Baylor Premed vs Rice Premed

I heard both of these school are terrific, but which one has a better pre-med program.

I have experience with both schools. There is no question that Rice is the “better” school – more competitive entry requirements, likely a more intense course of study. If you want to do an MD/PhD, then Rice is probably a clear leader, especially with the links to all of the research hospitals across the street. For a pure “pre-med” path, however, the same school may not be “better” for everyone.

It is generally accepted that your best chance for admission to a US med school comes from High MCAT scores, a high U/G GPA, and the usual other ECs. Certain “top” private med schools may give an edge to top undergrad institutions, or their own institution, but if you just want to go to a good med school and be a doctor, then Baylor vs. Rice on your resume won’t matter.

What will matter is your GPA and MCAT scores. If going to Rice puts you against higher competition for As, and allows you less time to prepare for the MCAT, then it could be a net negative. For the student that is a top student in high school, but an average student at Rice, they could find it harder to get to medschool going to Rice than going to Baylor. For the student for whom that is not a negative (they can excel at grades and the MCAT regardless of the environment/workload), then they will get into med school just fine from either institution.

I am going to be pragmatic…if you can get into Rice and you do not have a hook, you are probably not going to get much of a scholarship (I’m talking merit, not need-based). If you can get into Rice and you choose Baylor, you probably have stats that will get you a significant if not full scholarship at Baylor. Saving your money/debt for med school instead of undergrad will have a wealth of advantages in the future. From that perspective, I would choose Baylor, even though it is not the “better” school.

One last caveat: Although a Baylor degree will serve you just as well as a Rice one for med school applications, if you decide that you don’t want to be a doctor after all, your Baylor U/G degree may not open as many doors on it’s own as Rice’s does.

Ok. I have a different question. Are Baylor and Rice the top pre-med school in Texas?

Unfortunately, that question is probably even more ambiguous than your first one! Almost all will prepare you equally well for succeeding in med school. If your question is “which Texas U/G university sends the most students to med school?” I would guess the answer is probably UT-Austin, based on size alone. And Texas A&M second, for the same reason. If you based it on the % of students taking the MCAT that get admitted to Med School, then Rice would probably have an edge, and Baylor would probably beat out UT and A&M.

As state schools, UT and TAM actually make this information available. See here:

https://cns.utexas.edu/images/CNS/Health_Professions/HPO_Stats/2015_Final_Med_Stats.pdf

and here: http://opsa.tamu.edu/Admission-Statistics/Medical

Rice and Baylor (and SMU, TCU, etc.) may give out that same information if you call the pre-health advising office, but I don’t believe they have it freely available on the web. And probably for good reason, since those stats don’t tell a lot of the story. Like how many students entered as premed and never applied to med school.

I would say the same thing as before. If your goal is med school, and you have reason to believe that you are smart enough and dedicated enough to get there, then consider the cost carefully and choose your undergrad accordingly. The other UT schools (Dallas, SA, etc.) can probably fit the bill as well. If you are smart enough, but will need a lot of help/advising to direct yourself and stay motivated, a mid-size private school (TCU, Baylor) may be your best bet. If you want the Rice experience are are confident that you would be a top student at Rice, not just an average one, then you will certainly have no problem getting to med school going that track.

So, IMHO, you are still asking the wrong question. You need to ask yourself
(1) How much money do I have available to get through the next 8+ years of education, and what help will I need
(2) Honestly, what kind of student am I and where am I likely to both stay motivated and achieve a high GPA
(3) What do I like in an Undergrad University? Small/Med/Big? Private/Public? Sports? City/Rural? etc.

Once you answer 1 & 2 and narrow down your list accordingly, then you are free to focus on the remaining schools for #3, and you can both get into med school and enjoy your path getting there. That is the top pre-med school FOR YOU.

I need to go a college that keeps me motivated and helps me attain a high GPA. The college has to be private and can be ranged from small to medium in size. The college must be in Texas. The cost does not matter as my parent are ok paying the cost for the college. Do you know any pre-med school that has this requirement? Then that the college I will most likely to attend.

It is not the college that will keep you motivated. You need to find that from within.

I mean I want to go college in Texas that has good advising that put me the direction to med school.

I don’t want to be prescriptive, but it does sound like a Baylor or TCU is a better match for you than Rice, but I will defer to all of the considerations in my previous post for you to begin to evaluate holistically what schools are a best match for you. Nobody else can give you that answer.