<p>Interesting. My son wants to do pre-med and, most likely, bio major as well. I agree with most of your pros and cons… We are trying to find right size/cost/percentage admitted to med-school combo. SM claims near 80% which is hard to believe. It’s right up there with schools like Swartsmore and other first tier schools. I would love to see some hard data. </p>
<p>Speaking of Pitt, my son got accepted to Pitt also but we are not sure if that’s the right school for him yet. I am afraid he may get “lost” in big schools but plan to take a look in March.</p>
<p>I think my daughter needs to research the med school admit rate too. It’s really difficult to get reliable data on this. Each college seems to have a different methodology to report their success rate. Some colleges do not allow weaker candidates to apply to med school, so their rate is higher. Some allow all to apply.</p>
<p>FYI – When we visited CP, they told us that their rate is around 67% which is above national avg of about 45% or so, I think. One of the (possible) advantages for applying to UMBC is their med school self-select from their undergraduate. I don’t know if this self-selection process is limited to UMBC grads only or whether it includes CP kids. I think only UMBC.</p>
<p>One of the “pros” you pointed out reminded me something I wanted to ask people who have kids at SM. How do they do research? I don’t mean lab work for undergraduate courses but actual research work since their professors don’t do research, do they? They also don’t have graduate program so I am not sure… At CP (where my first child is graduating this year) a number of undergraduates do research with graduate students and professors. Not sure how this works at SM.</p>
<p>The professors still need to do research. They get the undergrads to work with them on it since there is no grad students. DD is a freshman chemistry major so hopes to get an internship soon.</p>
<p>Drug and Alcohol free dorms rooms are set aside for those students who do not want to be around these types of substances. There are some students from other countries that need to have this option so they are put on these floors. Students have the option to request these dorms. I am sure they are allowed to take prescribed meds for themselves and OTC but I am not sure since this type of dorm was not her choice. I will say I considered having her sign-up for it though.</p>
<p>She found St Mary’s challenging enough. She was an IB/AP student, so it was not as hard for her, as some of her classmates, to adjust to the workload. She is a freshman(chemistry major) but has sophomore standing this semester. She will be a junior next year. It is going to be challenging to complete her degree this quickly since the chemistry courses follow a sequence. Also, STEM majors have a lot more class time then most other majors. Her roommates could not understand why she was in class so long. Those labs will do that do you.lol</p>
<p>DD has not been to one of these dorms herself but she does know that some of the kids have been placed in them. Students have different reasons for needing them. </p>
<p>Dd has been lucky with her roommates. They are all on the same page and non of them drink or smoke.</p>
<p>BTW–the University of Maryland medical school is at University of Maryland-Baltimore, not University of Maryland-Baltimore County–UMBC undergraduates do not have any more of an advantage in the admissions process to University of Maryland medical school than any other Maryland resident attending college anywhere.</p>
<p>As a current student at SMCM who is a Bio major with plans to go to medical school I can tell you it is true we have about an 80% admission rate to medical schools. We have a program called the health services advisory committee that really helps to prepare students for applying to med school or any other health service school.</p>
<p>Do you know if SM publishes more detailed info on medical school acceptance rate? I would love to know which schools student applied to, ended up attending, how many students, and student profiles (such as GPA, MCAT scores, intern exp…etc.)</p>