I'm running out of reasons to convince myself; maybe yours will

<p>Does anyone know how to find out the percentage of Penn students that get accepted to med schools? I'm not talking about the percentage of Penn students that attend med schools after graduations. It's the acceptance number out of all that apply to med schools that I'm concerned with.</p>

<p>You can probably get that stat through the school, BUT...
In all pre-med programs, many students select themselves out and wind up not applying, so the stat doesn't have a lot of value. In other words, I knew a lot of classmates who were pre-med. After they get a C in Organic or one of the other pre-reqs, they change their major and never get to the point of applying to med school.</p>

<p>Penn Med School (ranked #4 by USNews) has has an increasingly large percentage of Penn students. Unfortunately, I cannot be more specific.</p>

<p>tienthangtuan, this is straight from the upenn career services website: </p>

<p>"Getting into medical school is a very competitive process. Nationally, only 50% of the individuals who applied for Fall 2002 admission to allopathic (MD degree-granting) medical schools were admitted. However, Penn applicants were much more successful in gaining admission. Among the 261 Penn applicants (both current students and alumni) for Fall 2002 admission, 198 of them, or 76%, were accepted. Of the graduating seniors, 83% were admitted that year."</p>

<p>if i'm an engineering major and i'm thinking about med school, do i need some undergrad courses to get that lined up? or what? because right now i'm thinking about anything from patent law, to m.d., to straight up engineering work/eventual p.e. license</p>

<p>help!</p>

<p>I was reading the Insider's Guide to Colleges for 2005 and came across something frightening about Penn's grading/curving system noted by a current Penn student: "the curves in most of the classes are scary. Basically, the point is to curve the class average to 80 percent, so that even if you get a 90 percent and everyone else gets a 95 percent, you get a C as your grade." I don't completely understand this statement myself, so I was hoping someone in here could explain it further, please. And also, if what she says is true, it must be really really difficult to get an A in some classes at Penn, right? Are science classes really challenging?</p>

<p>I'm not sure what that is referring to, but as far as I have experienced, that is FALSE. First off, if everyone gets a 95% on a midterm exam in a pre-med science class, just assume the sky is falling and the world is ending. It won't happen! The Curve, at least in non-Wharton courses, is only meant to help you, believe it or not. It is meant to compensate for professors adminstering exams at a comprehension level greater than was taught, by assigning relative letter grade values based on how everyone else does, instead of just screwing everyone. However, if the class average is really high, the curve is simply not used! Really. For a Calculus II exam this past semester, the class average was around the high 80s, so it was decided to simply not use the curve at all and have an A be the usual 90+. Bottom line is, unless you're in Wharton (which I don't know much about), you don't need to worry about the curve. It's not THAT bad. Just work hard and you'll definitely be fine. Science classes are challenging, but if you go to all the lectures and keep up with the course material as the class progresses instead of cramming at the last moment, there's no reason why you can't make A's. It's a grade inflated ivy, after all.</p>

<p>I'm a pre-med bio major, so I've had my share of tough science classes. However, hearing many people complain about the work load and difficulty of Penn classes, I just fear that making A's is impossible, in which case my chances of getting into my top med school choice would be diminished. About grade inflation, I know it's common among Ivies, so Penn shouldn't be an exception, right? And also, I really am looking forward to being able to study abroad at Cambridge or Oxford my junior year. At Brown the GPA requirements are 3.75/3.5 instead of 3.8/3.6 (at Penn). The differences are not big. However, does anyone know if these requirements are easily met if a student puts in his best efforts and his heart? At which school would it be less difficult and more convenient to study abroad at Cambridge/Oxford?</p>

<p>Am I the only person underwhelmed by the number of supposedly pre-med students on CC who are anxious to make sure their school is easy and/or has grade inflation?</p>

<p>tien, where are you transfering from?</p>

<p>Muppetcoat, I'm sure I sound a little shallow to you, caring too much about grade inflation and easy classes. I'm glad you brought up the point; no offense taken. But med school is going to be very stressful and expensive. My chances of obtaining a cheaper and, not necessarily easy, but relaxed and well-rounded education all lie upon my undergrad years. I am always willing to take up challenges and be stressed out. I'm not a quitter; I'm a fighter. But what I really meant was, sometimes being the best is not always best. Stretching oneself out in many directions and experiencing different things in different fields might help one build the character and maturity to handle the obstacles on one's chosen career path. That's the short version of my philosophy on undegrad education purposes. But it's just me.</p>

<p>Oh, I know- I just find the talk amusing. Actually, the GPA worries sound a lot like me freshman year. But I think you need to keep in mind that Med Schools KNOW where you went to undergrad. If you go to a school where the Avg. GPA is 2.5 and get a 3, that will still look better than a similarly ranked school where the Avg. GPA is 3 and you get a 3.</p>

<p>(For the record, I'm the biggest slacker on earth, so I have no business talking anyway. And my GPA would be helped greatly if the Penn Science Depts. would just go away.)</p>

<p>Thank you all for having been very nice and helpful. I chose Brown again over UPenn, but now I know many good things about UPenn that I can tell people, "Hey, it's a great school."</p>