<p>Hello everyone,
I'm about to apply ED 2 to Kalamazoo college. I plan to study premed and then study at a medical grad school. I have done some research and see some students' feedback that Kzoo is good at biology, chemistry and biochemistry but the school is not favorable for premed for some reasons?
Can anyone tell me about this? And how about chances to enter a top medical school after 4 years at Kzoo?
Thank you so much!</p>
<p>I can’t comment directly on Kalamazoo’s pre-med success. However, most of a student’s success at med school entry can be laid at the door of the student.</p>
<p>Firstly, pick a major you really want to study for 4 years. This can be anything. Indeed, with the preponderance of STEM graduates, arts and humanities students can stand out to admissions. You still need to take at least the minimum pre-med classes recommended by the med school concerned. But you want to maximise your GPA. </p>
<p>You also want to find out as much information about the medical school admissions process for the schools you want to attend. Just like college, you need to really think about what each med school offers, its cost, its environment and location.</p>
<p>Most of this information is available with a good Google. However, for the gaps the pre-med forum on cc may prove particularly helpful. If in doubt, contact Kalamazoo directly. Selecting the right college for you is worth the effort :)</p>
<p>However, most of a student’s success at med school entry can be laid at the door of the student.</p>
<p>Very true. </p>
<p>I doubt that there is anything wrong with Kalamazoo’s science classes. </p>
<p>There’s NO WAY that we can chance you for med school if you go to Kzoo. It has nothing to do with where you go to undergrad. We have NO IDEA if you’re going to get A’s or C’s at Kzoo. We have no idea if you’ll do well on the MCAT. </p>
<p>A person “chances” has nothing to do with the name of the school.</p>
<p>Over the years I have only heard good things about Kalamazoo College student placement into Medical Schools. As Med Schools are becoming more holistic in their decisions, I’d think that a K College liberal arts education with its “foreign study for all” program and many personal touches would be advantageous. From what I’ve seen, K grads grow a lot in 4 years and get helpful recs from profs who really have gotten to know them.</p>
<p>student placement into Medical Schools</p>
<p>Schools do not “place” students into med school. Not at all.</p>
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<p>While it is true that the name on the eventual diploma does not matter, the experience at school A over school B may matter. A kid sucked into the party culture at Directional BFE State University or lulled into sleep at Flagship Whatever U’s 500-student amphitheater intro course might end up less prepared for, and attractive to, a Med School rather than a kid who went to a school like Kalamazoo.</p>
<p>And yes, no school “places” into Med School, I was talking of favorable rates of acceptance.</p>
<p>Well, a kid who goes to Kalamazoo may find themselves with a lower GPA trying to keep up with classmates who are on par with them, or may be bored because of the lack of student groups, or may not find a hospital to do the shadowing they want to do. A kid at Kzoo could also get sucked into or distracted by the social life at Kalamazoo; every college (being a collection of thousands of 18-22 year olds) has a social life that could distract a student. That’s not necessarily more or less likely to happen at Kzoo than a public university. Why do we always draw these false dichotomies? My friend (currently in med school) went to UCLA and was in a 600-person intro biology class, but she wanted to become a doctor, so she paid attention and stayed awake. Lots of people go to med school from UCLA.</p>
<p>A sufficiently ambitious student can get into medical school from anywhere, and I doubt that a single student is more likely to go there from Kzoo than from Western Washington or Penn State or Alabama. All of those schools send hundreds of kids to med school, too. It depends on the student’s individual personality and desires, as well as their family’s financial resources.</p>
<p>‘top medical school’</p>
<p>As opposed to what? There are no mediocre medical schools in the US. You will be lucky to get into any of them.</p>
<p>There are medical schools that are famous for their research - they prepare doctors for academic medicine and/or careers in medical research. And there are medical schools that are focused on either preparing doctors to practice medicine and/or careers in public health/public policy. The public’s perception of ‘top’ often has little to do with the professional’s perception of ‘top’ and frankly, there is no reason why you can’t go from any medical school to a `top’ residency in your area of interest if you are sufficiently good at what you do.</p>
<p>Don’t waste your time thinking about anything except acing your classes, doing well on your MCAT, and getting as much exposure to the medical field (practice and research) as you can. Oh, and save your money - medical school, even state medical school, is wickedly expensive. Kalamazoo will prepare you, if you are prepared to put in the time and effort.</p>
<p>kid sucked into the party culture at Directional BFE State University or lulled into sleep at Flagship Whatever U’s 500-student amphitheater intro course might end up less prepared for, and attractive to, a Med School rather than a kid who went to a school like Kalamazoo.</p>
<p>I think going to Kzoo is fine. However, a student can get sucked into the party culture ANYWHERE…and most univs public and private have large classes for the premed prereqs.</p>
<p>and M’s Mom is right. All med schools are excellent. To get into ANY ONE MD school is an achievement. You’ll be lucky to get into any. </p>
<p>We went thru the grueling med school app process last year, and luckily our son got into his top choice, but if he had only gotten into one of his lesser choices, he would still have been thrilled to attend (he was thrilled at those acceptances). There is always a fear that even with the right stats, etc, you can end up empty-handed.</p>
<p>I read from the student doctor forum that Kzoo professors hesitate to write their students good recs and there are quite some problems in the premed program of the school
But now i no longer worry.
thank you all!</p>
<p>Kzoo professors hesitate to write their students good recs</p>
<p>This makes no sense. First of all, the profs as a whole aren’t going to have some unilateral policy. it’s not as if the school issued a memo: “hesitate to write good recs, we don’t want our students going on to grad school”. That would be crazy. A mediocre student or a student that the prof doens’t know may find it hard to get good recs…but that’s true anywhere.</p>
<p>'problems in the premed program"</p>
<p>?? What could be that? There really isn’t such a thing as a “premed program” anyway. The classes aren’t unique for premeds. The STEM students take the same classes…Bio, Chem, Ochem, Physics, Calculus, etc.</p>
<p>OP….I can’t add much to the conversation except to say my son is attending KZOO in the fall 2014 to study premed and play baseball (you can look for him and embarrass him by telling him you know his mom 
). Friends of ours have said its better to go to Kzoo than UofM for premed undergrad. More likely to get in to medical school….and that is from Doctors who attended UofM. Good luck and study hard!</p>