What are some good colleges w/ a good pre med? I really want to go to U of Michigan bc my dad went there and I know they have an amazing pre med but I’m not sure if I’ll get in. I’m a junior with a 91 GPA but will probably get it up to a 93-94 weighted and I’m aiming for a 30-32 on my ACT. I’m also looking into U of Miami but I’m not sure really where else to look
There are a lot of universities with very good premed programs. Fortunately this means that you have a lot to choose from and many of them should be possible with a 91 average.
Medical school is expensive. A good school for premed has to be affordable. If you want to keep open the possibility of going to medical school, try to find an undergraduate school that will leave you with no debt at all after four years.
There have been occasional debates regarding whether or not it is a good idea to go to a very academically demanding highly ranked university for premed, or if you would be better off at a pretty good in-state public university. Certainly Harvard premed students have a higher rate of getting into medical school compared to your average public university. However, Harvard only accepts students who already have very high stats and a very compelling application. Thus the obvious question: Consider a premed student who ends up in the bottom half of his or her class at Harvard and does not get into any medical school. If this same student had attended UNH or U.Mass Amherst instead and if they have worked very hard, would they have been in the top 1/4 of their class and gotten into medical school? I don’t think that we have a solid answer to that question.
Regardless, for premed you should plan to attend a university which is affordable, where you would be comfortable, and where you can reasonably expect to be in the top 1/2 if not the top 1/4 of your class. Then you should plan to work very hard in university – premed courses are very demanding even at an average “pretty good” university.
What state are you from? Your in-state public schools are the first obvious place to look.
I live in Illinois, but I’m not really interested in any of the schools here, except Northwestern but I know I wouldn’t get in there. Maybe Miami Ohio or Indiana University? But I’m not sure how good their pre med is.
Can you pay for these more costly private or OOS colleges?
You can take the requisite courses to apply to medical school at every college.
Yes cost isn’t really an issue to be honest but I’m just not sure where to go. I can figure out costs
Talk with your parents - very few people can “figure out costs” and loans are limited to 5.5k for Freshman year. Most financial I’d comes from the colleges themselves, so run the NPC for each college you’re considering.
UMichigan will be good if, like 75% would be pre-meds, you never end up applying to med school, because the degree is widely recognized regardless of subject an the alumni network is very strong.
Starting in the bottom half of a class means your odds of making it through weedout classes is virtually nil. However odds are you won’t remain pre-med. As a result, you need to balance your choice between selectivity of college and odds of success in the pre-med process.
A good premed program is one that is not purposely weedout or minimally so, encourages a collaborative attitude and environment, offers plenty of support and resources.
For your stats, good colleges could include: St Lawrence, St Olaf, Rhodes, Centre (matches); Wooster, Beloit, Allegheny, Earlham, Muhlenberg (low matches/safeties depending on how much interest you show).
Below are links to Fall 2018 U mich class schedule for Bio 171, the first bio course in premed sequence. Looking at the 5 lecture sections, it appears 609 students are currently taking Bio 171. I’d guess most of these 609 will have hs stats similar, if not better, than yours. If 10-15% get As (90-120), the large majority of students will get lower grades, most C or lower. This is the kind of brutal competition (aka weeding) you will face at a large school like Michigan not only in this bio premed course, but any premed course. Enough noncompetitive grades/GPAs will end most premed hopeful dreams before they even apply, and of those that actually apply, 60% will not get even one med school acceptance. I don’t know if bc your dad attended is a good reason or not, I’m just trying to point out what you’re, in part, facing at U Mich as a premed hopeful. Most any college will offer you the opportunities and resources you need to be a successful premed. Whether you become a successful premed or not is more dependent on your efforts while at college, less on the school attended.
Maybe ask again when you have an actual ACT score, interest if you change mind about premed, locations you might be interested in (urban/rural), LACs, non academic interests, division 1 sports, big/smaller schools, etc. And agreeing that med school is crazy expensive and is paid for loans, you want to attend a school where you can graduate with as little debt, if any, as possible,
https://ro.umich.edu/calendars/schedule-of-classes
click on wolverine access
Click on Literature, Science and the Arts, then click on Biology to find 5 lecture sections of bio 171
On this board, many posters and I advocate the basic criterias for a successful premed candidate.
- Prestige does nothing in premed UG choice.
- You need to find a 4 year college that you will be the top 25% of the entering class, top 10% is even better.
- You must like the school, feel fit in the community and go easy on your pocket book. A full tuition scholarship is a good indication of a "fit" in premed applicants.
- The school should have a good premed advisory which will issue committee letter.
- Within the top 400-500 ranking in USA, including the LACs.
“cost isn’t really an issue to be honest”
To be honest, if you do make it to medical school they you are looking at eight years of university, with the last 4 being the most expensive. It would be entirely possible to spend nearly $300,000 for undergrad and by the time that you get to it perhaps $400,000 for medical school (assuming some inflation along the way). That is a lot of money even for relatively rich parents.
I have talked to doctors who were top specialists and looked to be in their 40’s who said that they were still paying off medical school debt.
You have some very good in-state options in Illinois.