<p>I've been told that UVA and William and Mary are recognized as the best pre-med programs in the state; I was wondering about how well known and prestigious the following pre-med programs are (if anyone knows):</p>
<p>VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University)
UMW (University of Mary Washington)
GMU (George Mason University)
JMU (James Madison University)</p>
<p>I'm positive I could get into all of those, with JMU being a bit of a reach school. UMW is interested in me for Soccer but I'd like to go to a school based on academics and my future rather than sport.</p>
<p>I’m at UVA and it’s pretty hard here to get an A/A- in the pre-med classes. I’ve heard that WM was the best in preparing you for the MCATs and med school acceptances, then UVA followed by JMU/VT.</p>
<p>Note, WM is also the hardest premed school in VA.</p>
<p>WM is known for serious grade deflation and some departments (as formal policy) put strict limits on the numbers of A’s granted.</p>
<p>But it’s a beautiful campus with an excellent library and a fairly new Bio bldg. The pre-health advising seemed strong and one of the bio profs who wanted D to work for him routinely slots his best students into NIH summer research programs every year. So there are advantages as well.</p>
<p>Any UG is good for academics. It is up to you, what you make out of your 4 years. The best is to go to school that fits your personality and wide range of interest the best, opportunities, academically and otherwise are everywhere, you should reach and grab them, they will not be served to you.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that you won’t only have pre-med students in those pre-med pre-reqs…you’ll have all the STEM students taking those classes as well…all gunning for the A’s.</p>