no - many have auto merit. Can you name the school or send me a DM and I’ll look. It wouldn’t necessarily be in the calculator.
Of course I could change my mind. I’ve wanted this for a long time, and I have a lot of experience for a HS senior, but I don’t have a crystal ball.
The programs I’ve interviewed at, if you change your mine you can drop the program and stay at the university. Again, I don’t know if that is universally true.
I’m editing to add, that I’m not dismissing the concern about changing people’s minds. I can imagine that it might feel harder to change path, when your identity and friendships etc . . . are tied up with the idea of being in the program.
I also think an important question is “if I wasn’t thinking about medicine, would I still consider this school”? To be honest, if I wasn’t thinking about such an expensive option, I’d probably choose to spend more money on undergrad to be in an environment with more academic peers. I applied to a few reach schools and was admitted to one EA. The others I haven’t heard from.
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You may never change your mind about medical school.
No bsmd/do program binds you to the MD/DO piece. You always have a choice to not move forward with the med school piece.
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This is very close to the amount that my older daughter actually spent for 8 years of university, to the point that they called her “doctor” (but a DVM rather than an MD). Again this was with significant merit aid for the first four years, and in-state pricing for the last four years.
One possible issue I see here is that premed classes are tough, medical school is tough, and you need medical shadowing time as well. Admittedly my daughter did work while getting her bachelor’s degree and while getting her DVM, but the work that she did was heavily focused on getting relevant experience rather than earning much money, and this experience did help her. She did need to work very hard but was able to have a life at the same time.
It sounds like this would leave quite a bit of the $400,000 still in the bank to help with the costs of medical school. Also if you do get to work as an RA, then getting some research experience would help you get exposure to at least one of the major biomedical-related alternatives to medical school.
My understanding is that you are planning to see what offers you get, compared the costs and other aspects of each offer, and then decide what to do. I think that this is exactly the right approach, and to me it looks like you are likely to do well. It sounds like you are thinking about this in a very realistic and reasonable way.
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Just out of curiosity, I looked at the list of BS/MD programs at AMCAS you linked. I only got about halfway through the list because I simply don’t have the time to read all the details…
but of the first 17 public universities schools listed:
- 6 were for in-state students only (including one that only considered residents of specific geographic region within the state)
- 3 indicated a very strong preference for in-state residents
- 2 were by invitation only (one specified it only invited low income, first gen or students from medically underserved communities to interview for the program)
- 1 wasn’t actually a BS/MD since students only applied for entry consideration to med school as college sophomores (more an EA program than a BS/MD)
…the rest were open to both instate and OOS applicants
So while there may be number of public BS/MDs, it’s really a very mixed bag about whether they are viable options for OOS applicants.
Can you always stay in the university? I thought so, but now this thread is making me nervous!
Thanks, yes that’s what I plan to do.
It seems like I will have about a month between knowing all my acceptances and financial aid, and having to make what seems like a major decision. So, i really just started this thread to ask what I should be thinking about, and how I should be weighing BA/BS/MD in that decision.
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I have no doubt that the schools you are applying to will have enough students and enrichment to be worthy of your academic level, even if you don’t continue with medicine. And that extra $$ could be good for grad school…or a car ??
Yes, If you meet the criteria for admission to the med school. Some schools might also have intermediate checkpoints too and/or require the overall and/or science GPA to never fall below a certain number.
Getting into one of these programs seems like a reach to me, so in the end it only matters whether the school I get into is public/private/cheap/expensive etc . . .
Sorry, I somehow posted half of my sentence. I mean, do all of these programs let you stay in the university and finish your bachelor’s if you decide not to continue to medical school? Assuming that you just changed your mind, and aren’t being expelled for some other reason.
Or if your GPA is too low? Two of the programs require a 3.6 to stay in the program. But if I got a 3.5 could I still finish my bachelor’s degree?
I have been assuming this is always true, but maybe not?
Is this a BS MD program. If so, does this scholarship carry over to the medical school portion of your studies (although if you have $400,000 saved for schooling now, you probably will be OK).
It’s a school with a BS/MD program where I have been admitted as an undergraduate to the university, and awarded a scholarship. I also interviewed for the BS/MD there, but they don’t send those acceptances until late March. My understanding is that the scholarship will only apply during undergrad. DCTAG applies until you have a bachelor’s degree.
Check the rules but this has to be the case because you’re still going to finish the requirements to earn a Bachelor degree.
Yes, you can stay in the program, provided you’re meeting or exceeding the minimum expectations of the program.
Many BS/MD programs will review your progress annually.
Most will hold a formal review at the end of your sophomore year (4 year undergrad program) to let you know if you are “on track” to meet the program minimums for med school admissions.
If you are on not “on track,” you will be either be placed on probation or dropped from the program.
Actually, you can be dropped from the program at any time during the 3 or 4 years of undergrad if your progress is not meeting expectations. (A C+ in ochem–that could get you dropped from the program. A conduct violation for rowdy dorm behavior or underage drinking–that could get dropped from the program. An honor code violation or plagiarism charge no matter how minor—that WILL get you dropped from the program.)
All programs will hold a formal review at the end of your junior year to let you know if you have met the expectations needed to advance to the medical education portion of the BS/MD. Expectations involve more than just academic readiness. Your maturity, resilience, commitment to medicine and your mental health will also be informally assessed.
Generally, as part of that junior year review, you will undergo another round of interviews that are the full med school admission interview process that the adcomm uses with all of its potential med school candidates.The format of the interview will depend on how the med school structures its admission interviews. It could be one or more group interviews, one or more individual interviews, a round of MMIs or combination of all of the above.
For some programs, the interviews are pretty much just a formality. At others, they are a make-or-break moment where you have to prove your fitness/readiness to move forward. It depends on the specific program.
I think the OP is asking…if he or she decides to leave the BS MD program, can they continue at the same university and finish a bachelors degree.
I’m not aware of any that would make you leave the undergrad as long as you are a student in good standing.
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Yes, you can stay at the university assuming you aren’t going to be expelled for academic or conduct reasons.
Or if your GPA is too low? Two of the programs require a 3.6 to stay in the program. But if I got a 3.5 could I still finish my bachelor’s degree?
As long as you are in good academic standing with the university, you can stay and finish your degree.
RE: mentoring
There will be a health profession advising office at nearly every university in the country. There will be advisors there who can offer you guidance about what activities are expected of students hoping to go to med school. At the universities I’m familiar with the HP offices hold regular meetings (at the beginning of school and usually more interspersed throughout the school year) to explain the requirements and expectations for med school, application timelines, testing requirements/dates, etc.
Even if you don’t attend a BS/MD, you aren’t on your own to figure out the med school application process.
There may also be student organizations for pre-meds on campus. Some are for specific ethnic or affinity groups (SNMA, LMSA, BPMS, etc) ; others are open to everyone (AMSA), etc.
And there will be medical school fairs that you can attend which offer undergrad pre-meds a chance to connect in person with medical school representatives/recruiters and students so you can ask questions and learn about the mission and culture of various medical schools.
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Thank you! This is super helpful. It isn’t what I meant to ask, but it’s more useful than what I meant to ask.
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