<p>I know that ranking the strength of schools' pre-med programs can be a controversial, complex topic and that "best" is very broad, but which one or few of these schools on my application list would be ideal for a pre-med? Obviously I'll have to work hard to make the grades and get accepted to med school anywhere I go, but I'd like to do more than just study in college. Some important factors for me are overall quality of life, class sizes, quality of professors, grade inflation/deflation, premed counseling. Thanks.
Stanford
USC
UC-Irvine, Los Angeles
Rice
Vanderbilt
Miami
UNC
Duke</p>
<p>All of them have ample pre-med opportunities and programs. Go where you get in, where you can afford, and where you are happy.</p>
<p>Stanford, Duke, Rice, Vandy…In that order…</p>
<p>^ agree with that, but any will do. you can take the prereqs at any of those schools, so you’ll be fine no matter what</p>
<p>I actually find Stanford to be not the best place. Their advising is notoriously terrible and their results are fine but probably below where they should be given the caliber of Stanford students.</p>
<p>When I was in high school, USN proclaimed Stanford to be the most selective college in the country. It should accordingly have the best admissions results, but it most certainly doesn’t. (Its results are still very good, though.)</p>
<p>I am also thinking that the best school for premeds is the one which has the best advising. Some schools are very well staffed and allocate significant resources to their “premed offices” (if they have them).From the ones in your list, I am only familiar with Duke and Miami.</p>
<p>Advising, as a rule, is terrible. Find a academic physician to mentor you on that kind of stuff, preferably a young one (even a resident). I would personally only use advising for clerical problems like scheduling and LOR submission. Everything else is more or less research on their parts topped with speculation. At least a physician has the perspective of having gone through it.</p>
<p>With Stanford, Rice and Duke you are starting with a very deep gene pool, so the success rates should be high. I would give Rice a slight edge over Duke based on substantial personal experience with both.</p>
<p>Duke in my era had an absolutely scintillating advisor (who has since retired, and as I understand it her replacements are adequate but not by any stretch replacements). A really great advisor, however, is a major, major asset.</p>
<p>Rice is slightly cheaper than the others (not by much), and will give you more personalized attention (Rice only has what, 700 undergrads for each entering class).</p>
<p>Pre-med advising at D’s state college is very good, no complaints.</p>
<p>Don’t pile up massive undergrad debt. Med school can be VERY expensive. They will all prepare you for med school admission. Find the one that is the best fit academically AND socially…your fit and happiness will go a long way to academic success.</p>
<p>If you are OOS, admission to UNC will be as tough or tougher than at any of the privates on your list with the exception of Stanford and even then it is still a crap shoot so don’t think of it as a “safety.”</p>
<p>While The U is clearly the safety of that list, if you have the stats for Stanford, you’ll receive an automatic merit discount at Miami. You would also likely be competitive for their full rides and 8-year med program. While the others offer more prestige, free is free and a guarantee into med school is worth something, i.e., less studying during undergrad?</p>
<p>“guarantee into med school is worth something, i.e., less studying during undergrad”</p>
<p>bs/md is a definite plus. Did you mean though that there is “less studying during undergrad” in specific bs/md at Miami? It can be the case, I am not familiar with this program. However, there is no “less studying during undergrad” in other bs/md programs.</p>