Younger students who are potentially interested in BS/MD programs often ask what they can do to make themselves the best candidate. Here are 6 steps that freshman and sophomores can take to strengthen their eventual applications.

Step 1, get good grades. At a minimum, you need to be in the top 10% of your class and to be the most competitive, you should be in the top 1 or 2% of your class.

Step 2, take the right classes. You need to take the most challenging courses available to you at your high school. You also need to make sure that you take a class in biology, chemistry and physics if they are available to you. If there are advanced classes in these science courses you should be taking those advanced classes.

Step 3, prepare early for the SAT and SAT subject tests. For most students it does not make a difference if you take the SAT or ACT. However, a few of the BS/MD programs require the SAT so that would be the preferred test. If you do better on the ACT, just understand that there may be a few schools that you will not be able to apply to.

For the SAT subject tests, you should plan on taking a subject test in Math, preferably Math II, as well as the subject test for Chemistry.

Step 4, arrange to do some physician shadowing.  Ideally, the shadowing should last for a least several days and preferably occur with several different physicians.

Step 5, volunteer at health related facilities. It does not matter what type of health related facility you volunteer at but you need to have some volunteer activities.  The more time you spend in your volunteer activity, the better.

Step 6, try to arrange to do research in some science or health related field at a local college or business. Most competitive students will have engaged in scientific research at some time before their senior year in high school.

There you have it, the 6 steps to get you ready to be a competitive candidate for the BS/MD programs.  Of course, these are just the first steps toward a acceptance into a BS/MD programs.   It is still critical to choose to apply to the most appropriate programs for you and then to prepare your essays as part of the application process. But without these first steps, your chances of acceptance into a BS/MD program are unlikely.

Want more information about BS/MD programs? Check out the Guide to BS/MD Programs.

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You’re about to arrive on the campus of one of your favorite colleges. What do you do?

If you have planned ahead, you should be scheduled to go on a tour of the college.  The tour will give you some basic information about the college but you can get much more from the tour. How? Talk with the tour guide.

Most students on a tour will not ask any questions of the tour guide. Some of those that do ask questions will ask stupid questions. Yes, you can ask a stupid question during a tour. How many students go here? What majors do you have? These are questions that anyone who has done any research will already know.

But you have prepared for your visit so you can ask good questions. Not sure what a good question is? Here is a list of possible questions you might consider while visiting a college.

After the college tour there will often be an informational session. These can often sound similar from college to college but you can ask questions of admissions counselors during the informational session so use this opportunity to get answers to more of your questions.

After the formal tour and informational session, wander around campus. Talk to students you see. Ask them questions. Look at areas where students have posted information about what is going on around campus. Do these sound like the sound of activities you would enjoy?

Visit the department of any potential major you are considering. See what sort of information the department has posted. Research opportunities? Graduate school options? This can tell you something about the focus of this department.  If there is a professor in an office with an open door, introduce your self and see if they are willing to tell you something about the department.

Visit the library. Is it being used? If not, the school is probably not very academically focused. Are there adequate computer facilities in the library and around campus?

Eat in the cafeteria. Is the food good? It may sound like a trivial thing, but after 4 years of eating the same food, it will not sound so trivial.  Also, while in the cafeteria, listen to what the students are talking about.  Are they talking about what they were just discussing in class? Are they talking about the big game on Saturday? Are they talking about the big party Tuesday night?  There discussions will give you more of a feel for what the college is like.

If you follow this advice, you will learn more about what the college is really like and will be in a great position to decide if this is a good college choice for you.

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One of the ways to find the best college for you is to visit the colleges you are considering.  But before you leave home, here are some tips to make for the best college visit.

First, decide when you are going to visit the college. Many students visit colleges during the summer. However, the best time to visit is when the students are on campus. Colleges have a very different feel during the summer or during breaks when there are few students on campus. If the only time you can visit is during the summer, that is better than no visit but try to visit your top choice colleges when the students are on campus.

Second, call the admissions office at the college and let them know when you are coming. This is important to make sure that you receive a tour of the college and possibly have the chance to attend an informational session. This is also a great time to ask if you can meet with a professor who teaches a subject in which you have an interest.  If you are interested in playing sports in college, now is the time to talk with a coach.

Third, do some research on the college before going on your visit. If you know some of the basics before visiting the college, you can ask better questions to see if this college would be a good choice for you.

Next time I will talk about what to do once you get on campus for the visit.

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You have decided that taking a gap year from college is your best option.  In my last posting I said that colleges will let you take a gap year if you are doing something productive. What do colleges consider productive?

Colleges don’t want to see you sitting around during the gap year. Want to work to raise money for college or broaden your horizons? That is fine. Want to volunteer for your favorite charity? That’s fine too.  But is there a “best” activity?

There is no one “best” activity for a gap year. But some activities are better than others depending on why you are taking the gap year. If you are taking the gap year to take a break from academics, then working, volunteering or traveling are all activities that might make sense. For these students I generally advise that they find something they are passionate about and focus their year on that passion. Whether this involves work, volunteering or travel really doesn’t matter.

However, taking a course at the local community college would not make much sense. If you wanted to continue your academic pursuits, why didn’t you just go to your original college?

On the other hand, if you are taking a gap year because you slacked off in high school and did not do well, taking a class at the local community college may be the best option to prove you can do college level work.  Working a steady job for these students is also a great way to spend a gap year because you can show some maturity by holding a steady job.  Many students also find that after working a low end job for a year that they are more serious about getting an education.  That sort of experience often makes a student more motivated than if they had gone directly to college.

The “best” activity for a gap year is one that results in growth for you. Whether that is academic growth or just growth as a person, only you can determine the “best” activity for your gap year.

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Last week I talked about what students might want to consider a gap year. But how does a gap year work?

There are two possible approaches to a gap year and the approach you use depends in part on why you are taking the gap year. The first option is to apply to a college as if you planned on attending in the fall.  Once accepted you can contact the college you have chosen and ask to take a gap year. Almost all colleges will agree to a student taking a year off as long as the student plans on using the time productively.  This is the best approach for those students who know what they want from a college but just need a break.

Occasionally, students who take this type of gap year have a change of heart on what they want from a college and decide during the gap year that the college they have chosen is no longer the best option.  If this should happen, you are free to apply to another college and if accepted attend the new college.  The only loss would be of any deposits you might have made to the first college.

The second approach to a gap year is to take a year off and not worry about applying to college in the senior year. With this approach you would have an additional year to get your SAT or ACT testing done, and would have more time to explore your college  options.

This second approach is best for students who need additional time to figure out what they want from a college.  This is also the best approach for those students who wait until late senior year to start thinking about college.  As recently as yesterday I spoke with the parent of a senior just starting to think about college. Can you find a college at this late date? Yes. Will you have the time to find the best choice for you? Unlikely.

Next week I will talk about what you might want to do during a gap year.

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I have received a number of phone calls this month from parents of seniors wondering about finding the right college for their student. I always tell them that a gap year should be seriously considered at this point so late in the admissions season.

For those of you not familiar with a gap year, it is an increasingly popular option for students to take a year off between graduating from high school and starting college.  There are several groups of students for whom a gap year makes sense.

Students who had problems early in high school and haven’t lived up to their potential are often good candidates for a gap year. The additional year can be used to take college courses at a local community college where the student can prove that they are capable of handling college level work. This goes a long way to convincing college admissions officers that you are able to handle college work despite a poor high school performance.

On the other end of the scale are those students who have worked incredibly hard during high school and need to take a year off to avoid a burn out. Princeton University made news several years ago when they began encouraging admitted freshman to take a gap year although Princeton calls it a bridge year.

A third group of students for whom a gap year makes sense are those that have not taken the time to determine what they want from a college.  These students might be able to find a college at this late stage of the admissions process but they do not have the time to find the best college for their needs.   For these students, a gap year makes sense so that they have all of this year to work on finding the best college for them.

If you fit one of these groups, you should seriously consider taking a gap year next year. I will talk about how a gap year works and what to do during a gap year in one of my next postings.

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Now is the time that juniors should start the process of finding which colleges they will apply to. But with over 3,000 colleges in the country, where do you get started?

Here are my 3 favorite college search sites. Each of these website has its advantages so checking more than one is a good idea.

1. College Navigator- I recommend that students start at this site more than any other. This is the official college search site of the US Department of Education. You can search for colleges by a number of different criteria but I particularly like the ability to look at the retention and graduation rates of different colleges.

2. College Board College Search – This site  allows students to search for even more criteria than the previous site. The other thing I really like about the the College Board web site is the financial information provided for each college that is identified.  This is one of the few sites that tells a student the average amount of need met by each college’s financial aid department.

3. Princeton Review- Princeton Review’s Counselor-O-Matic asks questions in a fun way to make the process of finding the right college more interesting. Unfortunately, in the past, the colleges that were identified were often not appropriate. Think a guy having an all woman’s college as one of their options.  They are working to improve the search engine. The nice thing about the Princeton Review site is that once it identifies a possible college you can also find similar colleges.

Using these three sites together can help a student put together a preliminary list of colleges. But do not rely on such a list alone. You need to research each of the identified colleges in more detail starting with the websites of each college.  And as I have discussed here before, I always recommend visiting a college before making the final decision of where to apply.

Of course, if you really want to find the best colleges for your needs, you should consider hiring a professional college admission consultant.

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Allen Grove at About.com recently wrote a good article entitled “5 Good Reasons to Transfer to a New College“.  Allen lists 5 of the most common reasons that students transfer from one college to another. There are good reasons where a transfer to another college is appropriate. But, more often than not, the reason for a transfer to another college is inadequate planning when first choosing a college.

Let’s look at several of the reasons listed in the article. Reason 1 for a transfer: Financial Necessity.  I have written many times about the need to understand college financial aid before choosing a college.  If you understand financial aid and consider it when making the decision of where to apply to college, the chances that you will need to transfer for financial reasons is substantially reduced.

Reason 2: Academic Upgrade.  If you understand what your qualifications are and what colleges are looking for, you have a much higher chance of being accepted at a college that is academically appropriate for you. It is true that many very qualified students are not accepted into the most selective colleges, but if you have planned your match and safety colleges appropriately, then you should have been accepted into an appropriate academic college to begin with.

Reason 5: Social Situation.  If you have spent the time to investigate colleges before applying, you should understand the social situation at those colleges when you apply.  To understand the social situation at a college will generally involve visiting the college, either before applying or after acceptance.  This is why I also tell people to visit a college before making the decision on whether to attend or not.

By doing some work before applying to college, you can hopefully avoid the need to transfer to another college.

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Last week I talked about some summer activities for college admissions. While those suggestions are appropriate for most students, those students considering a BS/MD program have different considerations.

Most successful BS/MD applicants have experience with research in some field of science.  This may be experience in a university laboratory or in a lab associated with a science related business.  Typically this lab related experience occurs during the summer, most commonly before the junior or senior year of high school.

I generally encourage BS/MD prospective students to spend at least part of one of their summers involved with a research experience.  Many universities make such research opportunities available to high school students and it is just a matter of contacting the university to see what opportunities they have available. Some of these programs are competitive so the earlier you get started applying, the better your chance of acceptance. If you are able to arrange more than one research experience, you will be an even stronger candidate for a BS/MD program.

Summers can also be a good time for prospective BS/MD students to shadow a physician. Following a physician, also called shadowing, is another critical requirement for the successful BS/MD candidate.  Medical schools want to be assured that you are fully aware of what being a physician is like and shadowing a doctor before applying to the BS/MD progam is one way to show your understanding.  Ideally, this shadowing will last at least a week and summer is the best time to arrange this activity. In fact, having several experiences with shadowing a physician is even better than having a single such experience.

Finally, summer is a great time to work or volunteer at a job in a health related facility. Volunteering at a hospital, clinic or nursing home, are all good ways to communicate your interest in becoming a physician while also demonstrating that you have compassion.

While summer is a good time to volunteer at a health facility, the longer your period of volunteer effort, the stronger your application. If you can volunteer during the year at the same place that you volunteer during  the summer, your commitment will appear even stronger.

With the need to be involved with research activities,  doctor shadowing and volunteer activities, applicants to BS/MD programs will have their summers full.

Want more information about BS/MD programs? Check out the Guide to BS/MD Programs.

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I spoke with John, the parent of a junior,  the other day about his son and the college admissions process.  One of John’s concerns was that his son had a 2.9 GPA but a 2320 SAT score. John wanted to know what colleges would think about this high SAT score and relatively low GPA.

I told John that a student with high test scores and low grades is generally viewed as a bright slacker.  These types of students are a risk for colleges to admit because colleges don’t want students to fail.  Although students like John’s son are bright enough to do college level work, even at very competitive colleges, colleges are concerned that the student is smart but lazy and won’t bother to do their college level work. And without doing the work, even the brightest student is going to fail.

Some very bright high school students are not challenged by their high school and as a result don’t try in their classes. Colleges understand that. But colleges also know that they have hundreds of other very bright students who DID work hard in high school who are applying for a limited number of open spaces.

If a bright student has slacked off as a freshman but starts to turn it around after that, the competitive colleges will be much more willing to consider taking a chance on the student.  But if the slacking off has continued into senior year, the student is unlikely to be admitted to any college that would otherwise be an academic match for that student.

Students, keep those grades up all through high school.Don’t make me have a conversation with your parent about what to do about their slacker student.

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