Chance Me: Asian Male for Pre-Med/Biology/BSMD [TX resident, 3.98 UW, top 8% rank, 1540 SAT]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Hey guys could u give feedback on this app esp in terms of ECs/awards

Any feedback would be appreciated though, thanks!!

Demographics: Male, Asian (Indian), Texas, Competitive Public School (top 1-2%), ~300k income w/ basically 0 hooks

Intended Major(s): Biology/Neuroscience (Pre-Med track basically)

ACT/SAT/SAT II: SAT: 1540

UW/W GPA and Rank:

UW: 3.98/4

W: 4.56/4

Coursework: 18 APS by end of senior yr- and two dual credits

APCSP, Human Geo, Stats, APWH, Seminar, Phys 1, Bio, APES, APUSH, AP Lang, AP Euro, APAH, Calc AB & BC, Gov, Macro, AP Phys C, Psych

One dual credit includes a Medical Scribe course my school offers- working in a hospital setting

Awards:

1. International Climate Science Olympiad Finalist (Bronze Medal Top 100/~100,000)

2. US IMDO (Intl. Medicine and Disease Olympiad) Bronze Medalist

3. Local research comps/science fairs (semi-prestigious awards)

4. Likely will present research on a global healthcare issue at Johns Hopkins University Conference

5. Regional Science Olympiad awards

6. Collegeboard NRSTA Award

7. AP Scholar

Extracurriculars:

1. Independent Research- published research with a mentor which Iā€™ll use for comps and stuff but me and a group also created a website where we publish our articles, research papers, etc.

2. Research Internship at decently well-known University (not going to name)- Worked with ophthalmology professor over summer (got in a publication)

3. Internship with the American Psychological Association- Research assistance, help develop content/writing for committee and meetings, etc.

4. Admitted into Global Health Leaders Conference at Johns Hopkins- online summer program conference where famous speakers nationally are featured (9% Acceptance rate)

5. Executive Board & Philanthropy Officer of a Non-profit focused on health equity, policy reform, etc. (1.2k members, 20k raised for cause, 13k emails sent to leaders in a political email campaign, lead conferences, other initiatives & weekly meetings)

6. Red Cross volunteer and Club President (led several blood drives, volunteered ~100 hrs across diff opportunities, worked with logistics/communications occasionally)

7. Medicine & Science Tutor to children across multiple states through a nonprofit (Also the lead marketer of the org, led some initiatives like camps, gathered 500+ students from multiple states)

8. Local Hospital Volunteer- Role involves patient contact and care (200+ hours)

9. Shadowed Cardiologist and Radiologist (also helped fill out some logistics, paperwork, etc. 75 hours)

10. Part-time job at local grocery store

11. Vice President of Science Olympiad Club

12. School Orchestra for 2 years (likely wont mention)

Schools:
Mostly BS/MDs

Safety- UT Dallas, Baylor, Texas Tech

Match- Texas A&M, UT Austin

Reach- Georgia Tech, Rice, Vandy

Several BSMD programs (Need to apply to 10+ from what I heard): UMKC, Drexel, Wayne State, Case Western (ED), etc.

Rest are RD except for Case Western

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Scanning over what youā€™ve got so far, youā€™re quite a strong applicant. One think Iā€™ll start off with is budge. I see you noted your income:

300k income w/ basically 0 hooks

I presume that because of this, you will not qualify for any need-based aid, and only rely on Merit aid. Is your family okay with paying full-pay to institutions on your list like Rice, Case Western, etc.? Make sure your family runs the NPC on those in case. Keep in mind with BS/MD that you will pay both for Undergrad, and Medical School.

Iā€™m unsure if whether you saying you have ā€œbasically 0 hooksā€ can be said - your top EC itself is quite unique. Interning with the American Psychological Association, Internships with universities, and even publishing your own research with a Mentor is quite exceptional.

Your awards also echo your ECs and the strength of your application. So in all honesty, your ECs are quite focused, and your awards help show your interest in biology/medicine.

I see you want to apply to mostly BS/MD programs, and those arenā€™t the biggest area of expertise. However, I would suggest you include schools who maybe have abridging programs with other medical schools if you wish to boost the amount of schools to apply to. Austin College (last I checked) has a Medical School abridging program with Texas Tech University if that piques your interest.

Brown also offers a BS/MD program, but itā€™s competitive (as all ivy leagues are). Hofstra University, also has a BS/MD program.

What I would strongly recommend is going through CCā€™s BS/MD threads as you can potentially get more specific advice there.

***Thread For BS/MD/DO 2023-2024 Applicants/Parents *** - Pre-Med & Medical School / Multiple Degree Programs - College Confidential Forums

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And if you are completely committed to BS/MD, here are some more BS/MD programs, a list published by the AAMC. If you are 100% set on doing BS/MD, best of luck to you - however Iā€™ve heard that BS/MD can be very challenging and is an 8-year commitment.

@WayOutWestMom Do you have anything to add? I believe youā€™re the medical school expert around these parts.

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What is your class rankā€¦

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I think they were referring to it hereā€¦? Unsure, though.

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Sorry for the confusion, my class rank is 33/470. Iā€™ll update it in the original post

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Ok thanks for the advice! By 0 hooks I was trying to say I didnt have any major unfortunate cirumstances, or no legacy, first gen, anything in that meaning.

Ill check out the BSMD threads though for sure

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Class rank is 33/470 forgot to mention

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Mention your job and orchestra.

You are a kid.

Your profile, to me, reads that you skipped that part of life.

Overall you are a stud.

Your list is fine. It has acceptances and reaches.

Apply early action where offered - Ga Tech for example.

Good luck.

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Hmmm u put top 1-2%. Thatā€™s sort of a big error. Be careful on your apps.

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Oh ok lolā€¦ activities section only allows 10 things so i doubt ill be able to include some things

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yeah sorry I meant the school was in top 1-2% I saw some people mention their schoolā€™s ranking so I thought itā€™d be important

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I see it now. I donā€™t think it matters. In TX, your rank does though.

OK -

You have to remember, not all schools look at ECs and Iā€™m sure some AOs - they can see through the ā€œoverageā€ - they may look the top 3 or 4. I mean, no one is super human.

To me, your orchestra shows you have interests outside of just ā€œresearchā€.

A part time job (if you have tenure) has so many positive qualities - itā€™s arguably the best EC someone can have. If you have tenure, for me, itā€™d be #1. #11 you can leave off. And #4 and maybe even #5.

No matter what, your list is balanced. I donā€™t know if you must apply to 10 BS/MD. I would think youā€™d apply to ones of interest vs. just a #.

But again, your list is very balanced and youā€™ll have multiple acceptances - at a minimum.

Best of luck.

PS - as youā€™ll get no aid, I ā€œassumeā€ youā€™ve checked with your parents on budget and all these work for them?
Good luck.

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Yeah I agree thanks for the adviceā€¦ Ill try to fit them in esp the job

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Weā€™re going thru the NPCs and making plans and stuff but yeah unfortunately no aid

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Not at $300k.

So make sure b4 u add schools, that they can afford them although even Rice and Vandy have merit aid. Make sure they ā€˜want toā€™ afford them.

Baylor does stand out a bit. Itā€™s religious. Is that ok for you ?

If you end up in a Texas public, thatā€™s a pretty darn great fallback.

Good luck.

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Great profile, but BSMDs are harder to go into than Harvard. Acceptance rates are in the low single digits and many places are reserved for in-state applicants only.

And shotgunning applications to lots of BSMD programs, like shotgunning application to all the Ivies, does not improve oneā€™s chances for getting an acceptance. Fit is important so think about why you want to attend Drexel or Rowan or NOVA Southeastern or SLU. (Both the undergrad and the med school. HINT: read the mission statements of the med schools to see what their focus is.) Have specific reasons for each individual school as well as answers to the more usual questions of ā€œwhy medicine?ā€

Most BSMD programs are hosted by less than prestigious undergrads who use the promise of med school to attract students who wouldnā€™t originally give their school a second look.

Be aware than most BSMD program do NOT guarantee a med school admission. They offer a conditional acceptance (at best) or only guarantee an admission interview at the associated med school at the end of junior year.

Are you primarily interested in highly competitive specialties or would be being pediatrician or general internist be OK with you?

Some BSMD programs that are run by lower ranking medical school will not offer you the opportunities to do clinical rotation at a major academic center, nor the chance to find research mentors in your specialty for highly competitive specialtiesā€“and highly competitive specialties do expects specialty-specific research in applicants. (Ortho, ENT, derm, plastic surgery, neurosurgery, urology, ophthalmology)

Make sure you have balanced list of undergrads youā€™d be happy to attend. Make sure you get those application in on time so you have some back-ups if the BSMD doesnā€™t happen for you.

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I agree UT Dallas & Austin are definitely some of my higher interest ones.

While Baylor is religious I donā€™t mind too much as long as theyā€™re not holding any major requirements or interfering too much like some other unis ik so Iā€™m fine with it.

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Thank you for the BS/MD advice! Iā€™ll definitely take it into consideration and focus more on interest as youā€™re saying. Also Iā€™m aiming for neuroscience/ophthalmology so Iā€™ll choose my medical school/undergrad accordingly as well. Didnā€™t know they restrict clinical/research opportunities instead of promoting them. As for undergrad though do you think some of them being less prestigious would have an effect?

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Your Chapel Requirement | Spiritual Life | Baylor University

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Shouldā€™ve went a little further into their website I didnā€™t know this, probably taking it into consideration now