<p>Hello! I am very interested in applying to Wash U, and I was curious to hear what the competitiveness is like for students on a Pre-Med track. From what I have heard, the school in general does not have a cutthroat vibe, but that student on pre-med tracks are super competitive with each other. Is this true? </p>
<p>Pre-Med competitive? I would advise that you don’t ask that on your interview. No, in all seriousness it’s highly competitive anywhere obviously. But I have not heard that the pre-med students are an exception to the general “we’re all in this together” attitude that resonates at Wash U. We’ll soon find out–my daughter starts down that path in the fall.</p>
<p>The example I always give when talking about competitiveness in general is this:</p>
<p>When I was in either gen chem or gen bio (back in ~2009 so I don’t remember which), I was studying for an exam in the bio library. There was a concept I was having an issue with, and reading wasn’t helping, so I legit asked the person closest to me if they had any idea. Didn’t know this person at all, all I knew was (from looking at their books) that they were studying for the same thing that I was. They spent 15 minutes explaining it to me, which cleared everything up.</p>
<p>This was in a class where grading is 100% based on a curve. So helping me could, in theory, hurt them. But they still helped me just the same, taking time away from their own studying. And this is not uncommon at WashU.</p>
<p>Was this person pre-med? I have no idea. But there’s a decent shot that they were considering it was a pre-med required class.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! That’s the example I was looking for! </p>
<p>Pre-med at WashU is not cutthroat, students work very cooperatively and help each other out. Lots of the grading is curved, so technically helping others isn’t to your advantage, but everyone does and it’s great. Pretty much anyone is willing to help, and pre-meds study together all the time. Hope that answers your question! Feel free to ask me any other questions, I am pre-med and will be a junior next year.</p>
<p>@mandycrnbry Thank you so much! That really helped! Out of curiosity, what is your major? </p>