Is it better to go to a lesser school if you are went to be premed

[Anonymous]

I have a pre-med kid at UVA and a second one at an Ivy. The medical school matriculations from the two are very different. UVA sends primarily to state schools, Ivy sends many to top10 med schools. UVA kids almost all take gap years, the Ivy kids generally do not.

We're both in medicine and realize that an MD is an MD. But it's nice that places like Yale and Penn medicine are in the conversation from the Ivy undergrad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are choosing between Harvard and Emory, definitely go with Harvard.

Op here. I’m thinking schools like Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, UPenn vs Boston University, Emory, Georgetown.

Johns Hopkins and Cornell are supposedly great for premed but I know so many guys who went there and did not make it to medical school. Have heard Columbia is cutthroat.

My kid really liked BU’s campus.

The second tier schools you listed are not easier. Emory for example has a 68% premed to medical school acceptance rate. Georgetown has a small cohort of premeds. Premed is premed, it's hard. Many guys who went to Emory also did not make it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a pre-med kid at UVA and a second one at an Ivy. The medical school matriculations from the two are very different. UVA sends primarily to state schools, Ivy sends many to top10 med schools. UVA kids almost all take gap years, the Ivy kids generally do not.

We're both in medicine and realize that an MD is an MD. But it's nice that places like Yale and Penn medicine are in the conversation from the Ivy undergrad.

Over 85% of Ivy students take a gap year today including at Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look into BSMD programs

In my oldest kid's class, there was a boy who was great in all ways. In short, most people believed he will go to Harvard. He ended with a school out of Top50. It is a BSMD program with big merit aid. Later when I saw how many students struggling on the way to med school, I realized how great his choice was.

Which one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sister and I were pre-meds at so-called second tier Ivies. I almost finished the course load before switching to poli sci and winding up at law school. My sister completed pre-med courses and went to Cornell Med.

We both felt that Ivies do not want to graduate classes where pluralities are going to med school. Ivies want to impact society (and generate big alumni donations later, LOL), and doctors don't do that (unless they invent a stent and then buy the LA Lakers). As a result, the curves in the weed-out classes are pretty tough, perhaps tougher than they would be at other colleges.

Pre-med courses are tough anywhere, and aspiring doctors have to run a gauntlet of coursework at any college. But at an Ivy or an Ivy+ it is indeed more difficult, IMO. The LAC pathway seems better to me.

Which university did you attend? Big difference between Cornell and Brown, for example, when it comes to grade deflation in weed out classes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look into BSMD programs

In my oldest kid's class, there was a boy who was great in all ways. In short, most people believed he will go to Harvard. He ended with a school out of Top50. It is a BSMD program with big merit aid. Later when I saw how many students struggling on the way to med school, I realized how great his choice was.

If he had gone to an ivy he could have gotten into a better med school AND gotten merit. Aid is huge at med school now

merit aid is not a median outcome for ivy league premeds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a pre-med kid at UVA and a second one at an Ivy. The medical school matriculations from the two are very different. UVA sends primarily to state schools, Ivy sends many to top10 med schools. UVA kids almost all take gap years, the Ivy kids generally do not.

We're both in medicine and realize that an MD is an MD. But it's nice that places like Yale and Penn medicine are in the conversation from the Ivy undergrad.

Don't believe this premise, but regardless, doesn't matter anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is pre-med at an Ivy. Their thoughts:
-the pre med classes aren't impossible and peers are not a crowd of geniuses.
-the medical school results are really good. The seniors my child knows personally this year are going to Yale, UVA, Mt. Sinai, and Hopkins. All top tier med schools. No gap year.

I went to a very small private university that doesn’t usually send a lot of kids to med school. Maybe a few from the bio program a year. One of my friends got into Harvard med school, and she said it was so easy. Said they had pass/fail and the only way to fail was to quit. She also had straight A’s in her science classes and an excellent MCAT score.

[Anonymous]

Holy Cross is a powerhouse in placing kids in med school and has been hot over 100 years. Grads include Nobel Prize winner, AMA President, countless med school deans, and Dr Fauci. No other SLAC is close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I vote for SLAC’s for your pre-med kid but I’m biased. The main thing about being pre-med is that the kid has to want it badly enough and be interested enough to get through the gauntlet of med school admissions and training. Pre-med students can be successful at all kinds of schools.

This. If child is really committed to going into medicine, getting through those math, biology and chemistry classes are going to be key. And it can much harder at a larger university.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Holy Cross is a powerhouse in placing kids in med school and has been hot over 100 years. Grads include Nobel Prize winner, AMA President, countless med school deans, and Dr Fauci. No other SLAC is close.

Holy Cross does very well in med school acceptances but there are other SLACs including multiple among their NESCAC neighbors who do even better.

[Anonymous]

My kid got into Hopkins med this cycle. He graduated from a T10 last year with one year gap doing consulting. I think that I could share my observations during his med school application:
1. Elite schools do have benefit of getting more IIs from elite med schools. Their quality is a known factor to the med schools. Because of that, if your kid has any issues - lower than average GPA, lesser volunteer or research hours comparing to their school peers, it is also obvious to them. There is little that you could hide. But if your goal is T10/T20 med schools and you have the numbers, elite undergraduate schools do give you a slight/moderate edge.
2. State schools may be hesitate to give you IIs because they would suspect that you won't come. Even some of our in-state schools refuse to give him IIs with his Hopkins level resume. There is real possibility that you may miss the opportunities from 2nd tier med schools simply because of Tufts syndrome. If you don't have the numbers for elite med schools, you may have the risk of missing opportunities from both ends. My kid has multiple friends that barely got into lower med schools at last minute even they have reasonable scores.
3. Med school admission is notorious random with major factor of luck. The person who read your application, the interviewer's mood and the atmosphere of the committee meeting that day largely would affect your outcome more than your application. The med schools simply have more qualified applications than their spots. So where your kid go to undergraduate is a real minor issue for most med schools admission.
In summary - if your kid has the numbers and looking for T10/20 programs, elite undergraduate would help. Otherwise, it is a wash.

[Anonymous]

What’s the difference between a T10 med school and a T50 med school, if one’s goal is not research but just a practicing physician?

[Anonymous]

Doubt there are more than 1 or 2 NESCACs that do better than Holy Cross. Enlighten us please on which NESCAC has a grad with a Nobel for medicine or a grad as prominent as Dr. Fauci.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are choosing between Harvard and Emory, definitely go with Harvard.

Op here. I’m thinking schools like Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, UPenn vs Boston University, Emory, Georgetown.

Johns Hopkins and Cornell are supposedly great for premed but I know so many guys who went there and did not make it to medical school. Have heard Columbia is cutthroat.

My kid really liked BU’s campus.

The second tier schools you listed are not easier. Emory for example has a 68% premed to medical school acceptance rate. Georgetown has a small cohort of premeds. Premed is premed, it's hard. Many guys who went to Emory also did not make it.

Its 85% actually. Most schools use a committee letter for pre med applications. Emory does not.