UHP Notifications and Pre-Medicine at GW

<p>My son applied for the University Honors Program (UHP), and he hasn't heard back from GW concerning acceptance into/rejection from this program. Does anybody know when/how applicants are notified of their status? He is really looking forward to receiving good news from them (he's RD, unfortunately, because of finances, but would have applied ED in a heartbeat) and even more worked-up about getting into UHP. </p>

<p>Also, I know it's not a major, but if you know anything about the premed track at GW, could you tell me about the quality of the program or any tips my son should know if he matriculates at GW? Any comments? For example, here are a couple of the questions he and I have:</p>

<p>(1) Should he use AP/IB credits from high school, or will GW frown upon it?
(2) How strong of a science background is required for GW science classes (most concerning the elementary levels (100s and some 200s)?
(3) Can he dual major easily in a science and non-science major while still doing the premed track? (I guess the real question is can he still explore other interests without being bogged down by an super-rigorous premed track)?
(4) How is research at GW? (My son is interested in pursuing an MD/PhD)
(5) How sucessful are GW pre-med students in getting into medical school (and, if you know, getting into his/her top choice)?</p>

<p>I know we have a lot of questions, but ANY help is appreciated! </p>

<p>Thanks! :)</p>

<p>I know on my acceptance letter, it stated that results from admission to selected programs would come in late March, I’m guessing they will probably let him know in his admission acceptance since he is RD. You can go to the GW website and check out the message board…that question may have been asked there. You may find out more about the premed program there as well. The message board is answered by both admissions and students.</p>

<p>[Colonial</a> Message Board • Index page](<a href=“http://www1.sass.gwu.edu/messageboards/]Colonial”>http://www1.sass.gwu.edu/messageboards/)</p>

<p>I tried the link into the Message Board, and it didn’t work (probably my fault because our computer is not working well, particularly with Internet); could you paste the web address without the link–I’ll try that.</p>

<p>premedhopeful, hey i’m a freshman at gw and i’ve decided to do premed, but since there is no premed major at gw, basically what i’m doing is majoring in something else (i happen to be majoring in psychology) and then doing all the requirements for med school which is the following:</p>

<p>2 semesters of chem, 2 semesters of bio, 2 semesters of physics and 2 semesters of organic chem. also its recommended that you take at least 1-2 semesters of calculus</p>

<p>it’s a lot, but it’s easily doable especially since your son seems like he knows what he wants to do right from the start. i had both chem and calc credit from ap credit, but it looks like i’ll have to retake them (at least chem since calc is only recommended) since the grades don’t show up on the trascript for AP’s and that’s what medical schools look at. i didn’t take any sciences or math this year since i’ve been focusing on my psychology major and general curriculum requirements which means i’m going to have to double up on bio and chem for sophomore year. Depending on the main major he chooses, he’ll be able to fit all of it in plus more if you plan right. also, there are specialized health professions advisors as well as your major advisor that help you plan your schedules, timing, etc. </p>

<p>hopefully this helps, you can message me if you have anymore questions</p>

<p>arain-</p>

<p>Thank you for your wonderful input! That’s just the sort of answer we’ve been looking for!
He is looking at double majoring (Biochem and something else in the humanities, I think he said a language/literature major). </p>

<p>He’s currently in CalcBC and doing very well, so he might use AP credit there.</p>

<p>With my son, he’d have credit in Chem, Calc, and probably Bio (<em>taking it this year, but is expected to do well according to his teacher</em>), but he’s been awful hesistant to use AP credits in undergrad. So, that’s good to know.</p>

<p>Can you test out of lower-level courses using AP credits (or simply testing-out), and still satiate the AAMC requirements? That’d probably be the best solution for him.</p>

<p>Also, judging by your schedule, one can choose when to take his/her curriculum requirements…that’s great! </p>

<p>Out of curiousity, do you know if the University Honors notifications come early or on Apr. 1?</p>

<p>I’m not sure how easy it is to do a double major PLUS doing the premed requirements. He might be able to do it since i’m assuming the Biochem requirements might be similar to the premed requirements, but doing another major in a completely different field like humanities, along with completing the general curriculum requirements might be difficult. I would recommend looking at the CCAS website for undergraduate majors and requirements to see if it’s possible (I would think that would be hard at any school) [Undergraduate</a> Study in the Columbian College](<a href=“http://www.gwu.edu/~ccas/ugrad/index.html]Undergraduate”>Columbian College of Arts & Sciences | The George Washington University). </p>

<p>Also, AP credit will not count towards premed requirements. If he wants to use his AP credit, let’s say for chem, he would be expected to take 2 upper level chem courses instead plus the organic chem that is required (see my above post)–> same with bio. In terms of Calculus, the same thing would apply, except that different med schools have different math requirements, some requiring none, and some requiring 2 semesters (Calc 1 and 2). Depending on what medical school he wants to apply in the future, he will/will not need to take the calc. However, the AP credit (assuming he gets at least a 4), will cover the general curriculum requirements (GCR) for math and science. </p>

<p>As for the GCR’s, yes, you can choose when you want to take them for the most part. It looks like he will have satisfied his science and math requirements coming into the university, but there are other requirements as well. A lot of these he’ll cover with just his normal schedule, but there are some that he is going to have to fit in somewhere else. The only one that really matters when you take it is that during his freshman year, he’ll have to take UW (University Writing) course. The rest is pretty flexible and depending on whether or not he’s planning on studying abroad, a lot of the advisors will recommend that GCR’s are taken abroad since they are pretty broad courses and you’ll have no problem trying to find classes that will be accepted by the university. Also note that science classes cannot be taken abroad so that might be an issue when figuring out if he can do the double major and premed. </p>

<p>I’m not familiar with the University Honor’s Program at all, I didn’t even know there was such a thing until after I applied. I would assume that he will hear about his acceptance to the program when he gets his acceptance letter. Last year, acceptance was posted online on March 31 @ 5pm, and we got an acceptance packet in the mail with the financial packages and acceptance into special programs a few days later. </p>

<p>Let me know if you have anymore questions =)</p>

<p>Posted this in another thread, but since this seems to be a better place, I’ll post again.</p>

<p>D2 is interested in chemistry with a potential path leading to forensics. It appears that there are a lot of opportunities for research and internships in DC, as well as GWU.
What kind of HS prep would you recommend for the sciences? She is thinking of doubling up in science and will most likely take physics and possibly AP Calc BC senior year.</p>

<p>Also, D1 was accepted to Eliott last year in the honors program (was notified late because they forgot to send her letter with her acceptance letter - so it seemed like an afterthought) and chose not to attend. Do you think that would have an impact on D2’s decision?</p>

<p>Thanks for any info you can provide!</p>