Actually, most BA/MD students do quite well during college, keeping up GPAs well above the low requirements. The reason for the low requirements is for students in the program not to have to stress if they got one or two Bs in college. I mean you see pre-meds nowadays who cry over their hurt GPA and their chances at med school. Plus, they study for hours on end, and may end up not even getting into med school. In programs, you're able to choose a major YOU LIKE and focus on passions/interests instead of tailoring your resume with research, volunteering, and other "necessary" activities needed to impress med schools. No one is stopping you from applying out if you decide you don't want to go to X med school, but I know from anecdotal information that BA/MD programs are a GREAT way to go if you want to keep a measure of sanity and enjoy college while being a pre-med. Granted, I made several generalizations about pre-meds, but I think most people on this forum would agree that the average pre-med works extremely hard, perhaps unnecessarily hard.
Think about it psychologically. If something you wanted basically said that you HAD to do W, X, Y, and Z to get that something, perhaps even things you might not ENJOY doing, would you pursue them? Of course, if you wanted it badly enough. But you probably wouldn't enjoy doing those things. However, if that same something said, do whatever you want during college as long as you keep up X GPA and are law-abiding, wouldn't you do things you LIKED doing? These are things that you probably wouldn't have done because you would have been so focused on those pre-reqs for med school (research, volunteering, grades, MCATs). I'll give you an example of someone I know personally who went through a program:
# Bachelors in physiology with high honors, XXXX XXXXX University.
# Prevention and Economics of Health Policy Summer Program, Harvard University School of Public Health.
# Worked as a biologist for the Cardiovascular Drug Discovery Division of Eli Lily Research Laboratories.
# Served as a graduate research assistant for the XXX Department of Medicine.
# Served as a teaching assistant for clinical skills, medical neuroscience and human physiology courses.
# Served as an intern at the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Department of State.
# Served as an executive board member for VISIONS Worldwide Inc.
# Served as founding member and president of VISIONS at XXX.
# Served as the national chair of the service committee of the Medical Student and Resident Section of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin.
# Served as a student coordinator of the XXX Friendship Clinic.
I came to XXX through the Medical Scholars Program, which offers conditional acceptance into medical school at the time of entry into a course of undergraduate study at XXX XXXXX. I entered this program after high school because I had an established and tested commitment to medicine, and the Medical Scholars program offered me flexibility during my three years of undergraduate study. I was able to spend one summer studying impressionism in Paris and another working with an Office of Economic Policy at the U.S. State Department. The prospect of such flexibility and exploration drew me to the XXX Medical Scholars Program.
There you have it, from the mouth of a person who went through said program. I realize also that this is one person, but hopefully it shows you the benefits/advantages of going through a combined program. Btw, this person matched at Harvard residency after having gotten Junior AOA.
