I am looking for a list of good colleges in PA with strong biology/Pre-Med programs with good record of getting a student into med school.
I am thinking of Muhlenburg, University of Scranton, Ursinus, Bloomsburg right now.
Thanks
Those sound good.
U Pitt
Bryn Mawr – has a high-rep post-bac program in premed with excellent placement. Also it’s a low pressure school.
Juniata – seems to bring up its premed candidates, but I haven’t looked back at the program for a year or two.
colleges don’t “get kids into med school”. You get yourself in by doing well in the lower-division classes required to apply as well as overall in your studies, by volunteer work in a medical setting, by getting to know some profs for strong letters of rec.
Schools with high admit rates, which is what many kids look for, reflect one of two scenarios. Either they have top kids (its not surprising a kid that can get into a college with a sub-10% admit rate can get into med school with a 30-40% admit rate). Or they screen and prevent weaker kids from applying.
They are all excellent choices as long as they’re affordable. Ask about opportunities to volunteer with various populations, get EMT certification, and work in a medically related position.
Is your child eligible for honors college?
I suppose Bloomsburg is a safety.
What about Pitt?
However getting into med school tests in the student - asking for help, scheduling tutoring right away before anything before hard, attending office hours…hitting the ground running. The tumbler by Afrenchie36 is very good reading for a student intending to be pre-med.
Thank you for your responses. I very much appreciate it. All of these choices are very helpful. Yes I believe my son would be eligible for honors college. Thank you very much. I believe these colleges listed so far are within our price range.
Why PA? Just curious. Franklin & Marshall. Dickinson.
Seconding Juniata and Pitt. Allegheny has gotten a couple. Washington and Jefferson too. I’d add Messiah if one wanted a Christian school. These are all common PA destinations for our Pre-med hopefuls. Many go outside of PA as well. If they have the higher stats needed to be a good pre-med candidate, then they often have the stats needed for merit and/or need based aid to bring the COA down to match schools like Pitt. My own pre-med lad chose U Rochester.
Duh… YES! Add F&M + Dickinson. I have no idea why my brain forgot them.
Thank you very much. We are from PA. He is a very good student. Top of his class. I think he would be more comfortable being in PA but I am open to any suggestions from say New York state. Thanks again. I really appreciate this great site.
Skidmore? Hamilton?
@d87d87 For the best chances of success, make sure your lad goes to a school where he’s in the Top 25% of stats going in (GPA and SAT or ACT). Kids from my school who chose “match” or “reach” schools have not done well on the pre-med route, UNLESS they were in the tippy top where pretty much all students matched their incoming scores (more or less) - aka - median ACT = 33 and theirs was 33 vs higher. Reach schools that are “lottery” admission schools are fine IF their stats are in the middle to top half.
I’m sure there’s one out there somewhere, but I can’t recall a student going to a school where they’re in the lower 25% who has stayed pre-med.
Once in college, getting the GPA and MCAT scores needed - along with all the ECs - is totally up to the student and their work ethic, of course. No college does that part for a student. Staying pre-med also depends upon their not finding something else they like better. Many students do.
One doesn’t have to major in Bio to be Pre-med.
Take a look at the Class Profile for U Rochester’s med school. They are nice enough to post it online. Most other med schools would probably be similar. Change the date in the URL and you’ll see it’s a template. They tend to look for the same general things year after year. It gives students an “eyes wide open” approach of what they ought to be doing in undergrad - not everything of course, but something. There are potential undergrad schools in each listing as well. (My own lad was the fire juggler in this profile… 
He also had many of the other attributes, of course - and still juggles fire and knives.)
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/MediaLibraries/URMCMedia/education/md/documents/2021-profile.pdf
Where in PA? I ask because for my D to go to Pitt it was about the same distance as BU from Philly.
It won’t make a huge difference. If it’s a smaller school or somewhere without much research opportunities he may have to take a year doing research post grad to optimize chances.
We are from central PA. Are there any good schools for premed near NYC that may be in these schools listed price range ? Thanks for your help.
Then definitely apply to Penn State Schreyer (by Nov 1) and try to rank among the best students so that you’re one of the Schreyer premeds selected for a summer internship at Hershey.
That being said, Dickinson, F&M, Lafayette would be excellent choices; as mentioned above Skidmore and Hamilton would be excellent too (Hamilton has an open curriculum that may be especially conducive to premed choices).
Based on what has been indicated so far, Ursinus, Franklin & Marshall and Hamilton might represent a good range of choices for your son with respect to selectivity. All from this group are readily accessible from central Pennsylvania.
I have to disagree with post #3 regarding EMT certification. My daughter never knew anybody in med school that did that.
Thank you for all of the great information. I noticed Franklin and Marshall Hamilton and Dickinson are quite expensive for my income. We don’t qualify for any aide or merit. With our income and other children I will need to stick with schools that are around 30k per year either without aide like state schools like Bloomsburg or after merit aide like Ursinus.
Do F and M Skidmore Dickinson or Hamilton offer any merit aide?
Yes, they do. They require excellent stats.
Pitt, Temple, and Penn state should be in the 30k range instate, and (much) less with merit scholarships.
Pitt wants 34-36 ACT, 1500 SAT. Penn State merit is little and depends on Schreyer (although it can “unlock” academic scholarships). Temple has generous Honors College scholarships.
I would also recommend Juniata College for Pre-Med. I work in a medical practice and two of our surgeons children both attended and went on to become M.D.'s. My daughter graduated recently (in environmental science) and had a great experience. Dickinson is another good choice, full disclaimer, I have a family member who teaches there so I’m a little biased.
PA has a ton of good options, although many of them aren’t likely to be particularly affordable (F&M, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell). Those down a notch or two on the selectivity scale a likely to end up being in the $30k range after decent merit your student sounds to be in line for (Muhlenberg, Ursinus, Moravian, Juniata, Susquehanna, etc.). Pitt, Penn State, and Temple are large schools with corresponding resources that are very different than the smaller LACs or midsized universities on these lists. I’m not sure I’d look to drop too far down the selectivity scale to places like Bloomsburg or West Chester, but they’re certainly affordable for those who end up there - with plenty of happy, if not a ton of elite, students.