<p>Which pre-med programs should I apply to next year? (either at national universities or LAC's)</p>
<p>I think it'd be helpful for those who give advice that I'm planning to get an MD degree (instead of medicine, in general). Also, I'm looking for a college where there are 1) high acceptance rates or 2) where the university's medical school takes a large number of the university's undergrad population or 3) where I'll be one of the top students</p>
<p>One of the most important factors in med school acceptance turns out to be teacher rec's. If one is lost in the herd (as may happen at larger unversities), this may be an issue. With your stats, you can reasonably look at the top LAC's (and a notch down) biology and neuroscience departments (or whatever majors strike your fancy). Universities that are known for involving undergrads in research (say, Tufts) might also be a good choice. If you can line up a series of 4-5 visits for spring break of various types of colleges or universities, you will have a better idea of what you like. If you can do such a visit, you might want to look at a geographical area for starters. Boston's good, New York metro, Chicagoland, Northern Cal. It not quite so overwhelming if you put an initial limit on the search. You can always expand.</p>
<p>Ohio Mom is correct - having an active "med school office" or "pre-med club" or something like that is important. Schools that have high med school admit rates either are selective about who they write recs for (something you should try to find out) or they just do a good job preparing their students.
The "med school office" should have lists of "internships", shadow opportunitites, volunteer opportunities and alumni MD mentors to get the hospital exposure experience. they may also keep lists of profs who need research help. If there is a club, speakers might be brought it to discuss med school admissions topics.
If you go to the websites of different schools and search on pre-med, you can get an idea of these programs. One of the most useful, simple things they do is post sample schedules to help you plan your classes (pre-med, particularly if you want to go straight to med school or study abroad, requires careful scheduling). Some of the best I've seen are Davidson College, Amherst College and Dartmouth, but I bet some of the Midwestern schools with high admit rates have similar resources.</p>
<p>Another group of schools to look at are LACs located in cities with med schools, but not necessarily the university attached to the med school - ex Rhodes College, Millsaps College and B'ham-Southern. Despite the fact there are universities associated with the med schools in their cities, because of the quality of the students at these schools, they have developed special relationships with the med schools.
Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input, ohio_mom and cangel. I have another question for both of you, as well as other CC'ers:</p>
<p>Currently I'm a student at the oldest Jesuit high school in the West Coast. Because of my school's religious background and affiliation, as well as my own religious background, I've been interested in Loyola University-Chicago's Stritch School of Medicine. The problem is that I may be "too qualified" for the school (which has a 3.53 GPA for accepted undergrads and 1200 SAT's), as a representative told me a few weeks ago. I'm aware that they have an Early Assurance program for good students, so do you think I should go to Loyola for Pre-Med and then go to their MedSchool through Early Assurance or am I too worried about getting into MedSchool?</p>
<p>My worry is that I won't be able to get a 3.7+ GPA at a top college like Dartmouth due to level of difficulty and competition, and that I'd be better off at a less competitive school - is this thinking wrong or good?</p>
<p>Thanks again for your input and future input.</p>
<p>Actually, the program with Loyola doesn't have a program where they accept you both for BS/BA and MD. This program basically is for students who excel in their freshmen and sophomore years at Loyola-Chicago. The representative said I would be one of the top 2-3 students out of the thousands at Loyola if I attended the school. So, the way I see it, I might as well go to Loyola, work hard in PreMed and go to their Medical School under Early Assurance (I'm pretty sure I can get it, since the rep. said I'll be in the top 5 students there).</p>
<p>But, do you think I'm getting a bit carried away with medical school? If I get accepted to Dartmouth, U of Chicago or some other top school, I'm afraid there's going to be too much competition at the school and that I'll not be a top student (thus, not getting accepted into medical school). But, if I go to Loyola, I feel right now that I can succeed there and get into their medical school. I may be getting a bit carried away by thinking that way, or am I correct?</p>
<p>Yeah, I've heard about grade inflation at the Ivies, so that may not be so bad. But, do you think it's okay if I go through with my plan or no? (I'll also probably get a free ride, too)</p>
<p>90% of people in harvard are on honor roll (or w/e honor roll is called in harvard)</p>
<p>I think your plan sucks ass, all graduate and medical schools and residency and what not cares about is coming from a big name college. You wont get a good job, if you even get to become a doctor, if you go to a ****ty college.</p>
<p>the questions is whether or not you can get into an ivy</p>
<p>You may wanna take a look at one of those Baccureate/MD program...e.g., Northwestern's Honors Program in Medical Education, where you are admitted to a Bachelor program and the medical school at the same time.</p>
<p>I'm going to disregard mattistotle's advice for now, unless a few other CC'ers agree with him.</p>
<p>I don't think going to an Ivy is going to solve automatically and get me into a top college, as a number of people I know who went to Ivies and were extremely intelligent people could not get into many top programs due to competition. Anyone else's opinion?</p>
<p>This is to answer one of your concern of being at the very top of the academic heap at Loyola. My nephew is currently at a music conservatory. He's a very talented composition major, and also very bright academically. He is doing well at the conservatory, and is surrounded by wonderful talent. But, most of the kids aren't anywhere close to him academically. He is happy with the program. But it's still like HS; he's still the smartest (or close to it) kid at the school, and misses the chances for deep discussion. I can foresee you being in a similar position at Loyola. </p>
<p>Another thought - my sister in law is an anthropology professor. Her take on the whole college thing is that you learn at least as much from your fellow students as from your professors. Being surrounded by students that challenge and encourage you is probably the best of all worlds. You don't want to be stomped on; you don't want to be bored to death, either. </p>
<p>My sense is that Loyola is aiming a little too low. JHU is pretty competitive; you might want to rein in a little from that. The school that you will be happiest at - challenged intellectually, neither the brightest nor the dullest, access to professors and research - that is the school you will probably do the best at. And, if you are still determined to be a physician five years from now, put you in good position for acceptance. </p>
<p>I would encourage you to visit a variety of schools. You can ask about med school admit rates before visiting as part of your initial screen.</p>
<p>Future, are you a junior or a senior? My general bias is against Ba/MD programs, although I understand the Loyola program is not the same thing.
What are your finances like? My advice to my DD who is considering pre-med is to go to a college where you will be challenged, but not overwhelmed, and make the most of your opportunity at college. Go away and come home to our home state med school - it is significantly cheaper than any private med school and better training than many of them. I told her if she found the college's pre-med program is too competitive, back off and do your best, try to get in some research and hospital experience and then go to a post-baccalaureate school for your pre-reqs.
I would check what the tuition at Loyola Med is compared to your state school, you may find that it is prohibitively expensive -that's the problem with almost any private med school, it is very expensive, and there are no breaks, $100K debt is not uncommon.</p>
<p>if you are a senior, apply to several different schools, find out what the average tuition at your state med schools is, and compare what your total costs at different combos of college and med school would be, including the Loyola/Loyola combo. I think if you have the grades, etc to get into Dartmouth, you can get into med school, if you jump through all the hoops - get to know profs for recs, study for MCATs, get hospital experience, yadda, yadda - i did, and I went to a 3rd tier, no name college.</p>
<p>I don't think you have to be the top student at a top school to get into med school, unless you just want to go to Harvard Med (why?). the schools I listed before, show in their advice to pre-med, what you need to get into med school - GPA of X, MCATs of Y - they even give advice about courses to take in the summer away from your main school, to improve (hopefully) your grade and ease up the scheduling.</p>
<p>Yeah, I can agree with both of you. Cangel, I'm currently a junior in high school - and yeah, I'm not planning to apply to any BA/MD programs.</p>
<p>I guess that's true that GPA isn't everything, and there's rec's as well as MCATS - not to forget the last part, the interview. The representative told me I'd pretty much go to Loyola for free on full scholarship, so undergrad $ is taken care of. But I agree with ohio_mom that I'm aiming a bit too low. I guess my main concern is to attend a nationally-recognized, 1st-tier medical school and Loyola is one of my choices.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input; I'll be thinking about whether this is a good choice or not with my college counselor and parents over winter break and spring break as well as during the summer. Hopefully we'll come to some conclusion about it. Thanks again for the ideas!</p>
<p>Future, do you have an MD parent? If not maybe a family friend or relative who is an MD? Many things I'm sure have changed about med school admissions, but some things have'nt. Med school admissions are very different than college, grad school or law school. From being on these boards, I know there are a number of misconceptions about what is important in MD training, I don't know how much you know, but a discussion with a physician you know and trust, will help tremendously in planning your future - best of luck!</p>
<p>This is Hubbell's dad-just took Hubbell(what a name!) to the airport to fly back to school(Davidson). I, like Cangel, am a physician who went to a third-tier, no name state school in my home state of Pennsylvania. I did well(summa cum laude), did well on the MCAT's and got into my first choice home state medical school(Penn State) during the ultra-competitive mid-1970's(when there were 3 applicants for every space, it is now about 2 for one). My advice to Hubbell(pre-med) was nearly the same as Cangel gave to her daughter. Go to a good school with lots of options for shadowing, research etc.. He chose Davidson. He has done several shadowing experiences(he is a sophomore), will do research at a medical school this summer, and will go abroad next summer. I am sure he will be successful in his medical school application process. I think it is easier to get into medical school at schools that tailor their programs for medical school admission(like many of the LAC's) then from large state universities where you are anonymous(the way I did it). That is why I advised my son to go where he went. Just my two cents from having 'been there, done that'.</p>