<p>Hi, I'm currently stuck in a dilemma between these two choices:</p>
<p>Yale and Wash U concurrent admission to their med school. Wash U's program is not binding, but I am still required to take the MCAT and maintain a fairly high GPA. In addition, I still have to go through the application process, even though I'm basically guaranteed admission to Wash U Med School.</p>
<p>I know for sure that I want to go to med school, but I also have interests in other fields, like business, as well.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how strong Yale's pre-med is? Or even statistics on where Yale undergrads go for med school? I keep thinking that Wash U is a much safer bet, because it's probably a lot harder to get into a good med school from Yale than from Wash U, since Yale is a lot more competitive itself.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? Please help! Thanks so much!</p>
<p>If I were in your boat, I would not even hesitate in accepting the WashU offer. Having that monumental load off of your shoulders will allow you to have a very relaxed junior and senior year, at least relative to those prospective med school students that are burning their eyes out going for those extra points in their GPA and MCATs.</p>
<p>These are the requirements in the program:
-1 year of bio, 1 year general chem, 1 year orgo, 1 year physics, and 1 year of math including calculus
-maintain a GPA of 3.8 yep that's right a THREE POINT EIGHT
-get a 36 on the MCAT, yep that's right a THIRTY-SIX
-interview with the medical school admissions committee</p>
<p>This seems like a BS program. Not only are those pretty difficult standards to maintain, but the subjective measure of the interview makes it possible for the med school to reject you in the end under the premise that you don't seem "qualified" or "prepared" to enter the med school. So basically, it seems like a ploy by WashU to get higher standards/yield to its med school and thus move up the rankings... similar to what it does with undergrad actually.</p>
<p>Go with Yale, it'll be a better undergrad experience, and if you do all the regular premed stuff (which you'll be doing at WashU anyway for their so-called "guaranteed acceptance" program), you'll get into a great med school anyway.</p>
<p>i agree..i am a big fan of these programs, had u gotten into Northwestern's GUARANTEED 7 yr program w. a relatively lenient gpa mandate (3.3 and above i believe) and no mcat req, i would say do it.</p>
<p>If you can get the 3.8 and 36 mcat (to just satisfy the reqs), you would have your doors open anywhere in the country.</p>
<p>i went to Yale and I am a doctor. why pass up the chance to go to one of the nations greatest institutions for a guaranteed in in med school. I really hope that ALL you premeds out there use your years anywhere to learn all you can about the world OTHER than medicine- you will be spending the rest of your life doing that. for g-d sakes take chinese history or something- you have SO many opportunites at any great school to make yourself an educated PERSON not just a doctor. Believe me- you will be a better doctor for that. And all of you are smart enough to get into a med school an obviously work hard and do well in school or you wouldn't be here</p>
<p>"So basically, it seems like a ploy by WashU to get higher standards/yield to its med school and thus move up the rankings... similar to what it does with undergrad actually."</p>
<p>This is actually pretty ignorant & baseless. WashU's med school has been ranked always highly. Unlike WashU's undergraudate ranking, it is not a recent phenomenon. The selectivity (according to USN) is no. 1 in the country stats-wise. The avg intake has about 38 MCAT & 3.87GPA. The USP program gives preferential treatment, but not guarantee.</p>
<p>For the OP, Yale is certainly more prestigous and at the moment offers better overall undergradate experience. No one disputes that.</p>
<p>My daughter is a soph. pre-med at Yale. There is no Pre-Med major--Yale students seem to major in related sciences like bio, chem, etc. The requirements for these majors are extensive--Last semester, DD was NOT in class a total of 8 hours per week (with Orgo, a high level Bio, and the full-afternoon long labs.)
Taking these requirements make it difficult to schedule other courses. There is only room for about one non-major related course per semester. There is a lot of pressure, and fierce competition. Also a lot of anxiety. You should definitely try and talk to soph. and jr. students at both schools, and determine which is a better fit for you and your overall educational goals.</p>
<p>annelise... are you saying that your daughter was in class 160 hours a week?</p>
<p>Pre-med is tough anywhere. Labs are long at every college. I'm not sure that Yale is necessarily any more competitive than WashU, especially given what someone posted about the "difficult" nature of the pre-med program at WashU (which I doubt, but if it has a rep for being cutthroat like Johns Hopkins, well that's not the greatest environment). There will be stupidly competitive people at most places. There are also tons of resources at most places to help you. Seriously... GO TO YALE.</p>
<p>The Wash U program guarantees only that if you have a 36 MCAT and a 3.8 you will be accepted the Wash U's med school. Of course, if you have a 3.8 from Yale and a 36 MCAT you will be very competitive at many top med schools. Unlike the top programs that do not require MCAT's and also have outstanding medical schools, e.g. Rice/Baylor, NU HPME, and Case, the Wash U program does not offer much to relieve pre-med stress and competiveness. Absent such an advantage your decision should be based primarily on your feelings about each university as the best place to receive your undergraduate education.</p>