Most undergrad colleges do not publish their success rates for medical school placement. Those that do, supply data that should not be trusted.
Med school admission numbers can be manipulated in dozens of ways.
The most common method among private universities like UMIami is requiring that students go through the Health Professional Committee to receive a committee LOR. What the committee does is pre-screen med school applicants and only recommends those they believe have a strong chance for a med school admission. Committees set minimum standards for GPAs and MCAT scores for LOR consideration. They also review ECs and professor recommendations. Most school also hold a interview with the student before making a recommendation decision.
While students can apply to medical school without a HPC letter of recommendation, it is considered a “red flag” by med school admission committees and will damage a student’s chances for a med school admission.
UMiami does use a committee letter to control which students are allowed to apply to medical school.
Some undergrads manipulate their med school admission data by not defining what they mean by “medical school”. Some schools only count US MD and DO admissions. Other include admission to any graduate level health profession program (PsyD, PA, APRN, OT, PT, etc.). Still others include admission to non-US medical schools such as those in Eastern Europe or the Caribbean.
Also the number admitted from the undergrad will include ALL of the following:
–students in BA/MD or Early Assurance programs who hold guaranteed admission to med school if they meet minimum GPA requirements (Miami does have an Early Assurance program)
–students who apply to medical school directly from undergrad
– reapplicants (student who have applied previously to medical school. but did not get accepted)
–alumni applicants-- students who have graduated from UMiami in earlier years who are now applying to med school after up tp 5 or more gap years. Alumni applicants may have taken post-baccalauate coursework elsewhere (like a post-bacc for career changers or a GPA enhancement program)
The take-away–don’t trust any numbers supplied by an undergrad touting its success in medical school placement.
Also there isn't any undergrad in the US that tracks the success rate of freshman pre-meds in gaining an acceptance to med school. Since pre-med is an intention, not a particular major, there is no way for a university to determine exactly who is a pre-med.
My recommendation to parents and students is to find an undergrad that provides the best mixture of
â—Ź Cost-- Med school is hideously expensive. Pre meds are strongly advised to minimize their undergrad debt since med school will largely be paid via loans, loans and more loans. The median med school debt for newly graduated MDs is $220K with 1/3 graduating with over $350K.
â—Ź Opportunity-- The undergrad should provide the student a chance to grow and explore--including other majors/other careers since the vast majority of freshman pre-meds will never apply to med school (and of those that do, 60% won't get a single acceptance).
â—Ź Fit
Med school adcomms are agnostic about the name of the undergrad an applicant attends. MCAT and GPA are the first round of determinate used in med school admission selection. That’s followed by consideration of : ECs (physician shadowing, clinical exposure, community service, leadership–and research at some med schools; most don’t care about research experience) , LORs, personal statements, secondary essays and interview performance.