Swarthmore College V.S. Washington University in St. Luois

[ucbalumnus]

@collegemom3717

Plan B: the conversion ratio of students who start college in the pre-med track v the ones who actually go to med school is terrible. The school should have other aspects that he likes as well, just in case.

Also, biology graduates (many of them failed pre-meds) are plentiful, so that competition for biology-major-specific jobs at the bachelor’s degree level will be fierce.

@collegemom3717

Star power: many colleges have committees that write all the LoRs for their med school applicants. If your son is a star at college that will come across in the committee letter / any LoRs. Remember that the first cut is on numbers (GPA & GMAT) and that with the exception of a few outliers, the prestige of the college is not a factor (Harvard & Yale do seem to favor their own & each other’s undergrads).

MCAT, not GMAT.

Pre-med committees could be beneficial to:

a. Star pre-meds who get the strongest endorsements in the committee letters.
b. Marginal to no-hope pre-meds who get refused committee letters, sparing them the expensive and stressful medical school application process, so that they can pivot to plan B earlier.

Pre-med committees could be harmful to:

a. Marginal pre-meds who get refused committee letters, but would rather apply even with a low probability of success.
b. Potential pre-meds who get deceived by the high medical admission rate of applicants at the school (such rates can be high if the pre-med committee weeds out marginal to no-hope pre-meds from applying).