<p>I was just wondering if Cornell had those "weed-out" courses for pre-med students where they make the course difficult in order to weed out pre-med students so that the cream of the crop is left. My chem teacher tells me about her former students that have faced this and how it's different for every school. For example, for WashU, their general chem course is the weed out course and orgo chem and the higher chem courses are easier than the general chem. I guess the same things might apply to bio or physics, depending on which course is the course that is extra difficult. Thanks guys.</p>
<p>Weeding out is actually a good thing. It lets you know very early on (freshman or sophomore year) if you aren't qualified to be a doctor. Better to learn then than wait till applications.</p>
<p>Well, since there are so many pre-meds at Cornell, around 1000 begin with that in mind based off of general chem and bio 101 enrollments. So I think general chem, bio, orgo, and maybe even up to biochem and genetics are all "weed-out" classes in the sense that they make the material challenging enough so that only people who are motivated and smart enough can actually do well and should be pursuing a career in medicine.</p>
<p>Enrollment in gen chem: approx. 1000 (almost all of which are premed)</p>
<h1>of first-time applicants last year to med school: 232</h1>