<p>Hello all. I am a student who is entering his senior year of High School, and I just finished all of my college visits this summer. I was particularly impressed with two schools, High Point University in NC and The University of Richmond in VA. I want to attend one of these schools and receive a B.S. in Biochemistry on the Pre-Med Track. However, I believe myself to have the potential to attend a top notch Medical School, (such as Duke, Johns Hopkins, etc.). Im not posting this to ask about what the post medical school, but to ask about the recent emergence of HPU. The campus was simply extraordinary, and very impressive. However, do you think that I could gain entrance into a top notch medical school from a school such as High Point? Anyone with knowledge about HPU specifically would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!!</p>
<p>Do well on the MCAT, have a high GPA in college. Bam, done.</p>
<p>A high GPA and awesome MCAT score are both important, but those two alone will get you into very few med schools, much less a top-notch one. I actually know a person that had a 4.0 GPA in an intense chemistry undergrad program and positively smoked the MCAT, but he didn’t get into any medical schools. Why? He did not have people skills, experience or knowledge of the field, volunteer experience, or much leadership skills. People with 4.0s and awesome MCAT scores are a dime a dozen in the pool of med school applicants, so they expect much much more from you than book smarts. However, he is now a very successful chemist for 3M.</p>
<p>Here’s a list from Harvard’s med school admissions page as to what they look for in applicants:</p>
<p>The Committee on Admissions evaluates applications based on several factors, including:</p>
<pre><code>Academic Records
Applicant’s essay
Medical College Admission Test scores
Extracurricular activities
Summer Occupations
Life experiences
Experience in the health field, including research or community work
Letters of evaluation
</code></pre>
<p>Start thinking about those now. Think “well-rounded college student” and epitomize that. Then you can get into a top-notch med school. Shadow and volunteer as much as you can, get a job in the medical field if possible, get involved in extracurriculars, and get leadership skills. Imagine your medical school interview. If they ask you about your experience in any of the categories above, you will want to have plenty to say about all of them.</p>
<p>If you like HPU, find out what resources they provide to premed students: Do they have a club for pre-meds? Do they provide advice on how to apply? Do they have a hospital or clinic with walking distance of campus where you can volunteer? Check out the opportunities to do research on campus with the faculty. Find pre-meds on campus who are seniors and ask about how supportive the school was.</p>
<p>Know that many of the students who show up at school saying they are pre-med, do not actually end up applying to medical school either because they find something else that interests them more, or because they don’t have the grades/test scores - so make sure you pick a school that you’d be happy at, even if medicine isn’t your future.</p>
<p>Also look in the CC parent’s forum archives…there was a very long thread last year I believe on HPU with some widely divergent opinions of the place. Many still have a lot of questions about the place and it’s worth reading to get other real world thoughts and opinions of the school. </p>
<p>The University of Richmond is a fairly expensive private school that is far more well known for its business programs than anything else. I don’t know anyone who went there in pre med or as a non business major. That’s NOT saying that their science and pre med program isn’t good, I just don’t have any concrete evidence to support it either way.</p>
<p>Lastly, stop worrying about what med school you might be able to get into and NEVER make a decision on an undergrad school with a specific Med school in mind…it’s just not wise to do so.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not quite…need strong medically related ECs and or some research and strong LORS as well. GPA/MCAT alone won’t cut it.</p>
<p>^^^^I’ve read that you need more than just scores and assume it to be true. But, do you actually know somebody who had a really high GPA, say 3.9 or higher, AND an MCAT score of, say 34 or higher, who did not get into any med school? (I’m assuming such scores would come with acceptable LORs.) Not that they didn’t get into their highly competitive choice, but none at all?? Just wonderin’~</p>
<p>Actually I do. (3.9 GPA/40 MCAT)</p>
<p>I do to (3.98/35). No problem getting in, 50% rate (got into 4 out of 8 with 2 waitlists, 2 rejects). I can see that high stats do not get into any if Med. School list is not a good match to applicant. Yes, stats alone are not enough, and even good amount of EC’s and social skills are not enough. It has to be a match. D’s UG’s classmate was accepted to #1, waitlisted at #2 (wihout mentionning any names), while D. (please, note the same UG) was put on waitlist at #1 and accpted at #2. These schools are related and it might be they even talk to each other, they both were part of the same white coat ceremony.<br>
but my point is that there has to be a match, so having smart list of Med. Schools is a key besides your stats, EC’s, social skills.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes…friend of my S…3.85 Math major 37 MCAT…did not receive a single admit first time around…took two years off in which he spent time shadowing and volunteering and secured a paid lab research position. Next time around admitted to 3 of his top five choices and after securing those admits withdrew apps from other schools.</p>
<p>Med school admission is already a very big crap shoot…why would you/anyone want to intentionally make the odds longer by not having all the boxes checked?</p>
<p>I know of many people with high grades and scores that didn’t get in. The three most common reasons are 1) applying to late 2) applying to too few schools (and often those few schools are ultra competitive ones) 3) not having anything outside of grades and scores.</p>
<p>I know someone that had a 4.0 GPA and did extremely well on the MCAT (although I don’t know his actual score, I just know it was extraordinarily high) and did not get into any med schools. He was co-president of our pre-professional club, but I doubt he was “well-rounded” in any other respects. However, now he’s a very successful chemist for 3M.</p>
<p>It is very easy not to get in with high stats. Just apply late to very few very selective Med. Schools and you are all set to fail to get accepted.</p>
<p>Quick question: I feel like the general consensus is that it * doesn’t * matter where you attend undergrad. I’m still applying to top schools, but I might just go to my state school if this is the case. My question is… why is there so much emphasis on top-tier schools if this is the case?</p>
<p>My guess is as good as yours regarding top-tier schools. I have heard that you pay for the connections in prestigious schools… which wouldn’t really matter for undergrad. It might look better to go to a university than a community college for example, but other than that I don’t really think it matters. Some medical/pharm/vet etc. schools may be more likely to accept you if you did your undergrad courses within their university system because they know what to expect from students from their own programs, but that may not be the case for all universities or all programs. Other people might have more insight on the subject. The bottom line is if you work hard in your undergrad, it will show in your test scores and GPA. It certainly won’t hurt to go to a prestigious school, but there are other things that matter more.</p>