<p>How difficult is it? I mean i know the yield of students to med school is good but how difficult is t to achieve a 3.7 GPA and above in the science classes? Is it all studying or is there some leeway?</p>
<p>If you are truly interested in pre-med AND likely to survive the rigors of a pre-med curriculum, give serious thought to looking elsewhere. The school/curriculum really is not equipped to deal with a real pre-med student. Many students have to go elsewhere for a fifth or sixth year to get ready to apply and enter med-school. The curriculum, courses, and faculty are limited in numbers. That is not to say it cannot be done as there are indeed many fine doctors who graduated from Amherst. It is just harder to get there. Keep in mind that the curriculum really is skewed toward the liberal arts. And, if you find you really are not going to make it as a pre-med, you may find the transition to something else hard to do as you may suffer some academic defeats that you may find hard to neutralize on your transcript. Look at the number of "visiting" professors who teach in the math/ science areas. That ought to tell you something. Amherst by the way is not unique in its use of part time faculty though it is becoming harder to hide. BTW, my S started out pre-med, concluded he really did not like or want it and did find an academic niche that he truly loves and really was "meant for." The use of transient professors is troublesome.</p>
<p>Iwould be curious to hear the specifics of your S's experience, kinetix, because my experience at Amherst hasn't been at all like what you are describing. I have yet to run into a visiting professor in my time here, and the only department where you might find them is the math department, which has had some retirements in the past few years. They really don't make much use of part-time faculty at all, and I would imagine it is probably similar to the use of visiting professors at other schools.</p>
<p>While Amherst is a liberal arts college, the pre-med program is very strong in terms of preparing students for medical school, and the very high acceptance rate at med schools reflects that fact. The school and curriculum are very capable of serving pre-med students, as it is very possible to complete the pre-med requirements, major in a department outside the sciences, and go abroad, all without having to take extra classes over the summer or doing a post-bac program. Such is the virtue of the open curriculum. As for part-time and visiting professors, all of my science classes have been taught by full, tenured (and for the most part, pretty awesome) professors, including the pre-med pre-reqs such as intro chem, bio, orgo, etc. </p>
<p>As for the curriculum, courses, and faculty being "limited in numbers", what else would you expect at a small liberal arts college? While small colleges may not have the breadth of courses of a large university, the small class sizes and open curriculum at Amherst really enhance the academic experience here. Do you think you could use some more specifics with your description of your S's situation, because I am curious about what departments/classes/professors you are referring to.</p>
<p>And as for the OP's question there is much less grade inflation in the sciences, so achieving a 3.7 would be very challenging, but not impossible.</p>
<p>Rahm Emmanuel's brother went to Amherst. He then went to one of the country's best medical schools. He's just one of many, but high profile, so I personally think that it's bs that you should go elsewhere if you want to go to med school. There are lots of premeds here and they do very well by them.</p>
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