How strong are the premed programs at these schools?

[hnbui]

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Hey you guys. As some of you know i'm thinking about transferring from tulane to another school.

One thing that concerns me is the strength of the premed program (the classes, research opps availability, etc.)

Right now i'm thinking about:

Vassar
Tufts
Oberlin
CMU
Cornell
and possibily Sarah lawrence.

If anyone here have any information or is currently attending these schools could you comment on the premed program. 😀

 

[Pinkertinkle]

How come you're transfering?

 

[stoic]

for the most part the "premed program" at any given school is a strong as YOU make it.

go to the school that fits you best as a person, not as a premed.

good luck,
S

 

[stinkycheese]

Those schools are all over the map - they're all very different schools. How did you pick that list in particular?

 

[Cerberus]

I hear at top premed schools you learn secret organic reactions that only the elite get to know about

 

[hnbui]

the reason why i'm transferring... there's lots of reasons... the small selection of classes...the size of the science classes... some racial experience i have had w/ my former advisor....etc...

i made a list, like everyone told me to make, about the things that are good about tulane and the things that are bad... and the bad thing, atleast in my case, out weighed the bad. So now i'm looking into transferring to a different school. Don't know if i'm going to get in but it's worth a try. I mean if i'll be happier.... 👍

Plus now i know what i want in a school, unlike in the past when i just applied for prestige.


The reason's why i chose those schools:

Cornell- Alot alot of different classes to choose from. Also really good in the sciences.

Tufts- has astronomy, PE, more classes both in the sciences and liberal arts, and more sections of those classes, music, boston. Overall i thin it's like the better version of tulane. No offense to anyone.

Vassar- Has a liberal community, i like the fact that the class sizes are small, astronomy, pe, music, close to nyc.

oberlin- the same thing for vassar except that it's not close to nyc.

CMU- I have heard that the science program is reall good.

sarah lawrence- the classes are max 15 people per class, you get to interview your professors before you register for you class, some astronomy class, music, pe, close to nyc.

 

[sacrament]

I went to a podunk state school and essentially had my pick of where to go for med school. I know people find it hard to believe that "it doesn't matter where you go to undergrad" but, I'm sorry, it's pretty much true. Go wherever the hell you want and then work your ass off.

 

[Quynh2007]

.

 

[gujuDoc]

Well I say that it doesn't really matter where you do your undergrad except that you fit in and like the atmosphere you are in and do well in that environment.

However, as a premed I enjoy the fact that I am at a university which also has a medical school, because that allows me to get inside connections to physicians in the med school and research opportunities related to the med school. In other words, it provides a lot more medically related ops.

Nonetheless, I would go to the school you feel most comfy with.

 

[fahimaz7]

University of Georgia is the ****. It's gaining nationwide recognition too. We have a huge selection of classes and are 19th in the nation rank wise.

Scott

 

[mudphudwannabe]

I sense a public vs. private flame coming on. But, keeping in mind that I come from a big public school.. I agree that your undergrad is what you make it. I argue that honors classes at my university are as good as the prep you would get at an ivy league school, but you can still get a biology major without taking those more difficult classes. And, with any class, you can just get by or you can really throw yourself into it. Also, opportunities outside of the classroom are important -- will you have the opportunity to do research as an undergrad, or do the profs think that is a waste of money? That said, I know next to nothing about those specific schools. I hope someone else can be more helpful! 🙂

 

[Cerberus]

I went to a small private school and a big public school, I think the big public school was 10X better. I got into 2 med schools so far so apparently they didn't mind my going to a state school too much.

 

[masterMood]

I recommend you check out www.studentsreview.com as a starter. Check our tulane with the search engine, and go to the student review section. You'll find a response very similar to what you're complaining with Tulane.

That said, I say go with Tufts. Very good reputation, near boston, and the overall experienec is excellent for everyone.

Vassar is in a rural place so I dunno if you want the small town community thing going, but at Tufts you will have lots of extracurrics to do (lots of research), and the students typically go to top-tier med schools (not that it really matters, imo)

(p.s. I live in NY, and i have the right to complain that NY sucks)

 

[hnbui]

I recommend you check out www.studentsreview.com as a starter. Check our tulane with the search engine, and go to the student review section. You'll find a response very similar to what you're complaining with Tulane.

That said, I say go with Tufts. Very good reputation, near boston, and the overall experienec is excellent for everyone.

Vassar is in a rural place so I dunno if you want the small town community thing going, but at Tufts you will have lots of extracurrics to do (lots of research), and the students typically go to top-tier med schools (not that it really matters, imo)

(p.s. I live in NY, and i have the right to complain that NY sucks)

i've heard some bad things about the core curriculum at tufts and that the student body is very competitive. Is this true?

 

[Avenue Q]

.

 

[frantic983]

.

 

[clinick]

I always wished I went to a D1 school. Being near a city is great - BTW - Medford is a T-stop away from Boston (we're talking... less than 10 minutes). I do think there is a difference between public and private - the friends I have at public schools seem to be having an easier time with classes and a harder time with MCATs (I'm not counting the UCs). That's just a generalization, but a trend I've noticed, nonetheless.

 

[hnbui]

anyone else?

 

[stoic]

I'm gonna reiterate that you should go to the school that fits your personality. It is completely unfounded to believe that one undergrad has a better chance of getting you into med school than another. What YOU do with your time at the school is what determines what kind of applicant you are.

 

[kcernak]

Hey, I'm a junior at Tulane right now, so I thought I'd put my 2 cents in...

I never saw what exactly your complaints are about Tulane, though (and here comes some huge generalizations) I imagine that as a pre-med student your complaints may be some what similar to my own. I definitely have things that I don't like about this school: I rarely drink, I don't like parties, etc., making me a lot different, automatically, from most of the student body. If you asked me, though, I would tell you that I'm having the time of my life right now, despite all of this.

Honestly, it is about finding people who are interested in the same things with you and making a life that doesn't involve the things that you don't like. I'm guessing you are a freshman or a sophomore, since you're considering transferring, so you probably live on campus. Living on campus can pretty much suck, but my life got infinitely better once I moved off campus. (I'm on S. Carrollton - not near broadway or any of that).

Transportation in this city sucks, especially if you aren't into the french quarter scene. If you have a car, I'd wholeheartedly recommend bringing it down here as soon as you can - so much more is available to you once you have access to a car. If you don't have one (like me!) then befriend someone who does, haha. Trust me, it'll open you up to a lot more that you might be missing out on.

The weather in this city is amazing and there is a ridiculous amount of service learning available to you at Tulane. There are always professors looking for students to do research (I'm doing independent study in Dr. Chen's lab and it was SO easy to get that position) and there are a million things to do with public health at the medical school downtown. There is a group that volunteers at the Childrens Hospital every weekend - a million more things. I don't want to sound like i'm telling you your complaints aren't legit; like i said, i have a problem with a lot of stuff at the school, too. but there is SO much to take advantage of in this city, especially for someone like me (and maybe you?) who wants to become involved in public health.

Let me know if there is anything I can help you with 😉 [email protected].

 

[Doc.Holliday]

i've heard some bad things about the core curriculum at tufts and that the student body is very competitive. Is this true?

you'll have to decide for yourself whether or not you like the core curriculum idea. it depends on what you want out of college.

and my lord, you are one bitter soul. its so wierd how two people's experiences at the same place/time/etc can be so very different. but all i can say is that if i really tried hard, i could hate disney world too.

and really, i would feel sorry for you and maybe try and help you out, but for someone like you (born and raised in new orleans) you sure as hell should have known what you were getting into (at least city and atmospherewise). you complained about lack of opportunities, but have you even sought any out? this is college, nobody is going to knock on your door asking for you to do research or volunteer or anything of the sort. i decided to do research last semester, and within a week of that decision i landed a spot in a kick ass lab doing some cutting edge work, and since then im now raking in some nice grant money for my work. sorry if that was out of place/ unwarranted. im basing that on a few observations.

 

[gujuDoc]

you'll have to decide for yourself whether or not you like the core curriculum idea. it depends on what you want out of college.

and my lord, you are one bitter soul. its so wierd how two people's experiences at the same place/time/etc can be so very different. but all i can say is that if i really tried hard, i could hate disney world too.

and really, i would feel sorry for you and maybe try and help you out, but for someone like you (born and raised in new orleans) you sure as hell should have known what you were getting into (at least city and atmospherewise). you complained about lack of opportunities, but have you even sought any out? this is college, nobody is going to knock on your door asking for you to do research or volunteer or anything of the sort. i decided to do research last semester, and within a week of that decision i landed a spot in a kick ass lab doing some cutting edge work, and since then im now raking in some nice grant money for my work. sorry if that was out of place/ unwarranted. im basing that on a few observations.

In regards to lack of opportunities, I can only imagine that the opposite is true. There is probably an abundance of opportunities, since there is a med school affiliated with the university which is always a plus. I'm a firm believer of doing undergrad at a place that has a med school associated with the university because you have the added benefit of getting to know medical school staff and getting to do research with them or shadow physicians associated with the med school and get good letters of recommendation and experiences. Also you get better one on one interaction with the dean of that particular medical school if they allow you to email asking questions.

 

[medicEZ]

Let me just plug my undergrad school, University of Rochester. Judging by your list of appealing things about those other schools, U of R has small class sizes (ok, bigger in the general bio/general chem area, but smaller the more advanced you get), no problems getting shut out of classes, cool professors, astronomy classes, music (Eastman is part of U of R), easy access to a hospital if you want to volunteer (across the street), and tons of research opportunities because it is a very strong pre-med school. By that I mean it's pretty competitive in the traditional pre-med classes (50% of my entering freshman class was pre-med, though that quickly changed, haha). Though it wasn't horrible -- no one sabotaged my organic chem experiments or anything. Plus if you don't want to major in a science (I, for one, didn't), there are lots of other really good departments. But if you really, really hate snow, it's not the school for you. 🙂

 

[hnbui]

you'll have to decide for yourself whether or not you like the core curriculum idea. it depends on what you want out of college.

and my lord, you are one bitter soul. its so wierd how two people's experiences at the same place/time/etc can be so very different. but all i can say is that if i really tried hard, i could hate disney world too.

and really, i would feel sorry for you and maybe try and help you out, but for someone like you (born and raised in new orleans) you sure as hell should have known what you were getting into (at least city and atmospherewise). you complained about lack of opportunities, but have you even sought any out? this is college, nobody is going to knock on your door asking for you to do research or volunteer or anything of the sort. i decided to do research last semester, and within a week of that decision i landed a spot in a kick ass lab doing some cutting edge work, and since then im now raking in some nice grant money for my work. sorry if that was out of place/ unwarranted. im basing that on a few observations.

First off,
I am not asking for people to come and knock on my door asking me to join their research. I have emailed numerous professors and so have my friends. you can't just make rash assumptions about my not taking an initiative.

As for being borned and raise in New Orleans, yes... I thought that i could handle it at Tulane, but i've come to the realization that i would be much happier elsewhere.


The problem, i see, is that you love Tulane so much that you can't get passed the idea that the school is not for everyone. I have never posted in this thread anything degrading about Tulane University. You are the one who asked me on the other thread to tell you why i wished to leave Tulane. I told you over pm, and yet you persisted that i should stay. Well, not everyone is like you. Not everyone has a fascination with Tulane, and not everyone likes the school. If everyone who entered the school did like it, then Tulane would have a higher freshmen retention rate than 85%.

And though my experiences thus far at tulane has been bad, I am not implying that the school is horrible. Far from it. For the right person, Tulane is a great school. Have i ever stated that tulane is a horrible school? No. I have stated that i would like to leave and that i find that there aren't alot fo science classes offered.


Another thing. It sounds like you are the bitter one. First off, no one could ever hate disney world. Secondly, This thread had nothing to do with tulane.... Are you so bittered about someone leaving your school that you are compelled to post in this thread that has nothing to do with tulane?

Also it is a fact that tulane does not offer many science classes in biology, excluding ecology. Even you can't argue with this. Check the class offerings. Other schools, comparable to tulane, offers many more classes, especially in immunology and virology.


In a way i find it funny. This is actually a one-sided arguement. I mean you keep on trying to convince me that i should stay, but do you see me trying to convince you that you should leave? No. SO please be more open minded about other people's opinion. You replied to this thread as though i have offended you, yet you are the one who comes off as the bigot. Tulane is not for everybody. Some of my friends are having the time of their lives, while some are just as miserable as me. It's basically my choice to transfer not yours.

As for those people who posted in this thread about how i should based my selection on whether which medical schools are better... that i should based it on which schools would fit me better. I am. The schools i listed offer many of the courses and environment i like and i am just trying to find out how each school ranks in terms of premed.

 

[hnbui]

Let me just plug my undergrad school, University of Rochester. Judging by your list of appealing things about those other schools, U of R has small class sizes (ok, bigger in the general bio/general chem area, but smaller the more advanced you get), no problems getting shut out of classes, cool professors, astronomy classes, music (Eastman is part of U of R), easy access to a hospital if you want to volunteer (across the street), and tons of research opportunities because it is a very strong pre-med school. By that I mean it's pretty competitive in the traditional pre-med classes (50% of my entering freshman class was pre-med, though that quickly changed, haha). Though it wasn't horrible -- no one sabotaged my organic chem experiments or anything. Plus if you don't want to major in a science (I, for one, didn't), there are lots of other really good departments. But if you really, really hate snow, it's not the school for you. 🙂

actually i like snow

 

[medicEZ]

actually i like snow

Well, check out U of R then (www.rochester.edu). It's not for everyone, but I loved it there (as you can probably tell). 🙂