Thanks for your reply!! It’s nice to have a decisive take on this — most of the articles I’ve read seemed pretty speculative about this topic, so I’m glad to have some evidence other than just analyses of the class profiles of medical schools. I didn’t know that there were premed organizations and fairs for med school admissions, so I’ll be sure to look into those when the time comes!
1 Like
In addition to all the great advice regarding prestige, I thought I read that you were interested in management/administration.
I’ve never met anyone in that role that was a physician, and I know quite a few from hospital CEOs to clinic managers, including my own. I know a few physicians that now have non-clinical jobs, but those have all been semi-retirement career pivots.
Now of course that excludes medical directors, chiefs of staff, etc. Those are physician roles. Everyone I’ve known doing that though, including my father and one of my best friends, did it sort of begrudgingly, and were happy when they stepped back into purely clinical roles.
Why do you see medical school as a necessary step?
2 Likes
Your plan sounds solid.
There are schools that offer significant merit for NMSF or NMF.
I would really think about ED. What if Pitt and/or PSU offer you the moon? Free ride, honors, GAP, etc? If you ED you would have to turn that down. One of S20’s classmates was offered this from Pitt. Stats the same as you. He turned down Penn to accept.
1 Like
I know this path seems a bit excessive, but I have two main reasons for this. One: I’ve talked to a few physicians who I shadowed recently, and most of them have said that healthcare managers usually are at an advantage when they are practicing physicians because they can make more informed decisions and be better able to foresee the effect of the their decisions on physicians and even to patients to some extent in the hospital/hospital system. Two: the medical field seems to be more stable than management/administration in terms of how easy it is to find and maintain a good job. I’m hoping that if I ever get to a point where I make enough money as a healthcare manager to support myself (+ maybe a family), I’ll be able to stop practicing without needing to worry about finances — but for the first few years in the healthcare management field when everything is less stable, I want to be able to financially rely on a more stable job like being a physician.
Also: my parents are letting me pursue management on the condition that I also get an MD…so there’s that.
Of course, this is all a decade or two in the future, so nothing’s set in stone. If anything changes, I’m willing to adapt along with it 
That’s what my counselor pointed out when I last visited her — and to be honest, I’m not really sure. That’s another reason why I’m not too sure about ED anywhere… so I suppose I’ll have to figure that out soon 
You can’t really do this if you’re thinking about a big job, hospital CEO as an example. The job requirements are too expansive to also practice. Being a managing partner of a clinic is certainly an option though.
2 Likes
The company we just merged with was a start-up by an MD. She was the CEO for years. She’s moving on to a more consulting role working on healthcare policy. I’ve worked with several MD entrepreneurs.
Your path seems doable IF you would actually enjoy being a doctor. Choosing a career for stability isn’t the best reason.
Also, not ED’ing is fine if you’re not certain. It will work out the way it’s supposed to.
1 Like
I agree — assuming I do follow this path, I do plan to stop practicing if I a) am able to make enough money just through management and/or b) am NOT able to juggle both management and medicine. It’s still all up in the air though, and I’ll hopefully figure more things out as I go.
Thanks — it’s reassuring to know that others have done this successfully. Becoming a physician was my original plan and only changed a few months ago when I realized that I would love to pursue leadership as a career option too, so I’m not too worried about NOT enjoying my job as a physician. I’ve shadowed almost 40 hours and even though I haven’t found a specialty that I’m dead set on pursuing, it still feels “right” for me — as in I can enjoy it as a career.
1 Like
You have plenty of time to figure it out and find your path.
The world always needs really smart people and good leaders. Especially now.
3 Likes
A doctor/specialist I know told me that the other students in his MD program came from “all over the place”. My daughter who is currently studying for a DVM (doctor but for mostly four legged patients who do not speak much) has told me the same thing.
Highly ranked universities do get a higher percentage of their graduates into medical school. However, this is likely to be mostly (or entirely?) due to the very high abilities of the students who start at these highly ranked universities in the first place. It is not clear for any one strong high school graduate whether they would be better off starting at Harvard in the middle third of the incoming freshman class or starting at a good local public university in the top third of the incoming freshman class. Personally I doubt that it matters much.
Whenever I hear “premed” the first thing that I think of is that you need to budget for a full 8 years of university. The last 4 are likely to be expensive (probably at least $100,000 per year).
If you cross out the word “physician” and replace it with “nurse”, I know a nurse manager who would agree quite strongly with this statement (she has said almost the exact same thing).
And this sort of describes the life of most successful people who I know. 
You are clearly a very strong student, are competitive for admissions to any university, and are likely to do very well wherever you end up. I would primarily recommend that you make sure that you are happy with your safeties, and that they are truly are safeties. Also, for your reaches, try to think about which ones would be the best fit for you. If you do end up at one of your reaches, you will discover that there are a LOT of other very strong students sitting next to you in class (I have a master’s degree from one of your reaches, and liked this feature at the time).
1 Like
Thanks for all your insight!! I’ll take your suggestions into consideration for this upcoming cycle and beyond
2 Likes
I think your list is solid even if reach heavy mainly because I think one of UPitt or Penn State should come through for you. Try to find 1 more likely/safety and you should be golden.
1 Like
OK - first thing that matters is budget.
So you say - None really - my family is high income and I am applying to merit scholarships.
But guess where merit scholarships come from?? - the colleges. So with a 4.0, instead of applying to Pitt (or in addition to), throw in an Arizona - where you’d get $32K off and tuition would be $8K. Or an Alabama which has the Mccullough Medical Scholars for pre-med and would be $2K or so tution. And myriad other schools from Utah to Mizzou, Nebraska to Delaware or Miami Ohio or many publics (some out by your to be out by your Pennsylvania schools.)
Consider for reaches schools that have merit - WUSTL, Vandy, W&L (Johnson), Rice, Rochester, Tulane, Brandeis, etc. etc. instead of schools that have no merit. Or other privates like Miami or Denver that are known for merit.
Best of luck.
McCollough Scholars – Pre-Medical Studies at the University of Alabama (ua.edu)
1 Like
Pitt and PSU are both terrific options that can absolutely get you where you want to go, career-wise (even if “where you want to go” changes over time, which would be very normal!). I’d be very judicious about what programs you’d be willing to pay double or more for, over these excellent public U’s, when your plan-of-record includes the cost of med school. Certainly there are private colleges and universities where merit could get you down to a similar budget to your public options, but it’s not a foregone conclusion that these will be preferable to Pitt/PSU.
With NMF status, there are full-ride and full-tuition possibilities, so that’s another route to explore. Since you aren’t ruling out the west coast (noting Stanford on your list), I’d consider USC. It has the urban vibe that you want, and they offer half-tuition merit to NMF, with a competitive process to choose some for full-tuition scholarships. And they have a variety of programs that could work well for your interests. Apart from distance, I’d consider USC-with-merit a better option than NYU (with much-less-likely merit) for what you want, with just as many patient-facing opportunities.
Also, don’t assume that you need a whole second major to cover the “premed” aspect of your undergrad education. You need to cover the premed coursework (which is likely to bring you close to a minor in bio or similar) but you don’t need a whole life-sciences degree. It’s perfectly fine to major in econ, or public policy, public health, etc. and take the required premed classes in addition, without jumping through hoops for a second major if upper-division science classes that go beyond what the MCAT tests for aren’t your passion. Lab science classes eat up a lot of time that time might be better spent on other priorities, if lab-based research isn’t your desired path.
But for urban+premed with predictably moderate cost (and maybe even merit - apply early!), Pitt looks pretty great.
2 Likes
100% “in addition to” - Pitt is terrific and merit to further lower the in-state cost is possible. The app isn’t even difficult. Not applying makes no sense to me. Apply as soon as the app opens for the best chance at merit $.
6 Likes
Yes, it’s why I said as an option - in addition to. Pitt is a great school and I know many tout it for access to healthcare related activities.
It may be the student wants to be in PA or from PA. If she’s from PA, then of course applying in-state from a cost perspective is wise.
And I note that she’s non need based it sounds like but is seeking merit scholarships. Hence I just mentioned a few more.
NYU meets full need, but it’s as they define it.
Who told you this? It’s not true.
I have often heard “the best way to not get into medical school is to go to Princeton.”
Not true, of course, but the sentiment is right. We have a friend who is at UR and doing extremely well. She’s been able to get research opportunities, participate in panels, and get develop close ties with professors from the get go.
UR is going to be the best thing that happened to her. It is not where she “wanted” to go but it’s pretty clear that she is going to stand out when it comes to applying to med school.
I never understand all the pre-med kids who want to go to JHU. They all get there and spend 4 years feeling extremely pressured to have a higher GPA than their peers. I think “stress” at JHU was mentioned in every college book I read, but it doesn’t seem to afflict any of the not pre-med kids I know.
4 Likes