I’m currently researching colleges and I’ve found about 20 that intrigue me, but I really want to narrow down my list. I would like to go pre-med, so if anyone could help me get a better understanding on how these colleges’ pre-med programs stack up against each other that would be greatly appreciated. My list is: Ohio State, Oberlin, Baldwin-Wallace, Case Western, Wustl, Bowling Green State University, Indiana, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, University of Rochester, Hope College, Furman, Cornell, Duke, Alabama, St. Olaf, Carleton, Baylor, Rice, and Tulane.
As one source of information, this site will allow you to compare your potential choices by the percent of students who go on to medical school:
1 Like
Pre med is advising - you still have a major…you just have classes to take that are required - and have to do other things - shadow, etc. As an example, one parent who posts on here notes his student might do a Classics major - but is pre med. He will have to take the pre-med required classes.
Some schools have committees I’ve learned - where basically they determine who will get an LOR vs. others that dont.
So your list has public and private, big, medium, and small, religion and non-religious, and more. Public and private matters in a cost sense - if you spend $400K on undergrad and $400K on grad, can you afford it? Or do you qualify for need undergrad - to help skim the costs.
I know Alabama has a formal pre med scholars program - McCullough - link below. Others may or may not - I don’t now - or may have a health professions living lurning community, etc.
Personally, I think find the right college for you - and if $400K+ for med school will be an issue (that’s massive loans), I’d go somewhere to keep costs down. I’d do that first and then maybe study the pre - med offerings…because it’s unlikely you’d love Ohio State (massive) and Furman (small). Figure out that first…and then when you have a suitable list that you like, then study the methods of LORs or guidance they give more, etc.
Interestingly, I was treated at Vandy Med Center - and schools like Hope and SE Louisiana and Arkansas and more are where some of the residents attended - of schools like Vandy, Duke, Hopkins - so I’m not sure the name will matter.
But cost and your experience will.
1 Like
This site offers similar information to that of the site above, but in a different form:
1 Like
Many many colleges can work well for pre-med. Your list includes a tremendous variety of colleges – from huge publics to LACS, from non sectarian to Catholic, from urban to suburban, and with a big geographic dispersion. I would focus first on affordability and then on narrowing down the type/location of college where you feel YOU can thrive.
5 Likes
I think that this is exactly correct.
In general the most famous and highly ranked universities get a higher percentage of their undergraduate students into medical school. However, a LOT of this is just based on the type of student that starts off as a freshman in the first place at a highly ranked university. You are not likely to be deciding between being a 50th percentile student starting at Cornell versus a 50th percentile student starting at Bowling Green. You might be deciding whether to be a 50th percentile student starting at Cornell versus a 90th percentile student starting at Bowling Green – and every school on your list will still have tough premed classes with a lot of very strong students in those premed classes.
Getting a bachelor’s degree and then getting an MD or a DO is a long and demanding path. You are better off taking the first four years of this at a university which you feel is a good fit for you.
Getting a bachelor’s degree and then an MD or DO implies eight years of university. This is expensive. Just how expensive it is might depend quite a bit on where you start university. For the schools on your list your cost might vary based on a number of factors such as whether you are in-state, whether you qualify for need based financial aid, and whether you qualify for merit based aid. However, there is likely to be a huge variation in cost, and saving money for medical school can be a very good option. Even doctors do not want to take the majority of the cost of 8 years of university as debt.
You might want to have your parents run the NPC on some of the schools on your list to get a sense regarding what they might cost.
Also, the large majority of students who start freshman year thinking “premed” end up doing something else. There is of course a huge range in terms of what that something else might be. Picking a university that is a good choice for your “plan B”, whatever that is, is also a good idea.
A couple of doctors I know have said that other students in their MD programs came from “all over the place”. A daughter who just got a DVM said the same thing. My other daughter who is currently getting a PhD in a biomedical field reports the same thing.
You should talk to your parents and find out what your budget is for the first four years of university, what your budget is without taking on any debt at all, whether they can help you with the cost of medical school, and whether if you save money on the cost of your bachelor’s degree any money saved can be put towards medical school.
Then you should visit a few schools and see where you feel comfortable. Starting with schools near home might be a good plan just so that you can get a sense of what it is like visiting schools without putting in a lot of miles of travel.
And think about what “plan B” might be.
2 Likes
Put premed to the side for now. Focus on finding a school that is affordable and where you will be happy and thrive. You can be premed at just about any school in the country.
You have an assortment of schools on your list. I would think about what you like- size, location, etc. That is the first step.
Most premeds never make it to medical school. Some don’t have the grades, while others find different paths that are better suited to their interests.
This is a process, and the first step is to find a school that is affordable and where you will be happy.
3 Likes
I would urge you to do a chance me/match me thread which will provide those reading with much more complete information.
You can take the required courses for medical school applicants at almost every four year college in this country, arts conservatories excluded.
Unless you have the ability to pay over $100,000 a year in medical school costs, I would urge you to read the new guidelines for taking federally funded loans for medical school. The aggregate amount of Direct Loans has been reduced, and the Grad Plus loan (I think) has been eliminated…so many medical school students could face needing private loans.
I agree that you should put premed on the back burner for now. Right now, you need to find an undergrad school where you will be happy to be for four years, that is affordable, and where you have a great chance of being accepted.
Your list above is varied in terms of competitiveness for acceptance, but I think it’s too long. My opinion…you want two sure things that are affordable that you like. Then maybe 4 targets where you have a good chance of acceptance but not absolute, and maybe 4 reaches where you would like to try but acceptance is not assured.
We DO know your GPA and ACT score are strong…but so do most applicants to your reach schools.
You got some good related advice on your other thread.
3 Likes
Deleted…because edit function decided to work on the fifth try!
1 Like
For undergraduate, the bank account decides where you go to school. I would talk to your parents to find out where the budget takes you. That would be a good starting point. Second, I agree with @twogirls. It’s best to put premed aside. College is a maturation process where students find their real passions. Very few premed hopefuls out of high school actually go to medical school. Medical school is 4 years of torture to anyone crazy enough to do it, then another 4-6 years of torture to actually practice it.
2 Likes