meaning that committee letter is the ONLY letter the student will need, they won’t need to chase down anyone else at all for letters?
Does the committee tell you which of the 4 categories you fall under? I presume they must tell the student if they’re in #4, but do they specify if you’re in 1-3?
It sounds like schools that use committees might have a less collaborative culture since students are fighting to be in group #1.
Any premed student should expect that they will be in those required courses for medical school applicants with a LOT of high powered people. It doesn’t mean the school is less collaborative. It’s just the way it is.
I also do not think there is a limit on how many students can be highly recommended.
high powered people isn’t my concern, it’s whether they want to work together vs. compete for higher grades than the next guy
It depends in the requirements of HP committee. A small number don’t require any supporting LOEs from s student’s professors; most do require at least 2 or 3 LOE from a students professors.
But for example, if a med school requires a LOE from a non-science professor (very common), but the HP does not ask the students to provide a LOE from a non-science professor and doesn’t not include it in their HP committee packet, then a student is not expected to provide an additional non-science letter for the med school. The HP letter will suffice.
Does the committee tell you which of the 4 categories you fall under? I presume they must tell the student if they’re in #4, but do they specify if you’re in 1-3?
A student will usually be told if they fall into category #3 or #4, but usually won’t be told if they are in category #1 or #2 since letters are confidential and not shared with the students. Student typically sign a waiver relinquishing their rights to see the committee letter. (Having a non-confidential letter is a red flag to adcomms and signals the contents of the letter may not be completely forthright and trustworthy.)
It sounds like schools that use committees might have a less collaborative culture since students are fighting to be in group #1.
This is really dependent of the culture of the particular school.
Students will know their GPA and how other students have done in the same classes they took, of course, but the other items that go into the HP’s consideration–MCAT score, strength of professor evaluations, quality & durations of ECs, HP mock interview performance-- those other students won’t know. In fact, the student won’t know the contents of their professor evaluations (because students are required to waive their right to see those), or how the committee perceives a student’s ECs.
So a particular student won’t know exactly how they stack up compared to other students at their school.
Plus there’s no rule that says most student can’t go into the highly recommended pile…
This.
Everyone who is premed will want the best grades they can get. That doesn’t mean they can’t also be collaborative.
THANK YOU! Much appreciated!
Regarding engineering, the prospect for a career in the field wouldn’t end with the choice of Hamilton. In this sampling of its graduates in physics, for example, one third have pursued careers in engineering:
While this path may require an additional degree, the opportunity would remain open for your son.
If you would like a general perspective on Hamilton, this originally was written for a CC topic that asked, “What is special/appealing about Hamilton?”
This is ALL excellent information! Thank you so much for your perspectives and for the links. He has been scouring through as much information as possible and leaning into what he learned on the admitted student days he attended. It is a difficult choice; they are all great options for different reasons. Again, thank you so much to everyone who has responded thus far! The CC community is awesome.
Let me speak to this because both my daughters looked into getting a MS in engineering (BME) after undergrad.
D1 was a physics & math double major with a chem minor. She was told by 3 different universities that she could not be considered for acceptance a graduate engineering program without first completing the equivalent to a bachelor’s in engineering.
D2 was a neuroscience and math double major (who took engineering physics and computer science classes). She took looked into getting MS in BME. (Because she specialized in instrumentation in her undergrad research and was working for a multidisciplinary academic team doing instrumentation development post graduation.) However, the university would only accept her conditionally with condition that she take 8-10 core engineering courses before starting her her master’s coursework.
A friend of D2’s double majored in math and cognitive science (neuroscience’s more computer-y younger brother), took engineering physics and applied for a PhD program in neural engineering. He was told he would only be accepted conditionally and the condition was he first had to complete 10 core undergrad engineering classes first. (While it’s theoretically possible to complete 10 classes in 2 semesters, due to course sequencing issues it actually takes longer, )
So @Ryan_Rd if your son decided he did want to do engineering, a physics degree would be helpful, but still would require him to complete the equivalent another full bachelor-level major and would take 2 additional years to finish.
Just one more datapoint for his decision.
An article such as this, regarding a Hamilton physics major entering a master’s program in mechanical engineering, doesn’t appear to recognize that this level of additional preparation would be needed:
Hamilton and a handful of other LAC students can also apply to Dartmouth for a junior year of immersive engineering course work. It would also involve a fifth year (after graduation from Hamilton) for what would eventually be a non-ABET approved AB in engineering.
I read the article. It doesn’t mention if the student was required to do any additional supporting coursework. It only says she was accepted to the program. My Ds were accepted to the grad program, (so was D2’s friend)but their acceptance required them to complete a number of undergrad engineering courses before they would be allowed to continue with master’s level coursework.
While many engineering master’s program will accept non-engineering degree students into their program, they all typically mention it will add additional coursework to “catch up” students with engineering fundamental
Like this program at Boston U
Here’s MIT’s statement in the topic: science may gain entry.
To qualify for a graduate degree, applicants are expected to have at least an
undergraduate-level exposure to most of the core MechE disciplines (solid mechanics,
dynamics, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, materials, control, design and
manufacturing), and to be familiar with basic electric circuits and electromagnetic field
theory. Those who are deemed deficient may be asked to make up courses in certain areas
before they graduate. The make-up courses may be at the undergraduate-level (in which
case they are relatively elementary and usually cannot be applied toward graduate credit),
or at the graduate-level (in which case they carry graduate credit).
Stanford has list of required coursework and competencies for those wishing to enroll in the MSME program ( Mechanical Engineering Graduate Handbook (SUNetID required for access).
Perhaps missing information can be inferred from this student’s LinkedIn profile. She has transitioned to Civil and Environmental Engineering and anticipates completing her MS at Stanford in a total of 19 months. This suggests that burdensome supporting coursework has not been required for this student.
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