Posting for my son…
GPA: 4.0 (UW), 4.48 (W) at the time of application
Class Rank: NA; Class Size 470+
SAT: 1580
AP’s (at time of application)
AP Calculus BC
AP Computer Science A;
AP Biology
AP US History
Didn’t do AP Chemistry due to load concerns. Hindsight view this as the big gap in our academic process. Didn’t take it in Senior year as well.
Teacher / Counselor Recs: Not seen but assume to be good
Got 1 recco from research mentor for 2 years.
Gender: M
Ethnicity: ORM
Hooks: None
Major ECs:
· Fall, Winter and Spring Cross Country and Track for 3 Years
· Volunteered at the Senior Residence homes for 3+ years and worked with Alzheimer’s/Dementia residents after some time.
· Worked in local Univ. Model UN for Global Health Scholars Program. Presented findings and implemented in Senior Residence Home
· Physician Shadowing – 40+ Hrs
· Viral and Bacterial related research across 2 Summers
· EMT Trainee at time of application, needed to be 18 Yrs of age for EMT; Also counted as 400+ hours of volunteering.
· School Journal Editor, Social Media Manager, Writing Center Mentor
Applied to the following BS/MD Programs:
- · Penn State/SKMC – Accepted and Joining
- · RPI/AMC – Accepted and Withdrew
- · Hofstra – Interview Reject
- · VCU – Interview Reject
- · Case Western, U Pitt, Drexel, Brown, U Rochester – got UG, but not interview
- · GW – got full reject
Applied to the following undergraduates:
- · Not calling out but applied for local schools and accepted.
- · IVY – Interview from Dartmouth, Rejects from Yale, Columbia
Scholarship: Got Scholarship for Undergrad from VCU, Hofstra, Case Western, Drexel, U Pitt and local schools
Reflection:
It is a tiring process, start early if you are interested in BSMD like Apr/May prior to senior year. Nailing the list of colleges confine the amount of data you need to get which should be the priority. Attend info sessions, helpful when you write your essays for the colleges on what appealed to you, why this college etc.
Lot of information is overwhelming requires reading them for the 2nd or 3rd round to ensure you get it.
Somethings we learned:
- · When evaluating schools look out how many seats are available. There are 3K - 4K student applying nationally and most program gets upwards of 1K students. So be wise in where you put your $$.
- · Additionally, some schools have in-state Vs out-of-state criteria look out for those.
- · This is a tough one, most schools seem to pick 1 student per high school. Being aware of competition from your high school is helpful.
- · UPitt is free application. So, use it for what it’s worth.
- · If you can find stats on what matriculation rate from BS to MD. For example, Hofstra says their move forward is 7 out of 10 students etc. Hofstra did a good session what the 4 yrs of MD school would look like. They did this only for the students who got the interview stage.
- · Read the medical school website to tailor the essays a bit. I think our essays ended up being SKMC style (realized after the fact). May be the reason we got there and rejects on other.
- · May not be applicable next year… AMC didn’t do a presentation for parents. They did a student session across the 3 feeder schools. Also, they said they aren’t doing admitted students’ day due to COVID.
- · Most programs are bad in updating the portal except Pitt. They usually email. Pitt posts in the doc center and then an email comes out 2-3 days later.
- · We did the FAFSA but not the CSS profile. Some colleges asked for it. Given the income we didn’t expect any. From a scholarship I don’t think we missed out.
- · BSMD required official reporting of SAT scores. For non-BSMD check if you can submit unofficially. Allow College Board 7-10 days and avoid rush reporting which is $$
Finally, CC is a wealth of information. It can also increase your frustration. Use in moderation. You can look at the prior year posts to get the deadlines of when they announce etc.