stanford pre -med program ?

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geneva

geneva
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:confused: Does any one out there have undergrad experience at Stanford? Trying to decide Between Stanford & UC's; Cal , UCLA, UCSD or USC for undergrad?
Also am wondering if anyone majored in something other than pre med or a science major and still came out as a strong med school applicant?
I am passionate about all health science areas but also some bio tech, and would like to maybe do a undergrad thematic study in these areas vs. a bio,chem, math etc. major.....yet I would make sure the theme and areas of study and research or abroad programs point toward medicine.
I am also concerned about the temperment of the above programs, the advising avail to undergrads, mentoring, stress/competitive climate.......
I am not gifted.....things don't come easy..Just work REALLY hard on academics and ex curriculars.....so, I don't want to burn out or attend where the peer cometition and bar is so high that some of the best college years are spent only in book at my desk. Please respond only if you have some direct experience at these programs....not just rumor or here-say.
Are there very many Merit scholarships avail for Med Schools?

Does one have an advantage all things considered in applying to your med school where your undergrad is from?
Thanks much for your :: time

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geneva said:
:confused: Does any one out there have undergrad experience at Stanford? Trying to decide Between Stanford & UC's; Cal , UCLA, UCSD or USC for undergrad?
Sure. Went to Stanford. Loved it. But that doesn't mean that it's necessarily the right school for you. What are your top priorities for selecting a college?

geneva said:
Also am wondering if anyone majored in something other than pre med or a science major and still came out as a strong med school applicant?
Certainly. I know med school students who majored in English, Art History, Architecture, etc. As long as you meet the med school requirements at some point, your major can be anything you want. By the way, Stanford does not have a pre-med major.

geneva said:
I am passionate about all health science areas but also some bio tech, and would like to maybe do a undergrad thematic study in these areas vs. a bio,chem, math etc. major.....yet I would make sure the theme and areas of study and research or abroad programs point toward medicine.
That's fine, but don't be afraid to explore other areas, too. All doctors should have some additional academic and personal interests outside of medicine.

geneva said:
I am also concerned about the temperment of the above programs, the advising avail to undergrads, mentoring, stress/competitive climate.......
I am not gifted.....things don't come easy..Just work REALLY hard on academics and ex curriculars.....so, I don't want to burn out or attend where the peer cometition and bar is so high that some of the best college years are spent only in book at my desk. Please respond only if you have some direct experience at these programs....not just rumor or here-say.
Stanford did not have a cutthroat atmosphere. People work hard, but it is in a friendly atmosphere. Students often study together and help each other learn. As for advising and mentoring, it's hard to say without describing all of the academic departments. Plus, at most schools, advising and mentoring resources will require you to seek them out.

geneva said:
Are there very many Merit scholarships avail for Med Schools?
Depends on the school.

geneva said:
Does one have an advantage all things considered in applying to your med school where your undergrad is from?
Reputation helps, but it's not going to make or break your application. GPA, MCAT, and experiences are far, far more important in the application.
 
I'm a premed at Stanford. The student population and atmosphere are both wonderful - not cut throat, friendly people. There is no pre-med program- many pre-meds are biology or human biology majors. You can also take some other major and still have time to fulfill the pre-med requirements. I found the upper level classes to have generous grading, but the "core" bio and chem classes to be much less generous. Some intimidated students even take those classes off campus.

A great perk is the networking opportunities for research and volunteer gigs. From that, you can get to know excellent professors on a first-hand basis resulting in stronger letters of rec. I also feel with the administration's emphasis on undergraduate research, on an average, students are more likely to be taken seriously by labs and are able to do more involved research projects rather than participate superficially. Lastly, I had no financial aide so the tuition costs were crazy, so thats my only regret.
 
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i did premed at stanford. (though there is no "pre-med program" per se, just a lot of pre-meds and some recognition that many students are headed in that direction. stanford designs very few courses specifically around the needs of pre-meds, although many are suitable.) i thought the premed classes varied a lot in quality, from barely ok to great, depending a lot on the profs and the department. i thought it was pretty hard to get really great grades in the premed courses, though it was easier in upper-level and other courses. one thing i did not like is the lack of the straight-up general chem w/lab and o-chem w/lab that most schools have--instead there is a longer, substitutable-for-prereqs chem sequence. the students were generally nice and collaborative, although some classes and some people were more competetive than others. i think the premed advising i got from the undergraduate advising center was truly terrible, discouraging and full of bad advice, and i have a couple of friends who had similar experiences. my pre-major advising also sucked (this is a lot about the luck of the draw). the advisor i had in one of my two majors was great, but not familiar with med school apps. as i'm sure is true at most universities, finding advisors and mentors is largely the responsibility of the student.

i did two majors, one science but not bio/hum bio (though human biology is a great major; check it out) and one social science. i think my interesting & unusual majors helped me with my apps. stanford has great bioengineering courses and some entrepeneurship classes for undergrads.

as i recall, stanford doesn't provide merit scharships, on the theory that all students have merit and thus money should go to the needy. of course, one can apply a non-university merit scholarship to a stanford tuition, though.
 
I was premed at Stanford and a Humbio major. I loved the fact that it was interdisciplinary... the majority of my classes were probably social science oriented but I still got the hardcore sciences in. Since you're interested in the health sciences but would like to explore other arenas, Humbio is an excellent choice. I know one person who was Humbio and had a concentration in Biotech.

Amateurchef was right about the advising. I personally know people who have come home crying after meetings with the advisors... "Your chances at Cornell are ruined with that B- in chem 31"!

I agree with the other posters, some "premed" courses were horrible (Biochem 200) but the majority are o.k. The students were really laid back not too competitive and I can only remember a few eager beavers (gunners).
But anyway, if you're looking for minimal burnout, I think Stanford is a great place. I only remember the library being jam packed around finals time... people had lives outside of classes.
 
I was also an undergrad at Stanford and loved it. I also did a dual degree - bio and psych. While neither are unusual majors for premeds to do, I really enjoyed them and got a lot out of both majors. If I were to do undergrad again, though, I would have just done psych and the standard premed requirements, and would not have gone for the bio major so that I could have freed up time for classes in history and poli sci. Whatever major you choose, though, Stanford provides for a ton of flexibility in shaping your studies to your particular interests and goals. You can also design your own major if you can't find any one course of studies that suits what you want to do. There's a big focus in interdisciplinary studies, and in particular biotech gets a lot of support. The humbio major attracts lots of premeds largely because of it's interdisciplinary focus and close relevence to medical fields.

The others are right in that the formal premed advising system is awful. Although I had a different experience with my premed advisor -- she basically just told me to apply wherever I wanted, and then would mumble something about the standard "make sure you apply to a range of programs". She was very good at confidence-building, but I would have appreciated some more constructive feedback...

On the other hand, it's very easy to get excellent informal advising. The faculty are very approachable and willing to mentor. The medical school is on the undergrad campus, which provides both mentoring resources and research opportunities for undergrads. In fact, as was said before, Stanford places a very high priority on research, so that undergrads are actively encouraged to do research, and faculty are always willing to take on undergrads in their labs. I think that was one of the biggest advantages for me, because I did research with a surgeon in the med school my junior and senior years. He was great to work with, and became a "real" mentor and advisor. (Especially since he knew all about medical schools, the process, etc.)

Personally, I thought being at Stanford helped me greatly in applying to medical schools, more because of how many worthwhile extracurricular activities and research opportunities were available, and how incredibly easy is was to get involved. Not only that, but people enjoy themselves and like to have fun -- kind of a work hard/play hard attitude.
 
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