Which college is good for premed? University of Maryland, college park or George Mason university? Which one of this two sends more students to medical school? Just wanted to know about the premed program without including the tuition comparison.
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They are both good schools. I would not recommend choosing between the two based upon stats for med school acceptance. Many premeds wind up going in other directions, and never apply. If money were not an issue, I’d go with U Md, because it’s the flagship U for Md, with presumably greater resources for undergrad participation in science research, which is valuable for med school applicants.
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I agree that if finances are not of main concern or you are not a Virginia resident who must stay within the state for other reasons, that the University of Maryland is a far more resourced and respected research university. GMU is a perfectly good school and has a lot to offer, but they are not of the same caliber. The University of Maryland is a ranked in the top 20 of the best public universities in the country, and the flagship school of Maryland.
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You can take the required courses for medical school admissions at just about every four year college in this country, arts conservatories excluded.
Frankly, if medical school is a possibility, you need to at least consider the undergrad costs…unless your family can help pay for all. Medical schools will likely be in the $100,000 a year range by the time you get there.
Take any data you read about this with caution…
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To answer your first question, I looked on feeder lists but neither show up.
You might reach out to pre med advising at each to ask them if they keep track and know how many of their students enroll. That will be the best way to find your answer although I agree with others that it’s not relevant - if one sends significantly more than the other. That’s just how it works out based on the student quality applying vs. the school itself.
The answer likely is -
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Whichever leaves you the best ability to afford medical school (so another four years).
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If #1 doesn’t matter (you have enough $$ for all 8 years), then where does the student want to be - because you want to be where you will do best.
Best of luck.
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Both colleges have some info on their websites:
AAMC number of applicants for schools w more than 50
But bear in mind, the stats might not be apples to apples depending on who they count/support as applicants. I do find the raw/counting numbers to be more interesting than the percentages, and you can certainly ask how many students are typically in their pre-health system as Fresh/Soph to get an idea for typical fall out. UMD doesn’t list the number of applicants on the site a linked, but an AAMC report of schools with more than 50 applicants lists UMD-College Park as having 425 applicants and GMU as 105 for 2023-2024. When we were looking for our S the big question was how well can you support those volumes of students and their efforts to get the type of EC experience to be a successful applicant?
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Colleges don’t “send” kids to med school. Whether a kid works for good grades, get to know some profs so they get strong recs, take part in appropriate ECs, and develops compelling essays is up to them.
Twenty years ago attending a college with a well-informed premed counselor could be of great help instead of relying on rumors from college friends, but these days there is plenty of info online as well as advice forums so kids can be equally informed no matter where they go.
Your D should be thinking about why she wants an M.D. When a lot of HS kids become interested in a career in medicine it becomes “I’m pre-med!” and they embark on a path that will take 11+ years of school/training plus enormous debt. Doctors are far from the only ones that help people. Physical therapists, radiology techs, nurses, speech pathologists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, to name but just a few. as you can see on http://explorehealthcareers.org Unless she’s carefully considered the alternatives and has spent time actually working in a health care setting (an unwritten requirement to get into med school BTW) its better to think of her as interested in exploring a career as a doctor rather than someone who has already made the decision.
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Both are fine for pre-med.
And the percentage/number of med school applicants isn’t especially useful when ccomparing these 2 schools.
Why?
Becase UMD uses a health professional committee letter and GMU does not.
What’s the deal?
A health profession committee pre-screens med school applicants. and withholds letters of recommendation from any student the committee feels isn’t a Highly likely to get a med school acceptance. Even those who may well be able to get accepted if they have a strong narrative with well crafted application sent to those schools where they have a decent (but not wonderful) chance for an admission.
No committee LOR, no med school application.
Since GMU doesn’t pre-screen med school applicants., anyone who wants to apply, can.
So apples and oranges
ETA: med school acceptance data is manipulated 5 ways to Sunday by undergrad sto make themselves look better.
Med school is loosely defined. Is it MD? MD and DO? MD, DO, DMD/DDS, DPsy, DVM, DPT, DOT, DAud, etc?
Do they only count US med schools? Or US med schools and overseas med schools (like those in the Caribbean or Poland or Australia)?
Lots of ways undergrads play with the data to make themselves look better to prospective students and their parents.
Really and truthfully, it’s the student, their drive, talents and ambitions that make for a good med school applicant – not where they went for undergrad. If you look at the incoming classes at med schools, you’ll see kids who come from all sorts of colleges. Ivy Leagues to never-heard-of-it LACs and regional campuses of public colleges.
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This isn’t particularly helpful. This student can apply to medical school from just about any four year college…these included.
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On another thread (groupthink) people said you should answer the question asked - and I tried
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Which college is easier to get a good GPA for premed courses? UMD or GMU?
I’m the wrong one to ask.
I wouldn’t worry about that. It’s going to be hard everywhere and kids are getting into medical school.
But perhaps someone will be willing to answer.
You should go to the school you’d like - not trying to game a system for an outcomes that is unlikely to happen anyway, because you change your mind or like most just don’t get in.
I would pick the one that fits you best - cost and feeling good wise.
Good luck.
It’s not the school that gets kids admitted to medical school. It’s the grades and MCAT scores. With that in mind, I would advise against choosing a school based on “premed prestige.” Of all the “premed” hopefuls coming out of high school, very few actually decide medical school. College is a maturation process where students can explore their passions. Most will find they have passions elsewhere. Just pick an affordable school that she’s happy in and go in with an open mind.
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This is subjective of course, but from the many kids I know at UMD, it’s a very rigorous school and they’ve had to put in effort even for their GenEd classes. On the other hand, they do have very good premed advising.
Unfortunately I don’t know anyone at GMU so I can’t share any experience.
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Does either offer honors college or other special supports or living leaning programs to your daughter?
Here is the link to : UMD’s Allopathic Medical School Offers of Admission (2015-2023)
My daughter is a pre-med at UMD, so feel free to ask me any questions you might have, I’ll do my best to answer them!
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For students who are already very high achieving - who got 5’s on AP exams in Bio, Chem, Physics - they will do well anywhere, and if motivated, could get high grades in the most rigorous schools. But for mere mortals, who might make excellent clinicians, but are the sort of student who got 4’s on AP exams, who got B+ in rigorous high school classes, they might have more success in going straight from college to med school (without, perhaps, a master’s in some science to boost their <3.7 college GPA) IF they were to choose to attend their local 4 yr state college, or a 3rd tier LAC, where they are very likely to be 4.0 students. You see, highly selective schools like HYPSM do have a higher acceptance rate for med school, but they also do have a letter-writing med school application committee, which pre-screens the applicants, advises those who won’t get in, to not apply yet, to take one or two gap years to do things to improve their applications. Their classes are more rigorous, really tough, and plenty of students drop out of pre-med because the science pre-reqs are too hard for them. And then there’s the power of the name, that the med school can be assured that anyone who got into these schools can probably get through med school.
So academically, if your child is a super achiever in AP sciences, I’d say go with the one that is cheaper for you. But if your child is a B+ student, a very good student, but not super-human, but absolutely hell-bent on becoming a doctor, the best choice for her might be NEITHER of these schools, but might actually be your local 4 yr state college, where they’d be an academic superstar relative to the level of that college, and can achieve a 4.0, get the letters they need, have time to do the clinical hours, volunteer hours, and research projects that will boost their application.
A motivated student can self-prep for the MCAT and get a very high score, no matter where they went for college. Med schools will consider students with very high GPAs and MCAT scores, even if they are applying from 4 yr non-flagship state colleges.
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OP should note that WayOutWestMom said the same about UMD:
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There are ways of doing an end-run around the lack of a committee letter from a school which has this weed-out gatekeeper. One does a two year gap, with high quality clinical work, and possibly extra science courses, whether in a post-bac program or MA program or not, and then applies with just a college transcript and all the other elements, without needing a committee letter from the undergrad school. As long as one is a year or two out from college, no need for a committee letter, even if the undergrad school has a committee.
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UMD pre-health is no longer providing committee letter. Below is the process from the committee:
From this link: Application Process | Health Professions Advising Office
Students applying to medical or dental school in a given year are encouraged to utilize our Committee Process, which includes:
- The Pre-Health Packet: a comprehensive questionnaire that helps students think reflectively about their pre-health motivation and relevant experiences.
- Packet Review Meeting: students will have a one-on-one meeting with an advisor to review and receive feedback on their packet.
- Personal Statement review
- Mock Interview: students interview with a member of our committee and receive feedback; this is important preparation for professional school interviews
- Primary Application and School List Review: students will meet one-on-one with an advisor to discuss aspects of their primary application and a potential list of schools.
- HPAO Letter Packet: HPAO will compile and send individual letters of recommendation (after checking to ensure that each letter complies with standards regarding date, letterhead, and signature), along with a cover memo describing the UMD HPAO Committee Process and the student’s participation in each phase.
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