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What criteria do all of you use when you are scouting medical schools?
What kinds of things do you all look for?
What kinds of things do you all look for?
Researching Medical Schools
- Thread starter Jon Davis
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you are probably going to find a lot of variation with this, but i think most would agree that the basics are:
are your numbers a practical fit with theirs? (ie are your numbers somewhat around the mean with either their average gpa or mcat or both)
location (it is four years of your life, so you better like, or at least be able to cope with where the school is located)
this is a great resource, so if you have questions on specific schools, definitely post. best of luck
tuition (this is really a huge one if you have the option of going to your state school, i have heard of a lot of people that have turned down more prestigious schools because they got into their state school, the difference in price is enormous, like 20k a year or so)from the info you can dig up on the school does it seem like you would excel there
research (there are definitely schools that are more research oriented, so if your into that thing and don't want a phd, then dig up info on how available research projects are)
prestige (i really think this one is over rated, but a lot of people put a lot of merit into top 25 schools)
are your numbers a practical fit with theirs? (ie are your numbers somewhat around the mean with either their average gpa or mcat or both)
location (it is four years of your life, so you better like, or at least be able to cope with where the school is located)
this is a great resource, so if you have questions on specific schools, definitely post. best of luck
tuition (this is really a huge one if you have the option of going to your state school, i have heard of a lot of people that have turned down more prestigious schools because they got into their state school, the difference in price is enormous, like 20k a year or so)from the info you can dig up on the school does it seem like you would excel there
research (there are definitely schools that are more research oriented, so if your into that thing and don't want a phd, then dig up info on how available research projects are)
prestige (i really think this one is over rated, but a lot of people put a lot of merit into top 25 schools)
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To add to the previous post:
If you are interested in clinical experience I'll quote what one of my doctors told me: "Find the dirtiest program you can find and go to that school" Meaning if you have a diverse population of patients and are able to see a lot, you will learn more and lots of interesting things. Hope that helps.
If you are interested in clinical experience I'll quote what one of my doctors told me: "Find the dirtiest program you can find and go to that school" Meaning if you have a diverse population of patients and are able to see a lot, you will learn more and lots of interesting things. Hope that helps.
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I think prestige is more important if you want to do certain things, like research in a particular field, or if you want to go into teaching.
As far as tuition goes, there are some schools that are actually cheaper than state schools. I think Baylor can be, if you buy a condo and become a resident of Texas.
Don't forget about the curriculum. Also, the grading system... I think people sometimes put a bit too much emphasis on curriculum and learning style, as the last two years are much more important, but whatever. The first two years are still that: two years. But don't forget to look at what kind of experience you'll have as M3 and M4s. Are you going to see a wide range of patient cases? Are doctors going to teach you or make you do mostly grunt work? And of course, there's the USMLE pass rates and the % receiving their top choices of residencies. (This latter one seems to be the same at all the better schools though...)
As far as tuition goes, there are some schools that are actually cheaper than state schools. I think Baylor can be, if you buy a condo and become a resident of Texas.
Don't forget about the curriculum. Also, the grading system... I think people sometimes put a bit too much emphasis on curriculum and learning style, as the last two years are much more important, but whatever. The first two years are still that: two years. But don't forget to look at what kind of experience you'll have as M3 and M4s. Are you going to see a wide range of patient cases? Are doctors going to teach you or make you do mostly grunt work? And of course, there's the USMLE pass rates and the % receiving their top choices of residencies. (This latter one seems to be the same at all the better schools though...)
what do you call a med student who graduates from the lowest-rank medical school in the U.S. and is at the bottom of his class?
keep going...
A DOCTOR!!! I think that if you have the passion to practice medicine, it wouldn't matter where you go....I have friends who tell me that they want to go to Harvard or Yale medical school.....and I'm like dude what about just going to med school and doing something for the love of it....not for the prestige of it? anyways that's just my opinion.....
keep going...
A DOCTOR!!! I think that if you have the passion to practice medicine, it wouldn't matter where you go....I have friends who tell me that they want to go to Harvard or Yale medical school.....and I'm like dude what about just going to med school and doing something for the love of it....not for the prestige of it? anyways that's just my opinion.....
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