I am considering both universities and liberal arts colleges to help me prepare for med school and intend to major psychology. Do you guys think it would be better to go to a regular university or an LAC for pre med?
Also, please inform me about the pre medicine program in these colleges that I’m considering. I want to take into account if they have hospitals nearby for me to volunteer in, if they have good pre medicine advising, how hard it is to get A’s, the research opportunities and shadowing opportunities. Also, one of the reasons I am attracted to LACs is because I’ve heard that it’s hard to get letters of recommendations in big universities where I have to stand out to the professor, so please consider this as well.
- Cornell
- UCLA
- Emory
- Case Western Reserve
- Northeastern
- Davidson College
- Boston University
- University of Wisconsin - Madison
- University of Washington
- Colgate
- Lehigh
- University of Pittsburgh
Thank you!
You have to “stand out to the professor” at an LAC as well- the LAC environment just gives you more ways for them to see you up close & personal (ie, smaller classes, potential for doing research with them). And just b/c the name is less famous to you, be aware that there will be highly motivated and very talented students at all of those LACs, so ‘standing out’ won’t be something that you can take for granted.
It seems as if you are looking for absolute data in areas where it does not exist, so that you can make a list of schools that will guarantee you med school admission.
For example, ‘how hard is it to get As’ is something that is both largely individual and something for which nobody has good comparative data. Ime, STEM grading is tough at Cornell- but I have had people on CC say that in their experience it was not. Which of us is right? Maybe both / maybe it depends on the specific class / maybe it depends on what you call ‘tough’. Similarly, some of the LACs you list are not seen as having especially tough grading overall- yet the ‘weed-out’ classes are effective at their job.
Both LACs and Universities can prepare you well for med schools- neither is absolutely better than the other. The best advice is still the same (and you won’t like it): pick colleges or universities where you are likely to shine.That means you have to figure out what environments suit you and your academic / personal strengths and weaknesses best and then apply there.
This is assuming that finances aren’t an issue, but if they are, figure that out as well.
fwiw, there is pretty much always a hospital nearby a university.
Question for @WayOutWestMom: do you know if there a benefit for an international student in going to a state university undergrad and then applying to that state’s med school?
^ Some state universities offer no financial aid at all for undergraduate international students.
Furthermore, if the following page is accurate, relatively few public universities even interview international students for med school admissions:
https://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/medical-schools-that-accept-international-students/
Agreed, @tk21769, that the finances part has to be clear first.
But I asked b/c some the undergrad link can be helpful for domestic students & I wondered if that applied to international students. I know that UKy, for example, gives strong priority to students with ‘strong ties’ to the state, including OOS students who attend undergrad instate, and wondered if that happens more broadly (I think that they specifically require legal residency for international students, so not nec good for the OP).
OP, without knowing your relevant statistics and other information, it’s difficult to discuss whether the schools you have listed are even viable options for you; most of them can be pretty difficult to get into. You might want to “lower your sights” a bit.
Purely going off the schools from your list that I have the most knowledge of, Pitt and Case Western are terrific if you can keep up with other students there. I wouldn’t attend either if I had lower than Top 50% (or maybe Top 30%) stats going in. Pitt has several hospitals within walking distance and is large. CW has two (if I recall correctly) and is medium. Both are true urban settings.
I’ll admit to being surprised U Rochester isn’t on you list when the other two are. The vast majority for consider CW also consider URoc with the difference in which one they like better (after finances are considered) being whether they want a true urban or urban with a campus bubble (URoc). URoc also has a major hospital right across the street.
All three have highly regarded med schools at those hospitals.
Our school has students who go to Lehigh, but none I can think of have aspired to go Pre-Med. Ditto with Cornell. That in no way means they are bad at it. I just don’t have enough info to share specifically in their cases. Personally, I think either place would be fine - again - if you can keep up with top students at those schools.
None of the others get regular applicants or attendees from the schools where I work so others will know more info.
@JaeJeon: You posted on your other thread that you are an International student studying in the US without a green card or US citizenship. You have been given good advice on your options in regards to Medical school as an International applicant. Are you hoping for different answers? That you will be able to afford an undergraduate degree that could cost upwards to $280K/year along with the addition of Medical school costs. That as an International applicant you will not be eligible for financial aid at a US Medical school and that your chances will some how higher than originally posted by @WayOutWestMom ?
Not sure what you are hoping posters to tell you other than you might need to rethink career direction based on the information you have been already given.
Best of luck but unfortunately you need to deal with the reality of the situation.
Not really unless somehow that student obtains a green card along the way. Enrollment policies at state med schools are set at the state government level. Since most public med schools will not accept international students, there’e no benefit to be gained by attending the associated state university.
@tk21769
That list is only partially accurate since the number of enrolled "internationals" reported includes Canadian students. About 1/3 of the programs listed accept ONLY Canadians.
One needs to check the MSAR to find out which med schools accept non-Canadian internationals.