<p>I'm a sophomore in high school, and I'm just now starting to think about where I want to go for college, and what I want to study. I've got my eye on medicine, so I read about Northwestern's HPME (Honors Program in Medical Education). It consists of usually three years of undergraduate, and then you are guaranteed into their medical school (without having to take the MCAT).</p>
<p>Does anyone how hard it is to get into the HPME program? I have straight A's, I take all the honors programs available, I will soon become more involved in extracurriculars, and I rank in the top 10% of my class. What courses in high school should I make sure that I take? What ACT or other test scores should I aim to get?</p>
<p>It’s similar to the Rice-Baylor program. I think only a dozen or so people get in each year (please correct me if I’m way off). It is very, very, very difficult to get in.</p>
<p>"as hard or harder than getting into HYP. Aim to get 2250+ / 35+ on ACT/SAT</p>
<p>-the key is to make sure you win some major research awards. but yes, keeping up good grades in challenging courses is a good start."</p>
<p>Sigh. I have top marks in all my science and math courses. I have 2250+ SAT scores. Only downfall is my research. I spent ALL summer going to university profs, asking for interns and stuff like that. THey rejected me, the “high school student” because university students “need it more” (which I understand), and they don’t think I’m qualified for it. There was one research thing that accepted 10 people out of all of the province, and they required biology, which I didn’t take at that time (took it in summer because of course restrictions). Guess no HPME for me.</p>
<p>^It doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have any chance at all, you’ll probably make it to the interview round if they like your application. So just make sure you have something unique that’ll make you stand out, if not research awards.</p>
<p>Research is not a must. It helps but it’s not a requirement at all. After all, being a good researcher and a good practicing MD is a very different thing. Research is very much an academic and solo endeavor; it may show you have a big brain but you are not interacting with patients and you are still pretty clueless on what the working environment is like. I think working/volunteering experience in hospitals/clinics is probably more important. It shows that you have demonstrated interest and some experience/idea of what the working environment or what being a doctor is like. All the competitive candidates will show they are smart enough to study medicine with their high test scores/GPAs; you don’t need to show you have extra IQ because it isn’t really as important as demonstrated interest in medicine.</p>
<p>Think twice before getting too enthused about these 6-7 year med programs. First off, if you’re talented enough to get into HYPetc, then you’ve got what it takes for the 4 yr premed. Put it this way, NUs MED school is ranked somewhere around #30, even though the undergrad is higher, and this program is “prestigious”. Conversely, what if instead, you get into “prestigious” regular undergrad harvard ( just an example, to prove a point ),get great grades, and get into Hopkins or Harvard med ( #1 and 2), which scenario is preferable ? Don’t you think you could do that? Who’s to say you couldn’t? well, going to the 6 yr programs would be that kind of statement…it’s like a vote of no confidence by yourself against yourself.And by throwing away your right to a good undergrad education, and not vetting yourself through the normal 4 yr premed selection process, you are depriving yourself of a great experience.( It may not be much fun, but it’s great ).</p>
<p>^the problem is <em>most</em> applicants from Harvard don’t get into NU med school. you’d be surprised how applying to med school is a whole new ball game. by the way, NU’s med school is ranked #19 and you’ve been misinformed. it is ranked even higher (probably in the top-10) if you go by selectivity (GPA/MCAT).</p>
<p>also, at Harvard, you’d have the pressure to get high GPA and go through a laborous process, which makes college application looks easy. the benefit from HPME is much more than just the ticket to NU med school; the academic freedom during the undergrad years is just as precious. you only go to college once; years from now, you want remember your college years with precious moments instead of orgo exams or all-nighters in libary. ;)</p>
<p>“I spent ALL summer going to university profs, asking for interns and stuff like that. THey rejected me, the “high school student” because university students “need it more” (which I understand), and they don’t think I’m qualified for it.”</p>
<p>Wow…what university?</p>
<p>I live in Ann Arbor, and asked 3 professors for internships as a high school junior and 2 accepted me. /shrug. It was a really good experience and I’m still doing stuff now as a high school senior. Go Blue!!!</p>
<p>Heplayer92…or anyone whose done research for that matter…how did you go about getting these positions?? TO get into HPME, I want to get a research paper with a prof., and was wondering how you guys got it. Thanks!!</p>
<p>Yeah, what university was this? I am working at UChicago, and the professors seemed willing to take high school students in! PM me if you need more help!</p>
<p>I have a friend who took HPME over Yale and Stanford (likely too). So yeah, this is some tough stuff. i’d say a 1-2% admit rate. Since Feinberg school of medicine is one of the best in the country, and medical school admissions is WAY harder than undergraduate admissions.</p>
<p>And just because you do the HPME program doesn’t mean you HAVE to go to the NU med school, you can leave and apply for other med schools after 3 or 4 years if you want. Just because you go to HYPS undergrad does no way at all guarantee you (or even close to guarantee you) to getting into Harvard or Hopkins med school. If you want to have a chance at the top med schools like those, i’d actually recommend applying to Northwestern’s ISP program as well. Apparently ISP makes the MCAT seem like cake due to the program’s rigor.</p>