So I’m a freshman at University of Miami. I’m an economics major but I’m taking the necessary med school courses, with other science electives. I have a 4.0 so far, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to keep it again this semester. So far for med schools I’ve taken Chem, Bio, Calc 1, and Calc 2, but I’ll have 36 credits after this year.
I’m thinking of transferring because my parents won’t allow me to be in a frat and going out here is ridiculously expensive. I’m thinking of transferring to BC or ND, where there is no greek life, and guys aren’t excluded from parties, but I’m sure my GPA would take a hit, as those schools are much harder and I don’t have the work ethic yet.
I’m certain that if I stayed here I would be able to keep a 3.9+ GPA upon graduation, but I really hate it here so far. What would be better for applying to med schools to get an MD, a high GPA from a mid-tier college, or a ~3.5 GPA at an elite institution?
Stats are used as a screening tool by most med schools. While the exact cut-offs used by med schools are not public and likely vary from school to school, a 3.5 GPA will put most MD schools completely out of reach. The median GPA for matriculating med students last year was 3.7+. A 3.5 is even slightly below the median GPA for matriculating DO students (3.56).
If you are a FL resident, you need to know that FL is a very competitive state for med school admission. FL produced ~3400 med school applicants for the 2016-17 application cycle; only 20% (674) matriculated in-state. Another 13% (457) matriculated OOS–leaving 67% not accepted anywhere. The mean GPA for a successful MD applicant FL resident was 3.7.
If you are so unhappy with your school that it’s interfering with your ability to do well or making you absolutely miserable–by all means, transfer. But realize you’re not going to get any GPA brownie points w/ med schools for going to a pre-med grinder like ND or BC.
And I’m going to even touch on the lousy work ethic thing…
@WayOutWestMom Thanks for your response. I know of several students that attend Notre Dame and their grades aren’t great. How is it that ND’s placement into med schools is double the national average if their students GPAs are low? I’m sure med schools know these schools are extremely challenging, wouldn’t they look more favorably?
You have no way of knowing how Notre Dame came up with its “successful pre-med” rate. All colleges use unverifiable data and they use it inconsistently to make the school appear in the most favorable light possible.
Some possibilities__
the pre health committee at ND refuses to write a LOR for anyone whose stats are not highly likely to yield a med school acceptance. (FWIW, lots of colleges do this–including UMIami.)
heavy-duy weeding of applicants in required pre-med classes. If only 10% of the class gets an A, by the end of the pre-med gauntlet senior year, you have successfully reduced nearly all your freshmen pre-med hopefuls to just a few, but a few who are likely to get accepted into med school
“medical school” is not defined. It could mean just MD programs, but it could also mean MD, DO, DDS/DMD, NP, APRN, AA, PA, PsyD, DPT, SLP, DAud, OD, MPH, RT, RadT, NMT, or any health career that requires post-grad training all lumped together. Or it may include all those plus and just about any overseas medical program you can imagine (like Caribbean med and nursing schools–where the primary requirement for admission is a checkbook).
that high placement rate counts not just this year’s graduating seniors, but also alumni for several years after graduation including who have attended SMPs or other grade enhancing post-bacc programs before they were accepted
IOW, you simply cannot take any college’s claim of “high placement rate into med school” at face value. The data is manipulated six ways to Sunday.
I can’t tell you what to do. Only you can decide what is best for you.
If you are so unhappy that it impacts your ability to be successful academically or if you are so socially alienated from your classmates that you are completely isolated, then you should transfer.
If you just haven’t found your “people” yet or if your college experience just isn’t quite what you hoped it would be–then –use your best judgement.
Just don’t expect med school adcomms to give any special consideration re: your grades if you transfer.
Med schools will view Miami, ND, and BC as the same.
I totally understand the Greek issue. My son went to a college with a good number of Greeks. He found his own tribe. Frankly, many successful premeds are not Greek. Join your premed group at college. Join the social/honor society for your major. Many of those students will not be Greek.
Do you have a part time job? Are you shadowing/volunteering/research? Keep yourself busy.
I don’t think transferring is a good idea for a premed.
If you wish to transfer, transfer to a similarly ranked LAC or university without Greek life or where Greek life is limited.
UMiami’s vibe is not for everyone. It’s too bad you couldn’t read up on it before you enrolled, as it’s quite distinctive.
Examples of colleges you could transfer to: Skidmore, WPI, Franklin and Marshall, Whitman, St olaf, Connecticut College, Rhodes…
You could also try to transfer ‘up’ to Brown or Haverford but you may take risks with your GPA.
@mom2collegekids Why don’t you think transferring is a good idea for pre med? Also I don’t have any part time job, but I’m looking into doing research and such. I’m taking a heavy course load this semester (20 credits) so any free time is spent either relaxing or doing homework.
Rural America is having trouble getting enough Doctors. In Maine, over 10% of the Doctors have their DO from one school, New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, Maine . This is the only medical school in Maine. The DO designation is accepted as an MD across the country. If it were not for the highly qualified doctors from India, Germany and Turkey et al overseas sources, we would be in real trouble.
These DO schools are easier to gain admission than HYP, but are very concerned about your MCAT scores. Some schools even have prior agreement’s with some premed programs for admission to their DO programs. Both RPI and WPI have some agreements. WPI also has arrangements with Tufts for DVM, but they may be only for entering freshmen.
STEM schools are not the easiest places to obtain a high GPA as the normal workload is 36 semester hours per year. You might want to consider the advantage of a pre-med major which offers a realistic career option like Biomedical Engineering as your premed program. A BS in biology does not pay well. BME does pay well. In any case, the work load will be heavy at these schools, but many (not all) med schools are aware of the workload differences and GPA expectations may differ by major. These schools have Greek life but neither school is known for their parties. They are too busy. Many students in STEM schools are very involved with athletics as it helps to manage your day and to boost your energy level.
If you work in rural America for some years after graduation there are programs to pay off your Med School debt.
Maine has the oldest population in the country, i.e., lots of customers! The sailing, fishing, hiking, snowmobiling, white water rafting and lobster are great!
Not only you have to readjust your social and academic life in a transfer but also you have to consider if all the credits are transferable or not. Many school don’t take all the credits in a transfer, you may have to set back a semester or more, thus the expense. In addition, you will not have the same financial aid in the new school, most of the financial aids are given only to the entering freshman.
If you can maintain that GPA at Miami and your MCATs etc. are OK, you have a really a good chance. I wouldn’t transfer over social life, particularly to a harder school.