Premed - Washington (Seattle), Wisconsin (Madison), or SMU?

@WayOutWestMom Thank you. My question about MCAT preparation was related to #1, and how that relates to MCAT. Some people have previously commented here (and elsewhere) that they felt the rigor of certain schools provided a better foundation going into MCAT prep.

@octrojan

Rigor is in the eye of the beholder. While intro level bio classes may have the same broad list of topics to be covered in the syllabus, the exact content of the course will vary not just from college to college, but from instructor to instructor and year to year within the same university. Specific professors have specific interests which tend to get emphasized while other topics get the short shift. Famously there was an editorial in Harvard’s student newspaper about 5 years ago complaining that Harvard’s classes don’t adequately prepare students for the MCAT.

I have my own little in-house science experiment: one D went to a private top 30 undergrad known for its pre-med program; one went to a large public state university ranked below #200. (BTW, care to guess which kidlet scored better on the MCAT?) Both got what they needed to be successful applicants for medical school at their colleges. Both had multiple med school acceptances. Both have now graduated from med school and both matched into their preferred specialties at strong academic hospital programs.

Gaining a med school acceptance really depends on the student and their achievements–not where they go to college.

@twnz19

OTOH, if you received a grade C or better, AMCAS will not allow you to re-take that class. You can take a higher level similar class to make up a “bad” grade, ie a “C”.

OP, to summarize, there is no “Good” or “Bad” premed school in the three you are admitted to. It is just a personal preference that matters and what you do in the school is more important than the name of the school, at least in premed.

Just give you an anecdote story, my D went to a tipytop University, much higher ranking than what you have been admitted to. She did an “average” GPA and about 90% in Mcat. Because she did not make the 3.7 GPA, she was not admitted into any MD school, she is graduating from a DO school this year.

Med schools will look at both GPA and Mcat, if any of them is weak, you are not going to get in.

Sorry @artloversplus, this

simply isn’t true.

AMCAS has no policy or rules on what classes can and cannot be retaken.

Individual colleges will have policies regarding re-takes and individual med schools will have policies regarding the lowest acceptable grade for fulfilling admission requirements, but AMCAS does not.

The only thing AMCAS’ rules say is that all attempts at class must be reported. (Even audits or courses taken P/F)

If a student wants to retake a course they earned a C in, they are certainly welcome to do so, providing their home college approves, or if the student enrolls for the class at different school.

Also, re: your daughter’s lack of success at MD programs–respectfully, you have no proof of why she was unsuccessful. (Unless you are somehow privy to the internal deliberations of a couple of dozen medical school admission offices.) It could be for a whole host of reasons unrelated to her GPA.

@WayOutWestMom Interesting in-house experiment. Thanks for sharing.