First time college applicant reaching out in interest of RD submissions now. Interested in Medicine path. Applied for few BSMDs . However given the competition, have short listed few UGs to apply. given the name of UG college may not matter much and am looking for some college where I can maintain good GPA, prepare for MCAT , I am a bit lost on which are the top preferred colleges for UG that I can apply. Am from East Coast and not looking to applying for CA. Appreciate any suggestions on the top 10-15 colleges that are preferred in this category to ensure not missing them for RDs due soon. Small Liberal Arts Colleges were advised on a video I saw but looking to hear thoughts on which are preferred, thanks much.
Things to consider, which will vary for different students:
- Cost. Medical school is very expensive.
- Non-pre-med academic options for your backup plans if you are one of the 94+% of pre-med college frosh who do not get into medical school.
- Accessibility of pre-med extracurriculars.
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The issue of âwhere to go for a premed studentâ comes up quite often on College Confidential. The answers tend to be relatively similar.
One important point is that there are a very large number of universities that are very good for premed. You can go to almost any normal 4 year university and get the start that you need to apply to medical schools.
Another important point is that the majority of students who start university with the intention of being premed end up changing their mind, doing something else, and never applying to medical school. There really are a lot of other options that are somewhat related, for example involving biology and human health, but that do not include medical school. Also, of the students who do end up applying to medical schools, the majority do not get accepted anywhere. For this reason a student who is starting university intending to be premed should pay attention to other options and might be better off attending a university which is good for whatever other options might be most likely for that particular student. Fortunately, of the many, many universities that are very good for premed, most (if not all) are also very good for quite a few other potential majors.
The third issue that comes up again and again is that medical school is insanely expensive. If a student wants to keep medical school open as an option, they would be best off to pay attention to their budget up front, and if possible attend a university that they can afford without going into debt for their bachelorâs degree. Leaving money in the 529 or the bank that can be used for medical school would be great if it is practical.
Also premed classes are academically very challenging. Both daughters had majors that overlapped with premed classes, and were in a lot of the same premed classes. I have heard quite a bit about how challenging the classes are, and have met some of their friends who were premed. These classes will be challenging and be full of strong students at any âtop 150â university in the US, and probably even at any âtop 200â university.
This agrees with the first two points that @ucbalumnus brings up, and their third point is also correct. A premed student will want to get quite a bit of experience in a medical environment. Having this available on or near campus is helpful, but again is also common.
In many cases this can make a âboringâ choice, such as the nearby public university in your state, to be a good choice. Many premed students are stronger than might be needed to get into their in-state public flagship (or into their number 3 through number 10 public university if in California), but this mostly means that they can get accepted, might in some cases get merit aid (save $$$ for medical school) and can be well prepared for the very challenging classes.
One daughter attended a small university, and I have seen some advantages of a smaller school such as a liberal arts college. Unfortunately the LACs that I am familiar with are the highest ranked ones in the northeast (ie, near us), which tend to be neither safe nor predictable for admissions, and that can also be expensive.
One daughter is currently getting a DVM. I got to listen to the welcome ceremony, which among other things said where each incoming student had gotten their bachelorâs degree. It was rare to hear the same school mentioned twice. I have discussed the same âwhere to get a bachelorâs degree to prepare for medical schoolâ with a couple of doctors, both of which have similarly said that incoming students came from âall over the placeâ.
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Hereâs a list of top undergrad feeders to medical schools: Top Feeders to Medical School
My opinion is there is no such thing as a âtop preferred collegeâ for premed studiesâŚyou can take the required courses for medical school applicants at most any four year college in this country (arts conservatories excluded). I think you need to look at the characteristics of colleges and find ones that you think you will be happy to be at for four years.
The college will NOT do MCAT prep for you.
And for the record, medical schools do not consider the ânameâ of your undergrad school when they are considering your application.
You donât mention your ability to pay anywhere. So free adviceâŚkeep any undergrad debt to a bare minimum to none. Medical school is largely funded by loans, loans and more loans. And the bank of mom and dad.
@WayOutWestMom what did I miss?
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Apply to colleges that you like and that are affordable. Your state schools should be fine choices.
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Lots of these schools are super competitive to get in, doesnât mean you shouldnât goâŚ. Just that the student who gets into Harvard could also get into medical school from another lower
Ranked school if they had gone there.
The reason I bring it up is because there is a phenomenon of many pre meds and other stem students dropping out at elite schools. And a âweed outâ orgo class or something.
Consistent with the advice above, many of the savvy premed kids I know, with MD parents and such, are going to public universities for the combination of low costs and solid pre-med advising and opportunities. Some also believe getting the necessary grades might be a little less competitive.
Many SLACs will also work, but that can be a cost issue. However, if you can identify some SLACs where you might get either good need aid or merit (or both), that can be a viable path.
I always like to mention in that context that SLACs in the Northeast are almost universally harder admits, and harder merit opportunities (if they have them at all), than academic peers in the Great Lakes/Upper Midwest. So, like, Oberlin has some great science departments and a very good medical school acceptance track record, and a robust merit program. Forum favorite St Olaf would be another good option for the same reasons. Kalamazoo is another.
And those sorts of SLACs also fit the criteria of being good choices even if you end up not doing med school. They are known for excellent educational experiences all around, great additional programs like study abroad, strong placement in other sorts of grad programs, and so on.
So personally, if I was interested in a SLAC to med school path, with a solid Plan B alternative, I would be looking at SLACs like those and gunning for at least some serious merit.
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Seconding Kalamazoo and St Olaf.
Run the Net Price Calculator to make sure both would be within budget.
Other potential LACs with good FA as well as merit aid: Muhlenberg, (Dickinson also but less merit to be expected), College of Wooster (good merit aid); Grinnell or Macalester if you need a lot of FA and no merit.
Oberlin if youâre left leaning. DePauw if right-leaning. Berea if youâre FGLI.
If youâre a girl, all womenâs colleges (if trans or non binary, check out their policy) - Smith, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Agnes ScottâŚ
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Grinnell and Macalester do give merit aid, too. OP, you can add Kenyon to the list as well (even though itâs better known for the humanities and the arts, it has solid sciences and good pre-med opportunities as well).
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OP are you the student, friend, or parent (there are other posts)?
Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX (suburb of Austin) had 100% of its premed students who applied to med school last year got accepted and are now attending med school. They have some really good internship opportunities, including internship & doctor shadowing agreements with a local hospital. The school has ~1500 students.
Downtown Georgetown is a short walk from campus and is regularly voted best small town in TX. Very cute, lots of shops & restaurants and places to hang out.
Merit scholarship info â First-Year Scholarships ⢠Southwestern University. Apply by early Feb for priority on merit scholarships.
D24 applied EA and is awaiting a decision from them.
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Iâm not so sure that Southwestern Universityâs achievement is all that impressive for a student who is from East Coast. The med schools listed in above article are I think all public Texas schools and if I remember correctly Texas has a law requiring 90% of med school spots to go to Texas residents.
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We donât know how many were pre med freshman year. Maybe they donât support applications of candidates who donât meet criteria.
There are other holes I could poke in that article⌠but I stopped there⌠ok, one more hole 16 medical and dental applications. Very small number to make any speculation about.
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The OP is welcome to take a look at Southwestern or not. Itâs just a suggestion.
One should consider that almost every bio major out there is some sort of pre-health professions student as a freshman.
Med schools donât care if youâre pre-med from the start of freshman year.
Iâm sure it is a fine school, but my point is if there were 500 pre med freshman year and then they only supported 10 applying senior year and then said â100% got inâ. Itâs a logical fallacy, thatâs all. Still could be a good school, but insufficient info to support that students there have a better chance at med school compared to anywhere else.
Additionally, you donât need to be bio major to apply to med school. I know plenty of docs who werenât.
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My kids are not premed but if they were this is not the advice I or my MD colleagues would necessarily give.
Because so many change their mind, we would say go to the school with the best outcomes in many fields, and the one that has the best peer fit. To keep med school as a possibility, pick a school where the kid is likely, based on SAT or whatever other fairly decent estimate exists, your kid is likely to be in the top 25% of undergrads(so they can compete for the top 25% gpas). For some kids that is anywhere in the country, in any major. Arguably, from data points of accepted premeds, one has to be closer to the top 10% of some colleges to have a real shot, whereas some very elite colleges have kids accepted to med school deep into the top half. Know where one stands going in and pick appropriately, realizing that if you change your mind then being at a top school can help in other fields. The rigor of stem classes aides in prepping for the Mcat: that needs to be considered too. And, Premed advising needs to be looked into because it is very sparse at some schools and extremely helpful starting in freshman year at others. We also all agree as MDs in primary care(the lower end of the salary pool), that the income is absolutely plenty as a doctor to pay off FULL med school loans without a problem. The newer docs agree. Cost is definitely over emphasized on this siteâalmost all my colleagues did full loans for med school. Maybe dont add lots of loans for undergrad, but if parents are willing to pay undergrad, the med student can take care of the med school payback. Parents need not feel obligated to pay most or all of med school for their students.
I know I am in the minority on this site, but among MD parents among my colleagues , this is the majority opinion.
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Agree. But itâs nice to not have undergrad loansâŚ.and med school loans on top of that.
Because the vast majority of those who think they want to do Pre-med never actually apply to medical school, it is very important to go someplace with other options that are appealing!
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According to their 2022-2023 CDS, Southwestern had 1483 undergrads for the 2022-2023 year. 9.6% of the degrees awarded in the 2021-2022 academic year were in biological sciences. Making some assumptions (25% of 1483 = ~ 370 seniors, then 9.6% of that = ~35), then about 35 seniors graduated in spring 2022 in biological sciences.
Not all of the 370 seniors would be applying to med school. For example, your average theater or english major is probably not applying to med school.
But none of that really matters because itâs doesnât really pertain to the OPâs question.
However, if one is considering ANY small LAC, then one should assume that not all of the incoming freshman class is going to be pre-med.
AND if youâre the sort of student who thrives more in smaller class environments, then maybe a smaller school might be a good fit for you. Easier to stand out, easier access to professors, easier to get research experience, etc.
One can take pre-med class pretty much anywhere. You donât have to attend a super elite college/university in order to get into med school.
To the OP:
Do some additional research and figure out what OTHER decision factors are important to you. And by that, I mean âstuff other than the national ranking or elite status of the school.â Make your own list of âmust haveâsâ and then make your own decision based on that.
I am not sure that is inconsistent with the logic I mentioned. For the kids in question, the public universities they are targeting usually fit this description. Indeed, I mentioned the pre-med advising and grade issues as possible considerations in favor of this sort of strategy.
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