<p>I think that you have gotten a somewhat skewed perspective of Northeastern’s program and pre-med in general. If you look on the pre-med forums, you will see many responses to posts about where to go for pre-med that point out the same thing: it doesn’t really matter where you go. You seem to have seen this but are adding a “but” to it by saying Northeastern is weak in the sciences. I am not exactly sure where you got this impression from, but it has not been my experience in any way, shape, or form. Most schools, including Northeastern, will provide you with the solid grounding that you need in the sciences to succeed on the MCAT and in medical school. You don’t need to have Nobel prize winning professors to do that. Northeastern can provide you with a solid foundation that will serve you well. As a neuroscience student (since you brought that up specifically), I have fantastic post-grad prospects (though not as pre-med) from the science program here.</p>
<p>As for the part about an attached medical school, do you realize just what a small percentage of undergraduate institutions are attached to medical schools? And of those, how much does that actually affect your experience as an undergraduate. If you are worried about not having chances to get involved in a clinical setting, you need not be concerned. Northeastern is located less than a mile from the Longwood Medical Area, which has some of the top hospitals in the country. There are plenty of opportunities to volunteer and shadow in a city like Boston.</p>
<p>To address your specific questions, though:
(1) For general academic purposes, the classes, professors, and advising are generally quite good. Like at any school, there are those “weeder” classes that cause some pre-med students to drop their medical school ambitions, but none of the classes have been unfair, in my experience. The pre-med advising I found frustrating on occasion while I was pre-med, but in retrospect I am realizing that it was because I was more interested in the research and not doing the clinical things they thought I should (but which interested me less). They have also been making a push to improve it in recent years, as well. As for ECs, there is a pre-med club, and there are also various clubs related to healthcare, such as one that helps teach health programs to high school students.
(2) You are referring here to “pre-med” as a major. Pre-med is not a major; it is a program, and classifying yourself as pre-med does not affect what co-ops are available to you. You apply to co-ops like you apply to jobs, which means that you apply to ones for which you are qualified, based on your courses and your experience. This means that if you are a biology major, you apply for biology-related co-ops, etc. If you do not have any specific certifications like EMT or CNA, there will likely not be many clinical co-ops available that involve physical patient contact, simply because you would not be qualified. There are co-ops in clinical settings, though, which would be good for pre-med, and also many research positions (which is also good, because medical schools now look for applicants with research experience).
(3) I don’t really know what things are like at these other schools, but I would strongly caution you against choosing a school based on how good you think it is as a “pre-med school.” Pick a school that is a good fit academically and socially. That is the best school for you, and that is where you will succeed and come out with the best shot at medical school. Do not pick a school because they throw pre-med stats at you (because the numbers are basically meaningless and contrived), or because they have a reputation for pre-med. Almost any school will provide you with the academic background you need.</p>