Premed questions? Ask here.

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>Hi everyone - congratulations again on your admission to Stanford! I'm here (and any other premeds, feel free to jump in) to answer any questions you have about being premed at Stanford.</p>

<p>A bit of background: I'm currently a junior, and I'm preparing to take the MCAT and apply for med school this summer. I'm not planning to take any time off. I'm a bio major, psych minor, pursuing honors in neurobiology. I'm on the board for the Stanford Premedical Association <a href="http://premed.stanford.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://premed.stanford.edu&lt;/a> which has a lot of information about premed coursework at Stanford as well as other general tips. I know that my knowledge has limits, but I hope that my experiences can be of some help to you all.</p>

<p>Also, you can look at last year's premed thread <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=231800%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=231800&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

2

<p>hey celestial! this is awesome that you put up this thread-- i think it's gonna help me a lot. i'm pretty ignorant about the whole premed thing so here are some of my questions:</p>

<p>is there a cut-off GPA for applying to med school? what's the norm at stanford?
if i took the bio and chem ap tests, is the intro class material comparable to them? or, say if i didn't take the ap chem class, would i be really behind in the chem classes there?
how much time do you spend studying for your classes each night?
and sorry if this question sounds kinda anal: how's the grading?</p>

<p>i'm gonna search the other threads if these have alrdy been answered there, but thanks in advance..</p>

3

<p>Hey celest!
Hehehe I know I'm not an '11er but I'll still ask you my question here. So next quarter I'm thinking about taking Math53, Chem33, IHUM and PWR. I've petitioned my PWR to move it from spring to winter and they still haven't answered but for now let's just assume that they did. Will the workload be too tough? I know you haven't taken Math53 but how about chem33?? Also I'm pretty sure you know quite a few people who took math53. I'm kinda worried that I won't be able to do too well. I have no experience in writing papers whatsoever so IHUM and PWR are more difficult for me than for normal people. What do you think? (My math is pretty good; even though I got a B+ in Math51 the only reason I didn't get an A- was because of my bad hw grades-I actually got an A- on both midterms and the final)</p>

4

<p>To answer TJ_03:</p>

<p>In general, there is no cut-off GPA. Some medical schools do have a minimum GPA and MCAT score that changes every year, but it's very low; something like 2.5 GPA and 24 MCAT. I don't remember. If I find the website again, I'll let you know which school that was. The Undergraduate Advising and Research office at Stanford publishes yearly statistics about med applicants from Stanford; unfortunately, I left it on campus so I can't tell you the average applicant GPA right now. When I get back (January 7th), I'll post some of the highlights.</p>

<p>I have taken AP Chem but not AP Bio. AP Chem was decent preparation for Chem 31X, but Chem 31X certainly went into more detail, and the test questions were harder than in high school; we were expected to synthesize information, not just answer questions that were like the homework. For chem, if you didn't take AP and get 4 or 5, you will need to take a placement test, so you'll end up in the right place. At any rate, I don't think you could end up "really behind". One friend told me that AP bio was good preparation for the Bio core (which you take starting in soph year), but the tests were still difficult. At Stanford, you're definitely expected to take responsibility and initiative and go beyond what was taught in class; the best way I can put it is, like I said, "synthesize" many concepts and use the basic knowledge to solve a complex problem that you have not seen before.</p>

<p>Studying each night... ehh... that really depends. I definitely have some hours free to wander the dorm and hang out. I also tend to spend 1 hour+ at each meal because that's my major time to relax :) I think, for most classes, I don't work on them every night. If there's a reading-heavy class, I might spend an hour or two doing the reading. If there's a problem set, I'll start it a few days before the due date, work on it an hour or so a day, and get together with some friends to go over it. Some classes are better or worse, so it's tough to really say. The work should be manageable, and you should certainly have time for socializing.</p>

<p>I think grading is not bad; there's definitely inflation in that the class mean is usually set to a B or something, instead of a C like normal. I personally agree with this; the material is so darn challenging that we should be rewarded for what we can do ;) A chem midterm might have a mean of 60%, but the curve will help you so that if you got like a 75%, that could be an A. It's all relative. I think you will appreciate this once you get here :) All in all, I think the grading is fair and not evil.</p>

5

<p>For superwizard:</p>

<p>Chem 33 is not that bad. It's the first quarter of organic chemistry, so it could be difficult for you to adjust to, or it might not. I definitely recommend doing lots of practice problems, and don't be shy about reaching out for help; get together with friends, go to office hours, or chat with the professor about strategies. Chem 33 is very doable.</p>

<p>I hear that Math 53 is also doable, and not a stupidly evil hard class. I know of people who have had a schedule like yours and were able to do fine.</p>

<p>I think that if this is the schedule you really want, go for it; it is very possible for you do to well in chem, math, IHUM, and even PWR if it doesn't get moved. The Writing Center is a great resource; they've helped me quite a bit on my papers. Just start planning early; go to the writing center with a draft or even just a brainstorm of what you want to do. If you say you have trouble with writing, it'll be to your advantage to not put off your papers till the last moment.</p>

<p>Is there anything else you were thinking of taking instead? If not, I see no problem with the schedule you've got planned.</p>

6

<p>Thanks celest!
Whew that takes a lot off my chest. I've been worrying about my schedule for quite some time now. I made one mistake (or at least one for that matter) first quarter which was not asking for help from anyone. I know its a stupid thing to do but I just couldn't get myself to go to tutors or even go to office hours. I know this makes me sound like an idiot so I've decided that I'll definitely ask for help next quarter.

[QUOTE]
Is there anything else you were thinking of taking instead?

[/QUOTE]

Not really. I just hope they'll grant my pwr request...</p>

7

<p>You don't sound like an idiot. Many people are used to being able to excel in school on their own; I rarely went to office hours or asked for help my freshman year. Since I started to reach out, I have understood much more and have been doing better in classes (and it's not because my smart friends give me answers on homework ;)). It really helps to talk things through, and even if someone tells you what the answer is to a question, you can come to understand the answer and then use that knowledge further. I think there's no shame in not figuring everything out on your own.</p>

8

<p>Hi everyone-</p>

<p>I have a couple of questions.</p>

<ol>
<li>I have not taken AP Chem in high school and because of this, as I understand it, I'll have to take a chem placement test as a freshman. I haven't taken chem since sophomore year honors chem way back two years ago (which is kind of a while ago). Will I need to study a ton for the test? Study a lot? Or study not at all? Should I book some review sessions for this summer with good ol' Mrs. Kovalchenko my 10th grade chem teacher, or am I blowing this test way out of proportion? </li>
</ol>

<p>2) Would it be crazy to double major and be pre-med? Would I be insane to double major in Bio/History or Bio/English or Bio/Latin American studies or any two majors for that matter and take the full pre-med curriculum? Or do people do it all the time?</p>

<p>Thank you very much for your helpful answers!</p>

9

<p>1) Hmm... I didn't actually take the placement test, so I'm not sure how helpful I can be. I would recommend that you look over your old materials, but I don't think it's necessary to study like crazy. If you don't do that great and place into Chem 31X, you'll just end up taking Chem 31A first, then Chem 31B next quarter (A+B=X). This is totally normal and okay for premeds. So again, it'll be good for you to refresh your memory (if not for the placement test, at least for the courses you end up in) but don't stress out. It'll turn out just fine.</p>

<p>2) You're in luck for Bio because a lot of the premed requirements are part of the Bio major. As for your secondary major ideas, I'm not sure what the unit counts are like. I know of one friend who did Bio/English in 4 years. You can look at <a href="http://bulletin.stanford.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://bulletin.stanford.edu&lt;/a> to see what each major requires. When you get to Stanford, you can sit down with your advisor and try to make a plan and see if it's feasible for you to do what you'd like. There are always resources and support for you :)</p>

10

<p>hey celest.. thanks for answering my last questions. i've got some more..
1) i really like sociology and i wanna major in it, and then take the premed reqs.. but is that more work than just majoring in bio itself?
2) a friend told me that it's better to be a premed at a place like ucr for gpa's sake. lol but i wouldnt go to a school just to get a high gpa nd i'm already in love w/ stanford.. so my question is, is the curriculum in stanford's classes reasonably harder from the classes at the uc's? like more in depth? </p>

<p>thanks :)</p>

11

<p>1) I don't know about soc in particular, but I would say that not majoring in bio will cause you to have more work just because the bio major includes many premed requirements. However, you should certainly have enough time to do another major + premed requirements, especially if you plan ahead and don't take too many random classes. Definitely chat with your advisor about this; I think you will be able to make it work :) There are many non-bio premeds. Med schools think it's interesting.</p>

<p>2) The two big points I want to make on this issue are...
--1-- Being at a top school automatically gives you a boost over students at state schools. 3.4 at Stanford may be worth similar to 3.9 elsewhere. I'm making those numbers up, but seriously, medical schools KNOW that competition is tougher at top schools and that courses are more difficult.</p>

<p>--2-- The quality of education is significantly different, from my experience. I took physics at a UC (which is really still 1st or 2nd tier) and found the pace slow, the tests exactly like the homework, and the students unengaged. Frankly, it was boring and not challenging. I still had to study, and I did learn, but I didn't have fun in that environment. In contrast, at Stanford, I love interacting with the people of varied backgrounds who are all passionate about something. While it's hard for me to do well in many classes, I love the challenge. I am pushed to learn and understand so much more because tests aren't just plug-and-chug; we're expected to go beyond the details and concepts and synthesize them to solve complex problems. So the question is - how much do you want to be challenged? And another question... what kind of learning environment do you want to be in?</p>

<p>So, I don't know if the curriculum is actually different in general, but I would say that Stanford will go more into detail and expect much more out of you. I find this method of learning much more rewarding than doing the same problems with different numbers. Unfortunately, I don't feel that I can speak about humanities classes at state schools versus Stanford.</p>

<p>Check out this thread <a href="http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=352871%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=352871&lt;/a> to see more opinions. I'm silverlining1, in case you were wondering.</p>

<p>P.S. I feel bad for my state school bashing. I think there's many ways to have a successful, happy life. For me, that's through a challenging school like Stanford and on to medicine. Others find this level of education unnecessary, and I think that's definitely respectable. So yea... I think that, in general, students at state schools are less high achievers in education (which the numbers agree with), but I don't mean to imply that they're dull, stupid people. I didn't enjoy having discussion section with them because they rarely spoke up and didn't seem excited to learn, but they could be awesome in many other realms of life :)</p>

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<p>I'll take questions, too.</p>

<p>I don't know if you know me, but I am kinda infamous on CC, and I haven't been on CC for quite some time. I've been on SDN. Don't worry about SDN. =) It's too early.</p>

<p>I'll introduce myself. I'm a sophomore. Technically, I'm an Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities major on the PREMED TRACK with a concentration in Modern Thought and Literature. But I'll soon declare BioSci with a specialization in Neurobiology and a minor in English. I've had 3+ years of research experience, recently been named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute EXROP scholar, and of course I was a rickoid (RSI 2004).</p>

<p>I applied to medical school this year, so if you're wondering how is it possible for a sophomore to apply to medical school, you can also ask me that. I'm currently working in Steinberg Lab, which is also a Neurosurgery lab. Steinberg is the Chair of the Neurosurgery department. I've worked there for 9 months. I love performing surgery on the rat, although it is quite time consuming. Try catherizing an artery in the brain while the animal is still alive.</p>

<p>And I'll help Celestrial answer question, but I'll probably won't be here for long.</p>

13

<p>I know who you are on SDN :) I agreed with your post under "disgruntled".</p>

<p>You work with Steinberg? I work with Tse, who is just down the hall. Did you go to the holiday party earlier this month?</p>

<p>Anyways, welcome to the thread, and thanks for your help.</p>

14

<p>Okay, kind of a weird question: Is a neuro track very popular? It seems that everyone wants to do it these days...including me, of course. ;)</p>

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<p>LoL. Yea, a few neuro people just on this thread! I suppose it's popular; I don't know exactly how many people are on that track, or what percentage of bio majors are neuro. Regardless, I think you should do it if you want, even if everyone else is ;) There are some great faculty to work with, including Robert Sapolsky and my advisor, Sue McConnell.</p>

16

<p>I think the Neurobiology track is popular because Stanford is ridiculously strong in the Neuro-anything department.</p>

17

<p>hey, would it be possible to do engineering in undergrad (bioengineering) and then go on to med school; all my siblings have done it, but i dont know if it is ok at stanford.</p>

<p>2) do you know the GPA cut off to get into stan med school b/c i dont want to end up w/ a low gpa at stanford if the grading/classesare hard....</p>

<p>i am sry if i sound clueless</p>

18

<p>Bioengineering isn't really a major here. We have Biomechanical Engineering and Biomedical Computation. You might want to consider our coterminal program (MS) in Bioengineering.</p>

<p>To answer your second question, you have to get out of this mentality that there is a GPA cut off. Surely there is a minimum GPA requirement like a 3.0, but your GPA isn't going to make it or break it for you. You know that getting into Stanford alone was based on more than just your GPA and SAT scores. It's the same with medical school. MCAT and GPA can only open the door for you.</p>

19

<p>I agree with everything staticsoliloquy said.</p>

<p>To add on, I think it's quite early for you to be thinking about exactly what major and exactly what medical school you want to end up at. True, you may want to be considering state school vs. Stanford and how that will affect your performance; many say that it's better to go to an easier school and get a higher GPA, while others say that it's better to go to a top school and do slightly worse. I personally think that med schools will sort of even out the varied GPAs, so what's important is YOUR undergraduate experience. Where will you be happy for four years? Do you want to be challenged? Do you want to join certain student clubs? Do you want to be in a rural or urban area? Do you want guaranteed housing? Do you want to be by the coast? There are many things to consider.</p>

<p>By the way, very few medical schools have a minimum GPA REQUIREMENT. However, just because Harvard doesn't have a minimum doesn't mean you have a great chance with a 2.9. You can check out websites or a book called the Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR) to see what the average GPA's of admitted students are. Stanford also publishes their own statistics on students and their GPA ranges that got them into each medical school. However, I think it is too early for you to be thinking this in depth about getting into medical school.</p>

20

<p>just out of curiosity, </p>

<p>1) what is the admittance rate for stanford undergraduates to get into standford medical?</p>

<p>Is it relatively higher?</p>

<p>is it even possible to get a 2.9 or does that depend on the major</p>