Decisions, Decisions...

[GoldShadow]

<p>Talk to people that go there, find out what the surroundings are like. Questions that would be more pertinent to ask in making your decision: Movie theaters, restaurants, bars nearby? How does the administration treat the students? Is it easy or difficult to get into classes you want to get into? Are there honors classes you can take? How is the housing situation? Is it easy to find a place to study? Is athletics big at the school? How are the gym and recreational facilities? Intramural sports and activities? Is there a prominent club or organization you’re interested in? Is it easy to find research opportunities? How about volunteering opportunities? What is it like on weekends? Is the internet connection in the dorms reliable? What is the Wi-Fi coverage across campus like? Is there a program through which I can take classes at other nearby schools? Is safety an issue around campus?</p>

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These schools must have different ways (some hopefully better than others) to prepare prospective students for medical school.

Again:

@Bigredmed

Listen to what I’m saying: It’s a bad idea to base your college choice on med school admissions speculation. If you insist on finding the place that’s going to be “best to go pre-med at” (which I would define as the place where you are most likely to accomplish everything you need in order to get accepted) this is going to be a highly personalized decision. It can’t be based on reputation. Some students thrive at an Ivy League school because the competition is intense and that motivates them, others need environments where things are more laid back and friendly. Put the Ivy Leaguer in the laid back atmosphere and they’ll accomplish nothing. Put the “big fish in a small pond” kid in the Ivies and they’ll freak out. Neither of these outcomes is going to be good for the student in question.

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I’m only looking for comments and/or reviews of the specific programmes of these schools. Bio/chem/phys/calc whatever, is there a school that particularly stands out?

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<p>Replace “biology” with whatever other program or course you could be thinking of:

Why would the **biology/chemistry/physics/calc **department REALLY matter? You really only need to take 2 biology/physics/1-2 calc/4 chemistry courses to satisfy most med school’s requirements, and while I would suggest adding genetics and biochem, that’s only 2 more classes (and biochem may be it’s own department at a lot of places). Further, the biology/chemistry/physics on the MCAT is rather straightforward. Do you really think adcoms are going to look at your application say “wow, s/he did biology/chemistry/physics/calc at X university, we have to take them!”? If you are, you don’t understand the holistic approach to med school admissions and are forgetting that there are a TON of biology majors applying to med school each year - you’re not going to stand out simply on reputation of the school’s biology. How are you even going to define a good biology/chemistry/physics/calc program - what if the department is world renowned in botany, but is only mediocre in terms of cell biology? Or what about the department which is on the cutting edge of genetic research but has to rely on grad students to teach biodiversity? Obviously a school that’s strong in all areas is ideal, but how are you going to figure that out as an outsider? And I’m still dying to hear a good reason on why this even matters?

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