** This is a very nice post from last year’s results thread. Please follow the format.**
Hi Everyone! I am a current B.S./M.D. freshman and although this is super late, I would love to answer questions and give advice!
GPA: 4.0 (UW), 4.3778 (W)
Class Rank: 1/421
ACT: 35
Subscores: Science (36), English (35), Reading (35), Math (34), Writing (10)
SAT Subject Tests:
Chemistry: 770
Math 2: 770
U.S. History: 760
AP’s (at time of application)
U.S. History - 5
Chemistry - 5
U.S. Gov - 5
Language & Composition - 5
Statistics - 5
Biology - 4
Senior AP’s: Physics C Mechanics, Calc BC, Literature & Composition, Psychology
Teacher Recs: Really great, well-rounded letter from APUSH teacher. Didn’t see my AP Chemistry teacher’s rec but she is known for writing amazing ones. Sent an English teacher rec and counselor rec to the schools that required them, and I assume they were both pretty good. Sent a letter from the director of the soup kitchen I volunteered at to a few select programs that had the options.
State: MI
Gender: F
Ethnicity: White, Native American
Income: 100-150k
Hooks: Nothing really! I stood out a little because I didn’t do a lot of research or academic ECs & focused a lot of my time on community service instead
Major ECs:
- Varsity Cross Country: captain
- Varsity Track & Field
- Key Club: co-founder, president
- Student Council: vice-president
- National Honors Society: secretary
- Paid AP Chemistry Tutor
- Orientation Leader
- Interact
Community Service:
- Local food warehouse - 180 hours
- Local homeless shelter - 300 hours
- Teacher of religious education at my church - 300 hours
- Volunteering through ECs - 150 hours
- Local nursing home - 100 hours
- Hospital - 50 hours
Medically related activities:
Physician Shadowing - 120 hours
Research in psychiatry department at Wayne State University - 60 hours
Applied to the following BS/MD Programs:
- Brown PLME - rejected ED - rejected RD
- Northwestern HPME - interview - ACCEPTED
- Pitt GAP - interview - ACCEPTED
- Case PPSP - interview - declined interview
- University of Rochester REMS - interview - ACCEPTED
- George Washington - rejected pre-interview
- Boston University - interview - ACCEPTED
- Penn State - interview - rejected
- University of Cincinnati DAP - interview - ACCEPTED
- Virginia Commonwealth GAP - interview - ACCEPTED
- UCONN SPiM - rejected pre-interview
- Wayne State University - interview - declined interview
Applied to the following undergraduate:
- University of Michigan - accepted
- Harvard - waitlisted
- Dartmouth - waitlisted
- Yale - rejected
DECISION: Northwestern HPME
Reflection:
Where do I begin? This process was certainly a whirlwind!! I experienced so many mixed emotions throughout it and never in a million years would have dreamed that I would end up where I did.
My greatest advice, although cliche, is to be yourself and to take quality time to reflect and think introspectively. Dig deep, think carefully about why you’re doing what you’re doing (nobody enters this process willingly without a good reason) and go beyond the idea of a checklist of items that you must meet. Don’t be afraid to be specific - it wasn’t the hospital volunteering that impacted you but the patient you met in the lobby on the way in; it wasn’t the complex chemicals that you worked with in the lab but the relationship you forged with your research mentor that influenced you. Tell the admissions people and interviewers that. Think carefully about what you love about yourself and how these can not only enable you to be a successful doctor but can enable you to LOVE medicine. Speak from the heart and everything will fall into place.
As far as interviews go (as I know that time is getting close!), have fun! The second I started treating my interviews as a conversation instead of an avenue of getting accepted into a medical program, everything changed drastically. Don’t be afraid to laugh, ask questions that you truly care about, share a personal detail from your life here and there. Be a person to the interviewer and treat them as a person. They have seen you on paper and it’s time to show them who you truly are!
Overall, I could not be more thankful for my experiences with the BS/MD programs. I met some of the most amazing people and learned so much about myself in the process.
Please don’t hesitate to message me if you have any questions at all!!!