Anybody have any experience with TCU pre-med? I'm a high school junior looking at a lot of universities and superficially it looks nice that TCU has small class sizes and is accorded a fair amount of respect nationally. My question is does TCU do a good job preparing kids for med school and does anyone know the matriculation rate for kids from TCU to med school?
TCU pre-med
- Thread starter Bgarrido
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Hey y'all! I am a junior in the TCU pre-med program. It really is a great school with a strong pre-med program. My advice is to contact Dr. Phil Hartman, he is the advisor for TCU premed. He can answer all your questions with much more info than I can.
D
deleted393595
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I go to UTA but have a few premed TCU friends. They all do well with research and the mcat (We all scored in the 35-40 range). They all have good gpas too (3.9+). Take this info how you want...
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TCU is not worth the $$$ for a barely ranked top 120 school. If you have wealthy parents, an interest in greek life, and religious background, then TCU may be a good choice. UNT might be a better option. I almost went there when I was a HS student, but it was cheaper for me to go out-of-state paying OOS tuition for a higher ranked school, lol. But TCU has a nice campus in the bubble of Ft. Worth.
Edit:
****Tuition
Tuition based on 12-18 hours of enrollment for fall and spring semesters.
34,500
Room
This represents average hall cost. For more information about on-campus housing costs, click here.
$6,550
Board
This represents the cost for a basic meal plan. For information about meal plan costs, click here.
$4,100
Books & Supplies
Book and supply costs vary by student – this is an estimate based on data from the TCU Bookstore.
$1,200
Total Fall and Spring Estimated Direct Cost $46,350****
46k!!! a year! PASS
Edit:
****Tuition
Tuition based on 12-18 hours of enrollment for fall and spring semesters.
34,500
Room
This represents average hall cost. For more information about on-campus housing costs, click here.
$6,550
Board
This represents the cost for a basic meal plan. For information about meal plan costs, click here.
$4,100
Books & Supplies
Book and supply costs vary by student – this is an estimate based on data from the TCU Bookstore.
$1,200
Total Fall and Spring Estimated Direct Cost $46,350****
46k!!! a year! PASS
Be careful in mistaking small class size for a good program. Be sure to look into the program as a whole i.e. if they have research opportunities, do they offer good upper level bio courses etc. I know nothing about TCU so take the guy above's word that it is a good program but I would say don't consider class sizes. In med school your classes will probably be large so small classes may make getting a killer GPA and getting in to med school easier, but they might not help you when you actually are a med student.
I know that when I was in your shoes I opted away from small classes and it was a great choice. TCU is huge compared to the small schools I was looking at, but choosing a large public university forced me to adapt to large class sizes and helped me grow as a person. Once I started upper division classes they got increasingly small.
Intro bio ~400 people in the first class, ~150 by the end of the year
Genetics ~50
Lab Genetics ~8
Microbiology ~60
Bacteriology ~25
Comparative Anatomy ~25
Ochem labs ~20
etc.
Not super small classes, but small enough and profs do generally care about their students and you can get plenty of one on one with the prof IF you seek it out. Making an effort to get to know profs builds character, makes them like you, and ultimately makes them more keen to write you a letter of rec for your med school apps because you make that effort which means you are actually dedicated to getting into med school.
My experience is that I was a really strong student in high school. I had a 32 ACT, was top 5 in my class and I thought pre-med was all mine. I was wrong, and I took it on the chin my first year, but it made me a stronger person and I feel that if I had gone to a smaller school I would have been coddled too much for me to grow as a person. Med schools tend to want strong applicants just as much as they want applicants with strong numbers I would say.
Food for thought that never occurred to me during high schools I guess.