Best Undergrad For Pre Med

pmyen
Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:40:03 +0000

I would say the best premed school is where you personally will get the best preparation and be able to be most successful. It will differ for different people. For some, a competitive LAC or top university may be the place, for others a state university -/+ honors program may be the place. Additionally, the support and academic environment of a particular school can make a huge difference for an individual student. As an example, the intense and somewhat competitive environment at JHU where students are graded on a curve, may be very discouraging to some. On the other hand, for others, it is exhilerating to be in class with exceptionally bright students and have the opportunity to do cutting edge research with professors given the school’s strong research focus. For some other students, being a top student at a state school or a small less competitive LAC may be the best option. I am a big advocate of LACs for premed preparation as they provide close interactions with profs, a supportive premed advising environment, and more interactive classes. However, they are not for everyone. Even at a challenging but supportive place like Swarthmore, some outstanding students fall through the cracks and give up on their career goal of medicine. I personally know an outstanding student from one of the top high schools in her state who attended Swat. Unfortunately, she did poorly in her premed courses despite having a strong high school science background. She plans to take some time off after graduation, and work before possibly applying to medical school, if at all.

One more point in response to the question mentioned earlier about the discrepancy between the number of undergrad and alumni applicants. It seems that many colleges are encouraging students to work for 1-2 years to strengthen their application. Students who are applying directly from college tend to be the strongest ones.