I read that a high percent of students get accepted to medical school from Penn. What are other “good” sides to attending Penn for pre med?
% of med school acceptances is one of the most easily manipulated stats. It means that better schools med school advising is better than other schools. Top schools have higher med school admit rates b/c top schools have better academic students-- if you think about it.
Also one factor is that by senior year, only a handful of students remain on the pre-med track – many have dropped out. Some surveys say that almost a third of some entering classes are desirous of “pre-med”. Come senior year, that number drops to about 75. If 73 of those kids get into med school – guess what? Great acceptance rate.
What medquaker says is of more importance – for those who are truly going to remain premed until the end, what research ops and advising is available. You’re perfectly fine with Penn.
Most of the variables like in you, frankly. Will YOU remain on the pre-med track? When I was in my 1st year Chem class in another Ivy, we cynically joked about how after mid terms, interest in Psychology majors just jumped – b/c so many med school wannbees had gotten Cs and Ds
Having access to a top research facility that is walking distance from your dorm is a huge plus.
Also, if you do switch out, Penn has an unusual breadth of top programs available. You will find some outstanding premeds changing programs just because they discovered another interests, and not because they are struggling. That happens in difficult majors all over Penn.
I know students that enjoy Penn’s pre med program, but others have dropped out and moved to easier majors. One thing you should know is that science and math classes can be rough for some students at Penn. The classes are curved, and the best students get the A’s. It can be hard to be at the top since the caliber of students is so high. I’ve heard some people say that a good option is to go to a less competitive school, get excellent grades, and then apply to ivy league med schools. I’m not trying to discourage you from applying to Penn. I love it! However, if I had wanted to be pre med or pre law, I might have thought twice about going to Penn and considered more mid range or upper mid range options. Just look at all your options and realize that many drop out, and only the best students remain when it is actually time to apply to med school.
Having the hospital right on campus certainly doesn’t hurt.
I dont agree that u need to go to a less competitive, lower tier school if you are pre-med quite the contrary actually. If you don’t overload yourself with too many classes or an unnecessarily difficult major and also are very proactive and diligent about scheduling your classes correctly, then you have a very good chance of getting a good enough GPA for top med schools. People who are weeded out are usually those you are not organized from the get go and don’t have a sense of clear direction that medicine is their goal. The advantage of penn is the presence of the med school and the hospital right there on campus, and the actual access that undergrads have to research opportunities there. Penn Med and the hospitals are some of the very best in the world. Getting involved in a research project there can open many doors. Researches, professors there are top of the field, their name has big clout in medical circles. A letter of recommendation from then will give you an edge for med school. You just need to be super proactive and dedicated from the beginning, space out your pre-med requirements so that you do not overload yourself and you can perform your best on each and make sure to meet with your premedical advisor early on.