Hi all, wondering if anyone has experience going to a PA state school for pre med studies. my son is looking to study either biophysics (which many schools don’t offer), microbiology or molecular biology, with a possible german minor on a pre med track. cost is paramount as he would like to get through undergrad with as little debt as possible. he is looking at and will apply to several private schools also. research indicates high GPA, great MCATs and meaningful healthcare experience is what med schools look at most. I’m wondering if he will be well enough prepared for mcats with a state school, and if where undergrad is completed matters much for med school admittance.
Premed courses are garden variety courses open to any student with an interest and who has completed any course prereqs. They provide background material for MCAT. Premed courses are not targeted to MCAT prep. At larger schools with large class, S’s prof probably wouldn’t know who’s premed or not premed. When it comes time to take MCAT, S will either get study materials and study on own or perhaps in a small group, or take a formalized MCAT review course (eg Kaplan).
S should consider major in what he’s interested in and with Plan B in mind as most who start as premed change their minds and of those who actually apply 60% will not get an acceptance anywhere.
There’s a saying that competitive GPAs/MCAT will get one to the door, but it’s the rest of app that will get one through the med school door. Besides high GPA, great MCATs and meaningful healthcare experiences, everything on a med school app counts including LoRs, PS, and interview performance. Med schools have too many competitive apps, any negative part could be end of line.
Sorry I cant offer specifics as to PA schools.
It sounds like a good plan, but is it the right plan?
Doctors are far from the only ones in the health field that help people. Physical therapists, radiology techs, nurses, speech pathologists, physician assistants, to name but just a few. Careers that don’t involve hundreds of thousands in debt and over a decade of school+training. Have him spend a few hours browsing on http://explorehealthcareers.org
Until he looks at the options and gets some experience in patient care its best to think of him as someone considering a career in health care, not someone who should be making college choices as if it is a settled matter. Actual exposure is, as you’ve noted, a requirement for med school so he might as well start this summer.
If, after getting experience in patient care and thinking about alternatives he still thinks becoming a doctor is the right choice then read thru the very informative https://www.rhodes.edu/sites/default/files/PreMed_Essentials.pdf. There is also a good handbook at https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/careers/gradstudy/health/guide and no doubt many other websites, as well as books.
When you say PA State schools, do you mean Pitt/PSU/Temple, or do you mean IUP/CalU/Mansfield/Millersville?
There’s no such thing as “premed studies”. He’ll major in something (preferably NOT biology) and will also take premed pre-reqs which are introdutory classes for various science majors and he’ll have to rank top 10% in chemistry wrt future chem majors, top 10% in bio wrt bio majors, top 10% in physics wrt physics majors… Sometimes a “premed major” is offered but it’s frowned upon because med school prefer a student with a “traditional” major (economics, CS, French, anthropology…) AND the premed pre-reqs, rather than just the premed pre-reqs pakaged as if they were a major.
Have you run NPC’s on various private colleges in the PA/NYS/OH region?
Pitt is a great school with a lot of opportunities for shadowing, research, and volunteering with upmc.
Pitt plus its honors college has solid pre-health advising from what I’ve heard.
Major in whatever you’re interested in, I don’t think bio is necessarily a bad major. (some experienced advisors and professors told me this)