FightingIrish01

Hey guys,

ND gets a lot of respect in its business program, yet I know its premed is amazing with an 82% Med school acceptance rate.

1.) Anyways, how do you current premeds find the rigor of the courses and preparation for MCAT?

2.) Do you think it is a grade deflated environment like Johns Hopkins, Cornell? Or do you think it is a bit grade inflated like cough cough, Harvard, or perhaps just neutral?

3.) What about research opporunities...do you guys begin working on projects with professors during sophmore year?

4.) What sucks is that ND does not have a med school and many colleges with undergrads have med schools for students to volunteer and take part of a wide range of programs...what are some hospital-related activities in the South Bend region.

5.) Any other cool premed related things about ND?

nemo2001

wow...okay before I post anything I'll refer you to the posts from similiar threads to this topic several months ago:

One more quest- Notre Dame has a premed major? I thought that it was a myth.

Pre-med Major/Classics at Arts and Letters vs Science

Grade Inflation at Notre Dame?

nemo2001

you know as I go back through those threads, you were the one who raised almost exact same questions to what you are asking now several months ago.

Nevertheless I will try to respond to your questions again:

3.) research opportunities. Wow a potential pre-med who is considering research. It would appear as though the world has indeed come to an end. Sorry for the sarcasm, I'm just in a weird mood from working on a thesis. Alright, in truth research opportunites do exist. It is up to you to line something up with a professor. If you want to do it, you can find a lab to work in. Honestly, it isn't that hard to do. Most professors won't take you on until your Junior year, so start looking second semester sophomore year. You need to have had a good grounding in order to be of any use to them. If you ever plan on doing summer class, you should easily be able to get research for the summer between sophomore and junior year. The fields vary depending on your interests, explore the College of Science homepage, specifically the Chem, Biochem and Bio webpages. You should easily be able to find the list of faculty in each dept. Most faculty have weblinks to their homepages where they outline their research.

4. No it doesn't "suck" that ND doesn't have a med school. Why should they, there is already the extension program in South Bend through IU. Before you complain think a little bit. The effort to start up a medschool and get accreditation, hire faculty, build facilities, and interface with a teaching hospital is so cost-prohibitive it will never happen. Besides ND is committed to providing a LIBERAL ARTS education. I know of several premeds who have gotten involved with volunteering at the St. Joe Regional Med Center, or the SJRMC clinic; others look for opportunities through the Preprofessional office; others try to get involved with certain on-campus clubs.

nemo2001

Just figured I would "bump" this back from the top of Pg 2 to the first page...sorry if that bothers anyone.

To reflect on the MCAT question is to bring up a good point. It's sad how self-absorbed and focused the pre-med majors normally become during the second semester their junior year. I say sad, because its too bad that they haven't necessarily all been studying hard for the first 2.5 years. Then again undergrad is the easy part, so I guess they should get to have some fun while they can...

Most premed majors that I know of choose to shell out the 1K or so and take the Kaplan review course. The one semester version seems to be more popular but I know of several students who've taken the full year program. The MCAT is coming up on April 22, and I know of students who will be living a "monk-like" existence for the week leading up to it, skipping most of their classes and studying for most of the days. They are the extreme ones though. Many studens have just been studying a little to a lot each night.

If you end up not doing so well on the MCAT, and med-school is still your goal, you can always consider a post-bac program for a year or so...