Brown University’s Program for Liberal Medical Education accepted just 2% of its applicants in 2021-22. Drexel University’s BA/BS+MD Early Assurance Program accepted only 60 of its more than 2300 applicants last year.
Direct Medical Programs (also known as BS/MD, BA/MD, BS/DO and BA/DO) are highly sought after because they can often be a high school student's golden ticket into medical school. These ultra competitive programs allow students to simultaneously apply to an undergraduate school and its partnered medical school. If accepted into the direct medical program, the student must meet specific requirements as an undergraduate student to successfully matriculate into medical school.
Students should take the time to do their research build a well-rounded BS/MD college list
Because of these perks, aspiring doctors are drawn to these types of programs to avoid the competitive medical school application process. However, many of these programs have a very limited number of seats, with some programs like the Rice University/Baylor College of Medicine program accepting just six students a year.
The success of a BS/MD applicant often lies in how they build their BS/MD college list. Students might not even realize that they are reducing their chances of success by applying to programs that they aren't qualified for, or deemed a good fit. Here are five tips on how to make a well-rounded BS/MD list.
1. Look At Residency Restrictions
Direct medical programs at schools like the University of Illinois-Chicago, University of Louisville and Marshall University are only open to students from their respective states. The programs want to train students who are more likely to stay and help serve their local community.
While some programs are limited to only students from their states, others, like the one at the University of Missouri-Kansas (UMKC), strongly prefer in-state or regional residents. Out of the 110 students who get accepted to UMKC’s program each year, only 10-15 seats are reserved for students outside Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Illinois, Nebraska and Oklahoma.
2. Meet All Academic Requirements
Unlike when you apply to undergraduate universities, most BS/MD programs have minimum SAT, ACT or GPA requirements that students must meet to be considered for the program. The College of New Jersey is one such program. They require their students to have at least 1500 on the SAT or a 34 on the ACT. Out of the 400 students that applied to the program in 2020-21, only half were deemed academically eligible and were considered for an interview.
According to Alix Markoff, a BS/MD counselor at Moon Prep, "Most successful BS/MD applicants will be at the top of their class, with unweighted GPAs of 3.8 or higher. Their SAT and ACT scores will be in the top 99th percentile as well." While there is some wiggle room in these numbers, Markoff explains that students with scores that are slightly below these levels should carefully consider their options and only apply to programs for which they are qualified.
Other programs might require students to take certain classes to be eligible to apply. Boston University's Seven-Year Liberal Arts/Medical Education Program mandates that students have a year of physics before matriculating into the program.
3. Consider What The Programs Are Looking
While many programs look holistically at students and judge them based on their academic and extracurricular qualifications, others are looking for a specific type of student or one with specific items on their resume. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's direct medical program looks for students with a passion for research and aims to "train physician-scientists to perform at the highest level in both medicine and research."
Other programs want to encourage students from rural or underserved populations to become doctors. The Pre-Medical Scholars BS/MD Early Assurance Program at Wilkes University requires its applicants to be a resident of a rural and/or medically underserved area of Pennsylvania. The applicants should also demonstrate a desire to work with underserved or rural populations in the state. Therefore, when making your list, make sure you meet all the requirements beyond academics.
4. Diversify Your Medical Schools
There are hundreds of direct medical programs, but many filter into the same medical school. Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine has more than a hundred partnered undergraduate schools, but that doesn't mean you can apply to all of them to improve your chances of acceptance. In fact, per LECOM rules, you can only select three of their partnered undergraduate programs.
Other medical schools, like New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) and Suny Upstate Medical School, will have partnerships with multiple undergraduate schools. While these medical schools don’t have a limit on the number of partners you can apply to, you might be limiting your options. Markoff states that no matter how many undergraduate programs you apply to, you will only get one interview at NJMS or Suny Upstate Medical School. Diversify the medical schools you add to your list to increase the number of interviews you might get, therefore increasing your odds of acceptance.
5. Apply Widely
If getting into a direct medical program is your dream, you will likely need to apply to quite a few programs to give yourself the best shot of getting in. Case Western Reserve University's Pre-Professional Scholars Program gets more than 2800 applicants for just 20-25 seats. That puts their acceptance rate at less than 1%. To increase your chances of getting into a direct medical program, Markoff suggests that you apply to at least ten programs. Most BS/MD applicants will have 10-15 BS/MD programs on their college list in addition to 5 or more traditional undergrad programs.
Getting into a direct medical program isn’t easy. A competitive student’s chances of getting into a program can be increased by building a smart and well-rounded direct medical list.
