<p>I am a senior in high school who plans to study Chemistry next year in school. With this degree, I plan to take the pre-med track and enroll in medical school. I am not sure as to what kind of doctor I want to be. Between Willam and Mary and UNC-Chapel Hill which school will be the best for my intended career path? </p>
<p>One distinction that I know of is that William and Mary does not have its own medical school-- but would that be a huge problem?</p>
<p>Thank you for your time!</p>
<p>W&M has the highest med school acceptance rate in the state. You also will be able to do research as an undergrad which is very unusual. Quite simply, W&M will prepare you as well as any in the country. Also, if you change your mind, all depts at W&M are top notch. W&M is a much more intellectual environment than most other large State U schools. Go visit and see for yourself. Good luck.</p>
<p>in addition to what swish said, W&M is also currently exploring a partnership with a medical school</p>
<p>There’s a website about the potential partnership: [William</a> & Mary - EVMS Discussion](<a href=“EVMS Collaboration | William & Mary”>EVMS Collaboration | William & Mary)</p>
<p>In addition, W&M has “Early Assurance” agreements with EVMS and VCU medical schools - meet their requirements, you’re in: <a href=“http://wmpeople.wm.edu/asset/index/btsher/earlyassuranceprograms[/url]”>http://wmpeople.wm.edu/asset/index/btsher/earlyassuranceprograms</a> </p>
<p>(And, for what it’s worth, I think EVMS is seriously underrated as is, to a lesser extent, VCU. It may not have the name recognition, but you’d be surprised at the quality of the education vs. some of those “big name” schools. )</p>
<p>IIRC, W&M’s Med school acceptance rate runs around 75-80%, which is pretty remarkable. The lack of an affiliated med school won’t hurt you at all - the only place I see where it might make a difference is that it might be slightly more difficult to get shadowing hours in - or not.</p>
<p>Can’t say what’s “better” - that, most likely, depends on you - just know that both choices are “great” choices, so congratulations, and good luck.</p>
<p>@squiddy what do you mean by the notion that the schools are “great” choices? Do you think they really aren’t that great at all?</p>
<p>@allwecandoishope - sorry, don’t misunderstand the quotes around the word “great” - I think both <em>are</em> great schools and I wasn’t implying otherwise - by every measure, both are great schools for preparing students for med school admission.</p>
<p>“Better” is subjective, and depends on the environment you’ll like best - I think you’ll find the environment and the students at each school to be quite different, and you’ll probably prefer one over the other.</p>
<p>@squiddy do you think they are good options if I want to attend a medical school such as Vanderbilt, Harvard or WUSTL?</p>
<p>This thread might be helpful:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-william-mary/1131554-do-w-m-grads-go-elite-medical-schools.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-william-mary/1131554-do-w-m-grads-go-elite-medical-schools.html</a></p>
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<p>Absolutely - both are known as providing quality educations, and at least, in W&M’s case, I get the sense that most admissions committees recognize W&M’s reputation for quality and difficult grading.</p>
<p>That said, admissions to these top-tier programs will require top-tier credentials, that is:</p>
<ul>
<li>High MCAT - 38+</li>
<li>High GPA’s - both science and non-science - 3.7/3.8+ </li>
<li>Shadowing hours</li>
<li>Community Service hours</li>
<li>Research / publication / co-author credit</li>
</ul>
<p>Mostly, these are independent of the school you attend - you can build those credentials at Podunk state. Coming from a “named” school will help give you an edge, but it’s only an “edge” - no matter how impressive the name of your undergraduate institution, a 30 MCAT and a 3.5 GPA isn’t getting you into those top-tier schools. </p>
<p>As for the last point on the list, W&M will give you a lot of research opportunities, and you’ll definitely want to take advantage of that, and as a chem major, I understand it can be easier to get involved in chem research over, say, biology, which has a huge number of students.</p>
<p>The prescribed “pre-medical” curriculum will provide you the necessary groundwork to do well on the MCAT - but you’ll need to master that material, outside of your regular coursework. MCAT is a one-shot deal, re-takes are pretty much impossible if you want to get into a top-tier school - they really look down on re-takes. Some people start reading their “First Aid” book freshman year.</p>
<p>The other advantage of W&M is that most medical schools openly prefer a liberal arts curriculum - they want to see you be well-rounded. Business, philosophy, literature, writing, foreign language, they want to see those as much, if not more, than hard science courses. </p>
<p>In an older thread referenced above, I related the story of a W&M student who was accepted to WUSTL, UPenn, UMich, Tufts, Harvard, Vanderbilt, etc - they were not a science major at all, but had excellent grades, lots and lots of shadowing and clinical-based community service, and of course, a great MCAT score. So, take full advantage of those liberal arts offerings - medical schools like that.</p>
<p>The only downside to W&M is so-called “grade deflation” - W&M is notorious for being a difficult grader. Admissions committees know this, and to a certain extent, make allowances for it. But again, that “edge” is only worth so much - a 3.0 GPA will sink you, no matter what school you come from.</p>
<p>So, make no mistake, medical school is a very competitive process, and you’ll need to work very hard to get to those top-tier schools. For reference, the average matriculant data that I have for WUSTL is a 37.2 MCAT, 3.91/3.91 science/cumulative - that’s kind of, well, insane …</p>
<p>Anyway, good luck, hope this helps.</p>