<p>Hi! My dream is to become a radiologist(the R in ROAD). Knowing how competitive it will be, is it better to do a 7yr accelerated medical program(saving money) or go the traditional route but to a more prestigious college(hopefully with some scholarships/financial aid) xD?</p>
<p>My academics:
SAT: 2200 (800CR, 710M, 690W)
GPA: 3.96 UW (taking loads of AP courses)</p>
<p>^if that helps in the answer… Hopefully I can get into one of those options! xD</p>
<p>It does not matter. Do very good on Boards and you get where you want to be. Which bs/md’s and regular route schools you got accepted? Which are you choosing from?</p>
<p>I haven’t got accepted anywhere yet, I’m currently applying and hoping that I get into one of those options. I wonder if I should target my applications toward Ivies or schools with accelerated medical school programs.</p>
<p>Then, you are wasting your precious time. Get accepted, then decide. bs/md’s are very hard to get in and number of spots is diminishing every year.</p>
<p>I don’t want to come off as being mean but, without a hook, your SAT isn’t that competitive for HYPS in the first place. I hope you have chosen your list of schools wisely with less “reach” schools and more “match” and a few “safety” schools. I would not “target” Ivies at all because you stand a great chance of being disappointed. If you throw out the CR score you have a 1400 old score which is VERY low for an unconnected, non URM applying to Ivy type schools. </p>
<p>Does your HS have Naviance? If so, you need to use it before sending off a single application. Don’t let a school’s 25/75 stats fool you…those on the low end are recruited athletes, URMs and special admits, not everyday applicants.</p>
<p>Very few of the big time “prestigious” schools offer any merit aid and the few that do, like Wash U, are very competitive for the relatively small amount that they do offer.</p>
<p>Make sure you have some LACs on your list (and I don’t mean Amherst or Pomona type schools) because some of the other LACs, like Rhodes, are very fine schools that also offer great merit money to top candidates. Don’t discount publics. Many have terrific merit money for OOS students. South Carolina offers a large number of merit awards that also include tuition reduction to in-state levels, making the cost of attendance very low and their Honors program is great. They use a grid formula and your GPA and SAT alone will get you a very nice merit award AND tuition remission. </p>
<p>Lastly, it is a big mistake to pick an undergrad school with grad/professional school in mind. Select a school that you can be happy and excel at, the rest will fall in place.</p>
<p>While I believe that 2200 is good enough, I also believe that picking UG for the sake of future accptances is wrong and will backfire badly. You need to pick UG that you feel a good match to your personality and your many interests. If you are happy at UG, you will do well, if you are miserable, you will do miserably. The only thing that counts at the end is how well you have done (besides great memories of 4 most important years in your life). The name of place where you did great is not that important. You can call it Harvard or you can call it Whatever, high college GPA is yours, from Harvard or Whatever is practically irrelevant. In regard to bs/md, it also better be at school that you see yourself going, you feel at home. It is your life, 4 years and more so 7 years is a good chunk of your life, keep it in mind, very important.</p>
<p>^ Still strongly believe that the OP needs to NOT target Ivies without a hook. I am not saying don’t apply, just don’t broadly apply and pin hopes on an Ivy admission.</p>
<p>Here is Yale’s Freshman Class of 2014 profile:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Other school data can be found here:
[2014</a> Ivy League Admissions Statistics](<a href=“http://www.theivycoach.com/2014-ivy-league-admissions-statistics.html]2014”>http://www.theivycoach.com/2014-ivy-league-admissions-statistics.html)</p>
<p>[2015</a> Ivy League Admissions Statistics](<a href=“http://www.theivycoach.com/2015-ivy-league-admissions-statistics.html]2015”>http://www.theivycoach.com/2015-ivy-league-admissions-statistics.html)</p>
<p>Approximately 19% of those with stats like the OP were admitted. You can bet that this number includes most recruited athletes, many/most URMs, some legacies and all special admissions office admits (read development admits). That doesn’t leave very much room for “normal” candidates.</p>
<p>I am not saying that the OP has a weak profile, not at all, just that he/she needs to be careful with their list and make sure it more closely aligns with their stats. The competition at Ivies and similar profile schools is intense and without a hook the odds for admission with a 1400 old score are somewhat long unless the school truly uses a more holistic approach to admissions which most/many don’t.</p>
<p>To the OP, look through the archives for Ivy admits by school here on CC to see what the profiles look like. There are plenty of 4.0/2400 kids being rejected each year. </p>
<p>Just be sure to balance your list with schools whose admissions stats more closely align to yours…i.e. upper quartile matches your numbers not the middle 50% (25-75) because as I said, the bottom end of those numbers are usually not people like you.</p>
<p>IMO, it does not matter where you go, what you do there is important. However, bs/md has helped my own D. to feel less stressful during her UG and even during MCAT exam and going to interviews. However, she was attending UG that fit her very well and her experinces there went well beyond our expectations. She has applied out. So, she has both experiences being in bs/md and going regular route. She never was aspired to go to Ivy’s or other elite schools though. So, her experience might not be applicable, but she was successful.</p>
<p>Road to happiness, not success.</p>
<p>I’m a rising senior. I’m mainly applying in-state but I was just wondering if it would be beneficial to apply to Ivies(given the competitive career) or a waste of time/money.</p>
<p>eadad: I thought it was CR + Math that was the old scoring? not Math +WR? (not that it matters here but just for my own reference) And I never heard of Naviance xD</p>
<p>originally I was just only going to apply to public in-state but then I saw the ivies results topics and saw that many people without a 2400 also get in… so had a thought about whether I should apply to ivies and wondered if it would help me in getting the career(after reading that it is very competitive)</p>
<p>so is it a good idea to not apply to ivies and apply to places with a bs/md program? in addition, of course, to the main state schools.</p>
<p>@neorobie, if you want to apply to an Ivy, then go ahead. It doesn’t cost that much and if you stick to HYP and Columbia you might get a decent FA deal if accepted. Have you taken the SAT 2s yet? They are required for the Ivies. I had stats very similar to yours (4.0 unweighted GPA, 1490, 2300 SAT 2s) and was waitlisted by Harvard. Oh, and yes, the “old scoring” is CR + M. Best of luck.</p>
<p>Apply where you wish. No having paid for UG because of Merit award is a great plus when Med. School in a future. Gives you more choices not limiting yourself with cheaper Med. Schools. However, if you have unlimited resources, why not, apply to Ivy’s, do whatever you are pleased.</p>
<p>OP,</p>
<p>if the R in ROAD is for radiology, what do the rest of the letters stand for?</p>
<p>ortho, anaesthesia, derm</p>
<p>Ortho? I thought it was optho</p>
<p>ha, i was thinking optho (but talking about ortho) and wrote ortho! yes, it’s optho. thanks!</p>
<p>I first read of the ROAD acronym in i think a sticky in this forum topic. The o is ophthalmology. A is anesthesiology D is dermatology… I think! xD</p>
<p>I’m planning to take the SAT IIs this october!</p>
<p>I think a lot of people posting in this thread are being a little harsh. In my opinion, a major deciding factor that nobody here could know is the extent to which you believe medicine to be the career path for you. If you’re absolutely sure, then the shorter program is far better. If I recall correctly, they either 1) don’t require you to take the MCAT (which is a huge stress factor), or 2) don’t require that high of an MCAT score. Furthermore, you get out a year early with an M.D., which means you’ll be practicing medicine at 25 instead of 26, with 1 year less debt. On the other hand, if you’re not sure (this applies to the vast majority of people who opt out of pre-med) then go with the general route, take the pre-med courses, do some hospital work, and THEN make the decision to apply to medical school. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>OP, you are getting way ahead of yourself. How do you know you will still want to pursue radiology if you do go onto medical school. Either focus on getting accepted to a combined bs/md program or choosing a school in which you will thrive to maximize your chances at getting into a medical school.</p>
<p>Kristin,
I also believe it is opthomology, but I might be incorrect. </p>
<p>Novabossa,
I have researched extensively combined bs/md programs, you cannot tell somebody what is better for them, they can only decide for themselves. As an example, my D. turned down accelerated program, she decided to be in 4+4 combined bs/md. She did not care to finish earlier, she wanted normal college experience. There were plenty of others who we have met during D’s interviews at various combined programs that preferred accelerated programs. Both of the programs required MCAT. D. has also turned down accelerated program that did not require MCAT. So, you cannot just advise somebody in this. They have to research to see what is the best for them. As far as my D., she had a ball at her UG, still visiting there. She has also applied out and was accepted at several Med. Schools. So, she is M1 at school outside of her bs/md.</p>