<p>How impressive is an Amherst degree? Does it help when it comes to applying to med school or law school?I’m asking because my original goal was ultimately to get into a 7 year med;however, I didn’t get in. While this is good in some respects in that I have the chance to explore some of my other interests, get a great education,learn to critically think, and get into an even better medical school, at the same time I don’t have reassurance about my future and if I don’t do well enough here, I feel like I will end up not being able to get in grad school. Also, will medical schools be fine with a slightly lower GPA because it’s Amherst? And for people who have gone through the premed route here, did you find it difficult?</p>
<p>As a rising freshman, I have the same questions. Here is a guide for Pre-meds I found on the Amherst website. I haven’t read all of this, but I thought it seemed like a good thing to bookmark: <a href=“https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/careers/students/gradstudy/health/guide[/url]”>https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/careers/students/gradstudy/health/guide</a></p>
<p>Who do you want to impress? Why? Should that be a major factor in your choice for college? These are personal questions and different individuals will have unique answers. Amherst and other top LACs arguably provide some students with the best undergraduate education in the world taking into consideration the limitations and advantages of smaller size. On the other hand, it also may not be the best education for some other top students given their particular academic and extracurricular interests or their personalities and personal preferences of campus lifestyle-or their preoccupation with graduating from the most “prestigious” college. It is highly-regarded by graduate schools and most knowledgable employers. However, if you place high value on your undergraduate degree as a credential to impress others rather than as an educational experience, then I would suggest going to an ivy league school or a large university with strong graduate programs (or perhaps strong sports teams-Stanford, Michigan, and Duke come to my mind:)) since those are the schools that most people in the general public know about. They are much better known to the average person on the street than Amherst. I currently live in Asia and (unfortunately) most people here are impressed by paper credentials. On the other hand, 5 years out in the job market most employers do not care where you went to school-it is who you are, what have you done, and how you will likely perform. This is true anywhere in the world. I would argue that places like Amherst can prepare some people as well as, if not better than, any other institution in the world. However, you must be willing to place higher value on an outstanding LAC experience and be concerned less with “prestige.” That is the trade-off.</p>
<p>I forgot to add. FYI, Amherst does have one of the highest premed acceptance rates in the country. So do a number of other top LACs. Unlike at many universities, the premedical advisor is not deluged by a huge number of applications and the student can meet and actually get to know him/her. This enables the student to receive personalized advice (rather than a generic talk by a premed advisor) and a well-crafted recommendation letter from the premed committee. It also is easier to get to know profs. so you will get more personal and insightful letters of reference, too. I have served previously on admissions committees at several of the top medical schools and have read hundreds of applications so I can confidently say that students from top LACs are evaluated similarly to students from other top universities.</p>
<p>If you currently are a freshman, I would suggest talking with the premed advisor. Most colleges have data showing rates of acceptance vs. GPA and MCAT scores of their students. It will help you know where to apply and enable you to assess the likelihood of acceptance at medical school. Amherst will write a premed advisory letter for any student that applies to medical school whereas some schools will not do so if a student’s GPA falls below a certain level. </p>
<p>One reason for NOT attending a 7 year medical school, is that many 17 to 18 year olds really do not know that much about medicine or about what career would be best for them. Attending a college like Amherst gives you time, and the luxury to explore, what you may really be passionate about. Many of the most successful people in the world are former premeds. They were able to channel their interest in science, humanitarian concerns or creativity into other areas. You may find out that you actually find something more exciting. If you enter a 7 year medical school, it is very hard to change course given the high cost of medical education and the time commitment/effort expended going to medical school</p>
<p>Full disclosure: I am an Amherst alumnus.</p>
<p>I agree with all pmyen has said , if not with her somewhat harsh tone.I am an amherst alum who went on to what many consider to be the most prestigious medical school, and I am now a professor, division chief, and researcher at another very prestigious medical school.</p>
<p>I worked very hard at Amherst, but I also had a fantastically fun time there (albeit the social life was different then,based around coed fraternities that if the admin was smart they might think about bringing back). If you are smart enough to get into A you are smart enough to do well there, if you are committed to that goal and the goal of med school. </p>
<p>I am not aware of a single friend who came to A set on becoming a doctor who didn’t get there. And there is no doubt that you will get the benefit of the doubt in terms of your GPA vs lesser schools (but not vs ivies). </p>
<p>People in the broader community either are well-informed and know about A and the smaller top LA colleges or they are not and don’t. Graduate schools most definitely know! Higher level, elite companies also know. And I think those who know give an A degree equal weight to any Ivy degree. And when you run into another Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin, etc graduate out in the world (which is quite common in for example academic medicine), you can be sure that they know, and they will go through a wall to help you in a way Ivy alums just don’t understand. If you want to get a job with a manufacturing company or a smaller services company, those recruiters may not know the value of A like they know Harvard. Basically, the better educated the audience, the more they’ll appreciate an A degree. Your second cousin-in-law is likely to know less about Amherst than about harvard, if you care about that sort of thing.</p>
<p>The education I received at A has proven time and again to be superior. I am a better wriTer and a clearer thinker than the vast majority of people I have encountered at the major medical institutions in this country, and I most definitely did not arrive at Amherst that way. The communication skills you learn in small classes and a small social context, where you are forced to constantly discuss, write, and interact are ideal preparation for anything - medical or not - unless you’re the type who wants to be hidden away in a basement lab all day </p>
<p>My amherst friends have all had rich and successful lives. A remains a big part of nearly all of those lives.there wwill be something like 70% attendance at our 25 year reunion, which makes a very clear statement If you asked any of us if we wished we’d gone to Princeton or Yale, I don’t think you’d get a single “yes.”</p>
<p>I could go on (and on) but I’m trying to type on a darn iPad!</p>
I sincerely appreciate the above comments and experiences shared by alums. Acceptances for regular decision applicants are not due for another several weeks, but with a bit of luck, I hope my S will have an LAC vs Ivy decision to make. I personally feel LAC is a great fit, with A at the top of the list, but fighting hard to keep my opinions to myself.
Pre-med kids do end up getting kinda stressed, but Amherst does have a super high grad school acceptance rate. Pretty sure valedictorian of harvard med or law school last year was an amherst grad. If you are dead set on med school, and you are not scared of working hard, you will probably end up there regardless of whether you come to Amherst or not - Amherst simply will prepare you better.
FWIW, my wife, one of the first Lady Jeffs, double majored in philosophy and Russian. Three years after graduation, she was admitted to the pre-med program at Penn, went to med school there and ultimately became an eye surgeon. Penn was specifically looking for liberal arts majors who weren’t pre-professionals for their program. The Amherst degree gave her immediate credibility in gaining admission to the program.
I agree with shrages. My career path is similar to his as I also am a professor at a very prestigious medical school. I was able to attend a top medical school/residency/fellowship because of my preparation at Amherst. Throughout my career, I have continued to meet Amherst people in the highest echelons of medicine or their chosen fields of endeavor. Amherst grads are highly successful according to whatever terms they may define that success.
Amherst prepared me very well for my career and life in general. I am grateful for my incredible learning experiences at Amherst-both academically and socially. I have found that having a liberal arts background while working as a physician-scientist has enabled me to look further and deeper for answers to complex problems, particularly when I need to work and communicate with others outside my immediate areas of expertise. I also know that my Amherst education has enabled me to write and speak with greater clarity and effectiveness than many of my professional colleagues-important when talking to patients, teaching medical students, or writing grants. Writing 3 papers a week for an entire semester in English 12 with a most demanding prof., G. Armour Craig of the English Dept., was painful but certainly had a beneficial effect on me:). I also think that attending a college where students and faculty were heavily invested and engaged in the life of their community left a transformative and enduring mark on me. When entered Amherst, I was a shy and introverted freshman. When I left, I had become a more mature, informed, and self-confident person.
Hey Amherst alums,
I am doing very well at Amherst. I definitely think I made the right decision coming here and love the small class sizes and my tight knit community of friends here that I do not think I would have gotten elsewhere at a large university. In regards to my original post, I think a lot of my initial fears were just self-perpetuated. Working hard here, I have been able to maintain a 3.8 and still maintain an active social life. I am looking to apply this upcoming cycle so if anyone has questions, feel free to ask.
I could not open tha t link…says page moved
I personally found Amherst degrees (diplomas) to be very nice looking.
Whom* do you wish to impress?
If no one mentioned it yet–I can’t bring myself to read the thread–Harvard looked to Amherst as an exemplar when considering how to improve its undergraduate experience.
Thank you for sharing! I am moved by your post. As May 1st is around the corner, my son is still debating between Amherst and big sunny California public universities Ucla and Berkeley, I will talk to my son and let him read your post after he came back.
As you probably know by now, prestige is in the eye of the beholder. We live in San Francisco. If you ask the average California passing on the street, they likely never have heard of Amherst, and they all revere Berkeley (UCLA as well, but to a lesser degree). However, if you ask our various friends who are doctors, lawyers, CEOs, tech entrepreneurs, college professors and so forth, every one of them is more impressed by an Amherst degree than a Berkeley undergraduate degree.
The real question here is simple: big or small. Where will your child thrive? If you want a very large university experience, with all the pluses and minuses that entails, Berkeley is the most prestigious large public university in the country. If you want a small college experience, with all the pluses and minuses that entails, Amherst is as elite as it can get.
I know this is a year old thread, but I think this link would contribute well to the discussion. Although this link is 6 years old, the subject matter, I’m sure, hasn’t changed much at all. Wall Street Journal’s Top 50 Feeder Schools (to grad programs):
Hey Guys,
I just graduated and on a side note I have not applied to medical school yet. Although I do intend on eventually going to medical school, I want to encourage all Amherst students to branch out and not get trapped into the mindset of just medicine since the field has become a lot more bureaucratic with the red tapes of malpractice, growing insurance power, decreasing compensation, etc. to the point that the role of the doctor itself has changed. Although I had the best time here at Amherst, I wish I had also taken more economics courses and branched out more outside of the sciences. Going forward, I still intend on getting that MD, but will also look towards a potential MBA or other business ventures in the future just so I can have more autonomy in my career. If anyone is still going into medicine, I still support that but realize that you should be aware of the changing environment of medicine.The days of physicians making a lot are over - salaries have more or less decreased or stagnated when you account for the inflation. That is not to say that money or status should be the primary motive, but rather that going to medicine is a huge opportunity cost and you would make much more in many other careers, especially if you are competent enough to go to medical school. I may sound a little hypocritical being that I am considering the business side of medicine, but that is more so that I can still enjoy practicing medicine while having more freedom in my work/life balance.
Top Ph.D. feeder schools.
Amherst #9
https://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/infographics/top-feeders-phd-programs