<p>How good are these universities compared to say Harvard or Stanford in terms of biology and the preparedness of students going into med schools? Also, are these unis easier to get into, perhaps, as a transfer, than Harvard or Stanford???</p>
<p>Are there any MIT/ Caltech transfers who would like to share their experiences? Also, I haven't taken any physics yet..will that be a determining factor? I plan to major in Bio/ Hum. Bio/ or Biochem.
Thanks</p>
<p>You will absolutely get a great bio preparation at MIT or Caltech; they are among the top programs in the country. Do realize, though, that while the bio program is excellent and has many premeds, it doesn't really cater to premeds. You're graded as hard as everyone else, you have to complete the same GIRs as everyone else, and the focus is more molecular/cellular/biochem than human bio.</p>
<p>I don't know about Caltech, but getting into MIT as a transfer is very, very difficult, though I know someone who did it. I believe it is somewhat more selective than getting in as a frosh.</p>
<p>MIT's and Caltech's biology programs are scientifically at the same caliber as Harvard's and Stanford's programs. (I say this as a former MIT undergrad who is now a PhD student in biology at Harvard.) All four schools are full of outstanding faculty members, and students at all four schools receive a rigorous education in biology.</p>
<p>MIT and Caltech alums are extremely well-prepared for medical school. Unfortunately, in some cases, they are over-prepared -- friends of mine who are now medical students reported being bored to death in their first year classes. There's not a great deal of memorization in an MIT biology education -- tests are problem-based and often involve applying techniques and knowledge to a novel situation, and they're often open-book. Medical school, at least in the first year, involves a lot of memorization and spitting back information.</p>
<p>MIT is very difficult to enter as a transfer. For most of the last several years, the number of transfers admitted has been in the single digits. (Transfer statistics are here</a>.) To my knowledge, there are not any MIT students on this board who transferred in.</p>
<p>Caltech is similarly hard to get into as a transfer -- the number of transfers each year is in the small single digits -- but it's possible if you are obviously right for the place and are clearly committed to math and science.</p>
<p>MIT and Caltech will, on average, be worse for your GPA than Ivy League schools, and that can be a handicap in med school admissoins. </p>
<p>Given the number of obstacles, it may be a good idea to consider what mainly is attracting you to these schools and whether you could find an even better program for you elsehwere.</p>