I would like to know what Undergrad School you would recommend for Pre-Med. These are the current choices:
-In State at CU Boulder (University of Colorado @ Boulder)
-In State a CU Denver (University of Colorado @ Denver)
-OOS at UWYO (University of Wyoming @ Laramie)
-Creighton (Creighton University @ Omaha, NE)
The main objective is to get a good MCAT score.
Thank you
I’d narrow the selection to CU Boulder or Creighton. Unless costs are a concern, you will be sacrificing quality to go to a non-flagship state university. You want to be surrounded by the most competitive peers and to have the most rigorous classes. This will prepare you for the MCAT.
UWYO is a third tier school and you’ll be paying OOS tuition for it. Doesn’t make sense unless you can articulate a very specific preference for it.
I would like to know what Undergrad School you would recommend for Pre-Med. These are the current choices:
[/QUOTE]
-In State at CU Boulder (University of Colorado @ Boulder)
-In State a CU Denver (University of Colorado @ Denver)
-OOS at UWYO (University of Wyoming @ Laramie)
-Creighton (Creighton University @ Omaha, NE)
The main objective is to get a good MCAT score.
Thank you
[/QUOTE]
Schools don’t make or break your MCAT score. Schools don’t prepare you for the MCAT.
What are your stats?
HOw much will your parents pay each year?
If you need aid, what are the NPCs showing you for each school?
Creighton doesn’t give great aid.
I agree with most of your points, that cost and affordability is very important. I think CU Denver is not a bad choice, and is certainly not worse than UWYO.
This is where I disagree. The rigor of a good university makes you a better test taker and essentially teaches you the foundation of what is tested in the MCAT. This is not to say you can’t get a good MCAT score from a lesser school.
There are four sections on the MCAT
(1) Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems
This will test you on the theory and practice of what you learned in your chemistry and physics classes. Your grasp of introductory and organic chemistry, and basic physics (kinematics, basic E&M, units and dimensions, etc)? If you get “As” at your non-rigorous school and get a 24 on your MCAT, then your school has failed you in med school preparation.
(2) Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (MCAT CARS)
Did you take rigorous liberal arts and humanities courses? How strong are your reading and writing skills? How do they compare to your peer group. Better schools offer better peer groups
(3) Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems
What did you learn in your in your biology and biochemistry classes? Do you understand the basics of protein synthesis, etc?
(4) Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior.
Again, this is academic. I’m getting tired of writing.
@frontpage I’m very familiar with what’s on the MCAT and what’s needed to get into med school. I have a child in med school.
Undergrad colleges/univs do not prepare you for the MCAT…PERIOD.
All decent schools teach the basics that is needed for the MCAT. It’s HOW YOU APPLY that info to the questions asked on the MCAT. THAT is NOT taught in undergrad.
If someone gets a low/modest score on the MCAT, it is NOT because their school failed them… NOT AT ALL. The SAME school will have some students getting 24s…and some students getting 29s…and some students getting 32s…and some getting 35+. (Old MCAT scoring).
Are you saying that the SAME SCHOOL that has some kids get MCAT 24 and some get MCAT 28 and some get MCAT 32-36+ has “failed” because some get a MCAT 24???
I then accept what you’re saying. I’m an engineer and am not familiar with medical schools.
@frontpage: premed reqs are garden variety college courses generally open to any student who has an interest and has satisfied any course prereqs. For example, a general chem seq may be titled something along the lines of chem 1, chem 2. They are typically not titled chem 1 for premeds, chem 2 for premeds. There is a strong probability that unless a student conveyed to prof they are premed, the prof would never know either who is premed or who is not, or teach his/her chem course partly directed at premeds v partly directed at non premeds. It’s just a general chem course.Premed reqs can offer background material for MCAT, but when time comes, almost all premed hopefuls will sign up for formalized course (eg Princeton Review), or get MCAT study materials to prep on their own or maybe in small group.
“The main objective is to get a good MCAT score”
@just:your main objective should be to create a competitive app in all respects. Also as most premeds borrow their way through med school and it is expensive, consider schools where you can graduate with as little debt as possible.
Thank you all for the responses. Most of these colleges within the Western Undergraduate Exchange are affordable (PreMed or Biology Majors): http://wue.wiche.edu/search_results.jsp?searchType=all . Wyoming is especially affordable with Scholarships for students with high GPAs. CU (Boulder/Denver) and CSU (Fort Collins) are also affordable for in state students. As I understand, what is important is getting a well rounded education in Science and reasoning skills, and that could be obtained thru the opportunities that each college provides. What colleges would you recommend? Thank you.
I would recommend going to a “good school,” that you LIKE and that you can afford without borrowing much.
What are your stats? That is an important piece of info.
How much will your parents pay each year? Ask them, if needed.
Be aware that many/most/all WUE schools will not give you scholarship if you take the WUE discount. It’s usually one or the other…not both.
If you can, try to fit Philosophy Deductive Logic and/or Critical Thinking Skills into your schedule.
med school is horribly expensive. And, I’m not talking just about COA, which is typically very expensive. There are very expensive exams.
It never seems to end. This year, we will have spent $3k in exams alone. We just spent $2k on residency apps. The interview trips will likely cost another $7k-10k
“it never seems to end”
the first residency paycheck ended it.
Apply to all of them. You can also apply to Colorado College (if your family makes 100K or less, they’ll be very affordable). Montana State in Missoula is in a nicer, more accessible town than UWyoming and also offers WUE.
If you’re admitted to all, pick CU Boulder if in the Honors College (better advising, smaller classes for more attention and better recommendations), Creighton if it is affordable (often it isn’t). But don’t make a choice now - apply to all, wait for acceptances and financial aid packages, and choose based on which is the best fit and the best value.
Any advice regarding CSU (Fort Collins) for Pre-med? Thank you.
What are your stats?
How much will your parents pay each year?
How many students from CSU-FC apply to med school each year?
Fort Collins is the main campus of Colorado State. It’s a great school - students tend to be above-average students, with nearly half of students in the top quarter of their high school classes and the average SAT scores between the mid-1100s and mid-1300s. Their health professions advising program is here: http://hp.casa.colostate.edu/hpAdvising.aspx. Students get a health professions advisor who guides them towards med school applications. They also offer a 12-week non-credit MCAT prep course every spring. Their site doesn’t say how many students apply to med school or what their acceptance rates are.
Like m2ck mentioned, I think you should think about a variety of factors. Pre-med requirements are the same everywhere, and you can get a good MCAT score from any of the schools you mentioned. But the universities mentioned have different atmospheres and experiences. CU-Boulder is a big public flagship; University of Wyoming is too, but in a more isolated geographic area. CU-Denver is a commuter campus in a large city. Creighton is going to be an interesting experience - a residential/traditional campus, a small-to-medium student body and Division I sports. Not that you can’t be interested in more than one kind of experience (I encourage it!) but think about where you want to spend the next four years? Med school isn’t the entire purpose of college, and many, many med students change their minds or don’t get into med school. If you, for whatever reason, didn’t go to med school after college - where would you rather have gone?
As a CO student, CU-Boulder and Colorado State are both likely to be less expensive than University of Wyoming, even with WUE tuition. So those would probably both be better deals than Wyo.
Awesome suggestions. Thanks. Didn’t think about asking how many students apply to Med School. Isn’t what’s important what % of applicants is accepted, or the quantity of applicants also? I’m counting on a good OOS girl Merit scholarship in WYO, or not so much of a discount in state in Colorado.
What are your stats???
Yes, it’s important how many students they have apply to med schools. If they have few, then likely they don’t have a very good dedicated advising office, don’t write committee letters, etc.
the % accepted tells you nothing.
What are your parents saying about how much they’ll pay each year?
I will ask from now on about the number of students applying to Medical school
Up to $15k/yr in 2017 tuition is fine(cost increment of at least 5% per year being taken into consideration). Room and boarding is similar everywhere. NE college with merit is $18k/yr in tuition ,but room and boarding $2k/yr less than CO : so is comparable.
I’m a Junior with unweighted GPA of 3.9, currently taking 4 AP classes.
@mom2collegekids - you’ve got the experience in this area, so I’m curious. Why is it that how many students who apply is important but the % accepted says nothing? Previously I would’ve expected, for example, a school where only 17% of the kids who applied to med school getting accepted to be bad and a school where 80% of the kids who applied to med school getting accepted to be good. Conversely, I wouldn’t have thought very much about the number of students who applied as long as the pre-med advising office looked pretty good (like Colorado State’s does).
@juillet Good question!
The reason why the number of applicants can make a difference at a school is because typically a school will provide more resources ( a premed office, premed advisors, premed clubs, write Committee Letters, bring in speakers/experts ) if there are a larger number of applicants. It can be hard for a school to justify the expense or even the salary of a dedicated premed advisor if the school typically only has a small number of applicants each year. I recently was looking at a school that typically only has 8-11 med school applicants per year. I think that’s too few.
the other extreme can also be a negative. A school that has way too many med school applicants can also be a problem. I’ve seen a few schools that have 500-700+ Med school applicants each year. I would find it hard to believe that a school can properly advise that many and likely they’re not writing Committee Letters when the group is that large.
And you’re right…a school that says only 17% of their applicants were accepted would be bad thing, but I’ve never seen anything like that! Lol. More typically we see stats like: 55% or 75% or 80%
The reason why acceptance rates like 55%, 65%, or 75% don’t really tell a high school senior (or his parents) anything is because of several reasons.
When a high school senior hears a 75% stat, he wrongly thinks that HE has a 75% chance of getting into med school. No. That’s not what that stat is saying.
The school may have had 400 Frosh premeds, but by the time senior year was coming around, only 100 remained and applied to med school. If 75% of those remaining 100 rising college seniors end up being accepted, what does that tell an incoming freshman who is one of 400? Only 75 of his cohort of 400 premed made it into med school.
Also…all premeds aren’t equal. All med school applicants aren’t equal. If a school has a 55% acceptance rate, then that is probably a school that allows anyone to apply to med school…even those with stats that aren’t med school worthy. That should 55% admission stat should not discourage a student with a high GPA and strong MCAT score, because his/her chance is not 55%. His/her chance may really be 80%. His/her chance is not hurt by the fact that some premeds with lousy stats would not give up and applied anyway.