<p>I’m the one here who is in Harvard Med school at the moment…yea right, hahaha</p>
<p>I think that I’m the only current medical student on this board…</p>
<p>Enjoy your solo status while it lasts, red. You’ve got four months and counting. =)</p>
<p>Wow this sticky moves fast ^_^. Anyway If possible could any of you guys please read my post on the last page (20, last post). i was going to edit it and just make a new topic but no edit button shows heh.</p>
<p>Where is your heart telling you to go?</p>
<p>That’s where you should go. There really is no factor that trumps hapiness.</p>
<p>Rather than beliveing your heart, just carry on some research on which college has a better grade infaltion/deflation criteria. Remember one thing, that your GPA counts a lot and it would be better for you in the long run if you apply and get in and do good at a school where you are more likely to get better grades.</p>
<p>Do you guys think it’s wise to repeat a few classes I took the AP version in HS in my first freshmen semester of college for a jump start on building a solid GPA? </p>
<p>Also what were some of your backup plans in case you didn’t/don’t get into medical school. I’ thinking on pharmacy but that alone I have to take the PCAT’s(?) and apply similar in regard to med school?</p>
<p>Yes, repeat the classes. There are exceptions, but as a general rule, it’s a good way to make sure you have a strong foundation.</p>
<p>3 questions:</p>
<p>1) what are the exceptions that you should take the credit for?</p>
<p>2) I heard that repeating the class is not a good idea since those intro classes tend to be weeder classes and it’s better to place out of them if not take the credit… could someone comment?</p>
<p>3) what school would be better for a pre-med? Amherst or Dartmouth (looking purely at things that contribute to better acceptance chances such as grdae inflation etc.)</p>
<p>Thanks alot</p>
<p>1.) There are no exceptions that I know of where you SHOULD take the credit, but there are exceptions where it’s OKAY to take the credit. Biology and Chemistry, depending on the specifics of your situation.</p>
<p>2.) This will vary considerably from school to school. I can’t imagine that any private schools would actually have a weeder policy. (Possible exception, based on reputation, for Hopkins.)</p>
<p>Remember, placing out of the classes forces you to take higher-level classes. I can imagine that there are circumstances where this might be advantageous, but I believe they are probably quite rare (large, competitive public schools).</p>
<p>3.) Amherst probably has the better placement rate.</p>
<p>Here is the information quoted from the Amherst web site, I lost the web site address.
==== Quote started here =====
“What are my chances?”
An Analysis of Amherst College Premedical Outcomes
Here are outcomes for the 308 Amherst College students and graduates who applied to U.S. allopathic medical schools (i.e. seeking to become physicians with an M.D. degree) between 1995 and 1999, including those in this group who reapplied in 2000 and/or 2001 if not accepted the first time. The 308 applicants are divided into two groups: (1) 191 so-called “well-qualified” applicants, and (2) 88 so-called “less-qualified” applicants. The “well-qualified” applicants met the criteria for grades and MCAT scores suggested in the Amherst Guide for Premedical Students:
- a science GPA of at least 3.1 on a 4-point scale (i.e. just above “B”), and
- an MCAT total of 28 with no score below 9, achieved no later than the April test in the year before applying
. The “less-qualified” applicants didn’t meet one or both of these criteria. (Note that we count applicants as “less-qualified” if they took the August MCAT in the year they applied, no matter how high a score they received, because taking the August MCAT delays the application and puts the applicant at a disadvantage!) Here is a table of outcomes, explained below:
How many were accepted on their first try?
On their first try, 191 of the 220 “well-qualified” applicants were accepted (87%). Among “less-qualified” applicants, 28 of the 88 were accepted on their first try (32%), for an overall first-try acceptance rate of 71% (219 out of 308). Thus the “well-qualified” applicants were more than twice as likely to be accepted as the “less-qualified,” but some “less-qualified” applicants were also successful. (Some reasons why: underrepresented minority status; being from a state with a medical school and a small population; having family connections at a medical school, plain good luck.)
By the way, the Amherst Health Professions Committee supports almost all applicants without reservations even if they are “less-qualified” by our definition. We take no account of MCAT scores in making recommendations, and we support even those whose grades give them little chance of acceptance, as long as we believe (1) they can do the work of medical school, which means getting grades at least in the “C” range in Amherst science courses; and (2) they have the integrity and maturity needed to be a physician. Only two of the applicants from 1995-99 who applied through the Amherst Health Professions Committee failed to meet these standards and so were recommended with reservations.
Is it worth it to reapply if not accepted the first time?
Yes! Among ‘well-qualified’ applicants initially rejected who reapplied, the success rate is 80% so far (16 out of 20). Among initially ‘less-qualified’ applicants, the success rate is not surprisingly greatest for those who improved their grades and/or MCAT scores and became ‘well-qualified’ before reapplying. Of these, 19 out of 20 have been accepted so far, i.e. 95%. Even the 20 ‘less-qualified’ initially rejected applicants who reapplied without substantially improving qualifications didn’t do too badly: 10 have now been accepted (50%), showing that persistence sometimes pays, perhaps bolstered by more medically-related or scientific experience, even without much higher grades and MCAT scores.
We should note that some students who show up as ‘rejected’ in the table reapplied to other health professions such as osteopathic medicine or dentistry and were successful. This analysis refers only to ‘allopathic’ medicine, i.e. being a physician with an M.D. degree.
Two groups are marked for special attention in the table: the group shaded in dark blue, and the group shaded in purple (which includes the “blue group” also). The “purple group” are the 279 applicants who either were accepted on their first try or who reapplied if not successful the first time around, leaving out only the 29 who were rejected the first time and haven’t reapplied. Among this group, the success rate is 95% (264 out of 279). The “blue group,” a subset of the “purple group,” was even more successful. These are the 211 ‘well-qualified’ applicants among the “purple group,” i.e. those ‘well-qualified’ applicants who either were accepted on their first try or who reapplied if rejected on the first try. The success rate in this group is an impressive 98% (207 out of 211 applicants).
==== Quote ended here ==========</p>
<p>Pretty interesting so see such a low acceptance rate for a LAC (71%). You always hear about these 95% acceptance rates for LAC’s.</p>
<p>According to the website: <a href=“http://www.thedartmouth.com/article.php?aid=2004041901020[/url]”>http://www.thedartmouth.com/article.php?aid=2004041901020</a></p>
<p>“Eighty-five percent of Dartmouth applicants were accepted to medical school for the fall of 2003.
In comparison, 94 percent of applicants from Harvard’s class of 2002 were admitted during that period.
Of the 15 percent of Dartmouth applicants who were rejected, nearly all will gain admission following their second or third time going through the application process, Witters said.”</p>
<p>thanks all 
I chose Dartmouth</p>
<p>hey </p>
<p>i have a question, for the general Med school requirements. </p>
<p>if I have done Calculus AB and BC in high school and got a 4 or 5 on the AP Exam do I have to take math classes again in college to fulfill the med school requirements? </p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Many medical schools do not recognize AP credits. Some schools have a math requirement. For the number of schools who fall into both categories, you will either have to retake the classes or take a more advanced one.</p>
<p>hey, sakky, on the 3rd pg of this thread, you talked about humanity majors are easier. but will that be hard for ppl who major in humanity to take the MCAT? since they don’t learn a lot of science stuff, or although they fulfill their requirement, but they don’t learn as much and deep as science major students.</p>
<p>Statistical results indicate that humanities majors and science majors (even when broken down into biology, social sciences, etc) get into medical school are pretty much exactly the rates they apply.</p>
<p>Your major thus doesn’t matter. If there’s some tradeoff between MCAT score and GPA, that’s one possible explanation.</p>
<p>sry, what is the one possible explanation</p>
<p>For MCAT chemistry, biology, and physics, if I strongly memorize and thoroughly understand all the equations, theories, and concepts very very well, can I just answer the questions directly without reading the passage? I mean if you really know the topics, what’s the point of reading the passage?</p>