Thank you @thumper1 @Mwfan1921 @WayOutWestMom @texaspg for the good advice. Understood about the difficulty. We are spending a lot of nights figuring out what school to choose to maximize his opportunity at doing well in medical school. My S loves UT Austin but unsure about there being enough pre-med opportunities for him to stand out and do well.
He will be fine attending UT Austin…if that is a college where he can see himself being happy and doing well for all four years.
HE needs to seek out and do the things that will make him a good medical school applicant. The college isn’t going to do that for him.
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If he loves the school, then you’re likely in a better spot already. UT Austin is a top med school feeder (overall, not per capita) so obviously many are finding a way to stand out. But like at any school, you have to find a way, it doesn’t find you.
And to think, if med school plans change, he’s at a place he loves.
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I think there’s a bit of a misconception here. UT Austin is a top-tier public university (around top 30 overall, top 10 public), so students have access to strong research, clinical, and leadership opportunities, but they have to be proactive and build their own profile.
UT students do get into top medical schools, but fixating on T5/Ivy outcomes can be misleading. At that level, admissions are extremely unpredictable, even applicants with near-perfect stats get rejected unless they have a true “X-factor,” and even then it’s not guaranteed. The better question is whether students can succeed academically and take full advantage of what UT offers. If they can, they’ll be broadly competitive, including at top schools, without depending on such a narrow and uncertain outcome.
For what it’s worth, my daughter attended an in-state public university, graduated with a 4.0 GPA and a 524 MCAT, and applied only to schools she would genuinely be happy attending. She didn’t chase Ivies or T5 (except Hopkins, since it’s our home state and free tuition) and still had great success. It really reinforced that students don’t need a “brand name” undergrad, but they do need to perform well and work hard for what is a long and demanding road into medicine.
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What type of activities does he think are lacking at UT-Austin?
Research? Leadership? Community service w/ the disadvantaged? Clinical volunteering positions or clinical employment?
I assure you that all of those types of activities are available at UT-Austin, but they just aren’t handed out like free candy on Halloween. A student needs to hustle and actively pursue them.
It’s very difficult to “stand out” from the pack when applying to med school. Your son would need to have some sort of super X- factor. X-factors are big, important things: Olympic or pro athlete. Elected to a major local government office like city mayor, city council, or state representative. Several years of active duty military service including a deployment to an war zone. Founding a non-profit organization that meets an unmet community need and the organization has continuing funding and a succession plan so it will continue to operate after your son leaves the organization. First author publication of original research in Science, Nature, PNAS or other equally high impact science journal. Peace Corp volunteer.
These are what make med school applicants stand out from the pack.
Most med school applicants are “pack fodder”–doesn’t mean they won’t get a med school acceptance, but they’re not the superstars who have multiple top schools clamoring for them to enroll.
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Being proactive is quite important in college. Just talked to someone who didnt get a research opportunity for first summer at UT but there are so many other activities to do that help with one’s app during a summer.
UT is very competitive with only top 6% of the state able to get in but many choose other places because they are not able to get their major (I know someone whose two kids are choosing to go elsewhere this year).
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Thank you all for this lovely advice! We’re going to spend some time looking through UT offerings tonight with him and see