<p>I'm planning to do biochemistry/pre-med at PSU. I would like to go to a top 20 med schools (if possible) because I want to do medical research or administration. However, I would need at least a 3.7-3.8 to get into a M.D./Ph.D or M.D/M.B.A program. So how tough is it to do well at PSU? I would consider myself a hardworking student...</p>
<p>Lots of weed out sciences in the early going. Calc, too. If those are your cup of tea, and you work hard you should be fine.</p>
<p>Pretty sure anything Pre-med anywhere is not necessarily “easy” so I don’t know what you intend on getting out of asking this.</p>
<p>Pre - Med will be a challenge where ever you go. Granted PSU does require an extra course in calculus (my school only requires clac one for bio and so do a lot of other schools), however, organic chemistry, physics, gen chem, gen bio are all in there and they will do their best to see if you really have what it takes. A 3.7 will be really hard to get at PSU or any other top school. The good news is that med school admission committees know that PSU is a tough school so I would imagine even a 3.5ish GPA would look good. I could be wrong though</p>
<p>I’ve taken AP Chem, bio and physics, and have done well in all of them, so I should have some advantage on the competition. I know it won’t be easy, but I was just wondering how current students feel about its difficulty.</p>
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<p>Uhhh, I would not assume any such thing. A LOT of kids going to college with thoughts of pre-med in their heads have taken all the AP sciences and “done well” in them. No matter what school you go to, the ostensible pre-med majors (and certainly the pre-req courses) are usually filled with high acheivers. Plan on working hard to stay competitive against a whole bunch of kids just like you.</p>
<p>By the way, you don’t have to be a science major to get into med school. You can have any major you want and still get admitted to med schools. Just make sure that you take all the courses that are required. Since most of those courses are also required for your “normal” science major, that tends to become the norm. However, I’ve known music majors that went on to become MD’s. It all comes down to your GPA, MCAT scores and the letter(s) of reference that you present.</p>