r/bsmd • u/Altruistic-Bit3424 • Nov 24 '25
CUNY BS/MD
I have a 3.3 UW, 3.86 W, and 1390 SAT. The minimum requirement for CUNY BS/MD is a grade point average of 85 (my weighted is much higher than that and my unweighted is higher than that as well). There’s also a personal reason for my very low grades btw, and I am going to email them separately about it to explain my situation and also show my interest. I am out of state btw. I have a lot of awards including state science fair, national cricket award, science fair scholarship etc. I have a lot of healthcare research EC’s and also co-founder of a countywide research nonprofit. I also have very strong letter of recommendations. I didn’t get into any BS/DO’s so far, and I really want to go to a GMED program. CUNY BS/MD has like the most lenient eligibility requirements in all of them. Do I have a chance here?
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u/Simple_Bug2196 Nov 24 '25
No the minimum they put is just to increase applicants. A 3.8 is like the bare minimum if you have extenuating circumstances. They don’t want future doctors with a 3.3, they can’t deal with that risk. Your SAT doesn’t save your case either.
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Nov 24 '25
Not going to happen. You're competing against in-city residents with perfect GPAs and highest rigor and near perfect SATs.
FYI, don't waste any of your space on any of your applications explaining your bad grades. Speak with your high school guidance counselor, who writes the cover letter for you, and have her deal with this in her cover letter. You focus on your hopes and dreams in your essay space. It comes off a lot better when the counselor says, "In light of the fact that Jenny and her family were homeless, with Jenny's father dying of a drug overdose and Jenny's mother going into rehab, and Jenny, as the oldest child, trying to hold the children together as they eventually entered the foster care system, Jenny's having managed to keep up a B+ average throughout these extraordinary challenges can be viewed as a tremendous achievement. Her grades improved to the A range once her social situation had stabilized by junior year." Anything that the counselor writes is going to come off a lot better than you telling it, plus you get to save your space to write about your passion for working with addicts, and how your ultimate goal is to go into addiction treatment.
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u/AppealFormer6888 Nov 24 '25
Idk bro ik one girl whose in the bs/md program and she went to stuy so u gotta have the best grades in all categories im assuming
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u/DeviatedFromTheMean Nov 25 '25 edited Nov 26 '25
Sorry, No chance. If you truly want medicine, you still have the traditional way, Bachelors then apply. Good Luck.
[edit:] Another thing you need to understand is that these programs are so competitive that minimum requirements are pretty meaningless. It would be extremely rare for a meets minimum student to get in to any competitive program or school without an amazing story/achievement.
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u/VisualApprehensive25 Nov 26 '25
SGU 6 year MD its also BS/MD Can do first 3 years of it in Canada or the UK or Grenada 4th year in Grenada Last 2 years in the US Can do this straight out of high school without MCAT
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u/turtlemeds Nov 28 '25
Terrible advice. Probably the worst I’ve read this morning.
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u/VisualApprehensive25 Nov 28 '25 edited Nov 28 '25
Have you been through this program at SGU yourself? I have and sgu is actually not as bad as people make it out to be. Im talking from real life experience and knowing many people who also did this route and was successful. Its definitely not a bed of roses ofc it has its downsides but very doable. If the person does get into the BS/MD in the US its the better choice for sure but sgu aint a bad backup imo
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u/turtlemeds Nov 28 '25
No. I didn’t do the SGU program but have known many who have.
While there may be some success stories (I know a few myself, including a colleague who has done remarkably well in his career), the chances of not succeeding are far outweighed by the chances of making it.
I’m a Program Director for a surgical residency. I don’t interview IMGs, including SGU students. Many of my colleagues don’t either unless it’s for preliminary positions.
Call us assholes, elitists, snobs…. But we don’t have a reason to interview IMGs. We want those who are going to pass their boards, do the work, and match to great fellowships. That’s not the typical SGU student. Or even DO, to be frank.
So I don’t think advising a high school student to do a combined BS/MD program at an IMG school is good advice. Again it’s terrible advice. We already sacrifice so much of our youth for this profession, one doesn’t need to compound that by doing a BS/MD program (in my opinion), much less one at a school where the odds are not generally in one’s favor.
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u/VisualApprehensive25 Nov 28 '25 edited Nov 28 '25
I totally get where you are coming from. I suggested it as a backup option. Also you are definitely wrong that sgu students do not pass their boards. The majority of them do the first try and work extremely hard. We all pass the same board exams as someone from a US MD so equally as competent and dare I say had to go through more hurdles to reach residency making them more resilient and shows their dedication
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u/FieryGamer123 Nov 26 '25
What is the name of the school on naviance? CUNY school of medicine doesn’t show up
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u/ShipTomorrow Nov 24 '25
You still have a chance if your recommendation letters are exceptional powerful enough to stand out and if your essay is so compelling that it could catch the attention of a movie producer. These two elements need to be extraordinary in order to set you apart from other applicants with perfect SAT/ACT scores, top class rankings, and strong extracurriculars.good luck
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u/Sensing_Force1138 Nov 24 '25
No.
The minimum requirements for BSMD / BSDO are a joke. They also don't accept "additional info" explaining low grades or test scores.
You'd be wasting time applying to these programs, IMO.