Undergraduate Pre-Med Reputations

[yanksfan90217]

I am applying to schools later this fall and being interested in pursuing a medical career I want to find a school with a good reputation for their pre-med program and sending their students on to better graduate schools. What are the reputations of some of these schools?

Boston College
Northeastern
Tufts
Colgate
Davidson
Wake Forest
Case Western Reserve
Xavier
Bucknell
Lafayette
Providence
Vanderbilt
William and Mary
Northwestern
New College of Florida
U of Florida
St. Marys College of MD
College of NJ
SUNY-Stony Brook
Illinois-Urbana

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[DrYoda]

The student matters more than the institution. Do great anywhere and you'll have no problems.

School reputation can give you a (small) boost, but it's not somthing you can count on to get you in. My advice is to identify where you would like to go taking more than just reputation into account.

As for your question: I know Case, Northwestern and Vanderbilt all have good reputations, don't really know much about the rest.

 

[Depakote]

The above is very true. Rep might matter a little, but your individual performance is what will make or brake you. Go somewhere you will enjoy school, and somewhere that will hopefully let you graduate with as little undergrad debt as possible... med school is expensive.

 

[nogolfinsnow]

Also be aware that many people enter college on the pre-med track and end up doing something totally different for a variety of reasons (I'm not saying this will apply to you) just as many people decide to pursue a career in medicine after several years in college (or even after graduating and starting a career in something else). Base your college decision on where YOU will be the happiest and have a wide range of academic as well as non-academic opportunities that will allow you to grow and develop while having tons of fun.

 

[Caesar]

The above is very true. Rep might matter a little, but your individual performance is what will make or brake you. Go somewhere you will enjoy school, and somewhere that will hopefully let you graduate with as little undergrad debt as possible... med school is expensive.

Break?



Other than that this is spot on. Go where you are comfortable or you will end like me, transferring out of one school and being behind at another.

 

[yanksfan90217]

The student matters more than the institution. Do great anywhere and you'll have no problems.

School reputation can give you a (small) boost, but it's not somthing you can count on to get you in. My advice is to identify where you would like to go taking more than just reputation into account.

As for your question: I know Case, Northwestern and Vanderbilt all have good reputations, don't really know much about the rest.

In that case, do you suggest a school with better value that I am also comfortable at.

 

[DrYoda]

In that case, do you suggest a school with better value that I am also comfortable at.

Yes, I just wanted to make the point to look beyond plain reputation. Also, I would look into how your program of interest at the school is. All schools have their strengths and weaknesses. Some have more strengths than others, but your program is all that really matters for you (assuming you have a major or general area of interest picked out).

Big name schools do offer some advantages, but the most important thing is to shine at whatever school you go to: keep you GPA up, get a high MCAT and have good extracurriculars and you can get into a top medical school regardless of your undergrad.

Last thing: Different people have different priorities. For example, I'm going to a school many people here would probably look down on, simply because they offered me a full ride. Some people think it was a great decision, some people think it was stupid, but I've done well and it's worked out well for me. I suggest identifying which traits are most important to you (reputation, cost, location, ect) and then seeing which schools are the best match for your priorities.

Wherever you end up going, good luck.

 

[madamebovary]

Hey i have a quick question. I'm a rising sophmore in college and so far my GPA has been solid and i have built some good connections with some of my professors. But, i dont really like the social environment at my school- i felt its not a great fit for me and wished i researched more about the school before going.

the school i am at is a small liberal arts school that is in the top 50, but i'm not sure if its worth transfering to either top 20 university or top 15 liberal art college, which might become more challenging because of different amt of GE's and stuff? or at least affect the connections i made so far. Plus im seeing from this board that reputation isnt a big factor, but it still matters a little bit for like a tiebreaker. I would think that going to a school with more rep might mean more connections?

 

[xnfs93hy]

I am applying to schools later this fall and being interested in pursuing a medical career I want to find a school with a good reputation for their pre-med program and sending their students on to better graduate schools. What are the reputations of some of these schools?

Boston College
Northeastern
Tufts
Colgate
Davidson
Wake Forest
Case Western Reserve
Xavier
Bucknell
Lafayette
Providence
Vanderbilt
William and Mary
Northwestern
New College of Florida
U of Florida
St. Marys College of MD
College of NJ
SUNY-Stony Brook
Illinois-Urbana

Northwestern
Tufts
Vanderbilt

are good, and I am applying to a lot of those colleges as well =]. The other poster's do have a point, you should go where you feel comfortable but I hear you out, if I got accepted to NW or Vandy, which I might, I would go regardless of location just because of the name but that is just me.

 

[Bacchus]

Don't pick an undergraduate institution based on name if you plan on going on to medical school. Admissions to medical school is largely based on the student's accord and not the school. Doing well will open doors for you, but doing poorly and going to a "well known" school won't do much to save you.

From personal experience I chose my current institution based on fit. We have approximately 10 - 15 students apply to medical school each year and have approximately an 85% acceptance rate to osteopathic or allopathic schools. While our stats are lower, we don't discriminate against who can apply. These powerhouse schools with 95%+ acceptance rates into medical school often screen their undergraduates before agreeing to write them committee letters.

I was also accepted to Penn State University (Main Campus) but the school did not fit me well. The size alone, and then the lack of an urban environment off campus really turned me off. If I had not gotten in where I am now, I would have gone. However, everything worked out and I'm at my "best fit" school.

I gave up the PSU name and am at an institution that isn't known nationally but is well known in its given field. I don't regret it at all.