between barnard, smith, mount holyoke, and bryn mawr, which one is the best if i’m looking to apply for medical school. in other words, which college has the best premed track?
I can’t speak to the others, but Smith & Mt. Holyoke both have very good pre-med programs.
The one that gives you the most financial or merit aid. They are all known for having good programs. Take the best package and save your money for med school.
Top women’s colleges tend to emphasize and work toward one’s future potential and goals. All four can get you there, if you have the right qualifications to be admitted and do the work.
Bryn Mawr has a strong track record as does its partner school, Haverford. Students at both schools have good success getting internships in Philly. I recently read that one in 6 doctors in the USA had training in Philly.
Another plus for Bryn Mawr is that it has a post-bac pre-med program–this is for students who have graduated from college and want to go to med school but don’t have the prerequisite courses. The courses that these post-bac students take are the same courses that undergrad pre-med students.
As many have said on other forums, the best premed colleges are the ones where you can personally thrive - and give you a good Plan B. Having said that… while there are a myriad of factors that go into the “success rate” for med school applicants from a particular college, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Smith (as wells as Scripps) have a virtually identical above-the-national-average rate for MD schools. Mount Holyoke is a bit below the national average, but the average MCAT for their applicants is also a bit below the others. But again, that does NOT mean that MH’s program is not as good as the others.