<p>I know WM has a great med school acceptance rate, but do grads often get accepted to "top" medical schools, even ones outside of VA?</p>
<p>W&M students get into top schools in every discipline.</p>
<p>That said, you should remember that each time you “move up” that a bunch of students get screened out. If you go to a top undergraduate school, you are in the top couple percent (or higher) of the population. Then the top graduate schools take the top percent of the top percent.</p>
<p>W&M can give you the materials you need to be successful, but it is up to the students to prioritize what they want and work to achieve their goals.</p>
<p>I’ve wondered about this myself, after seeing the great-med-school-acceptance-rate bit quoted again and again. Of course, it all depends on what you mean by “top” and “elite.” Medical school “rankings” are sort of specialized, and don’t always match the reputations or so-called prestige of their undergrad institutions. Dartmouth’s medical school ranks #32 on USNews’s list of “Research” schools (which appears to be what they’re using as their general, non-specialized list) while Baylor’s medical school ranks #22. (I don’t like relying on the USNews rankings any more than the next person, but do so for the sake of simplicity.) Other “top” medical schools aren’t even associated with undergrad institutions (#5 UCSF and #23 Mayo, for example). Besides, the most important thing might be where you match for a specialty, though I suppose where you go for medical school plays into that. </p>
<p>As for personal, anecdotal evidence, my former freshman hall counts five MDs among us. Three to Vanderbilt (#15), one to UVA (#22), and one who was just as accomplished of a student but in his junior year signed a special agreement to attend Eastern Virginia Medical School (#58) for free in return for working in his hometown hospital for a few years. For what it’s worth, none of these guys were Monroe Scholars.</p>
<p>Also providing a snapshot of W&M science grad placements is biology professor Margaret Saha’s research lab website ([LAB</a> ALUMNI - WELCOME TO THE SAHA LAB !](<a href=“http://wmpeople.wm.edu/site/page/mssaha/labalumni]LAB”>http://wmpeople.wm.edu/site/page/mssaha/labalumni)). Lots of undergrads do research with her, and many of them publish as undergrads. The lab alumni tend to go on to good graduate programs for PhDs as well as MDs. Over the past 15 years, lab alumni have entered MD or MD/PhD programs at: Wash U (#4), Case Western (#22), Duke (#5), UVA (#22), Vanderbilt (#15), Cornell (#17), Hopkins (#3), and Stanford (#5), among many others. And for what it’s worth, none of the guys on my freshman hall were members of Saha’s lab, so it’s not like she has the monopoly on elite medical school acceptances.</p>
<p>W&M grads go to a wide variety of medical schools based on their interests, state residency, etc. Certainly W&M students enter top-tier medical schools as well as other top-tier graduate programs. Our pre-med advisor will help students decide where to apply based on undergraduate work and MCAT scores and she will advise the top students to apply to top grad schools. Any student with questions or concers about pre-med advising should contact Dr. Sher (<a href=“mailto:btsher@wm.edu”>btsher@wm.edu</a>) as she is a great resource and can let you know exactly where W&M pre-meds wind up</p>
<p>Good to hear that the grads going in from the pre-med program were not all Monroe Scholars. My son did ED to W&M because he decided it was the best school for him and he wanted more then anything the Monroe to continue working in research. He worked last summer in a lab doing cancer research, has worked his senior year every week with a neurosurgeon, and has been offered two positions to work in a lab this summer at another University & Hospital. He did not get the Monroe, lots of kids that were RD from his school did and it has really taken the wind out of his and ours sails concerning W&M. He knows he can apply next year but he going to class with kids that have no intention on attending W&M, it was their safety school, plus they have no interest in research. Hoping it makes him more determined but right now he has gone in the opposite direction.</p>
<p>duke55, I wouldn’t worry about your son not being a Monroe scholar. For what it’s worth, despite being a Monroe scholar I ended up never using my Monroe funds because I found other, higher-paying sources of research funding the past two summers. There are plenty of other sources of research funding, especially for scientific work with faculty members. </p>
<p>In the humanities, it can be more difficult to get funding so being a Monroe scholar is more important.</p>
<p>Malvenuto, that’s an interesting point - in the case of “hard science” majors, the Monroe research dollars could actually be a hindrance, rather than a benefit. The years DD had Monroe money to use, she wound up doing less interesting, and more “contrived”, research than the summer research positions she took in non-Monroe years. Basically, a science major coming up with humanities projects made for pleasant diversions for her, but did little to further her graduate school resume.</p>
<p>One of her non-Monroe research projects working with one of her professors, which ran over the summer and the school year, yielded a publication and a speaking opportunity at a seminar.</p>
<p>Now, I think the “pleasant diversion” that her projects provided weren’t value-less – she enjoyed doing them and I’m sure it was a nice break - but when she filled out her AMCAS, I don’t think either of them got a mention. </p>
<p>But as you say, funding for humanities research is far harder to come by than for chem/bio/physics, so Monroe research dollars would probably be more useful. </p>
<p>As a data point - the W&M grad who got all the amazing interviews and offers of admission to Stanford, JHU, UMich, Penn, WUSTL, Harvard, etc? Wasn’t a science major at all, and wasn’t a Monroe scholar. (for privacy, I won’t say any more about that student.)</p>
<p>One of the things that I took away from the information session was that gaining experience in the medical field prior to medical school, such as shadowing a doctor for a few months, is extremely important for medical school admission.To be honest, my one concern with William and Mary is that due to the college’s location, the opportunities to do work at a hospital will not be as available as a school in a larger city. I suppose my question is whether anyone can give me a general idea of how students go about gaining clinical experience at William and Mary. What hospitals are students most likely to volunteer at? What time of the year? Are these hospitals near by, or do they require a bit of travel time?</p>
<p>There’s not much within walking distance of campus, but if you have a car there are plenty of opportunities in the area. I know a lot of students volunteer places like the Lackey Free Clinic, or at the Sentara hospital through the ER Scribe program (<a href=“http://wmpeople.wm.edu/asset/index/btsher/thesentarawilliamsburgscribeprogram[/url]”>http://wmpeople.wm.edu/asset/index/btsher/thesentarawilliamsburgscribeprogram</a>). Of course, there is also the summer.</p>
<p>Yes, we do have a great working relationship with the local Sentara hospital where students can volunteer, shadow, and work in the Scribe program which is something a bit more unique. Students can also shadow local physicians and clinicians through a wide variety of channels. There are plenty of opportunities both on campus for pre-med students (research, academics, mentoring) and off (shadowing, working at the hospital, summer research), etc.</p>
<p>im hoping by now u have already chosen WM but for reference WM has great relations with eastern virginia medical school. Im a rising senior at the college and i shadow a resident there every few weeks and he has introduced me to many people in that medical school. basically u get out what you put in.</p>