Premed prestige for med school

Applying to College
21

Thank you for the detailed comparison. Definitely makes this process clearer. I am quite confident that my child will thrive wherever and wanted to provide the best opportunity without it being overly burdensome

22

Very interesting. But what also stands out is the majority get accepted to just one medical school. I guess one is all it takes .

23

Iā€™ve said beforeā€¦the ā€œbestā€ medical school is the one where you get accepted.

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24

The same holds true for undergrad

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25

So a good gpa 3.8-4 and a good mcat ( I suspect my high SAT scorer should be able to handle another standardized exam well) :grinning: should mean well

26

The MCAT is a VERY different test than the SAT or ACT.

At this point, your studentā€™s goal is to get a good undergrad education, and take the required courses for medical school applicants should he choose to do that when the time comes.

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28

So SAT verbal and MCAT CARS otherwise not really much correlation

29

IMO, the correlation isnā€™t very good for any of the categories.

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30

Thatā€™s one of the benefits we feel from UAB with a top tier hospital and research institution- should allow for both clinical and research opportunities- easily accessible

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31

This may or may not be true- the student should ask.

My daughter attended a strong public university with a teaching hospital on campus. She volunteered as a bilingual patient navigator, but the process to get there was competitive and the fact that she speaks another language helped a lot.

She told me that shadowing was not open to everybody- there was a process in place and it was not accessible to all. She shadowed during school breaks - she started with her pediatrician and contacted a teaching hospital that was happy to have her.

It is very possible that UAB will have clinical experiences that are easily accessible, but I would ask.

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32

Since most students change paths, the best college is going to be the one that allows for the most/easiest pivots while providing a satisfactory experience (while minimizing debt and offering what the student is looking for).
In that respect, UGA is likely better than UAB, because itā€™s more residential and known for more subjects, with a nationally-known honors college.

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33

Adding a bit more information on UGAā€¦ there are fantastic medical facilities nearby for shadowing and clinical experience. The pre-health advising is excellent according to the students and doctors I know. UGA is the 9th highest producer of med school applications so thereā€™s a significant population interested in healthcare careers, which may or may not be a positive, but my niece (current student) feels itā€™s a collaborative cohort rather than competitive.

A satellite location of Medical College of Georgia is on the Health Sciences campus (about 10 min from main campus). This will transition to the UGA School of Medicine in 2026 (projected).

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34

Good to know. Opportunities might not necessarily be easy to come by.

35

Ok. I didnā€™t realize the honors college at UGA is so well known.

36

We were thinking that one could find it difficult to stand out in a cohort of about 500 honors students

37

It depends on the policies put in place, I assume.

My daughterā€™s school had many, many opportunities. The one issue was that the hospital on campus did not allow everybody to shadow, which was not a problem because she shadowed at home.

Some students shadowed at area practices.

Added: I just looked at the campus hospital. It seems open to all but there are definitely strict policies in place (understandable).

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38

Many students do their shadowing etc during summer breaks and school vacations. While at college, they can do some volunteering with under privileged folks which is another thing medical school applicants need to do.

Student can get EMT certification and work a shift a week as an EMT.

And all of this can happen at schools without hospitals on or near campus. And without the premed college being a ā€œprestigeā€ school.

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39

If you feel this way, wouldnā€™t this also be true for schools such as Vanderbilt?

It seems to me that the free schools you reference have a lot going for them if your student has premed interests.

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40

@Samtryme17

Has your S/D had any healthcare experiences yet as a HS student? Has he/she spoken to physicians about the day-to-day experiences? This is unclear to me.

Right now he/she is still in HS. His/her path may - or may not- change over the next few years.

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