S24s summer program is entirely unplugged. I am guessing there will be a long line for the phone that day😂
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You have a good list of schools. My future dil is at Creighton in their PA program and is impressed by their medical school faculty and students that she has been glad to get to work with in her program. (Originally she was going to PA school and changed her mind). The new building opening in the fall is great!
My son, a fourth year vet student from K-State, studies at the med school library when he visits and says he is impressed.
They have both heard from friends the accelerated program at KC is very draining but a very good program. Our good friend just got matched from TX to do her residency there.
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I was in parents of HS Class of 2021 before for my daughter. This is the first time I am posting here. My son is in HS class of 2024. I loved your analysis. It is really very smart and useful way to think.
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My son found out today that he will be one of two students from his school to be nominated to apply for the Morehead-Cain scholarship at UNC-CH.
I hadn’t known about this program previously, but it looks amazing — all expenses paid, fantastic opportunities, etc. Even with the nomination, though, there’s only about a 3% admit rate. So quite unlikely he will get it, but a huge honor to be nominated.
Curious if anyone here knows much about this program/knows someone who’s applied for it? Thanks!
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3rd college search process ……
And I forgot, when colleges want to know you GPA is it you weighted or unweighted?
Also, those looking to continue on to med school (possibly) are you looking for something special or certain wording at the undergrad college. When DS did his online research it said to make sure your undergrad school is known to med school. So that your foundation classes aren’t in question. What’s your take on this?
I think this depends on the college. I was looking at common app and this what they say in their FAQ:
How do I report my class rank and GPA?
You should report your current Class Rank and GPA, even if they might change later in the school year. If your school does not rank, select “None” from the drop down menu. If your school calculates both weighted and unweighted Class Rank/GPA, report the weighted value. If your school does not calculate a cumulative numerical GPA, or if it uses a GPA scale that is different than the options available in the drop down menu, leave the Cumulative GPA field blank. This field is not required for submission of your application. You can always use the Additional Information prompt in the Writing section to elaborate.
https://appsupport.commonapp.org/applicantsupport/s/article/How-do-I-report-my-class-rank-and-GPA
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D24 is interested in PA grad school, so is in the ‘pre-health’ arena, similar/same as pre-med. What we’ve paid attention to at the LACs we’ve explored is what % of their students get admitted to med school. Plus, we look up their pre-health program info on their website. For example, a couple of the colleges on D24’s list have special internships & research opportunities that are pretty easy for pre-health students to get access to…one college has a program where one of the classes you take involves a multi-week off-site program where you spend a couple of weeks shadowing multiple different physician specialties at the local hospital system.
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My family doctor is a bit unusual. He was a professor at Kansas University Medical School for two decades before moving to private practice. He taught the medical students many different subjects who were enrolled in the school. He was also in charge of the “recruitment team” that went through the potential student resumes to decide who would get interviews for possible admission. My daughter wants to go to medical school, and he has been quite a valuable resource of information for us. Here are his tips: 1. He said the thought process that goes into Chemistry is the closest thing to being a doctor. Medical schools want to see you have taken several Chemistry classes and did well in them. Most kids major in or focus on Biology classes. He said Medical Schools would much rather kids focused on Chemistry. 2. He said if you go to a smaller relatively unknown private school, you will need to pull a better MCAT to get into Medical School. 3. On the flip side, if you go to a school with a reputation for being challenging, then that reputation will carry weight and you might not need as strong of a MCAT score to get in. 4. He said some schools love to tell you about their success in getting their students into Medical School. Look for that information if available. For instance, Tulsa University is high 70th percentile of success of getting kids into Medical School. Same with Missouri S&T. Ole Miss is in the low 80th success percentile. Some schools will claim they do not track this percentage. He said that is a lie schools tell if they do not have a strong percentage of success to share. 5. The guaranteed degree to get into Medical School is Chemical Engineering. Nebraska University, Oklahoma State and Kansas State have had 100% of their Chemical Engineering graduates get into Medical School on their first attempt. Medical Schools know that is the hardest degree to take at any University and that degree is looked upon very favorably to Medical Schools. 6. The final tip he shared is in regards to the group of classes that any undergraduate major has to take to apply to Medical School. Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Organic Chemistry etc. He said you need to pull A’s in those classes. If you pulled A’s in all your other classes, but did poorly on those core classes Medical Schools will notice this.
This was a bit long winded, but we thought it was great information to have.
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Thank you for this excellent information. There is a University in the Northeast notorious for grade deflation but known for it’s excellent quality of premed studies. S is collecting data to figure out whether he wants to ED to there, but the first hand stories of kids dropping out of the Premed track because of grade deflation is something he is also considering.
Yes, we have already discussed what major. He has decide chemistry would fit best even if he changes his mind about med school in the end.
Very helpful information. Thanks.
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I thought of one more medical school subject the doctor shared that is a pretty big one. Most medical schools these days want to see a substantial (hundreds of hours) volunteer/work/shadow experience in the medical field along with the grades/MCAT side of things. He said that he saw hundreds of applications a year with kids with outstanding grades that did not have these hours. Those kids rarely were accepted into med school. This kind of ties back into schools and their success percentage of getting students into medical school. For instance Ole Miss has a school of medical advising. They encourage their pre-med students to come by at least once per semester and to follow their guidance exactly on what to do that semester. This might include volunteering at a hospital early in the college years up to shadowing a doctor 10-20 hours per week as he/she makes the rounds later in their undergraduate degree. These hours are all tracked and shared with medical schools when applying. Students that follow these tips will have a leg up when applying to medical school over students that do not have or have many of these volunteer/shadow/work hours. Many medical schools see this volunteer/shadow experience as mandatory these days. Some medical schools will require a minimum of 100 hours (or more) of volunteering and several hundred hours of shadowing a doctor before even being able to apply. Other schools will not require any mandatory hours, but will not consider students that do not have them. Work experience in the medical field also shows a demonstrated interest in the medical industry which is looked upon favorably he said. Many Students that do not have these volunteer/shadow/work hours in school will most likely have to take at least one year after their undergraduate degree to obtain them. The current popular route for students that did not obtain these hours during their undergraduate is to be an EMT and work on an ambulance for 1-3 years after college. They also volunteer and study for the MCAT during that time. There are always exceptions of course. A student with a degree from Harvard or a degree in Chemical Engineering at a good university will likely need much less work/volunteer/shadow hours to get into medical school than other students. His best advice is to plan on getting these volunteer/work/shadow hours in as soon as possible and he encouraged my daughter to get them during the college years. My daughter is 17, about to be a senior in High School and already is a licensed CNA in Kansas. She has worked hundreds of hours as a CNA. It may not seem like much or even related, but again it shows a medical school that she has a dedicated interest in the medical field at any early age. She is tracking those hours and they will be shared with medical schools in the application process years from now.
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D20 was stuck for 3 days trying to get home from a weekend trip to Nashville, and now I’m seriously worrying about any schools on D24’s list that would require air travel. Now how do I convince D24 that she should stay closer to home?!
THis is an exceptional situation. S21 goes to school a 2 hour flight away from home and we have not had an issue over the past two years. We live by Newark but the airport by the school is not large. We did it once before he committed. I would not be thrilled with travel that requires multiple flights but one direct one has not been an issue.
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Thanks for the reassurance. We are also close to Newark, and it was definitely not a normal situation, but it gave me one more thing to worry about in this stressful app season. DH and I joked that she got home from Korea last summer faster and easier than she got home from Nashville. 
I actually find that flying being near Newark is so much easier than driving. A 4 hour drive is such an annoyance, a two hour flight even with the waiting and too and fro is so much more relaxing. When there are travel delays on flights driving can be just as difficult
You’re absolutely correct that the driving can be just as frustrating. D20 is in DC and we’ve spent many hours trying to get there and back. Luckily she can take the train home for visits, which is great! The amount of people laying on the floor and luggage piled up everywhere when we picked her up at 3:00 am at Newark was unreal. Hoping for much smoother travel for everyone heading out this summer!
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And if you can fly United, Clear gets you through security in minutes. It’s the best investment!
Clear and TSA pre check are my favorite graduation gift to those who will be a plane ride away.
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Clear isn’t specific to an airline. I agree that Clear and pre-check are awesome (plus Global Entry if you frequently travel internationally).
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My son is a 2 hour plane ride and it’s worked out. At Christmas he did 2 round trips spread over 3 airlines and even had a couple connections and only one flight was delayed and it was not bad. Not ideal because it became a much longer travel time. The rest of his trips have been direct and much faster and still no real issues.
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I realize that, but last we checked it was only available in terminal C (and now the new terminal A).
It’s worth it if you have in either end IMO.
I was going to say Global Entry since that includes pre check but sometimes people get stuck with not having convenient access to the interview. On the other hand, if there is an international trip coming up, you can (usually) do the interview when you enter and don’t need an appointment.
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