For premed - Amherst over Columbia or Penn?

College Search & Selection
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S is facing this tough call right now. May 1 is fast approaching.

Amherst seems to be a safer choice given the individual attention each student receives and it seems weedout is not as much of an issue for premed students.

Columbia and Penn are major ivies. But students there are more competitive in nature and there are way more of them.

If getting in medical school is the goal, then is it worthwhile to put oneself through all the uncertainties of the weedout process at Columbia/Penn? But you only go to undergraduate once and a school like Columbia is really hard to give up.

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Successful med school applicants have to run the pre-med gauntlet at any school. Most incoming undergrad pre-meds never make it to med school, so my advice is to choose the undergrad experience your S prefers.

Amherst does have outstanding pre-health advising, and smaller classes than Columbia and Penn (not sure what ‘major Ivies’ means)…some see that as an advantage for pre-meds. Students are competitive at all 3 schools.

What school environment does your S lean towards? Obviously Amherst is very different than Penn and Columbia. Does Columbia’s core appeal to your S? One can still do pre-med requirements at Columbia, but because of the core, there is less freedom to explore other subject areas than at Amherst, with a wide open curriculum.

I assume all of the costs of these schools are similar, and don’t require loans (or more than the $27K max Federal Student Loans)?

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All three have some premed advising and preparation. Since you mentioned it is hard to give up Columbia, I assume prestige is a factor (as well as excellence) and Amherst in the eyes of “those who know” is equal to Columbia.

The location and size of the schools is so different, I would think those would be the biggest factors, since all three schools can provide stellar education and preparation. And many students come into college wanting to be doctors, and change their minds.

Please note that all three also offer post-bacc preparation for med school (which, yes, has to be paid for). That means your kid can major in English or philosophy or whatever and still go to med school with these programs. You do not have to have attended the same school for underrgrad.

That said, Amherst, with its open curriculum, may allow for taking many courses that match interests in addition to prereq’s for med school, during undergrad.

I wouldn’t worry so much about weeding as a deciding factor on schools. He should think about where he will thrive academically, socially- and be happiest. I think “vibe” is key. And don’t believe the stereotypes either. Every school has a variety of personalities.

Prepare | Health Professions | Amherst College

Post-Baccalaureate Course Work Option | Graduate School and Pre-Professional Programs | Amherst College

Pre-Medicine – Career Services | University of Pennsylvania (upenn.edu)

Pre-Health Programs | Penn LPS (upenn.edu)

Premedical Curriculum | Columbia College and Columbia Engineering

Postbac Premed Program | School of General Studies (columbia.edu)

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Thank you for your thoughtful insights. The cost will probably be about the same (a lot!) so it is not part of the consideration.

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And about the Core at Columbia. S likes the courses (at least the course descriptions) but it is a lot given the premed courses also demand a lot of study time. And yes Amherst has the open curriculum. So the dilemma continues…

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Thank you and thank you for all the helpful resources!

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I think he should go to the school he wants to be at, and major in whatever he loves best. If he finds the premed curriculum too cut throat competitive, he should finish his premeds after college at a state college near home. What is going to matter, in applying to medical school, is his MCAT and his GPA, not whether he did his premeds at said hypercompetitive Ivy.

It really bothers me that young people are choosing the place where they’re going to spend four years, and have the best opportunity in their lives to become broadly educated people, based upon which one is supposedly going to allow the easiest path to medical school.

It doesn’t matter! He can major in art history, and med schools will love him. As long as he has a credible back story, something like “I always loved medicine, but I also loved Art History, and thought that I would become a museum curator - but something changed and I decided to return to my interest in medicine”, he will get into medical school just fine with premeds done afterwards, cheaply, at your local state college.

Assuming one has taken the premed sciences, one does best on the MCATs by prepping intensively for them, over a couple of months before taking them. It’s not as if having taken a fantastic general chemistry class at an Ivy 3-4 years before one takes the MCAT is going to be better prep than taking general chem at state college the year before taking the MCAT. Either way, one is going to have to spend a lot of time studying for the MCAT.

So just have him choose the school he wants to go to, to get an education, to become a broadly well-educated person, without considering med school. If he can do well in the pre-meds at that school, too, wonderful. If he finds them ridiculously cut throat, he can stop doing premeds altogether, get an education in whatever he loves, take the premeds cheaply and easily at your local state college after he’s graduated, and still get into med school.

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The best doctor I have majored in English. Several years ago music majors had the highest admit rate of any major, to med school (62%). Just supporting what @parentologist posted.

Columbia, Penn and Amherst are all prestigious and excellent. He really should think about location, size and “vibe.” And as a parent, maybe don’t overthink :slight_smile:

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While true, one can still major in English and complete med school prereqs within 4 years. Of course, no indication that OPs kid will be an English major.

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Med school admissions is brutal nowadays. Largely dependent on MCAT and GPA. Go wherever he can get the highest GPA. In that regards, it sounds like Amherst might be the best choice.