where to go for undergrad...a serious problem here..

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hi, I’m a senior graduating this summer. Last winter, I applied to the following colleges:</p>

<p>-Duke U
-Johns Hopkins U
-Brown U
-UVa
-U Mich Ann Arbor
-Knox College</p>

<p>As of now, I’m accepted into UVa, U Mich, and Knox, and waitlisted for Brown and JHU. The problem is, from the three schools to which I’ve been accepted to, I don’t know which would prepair me best for med school.
…I was too stupid and lazy to do much research and write more apps to schools that have good premed/combined med programs… I remember finding about BU’s program a week before the deadline and blaming myself for not taking college researching seriously.</p>

<p>If I were an American citizen, I would probably go to UVa, but since I’m graduating from an international school in Thailand, with a Korean citizenship, I would get NO need based financial aid whatsoever from both U mich and UVa. Since I’m not a rich foreigner, I only have a one-shot chance… would UVa or U mich prepair me better for med school? I’ve heard that UVa also has a pretty good premed program (advisor).</p>

<p>I’ve spoken to a counselor at my school, and he said that if I was 100% sure that I wanted be a doctor, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENTED that I go to Knox, considering that they have the joint program with Rush med school, and George Washington U Med school, and I would have a MUCH higher chance of getting in to a med school this way than taking the ‘regular’ process (with the MCAT and all that) from which only about 4% of those applying would get into a med school.
Plus, I’ve been offered the Lincoln scholarship so if I did take this route, my family would definately be saving lots of money for med school… </p>

<p>But I don’t know for SURE if I would still want to be a doctor after two three years of college, since I’ve heard that many people find a new interest, and change their major. Yea sure, I’ve been aspiring to become a MD since like…7th grade, but who knows what’ll happen in college??</p>

<p>Moreover, Knox is completely unknown in Korea, and I would have a very small chance of even getting a job back there with a degree from Knox…where as an undergrad degree from UVa or U mich would be acknowledged.</p>

<p>Another plus about UVa is that my best friend is going to accept their offer. She has lived in Virginia for over 3 years now, and since I’ve been to US once (in middle school - space camp) I think it would be safer to stick with a friend…my other friends from the school I’m attending now are going to the states too, but all in different states. Besides, i have ZERO contacts in North America…</p>

<p>…my friends and parents are pushing UVa only cus of its name.</p>

<p>From the three I’ve been accepted to, which do you think would be the best school for me to go to, regarding the two conditions?:
A)I still want to take a shot at med school, so I want to go to a school that’ll prepare me well. B) But our family doesn’t have any backup plans…so I want to go to a school that’d make me look good on a job application</p>

<p>Also, about the schools I’ve been waitlisted at… I’ve crossed JHU completely off the list…the only reason I applied there was because of its reputation for med-related studies…and I haven’t heard anything too appealing about Baltimore and the undergrad life at JHU. (compared to other places)</p>

<p>Although, I still do have Brown in my mind since it is a private school, and there is a possibility that they’d provide me need-based aid, in addition to a great undergrad experience and a high acceptance rate into med school…</p>

<p>I’m sorry if it got too long, but I want to hear opinions from people outside of my community…I’m so frustrated that I can’t sleep right…</p>

2

<p>I do want to mention that the 4% figure is pretty significantly off.</p>

<p>Among students who apply to medical school, roughly 50% (17,000 out of 36,400) will be admitted somewhere.</p>

<p>Among students who take the MCAT, roughly 50% (36,400 out of 66,435) end up applying to medical school.</p>

<p>You can see that no combination of these will give you 4% nationally.</p>

3

<p>4% being “significantly off” would be an understatement. As noted, the true % is a shade under 50%.</p>

<p>There are individual schools with acceptance rates around 4% but your chances of getting into at least one med school is around 50%.</p>

4

<p>I don’t know anything about Knox, but most combined/joint programs require you to be accepted into them as a freshman. Were you talking about a joint BS/MD program?</p>

5

<p>lol i guess i didn’t get the right term.
I don’t really know what it’s called, but they offer an early admission program to med school…
for George Washington U, the student can apply at the end of your second year, and I think the only ‘requirement’ is that you have maintained a certain GPA, have scored certain points on the SATs, and have finished certain courses. The MCAT isn’t required…
for Rush med coll, it’s the same except the students can apply at the end of their first year, and the SATs aren’t part of the consideration. The student will also have to take the MCAT at the end, and maintain a certain average grade throughout his/her years at knox.</p>

6

<p>Waretamado, Knox does have early identification program where during your first year you might be indentified as future MD and garanteed place in Rush medical school , you still might look for other schools and go there as well. Appr 12 % of Knox graduates go to med school which is significantly higher than many other places. Also you have to know that Knox is a small LAC with a lot of character to it. If you looking for bigger school and need to be close to city it is not a school for you.</p>

7

<p>Go to Knox it will definitely work out better for you because it is a really good LAC and you will probably get a lot of attention. Go to knox, it will be worth your time.</p>