We need some help S22 is premedical Biology major intends to be MD was deferred from Miami, Michigan and now FSU. Accepted into FGCU honors college, FAU honors college and UCF Bio Health Sciences program strong student decent GPA but not crazy high ACT score (27) expecting to be denied UofF top school - so trying to weigh Honors College FGCU or UCF (applied honors waiting to hear). Wants some big school experience but worried about GPA/Prestige to get to med school
Congratulations on the acceptances that have been received so far! I’m not overly familiar with the Florida publics, so I will let someone else speak to those. I just want to raise a couple of points:
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Deferrals are not rejections. I would not make a final choice until all decisions are in, unless one of the schools that has admitted you already is a clear first choice over all the other schools.
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The main thing that med schools look at is a student’s GPA and their MCAT score. The “prestige” of the university name is not a big deal at all. If medical school is definitely in the cards, save $$$ on undergrad to help defray the costs of medical school.
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You probably already know this, but so long as the required coursework is taken for medical school entrance, students can major in anything.
Good luck as your son makes this decision!
There are tons of doctors who do their undergrad studies at schools not viewed as prestige schools. Please remember that.
What matters is that your kid is able to take all the courses required for medical school applicants…and get the highest GPA possible…and then a high MCAT score.
Some medical schools do look at undergrad schools but for most, this isn’t an admissions factor. @WayOutWestMom am I correct!
Prestige of undergrad is only a very, very minor consideration for med school admission. GPA/sGPA and MCAT are much more important for med school admissions.
As for which school–
If you take pre-med out of equation, which school offers a better fit socially?Which offers more opportunities to pursue other careers/other areas of interest?
I suggest this because the data suggests that more than 2/3rds of freshmen pre-meds will never actually apply to med school. Often it’s not because they don’t have the GPA/grades but because interests change A LOT between ages 17 and 22.
Will your son be in the top 25% of admitted students at the school?
I ask because he will be competing for those much needed A grades in all his science and math classes with other pre-meds–and the science and engineering majors-- who all tend to be the strongest students admitted to the school.
Also consider whether each undergrad offers adequate advising for its pre-med students.
Good advisors can be very helpful in making sure a med school hopeful get al their boxes checked. Look at the pre-health career advising page at each school and see if there are dedicated health career advisors. Are these advisors NAAHP members?
Also check to see if each school offers a committee letter of recommendation.
Committee letters are used by colleges to control who is and isn’t allowed to apply to med school. Only those students most likely to get an acceptance will get committee LORs. OTOH, those who do get committee LORs are presented in the most flattering light possible by the committee.
You might also consider whether there are clinical volunteering opportunities nearby (within walking distance/ easy driving distance if the student will have a car on campus/ on a direct local bus route) for your student to get clinical exposure through volunteering or paid patient contact employment. Clinical sites include hospitals, day surgery centers, public health clinics, nursing homes, etc. Clinical experience is key for a successful med school application.
What about research opportunities? What does each school offer?
Have your son read through the webpages of various biochem/bio profs and see if any of their research topics interest him. It may also be useful to talk to few current pre-med students about whether they’ve found labs to work in and how difficult getting a place was.
Also consider costs. Medical school is horrendously expensive. (COA is rapidly approaching $100K/year for many privates. It’s already there for some publics if you’re OOS. ) Which school has the best price for you? Pre-meds are strongly advised to minimize undergrad because they’ll be taking out hefty loans for med school.
I would give a slight plus to UCF since it has its own med school–which offers better research opportunities. UCF also has a Pre Med AMSA chapter which will offer your son the chance to connect with other pre-meds at his school.
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Thank you for pointing that out, it felt almost unreachable to us to get the deferred status but there is not another clear choice other than UF and FSU largely due to solid med programs and family alum. Also had several great OOS schools with some merit money but not enough to cover as you said with med school likely we are encouraging in state with minimal to no undergrad debt. But thank you again for the encouragement since its the first to go we would already go back in time to change some things like applying to and getting accepted to so many great OOS schools without enough aid to justify the result. We were planning to decide by March 2nd it sounds like we should pull back from that date to see what happens w deferrals.
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Makes sense my perception is the smaller environment would give the greater opportunity for higher GPA/support we already know testing is an issue knocks it out of the park until its test day so we will need MCAT resources.
Excellent points we will relook now at each of the schools to determine PS - sorry for multiple replies!
I don’t think the college is going to prep your student for the MCAT. Course content will be addressed on the MCAT but that is very different than actual MCAT prep. Most students prep for the MCAT using books, prep classes or the like. There are actual old tests which can be purchased for practice.
But don’t expect the undergrad school to provide this MCAT prep.
@WayOutWestMom do I have this right?
Concurring that deferral is not rejection. It means tell me more. So go for it there.
UF comes out tomorrow and it works differently for in state than other schools. There is a pool of all students that match the entry criteria that the school has with the recalculated GPA. All those that qualify then enter a lottery like system for the yes. So as long as UF feels you child qualifies this year there is always a yes chance from UF. Many a time a student gets a no from FSU and a yes from UF.
In overall of the Florida state schools for years UCF was the school that was almost there. The up-and-coming hidden gem of a school. That’s not true anymore. UCF has come of age and has some incredible programs and instate wise a great rep.
What school is the current hidden gem and up-and-coming school? FLorida Gulf Coast.
In other words, the choices are all good and students succeed and go on to med school from all of them.
U Miami had a crazy number of Apps this year. If that deferral was from EA there really still is a possible yes. My husband is on med school faculty. My daughter got a true surprise from UM this year. A deferral. Will she eventually get in. No she pulled because she got in ED2 elsewhere after a different EA deferral. We heard that many of the schools were so overwhelmed with the numbers in EA and ED that they didn’t get to all the applicants and ousted them to RD as a deferral.
Undergrad colleges do NOT provide MCAT resources to students. And no college class or classes will prepare a student for the MCAT. College coursework only provides some of the basic foundational knowledge for the MCAT–which tests so much more than just course content. Responsibility for MCAT prep lands squarely on the student’s shoulder.
I will mention this just briefly–it sounds like your son has some test anxiety or lacks necessary test taking skills. This is something he will need to fix before college.
College coursework (esp in the large, lecture-centered intro level classes) is all about test scores. Often the only grades that go into a final class grade will be 1-3 major exams plus the final. Quizzes and homework grades, while graded, aren’t major factors in determining a final course grade. Just the midterm(s) + final exam.
Plus the MCAT is only the first of a long line of exhausting, multiple-hour long, career-determining standardized exams that medicine requires. MCAT to get into med school, 3 different USMLE/COMLEX exams that are required for med school completion and residency matching, annual ITE exams in residency, written and oral specialty board exams to get certified in their specialty, plus periodic board exam retakes to insure that a physician is current and up-to-date in their field.
I suggest that you get your son evaluated for [test] anxiety, and, if he has it get him into treatment with a therapist and/or medication.
If he’s lacking in test taking skills, there are classes that can help teach him those skills.
FAU Honors College located on a separate campus in Jupiter.
Scripps and Max Planck Research adjacent to school
https://www.scripps.edu
https://www.mpfi.org
I’ve got an admit and am in a confused state about whether to join or not. I am intending to pursue BS in Neuroscience as part of the Max Planck Honors Program (MPHP) and graduate into Med School or pure Neurology. I’m sold on the MaxPlanck/Scripps/Jupiter environment but am skeptical given the University’s overall low score. My other options are UI-Urbana Champaign and PennState both of which are a higher-ranked universities. But the Wilkes-MPHP is something that seems attractive. Am I being blinded by my love for Neuroscience and reputation of MaxPlanck/Scripps?
Follow your bliss.
I would read up on this article related to U of F’s impending move to Max/Planck/Scripps we eliminated based on concern for competition amongst students in this changing dynamic of the prestigious UF team arriving. Just food for thought as you weigh pros/cons
Thank you for excellent feedback the scripps/max planck angle will be experiencing some potential changes!
To WayOutWestMom - thank you for excellent feedback I stated incorrectly while we do have dx test anxiety (unable to medicate) that translates to ACT score we refer to MCAT help as in excellent predatory coursework and a history of successful graduates transitioning out of the program. The additional opportunities for research undergrad and relationship with Prof’s in chosen field far outweigh most of the other angles. In SS22’s mind it was a genuine concern for less known school with honors admit over larger institution like UCF where you are one of many! Our approach was take environment where you will excel GPA and like minded cohort and push for research/ind study ops!
@KC_294992
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we refer to MCAT help as in excellent predatory coursework and a history of successful graduates transitioning out of the program.
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RE: preparatory coursework
Med school pre-reqs are mostly intro level classes (the one exception is biochem) that are offered at nearly every college and community college in the country. There’s nothing special or unique about med school pre-reqs.
RE: transitioning graduates to med school
College programs (except for BA/MD programs) do not “transition” undergrads into med school. It’s completely separate and independent process in which the undergrad has no involvement. Just about every 4 year college in the country has produced successful med school applicants. Making oneself an attractive candidate for med school is a process that is completely owned by the student.
Please be aware that among pre-med activities, research is the one that is most over-value by pre-meds and their parents. A survey of adcomms ranked clinical experience, clinical observership, community service with disadvantaged populations, and leadership roles in ECs as being of the highest importance for making decisions about who to interview and admit to med school, while research is is only of medium importance.
(See . 14 of this document: https://www.aamc.org/system/files/2021-07/services-mcat-using-mcat-data-in-2022-medical-student-selection-guide-070921.pdf)
And as FYI, be very cautious about any data an undergrad posts about their acceptance rates to med school The data are unreliable and are usually highly manipulated to make the college appear in the most favorable light possible. All acceptance rates only reference those who have actually apply to med school, not those who start out in pre-med as freshmen. The vast majority (65-75%) of fresman pre-meds never actually apply to med school.
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