<p>So, I just got back from CPW and absolutely ADORED MIT...</p>
<p>The problem is, I'm pretty set on going to medical school, and judging by the different threads that I've stalked on CC, pre-med at MIT seems pretty rough. The general consensus seems to be that since there isn't a set pre-med track and grade deflation tends to occur at MIT (or perhaps MIT's just beastly hard...), MIT isn't really the place to go for pre-med. I've seen all sorts of statistics...from just 75% to 98% of pre-med students at MIT actually getting into med school (anyone care to verify?). </p>
<p>I would appreciate any input on this matter, especially since I would commit to MIT in a heartbeat if it weren't for this whole pre-med mess. Thanks in advance! </p>
<p>Note: I'm considering chemistry or biology as a major.</p>
<p>so you can see where MIT pre meds are actually ending up. If you consider the fact that most medical schools have an acc rate of about 2~3%, then it seems that MIT’s 12% at HMS is not that bad. </p>
<p>I’m in the same boat. I’m thinking MIT pre med and loved cpw! I am worried, but off to MIT I go!</p>
<p>For what it is worth, my daughter is a junior at MIT in the BCS department and premed. Many of her friends at her sorority are premed. Her medical advisor is a Harvard Med professor who runs a big lab on campus. She also volunteers at Mass General. </p>
<p>The grade deflation is vastly overplayed. Unless you take on a very heavy schedule getting a decent GPA (3.5+) is very achievable. You can take UROPs for credit where you are guaranteed an A. You have a variety of safeguards to avoid a disaster such as exploratory options, very late drop dates, P/F options. There are definitely no weed-out classes. Even though MIT does not have a med school it is tightly affiliated with Harvard Medical School with which they share the joint HST program and an MD/PhD program. MIT does extremely well with admission to the top med school such as Harvard or UCSF. </p>
<p>While premeds are probably not as common at MIT as at other elite colleges there are some definite benefits in terms of complete absence of grade grubbing and competition between students. Your premed requirements are also largely accounted for with the GIRs except for orgo and you are ready to take the MCATs by the end of sophomore year if you want (as my daughter did). It is hard to compare admission statistics between schools as it does not account for students dropping out before the MCATs, but the current rate hovers around 90-95%. MIT is probably one of the few schools where the number of students interested in medicine actually increases from freshman year to senior year. </p>
<p>Being a premed is definitely not a reason to turn down MIT. You should talk to actual premed students at MIT rather than rely on unsubstantiated information. My daughter would not want to be anywhere else and she had plenty of options. She will be happy to share her experience with you if you want to contact her.</p>
There isn’t really a set premed track at any top school – just a set of courses to take. The MIT Careers Office provides pre-professional counseling and will set you up with a premed advisor to help you navigate the process.</p>
<p>Premed at MIT is definitely tough. But premed is tough anywhere, so it’s important to go somewhere you can be happy and fulfilled and live up to your potential. If that place is MIT, then MIT is a great place to be premed.</p>
<p>I’m premed, although I feel like I’ve answered this question so many times on CC and on facebook I might as well post a blog on this topic before May 1.</p>
<p>Just FYI, I take 5 classes per term, I’m a biology and history double major at MIT, and I have a 3.7/4.0 (or 4.7/5.0) GPA. My GPA puts me smack-dab in the middle of premeds at MIT, and to be honest I’m just an average person here who scores above average on the exams but not too much beyond that. </p>
<p>I can’t substantiate how good my chances are yet since I’m applying this year, but you need to take this into account - MIT has a very small number of premeds compared to many other colleges, if you look at it percentage-wise. (for example, at Cal it’s 20%+ of the freshman class, and Hopkins is similar) In this kind of situation, why would it benefit you to go to those schools? You’ll just face more intramural competition amongst the premeds. e.g. How many kids is Harvard Med going to take from a graduating class at Hopkins?</p>
<p>Also, the lack of a focused premed track shouldn’t be a problem - as Mollie said, most top schools don’t have a premed track, and you don’t need one anyways since that just frees you up to take the premed classes on your own time and you can major in something that you’re interested in.</p>
<p>Like what I said in one of the other threads about premed at MIT - if you put a good faith effort into your classes and stay focused on your goal of being premed, getting around the average premed GPA here is not very difficult. You’ll have to work hard at any school to be premed, and MIT is arguably better than a lot of other schools because of 1) no cutthroat intramural premed competition, 2) very easy access to research labs for credit or pay, 3) a tech university academic background, which sometimes makes the MCAT look easier. ; )</p>
<p>I have said this before, and I will say it again. MIT is freaking hard mostly because the students self-inflict pain upon themselves:</p>
<ul>
<li>Taking 7-8 classes at the same time</li>
<li>Double majoring in engineering subjects</li>
<li>Taking gazillions grad courses without the prereqs</li>
</ul>
<p>Such situations are common here, which is why so many people are hosed and complain. It’s all self-inflicted pain. Don’t do that and you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>I know plenty of premeds who:
Take 4 classes a semester
have a normal sleep schedule
have an easy time because they watch their GPA’s and don’t take the classes they know are too challenging.
are not geniuses by any standards.</p>
<p>If you fall into that category, I don’t see why MIT wouldn’t be an awesome premed school. Honestly, You can make your life tough at any schools, not just at MIT, by taking gazillion difficult classes. It’s just that at MIT, those difficult classes are -extra- difficult, and people are truly academically motivated and load up their schedules without being forced to. Don’t be like those people and you should be fine (most of them are not premeds, so they don’t care about their GPA’s as much)</p>
<p>Definitely :D. I know people who go to bed at 10PM-11PM and wake up 7 AM every day. It’s just there are also a lot of night owls around.</p>
<p>1st semester, I averaged probably 8-9 hrs of sleep on weekdays, 10hrs of sleep on weekends.
2nd semester, I average 7 hrs of sleep on weekdays, 8 hrs of sleep on weekends. It’s not that bad. Hopefully, there is not consistent trend here, haha. I’m taking a heavy load this semester though.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses, guys! I’m almost certain I will commit to MIT (unless Columbia decides to completely wow me this weekend…).</p>
<p>As for the competition at MIT, I’m pretty sure it’s not too prevalent. From what I got at CPW, people are incredibly collaborative (e.g. pset parties). Plus, I’ve gotten the sense that MIT does a good job at keeping people pretty much in the same playing field (no scholars programs, graduation honors, or grading on a curve). </p>
<p>Oh, another quick question…what’s the “normal” number of classes a premed would take per semester?</p>
<p>“Competitive” is a really poor choice of word. Is it really “competition” when one really smart kid kills the curve for everyone else? Because that’s the only time I’ve ever seen anything approaching ‘competition’ in any of my classes.</p>
<p>I got this from someone I know there and that’s what she said. I don’t know myself since I’m a hs senior so that was probably bad reasoning on my part.</p>