<p>I will based my advice stritly on my D’s experience. D. did NOT apply to any UG “regular route”, she applied ONLY to bs/md programs and got accepted to 3, all in-state and one with full tuition Merit award. This one was also non-accelerated (4 + 4) and in addition allowed her to apply out while retaining her spot in the bs/md program Med. School. d. had the best years in UG possible, that went well beyond our expectations. Being in the bs/md program provided a great peace of mind, she was relaxed, much less stress about future Med. School application. Since program was non-accelerated, her UG experience was in no way different than “regular route” pre-meds around her, but much less stressful. She had 2 minors, wa in sorority, in her sport (freshman year), did all of her medical ECs during school year. Her bs/md required MCAT, but a very low score of 27. because it was so low, D. was able to be very calm during exam which resulted in her getting 35. She was the only one who applied out of her program. I do not know how many were in the program at the end, they origianlly accepted 10 freshman and their normal “survival” rate was about 50%, so maybe they had only 5 students. D. applied to 7 additional Med. Schools, got rejected form one, ingnored at 1, waitlisted at 2 and accepted at 3 additional Med. Schools, 2 in top 25. She had hard time deciding between these 2 and finally went to the one that happened to be her “dream” Med. School way back in HS (where she had applied to combined program originally but was rejected pre-interview). Currently she is finishing her 3rd year and so far is very satisfied with both her UG and Medical School experiences.
All of the above is very personal and specific to 2 insitutions - D’s UG and D’s Med. School. Keep in mind that NOBODY can tell you what is the best for YOU specifically, you are the only one who can assess your situation. The only thing we can do is to share our experiences. Keep in mind also, that NOT paying for your UG is a huge positive factor that might enable you to negotiate with your family about financing of your Medical School. In fact, we were very proud of D’s very smartl decision choosing the free option for the UG, we have decided to cover her Med. School tuition and other expenses.<br>
As a reference D graduted #1 from private HS and also received the top pre-med award at UG graduation.
Working hard will pay off no matter what you choose. Having peace of mind will make it easier to get the best positive outcome from your hard work.</p>