Hi,
I am high school senior and got admission in Oakland / Wayne state / Michigan state / U of M, my career goal is to become medical doctor. I have started my research to find acceptance rate / affordability / Return on Investment and the difficult of course completion etc. Please share your thoughts to select best among these four medical schools that I have got admission already. Any other pointers also will be great help to me.
Have you been admitted to all four schools, including UMich?
what are your stats?
You should pick one where your stats are high/strong for the school so that you’re less likely going to get weeded out.
Finances and fit: med school is extremely costly. One track would be to attend the one that’s least expensive. Another is to attend the one you’d enjoy if med school goal evaporates. All four prepare many as viable applicants to Med schools. You’re fortunate: both UMich and Indiana are the largest med schools in the country and are in your area.
Agree with the above advice But have to add that MANY is HS with Med School aspirations change their mind in college for a lot of reasons. Which school will be the best with a fallback plan?
snarlatron has it right. We joked that Chem 115 revealed many nascent Psych majors (after seeing the reality that their pre-med dreams weren’t going to be fulfilled). Right now, there are about a billion “pre meds”. One semester later? About 70% get hit with reality.
Yes, it is true that many premeds get hit with reality within 1-3 semesters of college. Sometimes it’s because of inadequate high school foundation, sometimes it’s because they’re attending a school with too many premeds that are stronger than they are, and sometimes it’s because they truly don’t have what it takes to get thru.
Certainly, it could be a problem if a student chose an undergrad that doesn’t offer adequate majors if a student was no longer premed, but at most schools, that is not a problem.
I wouldn’t necessarily say to select the absolute cheapest school unless that is all you can afford. If you have to spend a little more (and can afford to), to attend a school that is a better fit, then do so.
Wow @mom2collegekids – your post should be stickied on the pre-med forum!
I think this is right. The last category, though, of not having what it takes can probably be divided into 3 parts.
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kids that just don’t have the aptitude for the math and science
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kids that aren’t willing to put in the effort it takes to do well in these courses. They see their friends having tons of fun with barely a time commitment to school outside of class, and they want/try to do the same.
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kids that never learned to study. A lot of kids get thru HS on native smarts and a some studying. They never learned effective study techniques such as distributed practice or self-testing, and instead try to get by on what worked before.
Incidentally my guess from the 1st post is the OP is an international student, which adds another level of difficulty in getting into a US med school.