Pre-med at Cornell

<p>yes it would be ironic, i'm out there with the hope of becoming a doctor , to save future lives, and if i take my own life....</p>

<p>yeah and thats 2 our of like 13,000...We're below nat'l average actually I think. Or thats what the most common word on the forums would be. And if you're sane, you wont be suicidal...you don't just randomly decide to commit suicide one day. I think you'll be safe SANGEL</p>

<p>"Cornell was never "bad" with suicides. I'd put that as the #1 myth about Cornell. Cornell's suicide rate is way below the national average." ---norcalguy</p>

<p>I'd like to put cut-throat Cornellians as the #2 myth about CU.</p>

<p>who wants to brainstorm the TOP THREE MYTHS about Cornell?? about cornell premeds? premeds in general? myth about anything to do with Cornell at all??</p>

<p>actually, if you talk to a counselor at gannett (he guest lectured in my class) cornell is NOT below, NOT above, but just average. and depending on your perspective, if that is good or not.</p>

<p>That's subtle manipulation by Cornell. Everyone throws around that 89% stat around but it's actually quite difficult to get a 3.4+, depending on your major. If you're able to pull a 3.4 at Cornell (which is an impressive feat in itself), you'll probably get a good MCAT score also.</p>

<p>whoa shizz, can you give more info on that? I know it must be possible to pull 3.4+ 'cause ppl have done it, even in hard majors like engineering majors and some science majors, but, just how difficult would it be to actually attain that 3.4+ GPA in say biology or engineering majors?? Would I be constantly doing school work for 12 hours+ a day?? Someone said princeton etc has 90% med school acceptance rate, but they probably do the "screening" also to manipulate the stats? off topic, How does the class ranking work at cornell ? among colleges, majors , etc? What are the odds/chances, liklihood of getting 3.4+, say out of all bio majors, only 5, 10 % achieve that or something? Do bio m ajor classes and some other harder-than-average majors curve all class grades, tests, homework etc? Are some peoople just have to accept their fate and guaranteed to fail because if some should succeed, others must fail?? This system seems cruel.</p>

<p>Ease of getting a 3.4 depends on your major and your intelligence. Engineers usually destroy the pre-med weed out courses like Gen Chem and Orgo, but they're in engineering so their GPAs are typically lower. Bio majors have it tough because all the crazy pre-meds major in it and the classes usually have a nasty curve. I know they give out very few As for courses like Intro Bio. Then again the academic capabilities of the average Bio student is less than that of let's say an engineer, so it might be easier to stand out.</p>

<p>I was considering pre-med for a while but I decided not to pursue it for various reasons. I remember talking with a health career advisor and he basically said "yeah just get a 3.4 and you'll get into med school granted you don't screw up the MCAT." Getting a 3.4 in the sciences is tough. Every class has a curve. I would recommend majoring in something liberal artsy.</p>

<p>The system is cruel, but it's cruel at any school and it's cruel by necessity. A profession that makes a lot of money will have many people wanting to get a piece of the pie, so it's self-selecting by nature. My fellow Cornellians here on this board applaud their good natured pre-med classmates, but it's not as hunky dory as it seems. The vast majority of them are stressed out and on-edge. It's important to note that this isn't limited to just Cornell -- you'll find this to be true at EVERY school.</p>

<p>I personally think 3.4 is quite achievable. I'm still of the mindset that it is relatively easy to get B's at Cornell (3.0 GPA). Throw in a little effort and get a few A's in some of the easier courses and you should have a 3.5.</p>

<p>i agree with shizz, only because a 3.4 is DEAN'S LIST for engineering, that means only about 30% of engineers each semester get a 3.4 or above!! it really depends on major sometimes. and then there's just smart people. one of my best friend here easily pulls a 3.8+ in CAS as a bio major (taking orgo, physics, etc) and she studies about 2 days before each prelims, and pulls a good grade out of thin air (i think she sleeps with the book under her pillow and somehow the material just permeates her brain). if there's a person who is a pure genius its her. i've never seen a worse procrastinator than her. gonna convince her to apply and go with me (granted we are both accepted) to cornell med, but she is 90% set on going back home to udubb.</p>