Hello, I am junior in high school who is looking to get into med-school. I am looking for colleges that would boost my chances in getting into the top top top medical schools, but it is hard to do it alone, since i don’t know much about undergrad and grad schools. So this is what I am looking for
-any kind of 4 year college (public, private, national universities, LACs doesn’t matter) with good(or amazing) pre-med programs(high acceptance rate).
I honestly could care less about school spirit, and campus life as long as
-the college is urban/suburban
-the college isn’t HUGE with the parties (if I can choose to not be influenced by it, it’s not huge, but if I am pretty much forced to play too much, it’s huge)
Here is my “resume”
GPA:
Freshman; 3.3/N.A(i didn’t want to measure the unweighted for this one)
Sophomore; 4.5/3.6
junior(first semester); 4.5/3.6
Tests:
Act: English-30, Math-36, Reading-34, Science-36, Essay-10, Composite-34
SAT II: Math 2-800 (planning on taking Bio and Chemistry if needed)
AP: Calc BC this May (let’s assume I get 5 for AB subscore and 4 or 5 for BC)
Awards:
First Place 200m dash for 9/10 in county
fourth place long jump for 9/10 in county
AMC 10-winner’s pin (114pt)
AMC 12 - (96pt)
+(other small math competition)
Community Service:
NSALA (foster care)
WINS (tutoring middle school students)
Hospital over the summer
Extra-Curricular:
FIRE (invites college professors for speeches/presentation/etc(the professors choose what to do))
+small accomplishment in video game called StarCraft2 but I am not sure I should ever mention this
As Amherst writes in its excellent premed guide (well worth a read to understand the whole process)
You go on to write
Even worse than looking for unicorns. “Acceptance rate” is easily manipulated by any college that cares to, wielding the committee letter to prevent any but the strongest from applying. Soon a frequent poster will come along to recommend his favorite college. I’ll save him the trouble; if you want to use “high acceptance rate” as a screening criteria, Holy Cross is your school.
@mikemac I put “I am looking for colleges that would boost my chances getting into the top top top medical schools” just to make sure that I get my point across clearly. I am aiming for top med schools like johns hopkins and stanford not just above average school. But for the acceptance rate, thank you. What should i look for in that case?
I think @mikemac said it all perfectly (/close thread) haha anyways…
The average medical school is already amazing. Medical school is medical school, and the end product is a doctor (provided he or she graduates, matches into a residency, gets licensed, and so forth). Read a pre-med forum long enough and you will see this sentiment holds strongly among pre-med students and medical professionals. Getting into medical school itself is a great accomplishment, and “average” or “top top top” does not matter.
Another point to add, as very clearly stated in the Amherst guide, the name of the undergraduate institution means nothing for getting into medical school (top top top or not). It is getting the best grades and MCAT score, and performing very well in extracurricular and clinical activities that will get you into the top. Went to Harvard? Doesn’t matter if you’re not a motivated achiever. Most medical schools have acceptance rates in the single digits. At most any institution probably sends 50% of pre-meds who actually applied to any given school. Thats only counting the students who actually submit applications to medical school.
The medical field - specifically, the number of available slots at medical schools and the curriculum offered - is so tightly controlled that every medical school in the U.S. is of very good quality and will lead to similar high salaries and good graduation outcomes. The only semi-good reason for wanting to go to a “top top top medical school” is if you want to be a prominent physician scientist - I mean you want to teach and practice at HMS and cure AIDS or a form of cancer or something.
Even if that is your goal, your question is answered in the Amherst guide @mikemac posted. Pretty much every college offers a pre-med curriculum. You want to go to a college that challenges you while supporting you appropriately, so you can learn what you need to learn at a high enough level to prepare you for the rigor of medical school; and you need a college that offers you leadership and extracurricular activities that med schools look for (volunteering at hospitals and clinics, shadowing doctors, and/or doing some research). There are many, many colleges that will offer that.
Most top colleges in urban and suburban areas are not “huge” with parties because top students spend a lot more time studying and less time partying. You can always avoid going to parties, too, if you want. It’s kind of dismal that you don’t care at all about campus life. College is a time to learn and grow personally as well as professionally, and the campus and your classmates are going to help shape your young adulthood and who you develop into after that.