Help!!! Drexel bs-md or cornell che

norcalguy
Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:13:01 +0000

I will preface my answer by saying I have strong opinions about BS/MD programs but they are simply my opinions. You will find plenty of people who will disagree with me.


Do you know how many standardized tests your daughter will take in med school? Not one. Not two. Probably around 10. There’s the USMLE Step 1, which is a $500 test that has 330+ questions taken over 8 hours. There’s the USMLE Step 2 CK which is another $500 test that has 330+ questions taken over 8 hours. There’s the USMLE Step 2 CS which is a $1000+ practical exam administered over 8 hours. And then there are the Shelf Exams for internal medicine, surgery, neurology, psychiatry, OBGYN, pediatrics, emergency medicine. All of these are curved against med students from the entire country. And these tests are diabolical. The question stems can be ½ page long each and since these are administered by computer, they can have unlimited number of answer choices. I’ve seen questions with 10+ answer choices. So, why am I telling you this? Because when she takes these tests, do you want the last pressure-filled major exam she’s taken to be the SAT’s?

Medicine is a really long and arduous path. It’s natural for parents to want to shield their children from stress, competition, pressure, and failure. But, the more you shield them now, the more they pay for it later.


You will always find outliers but you can’t go on them. If someone comes to me with a headache and no other symptoms, could they have a brain tumor? Yes. But, I’m not going to order a MRI for them because 99% of the time it’s going to be a migraine, tension headache, not a brain tumor. So, if you see 90% of students with a 3.5/35 getting in, you have to go with that.


The most common reason for a good applicant to not get into any med schools is that they applied too late. Med school deadlines are deceptive. The deadlines to apply are in November usually but most people apply in June or July. When we receive apps in October, we will have given away most of our interview spots. There are many excellent candidates we would love to interview that we simply don’t have spots for because they applied too late. The other reasons why excellent candidates go without acceptances are that they applied to too few schools (I don’t understand people who only apply to 5 places; you need to apply to 15-20) or that they didn’t apply broadly enough (poor premed advising leads people to overshoot). People will always talk about the 4.0/40 kid with no social skills or who didn’t have clinical experience. But, those are extremely rare. Usually, it’s not a flaw with their application but rather how they applied. If your daughter doesn’t make these mistakes, she’ll be fine.