As the incoming seniors are preparing to apply for college and BS/MD programs, a prior Application Architect student kindly shares about what her process was like on applying to BS/MD and competitive programs, like T20’s. She was accepted to Harvard, Brown, and Stanford. If you want to work with us on BS/MD or medical school applications, click the link here to get started.
Intro
Hi! I’m an incoming Harvard premed student and aspiring neurosurgeon/psychiatrist/trauma surgeon (the list goes on and on). You don’t know me but trust me I’ve been well acquainted with your shoes- last year around this time, I was a frantic applicant. I didn’t know about BS/MD programs until a few months before and I hadn’t started any of my college applications yet. I felt so behind, especially as a premed student, fearful that I would never become the doctor I’d always dreamed of becoming or even worse, that I wasn’t “cut out” for it…smart enough, hard-working enough, generally good enough.
What I’d Wish I’d Known
It’s truly not over until it’s over and even if you don’t get the results you wanted, the benefits of applying to BS/MDs to your self-discovery and presentation skills are invaluable opportunities. Full disclosure, I was not accepted to any BS/MDs. I received one interview and spent the week afterward beating myself up because I felt that I had destroyed my one chance at becoming a doctor. In hindsight, it’s easy to give my past self a reality check and remind myself that BS/MDs are not an all-or-nothing- there are so many paths to becoming a doctor. Moreover, even though I was not accepted to any BS/MDs, I would 100% go through the arduous application process again. The earlier deadlines for the programs prepared me to more efficiently present the strongest application to my dream schools. I was accepted to 4/5 of my top 5 schools: Harvard, Stanford, Brown and UCLA. Doing 10+ BS/MD applications (that were often lengthier than the regular college applications and more specific) in the months before T20 school deadlines helped me realize what my strongest stories were to convey my passion for medicine and general love of learning. Another bonus was becoming frighteningly good at working on brutally tight deadlines- I’m now confident that I can write a strong application essay in a few hours where before even the reflection process would take me days.
College List Strategy
I applied to 26 schools, around 8 of those were BS/MDs, the other majority of them were T20s and 3 were safeties. If I were to do it again, I wouldn’t change my college selection. I believe that by applying to many schools, you give yourself the best opportunity statistically for acceptance. You also gain practical experience with each application and many essays are transferrable not entirely from one school’s application to another then at least in parts: for example, my “Why Medicine” essay for BS/MDs became an integral part of my Common App essay. If you are financially able to, apply to as many schools as you are genuinely interested in attending. Shoot your shot even if you think you don’t stand a chance. Trust me there will be at least one surprise in your college application journey and many “what if” sessions in your head. Some of those doubts are inevitable but for all the decisions you have some control over, make choices your future self will thank you for.
General tips
- Give yourself a break from the college forums and competitive race as much as possible. If you’re a BS/MD applicant, you likely already have a very competitive applicant profile. I’m very grateful to college forums for the wealth of free information and resources they provide (A2C, College Confidential, etc.). This was actually how I found Dr. Diep. With that said though, there’s a discernible level of toxicity on these platforms and in hindsight, I wish I had spent more time working on my applications than focusing on how others were working on their applications and comparing myself. Check-in with yourself and your usage of these platforms (if this is applicable to you) and create tangible non-negotiables to take care of your mental health. For me this looked like daily exercise, scheduling weekly time to meet with friends even during application cycles, and consuming media that would remind me of everything I was working for…now whether they are realistic or not is up to you to decide haha (Grey’s Anatomy, Gilmore Girls and everything Dr. Atul Gawande has written).
- Ask as many people as you want for advice, but limit the number of people who actually edit your essays. For advice, I reached out to alumni from my high school, current students at schools I wanted to attend, advisors like Dr. Diep, YouTubers, family, friends, and teachers. However, I carefully selected two people who edited my essays. I believe that choice was necessary to preserve (my sanity) and my creative voice/freedom.
- The college application cycle for BS/MD applicants is longer than it is for regular applicants because of scholarship applications, interviews, etc. Yes, it is difficult to see all your friends rejoice for being done months earlier but if you constantly remind yourself of your values and why you want to be a doctor, you will make it through. Becoming a doctor is incredibly difficult and applying earlier to medical school through BS/MDs made my determination to become one much stronger. I’ve seen it do the opposite for others and that’s completely ok. I am so grateful for the process because it forced me to ask myself what I really wanted and what I was willing to do to get there.
Final Thoughts
As I’ve reflected on my acceptances and rejections in the application process, over the past months I do feel that part of my BS/MD rejections were because I wasn’t the right fit from the beginning. The nature of BS/MDs requires extreme commitment from a teenager to a few career paths and in return, provides stability and indispensable years of mentorship. Although I do wish sometimes I’d realized that sooner about myself, ultimately I would not change anything about the process. I admit I did find it very annoying when people told me that you will go where you’re meant to go but for most people, I believe this is true. Remind yourself of this—and also that just because one door closes to becoming a doctor, there are still so many doors to open.
Sorry for the cheese at the end and hope that this helps! You got this and I believe in you. 🙂
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