I was recently asked, “how do we go about visiting BS/MD programs.” The answer is not as simple as it may seem.
The first issue is do you even need to visit BS/MD programs. The vast majority of BS/MD programs do not care if a student visits or not. In other words, demonstrated interest isn’t an issue for most BS/MD programs. There are a few BS/MD programs, like Case Western and George Washington, that do like to see interest expressed which may mean a visit is advisable if you don’t live too far away. If you live within a hundred miles of Case Western, for example, but don’t visit, that may harm your application. But if you live in Southern California and don’t visit Case Western, it won’t be a major strike against you. But there are different ways to show interest in a college and visits is just one example. For those colleges that want demonstrated interest, make sure you do those things that you need to do to show interest.
Second, if you are visiting a college that has an associated BS/MD program, almost always the focus is going to be on the college and not the medical school. Most colleges won’t even talk about the BS/MD programs in much detail other than to say that they are very competitive to get into. Almost never will a program have a tour or information about the medical school available for students interested in BS/MD programs.
The answer to the question of how do you visit BS/MD programs, really comes down to getting to know the undergraduate college through a visit or online research and investigating the medical school online.
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