<p>I am in desperate need of some help deciding on a college for pre med. I have been accepted to all that I applied for but have narrowed it down to 3 that have the small school experience with a strong premed program. </p>
<p>Wakeforrest - most prestigious- $47K- $0 merit
Cal Lutheren - best location,climate - $39K -16K merit
Whitworth, Spokane WA-closest to home, COLD! $38K 15K merit.</p>
<p>All have reputation for good pacement rate in med school. I would probably get the same MCAT score at each. Higher GPA/class rank at Cal Lutheren, Lower GPA /class rank at Wakeforrest.</p>
<p>It looks like I will get about 5K in Stafford loans that would leave 10K on my parents or student loans if I chose CLU or WU. I have 2 college bound siblings entering college in the next 4 years. How do you decide if an Undergrad at Wake is worth 240K debt with med school ahead of me?</p>
<p>Go where you’ll be the happiest, if you’re equally happy at all, go to the cheapest. Premed differs little from school to school. All that matters is that you get the highest GPA possible, do as well on the MCAT as possible, and get good research/hospital/medical community service experience.</p>
<p>Premed can differ greatly from school to school. The types of advanced courses available, local clinical volunteering experience, types of research available and mentors are very different between schools. I don’t know much about the three schools you have selected but I hope you take into account the differences between them when making your decision.</p>
<p>The truth of pre-med is actually somewhere between belevitt and redtape’s posts…but MUCH closer to redtape’s</p>
<p>There are differences like belevitt pointed out - but it’s pretty much impossible as a non-local outsider to ascertain what those qualities are…and even more difficult to accurately judge if those differences actually MEAN anything. </p>
<p>For example, Wake Forest has a medical school/teaching hospital and freestanding children’s hospital (Brenner Children’s is an amazing facility) so you know that you’re going to have the opportunity to shadow/volunteer. But I’m sure you’re aware of people who volunteer at the hospitals close to home…so essentially this is opportunity is equal. Med school Adcoms really just want to make sure you’ve been exposed to patients and doctors so you know what you’re getting into, is there really anything unique that’s going to come out of a volunteer position? (before anyone says you might get to do something more clinical at WF like take out stitches in the ER or whatever - very unlikely when you’ve got fellows, residents, med students, nursing students, etc everywhere).</p>
<p>In the research example - yes, there’s different research going on in different places, but unless you already know you have a certain interest area, it’s unlikely to matter to you on a personal level. The research experiences of most pre-meds are pretty insignificant to the overall machine of scientific inquiry. Again, it’s one of those things that it’s more important to have had the experience (and be able to talk about it intelligently and explain how it’ll make you a better physician) than necessarily what the research was in.</p>
<p>Check out the pre med advising at the schools you are looking at. Some schools have great pre med resources, student chapters of the AMA, speakers and workshops about how, when, where to apply, how to study for the MCAT, etc. Those resources can be beneficial when you are trying to apply and keep up your gpa as an undergrad.</p>
<p>Ignore the reputation for med-school placement until you do some further research. You need to contact each school and ask if they write committee letters recommending all med-school applicants, or if they screen and only recommend their top students. You won’t find this info on their websites in most cases.</p>
<p>See, many schools have a dirty secret. Their outstanding applied/admit rate is true, but only because of a little subterfuge. While many larger state schools don’t offer the committee letter, if a college does offer it then med schools require you to submit it. What some colleges do is screen their med school applicants, recommending the best ones and giving the rest letters that say “recommended with reservations” or even “not recommended”. If you’re smart enough to apply to med school, you’re smart enough to know that with one of these letters your chances will be 0. Even if kids with your scores and grades have a 20-25% chance of getting in to med school, it becomes 0% without a favorable committee letter. By controlling who applies, these schools are able to generate eye-catching admit numbers from an average student body. And with impressive admit rates, their cutoff for a favorable letter is probably a lot higher than 20-25% chances.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for all the advise. I think I have decided to Look at Cal Lutheren. When I visited they talked about how their pre-med program was new and that all the professors were personally motivated to build their reputation. </p>
<p>There are 4 local hospitals so access to the medical community. Thousand Oaks is a retirement community and I love working with the elderly. I think I will be very happy there and will probably be able to fall higher in the class rank than at Wakeforrest or Whitworth.</p>
<p>Your help was amazing,</p>
<p>I think where you do pre-med is important. As we all know medical school is competitive. If you plan to attend medical school out of state ( or say well known university) than there are a lot of things to consider.</p>