I am a community college (2 years completed) transfer student (bio major) currently looking at 4 year institutions to apply to. After reading recent threads emphasizing the importance of picking the right pre-med school, I am hoping to get some insight/ experiences on the following institutions I am considering applying to.
In short, I am really afraid of transferring to a school that isn’t an academic match, or in other words, attending a school that will result in a ding in my GPA (currently a 4.0) during the transition from cc coursework to 4-year coursework (thus, essentially ruining, or at least postponing my application to medical school). Also unsure how committee letters and other resources/ opportunities will play out as a pre-med transfer at these schools
I first started with a long list of about 40 schools and have narrowed it down to the following four (not including state institutions). After nitpicking needs and wants from the 40 schools, I am now wanting to know how these institutions will fare for a pre-med transfer specifically.
What is it like to be pre-med at the following schools?
1 Brown (RUE program)
2 Emory - is said to have a high number of pre-med students (which means more competition for limited grades). Should I stay away from Emory because of this? Mainly and currently on my list due to local/ unique opportunities for pre-med students.
3 Pitzer (or possibly Claremont McKenna College) - both seem to share the same science department
4 Stanford
I am aware that many (even all) of these schools have really low transfer acceptance rates…all four of these schools are on my list due to the financial aid policies for transfer students. If I don’t get into any of them, I have a couple of affordable state schools on my list that I will attend.
The most important thing for a premed in a transfer is to protect your Gpa. Unless you were admitted by those tipytop school before and choose not to go because of financial reasons, it is very risky to transfer into an academic mis-matched school as you stated already. No one can tell you if you are academically matching or not. Asking a total stranger that question is totally waste of time.
Yes, aware…partial reason for me starting this thread.
I am not really looking for opinions on whether or not I’ll be an academic match (or not) to these schools…was mainly looking to get an idea for what a pre-med transfer student should expect at that school for the sake of refining my college list…(hence the question in my OP, “What is it like to be pre-med at the following schools?”)
<<<am really="" afraid="" of="" transferring="" to="" a="" school="" that="" isn’t="" an="" academic="" match,="" or="" in="" other="" words,="" attending="" will="" result="" ding="" my="" gpa="" (currently="" 4.0)="" d="">>>
If that’s your concern, and it’s a valid one, why are THOSE schools on your list???
What is your home state?
These four are on my list due to the possibility of financial aid available to transfer students.
As mentioned earlier, I have a couple (affordable) state schools on my list that I’d be willing to attend…just wanted to add a few more schools to increase my options when it comes time to make a decision.
But to break it down, the biggest reason each of these four schools are still on my list include:
Brown - open curriculum and liberal/ laid back atmosphere
Emory - mainly on my list due to the endless pre-med resources/ opportunities available…and now that I think about it, nothing else really stands out
Pitzer - like the liberal/ lad back atmosphere and the limited requirements
Stanford - was my dream school in high school. I think one could say that it’s on my list “for fun,” to see if I could get in (given the fact that S accepts very few transfers every year).
I am originally from CA but have been residing in OR for two years now.