Thank you for your reply, I posted what I mean below
The price is equal…but is the price affordable? With no loans other than maybe the Direct Loan.
Only direct loans. Other U gave less scholarships
My biggest concern is GPA, because I worried about first year. In Albright they study Genetic based on Campbell genetic chapter and UM study genetics on Campbell in general biology course and Genetic course use some some book Genetic Analysis.
Why does the book or method of teaching matter to you? These courses will be challenging regardless of how they are taught.
If both schools are affordable, look at characteristics other than the courses or grades. Location, climate, school size, etc. Accessibility to ECs needed for a medical school application will be necessary as well. And lastly, ease of transportation or some place to stay when the college dorms are closed for longer breaks.
Medical school admission officers look at grading trends as well as overall GPA. So if you have a difficult landing your first year because you aren’t ready for the subject matter or the level of academic competition, but go on afterwards to become a very accomplished straight A student that is taken into consideration. Plenty of students have a difficult transition to college, but still go on to be admitted to med school after a ‘meh’ freshman year.
And you’re missing the bigger picture here. Admission to medical school in the US is holistic. GPA is just one item that adcomms look at. You have to have the whole package–MCAT scores, appropriate ECs, strong LORs, well written personal statements & essays, etc. You need to consider which school will offer the better opportunities to acquire those other crucial items.
Alnd while it is true that many med schools use a minimum GPA (which is different at every school) as a screening tool to weed out applicants, not all of them do. Some read every application they receive. Plus the minimum GPA for admission consideration–probably lower than you’d guess. (Med schools don’t want to pass over non-traditional students who may have a checkered academic past but who have matured and successfully reinvented themselves as top students.)
Adding to @WayOutWestMom and her excellent info.
You will also need excellent interviewing skills should you be selected for medical school interviews. This includes excellent English language speaking skills.
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The thing is UM ask for 4 advanced writing in which I also not confident, and they have something strange with chemistry. You can’t take gen chem 1 without placement test in UM, it’s turned out today, but in Albright and Temple(don’t give big scholarship) they told me that gen chem start from beginning. In addition they already recommended to take Che 110 before gen chem. Also, UM offer this gen chem, orgo I,II. but they don’t have gen chem II, how this can be solved? I have never think before that such big U with medschool can have so a lot of drawbacks, like will I need to take gen chem in college other than UM?
Reply about chemistry below, maybe you know that. Thank you so much
Reply about chem, maybe you know. Thanks a lot for answering
If you’re not confident in your writing, then you should welcome the chance to take classes whose main purpose is to help you increase your writing proficiency through carefully planned practice and revision. You will also need to take Speech/Communication classes, whether it’s required or not.
The reason UMiami has a placement test is to see if you took enough chemistry in high school (and remember enough of it) to start in General Chemistry or if you should review chemistry through Principles of Chemistry.
How did you do on the placement test?
If you didn’t take chemistry for a while, you should probably start with Principles of Chemistry, then take Gen Chem, which would cover your 1st year; then organic chem 1&2. You would be right on track for a premed - slow and steady wins the (premed) race.
You would also need to register for Freshman English (105) and the associated lab (101), although you might want to email the Department and ask if there’s a special section of either class for non-native English speakers. Note that if your TOEFL IBT Writing score was below 18 you will need to take Writing 103.
You should also take COS 120, an intro to communication course.
Another course would be math: did you take the ALEKS placement test? How did you score, or which course did you place into? If the placement doesn’t satisfy you, will you be able to review/practice and retake (as is possible)?
That (and a “freshman seminar”) would probably round out your classes 1st semester.
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A chem placement exam is pretty typical at many schools. They don’t want to put under-qualified students in a class where they’re not going to succeed. If you do well on the placement exam, you’ll go into CHM 111. If you don’t, you’ll need to take a preparatory class first. UM does this because it wants its students to succeed.
I just looked at U Miami’s chemistry sequence. It appears UM has 2 different tracks: one for life sciences/ allied health sciences students and one for chemistry majors.
This is very common, especially at large universities that offer allied health science degrees. (Which U Miami does.)
Chemistry for the Life Sciences is for those going into the allied health professions–nursing, dental hygiene, dietetics, etc. Medical schools will not accept CHM 103-106 as fulfilling medical school admission requirements. (The material covered is less extensive/less rigorous than the material covered by CHM111-112-113-114.)
Med schools require applicants to take the chemistry sequence that chem majors are required to take. That would be CHM 111-112-113-114.
CHM111 Principles of Chemistry I
3 credits Fall & Spring Semester & First Summer Session
Fundamental principles of chemical science. The beginning course for science majors and premedical students. Lecture, 3 hours. Prerequisite or corequisite: MTH 105 or 107.
So UM does offer a 2 semester gen chem sequence for pre-meds.
There is no problem.
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I second @MYOS1634 's recommendation that you take as many writing classes as possible. Writing is integral to medicine as a profession.
Doctors spend a a large part of their day reading and writing notes and reports. (My physician daughters say they spend as much or more time writing as they do seeing patients. The first rule of practicing medicine is document, document, document.)
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I don’t know and I don’t take any placement test, because I wrote to my adviser, but don’t received a reply. They ask to take CHM 110 - Chemical Problem Solving. So, how I understand won’t be sufficient to require 2 gen chem, because they must be taken with loan, and this course have just lecturers
Yes, I know this. I just worried about gramma and writing structure. On TOEFL I received 28,30,25,25.
Your questions are not clear because your written English is ungrammatical and difficult to parse.
You’re being asked to take CHM 110 because the department advisor feels you lack an adequate background in chemistry to be a successful student in CHM 111. It may also be because your math scores on the SAT or ACT are too low to qualify you for immediate entry into CHM 111.
Your only options are to:
- enroll in the lecture only class, pass it and then take CHM 111/CHM 113 and CHM 112/CHM 114
- take the chemistry dept placement exam and score high enough to exempt you from taking CHM 110.
CHM 110 is a lecture only class without a required lab. It is a remedial class. It won’t count toward fulfilling your graduation requirements or toward fulfilling med school admission requirements. After you pass CHM 110, you will still need to take BOTH CHM111/113 AND CHM 112/114 to complete your general chemistry requirement for medical school.
Placement exams for chemistry and math will be given on campus during freshman orientation. Once your exam is scored (you should have your score the same day you take the test), only then your advisor will finalize your chemistry and math class placement.
WRT: writing skills. Miami uses this classification system for freshman writing placement:
EFFECTIVE FALL 2017, NEW STUDENTS WITHOUT PRIOR COLLEGE CREDIT IN WRITTEN COMMUNICATION SKILLS WILL BE PLACED AS FOLLOWS:
- ENG 103: ACT English score below 18 or SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing or Critical Reading score below 430, or TOEFL iBT Writing score below 18.
- ENG 105: ACT English score 18-31 or SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing or Critical Reading score 430-690, or TOEFL iBT Writing score 18 or above.
- ENG 106 or ENG 107: ACT English score 32 or above or SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing or Critical Reading score 700 or above
An effective strategy for getting into US Med school is indeed to go to a college where you’ll be a big fish in a small pond, and get a high GPA.
Also Albright is much cheaper. Saving money is always good, and it can sustain you if you don’t get into med school on the first try. You can take a bridge program with more classes and try to get A’s in those.
Reading isn’t that far from Philadelphia or New York, both of which are more substantial cities than Miami. I don’t know the issues about Albright College and fitting in, but your goal isn’t to fit in anyway, but to put in a couple superstar years and move on.
It seems like a logical choice to me, and lower risk than going to Miami.
We going to have to disagree.
Protecting the GPA isn’t the be-all end-all for pre-med. Choosing a college is a multi-factorial decision and choosing a college as pre-med requires considering cost, opportunities and fit, as well the strength (or lack thereof) of the curriculum and academic competition.
I grew up in SE PA, attended college there, and still have family there. Reading is long way from NYC (several hours) and far enough from Philly that a student in Reading without access to a personal car is kind of stuck in Reading. (Public transit between Reading and Philly is pretty much non-existent.)
And fit is important in anyone’s choice of a college. A student who doesn’t fit in with the on campus environment is going to be miserable. No one needs to be miserable for 4 years of their life in the vague hope that someday they may get a med school school acceptance. (Being miserable for 4 years? Save that for med school. 
) Students who are unhappy at college are significantly less likely to be successful academically and socially than students who are happy with their college choice. (There’s objective research data to support this.)
I am not recommending any college in particular, but I am trying to clear up the OP’s misunderstandings about the UMiami chem curriculum and how the pre-med process works in the US.
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@maggit321: assuming both colleges costthe same, what environment do you like best?
Have you researched the “fit” or the “vibe” of the college, its community?
What majors will you be able to choose from at each university?
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I think that I can fit to both. Firstly I live in very small city with small high school, than in Russian university in Moscow, kids probably even richer than in UM. Students parked their Bentley on parking slot and it’s not just one, I don’t even said about Mercedes and bmw… this university in Russia have maybe the same as UM, students which get scholar because of the result of national exam from small cities like me, and those who paid a lot of money for this U.