@Superpatel101 Thank you for the clarification. Do you understand how admissions to medical school works? If you are serious about being medical school bound, the biggest gift you can give yourself is little to no debt for UG bc medical school is expensive. Admissions to medical school is not based on school name.
Have you looked into some of the other options? High merit schools and possibly attending on full scholarship? BS-MD programs? https://www.premedhq.com/2011/07/list-of-bamd-programs.html (One of my dd’s friends at USColumbia is a Top Scholar (attending on scholarship) and is in their BS-MD program.)
Fwiw, one of my ds’s friends when they were UGs at UAlabama is now at Harvard in their MD/PhD. https://www.hms.harvard.edu/md_phd/admission/funding.html If school name matter, a student graduating from Bama would not have been one of the 10-13 admitted.
@mom2collegekids is a good source of information for med school admissions. She might have some suggestions for you.
It’s true that it will be easier for you to enter a US residency and practice in the US if you attend a US medical school; it’s not true that you will be disadvantaged in US medical school admission if you attend a Canadian college–provided you have completed the required pre-req classes, score well on the MCAT and have accumulated the expected ECs. (But this is true for all med school applicants regardless where they attend college.)
AMCAS (the central medical school application process) recognizes and accepts Canadian transcripts. So do TMDSAS (for Texas medical & dental schools) and AACOMAS (osteopathic medical schools). All US medical schools recognize and accept Canadian degrees for admission.
Your biggest handicap w/r/t a US medical admission is that you will be considered an OOS applicant at every public med school in the US. All public med schools preferentially admit state residents because the state government and state taxes support these institutions. Attending a US college won’t eliminate this issue and you will still be OOS at every public med school. (Unless you take gap year or two post-graduation and establish your own independent state residency.)
Please be aware that most med schools will ask for family financial information just like undergrads so and assign a family EFC. There is very limited aid for student attending med school except for federal loans.
Admission requirements for US medical school are fairly minimal;
1 year of biology w/labs
1 year general chem w/ labs
1 year organic chem w/labs
1 year physics w/labs
1 semester (or trimester) biochem
1 semester college level mathematics (typically calc 1)
1 semester statistics or biostatistics
1 year of writing intensive classes (as determined by your college)
1 year of social sciences (not required at most med schools, but topics in sociology & psych are tested on the MCAT)
Also a number of medical school have eliminated and most are in the process of eliminating pre-reqs and have instead moved to competency-based admission where no specific classes are required but instead the applicant is expected to demonstrate competency in certain basic skills areas.
BA/MD programs sponsored by private medical schools will not have any residency restrictions, but for public med schools, residency requirements are fairly common. (Which makes sense because the mission of a state med school is to provide doctors who will work in the state after graduation and also because state monies support the med school.)
Regardless of the sponsoring institution, BA/MD admission is extremely competitive and admission rates are on par with admission rates at HYPSM.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I’ve looked into some of these BS/MD programs and many of them seemed promising since some offered guaranteed acceptances or programs to allow one to get their MD as fast as 6 years! However, I was a little weary at the fact that no “big name” schools had BS/MD programs.
I know in Canada, your undergraduate school doesn’t really matter but I didn’t know it was like that in the US as well. Would it not help to get into a reputable med school if I went to a fairly reputable school for my undergrad? Or do I just need a good GPA, MCAT score, and extracurriculars?
@WayOutWestMom Thanks for the clearing up that misconception! However, from what I’ve heard from real Canadian pre-meds and other forums is that in Canadian schools it’s harder to set up more courses and schedule the pre-reqs required for US med schools. And even though you showed 2 examples of schools where pre-reqs aren’t a problem, how mainstream has this practice become? Because I know getting into a medical school is EXTREMELY difficult and I don’t think I should rely on 1 or 2 schools to be the ones I’ll apply too…
You don’t need to get your MD from a “big name” medical school to become a practicing doctor. So…put that notion aside.
I’m going to give you some very free advice…students can get accepted to medical school (as well as other professional and graduate programs) from ANY undergraduate college.
I would strongly suggest that you concentrate NOW on finding an undergraduate college that is affordable. Once you get there, if you decide to consider applying to medical school in the future…fine. You can take the required courses anywhere.
You are trying to make decisions about undergrad school options based on the possibility that you might apply to medical school in the future. Most students who enter college as pre-med wannabes never actually apply to medical school. And of those who do, a large percentage don’t get accepted to medical school…at all. @WayOutWestMom can give you those stats if she hasn’t already done so on this lengthy thread.
So…look for undergrad schools. And more free advice, I forget where you love, but if you are also a Canadian citizen, you have some very fine colleges in Canada, that are much less costly than schools in the U.S. will be for you.
An annual survey of admission officers at US medical schools has consistently revealed, year after year, that the prestige of an applicant’s undergrad is among the least important factors considered when making decisions to interview applicants.
It’s well on its way to becoming the predominate method. AAMC and LCME (the organization that accredits all US allopathic med schools) have adopted resolutions requiring all med schools to adopt competency based admissions. Most US med schools are transitioning to competency based admissions right now–though not all of them are there yet.
Some other schools that use competency based admission currently–Chicago, Einstein, Columbia, Duke. Stanford, Michigan State, UCLA…
And @thumper1 is right. Somewhere between 67 and 75% of freshmen pre-meds will never apply to medical school. Of those that persist and apply, 60% will fail to gain a single acceptance anywhere.
All pre-meds need to have Plan B career in mind when they attend college. And pre-meds especially need to be wary of taking on debt since the average med school graduate has over $200K in student debt at med school graduation. (BTW, that average is artifically depressed by the fact that 18% of med school grads have ZERO debt at graduation. largely due to funding by the Bank of Mom & Dad.)
I think the issue is that at Canadian colleges it might be difficult to take classes that prepare for the MCAT since students are supposed to take most classes in one subject only with very few electives allowed.
@MYOS1634 Yes you’re right, which is the reason why I want to go to an American school.
But as @WayOutWestMom has explained to me I don’t need to worry too much about getting into prestigious schools for undergrad. However, if it doesn’t matter then why would anyone want to go to a prestigious school for undergrad if they’re planning on going to med school?
Repeat after me: college classes do not prepare students to take the MCAT.
At best, college coursework provides some (but not all) of the foundational knowledge that will be utilized in the problem analysis exam that is the MCAT. Pre-meds need to do significant preparation on their own. Not even “pre-req” coursework at prestige undergrad provides an adequate basis for a decent MCAT score.
A biologic chemistry major at UT or UBC can take all the bio, chem, physics and math needed for the foundational knowledge for the science portions of the MCAT as part of their degree program. Social science preparation can be done through self study or outside online coursework if not available as part of the degree program.
Why do people choose to attend prestigious schools for undergrad?
Because they can
Because of bragging rights and family pride
Because if they are among those 75% who do not apply to med school, they gain access to the alumni network and the advantages those contacts may offer in other career paths
Because if they are among the 60% who apply but don't get accepted to med school, ditto the above
Because the prestige school offered the best FA for their personal situation
Because of the breadth of the fields of studies offered
Because of the chance to attend classes with world class professors
I'm sure there are as many other reasons as there are students
so anecdotal here, but i recently met a student who went to a small “podunk state directional college” in the midwest to stay near the family farm. Student is now going to to Harvard Med school. Surprised me, but it made me think of all the things i’ve heard on this site about undergrad college & med school. Student was smart & took advantage of super cheap college.
Depends on your stats and family income. Generous meet need schools would be cheaper if you’re lower income. If our family makes 180+k then merit is likely a better choice.
@Superpatel101 There is no simple answer to your question. “Cheaper” is in the eye of the beholder. We cannot afford our expected contribution and our income is lower than $180,000. So, from our family’s perspective, that is a completely arbitrary statement.
FWIW, our kids who have been competitive for admissions have earned large merit scholarships. One attended a small public tech university and now has a fabulous career as a chemE (he just received a promotion today. )One attended UAlabama on full scholarship. (He is now a grad student at a top 5 physics dept.) Another is a sophomore at USColumbia. (She does not attend on full scholarship, but it is close.)
Full ride scholarships are not common, but for kids who are extremely competitive students, they can earn a lot of $$ in merit. Many of these universities have specialized honors programs for a small cohort of students. For example, Bama has Randall’s Research Scholars. USC has Top Scholars. The kids in these programs have access to specialized mentoring, UG research, etc.
Merit $$ can definitely make attending college affordable, far less than even generous meet need schools (it all depends on how much you can afford vs how much merit money you can earn.) Just keep in mind that the best scholarships come from the universities themselves.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I see now. So if merit scholarships are the ones that make a big difference then would it be easier to get a bigger merit scholarship in a smaller college? And if these scholarships come from the universities themselves, do I need to apply separately for them or do they pick from their applicants?
@thumper1
1.) They will be paying for it primarily
2.) I’ve yet to write my SAT but considering my practice tests, I’m expecting at least 1500. In terms of GPA, I have a 4.0 unweighted and a 4.2 weighted
3.) I’m open to all kinds of school as I’m expecting to apply to about 10-20. The schools I’ve looked at in depth include John Hopkins, University of Chicago, University of Michigan Ann Arbour, etc.
4.) My parent’s annual income is 60-80k
5.) I have a younger sister who will be attending college 2 years after me
@Superpatel101 Again, there are no single answers. You need to research school by school. Many of the deadlines for merit awards are early. I would be prepared for anything from Oct 15-Nov 1 deadlines for many of the high dollar competitive scholarships.
But, @thumper1’s questions are the ones you should answer. The more info you share,the better suggestions you will receive.
)One attended UAlabama on full scholarship. (He is now a grad student at a top 5 physics dept.) Another is a sophomore at USColumbia. (She does not attend on full scholarship, but it is close.)