Hello! I was admitted to Smith College as a biology major and was wondering what the pre-med academic/opportunities (research, volunteer, etc.) at Smith were like?
Being a LAC in western MA obviously is a little isolated but I’m not sure if that will impact me tremendously for the opportunities I have access to.
I do not want to run into instances where despite my seeking out, the sheer amount or distance of research and volunteering opportunities prevents me from doing what I love.
But ALSO – Smith’s website (linked below) states that the med school matriculation rate is 80%?!! I’m unsure if that consists of weird caveats of minuscule sample size, only counting students at the top ~20%, etc.
The caveat is right on your linked page: “Admit rate to medical school, 2015–16: 80 percent of qualified applicants (applicants who graduated with science GPAs of 3.3 or higher and MCAT scores of 28 or higher)”
Just want to make a general comment to be careful with medical school acceptance rates quoted by admissions. It may sound obvious, but it is very important to understand exactly what goes into the numerator and denominator of the ratio as not all schools calculate med school acceptance rate in the same manner. For example:
–Some schools have more “weed out” classes than others reducing the number of students who continue on the pre-med path for four years (lowering the denominator).
–Certain colleges have committees which pre-screen and recommend med school applicants. These committees generally only recommend students who have the stats, experiences etc. to make them very strong candidates for med schools. Students who are not recommended are left out of the equation. In contrast, other colleges support all of the students who want to apply to med school. So while the schools with the pre-screening will have a higher acceptance rate (because of the lower denominator), a schools that support all students may be preferable.
–It is important to know what constitutes a med school acceptance for the med school acceptance rate. Some colleges just count US allopathic med school acceptances and other schools also include acceptances to DO, overseas med schools, podiatry etc. programs in the numerator leading to a higher med school acceptance rate.