I am looking for good premed colleges. List top 5.
Pomona, Amherst, Carleton, Hamilton, Grinnell.
The advice usually given here is to find an affordable college since Med School will be expensive. Your grades and MCAT scores count more than the name of the college you attend. And (with a couple of exceptions) there is no such thing as “pre med.” You need to take some required courses to be accepted to Med School but can major in any subject you like.
UCLA gives many opportunities for premed students 
There’s no such thing.
Premed courses are just regular classes that other STEM students are taking…regular bio, Chem, physics, and math classes. Nothing “premed” or special about them.
Colleges don’t place students into med schools. Colleges don’t prepare students for the MCAT. Any reported “med school acceptance rates” are meaningless.
Any good college is fine for a premed student. Med schools don’t care which school you go to as long as it’s accredited and not some Podunk school.
The best schools for any serious premed are schools where the student’s stats are well within the top 25% of the school and where he/she can shine and be a top student. Attending the school should not require much/any debt.
If you’re not a Calif resident, avoid Calif schools.
I now see that you’re a rising soph in high school. Right now, concentrate on high school. Get a very good science foundation. Ask your parents how much they’ll pay for college.
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@uclahopefull UCLA gives many opportunities for premed students <<<<
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I’m not sure what you’re basing this on. At any given time, UCLA has about 3000+ premeds. I would seriously question whether those premeds are getting opportunities. In the end, after tough weeding, about only 1000 remain to apply to med schools…and then only about half get at least one acceptance.
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am looking for good premed colleges. List top 5.
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Since there are no such things, please tell us what you’re looking for.
What are your stats? What is your GPA? How much will your parents spend on college?
Are you a domestic student?
“Ask your parents how much they’ll pay for college”.
OP, this not some meaningless point. A good premed school includes one where you can graduate with as little, if any, debt as possible as most med students will borrow their way through med school and it’s not cheap.
Characteristics you may want to consider:
- Affordable.
- BCPM courses that prepare you well for the MCAT.
- High grade inflation.
- Access to pre-med extracurriculars.
One perhaps significant factor is whether the school has a pre-med committee that does committee recommendation letters. This can mean that the committee advises pre-meds with a relatively lower chance of admission to medical school not to bother applying, and withholds committee recommendation letters from them (which signals to medical schools that they are relatively weaker applicants from that particular undergraduate school).
Some may view this as a way of being able to show high medical school admission rates (since they only encourage the strongest applicants to apply). However, some pre-meds may consider this to be an advantage, in that if the pre-med committee tells them early on that it is not worth the bother to apply, they can move on to other plans instead of wasting time and money in probably futile applications to medical schools. But others may see such a thing as a disadvantage, if they have some (but not high) chance of admission, and are willing to try anyway, knowing that the odds are not great.
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Characteristics you may want to consider:
- Affordable. <<<<<<
Very important! And if you can attend a good undergrad where you can still reserve some of your “spending power” for med school, that can be a better choice.
If your parents are willing and able, ask if they’ll help pay for med/grad school IF you get significant aid/merit which would make your undergrad net costs very low. Some have found that strategy to be helpful, but not everyone can/will do that. It’s an option that we used for our kids. Our son went to undergrad for a low cost with large merit, which enabled us to put the “savings” towards his med school costs.
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- BCPM courses that prepare you well for the MCAT.
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BCPM courses don’t really prepare you for the MCAT. That’s not the purpose of those classes, nor is it the purpose of the undergrad. Those classes are just regular bio, Chem, physics and math classes that the other STEM students are also taking. And virtually every good state or private school will have “good enough” premed prereqs courses. The point, though, is to get a good foundation in those prereqs and develop good critical thinking skills, so that when you study/prep for the MCAT, you’ll do well on the actual test.
Also take a Philosophy Deductive Logic course.
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- High grade inflation.
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Important
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- Access to pre-med extracurriculars.
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True…If at a school that is in the middle of nowhere and doesn’t have research opps, you’ll find it hard to get research, volunteering, and shadowing experiences.
That said, do NOT expect your school to spoon-feed you these opps. Once in college, you’re an adult and you’re expected to seek out these experiences. Part of the weeding process is whether the student has what it takes…including being self-sufficient, resourceful, etc.
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One perhaps significant factor is whether the school has a pre-med committee that does committee recommendation letters. This can mean that the committee advises pre-meds with a relatively lower chance of admission to medical school not to bother applying, and withholds committee recommendation letters from them (which signals to medical schools that they are relatively weaker applicants from that particular undergraduate school).
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Yes, it is important to attend a school that does Mock Interviews (MI), Committee Interviews (CI), and writes Committee Letters (CLs). If you’re a strong student and interview well at the CI (participate in the offered MI’s for practice!), then your school will write you a strong CL. When med schools see a strong CL, they know that this is one of the school’s best students.
No one should really fear the CL process. Either you’re good enough for med school or you’re not.
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Some may view this as a way of being able to show high medical school admission rates (since they only encourage the strongest applicants to apply). However, some pre-meds may consider this to be an advantage, in that if the pre-med committee tells them early on that it is not worth the bother to apply, they can move on to other plans instead of wasting time and money in probably futile applications to medical schools. But others may see such a thing as a disadvantage, if they have some (but not high) chance of admission, and are willing to try anyway, knowing that the odds are not great.
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I agree that some schools refuse to write CLs for weaker students to protect their med school admit stats. However, my son’s undergrad will write them for every pre-med student. The difference will be in the CL.
Stanford, Harvard, Cornell, Emory, UC Davis, UPenn, UC Irvine, Duke, Johns Hopkins, and Pomona are a few.
Any college where you’ll rank in the top 25%, so, not the ones cited above unless you’re a genius.
You can be pre-med at any college. IMO the best college for pre-med is whatever school is best fit for you in terms of having an environment you like at a cost that is affordable.
A med school admissions officer told me a good premed college is one that:
*isn’t cutthroat/unhealthy competitive
*has a myriad of research opportunities
*has small classes and an environment that makes it easy to meet with faculty (private schools)
*is a top 50 college
*has a high premed success rate
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A med school admissions officer told me a good premed college is one that:
*isn’t cutthroat/unhealthy competitive
*has a myriad of research opportunities
*has small classes and an environment that makes it easy to meet with faculty (private schools)
*is a top 50 college
*has a high premed success rate
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*is a top 50 college. <<< Most med students in the US did NOT go to a top 50 school. Totally unnecessary. Either the med school admin was narrow-minded or the student misunderstood.
*has a high premed success rate <<<<. Since undergrads manipulate those numbers, that is meaningless. Plus it’s meaningless for any particular student.
And…if that were true, why recommend UCD an UCI which don’t have high premed success rates and have large/very large classes?.
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has small classes
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At nearly ALL colleges, the premed prereqs are large…even at top schools.
These schools are listed as “Top Choices” in “The Experts’ Choice: Colleges with Great Pre-med Programs.” Some of the selection criteria may be similar to that outlined by @emory323 :
Pomona
Amherst
Carleton
Hamilton
Grinnell
Colgate
Bates
Bucknell
Franklin & Marshall
St. Olaf
Muhlenberg
Knox
UChicago
Stanford
Northwestern
WUStL
Vanderbilt
UPenn
Johns Hopkins
Brown
William & Mary
Emory
St. Louis University
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Any college where you’ll rank in the top 25%, so, not the ones cited above unless you’re a genius.
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Exactly.
Too many premeds go to match or reach schools and then end up with GPAs that aren’t med school worthy.
That last criteria is totally meaningless. I hope its just the case that you misunderstood what they told you and this wasn’t actually what they said.
“premed success rate” is easily manipulated. Colleges that care can use the committee letter to make the “admit rate” anything they want it to be. Comfortably in the 80’s or even above 90 is a breeze if you can can control who applies. I’d go so far as to say its a red flag if the incoming students SAT puts them in the average category but then they have amazing med school admit rates.
One great example of a school with a stringent screen is Holy Cross, although these days they kinda admit what they’re doing if you know what to look for.
Nobody is going to apply if the “tone and content” is not favorable unless they like to waste money since they have no chance of success.
In fact, the more I think about this I wonder if the person you spoke to was really a “med school admissions officer” or if you really had this conversation since research is another area that once was de rigueur for med school applicants but these days is viewed as more of a plus than a neccessity. And school name, being a “top 50”, is also not taken into account. Nor did they mention the critical importance of exposure to medicine.
Pretty much every point you listed is incomplete or wrong.
No one can really provide a useful list for a student who just finished freshman year of high school. He has no scores, and who knows how he’ll do in the more difficult courses he’ll take the next 2-3 years.
Recommending schools for a SERIOUS premed student involves consideration of: GPA, test scores, financial situation, home state, etc.
If this student ends up with a 3.7 GPA and a 30 ACT, who would recommend most, if not all, of the schools listed in post 14? I hope no one. The student would likely be weeded after the first year, if not before.
If this student ends up with a 3.8 and an ACT 32, who would recommend any top 30 school?
If this student ends up with an ACT 36 and a 4.0 UW, then sure top schools could be fine for that premed.
The dirty little secret is that those who are accepted to med school are NOT necessarily the 20,000 smartest premed students in America. Not at all. Those successful 20,000 are likely students who attended an undergrad that was appropriate for their stats and situation.
“Most med students in the US did NOT go to a top 50 school. Totally unnecessary. Either the med school admin was narrow-minded or the student misunderstood.”
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You’re right, it’s not necessary to go to a top 50 school to get into A medical school. However, if one wants to get into a top medical school (many students do), undergrad ranking is taken into account. The admissions officer may be narrow-minded, but sadly this is the type of mentality admcoms have at a top med school.
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“why recommend UCD an UCI which don’t have high premed success rates and have large/very large classes?”
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Good premed colleges should meet most of the criteria listed, but they don’t need to meet all of them. I recommended UCD and UCI on the basis that they are 1) Not cutthroat 2) Have many research opportunities available with a medical school in the vicinity 3) Top 50 schools
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“At nearly ALL colleges, the premed prereqs are large…even at top schools.”
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Large is how many people to you? Yes, the UC’s have gigantic premed classes, but it’s not that bad at the privates. The top privates can have big classes, but nowhere the size of the UC’s. LAC’s like Pomona, Hamilton, and Colgate are the best because their classes are very small. Students can get a lot of attention and help at those schools and I highly recommend them.
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“Too many premeds go to match or reach schools and then end up with GPAs that aren’t med school worthy.”
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If premeds can’t do well at their match, they probably shouldn’t think about becoming a doctor. They will eventually flunk out in medical school.
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“If this student ends up with a 3.8 and an ACT 32, who would recommend any top 30 school?”
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You’re absolutely right, but I think students should try to get into the best school they possibly can.
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@mikemac
“Pretty much every point you listed is incomplete or wrong.”
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It’s fine that you disagree with a few points, but negating everything I listed is absurd. Going to a cutthroat school with little to no research opportunities is a recipe for failure.
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I disagree with much that you wrote…
My quote: Too many premeds go to match or reach schools and then end up with GPAs that aren’t med school worthy."
Your response> If premeds can’t do well at their match, they probably shouldn’t think about becoming a doctor. They will eventually flunk out in medical school.
^^^ This is so wrong. You really think that, say, the 3.8 - 4.0 GPA student with an ACT 30-34, who gets into a match school and ends up with a GPA that isn’t med school worthy (which is often 3.5 or below for an unhooked trad applicant), shouldn’t think about becoming a doctor and would eventually FLUNK out of med school??? Are you serious???
No disrespect to my own child, but if he had gone to match or reach school, who knows what GPA he’d have ended up with. His GPA may not have been med-school-worthy, particularly since he was an engineering major…yet, he’ll be graduating from well-ranked med school in 10 months with honors, which is a far-cry from flunking out.
A student who is very serious about going to med school (not just a silly, “I’m smart therefore I should go to med school” thinking), should protect his GPA. If he’s a serious student, he will increase his chances of emerging from undergrad with a 3.7+ GPA, if he goes to an undergrad where his stats are within the upper quartile.
Again, the roughly 20,000 med school applicants who end up with at least one MD acceptance are not the smartest 20,000 out of the 50,000 applicants. They’re just the ones who either intentionally or incidentally played the premed game well.
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My quote: “If this student ends up with a 3.8 and an ACT 32, who would recommend any top 30 school?”
Your response > You’re absolutely right, but I think students should try to get into the best school they possibly can.
No, they shouldn’t …and my response above this one is why. And please explain why you agree with me, and that an ACT 32 premed student with a 3.8 GPA shouldn’t go to USC, UMich, UNC CH, or Boston College…especially when you then say that students should try to “get into the best school they can.” You’re not being consistent.
That said, I hope that a certain CC parent reads this and responds. HIs very high stats premed child went to a top 5 school and ended up with a 3.5 GPA with strong MCAT. And despite sending out 30 US MD med school applications, received ZERO interview invites. Repeat: ZERO interview invites. This parent would surely agree that if his child had gone to, say, a top 60 or top 100, she would have likely had a 3.7+ GPA and would be enrolled in a MD med school right now.
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My Quote: “why recommend UCD an UCI which don’t have high premed success rates and have large/very large classes?”
Your response > Good premed colleges should meet most of the criteria listed, but they don’t need to meet all of them. I recommended UCD and UCI on the basis that they are 1) Not cutthroat 2) Have many research opportunities available with a medical school in the vicinity 3) Top 50 schools
I have no idea why you think UCI and UCD aren’t cut-throat. These are undergrads that have a very large number of premeds, and those premeds KNOW that many of them will either get weeded out before the application process starts or be one of the 50% that doesn’t get one MD acceptance.
UCI and UCD each have about 425 med school applicants per year, of which less than half will get one MD med school acceptance. Likely, there were at least 4 times that many freshman premeds. The students know those stats. Those facts can’t help but create gunner or pressure-cooker mentality.
Having a medical school in the vicinity means nothing. Undergrads aren’t doing research at med schools. They aren’t milling around the med school halls. There isn’t a mixing of undergrads and med schools.
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My quote: Most med students in the US did NOT go to a top 50 school. Totally unnecessary. Either the med school admin was narrow-minded or the student misunderstood."
Your response > You’re right, it’s not necessary to go to a top 50 school to get into A medical school. However, if one wants to get into a top medical school (many students do), undergrad ranking is taken into account. The admissions officer may be narrow-minded, but sadly this is the type of mentality admcoms have at a top med school.
You are over-estimating the impact of undergrad ranking. It could be argued that attending a top 8-10 undergrad might be a nudge when all other things are equal, but once beyond those schools, med schools will consider the next 100+ schools as being the same.
As far as your statement of “many students” want to get into a top ranked medical school, that is just smoke. That’s like saying, “many people want a million dollar income.” The truth is, most med school applicants just want to be accepted to at least ONE US MD school…any one of them…pretty please with sugar on top!!!