Like most highly selective programs, grades and test scores are the most important. Most BS/MD programs have minimum requirements of top 10% of your class or a 3.8 or better GPA. The most competitive students will be in the top 1 or 2% of the class. Most BS/MD programs also require around a 1,400 on the SAT critical reading and math portions. Of course those are minimum requirements. Many programs also want to see SAT subject test scores as well. The higher your test scores the more competitive you will be. Keeping your grades up and preparing for the SAT and SAT subject tests will be very beneficial.

To strengthen your application you should also have experience shadowing at least one physician and several would not be a bad idea. Ideally, you would also have research experience at some point during high school. Most successful BS/MD students do some research at a local college during one of the summers of high school. Very often this is in some health related field.

If you do this, you should be competitive for a BS/MD program. However, these programs are so competitive that even the best prepared students are often not admitted. But, if you have the basic qualifications to apply to a BS/MD program you will also put yourself in a very competitive position for a regular undergraduate program in case you don’t get admitted to a BS/MD program.

As I indicated in the article, the focus is one why you wish to become a a doctor and why you want a BS/MD program instead of the regular route to medical school. There will often also be questions about your resume and in particular your experiences shadowing a doctor and any research experience you have.

It is also common to have questions asked that relate to current topics in medicine and in particular medical ethics. Questions may be asked about what you think about stem cell research or end of life issues. Whether you are for or against a particular issue doesn’t generally matter, it is your ability to articulate your thoughts and to be able to provide a reasoned argument that is important.

I hope that helps give you a little more insight into the BS/MD interview.

There are several programs in the Chicago area. Northwestern University has a BS/MD program, known as HPME. Illinois Institute has a BS/MD program with Rush University Medical Center and a BS/DO program with Midwestern University’s Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. Finally, the University of Illinois at Chicago has a BS/MD program.

However, you should be aware that all of the programs that I am aware of limit admission into these programs to incoming freshman only.

The programs generally have a very strong preference for US citizens and in many cases say specifically that they will not consider international students for BS/MD programs.

However, students that are strong enough to be considered for such programs are generally very strong candidates for some excellent colleges that have very good medical school placement rates.

Given the unlikely chance that your daughter will have a chance at a BS/MD program, I would strongly advise that she start the investigation of good colleges that have strong placement of students into medical schools. These are often the small liberal arts colleges because the students have more personalized instruction, better access to undergraduate research and get to know professors better. One of the criteria used by medical schools are the recommendations from professors and students from small schools often do better in this area because of their better relationship with professors.

I hope that helps.