What should be your sat scores/gpa/ volunteering opportunities?
@Deesha4723 As an alumni ambassador, I asked admissions folks about this and this is what they said the typical PPSPer was like:
Very high academic achievement. Taking most demanding courses available and has mostly As. Testing in our top quartile, so basically, in the mid to
high 700s on each section of the SAT or at least a 32/33 on ACT.
Excellent involvement in extracurriculars, well rounded, and significant
leadership roles.
Significant exploration of the field of medicine, such as volunteering,
shadowing, research, or some combination of those.
There is no magic formula or black-and-white profile. . . most students who apply for the program have most of these qualities . . .it often comes down to the degree/level of significance of these qualities. (For example, there is a difference between a student who has volunteered for 20 hours and one who has volunteered 300 hours. There is a difference between a student who has shadowed a doctor for a week and one who has shadowed all summer.)
An example of an admitted student:
A student from our independent, college preparatory day school was admitted to PPSP (medicine) for matriculation this Fall. This student’s application information includes the following: 36 ACT (composite); 4.82 GPA (weighted); multiple AP classes; 4 years field hockey (senior year captain); 4 years marching band/student orchestra; elected to student government.
** Pre-Professional Scholars Program**
The Pre-Professional Scholars Program (PPSP) grants undergraduate admission and conditional admission to Case Western Reserve’s School of Medicine or School of Dental Medicine.
Admission to PPSP is highly competitive. Outstanding students who are not selected for the program still may be considered for undergraduate admission to Case Western Reserve; many choose to enroll in the first-year class.
Note: PPSP is an application plan for first-year students and differs from our combined graduate study programs; we offer a number of combined degree programs to which you can apply after admission.
8-year medicine program
The average Pre-Professional Scholar in Medicine candidate:
-Pursued a challenging course of study in high school
-Presented academic credentials that would rank among our most competitive applicants for admission
-Engaged in meaningful volunteering and shadowing experiences to gain exposure to medicine
-Was a recognized leader in their school and community
-Participated in a range of extracurricular activities
-Demonstrated care and concern for others
https://case.edu/admission/academics/pre-professional-programs
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Using these identifiers, the committee generally selects 60-80 finalists to come to the campus to interview. These applicants are notified by Feb.1 of their status as finalists, and are offered admission to the general undergraduate program at that time.
Finalists are required to visit campus for the PPSP interviews held each March. This interview experience is a two-day program that includes exposure to medical school staff and faculty, tours of campus and medical school facilities, and other experiences related to study as both an undergraduate at CWRU and as a medical student at the SOM.
These finalists sit for a formal joint interview with members of the medical school admissions committee and appropriate administrators representing the undergraduate experience, the latter including such stakeholders as pre-medical advisors and senior staff from the Office of Undergraduate Admission. Finalists are also observed in a seminar classroom setting that is facilitated by a faculty member. Both the interview and classroom experience are evaluated with specific rubrics.
Following the two-day visit, a final selection committee comprised of members from the undergraduate and medical campuses convene to select the PPSP candidates.
This committee reviews the evaluations of both the interview and classroom observations, as well as details from the finalists’ applications. Following these discussions, the committee selects who will be offered admission to the PPSP, with the number offered admission based on the number of positions available, as determined by the SOM, in conjunction with the number who are deemed to be a good fit for the program itself. The committee also identifies a small number of alternates.
PPSP candidates are notified of their acceptance via a hardcopy letter by April 1 and are expected to respond by May 1 of their intention to enroll.
From my interactions with admissions, about:
1700 apply
60-80 are finalists (offered an interview)
20-25 are accepted into the PPSP program
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@sguni_2016 asks:
I am applying for the PPSP program this year and find that in the two essays that they are asking are general and do not give scope to answer why PPSP. Is it ok to add why PPSP even though it not asked? Would appreciate your thoughts as there is no question on why PPSP asked anywhere.
Answer:
I would suggest answering the prompts asked. I would think they would be more interested in “why medicine”…
It may be that the answer to why PPSP is obvious to them…you get admission to Case Med School if you do well. I would be prepared to answer that if you are selected for the interviews.
Would someone who applies EA to CWRU have a higher chance of being selected into PPSP?
@akshay0824
No EA preference
Are applicants to PPSP also being considered for UG pre-med if not selected for interview ? And are OOS students eligible or typically get merit scholarships into the program ?
Yes, “Outstanding students who are not selected for the program still may be considered for undergraduate admission to Case Western Reserve; many choose to enroll in the first-year class.”
Case is Private so OOS doesn’t come into play.
I would think PPSP students would get merit scholarships since they are top students.
Last year "It seems like most PPSP rejected applicants got a merit scholarship if accepted for about $23,000. "
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21335025#Comment_21335025
Here is an example of a PPSP finalist:
“Decision: Accepted With 32.5K Scholarship/year and FINALIST for PPSP Medicine!”
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/case-western-reserve-university/1959085-ppsp-finalist-notification.html
Thank You. I read somewhere CWRU requires interview before they admit student. We are from NJ, should we schedule an interview with admissions now or wait for them to offer one ?
For “normal” applicants, an interview is not required. They consider “interest” important so it is great if you can do an interview, but they understand not everyone can travel to all colleges. Other ways to show interest are: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/case-western-reserve-university/2014835-how-to-show-interest-in-cwru.html
For PPSP applicants (as we are in the PPSP thread), 60-80 applicants are offered interviews and from them the finalists are chosen…so they invite you so there is no need to schedule one with them.
@bopper Do you know the number of PPSP applicant this year 2020? How many expected to be invited for interview? And how many will be accepted?
Not sure if it matters how many apply…i think you still will have 60-80 interviews and 20-25 accepted.
It seems if you are not selected as finalist for PPSP, application is not considered for regular undergraduate, they are asking for a supplemental information. Anyone else got that as well ?
@Sps3273 DD also got supplemental information if she want to be consider for regular undergrad
Case says: "Admission to PPSP is highly competitive.** Outstanding students who are not selected for the program still may be considered for undergraduate admission to Case Western Reserve; many choose to enroll in the first-year class.**
Wondering if you see anything needing to be “beefed up” for my son’s PPSP app next year. We flew up there last month, did a campus tour, and he really loved the area. With access to all the hospitals and experiences, it’s a future doctor’s dream!
GPA: right now 4.15 weighted, will go higher as he is a Junior in only dual enrollment classes
ACT: 32, retook and will get new scores on Tuesday- perfect score in English and Reading already. Math was low as he struggled with pacing
Clubs and Activities:
-National Honor Society
-Mu Theta Alpha
-Medical Explorers program at hospital
-Volunteering at Hospital (168 hours now)
-Tutor at All Childrens Hosp ped wing
-Doctor shadowing (45 hours currently)
-Research Internship at USF with cancer research Aug 2019- ??; will be published with the findings in late 2020
-Class Representative
-Self taught German in 9th
-Phi Theta Kappa
-Key Club
Awards:
Prudential Spirit of Leadership (State)
Bausch Lomb Science
Presidential Volunteer Award
Hook
URM- Native American (enrolled tribe)
Also- tribe funds 100% of tuition and fees- will that help?
Interesting fact
Dad served 20 years, has lived all over the world and is pretty well travelled
To me, his weaknesses are his scores and his awards. Our school just doesn’t do awards, or STEM stuff. He had to email 72 professors for his internship as there is no program in place for that in our county. We have no science or math clubs at school either 
It’s frustrating.
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When I asked admissions about what it takes to get into PPSP, they said:
Very high academic achievement. Taking most demanding courses available and has mostly As. Testing in our top quartile, so basically, in the mid to
high 700s on each section of the SAT or at least a 32/33 on ACT.
[Bopper: So yes, I would think it good to raise his ACT a bit. Also what courses is he taking?Keep in mind if he is doing dual enrollment that his college grades will be taken into account for his GPA for med school if he ends up applying to med schools]
Excellent involvement in extracurriculars, well rounded, and significant
leadership roles.
[Bopper: This is important because the doctor is the leader of a medical team. What leadership does he have? ]s
Significant exploration of the field of medicine, such as volunteering,
shadowing, research, or some combination of those.
There is no magic formula or black-and-white profile. . . most students who
apply for the program have most of these qualities . . .it often comes down
to the degree/level of significance of these qualities. (For example, there
is a difference between a student who has volunteered for 20 hours and one
who has volunteered 300 hours. There is a difference between a student who
has shadowed a doctor for a week and one who has shadowed all summer.)
[Bopper: I see that your son seems to have extensive volunteering (what does he do at the hospital? Does he interact with patients?) and shadowing and volunteering]
Leadership- right now he is the class rep for his grade. He will be running for President of two clubs next year. Ugh that’s probably a little weak as well.
Volunteering- yes he definitely interacts with patients. He works as comfort care volunteer so he helps with anything from transport to different appointments, brings newspapers and the lending library, plays games in rooms with patients, checks in them and helps however he can. In his other volunteer position, he tutors kids currently receiving treatment at a children’s hospital.
Shadowing- he spent 7 weeks (one day a week) shadowing a primary care doctor. He has spent 16 hours shadowing a pediatric surgeon and another 16 hours shadowing a pulmonologist.
His courses this year are:
1st semester courses include Honors Composition I, Introduction Chemistry
- Lab, Honors American Government, United States History II, College Algebra;
2nd semester courses include Chemistry I + Lab, Biology I + Lab, Composition II, Trigonometry, US History I
Next fall he will take
Physics I plus lab, French I, Precalculus, Honors Intro to Public Speaking, And a coding class
Spring will bring Calc I and some electives for him to finish his associates. He is doing pretty well- 4.0 at college right now and is thriving. He didn’t love traditional high school so this is a good place for him.
Do you really think it is good for him to take Chem 1 and Bio 1 with Labs at the same time? That seems very challenging.
Also his math is also condensed…he is taking what in HS is a whole year of math in a semester.
It is very important that he keep is GPA up (even if he has to with draw from a course) so that if he doesn’t get into a BS/MD program his college GPA will still be very good. Med schools will use his DE and his "regular"college GPA.
Also keep in mind that some med schools will not be as keen on Community College sciences as opposed to 4 year sciences.
Keep in mind that private schools like Case may or may not not give him credit for DE classes. Definitely keep in mind your State U as well as they will. https://case.edu/ugstudies/academic-policies/study-other-colleges-and-transfer-credit
Have him keep a copy of the syllabi for every DE course he takes. Colleges can use that to determine if they will give credit.