cold feet?

ar2011 · 05-30-2011, 11:16 PM

hello, i am matriculating into the freshman class in the fall of 2011. I plan on being a bio major with a concentration in neuroscience/biomedical studies, with the hope of attending medical school. I do like St. Olaf-its profs, staff, students are very nice, and the study abroad options really drew me to the place. i also got a hefty merit scholarship, so the cost of attending was less than half the costs of the other schools' that I got accepted to. However, I am extremely scared that I turned down schools (in my case: Boston College Honors and Emory University) that would have opened doors to the top medical schools in the country (harvard, columbia, tufts, etc). this sense of nervousness has literally driven me crazy for the last month. can someone assuage my nervousness with some words of advice in terms of med school admission? or if anyone gave up more "prestigious" schools and/or fared well in the med school process?
thanks! any advice is much appreciated.

Got2BeGreen · 05-31-2011, 10:45 PM

Here's my prescription: stop worrying about your pedigree! Your accomplishments will always speak louder than your alma mater. Nevertheless, I'll throw in a comforting word or two . . .

How about this quote from the president of St. Olaf, in April 2010:

Quote:

For many years, St. Olaf has had a strong collaborative relationship with Mayo Clinic in Rochester, with science and economics majors regularly conducting hands on investigation and research with Mayo physicians and researchers under the auspices of the Mayo Innovation Scholars Program. With the new oncology center, we anticipate expanded opportunities for internship placements and student-faculty cooperative projects here in Northfield.

Or this: US News ranked Tufts (one of the schools you mentioned) #41 in Primary Care and #51 in Research. Between 2004-2009, St. Olaf Grads have gotten into the following med schools which are more highly ranked on BOTH counts: Baylor, Boston, Colorado, Duke, Emory, Iowa, Johns Hopkins, Mayo, Medical College of Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, Washington, WUSTL, and Wisconsin.

They got in to the following schools that are ranked higher in research: Boston, Case Western, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Keck (USC), Mount Sinai, New York University, Stanford, Vanderbilt, and Virginia.

They got into the following schools that are ranked higher in primary care: Kansas, Michigan State, Missouri, Morehouse, Utah, and Vermont.

6 of the top 10 research schools are represented, as are 5 of the top 10 primary care.

I hope you feel better soon!

ar2011 · 06-01-2011, 08:58 PM

What a thoughtful answer! Where did you find all these detailed statistics? Thank you so much Got2BeGreen!!

Got2BeGreen · 06-03-2011, 09:10 PM

Gosh, thanks! I just googled something like "St. Olaf" and "medical school"or something like that. The first quote came from a press release, and the placement info came from the St. Olaf guide to careers in medicine. I then compared the schools listed with the US News rankings, to arrive at my list.

Too much time on my hands? I think so!