If he’s this unenthused now, I wouldn’t want to put him in the position of having to say no to the BS/MD if they accepted him. It is a whole lot of potential-burnout-pressure to commit yourself to something like that.
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Which of course is a valid concern, but the problem is a large percentage of people end up not wanting to go to med school anyway–some are forced out, but some simply find other paths they had not yet considered, or not in an informed way, when in HS.
So it is a bit of a problem to let the possibility of a BSMD dictate college choice when more often than not that will end up the tail wagging the dog.
Of course the financial side of things is always very personal. But otherwise, I tend to think these sorts of programs should be seen more as tiebreakers than actual main factors, and if the kid is not feeling it, maybe not even that.
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What you’re saying is that his heart really isn’t in this particular BSMD school and while he’d be fine w/attending there for 4 yr of undergrad, he doesn’t want to attend for med school, too.
That lack of enthusiasm will end up coming out in his essays. And that’s why he’s dragging his feet on completing the rest of the essays for that BSMD application.
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Many kids won’t end up in med school anyway.
If he truly had the passion, especially as an EMT, he’d get it done…it’s a ton of work in undergrad, shadowing, etc. And there will be other opportunities later.
So if he’s not willing to crank an essay, he truly might be unsure and it’s ok to let go.
If it’s size related to the school - then maybe that school isn’t right for him.
Has he applied to a smaller, affordable and attainable safety? If not, get it in.
But also remember - a large school is big but can be made smaller. The numbers he interacts with may not be huge. The portion of campus he traverses may not be huge.
A small school, on the other hand, is small - can’t be bigger.
But if he’s struggling with enthusiasm for the school, easy answer is still get the essay done to have that option of Honors…but if he can’t, the school isn’t right and it’s time to find the one that is!!!
A safety that you don’t want to attend is not a safety. It’s a potential recipe for disaster…although many say looking back, I can’t imagine having been anywhere else.
Good luck.
PS - there are definitely safeties he will like - but you have to open the mind. What types of schools does he like - i.e. what names?
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Has he visited the school?
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As someone who works at a college, educating students IS the primary mission. However, admissions office staff don’t educate students. Their job is to bring is a class to either help the college make budget or, in the case of a selective college, make the new class look more accomplished than the last.
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This happened with S24 for a reach school he was sure he would apply to. I wasn’t thrilled with it and didn’t like the location, it just didn’t seem like a good fit for him. But it remained on his common app until the day before when he saw the length of the supplemental and said peace out! So even with schools they would be excited to go, if they can’t even find the motivation to finish the application, you have to wonder how much it really mattered to them. After all his hard work, you wouldn’t want him to just settle on a school. This is a big commitment and many who love the school at acceptance, go through doubts after starting. So being already hesitant before he’s even arrived is a good sign it’s not the right place for him.
I also completely understand being worried if none of his reaches come through, but that is part of what they have to go through in this process and I still wouldn’t want him to settle for something he hates just because he didn’t get what he wanted. It’s a time to reevaluate at that point what next steps are, if it comes to that.
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I think I better understand the issue. I agree in theory if there is a chance he might end up at this college anyway, why not make the effort to keep this as an option? Which is rational, but I also think at a certain point options are too unlikely to materialize to be really worth the effort.
Like, this is not exactly the same, but I have not forced my S24 to apply for every merit scholarship program at his application colleges if they would require separate essays. Particularly if they were really low probability and he wasn’t really a great fit for the program, I did not think it was appropriate to force him to try to pretend to be a better fit than he really was.
I do think your situation is not quite the same, but it sounds like it is getting at least pretty close with the lack of enthusiasm for this particular BSMD program. And while reasonable minds may differ, I do think if you cannot honestly write the sort of essay they want from you, maybe the program really is not for you.
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It is still tough when potentially a lot of family money is at stake, but that is a truly honorable attitude. And I tend to think people who consistently try to maintain such personal ethics end up finding good paths.
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A lot of discussion on Med School today, so I want to ask a question on my daughters situtation. I realize at some point she may change her mind in the future, but right now she is 100% focused on Med School after her undergraduate and making all decisions based on that game plan. As a senior in HS, she is already accumulating volunteer hours, shadowing hours (my wife is an OT in a hospital and set it up) and working as a paid CNA to build up a Med School resume. She has even decided she wants to be an Ear Nose and Thoat Doctor eventually. She now has two paths to choose from college wise:
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Path 1 - She has gotten into some pretty strong Top 40-85 schools including Ohio State, Baylor, Purdue and we hear on Florida State soon. All are expensive, but have success getting students into Med School. She has not heard on scholarships yet on any other than Baylor, but all will be expensive options most likely. Florida State would give a large scholarship if she gets accepted into the Medical Honors College. Yes we can afford this path if needed.
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Path 2 - She has also received multiple very large scholarships that cover full out of state tuition at schools ranked in the 100-200 range. . Her schools that have given nice scholarships she is still considering are Ole Miss, Alabama, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Iowa State and Tulsa.
Any doctors or parents who have been down this road have an opinion here? Do you go more elite which should carry at least some weight toward getting into Med School? Or do you save money and take the merit scholarship option and still most likely end up in Med School anyways but need a few extra points on the MCAT? We have been focused on path 2 for awhile now, but we are having some doubts now. Thoughts anybody and thanks in advance?
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Well, S24 has only heard back from one (ED rejection) so I hear you.
@WayOutWestMom @thumper1 Do y’all have any good advice for @speak2me daughter’s undergrad choices and how that may impact med school admission?
This, to me, is where ranking is silly. In the grand scheme, there is no difference between tOSU and K State, Iowa State, Alabama. There, in reality isn’t.
Now some may have programs. Bama has MCCullough Medical Scholats for example. Others may have easier access to shadowing - I dunno.
Tulsa, by the way, very well reputed. Been a safety for Rice and others historically. Now a quarter of students are NMF.
Not telling you where to go but you’ll find med school successes at all. My derm went to WKU undergrad.
You see a higher % med school success at more selective schools because academically, more talented kids are there to begin with. But your kid is one and will stand on their own, wherever they are.
But I don’t personally see huge deltas in the quality of schools you listed. Is tOSU harder to get into than Ole Miss. yes. So maybe the pool applying is of higher quality overall. But it doesn’t necessarily impact your student.
Any of these schools would be fine for medical, law, business, or finding a job. My Bama kid (engineering) is in the same cohort with Michigan, Purdue (declined them), Washington, CWRU and more. It’s a nice topic to keep US News flush with cash and attention but likely not impactful in the real world.
So I may be uninformed med school wise but it’s my belief.
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You may want to check into medical school advising at each school—how many kids are successful? how many applications are supported etc
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