Baylor 2 Baylor: Programs offer unique opportunities to high-achieving students

A Baylor education can be powerful. It's an experience that offers students an academic community that fosters leadership and knowledge, and features strong bonds throughout the student body and alumni family.
Now, through two innovative programs, a select group of students
can increase the benefits of studying
at Baylor - to the power of two, to be exact.
The Baylor2 Law School Program and the Baylor2 Medical Track Program form a unique pair of dual-admission programs with which many faculty and staff may be unfamiliar.
Let's start with proper introductions. First, there are the names. Both programs are commonly called "Baylor to Baylor," or sometimes "Baylor Squared." Officially, both programs' names use a superscript "2" to indicate that the selected students are poised to gain twice the benefits of a Baylor education.
As the name suggests, the Baylor2 Law School Program provides a pathway for a student to move directly from his or her undergraduate studies at Baylor into Baylor Law School. Similarly, the Baylor2 Medical Track Program offers a seamless transition from Baylor University to Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
The opportunity to apply to these programs is by invitation-only and requires attending an interview day on campus. According to Elizabeth Cano, coordinator of the Pre-Law Office at Baylor, 50 students were invited to campus for Baylor2 Law Scholarship Day on Jan. 31. "The scholarship day allows Baylor to showcase the resources it offers pre-law students and exposes applicants to Baylor's renown law school," Cano said.
The six freshmen selected to join the program in fall 2014 will gain admission into Baylor Law School provided they meet certain academic criteria during their undergraduate studies, such as maintaining a 3.6 cumulative GPA and scoring at least 162 on the LSAT exam. These students are supported by a $10,000 scholarship per academic year as undergrads and at least a $21,000 scholarship each year in Baylor Law School.
"We're very excited about creating a deeper partnership between Baylor's undergraduate program and Baylor Law," said Cano, noting that 2014 will mark the beginning of the program. "We've designed the application process to give 50 outstanding pre-law students the opportunity to get a sense of what it would be like to be 'double Bears.'"
While the law program is new, the Baylor2 Medical Track Program has been active for some time, according to Jane Lin, coordinator of Pre-Health Studies. Dr. David Pennington, a longtime professor of chemistry and biochemistry and former head of the pre-health program at Baylor, assisted Dr. James Schofield in establishing the program in 1999.
For the past four years, approximately 115 students have come to campus to interview for the program each year, with six eventually selected for admission, Lin said. A combined eight-year baccalaureate/MD program, the Baylor2 Medical Track Program grants these students acceptance to Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) upon matriculation to Baylor. One of the six students is offered a scholarship valued at $80,000 covering $10,000 per year for four years of undergraduate study at Baylor and four additional years of medical study at BCM.
One benefit of the Baylor2 Medical Track Program is that students aren't obligated to take the MCAT provided they have maintained a 3.5 GPA at Baylor and taken all of the traditional premedical coursework.
For more information about both programs, visit the Baylor2 Interview Days page on the Baylor Admissions website.