I’ve always wanted to become a doctor and loved science so I figured to major in my favorite subject, Biology. The school I’m most likely going to be attending fall of 2020 is UVa.
Major: Biology
Minor: Chemistry
Do you think this is a good choice of courses with me wanting to be a doctor? Also I want to attend Medical School at one of the Ivies, particularly UPenn or Princeton.
Thanks for your advice
Yes, Biology is a great major for pre-med…many many people do that (but know you can major in whatever you want as long as you take the pre-med required courses).
Princeton doesn’t have a medical school.
Princeton did get offered a med school in Philly but turned it down… it is now Drexel med school.
OP - why med school at one of the Ivies?
On the one hand biology is a great major for pre-med as one tends to satisfy major reqs and most premed reqs at same time. It also helps that it’s your favorite subject as if you’re interested in material you’ll tend to better GPA wise which is something med schools care a great deal about in part. On the other hand as most premed hopefuls change their minds for any number of reasons, and of those who actually apply, 60% will not get even one med school acceptance, you need to think about what you plan to do with your bio degree if career plans change. (eg graduate school).
@Jugulator20 I was thinking if I didn’t get into med school I could get a PhD in Psychology and go from there
@Andorvw Many people give me flack for wanting to go to an Ivy medical school, but I feel that I can gain more research opportunities there and the only med school I would stay in state for is UVa, but I kinda don’t want to do that. So if I’m spending upwards of $55,000 for med school I’m going to try and get the best education possible.
@bopper I was also thinking maybe switching them cause I like Chemistry more, but that organic chemistry is a deal breaker. I’ll have to think more into that!
You may be surprised to learn the med schools with highest amount research funding/research availability aren’t necessarily the Ivies.
US News Research top 20 are: Harvard, JHU, NYU, Stanford, UCSF, Mayo, Penn, UCLA, WashU, Duke, Columbia, Washington State, Yale, Pitt, Michigan, Baylor, Vanderbilt, Mt. Sinai, Chicago, and Northwestern.
Only 4 of the top 20 are Ivies.
Do you know that except for a limited number of specialties research during med school isn’t expected or required?
The NRMP surveys residency program directors annually about what factors they consider and how they weight those factors–
[Results of the 2018 NRMP Program Director Survey](https://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/NRMP-2018-Program-Director-Survey-for-WWW.pdf)
Research doesn’t even make the top 10 items-- even for the most competitive specialties.
Your standardized exam scores (USMLEs), Letters of recommendations, MSPE (Dean’s Letter) and grades are much more important for residency matching.
Organic chem is an admissions requirement for every med school in the country, regardless of the pre-med's major--if it's a dealbreaker, then maybe you need to rethink your career pans.Organic chemistry is also required for biology majors and pre-meds, but some colleges allow them to take a less difficult version than what chemistry majors have to take (this does not mean that it will be easy, and a pre-med-loaded course will have heavy competition for scarce A grades that pre-meds need).
I’m curious how you know…for sure…that you will be starting at UVA for undergrad in fall 2020.
If you won’t be starting medical school until 2024 at the earliest…you should be thinking about medical school costs for those private Med schools at about $100,000 a year. Remember, you have to pay the tuition AND the living costs, and costs for books, and tests tests tests and the aren’t a bargain.
Ochem is a deal breaker for Med school admissions. It is required. Period. And it’s Ochem with lab.
I think you need to start your medical school research again…since you thought Princeton had a Med school.
Also, remember that 75% or more of premed freshman never apply to medical school. And of those who do…a VERY high %age don’t get accepted…at all.
First of all, it really does not matter if you attend an Ivy med school or not. ALL top tier med schools are VERY very good and unless you have sterling records and background, your chances getting in is very slim.
Second, you do not have to attend a research oriented Ivy med school such as Harvard unless you are into academic medicine. If you do well (top 15%) in any medical school and have a high USMLE score (around 250) you can matched into most of the competitive specialties.
Thirdly, if you not good at orgo, you won’t be good enough for top tier schools, not even for any med schools. As WOWM said, you’d better think of another career.
You don’t have to be outstanding at organic chemistry. But you do need to get a B…or an A in it to be even a little on the running for top medical schools.
Free advice…do NOT take Ochem in the summer as a truncated course. It’s way harder to learn all that material in a short time.
You say you have always wanted to be a doctor? Why?
So…how did you do on that June SAT?
Also, in your chances post, you mention that you have a bd habit of oversleeping and missing classes. You might want to correct that issue before you head off to undergrad school in two years.
You have to take Organic Chemistry if you want to go to Medical school…no matter what major you do
@WayOutWestMom It’s not that I’m horrible at I just don’t like it, in my chemistry classes I do very well in it and thanks for that insight on the top 20 med school!
@thumper1 I’ve always wanted to become a doctor because I’ve had many surgeries and the doctor I had perform my surgeries was a great person and always loved when he seen me. Not to mention my love for applied biology and chemistry
@thumper1 I ended up rescheduling to next month, so I could get in a boot camp because I was only getting 1380-1410 on practice SAT that mimicked conditions. Shooting for 1450+
@thumper1 I have no idea if I will get in or not but I’m an instate student and that’s the college I want to go to the most as of now
@thumper1 I have no idea if I will get in or not but I’m an instate student and that’s the college I want to go to the most as of now