I have seen much controversy over whether premed at Uchicago is good or bad, and I’m wondering how well i might do there because of that. Right now I am planning to major in biology, and either go to grad school for immunology, or med school for pathology. Would UChicago prepare me for whichever one I end up choosing, or would I be more pressured into going to grad school?
- Put simply, the arguments that Chicago is bad for pre-meds are these: First, the grade distribution curve is slightly lower than at many comparable colleges or public flagships, which makes some difference because medical school admissions are highly GPA-dependent. There's evidence that med schools will accept slightly lower GPAs from Chicago students, but it's debatable whether that makes up for all of the difference. This doesn't keep scores of Chicago graduates from getting accepted at and enrolling in medical school every year, although it may mean that in every class there is a handful of people who don't get accepted (or who don't try to get accepted) who might have looked like better candidates had they gone to another college.
Second, there is something of a culture of disdain for professional vs. academic careers. What this means, practically, is that at Brand X University most of the people you meet will say “You’re a pre-med? Ooooo, you must be soooo smart!,” while at Chicago the reaction is somewhat more likely to be, “If you’re so smart, why aren’t you actually trying to advance knowledge rather than performing the same procedure 20 times a week and billing people outrageous amounts for that?” If that deters you from going to medical school, great! It means that you didn’t really want to go to medical school. (I don’t think it deters many people from going to medical school.)
- No one is going to "pressure" you to go to graduate school vs. medical school. At Chicago, you will find a lot of moral support if you decide you want to go to graduate school. But, honestly, that would be the case at any college. If you tell your favorite faculty members, effectively, "You're my hero! I want to be like you!," you are likely to get a positive response. The difference at Chicago is that somewhat more of your classmates will see that as a great decision, too.
Here is the heated discussion on this subject.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/2019939-premed-at-uchicago-p1.html