I am an aspiring Pre-Med student and thinking about where to go to college. Does anyone know if UF is a good place to go for Pre-Med? I think UF looks like a great college for Pre-Med because it is highly ranked and has a tuition on the cheaper side at about $38,000 per year. The only concern I have is that I don’t know much about how good their Pre-Med program is and how well it compares to good private universities for Pre-Med like Boston University and etc. Does it set up students to have a great chance to get into a great Med School???
The AAMC puts out a report that list “Undergraduate Institutions Supplying Applicants to U.S. Medical Schools by Applicant Race and Ethnicity, 2017-2018”.
https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/applicantmatriculant/86042/factstablea2.html
Here’s a listing of the top 10 schools by applicants:
- University of California-Los Angeles: 926 **2. University of Florida: 839**
- University of Michigan-Ann Arbor: 776
- University of Texas at Austin: 773
- University of California-Berkeley: 741
- The Ohio State University Main Campus: 470
- University of Wisconsin-Madison: 464
- University of California-Davis:459
- University of Washington, Seattle: 454
- Rutgers University New Brunswick Campus,: 451
Boston College: 208
Keep in mind that UF has 3X the number of undergraduates than BC. However, this gives you a sense of schools that can produce large number of medical school applicants. UF is excellent are preparing competitive med school applicants. However, it is a large public university, and you may find other advantages to a smaller private college.
In addition to what @Gator88NE said above, it is an excellent school for premed because:
- highly ranked hospital and medical school right on campus for easy access to doctors and volunteer activities
- large research budget allow numerous options to participate in research
- being Florida’s flagship university that is ranked in Top 10 public colleges gives your degree a solid reputation.
If you graduate with a high GPA and get a top score on the MCAT, you’ll be on almost equal footing than those with degrees from the likes of Princeton or Duke.
By the way, my opinion above is unbiased and objective; it is only a coincidence that my son will be a freshman at UF this fall.
Thank you for your advice, this really helps a lot!
Im pre-health and I absolutely love being pre-health here! There are so many resources to do well in class, so many volunteer opportunities, and you’re always surrounded by like-minded people who really want to succeed.
I’m a student now and I cannot STRESS how much I LOVE the pre-med track here!!!
Sorry, any kid who says ‘i love the pre-med track’ is pulling your leg and isn’t doing pre-med. Pre-med is HARD everywhere. No one lives it. Dedicated students understand why it is tough though. 3/4 aspiring pre-meds will be weeded out by he time they manage to apply and it is not a fun path.
To have a real shot at making it through the pre-med gauntlet at UF, you need to be dedicated and hardworking, obviously, but also among the best students at the University. It means your wGPA must be about 4.5+ and test scores in the 33+/1450+ range.
Why does the scores have to be so high for UF just for pre med
Because 3/4 students are weeded out. And at UF, 4.3/ 1400/31 is just the top 25% threshold.
Except premeds are usually pretty competitive…and, in order to remain premed you must be in the top 10-20% or so in every class you take. Therefore you need to be quite a bit above the top 25% threshold to have a shot not to get weeded out.
Don’t listen to the above person, excuse them. I love it here!!! I am finishing my freshman year here and I am passing all of the “weed-out” courses with flying colors. I work extremely hard to do this, but I’m extremely dedicated BECAUSE of my love for it. And yes I AM doing pre-med. My GPA was a 4.6, ACT was a 32. Yes, UF is difficult, but they provide an insane amount of resources to excel.
And while it may not necessarily be “fun”, if you have a passion for it, you can do it. I’m finishing my freshman year with a 4.0 because I love it and because I work for it. I’m so involved with it (volunteering, research, shadowing, etc.), so I find the people around me who are like-minded and we are each other’s resources. It’s what you make of it! Don’t let the people who tell you “Oh you’re just gonna get weeded out if you’re not a valedictorian” discourage you.
I totally believe you love UF. It’s an awesome university for a student who likes large universities with everything that entails. 
However I can’t believe you like being pre-med. It’s a lot of constant pressure and hard work, no slip ups allowed.
4.6/32 is what I meant when I told @celtics2008 a pre-med needs to be above the top 25% threshold to be competitive. You are competitive for the pre-med pre-reqs. You have a decent shot. With a 3.8/28 you wouldn’t be as competitive within the pre-med cohort, although you’d be totally fine in many majors.
Btw: Congratulations on getting a 4.0, that’s a fantastic GPA and certainly not easy to earn.
UF can be a lot of fun, even for those hard working pre-med students. 
It often comes down to time management, and how much you enjoy doing the work (school, volunteering, research, etc.). Clearly, you need to be bright to be a doctor and keep your grades up. However, being pre-med doesn’t mean you can’t join a club, go to sporting events, or hang out on the weekends with your buddies.
Thanks for the great advice everyone
@beachgirl12345 Congrats on the wonderful grades! I’m curious. Are those intro pre-med classes curved? Is there only a certain percentage of the class allowed to get an A? That is what they did back when I was in school. It was brutal.
@gallentjill As far as chemistry and biology, no! The very first thing my chemistry professor said the first day of Chemistry 1 class was “Your tests have no curves. The grades you get are the grades you get.” It’s usually the same for all of the science classes, no curves. I am not sure about calculus though, I took all of mine dual enrolled in high school. But UF has a giant database of past syllabi that specify all of these per class, and you can look up each class if you are curious beyond my info!! Hope this helped!
@beachgirl12345 Thank you!
@beachgirl12345 what did you take your first semester at UF? Did you volunteer and if so, where and how did you find something? When we go for our registration overnight session will we really get one on one time with a counselor to help us select classes and how do they know the best classes for every major? I’m pre-med and I really want to start off well. Thank you
@beachgirl12345 I was also thinking about a fraternity but do you think that would be too much of a distraction and time commitment?
I would strongly discourage a freshman pre-med to rush in the Fall or Spring. Get your sea legs first.