<p>lol, yea I heard College Station kinda sucks. @Xcellerator, I want to actually volunteer a lot. Maybe not first year, when I’m getting used to the studying, college life, build a stronger work ethic…basically learning the ropes.</p>
<p>But, after that I want to do a lot of shadowing, watching surgery, etc., etc. It seems really interesting to me and it would suck to have to wait a year or more just to do even that.</p>
<p>And yes, I am also worried about the new GPA scale with +/-. It seems even harder to get A’s now with profs being able to designate A-'s in borderline situations. Like, now you need 93 or higher for an A! eek!</p>
<p>After intro level classes, is making A’s at all of these uni’s relatively the same…in difficulty/competition? And would the competition at UT be the same (or more or less) as at a school like Rice/Emory/Michigan?</p>
<p>pierrechn - The overall cost for attending UT is a little be more than A&M. My total cost for A&M was/is around 16k where it’ll probably be near 20k for UT (because it’s Austin). Money is not an issue for me since my parents are paying for everything. (:</p>
<p>ViggyRam- There are lots of other volunteering opportunities, just not clinical/hospital volunteering. You will probably need to get a head start on building your resume/work ethic by volunteering your first year. But as long as you’re volunteering for something for at least 2 years, there will be no problem as Med Adcoms will see that you’re committed.</p>
<p>Yep. But I have heard from several on here and from my friends that professors haven’t really changed their grading style yet (A is still a 90 for some). </p>
<p>I would think the difficulty would be higher at Emory/Rice because of a stronger student body. The student bodies over there generally have high SAT scores, are well rounded in EC’s, and are in the top of their respective classes. Whereas at UT, the student body is not as strong (as a whole and being a public school) as a more competitive top private school like Rice/Emory. It’s probably on the same difficulty at Michigan, though</p>
<p>Ic. I wish there was some way to know ‘how much more difficult’ it is at Emory/Rice compared to UT. You know what I mean? If it isn’t a big difference or relatively small, then the Rice degree/name on your resume may help one out when trying to go to a great med school. </p>
<p>If you only have to put in a little more effort, its almost worth to take a slight (.1 or <.1) hit in the GPA to get the Rice/Emory degree. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>pierrechn - Not really. None of them went to college, so that means I’m a first generation student. Dad’s an engineer while mom’s a secretary.</p>
<p>ViggyRam - It’ll probably be more than a slight .1 hit on your GPA. I have a good friend attending Emory and he currently has a 3.75 GPA. Chose Emory over UT and A&M because of the prestige.</p>
<p>pierrechn - I don’t really know. My parents immigrated here like 30 years ago. Got their citizenship and everything. They only completed high school in their home country. Took no college whatsoever. My dad’s been an engineer for around 25 years (works in oil/mechanical industry).</p>
<p>@Xcellerator well your dad must have been pretty smart to begin with, back in those days you had more opportunities than just college… but Good for them</p>
<p>@Xcellerator, so you would choose Emory/Rice over UT/TAMU in a heartbeat? And is that only because of the prestige? Would you not be scared/worried about the GPA hit at those schools? </p>
<p>I realize that the student body is ‘smarter’ at Emory/Rice, BUT at those schools they don’t really have formal ‘weed-out’ classes to the degree at UT (at least I believe they don’t) and don’t they give out more A’s (no cap on how many As can be given out), while at UT and other flagship state schools they kinda cap how many As they give out.</p>
<p>This isn’t a choice of prestige or anything. It’s just a choice of what makes the most sens logically, just in case anyone thought I was looking at prestige or things like that. In general though, I think we can concur that private schools give out more As than state funded schools.</p>
<p>So, would the competition at these schools be ‘canceled out’ by the amount of As given out (its not a ridiculous amount of As, but definitely more than at a state school)? Does this theory make sense or what flaws does it have?</p>
<p>And is a 3.7 at Emory/Rice good enough for a med school like Baylor/UT-Southwestern? Or would you need even higher to be quite competitive/have a realistic shot at getting in?</p>
<p>There’s definitely more than just GPA and your MCAT score when it comes to med schools. You should focus equally on your GPA, MCAT, and extracurricular activities.</p>
<p>No I would not. The competition at Rice/Emory is much more competitive than at A&M/UT. In addition, professors make very hard tests/curve down just to fail/weed out a lot of students. Thus, one’s GPA would suffer greatly. I personally would not take a chance at those top 20 schools. I like state schools, because they’re just right. They’re a mix of bad and good kids with most of the bad kids weeded out after year 2. I’d rather be at the top of a state school rather than the bottom of a top 20 school. </p>
<p>That is because their classes are a little smaller due to being a very selective private school. I don’t believe UT/A&M caps how many A’s given out. I know at A&M profs curve up so the average is passing (70). </p>
<p>Where did you get that idea? They give just as many A’s as any other schools…</p>
<p>A 3.7 GPA at Rice/Emory would be competitive for Baylor/UT Southwestern since their average accepted GPA is about 3.80. They would take into account that you went to a more competitive school.</p>
<p>sprintuser - Some medical schools screen out applicants if you do not have a particular GPA and MCAT in their range that they’re looking for. EC’s are definitely a big factor nonetheless. Your interview is weighted heavily on your GPA/MCAT and then a little bit on your EC’s to make sure you’re well rounded. And your interview is ultimately what gets you in. :)</p>
<p>So, does UT have lots and lots of research and volunteer opportunities and hospitals around it? </p>
<p>^and at Xcellerator, I read on other forums that the amount of As at like Harvard and such is the reason for the high avg. GPA. “the grade inflation”, so to speak. No such grade inflation would occur at a state school. That’s why I thought that perhaps the two factors (competition and grade inflation/As) would cancel each other out.</p>
<p>Well that’s Harvard (and maybe some other Ivies). No one really knows if it’s inflation or just that everyone does well, because they’re really bright. Yeah, there is definitely no inflation in most state schools. Just try to do your best wherever you go. Remember that GPA and MCAT score are the most important factors for medical school with EC’s/Volunteering/Research after.</p>
<p>yea, I’m really confused about what to do. But for now, I want to do well on the SAT and subject tests, then write solid essays over the summer and let things play out. </p>
<p>Xcellerator, would you know what percent of non-top 10% in-state applicants get into UT and TAMU? I have established tex. residency, but since i do not go to a texas high school, I will be considered an in-state, non top 10% applicant. So, what percent of these types of app;icants get into TAMU and UT?</p>
<p>And if TAMU sucks for ECs/volunteer in medical facilities/locations, what other schools in Texas would you suggest? I am genuinely interest in health care and would love to observe surgery/shadow and do other stuff. Waiting a long time to do this would suck and be detrimental in a sense.</p>
<p>they only reason TAMU sucks for ECs is because its not in a major city like UT, i think any school thats in a large city will offer good volunteer opportunities, like SMU which is in Dallas</p>
<p>and i have heard that Harvard has grade inflation but then again its like 40k a year so they have to keep their name up , </p>
<p>and about 50% of TAMU students are top 10, and the other 50% are review admits/ auto admit(certain sat and rank) why at UT like 75% are top 10 and everyone else are review admits</p>