anyone go to UVA and then a med school?

[amnesia]

anyone go to UVA and then a med school? I am looking at UVA because it's like Berkeley, except tons closer.

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[willthatsall]

As of last year, UVA hadn't placed any students into US MD schools. I think they might have had a couple alumni in the Caribbean though.

 

[fatones]

i went to uva undergrad and am now going to a top tier medical school... be very wary, though! compared to berkeley, uva is an ant of a premed school. people at uva focus on things like foreign affairs, english, government, commerce, music, drama. basically the artsy fartsy crap. they arent very science minded. berkeley has the top chemistry department in the country and has tons of premed resources. i also think that even though theyre both ranked as the number one public schools in the country, berkeley is the FAR AND AWAY reputation winner.

stay away from uva if youre certain about medicine, especially if youve got a science beast like berkeley as an alternative. med school adcoms DO weigh the two very differently, i guarantee it.

 

[amnesia]

Wow, I am glad I knew this now. I was gearing up for fall registration there. I have the credentials (great SAT and like 5 sat II's) I will consider Berkeley. I was thinking UVA or John Hopkins, but I was thinking of selecting UVA because of the distance perspective.

hhmm... thanks much.

 

[IndyZX]

all fine schools. go with your gut... uva is probably edged out by berkeley reputation-wise, but that wont play as large a factor in your medical school admittance as your happiness at your school will.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

i went to uva undergrad and am now going to a top tier medical school... be very wary, though! compared to berkeley, uva is an ant of a premed school. people at uva focus on things like foreign affairs, english, government, commerce, music, drama. basically the artsy fartsy crap. they arent very science minded. berkeley has the top chemistry department in the country and has tons of premed resources. i also think that even though theyre both ranked as the number one public schools in the country, berkeley is the FAR AND AWAY reputation winner.

stay away from uva if youre certain about medicine, especially if youve got a science beast like berkeley as an alternative. med school adcoms DO weigh the two very differently, i guarantee it.

The advice about UVA being bad for pre-med is a load of crap. It's a top tier school with quality chemistry and biology departments. You can prepare just as well there for medschool as you can at Berkeley; you dont have to have the nations top science research programs to teach general chem and ochem.

 

[River Rat]

they're both equally good schools, but yeah, berkeley definitely outclasses uva reputation wise. I dunno how the people at berkeley are, but they're probably more diverse and livelier than the people you'll see at UVA.

 

[IndyZX]

livelier? what does that mean?

 

[Pinkertinkle]

They protest more.

 

[samurai_lincoln]

I would take the negative comments with a grain of salt. UVA has a strong tradition in the liberal arts, true, but this also encompasses the sciences. Their engineering programs are pretty weak, but that doesn't appear to be your focus anyway. If you are a VA resident, you'd be crazy to pay the extra tuition for Berkeley, unless you absolutely love it there.

As a total aside, I'd pick W&M over any of the schools you listed. Perfect size, amazing history, and way more personal attention than UVA or Berkeley can offer.

 

[Fermata]

As a total aside, I'd pick W&M over any of the schools you listed. Perfect size, amazing history, and way more personal attention than UVA or Berkeley can offer.

If she's a state resident then I'd choose this school. Great teachers.

However, the out of state tuition is RAPE.

 

[doc luv]

I dunno if you've visited the schools, but I'd suggest doing that before you pick which school you want to go to. Truthfully, I don't think where you go to undergrad is going to matter that much in med school admissions. It's much more important to go where you think you'll enjoy yourself and have a fulfillig experience. As for those who don't seem to like UVA, I didn't go there for undergrad but it seems like most UVA undergrads are crazy about the school.

 

[Benjo]

good point Doc Luv. One of the reasons I am going to UVa for medical school is that my father and sister went there for undergrad, and are utterly in love with the school and the town. My father still keeps in touch with his friends from the school, has season tickets to basketball, and gets a far away look in his eyes when he thinks about his alma mater. My sister loved every second of her time in c-ville. Besides considering pre-med rigor, which is relatively insignificant, it'd be nice to see a pre-med who actually wants to have some fun. UVa is the place to do that. I have never seen more satisfied or loyal graduates of a school, except for my maybe own alma mater (Princeton), but for slightly different reasons. Oh, and if you are scoffing at my sample size/scope, then just take a look at alumni giving rates as a measure of school satisfaction. And to say that UC Berkeley trumps UVa for prestige is absolutely ridiculous. Sure, that may be true of Californians (who cares?), but for everybody east of the Mississippi, UVa is very highly regarded, and has a better reputation than lower tier Ivies.
UVa might be homogeneous, but so is Berekeley--you jsut have to ask yourself whether you want t be in a sea of nerds for 4 years or a sea of hot girls and beer (I hope this last statement doesn't lose me too muchcredibility).

 

[amnesia]

haha Benjo.

thanks for the comments all.

I don't care for Berkeley because it's ultraLiberal(tm)


Benjo, if UVA has a good med school, then I could just stay at UVA my whole time at school that is if I get accepted, though... lol Haven't applied yet.

 

[aaina00]

The post about UVa graduates only being placed in Carribean med schools is absolutely not true! I know of gradutes this year who have been accepted into almost all the top tier 1 schools, including harvard, hopkins, duke, wash u, columbia etc. I myself will be heading to one this fall. UVa is definately a great school for premed types with a lot of research and health-related experiences available.

 

[amnesia]

That would be insane getting accepted to Harvard, though I heard it's slightly easier going there as a graduate.

Can anyone tell me what SAT II's they took and what their rough score was on the SAT?

Thanks.

 

[10minutes]

I chose Uva for undergrad over Cornell, Hopkins, and W&M. Why? Not necessarily because I liked Uva the most, but because I'm a Virginia resident. After 4 years at Uva, however, I'm confident to say that Uva is a very good school. If you are Virginia resident, I strongly recommend Uva. Good luck!

For scores,
SAT II:
Math IIC - 800
Biology - 760
Writing - can't remember

SAT I:
Math - 800
Verbal - 600

 

[Benjo]

yea, UVa is truly the sh-t, so I don't know where the original wave of animosity came from.
It is a fun school, with good people, and you will do well if you deserve it (as evidenced by past results).
People on these forums have always seemed very biased against UVa (undergrad adn med school), for no good reasons.
And, yes, UVa has a very good med school.

 

[amnesia]

Those are pretty nice scores 10minutes. I have to take the new and old SAT cause my class is messed up. I was hoping for a 1400 as well.

 

[Benjo]

amnesia--why are you so worried about med school when you haven't even applied to college yet? Take it easy, big guy. You can't be this freaked out for 4 years of college, or you'll burn out.

 

[10minutes]

Those are pretty nice scores 10minutes. I have to take the new and old SAT cause my class is messed up. I was hoping for a 1400 as well.

Sorry to hear that you have to take both.

 

[rgporter]

The post about UVa graduates only being placed in Carribean med schools is absolutely not true! I know of gradutes this year who have been accepted into almost all the top tier 1 schools, including harvard, hopkins, duke, wash u, columbia etc. I myself will be heading to one this fall. UVa is definately a great school for premed types with a lot of research and health-related experiences available.

Heavy sarcasm.

 

[amnesia]

I'm worried about my future. I need to get into a great college and I don't want to mess up. I don't even know if I can get those scores for the SAT II's. lol

 

[willthatsall]

The post about UVa graduates only being placed in Carribean med schools is absolutely not true! I know of gradutes this year who have been accepted into almost all the top tier 1 schools, including harvard, hopkins, duke, wash u, columbia etc. I myself will be heading to one this fall. UVa is definately a great school for premed types with a lot of research and health-related experiences available.

Oh really? Wow, I'd never heard that. Listen to this question: "anyone go to UVA and then a med school?" Dumbest question I've ever heard, so I gave it the dumbest answer I could think of. I am still debating whether this thread is supposed to be a joke or not.

 

[10minutes]

I'm worried about my future. I need to get into a great college and I don't want to mess up. I don't even know if I can get those scores for the SAT II's. lol

SAT IIs are not very important. Your GPA and SAT I are likely to be the main factors.

As a side note, you may want to take a look at this:
http://www.virginia.edu/career/grad/MCAT-GPA03.doc

 

[amnesia]

Oh really? Wow, I'd never heard that. Listen to this question: "anyone go to UVA and then a med school?" Dumbest question I've ever heard, so I gave it the dumbest answer I could think of. I am still debating whether this thread is supposed to be a joke or not.

It's fair from a joke. Sorry for my ignorance, but I never EVER read anything about UVA and how it ranked among medical schools. Consider this thread an exposition.

 

[amnesia]

SAT IIs are not very important. Your GPA and SAT I are likely to be the main factors.

As a side note, you may want to take a look at this:
http://www.virginia.edu/career/grad/MCAT-GPA03.doc

I was talking with someone who got into Hopkins and they said that the SAT II's aren't that big of a deal, just try to get 550+ on all of them because they merely analyze only certain areas.

Downloading the Word file now. Thanks.

 

[willthatsall]

Ok, sense this isn't a joke, here's my advice. The school doesn't matter. Sure, Harvard is better than your state school. But mostly all that will matter is your GPA and MCAT and then what you do in your free time that you put on your application. Trying to pick based on reputation difference between UVA and Berkeley is really splitting hairs.

 

[fatones]

ok, to defend some comments and false info:

i never said uva was a bad school. it's just not as a good a place to be premed as berkeley or hopkins. youd be insane to argue such rubbish. uva is an amazing institution for many things. it has some of the premier liberal arts depts in the country. the law and business schools are exceptional. but natural sciences and engineering? hahaha, so if i told you that thomas jefferson was chinese, youd believe that too. im a recent uva student, I KNOW. i find it excessively amusing that tons of non-uva grads are coming here to defend uva. you dont know **** about the undergrad.

if you like homogenous, white ol' boy clubs (ie the poster who went to princeton undergrad ) then youll love it at uva. there is such a huge young republican current here that its sickening to my stomach. have a gay old time chugging bud lights at grimy pubs (yes, thats the only social life-- or grubby frats, yuck) with guys that only buy prewashed polo shirts, wear sandals in the dead of winter, have a shaggy mullet of hair that screams "im better than you" and carry frisbees EVERYWHERE.

if i wasnt originally from virginia, there is no way in HELL that i wouldve gone to the undergrad. it was cheap and ranked high, so i came without any other knowledge to save my parents some cash.

uva and diversity: http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/05/12/uva.diversity.ap/index.html
our student council president (a black female, one of the extreme few) was assulted by far right-wing white supremacists on campus... right next to a statue of thomas jefferson at that.

gotta love the state of virginia, and the beautiful history that comes with it. oh, and if you come to uva, be sure to invest in confederate flags... youll see them on the back of big, muddy pickup trucks all over charlottesville.

 

[10minutes]

ok, to defend some comments and false info:

i never said uva was a bad school. it's just not as a good a place to be premed as berkeley or hopkins. youd be insane to argue such rubbish. uva is an amazing institution for many things. it has some of the premier liberal arts depts in the country. the law and business schools are exceptional. but natural sciences and engineering? hahaha, so if i told you that thomas jefferson was chinese, youd believe that too. im a recent uva student, I KNOW. i find it excessively amusing that tons of non-uva grads are coming here to defend uva. you dont know **** about the undergrad.

if you like homogenous, white ol' boy clubs (ie the poster who went to princeton undergrad ) then youll love it at uva. there is such a huge young republican current here that its sickening to my stomach. have a gay old time chugging bud lights at grimy pubs (yes, thats the only social life-- or grubby frats, yuck) with guys that only buy prewashed polo shirts, wear sandals in the dead of winter, have a shaggy mullet of hair that screams "im better than you" and carry frisbees EVERYWHERE.

if i wasnt originally from virginia, there is no way in HELL that i wouldve gone to the undergrad. it was cheap and ranked high, so i came without any other knowledge to save my parents some cash.

uva and diversity: http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/05/12/uva.diversity.ap/index.html
our student council president (a black female, one of the extreme few) was assulted by far right-wing white supremacists on campus... right next to a statue of thomas jefferson at that.

gotta love the state of virginia, and the beautiful history that comes with it. oh, and if you come to uva, be sure to invest in confederate flags... youll see them on the back of big, muddy pickup trucks all over charlottesville.

It looks like you hated Uva so much. Your arguments are true to some extent but they are way too extreme. I still remember my whole dorm people cheering for Al Gore when I was a first year during the election. Uva is not as liberal as most of similar highly ranked schools but it's still more liberal than conservative. And the natural science and engineering may not be the strongest part of the school but saying they are joke is ridiculus. I don't think I got a **** quality degree there. We had a plenty of bright students in math/physics.

And you know what? I'm Asian. And I heard 14% of incoming class of 2008 are Asian and 12% black. It's not that bad.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

From the sound of it, Fatones, I don't think that you would like college anywhere you go. Every public school has its group of white boys that other groups won't like. Berkeley isnt free of bud light drinking frat boys, and they certainly enjoy their pre-shrunk polos and birkenstocks.
For the OP - you can get a great pre-med education at UVA. You can get a great pre-med education at Berkeley. I would base my decision on other factors, as neither school will hold you down in any way.

 

[aquaboy]

Just ignore fatones! He's pissed because UVA put him on the waiting list and he hasn't been accepted. Of course he's going to be bitter. Maybe you didn't have what it takes to come here or your negative attitude towards the school might have come out during your interview.

I didn't go to UVA for undergrad but I do teach quite a few undergrads and they seem to be quite competent and have a great science background coming from UVA. There is no high quality pre-med program that will guarantee admission to med school. I went to undergrad at a school that is lower ranked than UVA and got in. It comes down to MCAT scores and GPA that count, undergrad degree means very little.

 

[amnesia]

ah, ok cool that's nice. i am very conservative so i dnt mind seeing conservative things around

and with a homogenous group, you don't have to worry about insulting someone either

 

[Wednesday]

Hey Amnesia,

I would pick a college based on if you think you'll enjoy it there. In order to succeed in school you should be happy in the environment. A good idea would be to visit the schools you are applying to and stay overnight with a student. You can ask them tons of questions and see for yourself what they actually do on a normal day, what the classes are like, what the atmosphere is like in the cafeteria, etc.

From everything I have heard, talking to students at both Hopkins and Berkeley, (I took a class at Berkeley myself), I'm not sure these are particularly fun schools to go to as an undergrad, especially for premed. The fact that UVa has students with other goals besides getting into med school is actually an advantage. The school doesn't end up being a med school machine. You can get a broad view of the world (which is really what undergraduate education is all about) which will actually be to your advantage in medical school. I know that "fun" might not be the highest priority for you, but I would argue that you should factor it in somewhere. If you are really conservative, UVa might be a great place to check out (and W&M not so much ).

As far as preparing you to apply to school, all of the schools you have listed an interest in should do that. Talk to the students and find out how easy it is to get help with your application (like I don't think Cal has a premed advisor, not that they are always helpful anyway). Ultimately it will be on your shoulders to work hard for the grades and experiences that will create your med school application. I think the first step is finding somewhere where you personally will be happy. Good luck!

 

[amnesia]

im a busy person who has a ton of stuff to do, so visiting colleges it out of the question. i just look at the pics, however biased they are, on the website...

 

[Pinkertinkle]

and with a homogenous group, you don't have to worry about insulting someone either

Uh oh, that doesn't sound right.