Where to go for undergrad???

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
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<p>OP, this is really something no one else can answer for you. It is impossible to tell without attending a college how you will do there academically. There are also factors that no one can predict which can greatly affect your premed career. If you go to an “eaiser” school you could underestimate how difficult the work is and do poorly freshman year. At the same time you could attend a more difficult university and rise to the challenge, actually doing better than you would have done at the easier school.</p>

<p>Personally, I’m a fan of going to the best school you get in (assuming it is also a “fit” in terms of cost, atmosphere, location, etc.). I believe a stronger overall student body improves the college experience. Top schools are also great for a reason. They have stronger departments across the board and will be able to meet your needs regardless of where your interests may take you. </p>

<p>The most important part to me is that a top school will offer you better exit opportunities outside of medicine if you decide for whatever reason (like many students) that you no longer want to be a doctor. The stength of UofI’s name and alumni base and name recognition will help open doors in the future. I use this as a realistic view on premed when you consider the statistics of students who entered college as premed and graduate not applying to med school. This can happen either because grades in science courses are too low or just because the students realize that they don’t want to be doctors.</p>

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<p>^ You have brought up many good points, especially: “If you go to an “eaiser” school you could underestimate how difficult the work is and do poorly”, “you could attend a more difficult university and rise to the challenge, actually doing better than you would have done at the easier school.”, “a stronger overall student body improves the college experience.”
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I also believe that some special program (e.g., honor program) within a state school is sometimes as good as a top school.</p>

<p>Because I may be more concerned about the “fit” factor than you (at least a little bit more concerned), I think a student should go to one of the top schools (but not necessarily the very top one). Not all top schools/programs are the same in their environment, so one top school/program may fit you better than the other top school/program.</p>

<p>BiologyBabe: the number 200 is what I arbitrarily chose. My point is that I just do not believe a student has to go to a very top school in order to be a successful premed. Students can be equally successful at any of these “good enough” colleges. Premed programs are hard almost everywhere; in general, there is really no easy way wherever you go.</p>

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<p>Have anybody heard of easy “Cell Bio” or “Orgo”? D. has graduated #1 from her Private HS and had to put tons of effort in all her science classes to maintain high GPA. She is at state school and would not want it to be any harder. Good number of Honors students at her school have changed their major after very first semester of Bio, none of them used AP Bio credits, they started with the very first class and so did my D who had Honors and AP Bio (5 on exam) in HS. I got an impression that there are no easy pre-med programs.</p>

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<p>^it aint easy anywhere, but I’d bet it’s tougher at Caltech or Hopkins compared to a low tier LAC.</p>

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<p>I fully understand that I am the only person that can make this crucial decision. Nonetheless, by asking questions and getting other peoples opinions - it greatly aids mein making my decisions. Sometimes, I feel overwhelmed by all the information. ASking questions, receiving responses, and talking things through greatly aid me.</p>

<p>Personally, I am not the kind of person to underestimate the rigor of any course. I do beleive that courses may be a little tougher (or easier) depending on the university. Nevertheless, the same courses will still have roughly the same content and cover roughly the same material. So, they should only vary slightly. Again, I have never, and will never, underestimate the rigor of a hard science curriculum.</p>

<p>I have heard and read the greatest advantages of top schools are their alumni resources and connections. My uncle went to UIUC for engineering undergrad. He later went to UW-Madison for his Phd in Aerospace Engineering. He stressed that one of the most important things in college are the connections you make. He said it was something you would not necessarily find advertised in a promotion booklet, but it was nonetheless extremely important.
Do you really think UIUC would have better resources than smaller schools? Also, since there are so many more students there wouldn’t the competition for these opportunities be much greater?</p>

<p>“The most important part to me is that a top school will offer you better exit opportunities outside of medicine if you decide for whatever reason (like many students) that you no longer want to be a doctor. The stength of UofI’s name and alumni base and name recognition will help open doors in the future”
From this standpoint, are you suggesting that UIUC would be the best option if I was looking at going to graduate school (not medical school)? Is it any easier to get into graduate school (in comparison to medical school)?</p>

<p>As far as honors options, this will not be an option for me in nearly all cases. I will be a transfer student, and most programs that I have looked at only accept Freshman into their honors programs. </p>

<p>I hope that I have not created the impression that premed is easy. It is not easy in any way! I am excited that someday I will get to study Organic Chemistry, Gentics, and Cell Biology; however, I also realistically realize that these will be very challenging courses. I will not go into my life story, but lets just say I am use to working very hard in school, I have come a long way, have had to overcome many obstacles, and done very well.</p>

<p>Please forgive any typos, but it is getting late and I just wanted to respond quickly before I prepare for my Chem lab in the early morning!</p>

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<p>Venkat89,
That raises question why to go to those very tough places and in addtion pay tons for tuition before entering Med. School, that is if you get there after your GPA is lower than it would be at other UG? And Med. School also is looking at your EC’s. I know that my D at state shool has very limited time for sleeping. Do those at JHU sleep at all? I kind of question it. As I mentioned before, D is well above average student, the top few from her HS usually go to Harvard and other Ivy’s, that she did not care to apply.</p>