Medical School

[Anonymous]

Suppose you are a good but not super star student. SAT 1530. Which would you choose in what order for premed? Cornell, Duke, UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which is the best route to Med school a SLAC, Mid, or large?

Top30 private or public with a med school on or close to campus, ideally one where the median in Stem classes is a B+ or A-, as long as the prospective student has the skills to be top half or better. SLACs in the Top10-13 range can be good if med school is close enough.

For top students go to an ivy/elite with a med school on or close to campus. Those schools place the largest portion of applicants into T20 med, necessary for targeting certain subspecialties. These schools also have below-average (3.5-3.6) students get in to medical school in the US all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:State flagship with a hospital for clinicals and lab research positions.

UCLA has a med school acceptance rate close to the national average. There are many schools that don't fit the criteria you outlined that have higher rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Suppose you are a good but not super star student. SAT 1530. Which would you choose in what order for premed? Cornell, Duke, UVA.

That depends what you mean by not a super star. Not top 10% in a public high school or not top25% in a good private? All of those schools will likely be too hard to stand out against peers.
Struggled with AP chem, AP calc or AP bio, AP physics C? Those should all be 5s or mostly 5s to be able to compete at ivies. Uva will have an easier peer group to compete against for grades but it could be tough if not focused with good study habits. Premed requires focus and study to get the grades needed.
If the 1530 was one sitting and no extra time that is a good indication mcat will be easily within range for success, likely 515+.

1430 one sitting no extra time is around the score that corresponds to a 510+, the minimum needed for an unhooked med applicant to MD schools in the US with presumed good gpa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Suppose you are a good but not super star student. SAT 1530. Which would you choose in what order for premed? Cornell, Duke, UVA.

That depends what you mean by not a super star. Not top 10% in a public high school or not top25% in a good private? All of those schools will likely be too hard to stand out against peers.
Struggled with AP chem, AP calc or AP bio, AP physics C? Those should all be 5s or mostly 5s to be able to compete at ivies. Uva will have an easier peer group to compete against for grades but it could be tough if not focused with good study habits. Premed requires focus and study to get the grades needed.
If the 1530 was one sitting and no extra time that is a good indication mcat will be easily within range for success, likely 515+.

1430 one sitting no extra time is around the score that corresponds to a 510+, the minimum needed for an unhooked med applicant to MD schools in the US with presumed good gpa.

1530 one sitting, self study.
Top 10% public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Suppose you are a good but not super star student. SAT 1530. Which would you choose in what order for premed? Cornell, Duke, UVA.

That depends what you mean by not a super star. Not top 10% in a public high school or not top25% in a good private? All of those schools will likely be too hard to stand out against peers.
Struggled with AP chem, AP calc or AP bio, AP physics C? Those should all be 5s or mostly 5s to be able to compete at ivies. Uva will have an easier peer group to compete against for grades but it could be tough if not focused with good study habits. Premed requires focus and study to get the grades needed.
If the 1530 was one sitting and no extra time that is a good indication mcat will be easily within range for success, likely 515+.

1430 one sitting no extra time is around the score that corresponds to a 510+, the minimum needed for an unhooked med applicant to MD schools in the US with presumed good gpa.

1530 one sitting, self study.
Top 10% public.

APs: all 5s, one 4.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DC1 will be the 3rd generation MD in my family. In our experience any school that is a R1, because it offers the best opportunities for research and hours. Then it's the GPA and major. A computer science or engineering major from Ohio State will have a better shot than a psychology or biology major from Harvard, at similar gpa and mcat. My child was an Ivy undergrad and he's at a top med school, with a lot of students from state schools.
Hopkins, Emory, Washington U, WIliams are incredibly cut throat, so unless your child is a superstar, I'd avoid these schools for premed.
[/quote]

That’s not my experience at all but I guess it depends on the med school. Yes, gpa and mcat are paramount but if two kids have 4.0 and high mcat/research chops the sociology major from an ivy will do better than the chem major from state flagship or random LAC (unfortunately, imo.) [/quote]

The 4.0s with the same mcat would do similarly as a true 4.0 remains rare. The 3.90-3.99, still difficult but could be 20-30% of the school, the Ivy grad will do better than the non-top-3 public because the students at the ivy are known to be a more competitive group: the 3.9 is considered more impressive when done at an ivy as long as that ivy does not have extreme inflation.
In reality when one looks at data from schools, the 3.90 student from non-top public typically has a 510 mcat. The 3.90 from an ivy/elite usually has 517+.
The harder major comes into play when med schools compare students within the same school or same tier. Otherwise it is not a factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which is the best route to Med school a SLAC, Mid, or large?

Top30 private or public with a med school on or close to campus, ideally one where the median in Stem classes is a B+ or A-, as long as the prospective student has the skills to be top half or better. SLACs in the Top10-13 range can be good if med school is close enough.

For top students go to an ivy/elite with a med school on or close to campus. Those schools place the largest portion of applicants into T20 med, necessary for targeting certain subspecialties. These schools also have below-average (3.5-3.6) students get in to medical school in the US all the time.

Basically all of this is wrong. But what is especially wrong is that not being at a T20 med school will rule you out of some subspecialties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Suppose you are a good but not super star student. SAT 1530. Which would you choose in what order for premed? Cornell, Duke, UVA.

Ok, I will bite.

Among the three, Duke no brainer.
You can do it at Cornell, but it only makes it a lot more difficult. Premed is already a stressful process, it's not necessary to make it more complicated.
UVA is not particularly know for premed, acceptance rate to medical school is not comparable to Duke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Suppose you are a good but not super star student. SAT 1530. Which would you choose in what order for premed? Cornell, Duke, UVA.

Ok, I will bite.

Among the three, Duke no brainer.
You can do it at Cornell, but it only makes it a lot more difficult. Premed is already a stressful process, it's not necessary to make it more complicated.
UVA is not particularly know for premed, acceptance rate to medical school is not comparable to Duke.

Uhhhh….uva has a medical school, teaching hospital with opportunities for clinical hours, and ample opportunities for research. Many students are pre-med there. As a parent of one, I have sat through several sessions and seen percentages of med school acceptances. It was close to the national average range after a gap year. Without a gap year, the percentage was lower but I think that’s to be expected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Suppose you are a good but not super star student. SAT 1530. Which would you choose in what order for premed? Cornell, Duke, UVA.

Ok, I will bite.

Among the three, Duke no brainer.
You can do it at Cornell, but it only makes it a lot more difficult. Premed is already a stressful process, it's not necessary to make it more complicated.
UVA is not particularly know for premed, acceptance rate to medical school is not comparable to Duke.

Uhhhh….uva has a medical school, teaching hospital with opportunities for clinical hours, and ample opportunities for research. Many students are pre-med there. As a parent of one, I have sat through several sessions and seen percentages of med school acceptances. It was close to the national average range after a gap year. Without a gap year, the percentage was lower but I think that’s to be expected.

After a gap year, med school acceptances from UVA are between 50-60%, higher than national average. It was lower without the gap year, but with it, most students are very successful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which is the best route to Med school a SLAC, Mid, or large?

Top30 private or public with a med school on or close to campus, ideally one where the median in Stem classes is a B+ or A-, as long as the prospective student has the skills to be top half or better. SLACs in the Top10-13 range can be good if med school is close enough.

For top students go to an ivy/elite with a med school on or close to campus. Those schools place the largest portion of applicants into T20 med, necessary for targeting certain subspecialties. These schools also have below-average (3.5-3.6) students get in to medical school in the US all the time.

Basically all of this is wrong. But what is especially wrong is that not being at a T20 med school will rule you out of some subspecialties.

True. I know several from vcu who matched into dermatology vs Harvard. The step scores and class rank are the most crucial. Fit is also important, hence why EP and orthopedic surgery are full of bro, lacrosse type entitled a**es.

[Anonymous]

A R1 National University with an affiliated teaching hospital

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Suppose you are a good but not super star student. SAT 1530. Which would you choose in what order for premed? Cornell, Duke, UVA.

Ok, I will bite.

Among the three, Duke no brainer.
You can do it at Cornell, but it only makes it a lot more difficult. Premed is already a stressful process, it's not necessary to make it more complicated.
UVA is not particularly know for premed, acceptance rate to medical school is not comparable to Duke.

Feeder rates mean nothing. Williams has a great rate because they cherry pick to support only a handful. So if your kid gets a B+ in orgo during freshman year, they get zero support and kill all their chances. It's better to go to a school that supports all with research opportunities and recommendations, not everyone should be groomed for md PhD at hopkins. UVA is great and their gap program has pretty much guaranteed admission.
VT has also a surprisingly strong program with ties for research at the NIH, which is a strong boost in admission.
My kid went to an Ivy because they were strong legacies and grandparents paid, but if medicine is the goal and finances are important, the flagship state school is as good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which is the best route to Med school a SLAC, Mid, or large?

Top30 private or public with a med school on or close to campus, ideally one where the median in Stem classes is a B+ or A-, as long as the prospective student has the skills to be top half or better. SLACs in the Top10-13 range can be good if med school is close enough.

For top students go to an ivy/elite with a med school on or close to campus. Those schools place the largest portion of applicants into T20 med, necessary for targeting certain subspecialties. These schools also have below-average (3.5-3.6) students get in to medical school in the US all the time.

Basically all of this is wrong. But what is especially wrong is that not being at a T20 med school will rule you out of some subspecialties.

True. I know several from vcu who matched into dermatology vs Harvard. The step scores and class rank are the most crucial. Fit is also important, hence why EP and orthopedic surgery are full of bro, lacrosse type entitled a**es.

Why bro and lacrosse type more fitting for EP and orthopedic surgery?