<p>I'm planning on going to medical school after college. I have five undergraduate schools to choose from. Which one(s) do you think would give me the best pre-med education and advising? Which one(s) would be the least challenging to maintain a high GPA? Which one(s) would be most desirable to a medical school if I got comprable grades at each one?</p>
<p>University of Vermont (Accepted as a Microbiology major)
Fordham University (NY) (Accepted as Pre-Med/Bio Sciences)
University of Connecticut
Dalhousie University (Halifax, Canada) (Accepted as B.S.)
Northeastern University (MA)
University of Rhode Island (Microbiology)</p>
<p>One concern is that Fordham (especially) and Northeastern have limited biological research opportunities. I'm considering an MD-Phd program.</p>
<p>I'd really like to go to a prestigious medical school medical school like:</p>
<p>McGill
Columbia
Tufts
Northwestern
UC Santa Barbara
Brown</p>
<p>UCSB doesn’t have a medical school. And the ones you listed, while excellent, are kind of an odd sample. Brown and Tufts, for example, are fine programs but not usually at the top of prestige lists.</p>
<p>It’s a little too soon to be thinking about where you want to go to medical school.</p>
<p>As for the others on that list, pick the best fit for you. They’re all fine schools (though I’m not familiar with Dalhousie), though I’d go to UConn over URI or UVM.</p>
<p>They’re all fine schools (though I’m not familiar with Dalhousie), though I’d go to UConn over URI or UVM.</p>
<p>You don’t think there’s any advantage to going to a private liberal arts school like Northeastern or Fordham? They seem to have the highest medical school acceptance rates.</p>
Medical school acceptance rates are almost meaningless, definitely don’t use them to decide where you’d like to go to school. There have been a few discussions on that in some recent threads over just the past few days.</p>
<p>Anyway, I wasn’t saying go to UConn over all of them, just UConn over URI or UVM. Fordham and NE are also great, it really depends on what kind of environment or atmosphere you’d like. Fordham and NE are both located in cities; UConn is in the middle of nowhere (but is a drive away from Boston), and has its own pros.</p>
<p>Please, for the love of all that is holy, don’t base your decision on which you think med schools will want more. </p>
<p>Your basic thought is that you can get a nearly identical gpa at each place…well, that’s probably highly unlikely. Go to the place where you are going to be the happiest, because that’s likely to be the place where you’re most successful - and not just academically, but also socially, physically, and emotionally. And then, even if you change your mind about becoming a doctor (I’m not saying you will, but it’s exceedingly common for freshmen pre-meds to change their minds) you’re at a school you love, rather than some place you don’t like as much but went to because you thought it was going to help you with your now non-existent goal of becoming a physician…</p>
<p>Any feelings on which school would be the best to go pre-med at? I know happiness and social life is important but I believe that a school’s biology department (where the pre-med would be spending most of his/her time) is also important. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Listen to what I’m saying: It’s a bad idea to base your college choice on med school admissions speculation. If you insist on finding the place that’s going to be “best to go pre-med at” (which I would define as the place where you are most likely to accomplish everything you need in order to get accepted) this is going to be a highly personalized decision. It can’t be based on reputation. Some students thrive at an Ivy League school because the competition is intense and that motivates them, others need environments where things are more laid back and friendly. Put the Ivy Leaguer in the laid back atmosphere and they’ll accomplish nothing. Put the “big fish in a small pond” kid in the Ivies and they’ll freak out. Neither of these outcomes is going to be good for the student in question.</p>
<p>Why would the biology department REALLY matter? You really only need to take 2 biology courses to satisfy most med school’s requirements, and while I would suggest adding genetics and biochem, that’s only 2 more classes (and biochem may be it’s own department at a lot of places). Further, the biology on the MCAT is rather straightforward. Do you really think adcoms are going to look at your application say “wow, s/he did biology at X university, we have to take them!”? If you are, you don’t understand the holistic approach to med school admissions and are forgetting that there are a TON of biology majors applying to med school each year - you’re not going to stand out simply on reputation of the school’s biology. How are you even going to define a good biology program - what if the department is world renowned in botany, but is only mediocre in terms of cell biology? Or what about the department which is on the cutting edge of genetic research but has to rely on grad students to teach biodiversity? Obviously a school that’s strong in all areas is ideal, but how are you going to figure that out as an outsider? And I’m still dying to hear a good reason on why this even matters?</p>
<p>I guess I was hoping that this wouldn’t come across as the basis for my whole decision for attending one of those schools. Anyway, I believe that quality of academics (in this case, those specific to bio/chem/phys/math) is an important factor in deciding where to go to college. From what you’ve told me so far, preparation for medical school seems to be very challenging; I expected that. These schools must have different ways (some hopefully better than others) to prepare prospective students for medical school. I’m only looking for comments and/or reviews of the specific programmes of these schools. Bio/chem/phys/calc whatever, is there a school that particularly stands out?</p>
<p>How would you decide between these schools if you were in my postion? (Disregarding cost/location/social and focusing on academia and preparation)</p>
<p>Talk to people that go there, find out what the surroundings are like. Questions that would be more pertinent to ask in making your decision: Movie theaters, restaurants, bars nearby? How does the administration treat the students? Is it easy or difficult to get into classes you want to get into? Are there honors classes you can take? How is the housing situation? Is it easy to find a place to study? Is athletics big at the school? How are the gym and recreational facilities? Intramural sports and activities? Is there a prominent club or organization you’re interested in? Is it easy to find research opportunities? How about volunteering opportunities? What is it like on weekends? Is the internet connection in the dorms reliable? What is the Wi-Fi coverage across campus like? Is there a program through which I can take classes at other nearby schools? Is safety an issue around campus?</p>
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Again:
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<p>Replace “biology” with whatever other program or course you could be thinking of:
<p>First off, the goal of choosing an undergrad institution should be which one is going to get you accepted…when more than 50% of applicants get rejected from every single medical school they apply to, whether or not you’re prepared for med school is beside the point. Besides, it’s really rare to fail out of medical school - most places require you fail the same year twice or fail USMLE Step 1 three times before they’ll kick you out.</p>
<p>How would I decide which school to go to?</p>
<p>I’d simply ask myself which one am I most excited about, which one feels “right”? It’s not just about academics, it’s not just about social scene, it’s not just about finances or location. It’s about the entire picture of where I’m going to be in the best frame of mind to do well.</p>
<p>Yes, getting accepted to medical school is a challenge. but if you’re counting on the school to do the leg work for you, or to give you some sort of innate advantage, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. All a school can do for you is present opportunities. It’s going to be up to you to actually make the most of these and then perform well. Nothing is going to be handed to you. It’s still going to be up to you to apply or make the phone calls or do the studying or lead the group or impress your PI.</p>
<p>The stuff that’s beyond the classroom is vitally important to getting accepted to medical school, a poor GPA or horrible MCAT score do the most damage to your application. If your in a situation where your GPA is bad, that might cause you to cut back on your EC’s, then your application becomes even weaker. It’s a downward spiral. Alternatively if your GPA is great but it requires you to study a ridiculous number of hours to get those grades, you’re still hurting your overall application and thus are beyond the 8-ball. Or what if you’re just not that competitive of person and so you can’t ever get into the organizations or garner leadership positions to build your resume against your classmates who have started clinics in the 3rd World, or won the Miss America Pageant or published a novel or some other amazing accomplishment? Again, it’s a holistic process and your application is weaker than it could be because you can’t compete.</p>
<p>The bottom line, getting into medical school is the biggest hurdle of becoming a doctor. The admission decision is not based purely on who is the smartest, has the best GPA or highest MCAT score. Nor is it about just having an amazing list of EC’s or making your interviewer think you’re the most fascinating person they’ve ever met…it’s about having the total package. You can be slightly below average in one of these things, but you’ve got to make up for it elsewhere. If one thing is missing completely…youre SOL. Because of all the demands that are made on pre-meds, you have to find a school that is going to fit you and allow you to meet those demands. Focusing too narrowly on one part of the puzzle, either in your own performance or (as you are doing right now) in what a school can help you with, is a surefire way to have an unbalanced application. Knowing yourself and how you perform best is the key to picking a great school.</p>