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Recommended B.A./M.D Programs?

Written by Sally Rubenstone | Feb. 28, 2012

Question: Which colleges are recommended to complete an undergrad and medical degree togther in 6/7/8 years. Thanks

It's not responsible for an Internet "Dean" to recommend a combo-med college (or ANY college) without knowing a lot about the student involved. However, you may find this earlier "Ask the Dean" column helpful:http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/choosing-a-combined-bachelorsmd-program It's about seven or eight years old but the information it contains is still current.

Above all, I can't emphasize enough how competitive these programs are. Combo-med programs are usually far more selective than their host institution at large. For instance, a young man I worked with nearly a decade ago was turned down by the University of Rochester's Early Medical Scholars program but he went on to excel as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania and then at Harvard Medical School. Another student in my orbit is currently an undergrad at Yale but was denied at the two combo-med programs she aimed for ... at Boston University and George Washington University.

On the other hand, a young woman I advised is now in the B.A./M.D program at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. She was a very good student in high school, but her grades and test scores weren't as strong as those of the two Ivy Leaguers cited above. However, her passion for a career in medicine--which came across clearly in her extracurricular endeavors and her essays--probably played a key role in her acceptance.

So, while it's impossible to counsel a student in Cyberspace whom I know nothing about, at least I can warn that student that all the combo-med programs set the bar very, very high.

(posted 2/28/2012)

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.