<p>If you look at medical school placement you’ll be shocked how how much better small LACs do than big universities on a per capita basis.</p>
<p>UCR undergrad → UCLA Med. A straight med program for Underrepresented Minorities (in Medicine) may still exist. It did in yrs past.</p>
<p>UCSD → UCSD straight med program requires very high stats, scores.</p>
<p>Pitzer → Western Osteopathic (D.O.) straight med program is worth considering too.</p>
<p>Finally, being top of your class at UC Davis, UCSB will open many med school doors, coupled with a desire to pursue family/rural medicine. UCD is especially good option with many clinical/research opps at affiliated health sci campus.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
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<p>I keep reading this claim, so I recently asked on the Berkeley forum whether students were involuntarily staying extra semesters due to not getting courses needed to graduate. The replies indicated that this was not a problem, even though classes were generally close to full, which meant that getting preferred class times, or getting into popular courses that were not in one’s major, was often a problem.</p>
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<p>For estimating affordability at any school, public or private, go to the school’s web site and put “net price calculator” into the search box. You should be able to get an estimate of cost of attendance and financial aid. After subtracting non-loan financial aid from the cost of attendance, you should get the net cost for each school.</p>
<p>Some private schools are very generous with financial aid and scholarships; others are not.</p>
<p>Don’t assume that admissions is going to favor bigger, research oriented schools. There are colleges with no grad programs that produce more PhDs per capita then the well known research universities. [nsf.gov</a> - NCSES Baccalaureate Origins of S&E Doctorate Recipients - US National Science Foundation (NSF)](<a href=“http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08311/]nsf.gov”>http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08311/) And for med school, if you don’t meet the gpa and mcat requirements, it won’t matter what kind of research you’ve been exposed to.</p>
<p>Woah! Questbridge would be of incredible help. I’ll apply, I have nothing to lose. Well… just a chance. I am relying on scholarships and student loans for my education, maybe I wont get matched for the Ivys but it should give me a boost for the other option (can’t remember the term used). </p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice and info. I was not expecting this amount of attention. </p>
<p>It seems to me that private universities would be the way to go, both financially and academically (mainly additional pre-med attention). I am still somewhat worried. My grades and ECs are not the strongest. I am confident that ill be accepted into a university, but money is a huge problem, and just my back ground and situation wont stand on their own to be consider for a generous financial aid package. My only big upcoming opportunity to really challenge my self, and also gain more EC strength is the UCD pre-med surgical internship and even this wont put me at par with the rest of the student body.</p>
<p>I still have a formidable amount of research to do before I become truly knowledgeable at which schools offer the best chances for me, so the leads given here are greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Thanks! </p>
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<p>guatomallin – I just checked out Questbridge and was extremely impressed. Make sure that you follow up vigorously with this organization. It could change your life forever. Make sure that you read the open letter from the founder, who is an MD, on the home page. I never knew this resource existed. Go for it! At the same time follow all other paths as well.</p>
<p>It is impressive, but getting my stats up will be extremely difficult given the amount of time I have left. Its supposed to be very competitive! Thanks for the advice!</p>
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<p>I agree guatomalln, Questbridge will probably be a no go with your stats. But there are many privates you’ll have a good shot at.</p>
<p>Do you think Trinity will consider me, Waverly? I just want a sort of line from which I can estimate which are possible and which are impossible. I know Ivies are out of the question, and maybe the top 30 as well. I guess I want some sort of certainty. </p>
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<p>Maybe at Trinity. I think you should focus on the schools that meet 100% of need (you can google a list) that are least selective and those in places that don’t get a lot of Hispanic applicants (look for those with under 6% Hispanic students). Some I would look at are Bates, Richmond, Colby, St. Olaf, Macalester, Grinnell.</p>