Again, I am so sorry to hear about this. I would apply to some of the NJ schools as well as SUNY Buffalo.
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While you are doing your research looking for situations that are within your $40K budget, you should also look at each school’s transfer page (here’s one at USF Transfer Students | Academics | Health Professions | University of South Florida), talk to a transfer admissions officer and see if they will do a transcript review, then also speak with pre-health advising (again, here’s USF’s: Pre-Medical Student Advising | USF Health)
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“Very difficult” is pretty much what you get with top ranked colleges and universities. “Very difficult” is also what you get with premed classes. “Very difficult” is also quite a good description of medical school. One daughter described premed organic chemistry as the most difficult B- that she ever had in her life, until she started in a DVM program.
One daughter looked very closely at a top ranked New England LAC, and ended up somewhere else. My wife and I have both suspected that the somewhere else where she attended probably was a better fit for her. She also postponed taking organic chemistry until her junior year of university which I think might have contributed to her doing well in it. Many of us become stronger students as we get into our early to mid 20’s than we were earlier.
I agree with others that you should be looking very closely at your choices in your home state. Rutgers and TCNJ are not just like high school. Certainly the Rutgers graduates who I have met (both coworkers and fellow students in a highly ranked graduate program) have made the university look very good.
I don’t see anything wrong with applying to USF, Rutgers, and TCNJ and perhaps a few other schools and then going wherever is most affordable.
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Why Florida? What is so special about this particular Florida school that makes you think it’s a good option. It might be…but why do you think so?
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USF has a cheap oos cost of attendance. On campus they have different medical centers and hospitals so finding transportation won’t be an issue. It’s pretty diverse and I have a sibling that’s at the college so I won’t be alone. The science classes are a lot more manageable then at my current institution like no grade deflation.
There’s lots of ways for me to get involved.
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You noted parents having to pay more at the public school. So sounds like you qualify for need aid. Y not seek a private that meets full need for transfers. There’s many larger privates that may work…at least add them to the prospect list.
Can u recommend some. I’ve spent hours looking online for schools and any recommendations would help a lot!
I suggested looking at SUNY schools…Buffalo in particular might meet your needs.
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You’ll need to research and see if they offer aid for transfers and what their diversity and pre health look like as well as transfer programs. Also diversity and pre health advising anywhere. But these schools, at least for first year meet demonstrated need. If you’re already paying less at a top 10 LAC you are getting need based aid…other than if you won the Johnson or another award at W&L. But you are not saying your school other than the NE so it’s likely not W&L which most would not consider NE. You have to be talking about Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Wellesley, Bowdoin or Middlebury or perhaps you’re using another list and it’s Colby or Hamilton or Vassar. I hope after you transfer (next year) you re post your experience so other who are POC could investigate their choices deeper to ensure their school choice is right for them . Your experience is horrid and I can only hope it’s isolated. It’s certainly not acceptable. But I do think you will be challenged and hit walls wherever you go…not due to race but because the academic path you’ve chosen is brutal.
Bc
Berea
Brown
Case Western
Chicago
Cornell
Emory
Lehigh
Miami
Northeastern
Rice
Rochester
USC
Vandy
WUSTL
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For clarity, and so that the advice you receive aligns with your circumstances, it does appear from what you have posted that your college offers defined majors in biological subfields such as biochemistry / molecular biology and neuroscience. I understand that this may no longer be relevant to you, since you feel disfranchised from these opportunities.
My school only offers Biochem, bio, Neuro, or chemistry as science majors. The Neuro isn’t even a department, bio is all ecology, and the Biochem professors are very bad. It’s just not a lot of options for science majors
Boo,
For the University centers at SUNY, med school applications are through Committee (as is Rutgers). The reason for their high med school admissions rates is that not every pre-med student’s application is supported by the committee
While you are putting together your list, check the pre-med advising.
With an overall 3.4 GPA, it will be an upward battle when everyone else is coming with a 3.75.
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My gpa is a 3.4 with only three semesters. I know that if I apply to med school tomorrow it’s not good enough to get me in. I still have time to improve my gpa especially with an upward trend. Plus I have really good extra circulars. I want to take more STEM classes to improve my sgpa but I need to go to a school that will offer me those classes. Bc the only stem classes at my LAC are just the pre reqs we don’t have lots of science elective courses.
If you are attending a TOP LAC, they have really great records for sending students to med school. Have you met with the pre-med advisor at your school?
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That’s what u would think but that’s far from the truth. Few students go to Standford and other top med schools and a decent amount of students have to go to Caribbean or do DO. The advisor told me that ppl take 2-3 gap years just to get in. I thought that top school means good med school acceptances but it’s really the students own work and where they fall on the curve. Top lac doesn’t equal good med school and that was my BIGGEST mistake.
OP- your biggest mistake is thinking that Top ANYTHING equals good med school. I know kids with near perfect GPA’s, great MCAT scores, and fantastic research/shadowing/volunteering who don’t make it in to any US med school on the first try. Yes, it’s that competitive. And taking a gap year or two has become the norm for many pre-meds, so it’s not just your college.
Med schools are just too small to have “feeder colleges”- even Stanford. Educating a physician is a labor intensive and expensive proposition, so anything that weeds someone out (not just academics-- but a sense that the person doesn’t really understand what it means to be a physician)can be a knockout factor.
Too much research can also be a problem- the Med School committee needs to be convinced that you know what patient care is all about, not just the science/lab stuff unless you are applying for an MD/PhD program. So a summer job as an intake counselor at a homeless shelter, gap year job working in hospice-- to describe two recent successful med school applicants I know— can flesh out your application.
But I would encourage you to take advantage of the small size of your LAC while you are still there to get a road map for your med school application. You might find it harder as a transfer, and any advising now can only help you down the road.
Not sure why you abandoned Neuro if your college actually has a subfield in it. You don’t need to major in it…
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This may represent your greatest challenge. If you transfer downward (as in to an academically less challenging college), an increase in GPA may be viewed with additional scrutiny by medical school admission committees. Your trends in this scenario, then, might be regarded as countervailing. Nonetheless, my opinion, as it was stated earlier in this thread and in your thread last year, is that you should transfer and regroup in a different environment.
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You need to understand….transferring might not help you at all. You say you have taken the medical school prerequisite courses. What is your sGPA? Will any of the professors from those classes write you letters of recommendation for medical school…two years from now…if you transfer out?
I think it’s 60% of medical school applicants receive zero acceptances (and that includes Caribbean medical schools). DO schools are as competitive as medical schools these days.
Oh…and let me go just a little further down the food chain….some graduating residents cannot find jobs as doctors….and I’m talking graduates of medical schools like Yale as well as many others.
You need to get a bachelors degree. It can be in anything. If you think you will be happier in FL…go to FL….but please do your due diligence before you just transfer. What is their medical school advising like? If you are only there for two years and don’t take prerequisite med school courses…will you be able to get decent letters of recommendation. You mention research….who do you think will be first in line for research opportunities…a new transfer no one knows….or a student who has been there for two years (also, research isn’t a top consideration at most medical schools).
Are you currently doing any significant volunteer or paid work with underserved populations? How about shadowing?
@WayOutWestMom what have I left out?
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That’s literally what I said. It was my biggest mistake. When I was in HS I couldn’t visit any colleges bc of COVID so I thought “ just go to the highest ranked one you’ll be fine.” I said it was my BIGGEST mistake and I was soooo wrong. I understand how the whole pre med cycle works I asked my advisor lots of questions.
I know gap years happen I’m just saying at MY school things are a bit diff from the norm bc it’s a LAC. Many ppl have dropped neuro bc the neuro department is a whole mess( you can’t get into a single class even if you major in it). And ecological bio just isn’t for me.
You can major in anything and apply to medical school…as long as you have take the required courses for medical school applicants.
Are you saying this highly ranked LAC has NO majors you could do? None?
As noted by @sybbie719 these LACs do usually have fine advising for medical school wannabes.