How good is Penn's Pre-med program?

phillySASer08
Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:00:47 +0000

Penn’s acceptance rate for first-time applicants is indeed around 85%, which is very, very high even amoung top schools, especially considering that some schools (read: Hopkins) have recommendation screens in place that prevent underqualified students from applying in the first place, thus inflating their figures. Given the quality of advising as well as access to clinical work and research experience, Penn’s is certainly one of the best programs out there, along with places like Duke and Hopkins. The one thing I would point out with these numbers though is that they do not take into account the attrition rate: a great number, even a majority of people who come to Penn and similar schools as premeds never apply to med school, as they are weeded out by the required classes or decide not to pursue medicine for other reasons.