<p>I know I know, I read the sticky in the pre-med forum and the consensus agrees that college prestige doesn't help much in medical school applications.</p>
<p>BUT from what I can tell, certain colleges have certain features that help your chances. Some have awesome pre-med advisors, others have oustanding research centers, etc. And there are certain colleges that lack these things and actually hurt your chances compared to everyone else.</p>
<p>I mean, I once thought UC Berkeley was an awesome school to go premed (considering that its a top UC), but from reading in that sticky, I get the feeling that not only do Berkeley have non-high-quality advisors, but they are notorious for their GPA deflation which hurts your application process since most medical schools put a lot of emphasis on GPAs (from what I read).</p>
<p>But thats as far as I can get from reading the stickies. I dont know exactly what I should be looking for in a college to gauge their pre-med quality.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any recommendations for me? Or just general advice of what to look for? It would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Good usually means hard. Why would you go to a hard pre-med program, and ruin your chances of going to med school?</p>
<p>Listen, med schools don't care where you went for undergrad, whatsoever. All they care about is your grades, especially in your pre-med classes. That's how they make their first eliminations, based on grades.</p>
<p>Why would you attend a hard pre-med program and be an average student, where you can go to an easier one and be a star?</p>
<p>Think of undergrad as high school II. Something you need to finish to go to med school. Med school should be your focus, not your undergrad.</p>
<p>I understand what you mean, but from what I got reading the sticky, some schools help you more than others even if they are less prestigious. I'm not looking for prestige, but certain leg-uppers that an everyday high school student might not know. </p>
<p>As an example, UCSD has a stronger science department and better advising than Berkeley or UCLA, making it (I believe) a better choice despite Berkeley or UCLA despite those two having more prestige. Also Duke has a world class medical center that pre-meds can go in and volunteer/research, which contributes to a higher admission rate among their premeds.</p>
<p>I'm just wondering about this for the other colleges in California. What about Cal Tech? Stanford? USC? The other UC's? Or other private schools? Which ones have excellent pre-med advisors? Which one doesn't deflate your grade TOO harshly? Which give you more opportunities to expand on the medical field with free books/centers? And are there any I should try to stay away from?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Good usually means hard. Why would you go to a hard pre-med program, and ruin your chances of going to med school?
[/quote]
No....</p>
<p>First off, you want to go to a school that will test the outer boundaries of your limit. The whole notion of taking the easy route via a easy premed course load, attending an easier college with grade deflation, that lacks a competitive atmosphere, etc... because it sets you up for a great position to get into medical school... is just crap!</p>
<p>13,000 ppl applying for 120 spots. At most of the top medical schools, 50% of the entering class has been working for at least one or two years before applying to med school....</p>
<p>Those other 50% come from the best of the best schools, that have pretty much done it all in some of the most challenging of atmospheres. Top notch GPA from a reputable school that doesn't have grade inflation will simply get you past the cutoff mark for the interview.</p>
<p>You still have to shine in everywhere else.</p>
<p>I'm sure you don't think med school will take a 4.0 just because its a 4.0....</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins is a great place for premeds. Named 2008 hottest school for premeds, great research opportunities available down at the medical campus. As an undergrad, the opportunity to collaborate and perform research for physicians and doctors whose work are in the process of giving them a nobel prize in medicine. Now that is amazing.</p>
<p>Heh heh, if I lived a few dozen miles east I might be able to attend to John Hopkins, but as of now it is just too far for me. I didn't realize how popular it was for premeds, though. That was an interesting read!</p>
<p>Buuut does anyone have any suggestions anywhere in California?</p>
<p>As long as youre sticking to larger schools, this holds fine. If you think that you can go to a community college or tiny school somewhere and still be competitive for med school admissions, you might be wrong. The larger schools will have opportunities for research, clinical shadowing etc that will make your app strong.</p>
<p>This is coming from a premed turned engineer.</p>
<p>The name, the rankings, don't matter. You need to figure out the right environment where you can get the best grades possible, get research experience/right internships, and good recommendation letters, and enjoy your college life at the same time. </p>
<p>I have known brilliant people in high school who went onto MIT, worked extremely hard only to get a 3.1 GPA, waste 2 more years in a post-bacc program, before getting into a mediocre med school. And there were also a few average students who went to local schools, where they stood out, and got into top tier medical schools. </p>
<p>Med school admissions works the same way as college admissions. Do people from Andover, Exeter, TJHSS, Stuyvesant get into prestigious colleges at a great percentage? YES. BUT, there are thousands who came from regular high schools and did well and they got in. There are also many from those great high schools who couldn't compete at that level and end up with grades that gave them no shot at a good college, even if they had a great SAT score.</p>
<p>Look, people get into med school from all kinds of colleges, looking back, I would not advise anyone who wants to get into medical school to goto a school like Johns Hopkins, or Caltech. Do they care about your undergrad affiliation, YES, they do, but assuming all other things equal, my experience with medical school data suggests that 3.7 at SUNY-Potsdam is better than a 3.1 at Johns Hopkins for a premed, which isn't exactly easy to do.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Med school admissions works the same way as college admissions. Do people from Andover, Exeter, TJHSS, Stuyvesant get into prestigious colleges at a great percentage? YES. BUT, there are thousands who came from regular high schools and did well and they got in. There are also many from those great high schools who couldn't compete at that level and end up with grades that gave them no shot at a good college, even if they had a great SAT score.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>People from Andover, Stuyvesant, etc. don't make up a majority at top colleges. People from top colleges make up a majority of students at top med schools. At my med school, 70% of the matriculating class came from a US News top 20 college. It's incorrect to say that school doesn't matter at all. Whether the advantage comes directly from prestige or indirectly from small classes, more research opps, better academic environments, etc. there is still an advantage to attending top schools for premed if you can afford it.</p>
<p>SoCaDad, what in pomona makes it stand out more than the other colleges?</p>
<p>and belevitt, are there any large universities that I should be wary of? From reading that stickied thread it seems I should stay clear from UC B or UCLA due to reasons I posted earlier. I read the stickied thread in Cal Tech forums, and they said that their are notorious for lowering your gpa (which is a minus!) but they also say that they are a top notch research institution (a plus?). Do those two balance out, or is Cal Tech a good/bad school?</p>
<p>The college is actually located in Claremont, CA and is part of a consortium of 5 colleges.</p>
<p>When you say "the other colleges", I assume you are talking about the other 4 colleges in the consortium. The school provides a first rate quality education and demanding curriculum with small class size. Although it may be less known outside of the west coast, elite graduate schools know Pomona and its reputation. For example, I read sometime back that Pomona sent a higher proportion of its students to Harvard Law than Columbia or Duke. Pomona created a separate office to handle graduate school admissions. Pomona grads do very well at gaining acceptance into professional schools and other graduate schools. The professors are strong and many have connections to assist with summer internships or job seeking. Most of the students who are accepted have stats that are comparable to any elite college in the nation.</p>
<p>While this response is a limited answer, if you are looking for a great school for pre-med in California, Pomona College should be at or near the top of your list.</p>