<p>cartera45,</p>
<p>Did you go to UVA ?</p>
<p>I went to W&M - many years ago but had several friends there who went on the med school. They chose it because of the success rate on the MCAT. I made the mistake of taking freshman biology, not knowing it was the weeder class for all the doctors in training. I had many friends at UVA - all of whom loved to rub it in that the curve at UVA seemed to stop at B. I lived for years within a mile of Loyola - perfectly fine school but not comparable to the other two reputation-wise. I loved W&M - got 3 degrees from there, and recommend it to anyone. It just so happens to do a good job of preparing students for med school.</p>
<p>oh boy~ and i have no interest instarting something, but UVA does not give away grades! period!</p>
<p>around 50% - intro bio courses are major weedouts</p>
<p>However, she wouldn't have gotten in UVA or William and Mary if they didn't think she was a competitive student with the pool of students selected. You should be proud-it is very difficult to get in both those schools. I favor UVA.</p>
<p>"UVA (she has eliminated W&M):a great school, great education, but the “weeding out” process can be severe. It’s possible that my D will get a GPA of around 3.3 (if she is in “the middle of the pack at UVA”).
· Loyola College: a good college, but is not as good as UVA. It’s possible that she can be at the top of her class there. She thinks she would be able to achieve a GPA ~ 3.8+ there ."</p>
<p>3.3 here, 3.8+ there- and these predictions are based on what??? Do yourself a favor, don't count on them. Pre-med progams (really, pre-med students) can be pretty competitive at places like Loyola as well as at Uva, and the professors are not going to give everybody an A (take my word, I have reliable sources for this). But by your logic, why limit yourself to Loyola? Why not Community College followed by Slippery Rock State? </p>
<p>Presumably (hopefully) your daughter wants to be not just a physician, but a good, knowledgeable physician. Is that true? Someone who, for example, is not afraid of the challenge of a Freshman Chem course? Forgive me if I seem overly negative or cynical on these issues. But I will be frank with you: there are too many prospective MDs out there who spend too much energy on trying to beat the system and wheedle grades, as opposed to just dedicating themselves to working hard and learning the stuff that they supposedly want to dedicate themselves to.</p>
<p>Last note, most colleges use the intro courses as weedouts and 50% is a typical figure anywhere- but do your homework and call the colleges, ask previous or current students.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your inputs. I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>Weldon,</p>
<p>I put down those numbers for the sake of discussion. I did not try to predict any thing.</p>
<p>Sure, medical students must be "dedicating themselves to working hard and learning the stuff that they supposedly want to dedicate themselves to", but they must get in a medical school first!</p>
<p>Anyway, if I offended you by writing down those number, I apologize! No hard feeling !</p>
<p>I think the clear choice here is UVA, unless there is some very strong particular reason to choose Loyola. I don't the the speculative prospect of getting better grades at Loyola is a good reason.
Are you Virginia residents? If so, UVA is an even better deal.</p>
<p>bln: I am not at all offended. I am merely strongly advising you not to "count your chickens", so to speak, in terms of what grades you might get where. What I will admit to being a little depressed about, as I alluded to above (in not very kind terms, I suppose) is the typical games that so many wannabe doctors seem to play. Like medicine? Then you need to go in with the attitude that you want to learn a lot of biology, and chemistry, and even physics, and approach these difficult challenges with true enthusiasm, not by figuring out how to slide, or how to get a leg up on everybody else. If you take the right approach and you in fact have the smarts and the talent, then success will more or less come with the territory, and the college experience will be healthier all the way around as well.</p>
<p>Weldon,</p>
<p>Are you a doctor or a med student, may I ask ?</p>
<p>You may. No, I'm not. However, when I was in college I had many, many classes with pre-med students (remember, it's not just pre-meds who take chemistry, biology, physics, and calculus). My best friend was a pre-med student, who later went on to Med. School. When I was in grad school, I had other friends who were in Med. School at the same time. And, my wife is a biology professor who teaches, advises, mentors (and sometimes writes recommendations for) undergrad. "pre-meds". I think I'm safe in saying my direct observations of many pre-med students, those of my friends in medicine(from some years ago), and of my wife (present-day) are pretty much all in agreement - some things never seem to change.</p>
<p>ps- I also attended UVa. I personally didn't find the science courses all that rough. Again remember, the class attendees are not just pre-meds but may be from any discipline, especially the lower-level pre-med requirements, and many of these students are not necessarily science superstars.</p>
<p>Weldon,</p>
<p>Thanks for the info.</p>