<p>I have two questions. Can anyone tell me anything about the Cell and Molecular Biology concentration at Arkansas? I’m interested in learning about instructor quality, approachability, classes sizes, etc. </p>
<p>My second question pertains to medical school admissions. I was reading on the Honors College website that over 90% of the pre-med students have been admitted to medical school. That’s an impressive percentage. Is there a lot of weeding out going on or are the students/program that good?</p>
<p>HeyJose,
I’ve seen your post and promise I’m not ignoring you, this topic is my bread and butter, after all, but it’s been a hectic week/weekend. I’ll try to get in here within the next couple days (after my next exam) and give you an answer (especially since everyone else is being quiet right now).
-Matt</p>
<p>Sorry for the delay, this last exam was especially challenging and I haven’t been able to be on here much. </p>
<p>
Unfortunately I’m not very familiar with the Cell or Molecular Biology faculty (I was Electrical Engineering, then Biology, only had limited contact with them as such), so I can’t provide direct input on the faculty in any comprehensive way. I will say that I was very pleased with the faculty in my part of the biology department and most non-intro classes are very small. Honors classes are smaller yet and generally have more in-depth labs. Access to research for Honors students is a big plus for the CV (and the experience, of course) and gives the student some unique opportunities to work on faculty projects at a large research university. Access for non-honors students is possible, but much more difficult in a department that tends to have a lot of Honors College students, and they get first pick. </p>
<p>From my experience, faculty are very approachable and encourage students to come talk with them if they have any questions or are interested in talking more a particular topic. Beyond that, I’m not sure what I else I can tell you that might help in determining the quality of the faculty, but if you have any other questions about them, let me know and I’ll do my best to answer.</p>
<p>If you’re interesting in finding out more about what’s going on in the department (research, classes, etc.) I’d recommend contacting Dr. Douglas Rhoads. He teaches several undergraduate cell/molecular biology classes and is the director for the graduate program. His contact information can be found here: [Cell&Molecular</a> Biology Program - University of Arkansas](<a href=“http://www.uark.edu/depts/cemb/]Cell&Molecular”>http://www.uark.edu/depts/cemb/)</p>
<p>
Ah, my favorite topic :). The actual admitted percentage is normally a bit higher than 90% for Honors, or at least was during my time there. I would imagine there is some “weeding” in the sense that some students change their minds because of a challenging course-load, but it should be minimal in Honors, and certainly no more so that you normally experience in pre-med… Having worked in admissions, and specifically with the pre-med program, it is almost surprising how many people come in claiming they want to do pre-med. It’s not your undergrad university’s job to tell you what you can or can’t do, so everyone is welcome to go through the program if they choose, but you’re made aware of what it’s like to be a premed and the long path ahead of you from day one. For many, the reality doesn’t necessarily match up with what they thought it was, and they change their minds. The other thing to consider is that college students are indecisive. Recent stats demonstrated that about 85% of undergraduate students in the U.S. change their major at least once, so general indecisiveness also plays a role in people leaving the premed program. The majority of this happens in the first year though, so from there on out you pretty much know who the other premeds are and will get to know them. So, the stats are a reflection of the program and the students and aren’t a reflection of weeding on the University’s part, would be my answer to your question.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the program itself is truly exceptional and starts prepping you from registration, which is the benefit of having dedicated pre-med advisors who provide not just resources and connections to help build your resume and prepare for the application process from Day 1, but also provide personal (and honest) input on virtually anything you might want to know throughout the pre-med process. I am a big proponent of this system, instead of a one-size-fits-all approach that I’ve seen used at some universities, because not only does it generally do far better in acceptance percentages to medical schools due to better preparation and resources, but also because you have someone with you every step of the way though undergrad that knows the process inside and out and can help you stay “ahead of the game” so to speak. If you’re in Honors, you will likely have three faculty advisors- your major advisor, your pre-med advisor, and your Honors research advisor. By utilizing the expertise of faculty instead of relying on jack-of-all-trades advisors or massive advising centers for student guidance I feel you get a better outcome. I think these things are worth looking for at any university you might be interested in attending. </p>
<p>The program can only help you if you let it of course, but it will certainly put everything you need to succeed at your disposal. If you have any other questions about Honors Biology or pre-med, I’d recommend contacting Dr. Jeanne McLachlin, one of the associate directors of the premedical program and an Honors Biology advisor. Her contact information can be found here: [Fulbright</a> College of Arts & Sciences Advising Center](<a href=“http://fcac.uark.edu/advisingcenter/staff.php]Fulbright”>http://fcac.uark.edu/advisingcenter/staff.php) . I’m also happy to answer any further questions, but most of my stats, etc. are now a year or two old so Dr. McLachlin will certainly be your most up-to-date and comprehensive resource for those kinds of questions. </p>
<p>Those were fabulous answers. Thank you. Let’s forget the pre-meds for a minute and just talk about the Honors bio students. How would you describe the culture among the students? Are they cooperative, competitive, cutthroat, or some other characteristic?</p>
<p>HeyJose,
Once again, sorry about the delay. Medical school makes time more difficult to keep track of some weeks. </p>
<p>Cooperative is the best description of them I can think of from your list. You’ll get to know your classmates pretty well (especially if you live in Honors housing) and there’s really no reason for a harsh competitive nature and most students get that. Even if you don’t end up friends with your classmates for some reason, I think you’ll find that a strong academic drive and good attitude/manners coexist quite well in the Honors College. I always felt there was a pretty good “work hard, play hard” atmosphere with the students, particularly in the Honors residence hall, where there’s pretty much always some sort of activity going on in the common areas to help you wind down after a test or take a study break.</p>
<p>I know that’s brief, but if there’s something else you’d like to know, just ask.
-Matt</p>
<p>My question is whether the 90 percent acceptance rate to med school is a result of the fact that the vast majoarity of those students are Arkansas residents and they are accepted to an Arkansas medicial school. In other words, or more specifically, what is the acceptance rate to med school for out-of-state honors students?</p>
Pre-med is not a major. So, how do you define a pre-med student? A student with a degree in biology can apply for Med-school, so can a student with a degree in business. I don’t get it?</p>
<p>Webass- Premed is a program that runs with a major. If you want a letter from the UofA (which you need) for med school, you have to play by the premed program’s rules so to speak. That said, it is open to anyone of any major of any GPA, so it’s not as if it is restricted to only competitive applicants. (i.e. you will have some premeds that follow the recommendations of the program to a T and have stellar resumes and know the process well and others that only really show up to mandatory advising sessions and then their junior year with their PMAC application and letters of recommendation and are just hoping the PMAC will decide to write them a letter of recommendation anyway.) It does give them the opportunity to keep stats on how many students apply and are admitted to medical school each year however, which is where the stats previously mentioned in this thread came from. </p>
<p>utengin- I can’t break the stats down further for anyone at this point because I don’t have the most recent information or the more detailed information about where students were admitted recently. From a strictly in-state perspective I can tell you that although UA Fayetteville represents the single largest contributing university to the UAMS entering class each year, it is nowhere near a majority of the class. In our class 38 students are from the University of Arkansas out of 174 total, and far more than 38 students are admitted to medical schools each year from the UofA, so they do go other places too :). I don’t know if that answers your question very well, but it’s the best I can do at this point with the information I have. If you wanted better stats, I’d recommend talking to Dr. Alison with the premedical program.
-Matt</p>
<p>First off, thanks Matt for taking time out of your busy schedule to post helpful answers :)</p>
<p>So my first question is, when would be the best time to consider doing study abroad if you’re pre-med? I was thinking summer between soph and junior years, but even then fitting in research and volunteer and EC make it a tight fit (I’m also a philosophy major…)</p>
<p>Second question is, in terms of the MCAT, if one had to pick between Cell Biology and Gen. Microbiology, which would your recommend as more helpful (I understand that it’s recommended to take both…but that’s probably not an option).</p>
<p>Also, what is the most hours a semester you’ve ever taken as an undergrad. How doable was it?</p>
<p>swimchiki,
No problem! I ended up here thanks to other people taking time to answer my questions, so it’s the least I can do. </p>
<p>First answer- I always suggest a summer study abroad for busy pre-meds, and I think the summer after your sophomore year is probably a very good time to do it. I wouldn’t wait any later than that, anyway, since you will be very busy with applications the summer after your junior year. </p>
<p>Second- You really should take both if at all possible, but if I remember correctly it seems like there were more questions that were cell biology related than were specifically microbiology. And you’ll definitely want as strong a basis as possible in cell biology for your first year of medical school. I hate to say that since Microbiology is one of my favorite subjects and I think it’s valuable too, but cell bio really is one of the most important foundations of a lot of medicine and will be tested accordingly. </p>
<p>Third answer- I believe my heaviest semester was 18 hours, which was busy at the time with work and the other resume building activities, but now it doesn’t sound so bad :). There’s no reason you’d need to do an especially heavy a semester unless you’re working on an ambitious double major or trying to schedule in a semester abroad though, so I hope you won’t have to consider a semester over 18 hours. 15-17 hour semesters will be your average I would imagine, and should be quite manageable with decent study skills. </p>