said it is difficult for Indian children.