Worried about Pre-Med at MIT :(

molliebatmit
Sat, 05 Feb 2011 23:18:39 +0000

I wonder what percentage of Harvard medical students could major in physics at MIT and get a 4.5 or above. My guess is like less than 5%. There are really smart medical students out there, but let’s just say that as a currency intelligence is worth a lot more in fields such as science and engineering than in medicine–at least as far as admissions is concerned.

I absolutely agree – when I say “the best” I mean more like “the best at being a premed”, rather than “the smartest”. Something like a single-minded determination to get a great GPA, participate in the precisely correct mix of extracurriculars, volunteer the exactly appropriate number of hours in the correct places, for many people.

I do know a number of HMS med students who went to MIT as undergrads, and none of them were/are typical premed robot types. But they are all very smart and motivated, and getting a high GPA at MIT wasn’t much of a stretch for any of them. I don’t know how typical they are of HMS students in general (some of whom have been in my grad school classes and who, as a whole, frequently make me want to barf).