<p>I want to know my chances of being accepted into BU's 7 year medicine program.
Also, if there's anything else that can give me better chances of being accepted into BU, let me know please.
I'm a junior.</p>
<p>ACT: 33
SAT: 2090 I'm going to take the Math I and II, Biology, and Spanish subject tests.
GPA: 4.0 weighted
6 AP classes-
Last year: World history
This year: US history
Senior year: Psychology, Biology, Calc BC, Spanish
I work 8 hours a week as a tutor at kumon. I've been doing that for 1.5 years
I have a job as a caddie which I plan on doing next summer as well. That would make two summers.
I also have a lot of volunteer hours from service club at school.</p>
<p>chances are low for nearly everyone. You’ll need strong subject tests to go with that 33. </p>
<p>Do you have any medical volunteering? Any clinical work? Any medical-related research? If none of the above, your chances drop to near zero. (Why would a med school guarantee admission to an 18-year-old who has never been in the sight of blood?)</p>
<p>btw: don’t waste your time with M1, if you are going to take math 2 and you have completed precalc. M2 has a much better ‘curve’. Bio will be a challenge if you are just starting AP senior year. Take the USH ST test in the spring while you are studying for the AP test. The Span ST is really hard for non-native speakers.</p>
<p>I’m still taking two more acts and possibly another sat. (I live in the Midwest) so my scores might improve.
I’m working on getting a volunteering oppurtunity at a hospital which will replace my current job. What do you mean by medical research?
Also, there is a course at my school called medical academy for seniors. It’s a class where you spend your time shadowing doctors and nurses. I’m not sure I thats my best bet or if I should stick with ap bio and ap psych.
I will do anything to get into this program I just want to know what it is I should be doing.</p>
<p>My D. got accepted to 3 bs/md with ACT=33 (took once) and her SAT II were OK, but not 800’s. However, she applied to few in-state programs that are not so known. She also had lots of medically related and other EC’s with huge time commitments every week (including summers). Did you list all of yours? If you did, you seem to be low in this area.
There are many programs, why are you focusing on one? The wider you apply, the higher chance you have. On the other hand, if you do not get in to bs/md, there is always “regular route”. D. has applied out of her bs/md, she wanted to have choices and she did. Do not get discouraged, your stats are good. As long as you continue the same way in UG (in a program or not) and pick up few EC’s, you will be OK.</p>
<p>I will look into other programs, Boston is just a preference. I didn’t realize I wasn’t doing enough until this year. I’m starting to volunteer at a hospital in January.
I have invited to those summer medical camps at Northwestern but I didn’t go. Should I look into those for next summer?</p>
<p>I do not know. D. did everyhting locally. You are aware that NwU has HPME? It is also very competitive. Summer medical camps might be expansive, I have no info though. D. was looking at cheap UG’s that fit her. She applied to only one at private UG, but was rejected pre-interview, although UG gave her huge Merit award. So, that is why I said if you want combined program, apply widely.</p>
<p>The one person I know who got into BU 7 year program had extensive experience with a doc at a local research institution. This stood out more so than her traditional credentials. Obviously this is extremely anecdotal, but my suggestion would be to get involved in a specific medical project that you spend more time and effort than you would in an AP course. BTW, if by volunteering in a hospital, you mean non-clinical work like bringing magazines to patients, etc. I would skip it and focus on something that is actually medical work.</p>
<p>^
Could you please elaborate on what kind of hospital volunteering would be actual “medical work?” From my (limited) experience, I have noticed that hospitals only entrust high school volunteers with work such as managing the gift shop, wheeling patients around, and delivering materials. In the example you provided, at least the high school student would be able to talk to the patient when he/she is delivering the magazine…</p>
These were tasks that DS was assigned to do when he was a premed in college. Another unusual task was he was asked by a nurse to help solving some AP chemistry problems for his son who happened to visit his mother in the hospital. Also, this mom asked him constantly about how to apply to colleges whenever she had time. A big turn-off for him!</p>
<p>I heard he fares much better now as a first year medical student. He now enjoys shadowing doctors, etc. The doctor actually would teach him something when he was not too busy. Last Friday, after his tests, he stayed at hospital for more than 8 hours and loved every minute of it. He wore the mask (and scrub?) and saw the C-section for the first time in his life and he said he could actually recognize something which he had learned from his anatomy class. (I do not know what he was doing there though.)</p>
King, here’s my disclaimer - I don’t know a large sample of high schoolers, their credentials, and how successful they were in getting into the medical track. Of the ones I know in “guaranteed” programs, the most success was for those who weren’t too picky on where they went as long as they got into a “guaranteed” program. For us locally, it would be something like this:
[Temple</a> University School of Medicine Office of Admissions: Special Admissions Programs](<a href=“http://www.temple.edu/medicine/admissions/special_admissions.htm]Temple”>http://www.temple.edu/medicine/admissions/special_admissions.htm)</p>
<p>Get decent enough grades and SATs to get into Duquesne or W&J, keep your stats reasonable while there, and you can get into Temple with GPAs and MCATs significantly lower than for the “open market” candidates. If you have much higher numbers, presumably more such programs will open their doors to you.</p>
<p>As for your question, it’s not unheard of among HS Juniors or Seniors is to approach a doctor who has a research project in a med school, either directly or through intermediaries like the school counselor, your family physician, or someone else connected with the research institution who you or your parents know. Then you work a several hours a week with the researcher, maybe with no direct patient contact, but possibly with lab animals, and specimens, and such. After doing this for six months or a year, hopefully you have a pretty in-depth understanding in that area (perhaps even your name in a paper). Such a project will be much more professional than a pure high schooler’s class project because of the money, expertise, the protocols, and infrastructure that the med school brings. You then lead with this project in your essays, and in your interview, you have the opportunity to share your knowledge in the subject, research protocols, etc.</p>
<p>Again, don’t rely on just my anecdotal knowledge for what is a good hook, but check with others who have got in to understand what it takes.</p>
<p>Lots (most?) of applicants to combined programs are involved in Med Research Labs. My D. was working (piad position) at Med. Research lab for 2 summers. No, she did not clean. She took care of animals pre-op and post-op, including procedures like taking BP,…etc. Again, she was not cleannig personal.
They also shadow MD’s and volunteer. Be around patients if only for exchanging few words is important and I would not skip it.
Your competition will have extensive research, shadowing and volunteering in addition to outstanding grades scores and many non-medical EC’s.</p>