I was wondering what college suggestions you have for pre meds? BU was my first choice but I just found out they have a lot of weed out classes that are very hard. However I am still applying, but I was wondering if you have any suggestions, I will be doing my own research as well!
Please list the colleges in order as: Harder to get in than BU, same level as BU, easier to get in than BU
Don’t be concerned about weed out classes. If you can’t handle those, it would be very difficult to handle actual med school. Use those classes to see how you do and to gauge actual interest. Have known many to change their mind during those classes which is good. You’s rather want to know early on than too far along in the process.
Things I am looking for
Personal things/preferences
Are you an American (citizen or permanent resident, doesn’t matter which) and do you live in the US? If so, what state are you in?
In many cases your in-state flagship is a good choice. If you are in California, something like approximately the in-state #3 through #8 schools might be good choices. If you are an American from New York then many of the SUNY’s would be good. Personally I would probably choose UMass Amherst over BU, if only because it would probably cost less (save $$ for medical school) and A’s would be easier to come by – although premed classes will still be very challenging.
Many of the better LACs are good also.
If you are not an American, you might want to save money by doing your undergrad outside the US. As an example the US and Canada share a system for accrediting medical schools, and many of the good Canadian universities are quite a bit less expensive than US schools for undergrad (but mostly NOT for medical school for international students). Details can differ depending upon what sort of offer you happen to get from each school.
In any case, if you want to get into medical school down the road assume that you will need to be in the top 1/2 of your class, and top 1/4 would be better. Personally I wouldn’t bother with any school where your high school GPA and SAT put you in the bottom 1/2 of incoming students. As such, getting accepted for undergrad should not be the biggest concern.
I will note that there is a controversy on the issue of whether to go to a highly ranked school or a very slightly easier school for premed. Some will point out that Amherst College and/or Harvard have a higher percentage of premed students who actually end up being accepted to medical school. Others will point out that anyone who can get accepted at Harvard could also assuming that they work hard be near the top of their class at UMass Amherst and would also get into medical school that way. There seems to be agreement that any university will be challenging for a premed student who wants to get grades and MCAT scores sufficient to get in to any medical school.