<p>Another option is the Mt. Sinai Program which takes Humanities majors in Soph year. No MCAT’s. B’s are okay. I don’t know if you S is interested in a Humanities major, but I know two young people who followed this path who are now in Med school.</p>
<p>Other possible schools: Haverford (near Philly) would meet your S’s standards of excellence but is near enough a city to visit weekly. Less stressful atmosphere; excellent academics. Ursinus is about an hour from Philly I think, or maybe a little more, so it may be too far.</p>
<p>State Publics are good, but pre-med often has “weed-out” classes, whereas LAC’s do not.</p>
<p>NYU wasn’t mentioned, but life in NYC can be stressful on its own.</p>
<p>Occidental is in LA. </p>
<p>I think Brown is a wonderful option even without the 8 year program. Providence is a little city, and the Pass/No Pass option reduces the stress immeasurably.</p>
<p>I often wished my S had chosen Brown over Williams; Williams didn’t even have a real Pass/Fail option, and for my ADD son, it did make a difference. He did get through, but there were some rough patches.</p>
<p>I also have an illness that can be stress induced and I have found their disability office to be more than accommodating. It is very strong in pre-med, is located right by the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals, and offers great merit money to attract kids like your son. </p>
<p>Premed is premed, no matter what school a student attends. A premed student MUST have a very high GPA, period. Every premed is going to need to take the same chemistry classes. And every premed student is going to need to get an A or a high B in every one of his premed classes. </p>
<p>Weed out classes are simply those first biology and chem classes, along with the labs, that every person who thinks he might want to pursue med school has to take. They serve to weed out the kids who may not realize how tough the classes are, how time consuming they are, what kind of temperament is needed, etc…</p>
<p>The weeding out is mostly self weeding. Many large universities won’t support a premed candidate whose grades are clearly not high enough to allow a reasonable chance of admittance to a medical school, and will counsel out those with unrealistic expectations. Any LAC that doesn’t provide similar counseling for premed students isn’t doing it’s students any favors.</p>
<p>I think some schools are trying to weed out, knowing they can’t keep that many freshmen in their science program and some small LACs are trying harder to keep everyone in. I’ve known very bright kids who were blown out of the water in big UC chem classes who would have been fine in a small class at an LAC.</p>
<p>1) See how things go next year (senior HS). If his illness gets under better control and he is compliant with all the meds, changes in lifestyle, it will give you both a lot of confidence that he can handle more in college.</p>
<p>2) Apply to a range of schools, but pay attention to location. He should definitely target schools that are good fits close to home, as well as farther away–but with access to excellent ER and gastroenterogy care. Should his illness prove difficult or flare often, it can be a great comfort to be near home doctors and be able to get home for weekends of rest, if he desires. Remind him that kids who live on campus can also stay away from home a lot if they wish. He’ll still get a full college experience.</p>
<p>3) I would not worry too much about how stressful a college may be. It appears your S puts the pressure on himself to be a high achiever. He may need some counseling on how to de-stress and recognize how stress connects to flares, etc. But if he wants to pursue medicine, he’ll need to discover his own limits and see how to work around them, if possible.</p>
<p>Best of luck as you get used to this new diagnosis.</p>
<p>LACs can be extraordinarily tough in the early pre-med classes- bio, chem, and I’d include neuro and math. It depends on the school, not size. Maybe 2nd tier or lower will go easy. I don’t see how one can generalize.</p>
<p>I personally feel there’s nothing wrong with a kid pushing himself. But, when it has health impacts, when he can’t control his stress reaction, time to wave a flag.</p>
<p>What schools like to tout is the % of pre-med seniors who got into one of their top 3 med school choices. They don’t generally tell you how many freshmen started pre-med; they winnow down to get the impressive results.</p>
<p>That shouldn’t discourage someone from trying- but I think the favor we can do our kids, especially those easily stressed, is to help them understand what their academic options might be, if they find pre-med brutal. There’s also the option of a post-bacc program.</p>
<p>how about university of pittsburgh? very very good school and major world renown teaching hospital/med school right there in an emergency and or just to have proper montioring oh health condition!</p>
<p>I think top schools could still be possible, if your son is willing to work through the disabilities office. Having a single room (w/private bathroom), extra time for assignments when sick, excused absences for appointments or illness, reduced course load if needed (a biggie, and this needs to be set up so that it does not affect financial aid in the extra semesters), a note taker for classes missed, and extra breaks in exams (often this means an individual proctor in an exam taken separately from others) are accommodations offered at top schools as well as at many others.</p>
<p>I totally agree with posters that being close to home, and close to good MD’s, is essential. However, even knowing that, I let my daughter (who has several serious medical conditions) choose. I took her halfway across the country three times to visit a school she loved, and encourage it, but after 4 years at a school that is only an hour away, and actually feet away from great medical care, I thank my stars every day she chose to be there instead.</p>
<p>Editing to add that many top colleges have the best aid, without loans at all. (Brown got rid of loans a few years ago)</p>
<p>Please check finaid ralities carefully. Many schools that don’t promote student debt nonetheless are allowing parents to take Plus loans. Gotta pay that nut somehow.</p>
<p>I have been a UC patient for 25 years. I am not a parent of a UC child, just an adult with a lot of experience in this area.</p>
<p>Every case of UC is a little different. Every UC patient has a different experience. I would suggest casting a wide net of applications. In state/ out of state. Reach/not so much reach. You would likely do this anyway, just be sure you have somewhere he would enjoy attending in all options. And I would be sure there is reasonable medical care available. </p>
<p>You need time to see where he is accepted, and what his health situation is a year from now. A year is a long time in the world of UC, especially immediately after diagnosis.</p>