One of our Application Architect students reflects on their high school journey, the process of crafting a competitive BS/MD application, and their experiences throughout the BS/MD admissions cycle. This student has gained multiple admissions to competitive programs, but has asked to remain anonymous to maintain their privacy. If you want to work with us on BS/MD or medical school applications, click the link here to get started.
Intro
As someone who’s recently gone through the BS/MD application process, I know how nerve-wracking it can be. I wanted to share about what worked for me, what surprised me, and what I learned along the way. I hope my experience can give you some insight and guidance as you begin your journey.
Building A High School BS/MD Resume
Like many of you, I first started thinking about BS/MD as an underclassman. However, I quickly realized that many healthcare volunteer or doctor shadowing opportunities in my area required participants to be 16 or 17+. To start building my resume earlier, I instead focused on long-term, non-medical volunteer opportunities at my school, and tried to find research early on. I first started at an entry-level summer program, before cold-emailing researchers at a nearby university the following year. Eventually, my persistence yielded a long-term position and mentorship. When I became old enough, I shadowed and volunteered at the hospital, but still tried to balance my resume with non-medical interests like entrepreneurship.
Balancing a BS/MD and Premed College List
When it came time to make my college list at the end of my junior year, I was committed to medical school and BS/MD programs. I applied to 18 BS/MD schools and 6 regular undergrads. For the BS/MD programs, I applied widely, but also considered how happy I would be to spend the next 6-8 years in certain places. Touring several different schools and looking through the different curriculum of each program helped narrow my list. The undergrad schools I selected weren’t necessarily T-20 schools, but were places where I would feel comfortable and had a high chance of succeeding academically. I wanted a school where I could find extracurricular activities that interested me and get strong recommendations from my professors. The majority of the undergrad schools I applied to were liberal arts colleges that had a strong track record of premed students successfully matriculating into medical school. Looking back, I’m happy with the schools I chose to apply to.
Writing the BS/MD Application- Start Early!
When it comes down to actually writing the app, the BS/MD application process is incredibly long. The first essay I started with was the personal statement. Although I had prewritten a personal statement, it didn’t feel right and I unfortunately had to restart the process in early August. This was relatively late for a personal essay, but with Darlene’s help and progress checks, I ultimately was very happy with how the essay turned out. My starting point was listing core parts of me and my personality that I wanted to reflect to colleges, and core memories and hobbies that led to the formation/enhancement of these traits. I made sure to write about a topic that would not appear on my resume, and then briefly relate those experiences to other aspects of my life (like resume material or other brief interactions that showed how I grew). Along with the thoughtfulness of my reflection, I truly think the unique topic and growth that I demonstrated in the statement were one big reasons I was successful this cycle.
I recommend starting this process as early as you can. Since I had mine out of the way by the end of August, I was able to focus on the numerous other supplements required for BS/MDs. However, some of my friends didn’t have their personal statements finalized until a few days before their deadlines, which was stressful for them.
When I started to feel overwhelmed by the number of supplements, I created a calendar for Fall 2024 with submission dates for each school. This helped me manage my essay workload, but also kept me accountable for the many BS/MD essays I had to write. The first few essays were difficult to plan out, but after completing the first three or four topics, I was able to reuse much of the material, which made the process more manageable.
Although I was very productive and efficient in pacing myself throughout fall, I was still slammed in December with finals, RPI BS/MD’s one-week supplemental, and Pitt’s one-month application all in the same week. This was on top of managing my extracurriculars. The application process seemed never ending; I think I wrote about 100+ essays and had to navigate filling out different applications outside of Common App.
Another aspect of the application process that is rarely talked about are letters of recommendations. They were confusing for both my teachers and me—figuring out how many each school would take, which portals to upload to, submission dates, and which recommenders would optimize my chances (based on if it was a research-focused school, liberal arts school, etc.) was a challenge. To stay organized, I created another matrix for each teacher that tracked each recommender’s requirements for each school and platform.
Practicing for Interviews
Right as I was finishing my essays in February, I started getting interview invites. Mock practice sessions were super important in my interview preparation—I watched my Zoom recordings with Darlene at 2x speed and watched my body language, facial expressions, hand gestures, filler words, and key phrases I wanted to remember. I created a document with the content and questions I wanted to practice. Finding structure and articulation for my interviews was tough; I often found myself rambling or avoiding key words (e.g., describing but not actually using the word “cooperation”), which made my answers less concise. Darlene was extremely helpful in providing a solid structure for my answers, helping me communicate more clearly. The articulation that I developed not only helped me be a better candidate, but also allowed me to think quickly on the spot to answer follow-up questions. By knowing my content clearly, I was able to be more present in the interview and gauge the vibe of the conversation and interviewers, ultimately better connecting with them.
Managing BS/MD Rejections
One of the biggest things I learned was to not let rejections hinder me. I came to understand that rejections weren’t personal or a sign my hard work was wasted—something that I had initially internalized. The worst time I was hit by negative feelings, though, was during the waiting game in late February/March, since I over-analyzed every small thing I said in my interviews. I now know that the rejections likely came from the fact that I wasn’t a good fit at that school in their program, and that better things were coming my way. Eventually, in early March, I earned an acceptance to a program that I was very excited about (with more following that month).
Final Thoughts
My biggest piece of advice is to not underestimate the amount of work involved—applying to 15+ BS/MDs, if that’s your path, will probably require more effort than you expect. I felt like I was working harder than I had in junior year, and it definitely caught me off guard. Be ready to hit the ground running in the summer before your senior year, but also remember that it’s important to take time for yourself—whether it’s watching a movie, reading, or spending time outdoors. The stress you’re feeling is part of the process, and everyone is going through the same experience. There is light at the end of the tunnel, trust me. Good luck!
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