I remember that you posted on another of my threads 2 years ago, and your advice was just as helpful then as it is now. I’ve got a bunch of doctors in my family who do agree that in-state public universities are the best for a pre-med undergrad student, although I have some family members who encouraged me to apply to other schools.
Thank you again!
1 Like
You might want to look at this section of the forum if you are looking at BS/MD programs which are NOT safety options for any student.
1 Like
UMKC regular college might be a match, but the BS MD program is a high reach.
1 Like
I’m so sorry! I should have responded earlier. Thanks for the other college recs! There are two universities (UMKC and Brown) that interest me particularly because of BS/MD programs. Also, I honestly don’t mind going to any school on this list! It’s senior year, after all. If I get into my dream school, I’ll be elated! If not though, it’s fine. Because I’m going into pre-med, I can still go to a safety and still expect rigorous coursework and research. I just wanted to shoot my shot with these colleges, you know?
4 Likes
Thanks for the extra info about the UCs! I’ll definitely need it!
1 Like
Hi! My parents want to pay for my college in full, and they can afford several of my options. However, I’ve got other siblings, so I plan on shortening this list and racking up more on scholarships.
Also, in-state is NV. Thanks!
2 Likes
It’s a question of allocating time and resources. Every school you put on your list needs to be more desirable to you than UNLV Honors as to academics, cost and fit (not necessarily US News ranking). I am a big believer that at some point, the quality of the apps in terms of essays and short answers suffers when a student applies to too many schools. I just don’t see doing a good job on more than 10 unless they are schools that don’t require anything but the Common App. A lot of the reaches have fairly unique essays, and the “why X University” type essays require customized thought.
3 Likes
Actually, this list was recommended to me by my guidance counselor. I do agree that I need to narrow this list down, maybe to 4-6 schools. After all, I don’t want to exhaust myself. Thank you again!
1 Like
Depending on how you rank UNLV, if I were you, I’d pick 4-6 reaches and 3 to 4 look a likes, with the total at around 10.
BS/MD vs regular is another issue. For some, when it is clear that the path is an MD and they want to accelerate the time, go for it. For most students though, interests can change as they explore various fields in college. Also college is a great time for personal growth, meeting new diverse people, encountering new experiences outside of academics. It is a precious experience that you won’t be able to get back.
2 Likes
Which of these colleges have you visited? Do you care whether you attend a residential campus vs. a commuter campus?
A residential campus is one where most students live on-campus or very nearby with other students and where much of life revolves around the campus. A commuter campus has fewer students living on-campus with and more students who tend to come to campus for classes and then leave. Sometimes a school is classified as a commuter campus but still has a large percentage of students who live on-campus their first year and then a number of upperclassmen living nearby, with much of life still happening on campus or in close proximity. An excellent education can be received at any of these types of school, but they are very different experiences.
At UMKC, for instance, it’s classified as a commuter campus and 43% of first-year students live on-campus (source). UNLV is also categorized as a commuter campus with 22% of first-year students living on-campus (source). UNR is classified as a commuter campus, but 61% of first-year students live on-campus (source). U. of Arkansas is classified as a residential campus with 92% of first-year students living on-campus (source). All of the schools that I classified as low probability are residential campuses.
1 Like
Most big scholarships come from the colleges themselves. Most outside scholarships tend to be for smaller amounts of money and frequently are only for the first year. I would focus your attention on getting institutional merit scholarships rather than outside ones.
I agree that an excellent education can be had at in-state public colleges. But I think the point that @DadTwoGirls was making was to be cognizant of the cost of college if you’re planning on eight years of postsecondary school. For many, their in-state publics will be among their lowest-cost options. But for a strong candidate like you, many colleges will offer you merit aid to bring the price equal to or lower than your own in-state public options. So you can think about what kind of an experience you would like to have in college and then select schools that are likely to provide that experience at a price point that could be competitive with your in-state public pricing.
2 Likes
Yes, exactly.
There are many, many very good universities in the US, and more elsewhere. Some do offer good merit based financial aid, and this can in some cases make out of state universities competitive in price with in-state options (both daughters for example found affordable options out of state with merit aid). For someone from a WICHE state (which I am pretty sure includes Nevada) the WICHE/WUE schools also might include a competitive and attractive option, although I do not know much about the undergraduate part of this.
Generally finding a university to attend involves tradeoffs between the overall strength of the university, the strength of any specific program you are interested in, cost, and fit. There are a LOT of schools that are very good for premed students, and medical school is expensive, which tends to raise cost and fit to high places on the list of criteria to consider.
And @patch0u1i to me it sounds like you are doing very well and have a good understanding of the process and the tradeoffs. Best wishes and I expect that you will do well – although getting to the point that they call you “doctor” will be a lot of work and will take quite a bit of time and effort.
2 Likes
- UNLV - Accepted
- UNR - Accepted
- UCLA - Accepted
- UCSD - Accepted
- UMKC - Accepted
- U of Arkansas - Accepted
- Stanford - Denied
- Cornell - Leaning toward guaranteed Transfer Option, otherwise accepted
- Brown - Accepted if have exceptionally strong essays / waitlist otherwise
- Johns Hopkins - Leaning toward waitlist, otherwise accepted
- Rice - Accepted
- Duke - Waitlist
- Vanderbilt - Accepted
- Emory - Accepted
The OP is looking at the BS MD programs at UMKC and Brown…do you really think these are guaranteed acceptances?
2 Likes
I don’t understand the logic behind your “predictions” but since you are not an adcom at all of these schools, the OP should feel free to ignore your comments.
OP- you sound like a fantastic student. You need to wrap your mind around the BS/MD reality-- it is hard being an Adcom for a medical school. Training a physician is an extremely time intensive, expensive, and high stakes endeavor for the institution. Every seat you fill with someone who is at risk for not completing the program- or discovers that they hate medicine or hate treating sick people-- could have been filled with another equally qualified candidate who would have become a stellar physician.
But med school adcom’s are evaluating the applications of 23, 24 and 25 year olds (plus much older) which means they have an actual “runway” to evaluate. The adcom’s for the combined programs have no such runway. They have HS stats- grades, rigor of the curriculum, scores, and the rest of the application. But they are looking at a 17 year old, who in most cases has never lived away from home for a long period of time, have never had to get dinner on the table while doing laundry and doing their studying with zero scaffolding or parental support/involvement.
Why am I telling you this? I can only speak to Brown-- but the stats and GPA and all that jazz is table stakes. The true differentiator is maturity. The adcom’s don’t want to risk a seat on someone who needs parental involvement to get and maintain that sky high GPA (and all of the other students applying will have that), they don’t want to risk a seat on someone who has a TV view of medicine where the doctors are handsome and beautiful and well groomed even after a 22 hour shift where they’ve been vomited on several times, they don’t want to risk a seat on someone whose motivation for becoming a doctor is “I have several doctors in my family and so that’s been the obvious path for me since I was in first grade”. And they absolutely don’t want to risk a seat on someone who does NOT want to take advantage of a liberal arts education-- really getting stretched intellectually- while covering off the pre-requisites before beginning their highly specialized medical education. The program is not an extended apprenticeship on the carousel of “become a doctor, get a residency in a high paying specialty, never have to read a book again”.
So forget being “chanced”. None of us can chance you because we don’t know you, we don’t know what your teachers will say besides “This is a really hard-working , diligent student”, and we don’t know whether your essays will convey that you are a fit for a liberal arts/humanities/scientific approach to medicine or not. And that you have the maturity to understand what you are getting into- and will be contributing to your classmates along the way.
Good luck!
4 Likes
My advice for PLME is to have a unique compelling story and make sure you show you care about a well-rounded education that Brown values outside of the program.
Nothing is guaranteed, those are just my predictions. Whichever way the wind blows
BSMD programs really like to see a ton of medical experience - which makes sense so the student truly understands the nitty gritty of what they’re signing up for. It sounds like you’re getting some good hands on experience now, but be aware that it might not be enough for some schools.
Best of luck to you!
Hello, can you please share how you contacted the hospital for an internship? Did you cold email them?
Currently a high school student looking for an internship, if you can help me out pls let me know!
Note: Edited by moderator to comply with ToS. Reminder that potentially identifying information should not be shared or requested in the open forums.