I am currently a senior in high school and planning on majoring in Biochemistry as my undergrad. I’m trying to decide which university to attend for my pre requisites and any advice is much appreciated. The colleges I am interested in are (in order) UW- Madison, UW- La Crosse, and U of M- Twin Cities. I really liked the Madison and La Crosse campuses, but TC felt a little too big for me. Madison is top on my list because of the renown education, prestige, social scene, and campus. However, Madison grades with a curve, meaning I would have to be in the top 20% in all of my classes in order to receive a good GPA, which I will need for med school. La Crosse has slightly smaller class sizes which isn’t extremely important to me. Here are some of my questions: Which school will increase my chances of being accepted to med school? Which school will give me a better foundation for med school? Which school will it be easier to get internships and research projects? Any other info. on these school’s biochemistry majors, professors, and social scene’s would be great. Thanks!
any school will get you to were you need to be. (and you will need to put in a lot of hard work at any of those schools)
<<<
Which school will increase my chances of being accepted to med school?
<<<
A school, by itself, doesn’t increase anyone’s chances. We need more info…
What are your stats? How strong a student are you?
Are you instate for either UW or UMinn? Are they affordable?
I’m from Wisconsin. I have a decent academic record with a 32 on my ACT and a 3.8 UW GPA (top 10% of class). I have taken multiple AP courses including Physics, Biology, Psychology, Calculus, and Chemistry. I rarely have to study and maintain good grades. Also, these colleges are affordable.
@mom2collegekids I am also a part of multiple school clubs: student council, National Honors Society, Key Club, and History Club. I also have been a three sport athlete all four years of high school with seven varsity letters. Sorry for the lack of information, first post.
If you’re accepted at Madison, I’d go there. Great school and college experience. If you work hard you’ll attain your goals. You also might decide you don’t want to be premed. You’ll be happy you’re at Madison regardless.
<<<
ry. I rarely have to study and maintain good grades
<<<
I’m going to tell you something that I really want you to take to heart. College is very different. Premed prereqs are very difficult everywhere. The weeding is HARSH. Schools want and need to weed their premeds.
MANY freshmen students who were very good students in high school get quite the shock when they suddenly aren’t getting the grades that they’re used to getting. Suddenly, they need to study…something they didn’t have to do in HS.
If you were my student, I would have you go to LaCrosse, and you have got to really apply yourself. A high GPA is important. You need to develop study skills way beyond what you have been doing. No one wants a marginal doc, and med schools are very selective.
There are a lot of distractions in Madison.
Look into all the opportunities in LaCrosse - both at the school and in the community. Do they have a pre-med advisor? There are a number of good hospitals in the LaCrosse area, and good medical community. My BIL is a pharmacist there, and in-laws get a lot of medical care there. You can gain some shadowing experiences, maybe volunteer.
You can stand out a lot better in LaCrosse, and if you do very well, can get recommendations etc. Madison it is easy to get lost with the crowd, and competing against many more high stat kids.
@mom2collegekids I didn’t mean that I was expecting to not have to study in college, I was just representing what kind of student I am. Also, I’m very aware of how much work it will be.
UMN-TC is quite generous with their AP credits (need only 3’s in many of them to get credit) so this could allow for some more breathing room in the schedule. Check the AP credit policies as it varies quite a bit from school to school. The students will be most competitive at UW-Madison so you need to know in what type of environment you would do best in.
Recognizing what kind of student you are now and what kind of student you need to be is step one. Putting yourself into an env’t that is conducive to your goals is step two.
Have you visited all these campuses, the various depts and support services (like pre-professional advising, etc)?
If you like a campus for some of the positive things that will be conducive to achieving your goals.
Good point about the AP credits. Also look into CLEP testing.
I would go to UW Madison or UMTC since your stats should allow you to be part of the top 20% students in your classes, provided you work hard (and yes, you’ll see some classmates go out every night for the first three weeks of college. After they get their first grades, that won’t happen so much, but you’ll have to soldier on and stick to the library/the lab/study group while it looks like you’re being a nerd not enjoying college. If you make it for about 3 weeks, you’ll be fine, because everyone will either realize that’s what they need to do too, or forget about being premed.)
Keep in mind that most freshmen change their minds regarding majors and among those who stick it out only about half will get into med school. It’s thus a good idea to choose either a very supportive university (and I wouldn’t pick La Crosse but rather a university such as Lawrence, Beloit, St Olaf, Macalester…) or a university that will help you branch out.
Thanks for all of the advice! Much appreciated!
Does any one know of any discrepancies between these colleges in terms of research/internships opportunities?
I have one kid at La Crosse, and one kid at Madison. Madison is the bigger, more known school. It will have better research opportunities for you just based on that fact. But, it is large. You have to be a big advocate for yourself and make a lot of these opportunities for yourself. A Madison degree can get you a lot of places, that’s no lie.
La Crosse is smaller. My Step-D there, from what I’ve noticed, enjoys better relationships with her professors there than my Step-D at Madison does. My Step-D at Madison maybe works with one of two professors closely, while my La Crosse kid talks avidly about several of her professors. Just knowing more professors on a closer level, I think, can open up some more opportunities and connections for her and also gives her more options for good rec letters should she need them.
Both are good schools but there are definite pros and cons to each.
<<<
didn’t mean that I was expecting to not have to study in college, I was just representing what kind of student I am. Also, I’m very aware of how much work it will be.
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
Good!
Glad to hear that. I think one of the shocking aspects that many students experience is that they’ll get tested on material that wasn’t presented in class…which can be very different from high school where teachers may provide study guides, etc, and students pretty much know what’s going to be on each test.
Another thing that trips some up is that labs can be VERY strict, and you can lose points very easily by not following some tiny lab rule or lab report req’t.
OP might consider UW-Eau Claire, as well. I think it’s similar in ranking and it’s about the same size as UW-LAX.
My husband works with a young associate who started out at UW-Madison, then transferred because he was placed on academic probation there. He transferred to UW-Milwaukee, and said he did much better there without all the "distractions. "
But I’m sure many, many students go to Madison and do well and avoid them in the first place - maybe you will, too, since you know to be aware of it already.
I agree it will be easier for an undergrad to have professors notice them at UWEC or UWLAX than at Madison.
As a former huge state school student (not UW-M but another Big Ten school) it helps to be the kind of student who is more independent and self-advocating at a place like Madison.
At UW madison, OP would do well to apply to the Honors College (s/he’ll be offered the opportunity to apply) + the BioHouse Learning Community or WISE or Chadbourne + a Fig hat includes “Exploring Biology” + BioCore (selective, but OP has a good shot). This would make the university feel “smaller” and would be the most supportive network, plus positioning him/her well for the Biomedical Research positions in the summer.
UMinnesota Twin Cities is even bigger than UWMadison, but OP could also apply to the Honors College (but the process is different from at UW Madison).
Check out the major flowcharts, too, as well as the “tracks”. Biology at UW has two main tracks (in Arts&Science and in Agriculture&Life Science) and some subdivisions. There is NO difference for med school whether you’re in one college or the other.
UMN TC has a specific “College of Biological Sciences” as well as CFAN (CFAN has biology-related options that are acceptable for premeds but, if med school falls through, keeps many doors open).
OP could then decide based on which university offers the best learning conditions (ie., honors college? living-learning community? program offerings? requirements? Majors/tracks?)
OP, what’s your EFC and are you applying to any private college, either for need-based aid or merit scholarships?