What Colleges are good for pre-med in Florida

[KRiv]

From the looks of it right now I am going in to community college (daytona beach) and getting an AA from here then ship off to FSU to finish my BA. Would this sound like a good plan for planning on going to UM/USF Med afterwards? Just wondering if anybody knows something I should be looking for that I'm missing.

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[Rzarecta]

From the looks of it right now I am going in to community college (daytona beach) and getting an AA from here then ship off to FSU to finish my BA. Would this sound like a good plan for planning on going to UM/USF Med afterwards? Just wondering if anybody knows something I should be looking for that I'm missing.

I'm not from Florida, but as long as you get good grades, MCAT, ECs, and recs you should be fine. Oh yea, have some fun while you're at it.

 

[DrBowtie]

Gujudoc should be able to give you the best advice on the issue.

 

[gujuDoc]

yah, if you are going to choose an undergrad in Florida, i say go to one of the big 4 that has a med school affiliated with it........

So this includes UF, USF, UM, and FSU. UCF, though it has no med school, is also good for undergrad. They actually have a joint program with USF's seven year.

FSU, prior to opening their own med school, used to have a strong affiliation with UF med school in which UF reserved 20 seats for a program in which people would do first year med school courses at FSU and then transfer to UF in second year med school.

This is sort of like USF/UCF's joint agreement with the 7 year program.

Now that FSU has its own medical school, I'm sure within the next few years that we'll be seeing a ton of opportunities opening up there. I actually toured their new medical school and those learning communities they have for first and second year students are just NICE!!!!!!! They are like mini apts in the med school building. Actually, the program for the med school is very much geared towards primary care, but they have students there that will be pursuing surgery and other fields too.

Even after they stopped the joint program with UF, several students have continually had success in getting in UF med school, USF med school, and UM SOM. So definitely doesn't make a difference.

The only difference between choosing FSU over UF, USF, or UM for undergrad, is that there'll probably be many many more research ops at one of the other big three because of their med school's focus on research. That's not to say that FSU doesn't have reserach opps, because it sure does. One of the people that used to work in the neuroscience dept where I did undergrad research, was a graduate of the FSU neuroscience program and spoke highly of it. So there's research opps there.

But if you are planning on staying in North Florida, I would definitely choose FSU over UNF or UWF. Way more opportunities.

The one thing I would make sure to do if you really want to get into UM or USF is......

Get a lot of clinical experience. Volunteer and shadow both!!!!!! USF is very big on that as so is UM.

I think Myfavred can comment better on the program at FSU for undergrad. I've met quite a few students from there at USF med school during med school forums where the med students speak....I've also met some who are at UF and UM. When they had their premed forum at FSU last year (same time I had toured the new medical school there) all the med students coming from UM, UF, FSU, and USF, were former alumni there. They all spoke highly of the premed program there. But I can't comment on specifics because I go to a different university. Like I said, I'll PM myfavred because she goes there and can probably comment on this better then me.

But if you specific questions about admissions at USF........Rel Larkin, our admissions director does post on here frequently and does check his private messages pretty quickly too. He posts under his first name "REL". So you can send a PM to him and get specific questions about admissions to USF and what not, if you really want more comprehensive info.

As per UM admissions, the MCAT forum mod Arsenic and some others floating around here may be able to answer a few of your questions.

 

[gujuDoc]

I'm not from Florida, but as long as you get good grades, MCAT, ECs, and recs you should be fine. Oh yea, have some fun while you're at it.

Oh and I agree with this sentiment. Undergrad institution doesn't matter, but if you go to one with a medical school affiliated to it, you'll see a lot of doors open in terms of opportunities. I think FSU will provide you those opportunities, especially now that they have their own med school too. Oh and don't rule out FSU med as an option either. The program is very solid and the new school is absolutely beautiful. Unless you are planning on academic medicine, it isn't a bad option now that they are accredited.

 

[DrMike24]

I go to UNF and I really enjoy it. Its a smaller, more personal school. It does not have a medical school which I think would have been cool. We do have mayo clinic though, and while I did not do research there, which I wish I would have, I have lots of friends doing very neat things there. Overall, I think you should go to the place where you will enjoy yourself.

 

[Fusion]

I go to UNF and I really enjoy it. Its a smaller, more personal school. It does not have a medical school which I think would have been cool. We do have mayo clinic though, and while I did not do research there, which I wish I would have, I have lots of friends doing very neat things there. Overall, I think you should go to the place where you will enjoy yourself.

UNF is a GREAT school for premed. I did a year of post-bac at UNF after graduating from UF (I retook some of my premed courses). The professors are excellent, the classes are smaller, and the overall atmosphere is somewhat more relaxed than at UF, making things more student-friendly overall. There is a list outside the premedical office that shows all the medical schools that UNF students have been accepted to over the years. A lot of UNF premeds get accepted to med school every year, and the past few years have seen some acceptances to high-powered programs like Hopkins, Mayo, and Duke. There are a lot of research opportunities down the road at the Mayo Clinic also.

 

[DrBowtie]

Good to know...
My dad moved to Jacksonville and I was thinking about trying to find something at Mayo for next summer.

 

[Arsenic]

like gujuDoc said, your chances of getting into med school are better if you go to an undergrad school that has a med school associated with it. ie, UF, USF, UM, FSU. FAU is currently the site of a UM school of med satellite campus but may end up breaking away and becoming its own med school in a few years.

 

[mikedc813]

Unless you are planning on academic medicine, it isn't a bad option now that they are accredited.

Yeah I'm sure FSU can only improve, but I wouldn't say that they are a great med school yet. If you're looking to go into a competitive residency or just specialize in general I'd look somewhere else besides FSU first

 

[gujuDoc]

Yeah I'm sure FSU can only improve, but I wouldn't say that they are a great med school yet. If you're looking to go into a competitive residency or just specialize in general I'd look somewhere else besides FSU first

Good points, but it still isn't a bad option if it were the only Fl. school you got into.

 

[amnesia]

In my highschool, many kids that are going to do premed will go to UF... To be honest, UF is the only good university in Florida. The rest, quite frankly, suck with people that have C averages in highschool. UF is basically the school where you have excellent stats but want to stay in-state or you don't get into an Ivy League. It's a "safety"

But, I have heard UF is very easy to ace. No grade capping.

 

[REL]

In my highschool, many kids that are going to do premed will go to UF... To be honest, UF is the only good university in Florida. The rest, quite frankly, suck with people that have C averages in highschool. UF is basically the school where you have excellent stats but want to stay in-state or you don't get into an Ivy League. It's a "safety"

But, I have heard UF is very easy to ace. No grade capping.

Superb point. UF does put nearly 25% of the state premeds out there for med applications every year. They do a good job in training in the UG realm for med school in the thriving magalopolis of G'ville. While it is a fantastic UG experience, they dont have the case loads, population, diversity, or large diverse clinical medical facilities immediately available that med schools in larger city areas have. Nonetheless they still do a good job and are one of three very viable MD programs in the state. (I dont include FSU only because they are still establishing their history. To that end they have an advantage of brand new classrooms and program patient facilities and it shudnt be too long before they are humming along too.) Applicants are blessed to have four quality choices here. If multiply accepted it basically comes down to your personal interests and home-cooking for decision-making.

 

[gujuDoc]

In my highschool, many kids that are going to do premed will go to UF... To be honest, UF is the only good university in Florida. The rest, quite frankly, suck with people that have C averages in highschool. UF is basically the school where you have excellent stats but want to stay in-state or you don't get into an Ivy League. It's a "safety"

But, I have heard UF is very easy to ace. No grade capping.

I agree about UF having the best premed program in the state. With a top 50 research ranked med school right around the corner, they have multiple research opportunities, clinical opportunities, etc. etc.

I've often heard that their professors and classes are more straight forward and better. I've also heard great great things about the advisors present at the University of Florida. I've been to a few of their premed conferences and have to say they do a superb job in not just getting Fl. med school representatives to come out and talk to premeds, but also schools such as Hopkins, Emory, Vanderbuilt, NYU, UChicago, etc.

Their Premed AMSA has the most national officers and often boasts quite a few people at the national convention. In previous years, they even had the national premed trustee at large, several action committee premed liasons, etc come from their university. Their actual chapter has boasted many different subleadership opportunities and the ability to get involved in learning about various different aspects of healthcare that the national AMSA represent through a variety of projects. Not the typical, what do we need to get into med school sort of stuff.

Their AED, for which I modeled how to make USF AED better from, has rotational shadowing programs, and numerous opportunities as well.

Overall, I'd say UF is the number one premed program in the state.

REL once said that 40% of USF's incoming med school class was of UF graduates. Either that or he said it was a combo of UF and USF grads. Don't remember which one, but either way........Most of the med students in the state are UF alumni, and then USF, UM, and FSU alumni with a small minority being from UCF, UNF, and other random places in state and out of state.

 

[NH Pre-Med]

Would anyone be willing to provide current information on which colleges provide a good pre-med program in Florida? Thank you.

 

[Boolean]

Would anyone be willing to provide current information on which colleges provide a good pre-med program in Florida? Thank you.

UF / UM / FSU / UCF / USF.