I am trying to decide if I should go to a tech school for biomedical sciences half of the school day or stay in school. What do you think?
Regular Junior year-
AP Chem
AP US History
AP Lang
AP Spanish Lang
AP Calc BC
Human Anatomy and Physiology
Regular Senior year-
AP Environmental
Calc III
AP Lit
AP Spanish Lit
AP Euro
Another science class
or
Half-day Junior year-
2 hours of Biomedical Sciences and 1 of Calc BC will be at tech
and
AP Lang AP Spanish Lang AP Chem will be at my high school
Half-day Senior year-
2 hours of Biomedical Sciences and 1 of Calc III will be at tech
and
AP Lit AP Spanish Lit AP Environmental will be at my high school
(If I do this schedule, I will take US History and Euro over the summer)
@aspiringgirl Glad you are doing proper planning and reaching out to get input from others. Here are my assumptions and input based on the research for the past year or so in this forum or other internet sources and looking at the profiles of students are got admission in to some BS/MD programs.
Assumptions:
- Currently you are a sophomore and about to register for junior year
- Your school district diploma reqs include US History and Euro
- You or your parents can manage the logistics to shuttle you between your school and tech school
- Super smart, hard working, balanced and will not crack with such heavy load of APs and still have fun
- Interested in some BS/MD or some multiple degree program
- Totally not clear what is the content of the biomedical science courses
Net diff is:
Junior year: US History, HAP versus Biomedical Science; Relevant summer exp versus US History
Senior year: AP Euro, Science subject versus Biomedical science, Relevant summer exp versus Euro History
Input:
Getting some relevant extra curricular activities during 10th and 11th summer out weighs every thing else.
That is the MOST important thing to validate your genuine interest in the area you are seeking and that is what admission committee is looking. Also that gives a break and earth you during summer than doing courses after courses. Summer program could be anything like internships (paid or unpaid), volunteering in medical setting, physician shadowing etc
Good luck.
@GoldenRock So you suggest that I don’t do the Biomedical Science program? Quite a few public schools in my town provide buses for their students to go to tech and back. It is not mandatory to take Euro for graduation. I will still have time for medical enrichment during the summer if I take summer school. You have to apply for this program. You can earn up to 100 points and I have 100 so I am a shoe-in.
~Description:
Explore the concepts of medicine in physiology, genetics, and microbiology
Perform hands-on activities to examine the processes, structures, and interaction of human body
Design innovative solutions to the health challenges of the 21st century
~Credentials/Industry Certifications
Biomedical Sciences is a college preparatory program
~Employment Opportunities
T**** Tech builds partnerships with business and industry in the T**** area to find opportunities for work-based experiences and student placement.
~PLTW Courses:
Principles of Biomedical Sciences
Biomedical Innovation
Human Body Systems
Medical Interventions
~Math Courses:
Pre AP Calculus
AP Calculus AB
AP Calculus BC
Algebra II
~Science Courses:
Pre-AP Chemistry
AP Chemistry
AP Biology
AP Physics B
Anatomy & Physiology I
Anatomy & Physiology II
Core Medical Terminology
Can you describe what the “tech school for biomedical sciences” is exactly? That will give us a better idea I think in terms of whether it’s worth it.
@aspiringgirl Since Doc is in action, respond to @Roentgen questions. He will guide you. He is an extra ordinary resource to guide you and is in that profession and gone thru this BS/MD program. GL.
I did search and bumped in the PLTW site. But still could not get a better idea about the tech school and the program you are referring.
Aww, thank you so much for your compliments @GoldenRock!!! I’m happy to help people in making all types of CV decisions when it comes to BS/MD programs.
So, @aspiringgirl, I think @GoldenRock, hit it on the nail – what are all of your healthcare volunteering/exposure experiences up to this point? Depending on what you have now (I’m assuming you’re in 10th grade now) and what the time commitment is, it might or might not be worth it in terms of your CV and being able to talk about it in an interview. I’m assuming you’d be taking all 3 Foundation courses + the Capstone. As @GoldenRock mentioned, there are definitely MANY things you can do outside of this particular program that are relatively quick in terms of healthcare experiences for your CV to show BS/MD programs that you’re truly serious about and understand what you’re getting into with medicine, so I would not do this particular thing solely for the purposes of a BS/MD angle if that makes sense. By far it won’t be the magic key to unlock an acceptance at least on its own in terms of the CV.
http://tulsatech.edu/classes/fulltime/biomedical-sciences/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qggHGluBSnU
Volunteering/exposure experiences:
Volunteering at local hospital (in trauma)
Last summer I attended a highly selective medical camp ( learned how to bande avulsions, write prescriptions, suture, measure lung volume, perform biopsies, administer injections, extract DNA, splice genes, etc.)
Vice-President of a city wide medical club
Secretary of Pre-Med Society at my school
Secretary of Science Olympiad
Volunteered at a local hospice last summer
AISES
This summer: I will conduct research with Native OKstars
http://www.healthsciences.okstate.edu/com/highschool/nativeokstars.php
I have also been accepted into a week long biomedical science summer camp. I am waiting to see if I will have a full tuition scholarship.
http://www.lvc.edu/health-bio-summer-camp/
@Roentgen
@Roentgen I am not interested in this program solely for the purposes of getting into a BS/MD program. I thought the program seemed really interesting. I just wanted to know would help me or harm me because along with the biomedical science program I would still take 3 AP classes and a math or science class at the tech center.
@aspiringgirl,
So I think you’re on the right track so far in terms of where you should be at about the middle of 10th grade.
Other things you can do: scribing, blood donation drives, cancer drives, medical fundraising marathons, physician shadowing (private practice is probably easiest in terms of access), volunteering at senior citizen nursing homes, maybe volunteering at a place for those who are disabled, etc. A lot of these are relatively quick and short term.There are so many examples out there which you can find here on CC in terms of people’s CVs, when it comes to filling out an app. I was going based off the website for PLTW and their Youtube video and it seemed more Biomedical Engineer/Research -ish. If your ECs were weak, I’d say to do it, but they aren’t. You’re already participating in something similar in terms of Native OKstars and you’d be taking Human Anatomy and Physiology your junior year and the PLTW thing might just reproduce that aspect. You would already have so much to talk about in interviews with your other ECs in terms of formalized medical/research programs.
Besides maintaining your grades and class rank, which should be your #1 priority, work hard for either the SAT/ACT to get the highest score you can. You may need particular SAT subject exams depending on the particular program you’re interested in (i.e. Brown, Northwestern, etc.). By the end of Junior year or at least by the end of that summer after Junior year, you should be done with all standardized exams. You’ll be quite busy with apps during Fall of Senior Year so it might be a little difficult to still tackle those depending on how late you were to take it then.
Just FYI, if you decide to do UMKC’s program, even though you are regional, becase you are Native American, if accepted you would automatically get the Chancellor’s Nonresident Minority Scholarships to where you would pay in-state tuition for the Bachelor/MD program. Just something to think about.
@Roentgen Thank you so much for your help!
I will look for these volunteer opportunities.
So you suggest to not do the Biomedical Science program?
I will take my first ACT in February. I have been studying 
Do any programs give preference to African-Americans?
Are you a potential BS/MD student or why are you trying to do so much during high school ? Is your goal to get into top Ivy schools or 6 or 7 year med programs or future MD/PhD ?
In our district, PLTW courses are not taught at the same rigorous level as GT, Honors, AP classes. Graduates did not fare as well in college engineering admissions as students that took more AP classes (but many self select the AP classes over the PLTW ones since they are not taught at the most rigorous level).
It is promising that they provide Calc BC, but AP Physics 2 is non-calculus-based, fairly dificult due to the amount of material involved and does not get good reviews from students or teachers, or good test scores (I think). AP Physics 2 will not be accepted as a substitute for Physics 1 in a college STEM major, only in non-STEM majors (not sure about pre-med physics, whatever that is).
It would definitely be worthwhile to ask former students and even Tulsa tech’s faculty whether their mission is to serve high achieving pre-med type students or more of a vocational flavor, and also what their typical college acceptances look like.
Thank you! Are you a high school student? @PickOne1
@aspiringgirl, not necessarily a strict quota preference per se, but it is definitely looked at since there are so few underrepresented minorities in medicine to begin with (for a variety of reasons, including costs, etc.). So being a URM + a great CV + good standardized exam scores & academic record, will open up a HUGE amount of doors for you.
I just mentioned UMKC’s minority non-resident “scholarship” as an example, (it just brings you back down to in-state tuition rates, but still huge savings, obviously) as it covers Hispanic, Black, and Native American (which I figured you were the latter due to being in Native OKStars).
I mean in looking at the brief Youtube video they have and the very sparse description of PLTW on the website, it just seems like it’s much more trouble than it’s worth with not as much real benefit, since you already have so many of those type of things in your ECs on your CV. They don’t even really go into great detail on the website or in their Youtube video on what you guys are actually doing that would be any different than what you are doing and participating in now. It seems more like a bunch of medically oriented science experiments, although I am sure there is some problem-solving, critical thinking, analysis involved.
I would take a half-a-day if they let you to really talk to the faculty there and explore their facilities and understand what exactly is included … rather than relying on a website.
If they have really engaged faculty, you could, for example, get to work directly with one of them on a project.
If this is just, hey kids here some interesting med science experiments, and the priority is say train future EMTs and nurses … might not be a good match.
But personally, if you can, I would commit some time to seeing what they have to offer. Sometimes you don’t find exactly what you thought you would, but still find a new resource (a mentor, a lab, a summer job, etc).
Mom of biomedical engineer college student, high school student and I am a working engineer (aerospace).
I think I am not going to do the program. I will go to the open house on January 26th to see if I would like to proceed with my decision. Every adult that I asked, including the college office at my school, said that they recommend going the all AP route.
@aspiringgirl, definitely find out as much as you can about what exactly you would be doing in this particular program that it takes up a lot of your school day to where you’d be forced to take classes in the summer (which I’m assuming wouldn’t be AP level and might thus drop your GPA with the regular GPA), but I also feel like that the AP route is better, esp. with AP US History and taking the exam later and getting credit.
Bachelor/MD program apps are evaluated on a holistic basis with all those areas contributing although probably at different degrees depending on the program: GPA, class rank, standardized test scores, school extracurriculars, medical volunteering/shadowing experiences, community service, plus or minus research. So no one factor will be a shoe-in.
@Roentgen What do you think about my schedule?
9th grade:
1st semester:
AP Bio
AP Gov & Pol
Pre-AP English 9
Pre-AP Algebra 2
JROTC
Spanish 1
OK History
2nd semester:
AP Bio
AP Gov & Pol
Pre-AP English 9
Pre-AP Algebra 2
Spanish 1
JROTC
10th grade:
1st semester:
Guard/Band
Spanish 2
AP World
AP Physics 1
Pre-AP Pre-Calc
Pre-AP English 10
2nd semester:
General Human Anatomy
Spanish 2
AP World
AP Physics 1
Pre-AP Pre-Calc
Pre-AP English 10
Mock Trial
11th grade:
1st & 2nd semesters:
AP Chem
APUSH
Calc BC
AP Spanish Lang
AP Lang
French 1 (I don’t know if I should do french, AP Psych, or athletic medicine/student trainer)
Mock trial
12th grade:
1st semester:
Anatomy and physiology (Or i could take Genetics 1st semester and Biotechnology:Beyond CSI 2nd semester)
AP Euro
Calc 3
AP Lit
AP Spanish Lit
French 2 (
Mock Trial
2nd semester:
Anatomy and physiology (Biotechnology:Beyond CSI)
AP Euro
Calc 3
AP Lit
AP Spanish Lit
French 2 ( AP Psych, or athletic medicine/student trainer)
Mock Trial
@aspiringgirl What grade are you NOW? You may not be allowed to take AP Chem without doing Chem regular or hornors.