Albion vs Hope College for pre-med

Anyone have feedback on Albion and Hope for pre-med. They both seem to have solid programs. They are my final two choices.

Where else have you been accepted?

What do you mean by “they have solid programs.”

How many of their students apply to MD med schools each year?

Hope and Albion both claim they have gotten 92% of pre-meds into med school with a greater than 3.5 GPA in the past 5 years. I was accepted at Grand Valley, Oakland University (full tuition ride), Wayne State (75% tuition ride), Lymon Briggs at MSU and Honors College, and deferred at UofM and still waiting. Hear horror stories about pre-med at UofM, they fail half of you,- they’re out. I like the smaller class sizes of a small school…rules MSU and Wayne State out, Oakland Univ health advising is new and offers little support so out, Grand Valley pretty good all around but don’t love it, but Hope and Albion seem to have advisors that really walk you through the Med School application process, which I like. Love the small class sizes and opportunity to work directly on research with a professor. I have wanted to be a doctor since I was 5, haven’t gotten a B since 3rd grade, 4.28 GPA, 31 ACT, work very hard, but hear that high GPA and MCAT are not enough so I need a strong advising department that will explain what college admissions boards are looking for to get in. Hope and Albion both claim to do this. Now trying to decide which one. I am looking for anyone with pre-med experience at either school and their feedback.

<<<Hope and Albion both claim they have gotten 92% of pre-meds into med school with a greater than 3.5 GPA in the past 5 years.


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Where is that published? Does that include DO schools and/or abroad med schools? You need to compare apples with apples. Some schools only report % acceptance to US MD schools…some report acceptances to US MD, DO and abroad.

How many of their freshmen premeds end up applying to med school?


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I was accepted at Grand Valley, Oakland University (full tuition ride), Wayne State (75% tuition ride), Lymon Briggs at MSU and Honors College, and deferred at UofM and still waiting.

Hear horror stories about pre-med at UofM, they fail half of you,- they’re out.

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what % of premeds at Hope and Albion end up with inadequate grades?

http://www.hope.edu/admissions/resources/medical-school-placement.pdf

Thank you.

Hope College is including DO, Caribbean, and other int’l med schools in their calculations. That is fine, but you need to take that into acct when comparing to schools that only report MD.

Hope and Albion are good, their main difference is that Hope is strongly Christian and conservative. Both Albion and Hope will be very supportive.
I’d seriously look into the honors college at Michigan State too.
I agree that UMich isn’t the right place for you as a premed adviser young be weeded out.

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I agree that UMich isn’t the right place for you as a premed adviser young be weeded out.


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If I’m understanding what the above is saying, I agree that UMich isn’t the best place for you. Not because it weeds, because every school heavily weeds. UMich will simply have a greater concentration of higher stats premeds. An ACT 31, while very strong, is not likely high for UMich successful premeds

And, virtually every school will have a 90%+ acceptance rate if they’re only looking at 3.5+ GPA applicants AND are including DO and overseas med school admissions in their stats.


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have wanted to be a doctor since I was 5, haven't gotten a B since 3rd grade, 4.28 GPA, 31 ACT, work very hard

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Have you taken AP bio and chem? AP Calc?

Just be aware that college is much harder and many lifetime A students find themselves facing Bs and Cs in college…particularly in premed prereqs.

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, but hear that high GPA and MCAT are not enough so I need a strong advising department that will explain what college admissions boards are looking for to get in. Hope and Albion both claim to do this.


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True that GPA and MCAT are not enough, but you’re over-estimating what advising depts will do for you. Each of your schools likely only has 1 premed advisor. That person isn’t going to know what 200+ med schools Adcoms want. There are about 140 MD and a bunch of DO schools. An easy rule of thumb is that many state med schools, particularly the modest-ranked/unranked ones, are looking for strong students who have an interest in Primary Care and who’ve volunteered and shadowed, and who have strong LORs/Committee Letters. The top ranked med schools are often looking for very high stats, strong research, medically-related ECs, shadowing, strong LORs/Committee Letters.

Visit the schools and decide which one is best for you.

The town of Albion seemed to be a bit run-down the 2 times I was there, whereas Holland is nice, & the scenic lake is close.

I have a LOT of relatives who went to Hope, including parents/aunt/uncles/brother/cousins/nieces so I have visited the area quite a few times. I’ve always had the impression that Hope has a strong reputation in the sciences. And as @moooop said, the town of Holland is very nice. Hope is one of the Colleges That Change Lives. http://ctcl.org/hope-college/

Holland definitely has a better campus, better dorms, and near Lake Michigan! So far the Albion Health Advising Department has really reached out and discussed actual breakdown of students getting into medical school (they only have 25 apply per year so track exactly where each one it at), they offer pre-med application assistance, and give you practice oral interviews with school faculty so you nail your personal interview. I go to Hope in the next week to see exactly what they offer. I have only heard good things about both colleges (except that town of Albion is run down, and dorms aren’t as nice.) Doing sleepovers at both also in the next few weeks.

@momtocollegekids took APUSH, AP Bio, AP physics, honors calc, honors chem, honors anatomy and physiology, every other class has been honors or IB format. Taking all APs again to be sure I am solid in them. Skipped AP Chem, will start with basic Chem next year and work my way up.

Is there a forum to get advice from current Medical Students?

Hey OP! So, first let me start with the fact I am currently at MSU Lyman Briggs/Honors in my second semester. And I am heavily considering transferring to Hope. I applied to only MSU and UMich and got into both, but was never told about opportunities I could have at a smaller college. I know you have already ruled out bigger schools but it may be nice to hear from someone who is already going through all of this! Good luck! (Also, the current premeds at Hope that I know are loving it and research opportunities are amazing at Hope, which looks really good on med school apps. I do research for MSU right now but think at Hope I may get ever better opportunities.)

@dppeag >>>
@momtocollegekids
took APUSH, AP Bio, AP physics, honors calc, honors chem, honors anatomy and physiology, every other class has been honors or IB format. Taking all APs again to be sure I am solid in them. Skipped AP Chem, will start with basic Chem next year and work my way up.

Is there a forum to get advice from current Medical Students?


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There’s a forum here on CC where you can get solid advice from med students, doctors, and parents of med students/doctors.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/

Another factor in those statistics that you should find out about is does the college recommend all of the students who wish to apply to med school or does it weed out and only recommend students they feel fairly confident will be accepted. As noted above, it is critical not just to get the statistics but to understand exactly how the school comes up with the statistics.

Of the two, I’d say friends kids have been very happy at Hope. I would not discount Michigan and MSU, however.

Assuming that you are accepted, the big ‘weeder’ class at Michigan is organic chemistry, but Michigan medical school also accepts a disproportionate number of its own undergrads and has far better research opportunities than Hope or Albion. Michigan is the #2 school in the nation for life science research. That will also help you get into medical school, especially if you are looking at a career in academic medicine.

Let me give you an example of opportunities you might discover at whichever college you may attend. A student in my wife’s department at Michigan medical school started out filing as a work/study job. He expressed some interest in research and was soon compiling statistical information for studies. Eventually he (an undergrad) was presenting as a primary author of a major research paper to a national medical conference. That turned into some spectacular recommendations from department chairs and others. He is planning to attend medical school after finishing an MPH, and is already teaching classes.

MSU is somewhere in the middle and the honors college is a real bonus. The larger schools take more work, but there is a lot more there research wise.

The plus side of Hope or Albion is the more intimate environment. It may fit you better.

Keep in mind that ‘pre-med’ can be anything these days - music, engineering, philosophy, dance etc. as long as you take the requisite classes and have a high GPA and MCAT score. A lot of students elect not to attend medical school as college progresses too, so also consider what would work best if you chose not to go to med school.

have you ever heard about ursinus and juniata college? they have a really great premed program.