I’ve posted before about strengths of Marquette, Creighton, and University of Illinois UC’s pre med biology programs. However, I am still concerned with which university I will be able to succeed at. My doubts about Creighton: about 8 hours from home, small school, expensive, lots of other pre meds. Illinois doubts: very large, lots of competition, limited volunteer/shadow experience in Champaign, lack of professor contact, limited classroom help. Marquette doubts: expensive, biomedical sciences major seems weak, no medical school alliance, hard to differentiate myself there. If anyone has anything to help clear up my doubts about any of these schools I would appreciate it. I am a white male with a 30 ACT and I recognize that I have to work hard to get good grades. I am looking for a college that will help me to be the most competitive med school applicant.
That’s your problem right there. In the end, colleges don’t “help you”. You help you.
There is an excellent online handbook at Amherst I recommend to get an understanding of the process and what really matters
Now maybe you call those things “help”. I think of them as providing opportunities.
One thing to avoid is placing any importance into acceptance numbers. Some schools boast incredible rates, but it boils down to one of two things. Either they start with great students (think Stanford, etc) or the school weeds out students. Look out especially for the “committee letter” which small schools with average students coming in wield like an axe to prevent all but the strongest applicants from applying right out of college; to no surprise, they often boast 90% or better med school “acceptance” numbers for their undergrads. Soon a regular poster will chime in to recommend one such school, Holy Cross.
@mikemac not all schools with premed committee work that way. My son’s undergrad give everyone a ocommitte letter. They specifically pointed it out during our visit. And I believe their med schools acceptance rate is close to 90%. But you’re right that most schools weed out. When we visited our state school they said that their rate was 85%. When I pressed them a little they admired that it’s 85% from the kids that they will give the letter too.
But in general a good student can succeed anywhere
@momworried
D2 attended a school that’s similar to the your son attends. Her school pre-med committee says the say thing, but there’s bit asterisk to their claim.
At D2’s school, anyone who has 3.0 or above GPA can ask for a committee letter, but the committee will strongly discourage anyone they feel isn’t a strong candidate from applying during the review process. (Mostly by saying they cannot provide you with the school’s strongest endorsement–which is basically the kiss of death for your med school application.) Most students get the hint and voluntarily withdraw their letter request.
So there are ways to discourage weaker applicant’s from applying even though school policy says anyone can get a committee letter.
In the school’s defense, I will say the health professions office does make suggestions to those students they feel are subpar on how to beef up their application and encourages them to try again in the future.
Random thoughts in no particular order
Expensive: I’d bet by time you potentially could graduate from med school, COA for privates and/or OOS publics will commonly exceed 500K, not counting interest. As med school is often paid for via loans, it’s good you’re thinking about COA at these colleges. Consider the college where you will graduate with as little debt as possible.
lack of professor contact: S attended very large CA school where students are grains of sands at the beach. There was no committee letter available. You just have to make yourself known to your profs, period. It’s not magic. And you don’t want just generic LORs, but strong ones which will only come from profs who actually know you. Don’t wait until end of junior year. Be proactive early on no matter where you’re at. And as LORs are submitted electronically, schools offer service (Interfolio) whereby once you have a letter writer, prof can send it to your Interfolio file, school will store it, and submit it when you’re ready.
Majors: “Marquette…biomedical sciences major seems weak"
Quoting Marquette’s website “Medical schools don’t require particular undergraduate majors.”
Quoting Creighton’s website “Students are accepted into medical … schools with a wide variety of academic backgrounds. No particular major is given preference. In choosing a major the rule is to follow your own interests. Ideally, the major should be one that will support an alternate career.
Quoting Illinois website: “…Illinois does not offer a major in pre-med. Instead, this is a pre-professional track. Pre-professional tracks allow an advisor to assist you in educational goals (leading towards your goal of med school) no matter what your major is”.
Do you get the picture? Pick a major that interests you as you’re more likely to do well (GPA wise) if you like material which will be of great importance to med schools. Also consider a major that offers a Plan B post college if you change your mind. Most med students pick a bio major because it kills two birds with one stone (satisfies premed and major reqs at same time.)
As to “being weak”: I’m not sure how you can evaluate this. Premed reqs will be essentially the same at any of the above. You might have jerks teaching them which could make your life challenging, but do you know right now who will be teaching premed reqs when you are actually taking them? It’s a chance ((teacher turns out to be jerk) you’ll take at any of above schools you apply/enroll. Also realize that premed bio, physics, chem etc are just bio, physics, chem courses, not bio, chem, etc with MCAT in mind. You’ll need some additional prep when time comes at all of the above schools.
very large, lots of competition / hard to differentiate myself there: only thing that is important is what you submit to med schools, not what your classmates are doing. It’s not important that you differentiate yourself from your classmates, especially if they’re other premeds, as most will end up choosing alternate career pathways.
As your college experience will be unique, nobody here will remove all your doubts. You’re talking about leaving the nest and venturing out on your own. It’s scary. Have you talked to your parents, counselors, etc…What’s your instinct telling you. In final analysis, all of above schools will provide you with tools you need to be a competitive med school applicant. Whether or not you become such an applicant is on you. Good luck.
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“Marquette…biomedical sciences major seems weak"
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I doubt it.
http://www.marquette.edu/health-sciences/pre-med-pre-dent.shtml