<p>Conerning a pre-med education which of the preordained colleges would be the best in terms of advancing into a medical school?</p>
<p>penn has a much better med school, and thus Im guessing the feeder system is also better on the whole</p>
<p>this is assuming you are a more or less naturally gifted in math/science
once again, I’ll also pull the ‘personal skill’ argument. if you are truly gifted and passionate for the sciences, then you can go to a good state school and get a 4.0, youll be better off than somehow getting into an ivy league school and getting a low or mediocre B average because you just dont have the passion/gift for medicine.</p>
<p>so it comes down to judging yourself and saying do you have what it takes to do great in a solid/great pre-med program (basically if you loved and excelled in advanced science/math classes in high school and have corroborating math/sci standardized test scores)</p>
<p>Take a look at this post/thread.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/445441-ranking-penn-pre-med-medical-school.html#post5196637[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pennsylvania/445441-ranking-penn-pre-med-medical-school.html#post5196637</a></p>
<p>Another considerationre Penn: as the med school, Wistar research institute, Abramson Research Center (peds) and the Abramson Cancer Center are all on campus/one block away it is VERY easy to get a summer research job or even an independent research project during the year. This looks nice on your application, as well as potentially gets you a nice rec.</p>
<p>you’ll probably have a higher GPA at brown, but the med school people take that into account. It should be about which school is a better “fit” for you more than anything else</p>
<p>The Brown applicants I have seen have many P/F courses. They have to take the pre-med courses for grades, obviously, and do well in them, but it is very cushy to allow the P/F option and no distribution requirements. Penn will “force” you to take courses out of your comfort zone- for grades- with their distribution requirements.</p>
<p>And that’s a good thing for your personal development. Some of my favorite classes have ultimately been ones I never would have taken unless I was forced to…</p>
<p>they’re both good schools and going to one over the other won’t help or hinder your ability to get into medical schools (I can’t imagine science classes at Brown being significantly easier than the ones at Penn, but you never know). they’re fairly different in many many aspects, so pick the one you like more. I know i would pick Penn over Brown for a million reasons that have nothing to do with academics or med school placements.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help. </p>
<p>Seeing that I am currently a Freshman in a public High School, what would I have to do to theoretically get into either of these schools. Currently I’m taking the maximum course load with a 4.0 unweighted and I’m planning to continue this trend through-out the remainder of high school/subsequent summers. I have club soccer with many awards/trophies and cycling also with awards and medals. I’m a SIT council and Med. Club member(Eventually will become president). Currently I’m working with my principle and cycling coordinator to create a Cycling Team at my school. Class president is also in my future, hopefully. I’ve volunteered at the local VA for 50hours and counting, including a weekly-biweekly one vs one session with the head of the necropsy division(aka Morgue) in which we dissect particular body parts and perform documented autopsies. I’m also in the works of associating with researchers from the local university, Stanford.</p>
<p>What else do I need to start doing to be accepted into a college of this caliber?</p>
<p>Some things that basically guarantee admission are winning prestigious math competitions, getting a westinghouse, math/science olympiad…dedicate your time to stuff like that rather than getting one more hour of community service, etc</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice.</p>
<p>Anything Else?</p>
<p>Aside from maintaining high grades and getting high test scores, I’d say find a few activities you love, and just stick with them. Don’t spread yourself too thin.
A) High school will be a lot more fun if you’re doing things for the love of the activity, rather than as simply something to list on your resume. You’re also less likely to burn out.
B) You’ll be able to write better essays on something you truly enjoy.</p>
<p>Based on what you’ve written above, sounds like you’re on the right track. </p>
<p>As an aside…how’d you start working with the head of the necropsy division? It sounds interesting.</p>
<p>CDN-dancer I sent you a PM. But, to summarize that message, it was mostly luck and being in the right place at the right time.</p>
<p>There’s really no difference in med school placement rates/ success between Columbia, Penn, Brown, and Dartmouth. Choose the one that fits you the best.</p>