which is a better school, wesleyan,middlebury or bowdoin

[dodo2]

My brother is wants to be a doctor. Assuming that he will do the same in all schools, which school will give him a better chance at a med school?

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[elias514]

It won't make any difference, man. The only factors that matter in medical school admissions are undergraduate GPA, GPA in prerequisites for med school (chemistry, physics, etc.), MCAT score, clinical experience, interpersonal skills (for the interview), quality of personal statement, and letters of recommendation. The prestige or name of the undergraduate institution doesn't mean crap in med school admissions. Tell your brother to go where he'll be happy and, ultimately, graduate with the LEAST debt.

 

[ornis4]

Even if the name of your undergrad institution did carry weight, those three are so close, all great schools...

 

[Goober]

Originally posted by elias514
It won't make any difference, man. The only factors that matter in medical school admissions are undergraduate GPA, GPA in prerequisites for med school (chemistry, physics, etc.), MCAT score, clinical experience, interpersonal skills (for the interview), quality of personal statement, and letters of recommendation. The prestige or name of the undergraduate institution doesn't mean crap in med school admissions. Tell your brother to go where he'll be happy and, ultimately, graduate with the LEAST debt.

It prestige means nothing should we all attend the easiest school possible in order to get graduate with a 4.0?

 

[Tezzie]

Originally posted by Goober
It prestige means nothing should we all attend the easiest school possible in order to get graduate with a 4.0?

Yes! I knew i was stupid to turn down Harvard . Missed out on grade inflation .

 

[punjabiprince]

wesleyan is part of the little 3...so i guess that's good. he should go to amherst though.

 

[No Egrets]

Hmm... I know of an MD/PhD student at Harvard who graduated from Wesleyan. I guess that piece of knowledge might be comforting. But really I think he should go wherever he wants to (and perhaps at whichever school has a good program in whatever he wants to study).

And, in response to the other posts: reputation of undergraduate institution matters a lot if you are looking at getting into the "top" med schools. By this I mean, you can go to Random Mediocre University and still interview at Hopkins med, but only if you are TOP of the class with a killer MCAT. Otherwise you don't have a chance. However, if you go to Difficult Prestigious College but got a 3.5 GPA, your chances of interviewing at Hopkins are considerably greater.

 

[elias514]

"Easy university" is somewhat of an oxymoron. Most universities offer challenging curricula, especially if one majors in a hard science. Indeed, your academic experience as an undergrad is as tough as you decide to make it, REGARDLESS of the institution. Every school has really tough classes and professors who are notorious for tough grading policies/extreme workloads.

That said, the best route to medical school is to attend a respected state school--ideally, the flagship of the state. Some examples include UT Austin, UMichigan, UC Berkeley, UKansas, etc. The education at these schools is solid, and the cost is very reasonable. In fact, there are a lot of cheap state schools that offer an excellent education for undergrads (most of the UCal schools come to mind). Be smart: Go to a state school, save buttloads of money, and STILL get into the med school of your choice.

UMich was my 1st choice, and I graduated from a state school (i.e., UT Austin).

Remember: the quality of an individual's education depends almost entirely on personal factors (intellectual curiosity, diligence, tenacity, intelligence, etc), NOT institutional reputation.

 

[Brickhouse]

Is UCLA considered a difficult prestigious college?

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Unfortunately, no.

 

[Brickhouse]

Funny, that. I'm interviewing at Hopkins next month, my stats aren't the best.

Shoots down Egrets argument....but that happens more often than not around here when people ask questions like the OP.

No offense Egret...I was actually thinking of you today because I hadn't seen you post for a while...how are things?

 

[Zweihander]

I will say this - I've been rather shocked and dismayed at some of what I've read on the pre-allo forum with regards to Health Careers guidance. Some people who were undergraduates have posted on these boards that they either didn't have a career counselor, or had one that did not specialize in health careers, or who was completely unsupportive, to the point of saying things like "Don't bother applying, you'll never get in."

If anything taking into consideration what resources your school will have to offer you for your postgraduate years should be paramount, all other things being equal. I don't know about the other schools, but Wesleyan has a very good career counselor and a department of the careers centre dedicated to health careers, so that's a huge plus if you know that you want to go into medicine.

Just something to think about...


peace

 

[Brickhouse]

Originally posted by Zweihander


If anything taking into consideration what resources your school will have to offer you for your postgraduate years should be paramount, all other things being equal. I don't know about the other schools, but Wesleyan has a very good career counselor and a department of the careers centre dedicated to health careers, so that's a huge plus if you know that you want to go into medicine.

Just something to think about...


peace

I think that's some of the best advice I've seen in this forum.

 

[lola]

they are all very good schools, so he should go where he'll be happiest. i am very happy i chose to attend a small liberal arts college. i enjoyed having small classes, and the class size made it easy to get to know fellow classmates as well as the prof.

prestige does matter in this game as much as people like to deny it. hell, i never would have gotten into a uc had i not gone to prestigious schools. i guess you could look up the us news rankings of these schools to help you determine prestige, but i'd imagine they are all in the top 20. if that's the case, then it doesn't really matter.

looking back, i could have probably saved a lot of money had i gone to a state school and gotten a very good education. however, i feel like the experience i got both inside and outside the classroom at a liberal arts college is unbeatable.

 

[dodo2]

Can some wesleyan, middlebury and bowdoin alums shed light on counseling support for premeds, quality of profs in premed courses and acceptance percentages? Also how much would it help him if he plays football for the school? Would it be very difficult to be a premed and play football at div. 3 (nescac) level?

 

[Tezzie]

What short of quality are you looking at pre-med courses? It's funny to talk about quality when you talk about good old O-Chem.

Counseling support ... he won't need that. All he needs is SDN. Far superior advice to any counselor or counseling service.

Also acceptance %s don't mean anything. Each applicant is unique. Every student is unique. If he has the right grades and ECs he will make it. If he doesn't he won't.

Playing football is fine but will it allow him to do other things that are more important in the med school process ... such as clinical exposure, research (for specific schools), etc? I think he needs to ask that question himself.

 

[dodo2]

bump

 

[duka]

I went to wesleyan, loved it (and found very little competitiion between pre-meds, which was the environment that I needed to succeed). I liked the different life science majors and that there was no core curriculum, just area requirements. also, I took a few great writing courses, and ad com members have commented on my strong writing given that I was a science major.
The premed advisor is good-- on the day we got our mcat scores this summer, she was in her office the whole day just talking us up or down as need be. also, if you want shadowing or volunteer opportunities, she's great at helping you set them up.
finally, if you want to do research, anyone can as soon as they get there or by their sophomore year. You can also do a research thesis which can lead to publications, which looks great on your app to med school.
PM me if you have any specific questions.

 

[dodo2]

bump

 

[SarahGM]

In a somewhat related comment, I was told by my premed advisor (or rather, READ to from the Stanford Med admissions committee standards she carries) that an applicant's undergraduate institution does carry some weight in admissions decisions. In addition, some schools have a quota to fill of students who attended the same institution as an undergraduate (I don't think that applies in the case of these schools).

That being said, I think the three schools you mentioned are all great institutions.

 

[Fish3715]

I hate reading threads like this. I'm a freshman; not only am I not happy at my school anyway, but knowing that if I were simply at my first choice- or second or third... (i.e. more "prestigious" and expensive) schools that my chances of getting into a top school are greater (assuming that I'm working just as hard, of course).

(Actually, I already knew that, but just seeing it written out from other people is kind of depressing)

Sigh...

EDIT: sorry about my little rant. Carry on...

 

[dodo2]

bump

 

[skypilot]

To be in a school that is supportive of students and not hell bent on weeding out the weaker pre-med candidates as Freshmen.

Lots of Freshmen and Sophmores also overload by trying to take Physics, Chemistry, Calculus and Biology all in one semester.

If you didn't go to prep school it might be better to take your science curriculum over the summer, one course at a time so you can focus on excelling and not drown.

 

[lyragrl]

Most top-tier liberal arts schools give great academic support and even though the courses are challenging they're not "weeder" schools. So I'm not sure Skypilot's point is applicable to the schools we're talking about here.

The other place I'd recommend is Carleton. It's ranked 4th in U.S. News & World Report (if you care about rankings). The teaching is amazing there and the sciences are very, very strong--esp. biology. PM me if you have any questions.

 

[KatieOConnor]

My choice was between Amherst, Middlebury, and Bowdoin, a similar one. Basically, they are all on-par academically, but I was under the impression that Middlebury is a big jock school. I liked Bowdoin the best and I regret not having gone there.

 

[dodo2]

bump

 

[Tezzie]

What are you bumping for? If there was anything to be said it has been said already.

Oh and FYI: If your brother *TRULY* wants to head for med school maybe he should do his own research instead of having his brother go around on internet boards asking?

Just a thought...

 

[dodo2]

Whether I decide to bump my own thread or not is my decision. If you do not want to comment on it, don't. Also, whether I post for my brother or not is my and my brother's decision. No body is asking your permission.

 

[lips]

having been through the med school app proces, knowing a lot of kids who went to bowden, and having done a post-bacc at a state school (san francisco state), i can tell you that where you go as an undergrad can make all the difference or no difference at all. as far as reputation goes, having gone to a good school helps you if you are on the cusp, in my opinion. just look at the med applicants profiles on sdn. type in 30 mcat and 3.5 gpa and you'll see that kids with avg scores from better schools tend to get more interviews and acceptances at more reputable med schools. however, there definitely isn't much difference between middlebury, wes, and bowden; all are great schools with strong reputations though i must say that wesleyan was a great education and a ton of fun. and, yes, it is also true that the wes pre-med advisor is amazing. peggy carey best is her name and she's a gem. now, with regards to state schools, the mcat is the great equilizer. it really doesn't matter if you got a 4.0 at any school if you get under a 30 on the mcat. your mcat score shows that your overall grasp of the material is less than someone from another school with a 3.5 and 35 (this is unfortunate because the mcat is a **** test). but this is all generally speaking. of course someone with a 4.0 and less than a 30 can get into a great school. what matters most is your ability to make a case for yourself in your application. and to the previous post, you always got to look out for you family, aint nothing wrong with that. props to the original poster and i wish your sibling the best of luck.

 

[Tezzie]

1) The med school admissions process is very "personal". Which means that it all comes up to every single applicant. Its about YOUR ECs, YOUR scores, YOUR interview skills etc. Even in elite universities you will have people that won't make it in med school. Your brothers future roomate can very easily not make it in any schools and your brother can get in 10. Obviously the college or the university rep had nothing to do with it.

2) Your question in the first place was obnoxious and stupid. It's like asking "Which is best for pre-med : Harvard, Yale or Stanford?".

3) Regardless of what you like to think a big part of the interview process is to see the maturity of the applicant. Med school is a long and hard process where in many schools they tell you that you have to get down and dirty. If up until that point in your life mommy and daddy (or whoever) are the ones making the decisions for you then that will come through and then good luck. There is nothing wrong taking advice from our fellow family members or asking for help (thats what families do), but such decisions are highly personal.

4) Your brother is not even in college yet. Most college kids change majors. Esp "pre-meds" that after a semester of Cs in O-Chem realise that Harvard law is truly what they wanted from the beginning.

 

[Mr.Tweed]

Ok, I haven't read this entire thread, but it appears that nobody has given you a real answer. Of course it doesn't matter that much because all three schools are great. However, I would rank them as follows.

1. Middlebury: It's better know than Bowdoin and comparable academically and
socially to schools like Amherst and Williams.

2. Bowdoin: Very strong academically but less well known than Middlebury.
However, I think they have the best cafeteria food in the country.
I heard that they get Maine lobster from time to time.

3. Wesleyan: Not as strong academically as the other two. More of an alternative
social and academic environment.

In any case, that's my ranking. But again, they're all great schools.

 

[Zweihander]

Originally posted by Tezzie
Your question in the first place was obnoxious and stupid. It's like asking "Which is best for pre-med : Harvard, Yale or Stanford?".

Dude, chill.
The question was neither obnoxious nor stupid, nor is the answer as "obvious" as you're making it out to be. It's just as easy to give someone advice without calling them names.

This can be a pretty mystifying process, and it is not at all unreasonable for people to try and understand how it works.

 

[Mr.Tweed]

In my experience people don't like ranking good schools when they didn't go to one. I don't mean to imply anything though

Seriously. Chill.