Premed questions? Ask here.

<p>The competition's tough. And tougher at Stanford than just about any other school in the nation, Hahvahd and others included. It's estimated about 70% of each incoming class expresses some interest in premed; ~20% graduate having fulfilled the course requirements and gotten acceptance somewhere. So it's difficult, yes, but don't sit there and moan about it, there's tons of resources to help you along the way. It's definitely feasible.</p>

<p>A note to the HumBio dude: HumBio is really time consuming relative to the other typical pre-med major bio. I say this because sophomore year, you're required to dedicate 10 units each quarter to the HumBio core classes, which makes scheduling kinda difficult. So just be careful in planning, basically, because class times will likely conflict at some point.</p>

<p>And Stanford Medical School does favor Stanford students. Nearly a third of each class, in fact, is usually pulled from Stanford undergrads. And it's not because they feel they should select people from their undergrad university; Stanford students are just that much better qualified. Seriously, no other university has our level of openness and support for our students to unleash their creativity. The funding we secure for undergraduate research/initiatives is unparalled. If you want to start something here, you can do it, there's people to help you every step of the way. Wanna research something in particular? Wanna start a course of your own on a subject you feel isn't really covered in any other course? Wanna start a business? It's easier here than in any other university, believe me. We have an additional advantage of being in Silicon Valley. TONS, and I mean TONS of start-ups to intern at, as well as already well-established companies like Genentech. We're the school that produced the minds behind Google, YouTube, and other extremely successful ventures. If you weather all the courses, believe me, you have an extremely competitive chance at getting into med school. And trust me, there's a reason that we at Stanford are the happiest students in the nation. :-)</p>

<p>"Stanford has a product. A lot of people don't know this. We produce a product, and our product is the future."
-- Brian Carilli, lab designer in the School of Engineering, and one of two recipients of this year?s Marsh O'Neill Award.</p>

<p>I have a rather simplistic question to ask: Approximately what percentage of Stanford pre-meds actually get into a medical school? How does that figure compare to that of other schools?</p>

<p>For the 2005 med school applicants (the ones who are now in their first year of med school), 74% of Stanford applicants were accepted, and 68% matriculated. This is compared to a national average of 46.7% and 43.7%, respectively.</p>

<p>so when we get there and since "pre-med" is just a title , are there certain advisors for students who plan on being pre-med.....b/c i dont want to take the straight path most people do but explore around what course options i can take that still meet the requirements for med schools</p>

<p>Yes, of course - there are great premed advisers who provide information and resources as well as a premed student organization that plans events <a href="http://premed.stanford.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://premed.stanford.edu&lt;/a> It's great and fine that you want to explore around. You can look at that premed website or talk to an adviser about what exactly the requirements are and what the various ways to fulfill them are. I don't think premed requirements take THAT much time, so you should have a lot of leeway to take other classes that interest you. I think that for some of the requirements, you can't really substitute much (i.e. for the general biology requirement, you take the bio core or hum bio core - I haven't ever heard of it being fulfilled any other way), but the advisers know more than I do.</p>

<p>There are premed advisors in the advising department specifically for pre-med or those considering pre-med. They're very helpful, just make an appointment with them when you have the chance.</p>

<p>As for the requirements, there are obviously some classes you can't avoid, but there are quite a few options available for different scheduling of classes, as well as substitutions for (most frequently) lab courses, taking certain classes during the summer, etc, etc. Also, each med school has different requirements; the general requirements are what most schools accept, but some have, for instance, the requirement that a biochem class be taken or something like that. Just go in and talk with the advisors, they'll lead you through step by step.</p>

<p>Some common things:
Substitute one of the bio labs with surgery 101
Substitute for all the bio labs by doing research in either the med school or the bio dept
Take Physics at Santa Clara University over the summer
Take chem labs elsewhere during the summer
Take chem off track
Take the first of the bio core during the summer when it's considerably easier
etc.</p>

<p>Just for some info I wanted before I begin talking to an advisor (a ways away...):
I'm planning on doing SLE. Can I still take the BioSci w/ Neurobio Track courses that are recommended in terms of Chem 31X, etc.?</p>

<p>You shouldn't have any problem doing so. If you'd like to take first quarter a little easy, you really don't even have to take 31X, as it's completely unrelated to organic chem, which starts from 33 (which, btw, you want to do yourself a favor and take 33 on-track). I skipped 31X and didn't have any problems--A's in two out of three organic chem classes. But whatever you choose to do, pick a workload you can handle. And then tackle that stuff like a tiger goes at its prey. :-)</p>

<p>Yeah, I just realized that I don't have to take 31X b/c I got a 4 in AP Chem. I won't even have Chem first quarter. :D Yay!!!</p>

<p>Anyways, Math? 41,42 or whatever else the other choice is?</p>

<p>I believe you need to take 31X anyways as a premed requirement (I think it is General Chemistry). I placed out of it as well.</p>

<p>Oh. :( Pooey. So you took it, right?</p>

<p>Yes, I took it my first quarter freshman year. You could put it off, though. The good thing is that having taken AP chem will help quite a bit.</p>

<p>It's not actually a pre-med requirement, per se...first quarter of pchem will count for it, as will 135 or 151. There are quite a few ways to fulfill inorganic without having to stress about chem your first quarter. :-/</p>

<p>I guess I'll ask my advisor about that, then...whenever we get to start talking to them... :)</p>

<p>Do we have to take uber-difficult math classes if we're pre-med?</p>

<p>If I took AP Physics B in high school, which physics class would I take? And would I get ap credit? which physics classes are required for premed?</p>

<p>You can look at the Stanford bulletin. It gives you all the AP info. The link is <a href="http://bulletin.stanford.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://bulletin.stanford.edu&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>

<p>does anyone have any more tips about how to go about pre-med requirements and how to go "off-track"...besides what jwj already said(btw thank you very much :) )</p>

<p>I don't know if you've already looked at this site, but <a href="http://premed.stanford.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://premed.stanford.edu&lt;/a> is an absolutely amazing resource. :)</p>

<p>yeah i had that site....but i just looked at their forums which helps a lot</p>

<p>thanks</p>