My son was admitted to Emory ( Oxford) and to University of KY Honors with full scholarship.
Please share your thoughts an what should we do to get best chance to get into a med school .UK is a research university with undergrad research opportunities readily available to honors students. Money is not a factor.
Thank you!
Depends a lot on your son’s temperament / maturity / drive.
Oxford/Emory will be 2 years of smaller environment before bigger university- would those 2 years of a smaller environment be a good transition to being more in charge of himself / growing up a bit? Emory itself is very competitive, especially on the pre-professional tracks. Does that play to his strengths or not?
At UK there would be the same shake-out pre-med classes, but (assuming that he is a strong candidate to be pre-med in the first place), he is more likely to stand out from the crowd once he clears them. Is he strong enough in his goals to put himself forward for the (genuinely great) research (and practical) opportunities at KY?
Btw, be prepared for him to change focus- even at Harvard, up to 2/3 of the people who come in planning to go to med school change their minds. Also, remember that being a ‘pre-med’ major is not the only- or even the main- route to med school: only about 1/2 of the students accepted to med school in 2013 majored in pre-med or any of the biological sciences. The requirements for admission to med school are very straightforward:
• two semesters each of biology (can be four semesters at some med schools), physics, inorganic chemistry and organic chemistry (all with labs);
• two semesters of math, at least one in calculus
• two semesters of English and/or writing
Essentially, English, Bio + Math in Year 1; Chemistry + Physics in Year 2; Organic Chemistry in Year 3 (though I know a lot of students who take organic- the famous pre-med killer course- on it’s own as a summer course). As you can see, there is a lot of room for other options in there.
Finally, money may not be a deciding factor, but does that include paying for med school, and some extra support during a poorly-paid internship?
Hope that helps…
Thank you for your reply. My son is very strong academically, but he could use some growing up /maturation time as he is almost a year younger than most of his classmates. I am just worried, that as much as it is tempting to have him near by at a state school, that I would limit his potential to get into a medical school later on by keeping him at UKY.
Also, I am not sure how good the pre med track is at UKY or how good advising is, even through Honors College…
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Medical schools in general don’t really care where you went to undergrad. They care about your MCAT scores and grades (and some about research/shadowing/volunteering). Him going to UK won’t damage his medical school prospects. Also, pre-med is pretty similar everywhere - the courses are the same. The big differences are going to be the size of the pre-med classes and the professors teaching the material; his classes at UK are going to be a lot bigger than the ones at Oxford at least initially.
Honestly, I think he can pick either one and be a good prospect for pre-med - but ask yourself what is he likely to do if he choose not to be pre-med? Many, many students start college pre-med and then drop out of the pipeline somewhere along the way. Sometimes it’s because they couldn’t handle the courses, but often it’s because they found something better to do or more interesting to them. Which one would your son rather attend regardless of his major? Does he want the experience of a very small liberal arts college in a suburban-ish area for 2 years before transferring to a medium-sized private, or does he want the experience of a large public university and all that entails?
“best chance for med school”
Schools don’t give a person the “best chance for med school.” That is totally up to the student. The school doesn’t do it. Schools don’t place kids into med schools. Schools don’t prepare for the MCAT or for med school.
Go to the school that he likes the best and will not cost too much.
Is your child a NMF?
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Also, I am not sure how good the pre med track is at UKY
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Premed courses are REGULAR courses that the other STEM students are taking. Regular Bio, chem, ochem, physics. There is nothing special about these classes. If a school like UKY can’t have good bio chem ochem and physics classes then it would have lost its accreditation decades ago. Those classes are a staple…any good established school easily offers these classes.
UKy has specific pre-med advisors (separate from departmental advisors. My DD and I met with one a couple of weeks ago. Seemed highly competent. UKy has a special “fast start” program in the summer for STEM focused students so you hit the road running in calculus, Bio, and Chem. Very low cost program. Supposedly some of the core science courses are offered as Honors sections. We could not find the Gen Chem 1 honors section but did find Gen Chem 2 Honors. If you apply to STEMCATS program, they are required to do research (and they help with placement) during freshman year 2nd semester. Their Career Center helps with resumes and interview preps for medical school interviews. It felt very solid and organized at UKY.
Thank you for your reply and yes, my son is nmf.
Thsnk you for that info!
CoMoMom:
What year is your daughter? I am wondering, if I too should be meeting with pre med advisor before making a final choice. If UKY even offers it as an option…
My DD is a senior in HS. We met with pre-med advisor during Merit Weekend. We made a special appointment. As mentioned pre-med is not a major per se, you can major in anything. The pre-med courses logically lead to a minor in biology, or chemistry or perhaps biochem if desired.
He will be a standout at UKY and treated as such – hence the full ride. He should get undergrad degree where he can excel the most. No question UKY is the better choice.
Does your son have a view?
Also (and I am saying this in a gentle, kindly way), this sentence is very very wrong:
“I am wondering, if I too should be meeting with pre med advisor before making a final choice”.
Because the answer is NO: you should not be doing the meeting or making the final choice. You are not the student. Possibly doing it with your son, but otherwise- no.
I know- they are young yet, and they still need some pushing & prodding. But, come September it will be your son going to class every day, not you. It will be your son who has to navigate the advising system, not you. He needs to own this choice for many, many reasons.
We were at an info session for parents at an admitted students day (at a different university) when a parent asked ‘how can I check my student’s homework / grades / etc. online?’. There was a looooooong pause before one of the panelists said quietly ‘You can’t. Because this is college’.
That is a hard reality, but it is reality.
Here are some thoughts from a student who was UKy Honors, and is about to finish her PhD in neurobiology (also at UK):
"If he is looking to stand out, I think UK is pretty great about allowing students to be involved. I know when I interviewed at Vandy they told me only juniors and seniors could be involved in research and as a freshman I was already involved in research at UK. I loved honors at UK and we had the chance to study abroad and take honors classes that were both science based and liberal arts based- I helped revise the program! Undergraduates have the option of getting started in research right away, and there are also programs like dance blue and alternative service breaks and fusion.
Short answer is no- UKy won’t limit his potential to get into medical school
Thank you everyone for your comments.
To the collegemom3717, thank you for
your input and no, I was not going to go to advising session by myself. My son is participating in the decision. However, I believe as parents we have much more life experience and should provide our kids with guidance. At least in my book, it is my resposibility to set my child on a right path by providing him with my best educated advise.Also, I think it was a very smart thing to do on CoMoMom’s part, to go with her D to meet a person who would play an integral part of her premed path.Finally, as much as I appreciate you advise on colleges, I did not solicit analysis of my parenting style or abilities .
Respectfully,
Premedmom2015
If he’s a year ahead, ie., a 17year old freshman, it might be better for him to be at Emory Oxford since the environment will be more nurturing than a large university.
I’m not sure what the best choice is here, but I’d worry about a 17 year old at a large university that’s also well-known as a party school, even if the child is in the Honors program (not because of the parties, but because many classmates may have different interests/maturity, and it’s easier to fall through the cracks in a larger, more anonymous university.)
On the other hand, I see the appeal of the Honors College and of the “big fish/small pond” proposition.
Sorry, premedmom2015- was not meaning to comment at all on your parenting style or abilities. Way too much water under my bridge to be judging anybody else on that front! Guess I have just been doing this so long that I have gotten hyper-sensitive to the use of “I” with parents who are in the throes of the college process- in no small part from being corrected about that by my own children, as well as seeing it in the parents of the students I work with.This is a hard transition, and I really believe that we have to be there for each other as we go through it.