Applying to Pre-Med and BS/MD Programs

Webinar Transcription

2026-01-22 – Applying to Pre-Med and BS:MD Programs

Anesha: Hi everyone. Welcome to tonight’s webinar. My name is Anesha Grant. I’m a senior advisor at CollegeAdvisor and I will be a moderator today. Today’s webinar is a special session for HOSA, sorry, on ”Applying to Pre-Med and BSMD Programs.” Before we get started, just to orient everyone with the webinar timing, we will take a quick poll to learn who’s in the room with us.

Share a presentation on today’s topic, and then we will open up the floor to answer your questions in a live q and a on the sidebar, you can start submitting your questions in the q and a tab, and our slides are available under the handouts tab. Now let’s meet our presenter, Ishaani Kari, how Ishanni? How are you doing?

Ishaani: Hey. Hi everyone. Doing well.

Anesha: Tell us a little bit about your background.

Ishaani: Yeah, sure. So, hi guys. My name is, uh, Ishaani. I am a medicine resident in New York City. Uh, I am a graduate of Brown for both undergraduate and medical school as a part of their program and liberal education. Um, so I went to Brown for eight years.

I applied to, um. Brown as an undergrad institution and as medical school when I was just coming outta high school. So when I was just 17 or 18. Um, and that’s kinda my academic background when it comes to the, um, college advising space. So I’ve actually been working in the college advising space since I was a sophomore in undergrad, so almost like seven or eight years now.

Um, I think I’ve really gotten. To see really all sides of, in all, uh, parts of the college application process. I, myself was an applicant about 10 years ago now. Um, additionally I’ve worked through this process with so many students and also last year I also read applications, um, for Permium as part of the reading committee.

So I’ve really been able to see it from so many different angles and I’m really grateful for that experience and I think it’s what qualifies me to give this talk and share some of my experience with all of you.

Anesha: Yeah. Thank you so much. I did not know you also did the reading for, so that’s awesome. That is great perspective as well.

All right. Before we let you go, we’re gonna go ahead and do a quick little poll just so we know, like I said, who’s in the room with us. So if you are, uh, present, go ahead and select the grade level you’re currently in. If you’re a parent or a teacher, we welcome you. You can go ahead and select other. Um, so you said, you know, you did this application process, uh, 10, almost 10 years ago.

What was your deciding, I guess, motivating factor as a potential pre-med applicant? What were you looking for in an institution?

Ishaani: Yeah, so, um, I, I was looking for a lot of things I knew I liked. And when I think about medicine, I think there’s both the art and the science of medicine. So I wanted to be at a place where I could.

Really be academically involved with medicine. Um, you know, get involved with research, uh, and think about how to like advance medicine and push it forward. But I also wanted to be at a place that I could get really strong clinical training and work with a really unique and diverse set of patients. Um, I think I, again, did my medical school in Providence.

And Providence is a really unique place, a really unique community and a really great, you know, community to serve. And I’m really grateful for my medical training there. And then now when I’m in New York City, I really have such a unique patient population that I get to work with every single day in the biggest city in the us And I get to serve, um, all of New York City, which is a really special experience, and I can think of a better place to train.

Anesha: Awesome. Um, all right. Thanks for indulging me in my questions as we get through the first part of this. Just so you know, for context, we have, uh, an eighth grader with us. Welcome, uh, congratulations on getting a jumpstart. 37% though of the folks with us are in the ninth grade. 27% are in the 10th grade. 26% are in the 11th grade, 5%, um, in the 12th grade.

And then we have, uh, 5% of parents and teachers. So the bulk of folks with us are in the ninth grade or underclassmen. Um, so perhaps starting to think about their academic pre-med, um, pathway. All right, so I’ll stop talking, hand it over to you, uh, and be back a little bit later for our q and a.

Ishaani: Amazing.

Thanks Anesha. Okay. Hey, everyone excited to, um, get started on this talk. So today we’re gonna be talking about what it means to be applying to pre-med and BS MD programs. So I thought a great first place to start with, to be defining what it means to be a pre-med. So, so when you’re in undergrad, uh, you can be pre-med and that just essentially.

Signals that, Hey, after these my years of undergraduate education, I’d be interested in a career in medicine and more specifically a career as a doctor. When you think about how to become a doctorate, there are really two degrees that, um, allow you to become a physician in the us, an MD and a DO degree.

Um, one thing that I feel like I really was not [00:05:00] aware of when I was in high school, ’cause I didn’t have too much exposure to healthcare in high school. It’s just how many other fantastic and amazing careers there are in healthcare. Um, when it comes to nursing, also, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, um, speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists.

Also in our hospital, we have social workers that really do so much for our patients. So all of the, and I’m, I know I’m probably leaving some out here as well. Um, so all the specialties and everyone in the hospital. Provides so much and do so much for the patients. It’s like medicine and healthcare is such a team sport.

Um, so I know sometimes there are people out there that are like, ah, I’m thinking about a career in healthcare, but I don’t wanna be a doctor. So that means a career in healthcare isn’t for me. Just to remind that there’s so many amazing careers in healthcare and it’s much, much more than an MD and DO.

Uh, I think another important thing, [00:06:00] oh, about, uh, pre-med that I wanted to talk about was I think some people are like, oh, does that mean pre-med has to be my major when I’m an undergrad? Pre-meds not necessarily a major. Um, you can major in whatever you want. You can major in English, you can major in biology, you can major in neuroscience, you can major in computer science, uh, engineering.

And as long as you take your prerequisite pre-med courses, then you’re pre-med. So pre-med is not about. Picking the right major. It’s about, uh, completing a certain amount of prerequisite courses that you’re required to do in preparation for medical to be like a med school applicant, essentially.

That also kinda, I know this webinars about applying to both pre-med programs and BSMD programs, so now you’re probably wondering what is a B-S-M-D program? So it’s kind of in the name BS, so bachelor’s degree, MD medical degree. Um, so a BS MD program is a program that allows you to apply to a combined and [00:07:00] program, and you get a conditional acceptance to both an undergraduate and a medical student.

So you get. Definitely accepted to an undergrad institution, and then you get conditionally accepted to the medical institution that it’s associated with. Um, when I say conditionally, what do I mean? So oftentimes when you apply to BS MD programs, sometimes they’ll say, Hey, we’ll admit you to this program, but in order for you to go and transition from the bachelor’s part to the medical degree part, you have to meet these certain requirements.

Those requirements could be, Hey, if you, if you get in this BSMD program. You’re an undergrad here, your minimum GPA must be X. And then you can just try to store med school or you have to take the MCAT and your minimal MCAT score has to be this number or this percentile, and then it’ll allow you to tr go to a medical school.

So that’s a really important key. The conditions of this acceptance, it really varies so much from, um, program to program. So when, if you’re interested in BS MB [00:08:00] programs. That’s something when, as you’re researching these programs that you should be looking into, like how strict are they? How intense are these conditions for the acceptance of the medical school?

Um, and like I’m kind of saying here that these conditions vary from program to program. Now question I get a lot. So I’ve advised a lot of students on applying to BSMD programs, um, and a question I get oftentimes from high school students is. How do I know A-B-S-M-B program is for me? Should I just do the normal pre-med route?

Should I do the BSMB route? How do you think I should approach this? My big piece of advice, either route is fantastic. I think BSMB programs are really prestigious, really selective, and I think it’s very easy to get caught up in the mindset of, I want to do something simply because it is the hardest and most prestigious and most competitive thing to do.

Um. I know a lot of people in medicine and a lot of people I’m sure in this webinar right now are the kind of people that like, are [00:09:00] used to being the best in the, doing the hardest things. And that’s amazing. But I think as you kind of get older, you realize you shouldn’t be doing the hardest, most competitive thing just for the sake of doing the hardest, most competitive thing.

You should be doing it ’cause you want to do it. Um, so if you know you want a, a career in medicine, BSM B’s, fantastic. If you’re a little bit unsure, maybe you could go do the pre-med route, but you could also consider BS MD as well, but don’t feel, have the mindset of like, I’m, if I become a doctor, I must do it through a B SMD program.

I call kind of call this like the BSMD or bust mindset. And I think it’s a really unhealthy mindset to have and remember, most BS MD programs are very few and far between. So most doctors become doctors through this normal. Four plus four of going, doing undergrad at four years at one institution and then getting a medical degree somewhere else for four years.

That’s how most of my classmates in medical school became doctors. That’s how most of my, like a large, large majority of my co-residents became [00:10:00] doctors. And they’re all fantastic positions. We all end up being at the same exact place at the end of the journey. So there’s pros and cons of each, um, as there is with everything, but both are amazing ways to become a physician.

Now I also get asked, um, okay, so we’re talking about these two routes, this BSMD programs that are really competitive and selective versus the traditional pre-med route of I’m gonna apply to undergrad, I’m gonna do my four years of undergrad, explore my niches, prep a great med school application and apply to med school.

What’s the difference in the actual application process? So obviously from the high school perspective, when you apply to a BSMD program and you. You’re essentially applying to medical school at the age of 18. So of course these pro, these programs are a lot more competitive. You’re gonna have to write more essays, uh, ’cause you’re not only saying, Hey, I wanna go to this college, but you’re saying, Hey, I wanna go to this medical school at the age of 18.

And a lot of these programs also require interviews as well. Because think about it, for [00:11:00] medical school, of course you need to interview like formally there. So there’s gonna be interviews as well. It’s a very competitive process. Um. Also, when you think about who’s reading your essays in the target audience for those BSMD specific essays, kind of remember that every, the application committee for a medical school usually is made up of primarily physicians.

So that’s your audience you’re writing to, you’re not writing to a general admissions committee, you’re writing to a group of doctors.

So now that I’ve talked, I’ve talked about how these programs are competitive. So you’re probably wondering, okay, they’re competitive. How do I make myself stand out as an applicant? What are these medical schools and these BSMD programs looking for in applicants?

And I think the most important thing is really having a clear picture of why medicine. You wanna have a clear [00:12:00] story of. Why do you even want to be a doctor? And the best way that I can think about this is I always remember, I, I’ve invited so many students on writing these essays. You don’t want your essays to be a regurgitation or kind of a summary of your CV or your resume ’cause you already have a CV in resume.

The way that I like to think about it is. Think about like a unifying theme and think about like a common thread between all the things that are important to you, your extracurriculars and your interests, and how that led you into medicine. It’s really all about having a story, um, because at this level and really frank, um, everyone has fantastic scores and extracurriculars and is so incredibly accomplished.

So what really makes person A with amazing stats and person B with amazing stats, how do you really differentiate between the two? It’s the story and that’s always coming through in the essays and that’s why the essays are so incredibly important. The one thing you want really want to [00:13:00] be sure to answer is I think a lot of students say like, you know, they apply to these programs.

You really wanna make it clear. That you’ve researched the school, so obviously programs and med schools want to know that you’ve put in the work and that you’ve researched them and you understand not only why you want to go to a medical school, but why do you wanna go to this medical school? How is going to.

Medical school in, let’s say like California versus New York. What are you going to get from those different experiences? What are you gonna get? What is this med school known to be specifically good at? And you’re gonna have an interest that aligns with them. Um, and I think this is this kind of bit over here, when you’re applying to anything, whether that be a job, medical school, um, a club, a leadership position, uh, a college in general.

I kind of like to think about a relationship between you and whoever you’re working [00:14:00] for, or the college or whatever. Think about it as like a symbiotic relationship. What are you gonna be giving to this med school? What are you bringing to the table? What makes you unique? And how will you contribute to them?

Why should, why did, should they want you? And in the same vein, why do you want them? You should make it really clear why what they’re doing excites you and why you want to go there. And if you can answer. Um, you know, these two questions, you’ll stand out as a really great applicant. This applies again, even for a, um, college essays, I think so often for college essays.

You know, the question will be, okay, you applied to the University of Michigan. Why do you wanna go to the University of Michigan? And when you answer those questions, you should be answering why do you wanna go there? But you should also be answering why does the University of Michigan, for example, um, want you.

Another question, um, that I get from a lot of my students who are early [00:15:00] in their high school career. A lot of people ask, okay, I’m, I’m thinking about these, this pre-med stuff. I’m thinking about maybe a BS MD program. How early in my high school career should I start shaping this, the pre-med profile. Um, one thing I tell people is really don’t, there’s absolutely no rush.

I think oftentimes people feel and like. The students feel like, oh my gosh, like I should know what I wanna do when I am applying to college. I want, I think if you know what you wanna do and you have like a lot of conviction about that, that is so incredible and that’s so amazing. But also remind yourself that you’re young and you have time to change your mind.

Um, if you are even feeling an inkling towards medicine and you want to explore careers in healthcare and. Get involved with shadowing opportunity or get involved in a research opportunity, more power to you, definitely go for it. Um, but also think about other careers too. Um, a reminder that medicine is a very long journey [00:16:00] and is a big commitment.

Um. It’s really important. I think some people are like, oh, I wanna become a doctor because I know someone who’s a doctor. Or maybe they have a family member that’s a doctor. There are a lot of other incredible, amazing careers too, and you should take your time to explore other careers as well. And remember, you’re still so young.

You’re in eighth grade, you’re in ninth grade, you’re in 10th, 11th, 12th grade. You can always pivot. There are people that go into college being like, I wanna be pre-med. And then they realize, you know what? I actually love my, my computer science class and I wanna be a sophomore engineer. And they pivot.

There are also people that, um, go into undergrad and they don’t really think about medicine. They don’t even consider a career in medicine. Um, and then after medical school, they can have a totally different career and then mid-career they can realize they wanna be a doctor. Do a post-BAC program. And then they can go to, um, you know, have really go to medical school and have really successful and exciting careers as physicians.

So there’s [00:17:00] never a too early, there’s never a too late Take time right now when you’re young to explore things and if you have an interest, explore it, but don’t feel like you need to lock into a big decision about what you wanna do in your entire life.

So if you’re thinking, okay, maybe medicine is something I’m interested in, how do I really explore this space and figure out if it’s a good fit for me, my biggest pieces of advice would be to try, uh, gaining clinical experience and also, um, so when I say clinical experience, what does that mean? I think shadowing is really important.

If you want to be a doctor, you should get a sense of what does being a doctor even look like. Um, so there’s doctors work in a lot of different environments. I think the, a good way to like think about the two big environments that doctors tend to work in are, one, they work in clinics, so that’s like [00:18:00] when you go to your pediatrician for a yearly checkup.

Um, there obviously doctors work there and then they also work in the hospital itself. So. For example, there are doctors that only work in the hospital, um, and take care of people while they’re acutely hospitalized or take care of patients in the ICU or, uh, they’re experts in let’s say liver disease or blood disease.

And then when patients come to the hospital, they’re consulted as experts. So you can try getting these shadowing experiences in what’s called both the inpatient and outpatient setting. Get a sense of what a physician does, if you know any doctors. I think it’s also really helpful to ask people about their career journeys, how they ended up where they are now, they like their career, et cetera.

And then I would always encourage my, uh, students to really lean into what I think are the two aspects of medicine. I like to think of medicine as like the art and the science of medicine. Um. So much of medicine is about knowing the [00:19:00] facts and knowing, okay, this patient has these symptoms. That means I’m gonna consider this group of diseases and I’m gonna order these tests to work it up.

And if I find out it’s this test, I’ll treat it by giving this medication or et cetera. So, so much of it is learning and understanding and pathophysiology and anatomy, but also so much of it is. Soft skills. So much of it is if someone comes in and tells you that they’re feeling really crummy, how do you really eluate like the story from them of like, when did you start feeling crummy?

What specifically made you come to the hospital? Um, how do you support people when you give them sometimes really challenging and really sad diagnoses? How do you tell people that a loved one is really sick and. Only has a few months left to live. That is really important to being a physician. And in the same, in the other [00:20:00] hand, and very similarly, it’s also very important that you know what the appropriate treatment and diagnostic next steps are.

So you really have to use both sides of your brain. And if you can lean into those two aspects of medicine, both maybe through volunteering opportunities and working, um, for example, at. For example, in high school I worked in a assisted living facility to really lean into like the more art of medicine aspect.

I worked a lot of older adults, um, learned about their lives, learned about their illnesses, spent time with them, like did little things. I like ping their nails playing bingo, et cetera. I think really into the art of medicine and how to interact and learn from other people and learn about their stories.

And then also in high school I did some clinical shadowing and a little bit of research that helped me understand the science of medicine as well.

Um, a lot of students ask me, okay, I’m in, [00:21:00] I mentioned pre-med, what class should I be taking? Again, pre-med, uh, you can be any major you want, but those core pre-med prerequisite courses that we’re talking about tend to be in, you know, the sciences, unsurprisingly. So I always encourage, um, my students to take the hardest biology classes they can at their high school, the hardest chemistry classes they can.

Um, physics of course, too. If I had to prioritize, you know, two of the three science classes, I’d probably prioritize biology and chemistry first. Uh, try taking advanced math classes if you can as well. That being said, as someone who is now a doctor, do I really use super advanced math in my day-to-day? No.

Um, I definitely like. I, I’m someone who loved math in high school. I loved Algebra two Trig. I loved calculus. Um, but I, I barely, I barely use that anymore, um, in my day-to-day as a doctor. Humanities is really important. Medicine is a lot of reading, a lot of writing, a lot of [00:22:00] trials. Um, there’s also people that have specialties and interests like narrative medicine and medicine, medical journalism.

So all that to say focus on these biochem physics, lesser so, but still focus on it in math humanities. But beyond that, really focus on your own personal interest. If you’re someone that L love really wants to take AP psych, take AP Psych. If you love world history, um, take world history. If you love research courses, do that.

If you love computer science, do that. Medicine is really, um. Very all encompassing profession. You kind of, I think sometimes get put in a bubble and you think, and you know, we all kind of think in a similar way. I think bringing your own unique perspective and academic background to medicine is what makes people really great physicians.

Um, for example, I knew people in undergrad who majored in like I was saying English, and then they had a really [00:23:00] strong interest in the medical humanities and narrative medicine or. Medical journalism and they’ve made that kind of a focus and a, a key part of their career. Um, I know some people that are really interested in like ethics and medical ethics is like kind of their focus as well.

For me personally. In undergrad I did had a major in computational biology and I think the computational applying my computational methods and thinking about. How AI could potentially change change medicine. That’s something that I’m always thinking about too. So that’s my 2 cents on that. Um, so we talked about, okay, what class you’d be taking Now, what extracurriculars would I recommend for pre-med students?

This is kind of what I was getting at a little bit before, of like leaning into the art and science of medicine. Um, again, the science being like the clinical extracurriculars, um, research and science related extracurriculars. I think a lot of times when I tell people, okay, you should be [00:24:00] doing shadowing or you should be doing something clinical, uh, or you should be doing volunteering related to health.

I think sometimes people interpret that as like, oh, that means I have to be volunteering at my local HO hospital. And I know sometimes, especially after COVID and especially for under 18 or 16, that can be really challenging. So I think sometimes I have students that are like, well, I can’t volunteer at my local hospital.

How am I gonna do anything? Any kind of medical volunteering. I want to remind people to take a step back and not just think about medicine, but think more generally about health and take a really broad definition and understanding of health. Um, obviously medicine plays a huge role in someone’s health, but someone’s health is also determined by so many other things in their life.

It’s dependent on where they live, their job. The ability to navigate the world, their literacy, et cetera. And that’s what we kind of call in medicine, like the social determinants of health. So there are a lot of [00:25:00] ways you can impact health that aren’t directly through medicine. Uh, so an example of that, I’ve had students volunteer at, um, like community assistance programs that help, um.

Adults over 65, like decide what Medicare plan is most appropriate to them and how to navigate the insurance, uh, system in the us That’s not necessarily medical work, but it’s super important to people’s ability to receive healthcare. I’ve had students, um, volunteer in like reading groups for younger student or for younger kids and students, like people in elementary school at their local library because if you take a step and think about it.

A kid’s ability to read and be curious and learn affects their ability to then as an adult, navigate the world and get a good job and take care of themselves. So really try taking a broad definition of health and recognize that you can impact someone’s [00:26:00] health in so many ways and probably in more ways I would argue outside of the hospital.

Um, how do you avoid looking like you’re just checking boxes in these, these programs and on these applications? Um, again, kind of hit this already, but I think it’s really all about having like one to max three pre-med experiences that you really fresh flesh out in your essays. ’cause again, these things are all gonna be listed in your, as in your, um, resume.

But where you people really get a sense of like, who are you, what were you doing in these programs, et cetera. It’s through the essays. And in these essays I’d recommend, especially if it’s like a 500 word essay, you should be talking about four different activities. Did you should be talking about Max, like three is a lot.

Probably like one to two. Um, but then again, you know, these. Applications, you’re probably gonna be writing multiple essays, so really think about having one to three core experiences and extracurriculars that you can really [00:27:00] speak to quite well. When it comes to extracurriculars, and this is not for pre-med, this is a piece of advice for everything and no matter what you plan to, quality is so much more important than quantity when it comes to these extracurriculars.

I would much rather see someone who’s been part of like two clubs. For the past four years than someone who’s done like one year in this club and one year in that club and another year, like done like five clubs, but like for a year each. I think the continuity is what allows you to develop leadership.

It’s what allows you to, you know, bring something forward and advance it and bring your own ideas to it because you’ve been there for a long time. So really focus on quality over quantity. When people put in their resume like a one weekend that they did volunteering, which again, uh, I’m not saying don’t volunteer for a weekend.

That’s amazing. You should be doing that. Um, but when people just put in like a bunch of lines about like, one, they did one weekend of this and then two months later they did a one weekend of something totally different, [00:28:00] that doesn’t really make your resume stand out. It’s great that you’re doing all those things to get the exposure, but I’d much rather see someone that’s like, oh, I did, I did this volunteering opportunity where I for two years.

Once a month I did blank. That to me looks a lot more impressive. And it looks like you’re doing it ’cause you want to improve and continue doing something. You have like a real commitment to it rather than just like filling up your resume and padding it.

Um, how can you, as a student assess what pre-med or PSMD programs are the best for you? Um, so I always encourage people to think about your niche within medicine and by niche I don’t necessarily mean specialty of like, oh, I wanna be a dermatologist, versus I want to be a general surgeon, versus I wanna be a pediatrician.

I’m thinking more about where within like what subject matter within medicine is really interesting to you. I like to think about it as like [00:29:00] blank X medicine. So for me, I loved computer science as a student in high school, so I really wanna think about how I could combine my interest in computer science with medicine.

Um, I also, uh. Recommend that students look at these institutions even as a pre-med. There are a lot of undergrad places that have these kind of pipeline and early acceptance programs, so you get to go to a certain university, but when you’re a sophomore, you can apply to like an early acceptance program that says like, oh, well.

If you keep up your GPA that you’ve had as a sophomore, then when you finish your senior year of undergrad, you’ll get into our med school. To my knowledge, I know I’ve like heard of friends of friends who’ve gotten to like these kind of early acceptance programs. For example, for like Northwestern undergrad students get into Northwestern Med.

I also know, know Mount Sinai Medical School, I believe had a program like that. Mount Sinai does not have an associated undergrad institution. So the Mount Sinai program, I know like people from a lot of different med [00:30:00] schools applied into. Um, I also think, I think thing about bs, MD and med school in general, it’s very expensive.

So look for opportunities for scholarship, lower tuition. I think a really important, uh, thing to suss out when you’re applying to pre-med programs is what’s the strength of pre-med advising at this program? Ask current students if possible. One thing that I’ve kind of realized about mentorship and.

I think this rings true in all stages of your career. Mentorship is often what you make of it. Lots of programs will be like, oh, like we’ll give you this mentor, like everyone, everyone’s assigned to a mentor. Your relationship and what you do with that mentor mentorship is really in your hands. Um. So that’s something really important.

And then on that kind of note, and what I’m getting at here is you have to be very self-motivated and self-directed in order to get ahead in these programs. [00:31:00] Um, and that being motivated and self-directed, those are things that will serve you well in any career you do, whether it’s in medicine or not. So some final tips that I’m gonna leave you guys with, um, be yourself.

Think a lot about what you will uniquely bring to the table as a physician. Um, that can come from a lot of different experiences that can come, come from your background and how you grew up and where you grew up. How will that make your perspective on medicine different? Uh, for example, I know some of my, my classmates in medical school, they came up, they grew up in more like rural backgrounds and I think that really.

It allowed them to have a really unique perspective on medicine since they could see it practice in areas where there really weren’t that many doctors, um, as compared to someone, you know, who grew up in New York City, where there’s like so many, like huge, big name academic hospitals with so many [00:32:00] amazing doctors.

Another important tip as I, we talked about the quality versus over quantity of extracurriculars. Again, this goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway. Um, pre-med and this more so your college grades are important, but to be a pre strong pre-med applicant and to be a strong BS MD applicant, you have to have really strong grades, especially in these science classes and standardized tests.

Another thing I wanna add is med school is hard. Residency is hard. Being pre-med, it’s hard, but if you really want this career in your, you’ll want to put in the hard work. You’ll want to excel. If you want to become a doctor, you can become a doctor. I don’t think anyone is not smart enough or is not hardworking enough.

If you wanna make it happen, you’ll make it happen. Okay?

Anesha: Okay. All [00:33:00] right. We’re gonna move on to the q and a section. Sorry, I was trying to answer some questions in the chat, um, before we move on. Uh, okay. Just some directions first. On the, on how the q and a will work. Um, so that is the end of the presentation portion of our session today. Uh, the way that you can submit questions is through the q and a tab.

If you are not able to submit questions, you might have to log out and log back in through the link you received in your email and not through CollegeAdvisors webinar, uh, webinar landing page. Okay. Uh, the first question I have you, I have some like, quick one off questions. Um, so someone asked, do we have to take visit?

Ishaani: Yeah. So do you have to take physics? No. Um, that being said, if you’re in, like, if you’re in high school, I definitely encourage you to take, uh, physics. Um, so I’d take physics, chemistry, and biology. Um, if you were like at a school where it’s like, oh, I’m only take like maybe one or two [00:34:00] aps, probably encourage you to take the aps.

Progress in getting like the AP credits in like bio and chem, but I definitely, you still have like physics is a pre-med requirement. Um, so yeah.

Anesha: Okay. Yes. You should, uh, take physics. Um, someone asked, are AP slash IB courses necessary?

Ishaani: Yeah. So what I think is really important is, and I can speak this more as someone who’s like read applications, is you when, when you apply to college.

Your high school also kind of sends a report of like, okay, like what’s your high school like? Because some people go to high schools where no aps are offered. And so you’re not gonna be, if you’re at a high school that doesn’t offer aps, you’re not gonna be penalized for not taking aps. That being said, if you, and I know some schools are like, oh, you can’t only take aps as a sophomore and a junior.

That’s what my high school was like. Um, so obviously I was not penalized for taking, not taking APS as a freshman and a sophomore ’cause I just wasn’t able to. That being said, if you’re at a school where you [00:35:00] can take aps and you’re like, oh, I don’t really want, I’d rather take like kind of easier courses and like coast a little bit, that will be held against you.

So if you have the opportunities to take AP and IB courses, of course take them. But don’t feel worried if you’re out a school where those aren’t offered, um, don’t be worried that you’re not taking them.

Anesha: Alright. Uh, and then staying on this, uh, path of courses, someone asked, what do you think of dual enrollment versus AP courses?

Ishaani: I actually, I’m not sure I know what dual enrollment is. Maybe it’s, I think, been in, um, high school in a minute.

Anesha: Uh, no. Dual enrollment is when you can take high school classes and community college classes or some type of college course while you are still in high school.

Ishaani: Oh, yes. I know there are definitely some people in my.

Uh, high school who did that? Like those people that were like the math whizzes who were like taking college level math as high school students. Um, yeah, I think those are great opportunities. Um, if you’re able to make it work, it shows that you’re trying to like go above and beyond and really challenge yourself academically.

So that sounds fantastic. [00:36:00]

Anesha: Alright, um, my next question for you. Uh, clarity around the, the pathway to BSMD program. Someone said, are BS MD programs by invitation only, or can we, can we apply? Can we just apply?

Ishaani: Yeah, you, it’s like the same way, like, like when I applied to college, um, I applied to like some four year undergrad institutions and I also applied to some four plus four, four years of BSMD fours med school.

You’re not invited to apply. Anyone can apply. That being said, that they’re oftentimes like very, very competitive. Um, sometimes there’s like kind of a pre-application process where they like look at your stats and then like, if they look at your stats, they’re like, okay, we wanna send you an application if you can write our essays.

Um, so there’s always like a screening process built in. Um, yeah.

Anesha: And then I, I, I’ll, I guess I’ll just also say that you can. Do both in the sense of like

Ishaani: exactly

Anesha: you can apply to for the BSMD and then potentially get into the undergrad? Um,

Ishaani: yes, exactly.

Anesha: Yeah.

Ishaani: So like there are, for example, people that apply to Brown’s BSMD program.

They don’t necessarily get accepted to Brown’s [00:37:00] BS MD program, but they get extended to Into Brown as an undergrad institution and then they can go to Brown.

Anesha: Exactly. Okay. Um. Two questions, uh, that I’ll bring up. Someone asked, is high school, is your high school GPA something that is heavily considered for BSMD programs?

Ishaani: Yes.

Anesha: Say more, I guess about Oh, yeah. High school to, I, I think there’s some questions about like, what are you doing first? So I think high school to college, to medical school, when we combine the bsmd, it feels like. I think it feels confusing to some folks. So if you could, I guess, explain the pathway and the steps for of traditional and then of the combined.

Ishaani: Yeah, so the traditional way that like this is how most people become a doctor. They finish high school, they apply to an undergrad institution, they go to an undergrad institution. They major in whatever they want. They make sure to take their pre-med courses during undergrad, so they get those pre-med prerequisites in.

That’s kind of what helps. These are like a standardized courses that are kind of standardized across all, um, medical [00:38:00] schools. So when you’re applying to medical school, there’s like certain classes you just have to take, like, it’s like physics, chem, like a humanities class, biology of course, um, sociology, et cetera.

Um, you take those courses, you of course, like I know when we applied to med school, again, I didn’t apply to med school. I just like got in through cleaning. So I don’t actually can’t speak to it too much with the, like, the idea of like a science GPA and a general GPA. Like your undergrad GPA, and then you also take the mcat, which is essentially like the SAT.

Like the SAT helps you get into college. The MCAT helps you get into medical school, so you take the mcat, so with your undergraduate GPA, your MCAT scores and then your resume from college, you then apply to medical school in like the fourth year, in the final year of undergrad, or there are a lot of people that now, I think taking gap years is becoming more and more common in medicine.

So the average actual, um, med school matriculants is, I think, I wanna say it’s like [00:39:00] 24.

Anesha: I’ve heard 24,

Ishaani: yeah. 24. So like, that means on average, the average person starting medical school has taken two gap years. So gap years are gonna come in more and more common. And that’s the average, which means half people have taken more than two gap years, and, um, half the people have taken less.

Okay.

Anesha: Cool. Thank you for indulging that question. Um, and then similar, someone asked, do medical schools care about the type of university you go to? For example, if you went to a low reputation university, do you still have a, a, a good chance of getting into a highly reputable medical school?

Ishaani: Yeah, that’s a really great question.

Um, I would like to advise people, you know, it’s, where you go is important, but what you do there is more important. Um. So if you go to like, let’s say like a, a lower ranked college, but you are like big fish in a small pond. Like you’re doing a lot of research, you’re publishing with a lot of people, you have great relationships, great mentors, and you really are standing out as a [00:40:00] student there.

I’m sure you could get into a really competitive medical school. Um, on the flip side, if you go to, let’s say you go to like the top, like a top 10 university, but like, you know, everyone in the top 10 university is super smart, super accomplished, and super competitive. You may be flounder and it’s really, it’s really challenging.

So you’re not able to like, keep up with the research and the extracurriculars and all the things. You can go to a top 10 undergrad university, but then maybe not necessarily go to a top 10 medical school. Mm-hmm. Um, I also think an important thing to remember is, I remember when I was like a, a high school student, I was like, I wanna go to the, the best program and the best and number one, number one, number one for like everything.

I think as I’ve gotten older and gotten more mature, um, you kind of start realizing, doing, being in the. The best for the sake of being in the best, not always the best. You know, you have to think about your life and your goals and if you, your goal is to be like an amazing practicing physician, you’re gonna get great medical training no matter where you go.

[00:41:00] Um, that being said, if your goal is to like be a superstar researcher and to be like the, the most amazing academic physician and run a research lab and do this and do that. Yes. I think going to a more prestigious university, um, probably helps, but you have to think backwards from your long-term goals.

Mm-hmm.

Anesha: Um, thanks for sharing that. That was a great perspective. Sorry, I was like, I was getting lost in your answer. Um, okay. Uh, we’re gonna take a quick pause just to tell, uh, give a little bit more background about CollegeAdvisors. So for those who are in the room who aren’t already working with us, we know how overwhelming the process can be.

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After analyzing our [00:42:00] 200, our 2023 and 2025 data, we found that clients working with CollegeAdvisor who have a strong academic and testing record are 2.6 times more likely to get into an IB league. School around three times more likely to get into a top 20 college and around five times more likely to get into Johns Hopkins, UCLA and NYU when compared to national acceptance rates.

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By the end, you’ll also learn about CollegeAdvisors premium. Packages, uh, that we offer, which will pair you with an expert who can support you in building your college list, editing your essays, and much more. We are here for the whole process. We’ll go ahead and leave up that QR code, um, and get back to our questions.

Uh, and then we had a couple questions about folks interested in nursing, so I’m gonna ask [00:43:00] one and hopefully addresses some of the other questions. But, uh, someone essentially said, would becoming a CNA be beneficial if you want to go into premed?

Ishaani: Yeah, I think again, having the clinical experience is helpful.

So I, I think I’ve definitely read essays from students that are like, oh, I’ve been a CNA. And I think that shows, first of all, I think like having, like, it’s a job, you know, like if you work in a CNA, it’s a job. I think it’s a really hard and an amazing job and I think it shows that you’re one, responsible enough to hold the job, and two, you have a sense of what the healthcare setting is like.

So I think that is definitely, um, something that I think is like a plus towards people.

Anesha: I would say it’s not a requirement. That’s why

Ishaani: it’s not a requirement. I was outta CNA in high school to be very clear, but like yeah, if, if you’re interested in that and, uh, it’s, it’s a great option. Yeah.

Anesha: Uh, sorry, I feel like, I feel like with, with some students just make it clear that it is a nice to do, not a must do.

Um, one question we had before, a lot of folks were curious about extracurricular. So someone asked. What [00:44:00] are the best extracurriculars to be in that clearly show an interest in medicine as a career?

Ishaani: Yeah. Um, kind Again, there’s like no right or wrong answer. There’s no like, ’cause again, you, you wanna be a strong applicant, but it’s not about like checking the boxes, it’s about doing stuff that’s really interesting to you.

Um, I think trying to get in like shadowing time is helpful if you’re able to. Again, trying to get, like volunteering time and taking a very broad view of health. I’ve had students, like I was saying, you know, I volunteered, I played something as simple as like playing piano in, um, in assisted living facility.

I, I did volunteering work in an assisted living facility. I never actually, like volunteered in a hospital directly. Mm-hmm. Um, in high school. But I think I got a sense of like what it’s like to work with people that are older or sicker and like, talk to them. Um. So there’s no, I think that is helpful, like the volunteering and then if you’re able to do any research as a high school student, just that shows that you’re.

Honestly, more than [00:45:00] anything, like I don’t think anyone’s expecting you to have a million publications as a high school student. That being said, have I read applications from people that have more publications than me? Yes. Um, but I think just the research process shows that you’re engaged in research and that you’re a go-getter and you can, you’ve been trying to at least seek out these opportunities.

Um, yeah. Again, all these things, like Anesha was saying, not requirements. I’ve read amazing application people from people who have had no research background or like minimal research background. And I’ve also, um, read applications from people that have like amazing, fantastic research backgrounds, but maybe a little bit less volunteering time.

Uh, so all these things are like important things to do, but do what’s really interesting to you and do something that when you write about it, your passion shows through and is related to healthcare. Yeah.

Anesha: I would say also for folks like acknowledging that limited access to these types of opportunities.

Ishaani: Exactly.

Anesha: And you could even talk about that. Like, I think folks in certain areas are [00:46:00] not gonna have, like, there’s not a big university near you. You’re probably not gonna be able to do research programs unless your parents can afford to send you to go, you know, uh, a nearby university. So speaking to the types of things you’re interested in, also in the essays, what you.

Would’ve done if you could’ve, um, or how you tried to fill that gap for yourself. I, I believe can also be valuable.

Ishaani: I a hundred percent agree. Like, I know I was like really privileged to grow up in the Chicago suburbs and kind of like New York, like Chicago, there’s tons of amazing research at universities.

Uh, if I grew up in like maybe the middle of Illinois in a slightly more rural area, I wouldn’t have had those opportunities. Um, but. And that kind of also goes to the point of like, yeah, AP classes are great, but it’s not to a detriment of you if you go to a school that is gonna offer AP classes. So trying to show that you’ve expressed your interest and made the most of the opportunities that are realistically available to you as well.

Yeah.

Anesha: And you mentioned earlier like the, uh, you didn’t say this word, but I feel like the grit it takes to be, um, a doctor. And so I think that’s an early way of showing grit is [00:47:00] like, how are you even in high school looking for opportunities?

Ishaani: Yeah. And kind of on that note guy, like, like I’m a resident physician right now.

Um, and also be really honest with you, it’s a lot of work. I do work like minimum 70 hours a week most week. So it is a lot of time I’m in the hospital and I love my work, but, um, it’s, it’s hard and it’s challenging and I love it, but you know, it does take a lot of grit and it takes a lot of effort.

Anesha: Okay, we’ll get back to the questions.

I don’t, um, there are more coming in the more we talk. Okay. Someone asked with, uh, so many schools that are been test optional, how much did the SATs really matter?

Ishaani: Yeah, so again, I applied 10 years ago, so s test, sat t test, optional wasn’t a thing when I applied. That being said, I did read a year ago. I feel like I honestly probably can’t answer this question the best since I wasn’t like on the, that side of the admissions committee.

So how it worked at Brown is like applications were just kind of sent our way. They were already approved and like stats wise looked strong enough for PMI and they’re kind [00:48:00] of like screened by the general application committee. Um, I think again, BSMD programs are really, really competitive, so. I am sure, I’m sure they, and they might not say it, but I’m sure probably most screen based on SAT, so I’d probably encourage Troy getting to get good test scores.

Anesha: Yeah. Uh, yeah, I would, I would agree on not having read either or be been on that side of things. I’m gonna say with my students who have been. The most successful, they have very strong SAT scores, um, or general test scores and they are within the range. So I think a lot of it, look at what the school is saying they wanna see in SAT scores.

Yeah. Um, as well. Okay. Someone asked, uh, and I’m not sure if you’ll be able to speak to this, but I’ll ask it, um, ’cause it’s come up a couple times. Someone asked what are the possible financial expenses? Um, they would have to keep in mind pre-med college versus, um, medical school.

Ishaani: Like, what are the expen, like, expensive.

What do they mean by versus

Anesha: I, I’m, I’m assuming that they are not clear on all of [00:49:00] the costs of college versus medical school. And so

Ishaani: talking about, yeah, no, uh, I think that’s another really important thing. Uh, college is expensive. It’s getting more expensive. Medical school is also expensive. I think there are a couple medical schools now that have become tuition free, and that’s fantastic.

I think. Uh, ideally in a perfect world, we should really be moving more towards that. So, yeah. You know, getting two, four year degrees is very, very expensive. Trying to find opportunities for outside scholarships going to in-state universities, um, trying to go to tuition for your med schools and just trying to make, I think that’d be my big piece of advice there.

But yes, it is really expensive and it’s, it’s sad that sometimes financial barriers are in the way of people going to medical school and undergrad.

Anesha: I think that’s also what happens in some of those gap years too. It’s like trying to pay off undergrad debt before you take on medical debt. Exactly. Or medical school debt.

Yeah. Um, someone asked, and, uh, we’ve had this question in a few variations, but folks are looking for the specific, are there specific set of classes, types of classes they [00:50:00] should take in order to show rigor and that they’re well-rounded, uh, for A-B-S-M-D program?

Ishaani: Yeah, I think, again, rigor is all about you showing that you.

Have challenged yourself and made the most of your, your high school experience. So if that you go to a school that offers aps, that’s taking the aps. If you go to a place that doesn’t offer aps, but you’re taking the, the highest level math and science classes, I think that’s what makes you stand out.

Just like showing that you’re, you’re taking the hardest classes that you’re able to at your, um, school,

Anesha: um, someone said. Does guaranteed admission affect eligibility for merit scholarships? Do you know,

Ishaani: can you repeat that question?

Anesha: Does guaranteed admission, so I think for the, um, early assurance programs or even BSMD programs, does that affect whether or not you’re eligible for merit scholarships at the institution?

Ishaani: I mean, I’m, I’m sure if there’s, if you’re guaranteed a. Spot in their medical school, they [00:51:00] probably would not give you a merit scholarship. They’d probably give you a need-based scholarship, but if you’re already like probably gonna go there, they probably won’t have an incentive to give you a merit scholarship to be really frank.

Okay.

Anesha: I also feel like there are fewer merit scholarships. I think a lot of scholarships are need-based. Yes. Merit. Uh, just for clarity for the audience, just the case merit is kind of like your grades or something you did to earn it. Um, you know, even if it’s an essay, an essay competition is technically also a merit scholarship, whereas need-based is gonna be based on your, your parents’ financial standing, your own personal financial standing, and how much you will need financially.

Um. Usually according to the government in order to, uh, attend college or

Ishaani: college. Yes. And also on that note, like I know a lot of people when they attend medical school, they’re like, oh, like I consider myself to be financially independent for my family, like I’m in my mid twenties, et cetera. But when you apply to medical school, your need-based scholarship at institutions is still based on how much your parents make.

Even though you might be like, Hey, I’m like 26. Like I, it doesn’t matter what my parents make, I’m an independent adult. No, like how they, they [00:52:00] calculate the stuff is always based about how much your, your parents make. Yeah.

Anesha: Thank you for that note for the parents who were on the call. Um, okay. Uh, someone asked, are there, and I think there, yeah, you’ll, I think you’ll get where this question is going, but someone said, are there any advantages to going to undergrad slash medical school in the US and I’m assuming compared to going getting international program.

Ishaani: Yeah, so I think the thing about, uh, being a physician in the us, if you want to be a practicing physician in the US you kind of need to be a US md. Um, obviously there are what we call IMG, so international medical graduates, there are a lot of IMGs. Um, but it is much easier to get into residency in the US with a US medical degree.

Um, there are of course IMGs that get into amazing medical residency programs, but it is much, much harder. So if you want to, if your end goal is like, Hey, I wanna be a doctor in the us, you should be aiming for a US medical school.

Anesha: Thanks for that. [00:53:00] So someone asked, are there any things we should be focusing on during the summer?

Ishaani: No. I think summer is a great time to explore these interests and, ’cause I know during the school year you have school, um, so trying to focus on these volunteering opportunities, like, Hey, can you go to volunteering one day a week, every week? And you do a, a research. Program, maybe email some like nearby clinicians in the area, email some if you’re in a big city with a, uh, academic institutions, email some professors if you could do, read them for a couple weeks.

So that’s what I probably think about, um, in the summer. And I know something that I do with a lot of my students is like, email them and ask them like, Hey, what do we think for summer plans? Hey, like, let’s brainstorm some ideas. Who do you wanna reach out to? Here’s an email template. We should make this spreadsheet of people you wanna reach out to, et cetera.

Anesha: Yeah. And I, I love what you said earlier about like leaning into your interests. I, I feel that made me think about like, I think sophomore or the summer after freshman year, summer after sophomore [00:54:00] year, are great times to explore the interests because you’re not usually gonna be old enough to do research programs or things like that.

So if you can define the area, your specialty, or the thing you’re like most passionate about. And then when you get older, you kind of figure out how to blend that and push that into a medical or research programs I think would be valuable. But that, that’s just my, sorry, off the top of my head, thinking about how to spread across, um, the four years.

Um. Uh, okay. Are there other, I guess someone said, talked about clubs. So in addition to hosta, are there other types of clubs you would recommend people joining or looking into?

Ishaani: Yeah. Again, um, medical school, like these programs wanna know that you’re interested in medicine, but they also wanna know that you’re like interested in people too, your life.

Like you’re gonna be a doctor, but your life is not exclusively being a doctor. Um, so I love reading stories where people are like, Hey, I wanna be a doctor, but also like I do swimming or. I am, like I, I run a knitting club in my school. So remember like [00:55:00] yes, I want you to have amazing extracurriculars related to pre-med, but you should be also be doing cool extracurriculars and exploring your interests outside of medicine as well.

So host is great, but honestly, sometimes when I read a resume that’s only has healthcare related things, I’m like, oh, like it makes me a little bit, you know, I think I, it’s nice to see people with like diverse interests ’cause having diverse interests and diverse experiences just. Allows you to bring more to the table.

Anesha: All right. We’re getting some of the same questions. All right. I’m gonna go to the backup questions just to get a little bit more diversity. Um,

oh goodness. Okay. A lot of the same question. Uh, I guess I’ll go here. I know you spoke to this a little bit, but I’ll ask it. Um, someone asked, when should I realistically start preparing for medical school and what should I be doing right now in high school to [00:56:00] keep medicine as an option?

Ishaani: Okay. Um, again, never too always to prepare, but also you shouldn’t be wearing too much about, um, applying to medical school in high school.

I think right now just focus on exploring your interest, doing things you like doing. Related to medicine, not related to medicine. Trying exploring your career in medicine by just like, maybe shadowing a little bit if possible, but really at this point, focus on doing well in high school, making good friends in high school, um, enjoying extracurriculars in high school to set you up for a great college experience.

And then I think college is really where you start thinking about, okay, like I wanna be pre-med. What do I wanna do? Who do I wanna do research with? Um, what volunteering and community programs do I wanna be a part of, et cetera.

Anesha: Okay. Um, someone asked, oh, if no, you already spoke to that. Okay. I saw a question that then it disappeared.

Oh, no. Oh, someone asked, oh, if I take AP classes, can I skip them [00:57:00] in college? So, I guess speaking more so to the likelihood of AP credit transferring over partic, particularly for pre-med applications.

Ishaani: That’s really, it’s like so dependent school to school, to school. So I would, you probably have to like look into a school specific website and see what, what they say.

Like I know some schools are very liberal with AP credits and are like, yeah, we accept them all. Some are like, uh, no, you have to retake them here,

Anesha: or they’ll let you get by with like an intro class. But in order for it to count to your Yeah, it’s like, yes, a whole lot of complications in there. Um, okay. Oh, someone asked if you could, um, how do I know how, how, trying to figure out how to find their medical specialty.

Ishaani: Okay. Um, as honestly a high school student, like you’re so far away from that. I think there are a lot of people who decided their medical specialty. Like in medical school, like I had some of my, like again, I just, I’m in a first year residency program in internal medicine. A lot of my friends like decided what specialty they wanted to go into, like as a [00:58:00] third or fourth year medical school.

I think that is a important thing to think about, but to be really frank, you probably shouldn’t, you don’t need to be thinking about that until like medical school, um, and during in medical school, how you actually think about it if you’re curious, is you honestly just shadow a lot. You talk to a lot of doctors, you think.

I think when you think about what kind of doctor you wanna become, the first question you gotta ask yourself is. Um, do I wanna kind of be being a physician? Do I wanna work more with my hands or do I wanna use my, my brain? Like, you know, do I use my, basically, do you wanna be a proceduralist or do you wanna be like, kind of a thinking, more of a thinking doctor that like, doesn’t like doing procedures and, and that helps you decide like more a surgical subspecialty versus medical subspecialty.

Um, and then from there, I think the other important, other factors to think about are like, are, is longitudinal patient care important for you? Do you like the inpatient versus outpatient spec specialty? So like, do you like working in the hospital and that’s like exciting for you or do you prefer working in the clinic?

But again, [00:59:00] those are all things that you really started thinking about in medical school in high school. I don’t think you need to worry about it too much just yet.

Anesha: All right, we will leave it there. Thank you so much Ishaani for um, going through so many questions. Thanks folks for all of those questions.

Some of them are very personal and so I would encourage you to go talk to an advisor, um, as soon as possible. Um, but that will be it for today’s. Session it was being recorded. It will be available on the CollegeAdvisor, um, webinar page for those who asked about that. We hope you gained, um, some tips and strategies for applying to pre-med and applying as a pre-med advocate and considering BSMD programs.

Thank you so much, Ishaani, um, and we hope you’ll join us for our future webinars. But until next time, take care and have a great evening everybody.

Ishaani: Bye guys. Nice to meet y’all.