Good Pre-Med Schools

<p>Your ignorance is quite astounding.</p>

<p>Co...</p>

<p>Wow...you're really far off.</p>

<p>Average MCAT scores at Harvard are going to be higher than at a state school because one of the big things that is necessary for admission to Harvard is high tests scores. In general there is a positive correlation between all standardized tests - if you're good at one, then you're likely good at them all because you are a good test taker. It really has very little to do with the actual influence of the school.</p>

<p>Norcalguy has been here a long time, and knows what he's talking about.</p>

<p>The fact of the matter is that ANY school can be a great pre-med school if it is the right place for that particular student. If it's somewhere they can succeed academically, socially, physically and emotionally, that's going to be their best option, regardless of the name. It's far more important to excel SOMEWHERE than to barely get by at a big name school (and in my opinion it's better to go somewhere, do well, and be happy vs go somewhere, do well, and be miserable)</p>

<p>rutgers honors program or cornell university for premed. take into consideration competitiveness, workload, getting a high GPA. thanks</p>

<p>Choose the college you feel most comfortable at.</p>

<p>See post #1. And the accompanying summary: "There's no definite".</p>

<p>if i want to go to medical school which school would be a better choice, umich or uci</p>

<p>does anyone know how NYU's PRE MED programs compare to those of BC, Brandies, Tufts?</p>

<p>Here's what I found on Penn's site
<a href="http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/gradprof/healthprof/choosing_ugrad.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/gradprof/healthprof/choosing_ugrad.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>
[quote]
Frequently, students considering Penn for their pre-medical studies ask us about our pre-med admission statistics.</p>

<p>Getting into medical school is a very competitive process. Nationally, only 50% of the individuals who applied for Fall 2002 admission to allopathic (MD degree-granting) medical schools were admitted. However, Penn applicants were much more successful in gaining admission. Among the 261 Penn applicants (both current students and alumni) for Fall 2002 admission, 198 of them, or 76%, were accepted. Of the graduating seniors, 83% were admitted that year. Penn has always been a leader in preparing students for the study of medicine. Over the years, it has consistently ranked among the top few undergraduate schools in the number of its alumni who enter M.D. programs in the United States.</p>

<p>Other Factors to Consider When Selecting an Undergraduate School</p>

<p>When evaluating whether to enroll at Penn or at another undergraduate school, it is important to consider many factors besides the school’s medical school admission statistics. It is essential to determine whether you will be happy and comfortable at a school, and whether it will provide you the opportunity to gain a good education, to excel as a student, and to grow as an individual. Remember, you are going to college to get an education that prepares you for life, not merely a practical training that prepares you for medical school.</p>

<p>Penn provides exceptionally fine opportunities to gain a broad education while preparing for medical school. On one campus, we provide undergraduate and graduate study in a broad range of fields, from Anthropology and Bioengineering to Multinational Finance and an array of self-designed, Individualized Majors. Penn also offers courses and majors in a number of health-related fields, including Health Care Management, the History and Sociology of Science, the Sociology of Medicine, the Biological Basis of Behavior, and Human Biology. Regardless of their fields, our students have the opportunity to study with some of the finest professors in the world. Our pre-health students have the chance to assist in clinical care and research opportunities at the university's Medical, Dental, and Veterinary Schools.</p>

<p>Penn provides an impressive range of student services. We have two Pre-Health Advisors. We have a Health Professions Advisory Board that provides a letter in support of each Penn student or alum who applies to medical school. Our Pre-Health Advisors are part of a larger Career Services office that provides support for Penn students who are exploring various career ideas or seeking internship experiences. As needed, we refer students to colleagues who can help with study skills, writing skills, time management, stress management, and other issues.</p>

<p>What stands out about Penn is its lively, vibrant campus. Our students participate in a variety of extra-curricular activities, from living in College House communities, to volunteering in the surrounding community, to participating in Penn's wonderful fine arts groups, to writing for our school's outstanding student newspaper. The list goes on and on. Penn students know how to study hard and learn a tremendous amount, but they also know how to have a good time.</p>

<p>In comparing schools, consider not only their overall size, but also the quality of the learning environment, as well as the social climate. Try to determine which school feels the most comfortable, and which one offers the kinds of opportunities that suit your interests and needs.</p>

<p>We hope that you will consider coming to Penn. We feel that it is a wonderful university that offers an exceptional array of opportunities in an outstanding environment.</p>

<p>We wish you success, wherever you decide to study!</p>

<p>

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Was there something special about 2002? Cornell's acceptance rate topped out in 2002 as well at 81%.</p>

<p>Nice observation. National rates peaked in 2002 (52.4%). </p>

<p><a href="http://prehealth.trinity.duke.edu/appendix/2005trendsgraph.doc%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://prehealth.trinity.duke.edu/appendix/2005trendsgraph.doc&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>maybe its because of 9/11?</p>

<p>Perhaps. Conventional wisdom is that graduate school applications move inversely to the economy: if you can get a good, high-paying job right away, more people will skip or delay grad school. That would cause you to expect admissions rates to DROP during a bad economy, which is the opposite of what the actual data show us.</p>

<p>Yeah, I'm not really sure you can correlate Med/Law school acceptance rates with the economy; the requirements for entering such schools are lengthy enough that deciding to go there is a very pre-meditated action, and usually at this stage, most Pre-Meds wouldn't entertain the idea of working after Undergrad, unless it was used to boost their chances for Medical school admission. </p>

<p>However, I probably wouldn't say the same about other Grad schools.</p>

<p>Not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet, but keep in mind that some undergrad schools have you go through a screening process before you apply to med schools. I'm not completely sure how it all works, but in the end, they advise you either to apply to med school or not. Ultimately the decision is up to you, but from what I've gathered, applying to med school after they have advised you not to is probably unwise.</p>

<p>That said, watch out when impulsively saying 'yes' to those high-reach ivies. Whether you like it or not, competition exists, and while you may have been the head honcho in high school, don't bank on it in those top schools. Also, there are some schools that are so competitive that students actually try to sabotage other students' classwork, so that is definitely something to look into if it's an issue that concerns you...</p>

<p>
[quote]
Ultimately the decision is up to you

[/quote]
Not always. Applying to medical school requires a letter of recommendation from your premedical committee. The only acceptable excuse is that your undergraduate school does not have such a committee at all.</p>

<p>Should your committee refuse to write you a letter, the game is simply over.</p>

<p>I have never heard of a committee that would flat-out refuse to do this. Some threaten to write less-than-positive letters, for example, or some would be very reluctant, but I have yet to hear of a school that would flat-out refuse.</p>

<p>It is, however, possible.</p>

<p>They certainly might refuse if there were well documented questions about character or honesty. The thing that upsets people is when they base their willingness to write letters on gpa, reserving their recommendations for those with top grades.</p>

<p>^^^ Unfortunately, the only way the premedical committee can write a letter is by referring to grades and GPA, or perhaps taking into consideration individual letters from professors of some of the courses the premed student takes. These committees have to write letters for hundreds of students that they really do not know. A good strategy would be to get to know the person in charge of writing the letters for premeds early on (freshman year) and begin to develop a relationship...</p>

<p>By the way, the undergrad schools that have the HIGHEST number of their premeds getting accepted into medical school are: Harvard, Brown, Yale, Princeton and Stanford. Brown has the highest number of premeds who get their first choice. ( three years in a row )</p>

<p>Highest number, or highest proportion?</p>

<p>And what's the methodology on first-choice calculations?</p>

<p>Link to that data?</p>

<p>I just question it b/c the schools producing the most applicants in 2006 according to the AAMC data are UCLA, Michigan-Ann Arbor, UT-Austin, and Cal-Berkeley at 744, 606, 604, and 574 applicants respectively - compared to:</p>

<p>Harvard: 326 applicants
Brown: 259
Yale: 216
Princeton: 149
Stanford: 286</p>

<p>Even if every single one of Harvard's applicants was accepted, UCLA would have to have less than 44% of their applicants get accepted to NOT have more accepted students than Harvard. For Princeton that % would have to be below 20%...the Harvard scenario seems possible, but not very likely.</p>

<p>Well, and if he means proportion, then his data is clearly wrong, too, since many schools (which screen) have numbers at 100% and since in any case Stanford would get trumped by Duke and Penn.</p>