University of Maryland

[LittleDoctor]

Hello, Everyone,
I'm new here, and a senior in high school seriously considering attending the University of Maryland next year as a pre-medical student majoring in microbiology. I've been told that the school (College Park) has a nice biological science department, but I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the school as a pre-med student, and, if so, if how they would rate their experience.
As a side note, I plan to go into either surgical pathology, cardiac surgery, or emergency medicine after graduating med school.
Thanks in advance for any help!

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[samuraiR]

i loved umd...went there all 4 years and loved every second of it

 

[LittleDoctor]

Thanks, samuraiR; would you happen to know anything about the strength of their microbiology department? And also, what is their premed program like (like, I know the classes you have to take, but how would you rate your premed experience there?)

Thanks, again!

 

[PsxDcSquall]

I am from Maryland, I went to Salisbury University for undergrad...College park just seemed too big for me but honestly I loved SU. I got to develop person relationships with my professors there were so many opportunities for under graduate research and I feel like I got a great education. I am currently on my year off and I have an interview at university of maryland school of medicine october 21st.

It all depends on what you want in a school but for me college park would have been too big plus I hear they have a lot of foreign/hard to understand professors and such. Remember you don't always get a better education because you go to a bigger school!

 

[LittleDoctor]

I am from Maryland, I went to Salisbury University for undergrad...College park just seemed too big for me but honestly I loved SU. I got to develop person relationships with my professors there were so many opportunities for under graduate research and I feel like I got a great education. I am currently on my year off and I have an interview at university of maryland school of medicine october 21st.

It all depends on what you want in a school but for me college park would have been too big plus I hear they have a lot of foreign/hard to understand professors and such. Remember you don't always get a better education because you go to a bigger school!

Thanks for the information; I'll have to check out Salisbury as well. I think I'd enjoy a smaller school (for the relationships to be gained with professors, and the oppurtunities to be had), but my biggest drawback for alot of them is location--places the size of Saint Mary's College of Maryland would be great, but it seems like many small schools are rather isolated, which I don't want...So, is SU isolated, or is there more than just woods and houses around the campus?

BTW, good luck on your interview! All the best wishes that you do well!

oh, and thanks for replying!

 

[Pianoman32]

Hello, Everyone,
I'm new here, and a senior in high school seriously considering attending the University of Maryland next year as a pre-medical student majoring in microbiology. I've been told that the school (College Park) has a nice biological science department, but I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the school as a pre-med student, and, if so, if how they would rate their experience.
As a side note, I plan to go into either surgical pathology, cardiac surgery, or emergency medicine after graduating med school.
Thanks in advance for any help!

I went to umd and it was a blast (however, the sports teams were somewhat decent when I went).

I majored in Neurophysiology (I basically took 3 different courses from what a microbio major would take) and the courses were well taught for the most part, and interesting. Nonetheless, if I could do it again, I would not major in biology. Why? Because you will learn everything as a bio major again in medical school. Why not major in something that you will never be able to study again? By all means though, if you're dead set on micro, go for it though.

About the opportunities.....Yes, at a smaller school you are much more likely to know your professors. I had some classes where I had 150 students in the class and never talked to the professor once. However, on the same token, I never really liked attending class so this allowed me to stay under the radar. Anyway, if you really are inclined to know your professors, you can always do some kiss assing after lectures once a week to try and get a rec letter written for you.

More on the opportunities.....Aside from Hopkins, UMD will provide you with the most research opportunities of any school in md. I would recommend starting your freshman year in a lab so that hopefully you can get published. This will also allow for a rec letter when it comes time to applying.

Anyway, just go where you think you will be happiest. In the end, getting into medical school all comes down to having a good gpa and rocking the mcat. After that, just make sure you have some research, and medical related experience.

 

[PsxDcSquall]

Thanks for the information; I'll have to check out Salisbury as well. I think I'd enjoy a smaller school (for the relationships to be gained with professors, and the oppurtunities to be had), but my biggest drawback for alot of them is location--places the size of Saint Mary's College of Maryland would be great, but it seems like many small schools are rather isolated, which I don't want...So, is SU isolated, or is there more than just woods and houses around the campus?

BTW, good luck on your interview! All the best wishes that you do well!

oh, and thanks for replying!

Its in the town/city of Salisbury which has a good amount of stuff to do. It isn't nearly as isolated as Saint Mary's I can tell you that. Theres a decent mall and plenty of other stores like barnes and noble, lots of bars and restaurants. Its a highly developing area and the campus is growing too. The Science Building was new in like 2003 and all the labs have new and very nice equipment. They just finished building a new state of the art teacher education building and they just broke ground for a new buisness building.

Salisbury is a quick 30 minute drive from ocean city and its only 2 hours from DC and baltimore. If you get a car then you can easily go there on weekends plus theres several campus trips that are planned out there.

 

[LittleDoctor]

I went to umd and it was a blast (however, the sports teams were somewhat decent when I went).

I majored in Neurophysiology (I basically took 3 different courses from what a microbio major would take) and the courses were well taught for the most part, and interesting. Nonetheless, if I could do it again, I would not major in biology. Why? Because you will learn everything as a bio major again in medical school. Why not major in something that you will never be able to study again? By all means though, if you're dead set on micro, go for it though.

About the opportunities.....Yes, at a smaller school you are much more likely to know your professors. I had some classes where I had 150 students in the class and never talked to the professor once. However, on the same token, I never really liked attending class so this allowed me to stay under the radar. Anyway, if you really are inclined to know your professors, you can always do some kiss assing after lectures once a week to try and get a rec letter written for you.

More on the opportunities.....Aside from Hopkins, UMD will provide you with the most research opportunities of any school in md. I would recommend starting your freshman year in a lab so that hopefully you can get published. This will also allow for a rec letter when it comes time to applying.

Anyway, just go where you think you will be happiest. In the end, getting into medical school all comes down to having a good gpa and rocking the mcat. After that, just make sure you have some research, and medical related experience.

Thanks alot-- all this has been a really big help to me! Another question, though: about how much time did being a premed take? I know that there's alot of studying and working involved, and I'm all up for working hard, and don't expect a huge amount of free time but I'd just like to know if I'll have time to do things (i.e. getting a part time job if I wanted to, or volunteering (nonmedical))outside of school and research in labs.

 

[LittleDoctor]

Its in the town/city of Salisbury which has a good amount of stuff to do. It isn't nearly as isolated as Saint Mary's I can tell you that. Theres a decent mall and plenty of other stores like barnes and noble, lots of bars and restaurants. Its a highly developing area and the campus is growing too. The Science Building was new in like 2003 and all the labs have new and very nice equipment. They just finished building a new state of the art teacher education building and they just broke ground for a new buisness building.

Salisbury is a quick 30 minute drive from ocean city and its only 2 hours from DC and baltimore. If you get a car then you can easily go there on weekends plus theres several campus trips that are planned out there.

Thanks; I'll look into SU. Sounds like a really good school...

 

[Pianoman32]

Thanks alot-- all this has been a really big help to me! Another question, though: about how much time did being a premed take? I know that there's alot of studying and working involved, and I'm all up for working hard, and don't expect a huge amount of free time but I'd just like to know if I'll have time to do things (i.e. getting a part time job if I wanted to, or volunteering (nonmedical))outside of school and research in labs.

You will have more time to do stuff outside of the classroom if you don't major in science. If you do major in science, you will still be able to do some things outside of the classroom, but it will come down to time management. I did research and worked in a hospital as a bio major, so it is manageable.

Anyway, choose your college based on where you think you will be happiest. Go to umd if you like the large state school atmosphere. Go to salisbury or another smaller school if you don't really care for the large school atmosphere (sporting events, frat parties, etc.). The only advantage that umd will have over a school like salisbury with getting into medical school is the research opportunities that will be available to you. There are many more opportunities on campus to do research and the NIH is a short metro away. Having research on your CV could make up for a lesser mcat or gpa.

Neither school on their own has a name that will help you get into medical school, so don't choose on the name alone.