(This is my first post, so sorry if it’s in the wrong place or something.)
Hi, I’m a high school senior done with most of my applications. I’ve applied EA to Georgetown College as a pre-med with an intended major in Neurobiology. I’ve heard GU has some great pre-med advising and really helpful professors. Additionally, it being a smaller school with not as many pre-meds as other schools could be helpful. However, GU boasts a medical school acceptance rate of 80%, so I have to think there is weeding out there as well? I’m aware the weeding out process is common among pre-meds and I’m confident in my abilities to not be weeded out, but at the same time, it’s something I’m really trying to avoid. Is there weeding out at GU? If so, how bad is it?
Secondly, how difficult is it to maintain a high GPA? I’m aware of how subjective this is, but relative to schools like WashU, UNC-Chapel Hill, or Case Western, for example, how difficult is it? Would it be much easier at a state school (excluding UNC-Chapel Hill)?
Pre-med at Georgetown is hard. Very hard. You want it to be hard, though. If it were easy, you’d feel cheated. And the best thing about Georgetown is it’s student body: they are collaborative and work together. Everyone wants to see everyone do well, and this is especially unusual for the pre-med students. I chose Georgetown over Cornell for pre-med because Cornell struck me as way too competitive and cut-throat…and it was the best decision I ever made.
I’m leaning heavily towards Georgetown for that very reason. But about how many people who entered as pre-meds actually, ended up applying to med school? And is this there systemic prevention of people who earn lower grades applying to medical school? For example, I read somewhere that at Brown, for some class (I think Orgo or Gen Chem), if you got a low enough average, the professor gave the student a choice to either take the low grade (C, D, F, etc.) and stay on pre med, or take a higher grade (B-, B, B+) and quit the pre-med track. Clearly, Brown is actively trying to boost their pre-med med school acceptance rate. Does this sort of thing happen at GU, from your experience?
NO!!! No way. No frickin’ way. I did Georgetown pre-med several years ago and actually turned my back on med school, got my PhD in the sciences instead, and have worked at several institutions since. Some of those institutions are “higher ranked” than G’town. And at every single one of those institutions, the experience at G’town was more rigorous and (ultimately) more focused on learning. The professors want to help you, and so do your fellow students. Georgetown was the best thing that happened to me.
Another thing ‘qwerty0234’: so many people who didn’t make it in pre-med figured out later in life they didn’t want to. Things happen for the best, and they happen for a reason. Should pre-med not work out, remember this: IT DOESN’T MEAN YOU’RE STUPID. It just means you were meant to do something else. Another great thing about Georgetown is that there are so many opportunities in so many departments and so many terrific people around that will help you find your way. And should you not make it into Georgetown, you’ll find another school where you were meant to be. Follow your heart and you’ll do just fine. I promise. Just be sure not to drink too much on a Wednesday night when you have an 8:50 economics class. I did that once (just once) and…um…things didn’t work out too well.