Choosing the right school for Pre-Med

[Mriduls]

I know this is a very discussed topic on here and I have looked at almost all of them . I have been researching numerous schools. I was wondering if you all could post your opinions on these schools. Please factor in difficulty of classes/ environment of program, research opportunities, and, if applicable, your own experiences with the program. Thank you!
Sidenote: I am looking for a school where I can get a really good GPA, I don’t want that SUPER cut throat pre med program; definitely not a laidback program which, from what I have read, usually pre med programs are not.

1)Clemson
2)University of South Carolina
3)UC-Berkely
4)UC-Davis
5)UCLA
6)UW-Madison
7)PSU
8)OSU

(so far I have visited UW-Madison and I LOVED the campus)
(USC is offering me a rugby based scholarship which is something I may factor in)

[uclaparent9]

Then, run away from UCLA!

[Mriduls]

Would you like to elaborate? That comment by itself isn’t very helpful to me. Is it the difficultly of the classes? Or lack of research opportunities?

[i_wanna_be_Brown]

5. Remember whom you are asking for advice here: A bunch of strangers on the internet with no real experience or knowledge other than our own personal journeys (and certainly no knowledge about who you are as a person). I and the other students went to one college. I have no idea how the departments at two other schools are. The parents maybe got exposed to 2 or 3 schools but not as students, just hearing 2nd had from their children. You should be talking to your parents, teachers, recent alumni from your high school, college counselor, etc, not us.

point #9 - Don’t come on here asking for info about specific schools [go post on those school’s sections on CC: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/alphabetic-list-colleges/]

One of the most important skills you learn in college is how to learn on your own (and it’s a critical skill for medical school). Know that on the pre-med forum here, the odds that someone has intimate knowledge about any particular school is slim to none. The way to find out the pros/cons of various schools is to ask people who go/went to those individual schools and then compare your answers (there are specific forums on this site for many schools). Don’t ask them to compare and think for you, just ask them about their own and then using the info you collect, make your own assessment about what’s better.

I recommend trying to ask questions with “objective” answers as opposed to opinions because unless you know the person answering has the same perspective as you, you can’t trust their opinion. For example, don’t ask if a school prepares you well, ask for examples of things the school did to prepare them. What each student needs to feel prepared is different so a school that does little might be good enough prep for one person while not enough prep for someone else. Don’t just ask if there’s lots of advising or if there is plenty of research, ask for details about how advisors are determined, how often you get to meet with them, what sorts of things they talk about. For research ask them how they got the position, how long it took them to find one. Stuff like that. You want concrete answers that YOU can apply your opinion to, not just blindly follow someone else’s.

The approach I outline in this post is also good for picking med schools when you eventually apply to them too.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1484178-if-you-are-in-high-school-please-read-this-before-posting-p1.html

[mom2collegekids]

You’re OOS for the UCs. You’re from IL. Avoid all UC schools if you’re premed and OOS.

What are your parents saying about how much they’ll pay? Are they ok with paying $55k for a UC? or $45-50k per year for UWisc or Clemson or PSU or ??

What are your stats?

If you’re serious about being premed, I wouldn’t do a Div I sport.

Calif has too many premeds and therefore it creates this gunner mentality. There are no positives being an OOS premed in Calif…only negatives.

[Mandalorian]

Honestly, your best bet is to just go to your state flagship. All of the schools you listed are good, but they’re all really the same: big state schools. You might as well just go to the one that’s the best deal.

Oh yeah, don’t go OOS to a Calif school.

[Mriduls]

I’m going OOS, I’m not going to stay in Illinois. I’m not really asking for advice on what to do. I know what I want to do I was just looking for opinions on how the program runs. I will post in the college specific forums asking about pre med programs.

As far as money goes I am privileged to not have to worry about my undergrad.

[i_wanna_be_Brown]

^That all makes sense. Simply choose the school that feels best for you. Happy students are successful students.