<p>I'm new to the forums and I had a few questions regarding Wake Forest and the pre-med program. I hope to be accepted to the university for the fall 2009 term and I will hopefully pursue a degree in biology with a minor in neuroscience. Anyone have any information on it; I was having a lot of trouble finding any information from the school's website, but I might not be searching in the right places. If anyone currently attends Wake Forest and is pre-med or has gone through it I would greatly appreciate any advice/insight.</p>
<p>How is the medical school acceptance rate for undergraduates? How does it compare to the national acceptance rate?</p>
<p>I've heard that Wake Forest practices grade deflation- do medical schools know this and will they take that into account when looking at the application?</p>
<p>How is the pre-med advising?</p>
<p>How difficult was it to fulfill the pre-med requirements at Wake? Is the workload particularly intense relative to other undergraduate universities?</p>
<p>My D is Pre-Med at Wake (unless she changed her mind and I don't know yet). She went in thinking she would do Bio (cant declare until end of Soph year) but now thinks she is going to do Exercise and Health Science - main reason being that you get to work on cadavers in Junior year.
Don't know the answer to many of your questions, but do know that the pre-med advisor met with all new Freshman planning on doing pre-med in that first week, prior to class registration. Also know that they give out suggested timelines for fulfilling the pre-med requirements, depending on what you plan to major in. My D had no trouble getting the first bio and chem classes she needed in that first semester.
There is someone who visits the WF threads on college confidential who graduated Wake last year and is now in med school. I just can't remember her name right now, maybe you can look in back posts. She used to post a lot, probably very busy now!</p>
<p>I was premed at first but am now going into an allied health field. I found the chemistry difficult (but it could be that my mind just doesn't think that way). I didn't take any physics but I've heard it's not easy. I don't know if it's really that WFU grade deflates; I think it's more that they don't artificially inflate grades (there are no easy As - you'll have to work).</p>
<p>FWIW, I am majoring in bio and HES and find my HES classes to be much more exciting and more applicable to what I plan to do than my bio classes are, but that's just me.</p>
<p>D (current junior) also started as Bio major, but switched to HES. Dr. Lane has the whole course sequence spelled out for pre-meds. It can be hard to fit them all in, along with divisionals -- although classes coming in after D have fewer of those. It can also be difficult to go abroad and get in all the courses -- difficult but not impossible. D is currently abroad for 2nd semester on a health related program through IHP -- in India, China & So, Africa. Amazing experiences so far! She is taking a course during Summer Session, though, to make up for being gone. (Physics II is only a 2nd semester course, and since she's gone, she misses it.) But, she'll also be doing research w/ a prof during the summer while she's at Wake, so it all works out. Careful course planning and thinking ahead are required!</p>
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How is the medical school acceptance rate for undergraduates? How does it compare to the national acceptance rate?
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<p>The absolute wrong questions to ask since many colleges play with their numbers (not saying that WF does). For example, a college might have a premed advisory committee that signs off on letters of rec. But, the Committee discourages kids it thinks has little chance; thus, said college has a high pass rate to med school. Also, med school accpetance rate tends to miss kids who take a gap year off.</p>
<p>I recommend to any premed that they seriously consider attending a lower-ranked college where the compeition is easier, and hopefully, merit money is availble. Med schools require lotsa A's and a strong MCAT. Why not attend a college where your compeitition for A's is kids who earned a 600 SAT M vs. a 750? Start out in the top decile of the class and you are likely to stay there. Plus, the Profs will be all over you to work on THEIR research.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the comments. It's interesting to see that three people switched to HES. I'll take a look at the program. Does anyone have any information or experience regarding the early assurance program at Medical school at Wake Forest?</p>
<p>As for going to a less competitive school, I have considered it and in no way am I 100% sure I'm going to Wake Forest (I haven't gotten a decision yet), I'm just trying to collect as much information on the schools as possible so as to facilitate my decision in the upcoming months. Other schools I'm considering are University of Michigan (accepted), Tulane (accepted with a really nice scholarship), Virginia Tech (I was invited to the Honors Program), UVA, and then also Johns Hopkins and Duke (neither of which I'm really sure I'll get accepted).</p>
<p>juba2jive- Thanks a lot for the link, I was looking for that exactly and I couldn't find it.</p>
<p>Bluebayou- Are you or were you on the pre-med track? Do you think that entering medical school from Wake Forest would be extremely difficult?</p>
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I recommend to any premed that they seriously consider attending a lower-ranked college where the compeition is easier, and hopefully, merit money is availble. Med schools require lotsa A's and a strong MCAT. Why not attend a college where your compeitition for A's is kids who earned a 600 SAT M vs. a 750? Start out in the top decile of the class and you are likely to stay there. Plus, the Profs will be all over you to work on THEIR research.
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This is a really hard decision. Son has a friend at Wake who is going to graduate with around a 3.3--bio major/chem minor. He got interviews at all the med schools he applied to (17). Another friend went to an "easy" lower tier state school--majored in chem. This student had a 4.0 and didn't get any interview where he applied (not sure how many). First one had a much higher MCAT (better prep/harder classes?). Who knows, it might just be difference in the students.</p>
<p>My son was at Wake for 2 years and got most of the premed requirements done there (3 of 4 chems, 2 bios, 2 physics). He had a 3.7 when he transferred, but did work his butt off. Of course now, he has changed his mind about medicine, lol.</p>
<p>TR: nah, just a parent. Getting into medical school is hard from any college, period. But, I would not suggest a student attend Podunk State college over Wake bcos there IS a difference that will be noted by graduate admissions. However, med schools won't care one iota about any school on your list. But the simple fact is that a 3.3 from Hopkins it not necessarily better than a 3.3 from Michigan. Nor is a 3.3 from Wake necessarily better than a 3.5 from VaTech (assuming similar test scores). But, a 3.9 from a Tulane is waay better than a 3.3 from Wake.</p>
<p>OTOH, so many premed prospies wash out, most are probably better off going to a college that they enjoy so when the switch majors it won't have been a waste.</p>
<p>I know of a near 4.0 from Cal Poly who is off to med school this year. And, of course, a near 4.0 student at Arizona State who is off to Harvard Law -- the latter has posted on cc.</p>
<p>Bluebayou- I've got to ask now, why did you say a 3.9 from Tulane? Is their curriculum substantially easier than Wake Forest's (or any other school practicing grade deflation for that matter)?</p>
<p>I have no input on Tulane's grade inflation/deflation. I was just using it as for comparison as a similarly-ranked school. Many who attend a school known for rigorous grading policies tend to believe that grad schools are aware of the rigorous grading policy and make significant allowances for that. Unfortunately, it ain't true. </p>
<p>Professional schools are (almost) all about the numbers -- much more so than undergraduate admissions. Any top 50 (100?) Uni will prepare you well for med school applications; thus, the key is to attend a college where you can maximize A's.</p>
<p>I’m the one that was mentioned above who graduated last year and is in medical school now. I have nothing but good things to say about the pre-med program at Wake. We regularly have more students matriculating at medical schools than the national average. I managed to graduate in four years, not ever take summer courses, and still take a semester abroad, and so while the pre-med track is intensive, it’s not overly so, I don’t think (especially compared to the first year of medical school, at least).</p>
<p>Regarding grades, if the grades from Wake pre-meds are lower than the grades from other schools (and I’m not totally willing to believe that they are), it doesn’t seem to have hurt the students. And regarding preparation, there’s no way to be fully prepared for the workload of medical school, but I think that compared to my current classmates, I was at least as prepared and more prepared than many.</p>
<p>That’s what I thought bluebayou, I was just checking.</p>
<p>Ginnyvere- Congrats on getting accepted to med school. Where are you going? It’s nice to hear from someone who successfully made it through the program. How was the pre-med advising at Wake?</p>
<p>Hey ginnyvere,
Congratulations on medical school! That’s a really big accomplishment!! I’m actually going to be attending Wake Forest University next fall, I applied early decision and was accepted for the class of 2013. I am also thinking about going pre-med but a lot of people are telling me not to go pre-med because of the difficulty. I come from a high school where the science program is extremely weak… did you find yourself overwhelmed with work at Wake? Thanks!</p>
<p>Regarding difficulty of the science curriculum, I came from a small public high school (it was probably strongest in math and science, but that’s not saying a whole lot compared to some of the schools my classmates went to), and I never found the science curriculum to be more demanding than I could handle. I might’ve had to catch up a little bit in my freshman year (particularly in chemistry, which wasn’t my major), but it wasn’t ever really a problem. By sophomore year, I was definitely starting at the same level as my classmates. And I don’t think that any problems I had as a result of my high school education ever even showed up in my grades. More in my study habits, probably.</p>