<p>So I'm making a really tough decision between Yale and Stanford and thought I'd ask about the pre-med program is at Yale.</p>
<p>I know Yale does really well in med school placement, but is the program cutthroat? I've generally heard people refer to it as collaborative and tight-knit, but, at the same time, I've heard rumors of Yale students misleading other students on problems? Moreover, the first thing that happened when I landed in New Haven for Bulldog Days was a current student greeting us and warning us not to do pre-med at Yale. Apparently it's a tough workload or something (though I imagine it is everywhere), but relatively speaking, is it more work and more competitive than, say, at Stanford?</p>
<p>Just thought I'd ask for some clarification.</p>
<p>Also, how is the grading for bio/chem classes? Is there significant inflation?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>You should be warned against doing pre-med. At any school. Because it takes a lot of work. That is not specific to Yale. </p>
<p>I can’t answer your question, but the idea that one can divide pre-med students in collaborative or cutthroat makes little sense. If there is pressure at a school, it’s because the students feel pressured inside themselves. Remember, you don’t major in pre-med. You can major in English and be pre-med and then you might find the English majors either cutthroat or collaborative based on you and your expectations.</p>
<p>As for grading, you just said that Yale gets kids into med school. That happens because the kids score well, just as they scored well to get into Yale. You answered your own question.</p>
<p>Stop worrying about details and make a decision based on where you want to be, where you feel comfortable, which you can better afford.</p>
<p>I doubt there will be a “significant” difference in med-school placement, competitiveness, etc.</p>
<p>However, you’re REALLY lucky. Those are, IMO, the two best schools overall for undergrad :D</p>
<p>I’m a bio major, which means i take (almost) all of the pre-med classes. I find it pretty collaborative - in my physics class we all pass around the problem sets to check, and when i took orgo there were lots of study groups and things like that. The residential colleges generally ensure that you know a couple of other pre-meds in your year very well and live near them, so that group is a logical study group. </p>
<p>Honestly, i don’t think it’s that hard. The physics lab is tedious but not difficult, and calculus kind of sucks, but other than that i’ve found the pre-med curriculum fine, and probably about the same as it would be anywhere else. I had a fantastic orgo professor, which made that a wonderful experience. </p>
<p>I don’t find it too hard to get As in pre-med classes. The curve is usually around a B+… very often the top 20-35% will get an A. Honestly… there are a lot of pre-meds who aren’t particularly good at science. They just want to be doctors for some reason. If you’re legitimately a rather/very good science student and are interested in developing conceptual understanding of science (rather than just memorizing), you won’t find it hard to get a 3.8-3.9 science GPA (which is great for med school, and looks even better coming from Yale).</p>
<p>^When you said 20-35% get As, is that stat including A-/+s? Also what proportion of med school applicants from yale end up going to a top 10 med school?</p>
<p>Try reading the other threads about this.</p>
<p>The curves are as generous as you can reasonably expect. Don’t worry too much about the details, it’s impossible to generalize. Honestly, usually the people obsessing about the curves aren’t actually interested in learning the course material and probably shouldn’t be pre-med anyway. If you are a good science student, you will do well (better than the other premeds who are asking about whether 35 or 40 percent of the class is getting As). </p>
<p>Here’s some data on acceptances and matriculations, although it’s not exactly what you asked for. You’ll notice that we get in to the most competitive schools at several times their overall admissions rate (3x for many)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.yale.edu/career/students/gradprof/media/med_school_stats.pdf[/url]”>http://www.yale.edu/career/students/gradprof/media/med_school_stats.pdf</a></p>