Hey, guys, I am having trouble deciding what school I would have the best chances of getting into medical schools. My end goal is to become a physician and I know getting into medical school is tough but I am struggling on deciding where to go to best ensure my path to medicine.
The two schools I am considering are the University of Michigan and the University of Toledo. What makes this so hard is that I got into Toledo’s Back2MD program which ultimately is that I have to maintain a 3.5+ cumulative GPA and they will reserve a spot for me to get an interview for their medical school. However, the University of Michigan is just the typical undergraduate pathway but with higher credibility.
What should I do? Which option is the best for me to ensure a path in medical school?
Are you in-state at either? That would save you tons of money, especially for med school. Do you like both the schools? What were your grades like in HS? Do you think you’d do equally well at either school (UMich might be harder, which could impact your GPA and thus later med school results)?
Research med school acceptance rates for both schools and compare. I don’t know too much about med school admissions, but if you have a 3.5+ GPA, you’ll likely have a good shot regardless.
I have a lot of friends who are premed and doing combined BS/MD programs (disclaimer: I’m not premed), and from what they tell me, having a guaranteed med school acceptance removes a lot of stress. As one of my friends put it, applying to med school is like applying to college all over again, except now every college is Harvard.
I just googled the program you’re discussing. It seems very new, which to me would raise red flags. The FAQ section states that 3/10 of the natural science students did not meet the GPA requirement but 6/7 who interviewed got in. However, none of the 7 bioengineering students even made it to the interview. Also, it said that you cannot apply to any other medical school if you want to continue in the program. That’s a huge red flag to me and also leaves you without a safety net if you’re the 1/7 that doesn’t make the cut.
Based on this: I would go to UMich unless you like Toledo better, would save money by going there, or think you’d get better grades at Toledo. UMich is a better school for the sciences, imo. Maybe Toledo’s program will turn out to be great, but it seems a lil sketch to me at this point in time.
This is golden. UMich is a big school with lots of bright kids, you sure you can get high GPA (3.5+) there? And don’t pick engineering majors as your plan B, it will almost certain kill your plan A (for 99% pre-med…):
I don’t know anything about U of T’s Back2MD program, but their graduate’s overall med school success rate is slightly below the national average and they seem to have less than 2% of their graduates even apply to any med school. UMich’s success rate is higher than the national average and - you can take this as a plus or minus - about 12% of their graduates apply. In fact, UMich is the 3rd highest “supplier” of med school applicants in the US: https://www.aamc.org/download/493728/data/factstablea2.pdf