<p>How do you characterize a history major who applies to med school? Certainly that’s someone who does not show up in the statistics of being pre-med. So these 1200 students start and only 120 students make it type of statistics don’t really help a kid understand the dynamic at that school IMHO. </p>
<p>I also find that even talented and worldly kids don’t understand what a research scientist or someone working in an academic medical setting actually does all day. That’s why I’m suspicious of the HS kids I know who “are dying to become an MD/PhD” according to the beaming and doting parent- but the kid hates math. The truth is that a person can become a competent and caring pediatrician even if he or she hates math (as long as he or she is good enough at math to do well in Organic chem and the like). But I would love to see the stats on someone who can make it through an MD/PhD program while hating math. My bet is that it’s exactly zero. So much of research involves manipulating large datasets; the idea that someone is going to do cutting edge lab work without at least being able to tolerate the math strikes me as crazy.</p>
<p>So IMHO, most of the kids in HS who claim they’re pre-med and most of the parents who are so proud of the pre-meds really don’t have a granular understanding of the path to becoming a physician. Hence- the drop out/burn out/switch out rate.</p>
<p>And the idea that Brown is an uber competitive environment is just crazy. And some of the kids in PLME are the most chill humanists one could ever meet!!!</p>