How rigorous is Pre-Med @ BU?

AutoUnion · 10-13-2009, 05:31 PM

This question is mostly for current BU students.

How well do you think you are being prepared for the MCATS, and med school? Does BU really strike you as a sciencey school? What's the work load like?

pumpkins · 10-13-2009, 07:03 PM

Also interested. Bump....

Lergnom · 10-13-2009, 07:11 PM

There have been a number of pre-med students, including at least one admitted to a combined undergrad/med school program, on this board. They've been satisfied and I can think of a few who are now in medical school.

I can say that all pre-med programs are a lot of work and are competitive. A number of people will decide it's not for them and will move to something else. That's not BU; that's everywhere. Most people find the pre-med requirements somewhat of a grind; even if they like bio, they likely don't like chem or orgo, maybe both, etc.

TheMan777 · 10-13-2009, 08:43 PM

I am BME at BU, so a lot of the kids are pre-med in my major. I can tell you that it is HARD. Lergnom is completely right - kids will definitely drop out. Not everyone can be a doctor and the people who got into med schools had an average GPA of 3.66, at college that is pretty damn hard to achieve.

I think BU is great for sciences and their curriculum is very rigorous. You will have to work very hard and manage your time very well to even get the work done. It gets stressful, especially when you approach Orgo Chem. - which pretty much weeds out everyone who was hanging on.

Lergnom · 10-13-2009, 09:41 PM

Not many people like orgo, especially the lab, and that is true at every school.

The simple truth is that any highly paid profession attracts a lot of people but each such profession sets up gates to restrict access. Medicine and law have graduate schools and law - there are more law schools - then has a tiered system that allocates people from the higher ranked schools to the parts of law that pay more. Consulting is attractive so they hire from ranked graduate schools. And so on.

Despite the worry about "which" medical school, the truth is any will do for most people who become doctors. (The process beyond medical school into a specialty has its own weirdness.) So that means you have more competition to get into any medical school. It just is.

TheMan777 · 10-13-2009, 11:15 PM

Aye - its the sad truth Lergnom =/. I would say that you should try for the SMED program (seven year medical program). Its reputable at BU, but they only take 25 people. If you get in, you are pretty much set to be a doctor.