<p>QUESTION!
is it better to go to a smaller school that you really love, and would be a top student at (high gpa, individual attention etc.) or to go to a big name school (vanderbilt, northwestern) and be an average student, blending with the rest of the students in the program?</p>
<p>northwestern is a really great school for pre-med, but so is notre dame most people wouldnt think that notre dame i but actually they have one of the top rnked pre med schools in the country, my opinion i would choose notre dame</p>
<p>i would choose notre dame</p>
<p>I’m going cross-eyed reading all of the wonderful threads on pre-med topics! If this question is hidden in another thread…my apologies.</p>
<p>During a meeting with the pre-med advisors at any college, what questions would you ask to help evaluate the quality of the advising team/committee?</p>
<p>Good premed advisers offer very SPECIFIC knowledge, not generalities. If I go into my college’s premed adviser’s office and ask how students from my college do in med school admissions, she won’t reply with “good” or “well.” She’s going to pull out a large binder that has profiles of applicants from past years from my college and what schools they got into. She’s going to quote me GPA/MCAT data on applicants from my college and tell me how applicants of a certain GPA/MCAT did. She’s going to give me a list of med schools that recent applicants have gotten into. </p>
<p>When I was contemplating whether to take a year off, she gave me specific data on not only the % of applicants from my school who’ve taken a year off but the % of applicants from all the other Ivy League schools who’ve taken a year off since she attends health careers advising meetings b/w the Ivy League advisers. </p>
<p>A good health careers advising office should be keeping track of exactly how their kids are doing, what kind of MCAT scores they’re receiving, what kind of schools they’re getting into, and they should be actively address any deficiencies that they spot.</p>
<p>NCG brings up a lot of great points. They should also be “longitudinal.” A really good pre-law advisor can afford to wait until junior year – but with medical school, that’s not nearly good enough.</p>
<p>The premed advising process has to start early – ideally immediately, but definitely during freshman year. At least, they should have guidelines published for freshmen, even if they can’t meet with you one-on-one.</p>
<p>The other big thing that needs to happen is help finding good internships, both during the summer and during the school year.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Once you’ve talked to a good one, you’ll know what’s good and what isn’t :). Make sure you meet with the actual pre-med advisor (or if that isn’t possible, someone that can specifically represent the department. A generic admissions counselor won’t know the depth about the program needed to give you a solid comparison. Some schools have pre-med admissions counselors, which should be about as good as the advisor if they aren’t available), and pay attention to what they focus on. You shouldn’t need to prompt much- if the program is developed enough, they’ll have no trouble filling 30-45 minutes explaining how it works, what resources they offer, and what they expect of their students. </p>
<p>They should of course know the basics- how many of their students apply each year vs. how many get in. What do their students major in? Do they emphasize undergraduate research for pre-meds? If there is an Honors program (or Honors College), what is different about that for a pre-med and how does that affect acceptance rates? What schools (in-state and out-of-state) do their students get in to? (A school advertising a 100% acceptance rate is a lot less impressive if they’re all headed to the Caribbean or an unheard of D.O. school).) Do they have a set track for pre-med students that includes individual academic advising during class registration? What is the timeline for pre-meds (the good programs tend to have a semester by semester break down of what a pre-med should be doing differently than a regular student)? And, most importantly, what is the last year and a half like? They should have mock interviews, MCAT prep options, application advising/workshops, student panels with recently accepted students, and a faculty committee that does some sort of interview and letter for the applicant. Stronger programs should also have some sort of pre-med honors society, planned trips to tour medical schools, a support system in place for finding good volunteer opportunities and shadowing physicians, and have deans of medical schools visit their campus and talk about their school, the application process, etc, and I’m sure there are other things I’m forgetting right now.</p>
<p>That was longer than I intended, I apologize, but hopefully it’s helpful.
-Matt</p>
<p>CC folks are simply amazing. Thank you for the three in-depth responses. This is our first time through the pre-med search and selection process…what a different animal! Thank you to all who give their time and expertise. Keep the good information coming.</p>
<p>As an international student it’s really tough to get into top colleges in the US. Any suggestions for schools with good pre-med programs that also cater fo my needs as an international students. Like a special program or something?</p>
<p>hey, im thinking of applying to the following schools, based on my academic standings. whats the best choice for me, both financially, and overall to get into med school.</p>
<p>vanderbilt (probably 50/50 shot of getting in)
bowdoin (probably 30/70 shot at getting in)
notre dame (probably 75/25 shot at getting in)
Northeastern (gtd full tuition. honors college is possibility)
Fordham U (gtd full tuition)</p>
<p>im really trying to find out whats the best situation for me. my parents cant pay any money (they make about 100k total in between them but they just will not pay for college) so im really screwed for money, and i need to keep my loans down, as ill obviously have to pay for school. can someone list these, or give me some good options.</p>
<p>My SATs were 2200
GPA is 3.45 (harddd school)
top 10% class rank
8 AP courses 4 or higher (calc BC, AP physics C as well)
extracurriculars and 100+ hours volunteer work
National Merit semifinalist (or better)
other various awards</p>
<p>Hi Future Docs,</p>
<p>My recommendation for pre-med schools is this;</p>
<p>GO TO THE SCHOOL THAT COSTS THE LEAST AND HAS THE HIGHEST ADMISSION RATE TO MEDICAL SCHOOL.</p>
<p>I attended a state university (studied engineering), went on to a very good medical school and Ivy League residency program. The costs are impressive for this education, so that should be factored in to the decision. Grades, MCATs, recommendations and work experience in college trump the name of your undergraduate school. Most admission committees have a formula (grades, grades in science, MCAT grades, weight towards particular sections of MCAT) similar to the AI for Ivy League schools that must meet a certain level to be considered by the committee. The name of the school does not factor into the initial review. </p>
<p>So, go to the school that costs the least based on scholarships or overall tuition AND select a school with the highest admission rate to med school (this info is available from the undergrad admissions office). Good luck.</p>
<p>1.) These two goals are often incompatible.
2.) The admissions statistic is very easy to manipulate, and many lower-tier schools do this. For example, they only report the percentage of students among those who get a certain MCAT score who get into medical school.</p>
<p>I am not sure about choosing school based on academic standing. Choose school that you feel you will be happy in your next 4 years. Good fit will help you to get high GPA. Opoortunities for jobs, research, volunteering, and other interests that you might want to pursue in UG are everywhere, it is up to you to seek them. Make sure to visit schools, talk to people, listen, get a feel. What fit somebody else, might not fit you. And more so, your own perception is changing with age.</p>
<p>Hello, I was considering going to Brooklyn College,a CUNY school, Fordham, and NYU. Would going to these colleges allow to go to med school, granted I have high grades, exracurriculars, and so on?</p>
<p>^^^ Attending ANY US accredited four year college “would allow you” to go to med school granted you have the grades and the ECs.</p>
<p>BDM, re. your post#335
it is really a good simple streamlined decision making step. i guess my S will use it in his decision this April. In this part of your post though,
why would you ignore --A “guaranteed” med program ?? If you consider the brutal nature of premed college life and knowing how much it frees the students from the academic & EC stresses , why wouldn’t anyone ignore this ‘wonderful’ program?? Maybe because you are not familiar with the guaranteed program?</p>
<p>Okay. Here are BDM’s 10 rules for picking a school.</p>
<p>1.) Cross off any school which rejected you. </p>
<p>2.) Cross off any school which will impose a major financial hardship on your family. It is up to you what this means, but as a general rule premeds shouldn’t take more than $50K in debt to attend college.</p>
<p>3.) Go on campus visits. Subjectively, did you really like any of the schools? Go there.</p>
<p>4.) Subjectively, did you really hate any of the schools? Cross them off.</p>
<hr>
<p>Did that settle the decision? If not…</p>
<p>5.) Cross off any schools which are within 150 miles of home. <a href=“ummm…this%20really%20shouldn’t%20be%20a%20criteria.”>B</a>**</p>
<p>6.) Look at the remaining schools. Cross off any schools where your SAT score is not near their median (either too high or too low is bad).</p>
<p>7.) Most people tend to prefer schools that are around 7000 students. If you’re one of them, cross off anything which is too much larger or too much smaller.
<a href=“I%20don’t%20know%20where%20the%20%22most%22%20comes%20from.%20%20%20I%20would%20say%20some%20kids%20like%20large%20schools,%20some%20like%20medium%20sized%20schools,%20and%20some%20like%20small%20schools”>B</a>.**</p>
<p>8.) Look for variety. Do the students tend to major in lots of different things? Or is it a school dominated by one or two fields? You want a varied school.</p>
<p>9.) Ask about the pre-professional advising provided by a school. Some schools do this very well; some do it very poorly.</p>
<p>10.) Finally, if you’re here and you still can’t make up your mind, then the answer is this: either choice is fine. Seriously. Flip a coin; decide based on food; follow that cute girl from high school that you have a crush on. At this point, any reason is fine.</p>
<hr>
<p>THINGS TO IGNORE:
–An honors program <a href=“Don’t%20agree%20with%20this%20-%20especially%20if%20the%20school%20is%20large.%20%20At%20some%20schools,%20being%20in%20an%20honors%20program%20gives%20you%20easier%20access%20to%20research%20opportunities%20and%20internships.%20%20Also…your%20classes%20are%20smaller%20and%20profs%20get%20to%20know%20you%20better,%20therefore%20easier%20to%20find%20profs%20to%20write%20LORs%20for%20you.”>B</a>**</p>
<p>–A “guaranteed” med program
–If your family is wealthy, money
–Whether you like the city <a href=“not%20super%20important,%20but%20you%20should%20at%20least%20not%20hate%20the%20city/town%20the%20school%20is%20in…a%20student%20isn’t%20on%20campus%2024/7”>B</a>.**
–What your neighbors say <a href=“Very%20true…neighbors,%20family,%20and%20friends%20often%20have%20very%20biased%20views%20based%20on%20little%20more%20than%20assumptions%20that%20are%20often%20not%20true.”>B</a>**</p>
<p>hopingdad, other than a few guaranteed med programs (like Brown or Northwestern), and a few more that let you opt out/apply out without penalty, the student who is competitive for these combined programs may well be competitive for many different and possibly higher-ranked medical schools in 4 years. The ones that lock you in to a med school that might not be your choice 4 years later is a big negative to some. To others? No big deal. For them it can be the right choice. </p>
<p>Additionally there are bs/md programs that because of GPA and MCAT requirements are far from guaranteed.</p>
<p>mom2ck’s, I agree with bdm on #5 for most kids. Get away from home. See something different. It is a time for exploration. </p>
<p>My kid loves Texas but had a rule in UG search…no school in Texas, and no school in any state that touches Texas. lol. </p>
<p>As far as honor’s colleges , for those who go to large state schools, I like them. Some (like Plan II at Texas) I like a whole lot. At some schools it’s just a little sugary icing on an otherwise plain un-appetizing cake. </p>
<p>As far as size of the school goes, my personal favorites were in the size range from 3-10K. Small to small-ish research U’s. My kid liked smaller schools for her own reasons. What any of us think individually doesn’t change the fact that the most generally considered “prestigious” schools (and in that sense most popular) are usually small to small-ish research uni’s. (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Duke for examples).</p>
<p>Guaranteed programs are usually designed to lure overqualified students into picking a college that they would never otherwise choose. The benefit they offer – a conditional “guarantee” into medical school – is, by comparison, almost never nearly as valuable as what a student has lost.</p>
<hr>
<p>I stand by the post, including after the criticisms in #377.</p>
<p>As I stated in my #336:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064546787-post336.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064546787-post336.html</a></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>