Yes they are your choice and if you want one, then great.
But I simply noted they are guidance. You needn’t agree with or follow what they say if you feel otherwise. They are simply an opinion - they are not an assurance.
Is the student applying now? This seems kind of rushed.
Two reality checks…most physicians in the US got a bachelor’s degree first and THEN applied to med school. So your kid is not behind or handicapped in any way by not getting in to a combined program.
And most applicants to combined programs are unsuccessful getting in to these programs. They are so competitive and the institutions are so risk averse that the smallest thing can become significant to the application readers.
So the takeaway is not to tie yourself in knots to become what you think they are looking for. Be the best version of yourself you can be. Get a rigorous education as an undergrad and then apply to med school.
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This is a very wise comment.
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I was thinking the exact same thing. The alternative might be to not have any BS/MD counselor. Regardless I would drop this one.
Good for you! It sounds like your advisor will not be too surprised when you drop them!
For the purpose of applying to universities, including very highly ranked universities, the ECs that you listed above are very good.
For the purpose of applying to BS/MD programs, the ECs that you listed above to me look a bit light on the specific medical / shadowing experience. Doctor shadowing for 2 days does not seem to be enough. Hospital shadowing for a summer does not seem to be enough.
We don’t have any MDs in my immediate family. I do know a couple of doctors, and we have multiple close family members who are in some form of biomedical career. ALL of them had a LOT of relevant experience before applying to whatever biomedical graduate program then ended up in (whether DVM, NP, PhD, MD for the friends, or whatever). ALL of them had enough relevant experience to make it very clear that the graduate program that they were applying to was the right program for them.
To focus on the MD part, getting to the point that someone calls you “doctor” is a HUGE commitment in time, effort, college funds, and lost wages. You need to be really, really sure that this is the right path before you start on the MD part of this. This is a big part of why so much experience is needed to apply. The school wants to know that you are going to stick with it.
By the way, my daughter who is a DVM knew someone in the same program who had spent the first three years of her DVM program complaining that she really wanted to be an MD. Then after three years this student dropped out of the program. I think that this is something that graduate programs want to avoid. This is one example of a reason for biomedical graduate programs to expect a lot of relevant experience before accepting a student.
And my other daughter was briefly thinking “MD” at one point, got into university lab courses, found out that she loved it, got into biomedical research, found out that she loved it even more, and is working on a PhD right now. This is going well. There are a lot of different career options. For a high school student thinking “MD” the large majority end up following a different option and there are many to choose from.
Again great ECs for applying to university. Not great for a BS/MD combined program.
Mostly my view on this is that if a student in high school is certain that they want to become an MD, they should go to university and get their bachelor’s degree, get lots of medical shadowing experience while they get their bachelor’s, and then apply to MD programs.
To get back to the original question:
From the perspective of applying for undergraduate programs, this is IMHO a superb EC.
From the perspective of applying to BS/MD programs, this does suggest that the student is capable of putting in a strong effort over an extended period of time and excelling. However, this does not address the issue of the student who spent three years in a tough graduate program saying that they wanted to do something different, and then dropped out. This does not give enough indication regarding whether this particular student really wants to be an MD.
To me it seems early to focus on the MD part of this.
There are a huge number of universities that are very good for a premed student, and that will also help with any of a very long list of other career paths for a student who changes their mind about the MD part.
At this point I would budget as if the MD part is going to happen. This means that I would budget for a full 8 years of university where the last 4 are going to be expensive, and as a parent I would plan if at all possible to be helping financially for all 8 years. Then I would figure out how many college funds are left for the first four years, budget accordingly, and find a few schools that would be a good fit for the first four years.
Then deal with the rest as the time comes.