<p>I'm a senior in high school and the time has come to completly finish up my applications. I have applied to the University of Washington, Washington State Univ., BYU hawaii, Byu Provo, Pepperdine, UC Irvine, and UCSD.
I really don't plan on going to UCSD or UCI but I know it is best to always have a back up plan in place. With that said I know that UW and the BYU have great pre-med programs (same with UCSD and UCI) but I have barely heard anything about the pre-med programs at Pepperdine and WSU. Does anyone have any insight into what the stats are for nubmer of students in pre-med at these schools, how many get accepted, ect?</p>
<p>My other question is if a school has a small number of pre-med students, are the students at a disadvantage when applying to med school?</p>
<p>Looking at Pepperdine’s and WSU’s websites, they both appear to have advising and resourcse available if that’s what you’re looking for. I don’t know any statistics about number accepted and such, and it really shouldn’t be a deciding factor of what school you attend. A small number of pre-med students isn’t a bad thing, especially if the school you’re at is small to begin with. If anything it would be a benefit, but I wouldn’t expect to only find half a dozen premeds at the schools you’re listing.</p>
<p>1) colleges really don’t prepare you for med school in the sense that any one is going to make med school any easier.
2) go to undergrad at a place you love. Ignore all considerations about what impact the school might have on your career (medical or otherwise). The biggest thing is being successful where ever you go. Doing well, whether it’s at Harvard or Podunk U, is a panacea for grad school admissions. Generally, people who are happy are more productive.</p>
<p>Well thank you all for the info you have given me. Nate763, as for the number of medical students not being a factor why is it that you think that? I guess from what other people have said on yahoo answers and other things like that I got the impression if you go to a school that does not have a very good medical program with very few students it shows they do not have a very accredited program and thus the students have a lower chance of getting into med school which worries me.</p>
<p>Bigredmed- I think that any of the schools on my list I can see myself being happy at and thriving in each enviornment. I can find positives and negatives at all my choices but I whant to know if one of these schools can possibly fit my needs better and improve my chances at getting into med school over the other.</p>
<p>Not having decent advising is different from not having many pre-med students. I suppose if the college boasts that 20% of their pre-med students get into med school, it may be in your best interest to not go there. Maybe I’m not understanding what you meant, but pretty much any decent 4-year school that you’re looking at should give you what you need in terms of advising. I don’t see anything wrong with any of the schools you have listed in your original post if you think you’d like going there. If you don’t really care one way or the other about where you go, cost is always a good consideration.</p>
<p>It’s not about just being comfortable going to a particular school…go to the school that really excites you. Certainly there is one of those schools that you like better than the others. So long as acceptance/cost aren’t issues, go there.</p>
<p>Nate763- I know what you mean. I just worry that I will not be getting the exposure I need to get into med school if I go to a school such as Pepperdine that has 10 pre-med students. I know statistics dont show that going to a school with a small pre-med program hinders your chances (especially since over 60% of the pep students get into med school) but I guess wonder why a school like pepperdine only has 10 pre-med students. I guess it raises red flags to me…</p>
<p>Does it say somewhere that Pepperdine only has 10 pre-med students? Also, Pepperdine is much smaller than something like the UC’s or WSU, so you should expect to find less pre-meds in the first place.</p>