OP: Transfer to Pitt. Pitt is in a different league than is your current school (top 20 LAC) with respect to pre-med education & pre-med educational opportunities.
From the Fiske Guide To Colleges 2020:
“Premed students can watch transplants at the famed University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.”
Also, of the top 8 majors at Pitt, 6 are related to medicine/medical practice areas.
Moreover, Pitt has a strong University Honors College.
So I’m pretty sure I’m going to transfer now. UPitt is my top choice, but I’m just struggling to find similar colleges. Any more recommendations because I don’t want to put my eggs in on basket I guess.
Oh please. Your public universities are not teeny. There will be plenty of folks from places other than your high school. You don’t need to see your high school folks unless you want to.
Given that you are from New Jersey, I think that you should send in an application to Rutgers. With 49,000 undergraduate students, you have a decent chance to never see anyone from your high school. You will find very strong students in your premed classes there. Rutgers also has a very good medical school, and you will save $$$ for medical school.
I did not check their deadline for transfer applications.
Although this ranking was created a few years ago (and was based on a previous version of the SAT), it nonetheless should help you screen for colleges in a similar selectivity zone as UPitt:
You can look into somewhat more selective schools such as URochester and Boston University, for example, and then consider some less selective options as well.
Have you checked out Temple? I know new jersey residents who have done well there and gotten into NJ medical schools.
Pitt might be a lot more competitive for GPA than Temple.
I have good stats from High School, which I’m gonna submit since I’m a freshman. My first-semester GPA is like a 3.4 so I can’t apply to super-selective schools. Temple’s financial aid is not too great.
You won’t qualify for financial aid and merit aid for transfers is very limited, so make sure you can afford the universities you apply to.
Add Rutgers, TCNJ or Rowan? This way you’d have a financially affordable back up if Pitt doesn’t pan out.
Seconding Temple, if and only if you can get into the Honors College due to housing issues for transfers.
What about UDel? Delaware is so small that you’ll easily be within reach of any place you might want to volunteer.
UVermont or Northeastern may be good alternatives, too.
Note that as a premed, volunteering in a medical setting (or working as a CNA, EMT, etc.)could or should be complemented with work with diverse populations (who are homeless, refugees, people whose first language isn’t English…)
If you’re willing to venture further away, Rhodes (in TN) and St Olaf (in MN) are LACs that are well-known for their premed programs. Both have an honor code that’s very effective in preventing cheating.
Not sure there is any free financial aid at Pitt or Temple. I would expect both t o be loans for a transfer.
The GPA I am referring to is college graduating GPA to make it into medical school. Pitt will be much more competitive.
The title should really be “610 colleges with the highest average SAT scores”, since “smartest” may be measured in ways other than only SAT scores.
I would expect both to give poor FA generally, since they are Pennsylvania state-related universities, and worse or none if the OP is not a Pennsylvania resident.
Kids from my high school who consider Pitt (and Pre-med) are also usually looking at Case Western and U Rochester. I’m unsure how any will do with financial aid for a transfer, so I’ll add my voice to those suggesting your in state options (like Rutgers) if finances are a consideration.
Some openings for transfer students may be wider than you imagine. Boston University, for example, accepts 50% of its transfer applicants, which is similar to that for UPitt (55%).
Can this poster afford the $70k cost of attendance at Boston University?
In order to be in position of applying after junior year, you should have completed all premed reqs ahead of taking MCAT. You’ll need to fit in maybe 2/3 months of dedicated MCAT prep either by self study (maybe small group), or by taking a more formalized MCAT prep course (eg Princeton Review) which could run 3-4 nights a week of 3 hours each. You’ll need to find time for ECs (research is not a mandatory EC for med school admission… something like 40% of applicants have never been in a research lab. Med school adcoms only consider research of medium importance.). You may want to find time to have a college life. As more and more applicants seem to have one or more gap years, you’ll be competing against arguably stronger applicants by trying to apply after junior year. There’s a saying that getting into med school is a marathon, not a sprint.
58% of all applicants who applied in last cycle failed to get into any US med school, many got an acceptance to only one US med school.
https://www.aamc.org/media/5976/download
What’s the rush? It’s best to apply one time with strongest possible application wherever you end up. Good luck.
I do not think that getting accepted to medical school after your junior year of university is a realistic goal. I do not think that this is likely for anyone.
Most students who start off university thinking that they are premed are very strong students, but nonetheless most of them do not end up applying to medical schools. Of the ones who apply, as another reply has pointed out more than 50% do not get admitted anywhere. I think that you should be trying to maximize your chances of being admitted to medical school at all, and also keeping a thought in the back of your mind regarding what else you could do instead of medical school.
We occasionally see posts here from student who took organic chemistry as a freshman in university, are struggling to get a C, and are concerned that this will hurt their chances to get accepted to medical school. One daughter took organic chemistry as a very well prepared junior in university and the two extra years really did make a difference (she did not struggle). Having done well in regular chemistry the year before did matter. Rushing to take classes quickly and piling up a lot of difficult classes will not maximize your GPA nor maximize your chances of getting into medical school.
I think that the transfer application deadline for transfers to Rutgers might be Feb 1. They are good for premed and might save you a bundle of money that could potentially be used to pay for medical school. There is no harm in sending in the application.
It seems OP has stated previously that parents are supporting currently (at Top 10 LAC). Surely, they may continue the same at Temple. Yes, Temple students can get into NJ medical schools and vice versa Rutgers student can get into Temple’s LKSOM, IMO.
IMO, your UG GPA may be better at Temple vs UPitts. Rutgers-NB is a very good choice. You can make new friends at Rutgers since students from all over NJ come to study. You do not have to mingle with your old friends from your high school.
It seems OP has stated previously that parents are supporting currently (at Top 10 LAC). Surely, they may continue the same at Temple. Yes, Temple students can get into NJ medical schools and vice versa Rutgers student can get into Temple’s LKSOM, IMO.
It can be done with proper planning and taking MCAT during Spring semester in junior year. Apply when AMCAS opens probably in early July.
One can matriculate to a medical school without any gap years.
While it’s possible, it’s definitely a very small minority that applies and is admitted at that stage. (Look at average age at entrance for instance).