Snapshot of the Student Body
While it's impossible to capture all aspects of the students in the medical school at BCM, a few of the common attributes include diverse, service oriented, and supportive.
Joseph Spinner on what he likes best about training at BCM: Transcript
Diverse
Baylor College of Medicine believes that students learn from each other and that diversity within the student body enhances the education received by all medical students. We also believe diversity:
- advances the skills of physicians to provide health care to diverse populations,
- improves outreach to medically underserved, and
- broadens the scope of medical research
Currently, underrepresented minority groups in medicine make up 21% of the BCM medical students. Through the Office of Diversity and Community Outreach, BCM also is involved in encouraging younger students from these populations to pursue medicine and scientific careers.
At BCM, diversity encompasses other factors as well. For example, the ages of our current student body span from 18 to 42. And, our students are not all science majors. In fact, our Admissions Committee actively seeks individuals with different educational backgrounds, as evidenced by the 32 different majors in this year's entering class.
| Number of Applicants | 4,879 |
| Number of applicants interviewed | 676 |
| Class Size | 176 |
| Average GPA (GPA range = 3.6 - 4.0) | 3.85 |
| Average MCAT | 34.5 (11.5) |
| MCAT range: verbal reasoning | 9 - 13 |
| MCAT range: physical sciences | 10 – 14 |
| MCAT range: biological sciences | 10 – 14 |
| MCAT range: writing sample | N - R |
| Percent of class who are women | 49% |
| Percent from an underrepresented group | 22% |
| Number of different colleges | 47 |
| Number of different majors | 32 |
| Age range for entering class | 18-33 |
| Number who have graduate degrees | 8 |
One way that BCM supports the diversity of our student body is through the large number of student organizations at the school.
Service Oriented
Many of our students are very interested in community service, which lines up directly to one of BCM's missions. Therefore, the College works closely with the students to help support efforts that service the local, national and international communities.
A few examples of service projects our students participate in are:
- Mathew Carter Service Day (groups volunteer at several Houston venues)
- HOMES clinic (student-run clinic for the homeless in Houston)
- Shoulder to Shoulder (trips to Honduras to improve health care in Santa Ana)
- Charity Ball (Annual dance/auction to benefit charitable organizations)
Supportive
The BCM student culture is also one that is very supportive. Our students become quick friends thanks to the unique off-campus orientation retreat that they experience their first two days as BCM medical students. That bond continues to strengthen as they start taking classes together and work in smaller groups. Students truly become like family here and go out of their way to help and support each other.
For More Information
Go to Student Affairs for more information about student life at BCM.