The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth offers opportunities for highly qualified biomedical engineering and engineering sciences majors to apply for admission to Geisel through the Biomedical Engineering Early Assurance Program (BME EAP). A small number (generally two or three) of highly qualified Dartmouth biomedical engineering and engineering sciences students in their junior year (for AB candidates) or senior year (for BE candidates) who plan to attend medical school will be considered for admission to Geisel.
Benefits
Because admission typically occurs in a student's final year before graduation, the BME EAP provides admitted students additional time for academic and research activities in their final year prior to matriculation at Geisel. In addition, students nominated for application through the BME EAP do not need to take the MCATs to apply.
Eligibility
The BME EAP is open to highly qualified biomedical engineering and engineering sciences majors pursuing the BE one year prior to graduation (current juniors planning to complete the BE in four years, or current seniors planning to pursue the BE in a fifth year).
The BME EAP is a separate program from the Geisel Early Assurance program for Dartmouth juniors. Students may only apply to ONE early assurance program. Students majoring in biomedical engineering or engineering sciences are strongly advised to apply through Thayer via the BME EAP.
How to Apply
- By August 1: Send an email expressing interest in the program to Professor Katie Hixon at katherine.r.hixon@dartmouth.edu. Students may also request an appointment with Professor Hixon to discuss the program.
- The following week: Look for an email from Thayer notifying you if you are eligible for an interview.
- By August 15: Interviewees must submit two documents to Professor Hixon:
- CV (three pages maximum) describing research, project, leadership, community, and extracurricular activities;
- Essay (one page maximum, one-inch margins, 12-point font, single-spaced) describing your motivations for engineering and medicine, ideally discussing specific example(s) of your own experiences and their relevance to medicine, based upon the educational pathway that you have taken.
- By the end of August: Schedule a 30-minute interview with the BME EAP committee. Interviews will begin with the interviewee making a brief opening statement (no more than a few minutes) describing their interest in pursuing engineering, medicine, and the BME EAP, followed by approximately 20 minutes of question and answer, and conclude with an opportunity for the applicant to ask any final questions.
- The first week of September: Interviewees are notified if they have been nominated for application through the BME EAP.
- By the first week in October: Interviewees must complete Geisel School Admissions materials. MCAT exam not required.
- By the beginning of January: Look for an invitation from Geisel to schedule a medical school entrance interview.
- By the beginning of March: Thayer EAP Candidates will be notified whether or not they have been selected for admission.
Admissions & Matriculation
The BME EAP committee reviews the academic records (overall transcript, as well as major and non‐major courses) of all those submitting this email expression of interest, and identifies finalists.
Nomination by Thayer is not a guarantee of admission to Geisel and all applications are reviewed by the Geisel School Admissions Committee. Nominees admitted to Geisel who wish to apply to other medical schools must first withdraw from the BME EAP. Students not selected as finalists or nominees may apply to Geisel through the regular admissions process.
Matriculation is contingent upon successful completion of engineering studies and continuing during their final undergraduate (senior or fifth) year to meet the criteria with respect to academic record, leadership, and research excellence by which all successful applicants to Geisel are selected.
Additional questions regarding official submission by the Thayer EAP Candidate(s) may be directed to Aileen Panitz at aileen.k.panitz@dartmouth.edu.