Flex Med

This question is fairly straightforward. First, you’ll want to decide on an accomplishment to write about. Remember that, for this question, an accomplishment could look like anything from running a 5k to performing scientific research. Then, in writing your essay, you should make sure to discuss why that accomplishment was meaningful to you, what you’ve learned from it, and how it will impact your future as a great medical student and doctor.

FlexMed Sophomore Early Assurance Medical Program, Icahn SOM at Mt. Sinai (New York, NY)

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), located on the border of the Upper East Side and East Harlem, has a reputation for innovation and advocacy. We encourage and support the bold thinking and disciplined science that will change the face of medicine.

What is FlexMed?

ISMMS developed an early acceptance program known as FlexMed . It is the first program of its kind in the nation, offering college sophomores from any major early acceptance. Students submit their application to FlexMed in the winter of their sophomore year of college and learn of acceptance to the ISMMS MD Program by the summer of that year. Once accepted, students will be free to pursue their area of study, unencumbered by the traditional science requirements and the MCAT.

What are the benefits of applying and being accepted into FlexMed?

All Majors Welcome!

Early Acceptance : end of your sophomore year in college

No MCAT : accepted students are not permitted to take the MCAT

Revised pre-med requirements : eliminating Organic Chemistry

Flexibility : “Flex” intellectual, creative, humanistic and scientific muscles

Academic Freedom : you will be free to pursue the area of study you want, unencumbered by the traditional pre-med science requirements

What are the eligibility requirements?

• You must be a sophomore enrolled at an accredited 4-year US/Canadian College/University
• You must have completed a year of one of the following three courses: one year of college Biology, one year of college Chemistry, or one year of college Physics by January 15th of the year you apply
• You must have taken your SAT or ACT exams

What are the pre-matriculation requirements

(following acceptance to FlexMed and prior to matriculation at ISMMS)?

Learn more about the requirements on our website .

When should I apply?

For the AY’20-‘21 cycle the application is currently open and must be submitted by January 15, 2021.

What does the FlexMed application consist of?

• A completed FlexMed Application
• High School transcript
• College transcript (which includes your Fall Sophomore year final grades)
• Three letters of recommendation
• Personal statement (3 short essays)
• $110 Application fee

What is Icahn School of Medicine looking for in an applicant?

• Commitment to a career in research, teaching, service and clinical practice in medicine
• Students with a thoughtful educational plan who understand how a diverse knowledge base will enhance their career in medicine
• Ability to demonstrate academic excellence, social conscience, engagement in service activities, and leadership
• Diversity of experiences and backgrounds
• Intangibles (i.e. athletics, music, teaching, talents/skills)
• Strong Academic Record: 2019/2020 accepted students had an average GPA over 3.5 and averaged over 700 on each section of the SATs

What application should I be using?

• Access our online application here.
• Click on ‘New Applicant’ to create a username/login and password.
• Once you’ve successfully logged in, locate the “FlexMed” row and make sure ‘Fall 2021’ application is shown.
• Click on ‘Apply’.
• Proceed and complete the application.

If you would like additional information or would like to discuss this program,

please contact Cristina Gallo at [email protected] or  Jackie Chudow at [email protected]

How to Get Into the FlexMed Program at Icahn School of Medicine

Learn how hard it is to get in the FlexMed program, strategies to maximize your admissions odds, and read FlexMed application essay examples

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: FlexMed program overview

Part 3: FlexMed applications essays (examples included)

Part 4: FlexMed interviews

Part 1: Introduction

If you hope to be a doctor, you might know that there are many paths to earning that coveted MD. In addition to traditional medical school programs and combination BS/MD programs, there are also early assurance programs, which offer undergraduates early acceptance to medical school typically well before senior year. Early assurance programs allow accepted students to bypass both the stress of taking the MCAT and the mad rush of juggling multiple applications towards the end of college. One such program is the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s FlexMed program, which offers admission to college sophomores studying in all majors.

Like other early assurance programs such as Albany Medical School or the University of Florida’s Medical Honors program, FlexMed allows accepted students to skip the MCAT and some standard premed requirements in hopes of giving students more time to focus on their undergraduate studies as well as the academic freedom to pursue a broad education outside of standard premed sciences coursework.

In this post, we’ll go over everything you need to know to submit a successful FlexMed application, including FlexMed prerequisites, FlexMed admissions statistics, an ideal timeline to applying to FlexMed, essays, and more.

Part 2: FlexMed program overview

FlexMed is a unique program, philosophically and educationally. Why does it exist at all, when the Icahn School of Medicine could have its pick of high-scorers on the MCAT who are applying after they’ve earned their full degree?

For a clue, look to the Icahn School of Medicine’s vision of “combining the best traditions of medicine with the principles and entrepreneurial thinking of a startup.” Because Icahn places a high value on innovative thinking in order to make breakthroughs in disease research and to change the practice of medicine for the better, they are committed to recruiting students from a wide variety of backgrounds, including academic disciplines not traditionally represented in medicine. As such, FlexMed is one of a number of Icahn’s recruitment programs aimed at diversifying its pool of applicants.

As we talk through strategies for getting into FlexMed, keep in mind that first part of the program’s name: “flex.” This is a program that values intellectual agility and creative thinking, and it’s a great fit for students seeking the academic freedom to pursue studies outside of the typical premed sciences fare, and who later hope to bring original thinking and transformative ideas to the field of medicine.

While the prerequisites to get into FlexMed are few (more on that below), once accepted, students need to fulfill the following requirements in order to graduate from their undergraduate institution and continue on to Icahn School of Medicine:

• Graduate from their current college with a bachelor’s degree
• Have taken, at minimum:
  • One year each of: biology, chemistry, and English
  • One semester each of: physics (or AP Physics with a score of at least 4), ethics, statistics, and healthy policy/public health/global health (one out of these three)
  • One year of lab work in biology and/or chemistry

  In addition, admitted students need to earn at least a B in all mandatory courses during the final two years of their undergraduate education, as well as achieve a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher.

  Once students have graduated from their undergraduate institution, they’ll join the first-year class at Icahn School of Medicine and will follow the same curriculum as any traditional applicant.

  While students accepted to FlexMed sign a written agreement that states they are committing to attending Icahn School of Medicine, technically speaking, acceptance to FlexMed is non-binding and, if admitted, you can later choose not to attend Icahn free of penalty. However, keep in mind that as soon as you apply to another medical school or take the MCAT, your FlexMed acceptance will be retracted.

  FlexMed admissions statistics

  Let’s take a look at some statistics pertaining to both FlexMed and the Icahn School of Medicine:

  • Typical number of applicants to FlexMed: around 800
  • Typical number of FlexMed applicants interviewed: 140–160 (around 18–19%)
  • Number of students admitted to FlexMed in 2018: 51 out of 754 (6.7%)
  • Icahn School of Medicine 2022 U.S. News & World Report ranking: #11 in research; #58 in biological sciences; #71 in primary care; #79 in public health
  • Icahn School of Medicine class size: 140 (typically 75% traditional applicants; 25% FlexMed applicants)
  • Icahn School of Medicine 2021-2022 academic year median GPA: 3.81 (for both traditional and FlexMed matriculants)
  • Average GPA for students accepted into the FlexMed program: 3.5 and above, according to the Program Director

  (Note: Admissions data for the FlexMed program is currently unavailable. We’ll update the guide with this data as soon as it becomes available.)

  What is FlexMed looking for in students?

  The prerequisites to gain entry to FlexMed are fairly minimal. If you would like to apply to FlexMed, you’ll need to have completed the following:

  • Either the SAT or ACT*
  • One full academic year of each biology, chemistry, or physics, in any sub-discipline, completed by the application deadline, January 15th (note: AP credit does not count towards this requirement)

  In addition, you should be a current, full-time sophomore in good academic standing and pursuing your first bachelor’s degree at an accredited American or Canadian university.

  FlexMed states that, in their holistic review of applicants, they evaluate students according to the following metrics: academics, clinical exposure, community service, research, and other extracurricular activities. In addition, applicants are assessed for personal criteria such as ability to collaborate, commitment to lifelong learning, leadership, and advocacy.

  If you’ve taken the SAT or ACT more than once, you are encouraged to send in all scores. They will “superscore” the SAT, according to the Admissions Program Director.

  (*Note: For the 2022-2023 application cycle, the SAT and ACT requirement will be waived for students whose ability to take the exam was impeded by COVID.)

  FlexMed tuition and financial aid

  Though successful applicants to FlexMed will technically be “in” the program beginning their junior year of college, they don’t pay tuition until they actually begin their medical studies at Icahn School of Medicine. FlexMed students pay the same tuition as traditional applicants to Icahn.

  As of the 2022–2023 academic year, Icahn charges $63,365 per year for tuition alone, and estimates the total cost of attendance to be around $84,690 each year. Financial aid, made up of a combination of loans, scholarships, and work study, is awarded to all students with demonstrated need.

  FlexMed application components and timeline

  In order to apply to FlexMed, you’ll need to submit your application by January 15th (applications typically open in August). Keep in mind that you will need to have completed your science prerequisite by January 15th as well.

  Applicants who make it to the next stage will be invited to interview, with invitations sent out in mid-March. Interviews will take place in April.

  Finally, offers of admission will be sent out in July.

  A complete application for admission to FlexMed includes the following:

  • FlexMed application
  • SAT or ACT scores
  • High school transcript
  • College transcript through your fall sophomore year
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • Personal statement consisting of three short essays
  • Application fee ($110)

  Part 3: FlexMed application essays

  Below are the current (2022–2023) FlexMed application essay questions, along with advice on how to successfully answer each question, sample responses from our own students, and analyses of why these answers work. Each question allows for a 300-word response, about 2–3 paragraphs.

  Let’s take a look at some example responses to the FlexMed essay prompts.

  Question 1: Please describe something in your life that has given you a great sense of personal, academic, or professional accomplishment.

  This question is fairly straightforward. First, you’ll want to decide on an accomplishment to write about. Remember that, for this question, an accomplishment could look like anything from running a 5k to performing scientific research. Then, in writing your essay, you should make sure to discuss why that accomplishment was meaningful to you, what you’ve learned from it, and how it will impact your future as a great medical student and doctor.

  I grew up with parents who didn’t share a first language, but was raised speaking only English, a circumstance that troubled me for much of my life. My American mom and Mexican dad met during an exchange program in Madrid and moved to my mom’s hometown in upstate New York after getting married, where my sister and I were raised. Though my parents’ initial mutual language was Spanish, after immigrating to the United States, our family’s default tongue became English as the result of my dad’s focus on mastering the language of his new country.

  Though my dad’s English is excellent after many years in America, as I got older, I became aware of a communication gap between us that seemed like a result of not sharing a first language. This was painful to me, and I grew frustrated that my parents hadn’t taught us Spanish. I decided to study it all four years of high school, participating in a summer language intensive between junior and senior year, declaring it my university major last semester.

  I’m proud to say that I am fluent in Spanish and can speak it with my dad. As a result, we understand each other better. Learning Spanish taught me that with hard work, even something as incomprehensible as a foreign language can become not only understandable but also extremely familiar over time. This is a lesson I’ll carry with me into medical school and beyond as an MD—plus I’ll have some top-notch Spanish skills to boot, which will help me speak to patients and families, and to understand their contexts and concerns.

  While this student’s story of achieving a difficult goal is fairly straightforward, they do a good job of making sure that the reader understands just how meaningful the accomplishment is to them. In other words, the emotional stakes of the achievement are obvious. In addition, the achievement they’ve chosen has the benefit of fitting the categories of both personal and academic accomplishments (not that one needs to do this!). Finally, they’re able to extend the lessons they’ve learned from mastering a foreign language into demonstrating a work ethic that they’ll bring with them to medical school.

  Question 2: Please describe something in your life that has given you a great sense of personal, academic, or professional disappointment.

  Question 3: Describe how FlexMed will change your educational plan and enhance your future career in medicine. Please concentrate on how you will use the flexibility afforded by FlexMed, and not on the FlexMed requirements.