<p>I am a junior in high school and want to become a doctor and go to an elite medical school, or a very good one. I understand that many colleges do not have pre med majors, but i was wondering what can i do for college as a major that will not be as hard as say MIT, Harvard, Standford work which would leave me with a lower gpa and possibly out of admissions to med school, but a good school that has good programs, but not as hard which would leave me with a higher gpa to appy to med school.
i have good stats:
3.77 gpa and after 2nd semester it will be a 3.8..i have yet to take my sat's but i'm aiming for 2100+.
with those numbers alone not including extracurriculars because i am more interested in possibilities as opposed to reach/match/safety at this point.</p>
<p>i just want to know what colleges have as good or just a little less than that of Harvard, MIT, stanford etc., but will enable me to have a higher gpa than i would be able to recieve at such schools..?</p>
<p>so you are saying that those schools will provide me with a good pre medical program, but also allow me to earn a high enough gpa to go to say a great medical school?</p>
<p>if i have a 3.8 by early decision with a 2100 on my SAT, based just on those stats (I KNOW IT IS MORE THAN JUST THAT), but gradewise am i in the range for say cornell, dartmouth, northwestern, duke...? (and the others you listed)</p>
<p>All of the schools listed by PalmBeach will be tougher on GPA than Harvard. Moreover, all except possibly WUSTL and Cornell will be a reach. The colleges with famous med schools and the appearance of high med school admissions stats are not the best undergrad choice for many would-be med students. The med school admission stats can be very misleading as they do not include the students who are defeated early in their college careers by a C curve in physics and organic chem classes that are populated by 200 to 300pre-med and engineering students with 2100+ SAT's. Consider the many good colleges where your stats would put you in the top 15 or 20 percent and where the survey courses that make up the core pre-med requirements are taught by professors whose primary interest is teaching undergraduates.</p>
<p>what do you mean tougher on gpa?
if i have a 3.8 gpa by ED time will i be competitive in the pool of schools like cornell, dartmouth, northwestern, duke, UoC?</p>
<p>1) Get a copy of the Fiske Guide from the library.
2) Read it.
3) Make a list of the colleges that interest you.
4) Look up their admitted students profiles. Sort your list into safeties, matches, and reaches.</p>
<p>DO NOT PICK A SCHOOL BASED ON PERCEIVED PRE-MED QUALITY!!!!!!
Going to any of the top 50 colleges will not keep you out of any med school, and the slightly lower ranked schools often do quite well too.</p>
<p>Med school acceptance rate statistics for schools (percentage of those accepted to med school from the college) are dubious at best. I suggest studying something you love at a place you love and take the med requirements on the side. GPA and MCAT scores will probably do more than you realize.</p>
<p>sratman: Tougher on GPA means that many of the schools that you have listed have no grade inflation in the pre-med survey courses, and competition can be brutal. As for stats, 3.8 and 2100 puts you in the middle of the pack of applicants to those schools. You will be competing for admission with several thousand other students who have very similar stats. Of course you should visit those schools and even apply ED to one if you love it. But you also should find some schools that offer at least equal quality pre-med education, e.g., W&L, Davidson, Oberlin, Middlebury, that might be more of a match, as well as a couple of safeties.</p>
<p>First, no college offers a premed major -- as long as you complete the science prereqs, philosophy majors have the highest per capita acceptance to med school; music majors also fare well. Second, H & S are well known for undergrad grade inflation, so they would be much better off than Hopkins or Chicago, which has no grade inflation (relatively). Finally, warblers is absolutely correct, any of the top xx Unis or LACs will prepare you well for the MCAT, and give you a strong transcript for med applications. Moreover, your gpa may end up higher at a lower-ranked school, and you may also recieve merit money.</p>