Hello All- We are brainstorming with no directions. Please advice on what are the Pros and Cons of accepting Honors, Topscholars, Presidential deans list awards /offers from out of state universities, who declined BSMD admissions. Thanks 
Congrats! I think it depends on the schools, costs, opportunities, individual preferences etc.
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Accepting Honors - All schools are different. Look at what the honors program provides. The best honors programs make a big school feel smaller and provide smaller, interdisciplinary classes in lieu of gen. eds. Early registration, research opportunities, and preferred housing can be other perks. Other honors programs just add on some extra classes and don’t offer much else.
Any of the other merit awards (Top Scholars, Presidential, etc) - The obvious answer is that they are great and lower your costs. Just make sure you are comparing apples to apples (can you stack the awards, what are the requirements to keep the award, do you have to live on campus, are they major specific, etc). For us, it was important to factor in if we would be able to still afford the school if for some reason they lost the merit. We also had to figure in that S23 had a required summer semester and possibly an extra semester (due to double major/minor) that would not be covered by his merit award as most are only 8 semesters.
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Two completely different admissions processes. If you didn’t get into the BS/MD program there, no consolation prize carries any greater chance of acceptance to medical school there.
Separate the two processes, and evaluate your acceptances to undergrad programs, weighing them against each other. They have no bearing whatsoever upon future med school chances, not at that school, and not anywhere else.
The reality is that most honors programs are window dressing. Maybe some merit money, maybe better dorms, priority at registration, research opportunities, honors sections. But when it comes to med school applications, what matters most is MCAT score, GPA, and then research, clinical experiences, volunteer experiences, leadership roles. Being in an honors section might lead to a lower grade, especially in highly competitive premed classes, so might not be the best choice.
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Are you asking if these other things will enhance a medical school application? Or do you just want to know their benefits.
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