<p>im currently a junior in high school. im trying to find colleges that i want to apply to that have decent programs that will prepare me for med school. I know that there is no such thing as a “pre med” major. I also know that the college that is best for me is the one that I personally like the best. However, there are a few questions i have regarding my journey towards med school.</p>
<li><p>I’ve heard that some colleges weed out their students in the first years of college. Does anyone know some specific colleges that do this?</p></li>
<li><p>I’ve also heard that some colleges have committees which decide whether to write the student a letter of rec. or not. Once again, does anyone know of specific colleges that do this?</p></li>
<li><p>I know that there is no such thing as the “best pre med program.” However, there must be some colleges that will prepare me better than others for the MCAT. Any suggestions?</p></li>
<li><p>What are some colleges that have grade inflation in the pre med path and what are some that are cut throat and have grade deflation?</p></li>
<li><p>I know that most undergraduates have a disadvantage when applying to the same university where they earned their degree. What are some med schools that actually give an advantage to undergraduates from that same school?</p></li>
<li><p>Lastly, I know of most of the prestigious colleges, from Rice, to Stanford, to Duke. Does anyone know of colleges that are good for the pre med path, but are not top notch and so expensive? I’ve been looking at colleges such as U of I and UW-Madison. any other suggestions? it doesn’t neccesarily have to be in the Midwest regioin.</p></li>
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<p>please use the search function. There have been TOO many discussions on this already.</p>
<p>ive read the other discussions but they all diverge from the actual question and most only refer to top notch schools</p>
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<li><p>Probably any large public school is going to have weed out classes. My school (UT-Austin) certainly does.</p></li>
<li><p>I don’t know, but I thought that was something privates did. </p></li>
<li><p>Prepare better for the MCAT? Choose classes and professors wisely and any school should do a fine job. I think your more important concern should be making good grades.</p></li>
<li><p>Privates have inflation, publics have deflation. Top publics can be rough, with the most famously difficult one being UC-Berkeley. </p></li>
<li><p>No idea</p></li>
<li><p>A quality public sounds like what you are looking for here. Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio State, and Purdue all come to mind in your region.</p></li>
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<p>This topic has been covered a zillion times. There are also thread links at the bottom of this page.</p>
<p>Big Ten universities</p>
<p>This from somebody who will be premed next year at Duke (so I really wouldn’t know that much), but my two cents from what I’ve read and seen:</p>
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<li><p>Since medical school is tough, there will be weedout classes (orgo, etc.). I’d imagine this would be worse at a large public school like UC-Berkeley or at the most competitive privates like JHU. A lot of people get out of premed, however, because they feel more attached to something else once they’re in college–not because they couldn’t handle premed.</p></li>
<li><p>I’ve heard Johns Hopkins does this. Private schools will probably have better advising/rec departments in this regard compared to publics, except for maybe honors colleges at top state schools. I think UF Honors would be a good example of this in my state, but you’ll still have better advising in a top-notch private like Duke.</p></li>
<li><p>Depends on whether you like more competition, challenge, etc. or less. The coursework–orgo, calc, bio, whatever–will be pretty much the same in every premed program/curriculum, it depends on the strength of teaching in the school. As in #2, privates may have better advising departments that will give you an extra advantage in recs, research, etc. beyond basic MCAT, but you’ll have to work harder to keep a high GPA.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m not really sure on this. I’ve heard Ivies and privates have more grade inflation. </p></li>
<li><p>I’ve heard this too, but some stats say otherwise. At a prefrosh program at Duke, we heard that out of 272 kids applying to med school for the class of 2009, 23 kids are matriculating to Duke Med. That’s about a 9% rate, above the 4% overall acceptance rate. I guess it depends on the school.</p></li>
<li><p>I aimed for that top notch when I applied to colleges (Harvard, Duke, WUSTL, Hopkins, Emory–UF as safety; got in everywhere but Harvard and Hopkins), so I can’t really tell you. There are lots of great state schools though, and it might be easier to be a star student at a state school than to fight your way through Hopkins. If your family’s middle class and you can get into one of these schools, I don’t think you have to worry all that much about finances. My family will be paying less for Duke than they would have for UF, and we’re solid middle class (70-90K).</p></li>
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