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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Not looking for snark, but I have one dc at UChicago and a high schooler who wants pre med. The high schooler is petrified to attend UChicago due to the "intimidating" super intellectual kids she's met through DC so far and the grade deflation. Otherwise school is a great fit. Is her fear valid? She said WashU woild be easier for pre med, but UChicago seems to do well with med school placement. We know ED UChicago and WashU is going to be make or break, so need to decide. She is capable and hardworking but older kid tested better and is more analytical, and near photographic memory, so she is worried she can't cut it. Sigh.[/quote]

Since your DC already knows the culture of UChicago, have her look at less intensive academic colleges. UChicago is not for everyone.  GPA is still the number one factor so even if they get their undergraduate degree at a T10 like UChicago,  a third tier private like Emory, or from a lesser public like VCU, you will still need a high GPA.  What a lot of people are missing is that the success of getting into medical school from T10 colleges is more a function of these students can perform really well on the MCAT rather than the name behind the school.  The vast majority of T10 students are going to have high SATs which correlates to a high MCAT score.[/quote]

While yes, that is true, it is also true that the most rigorous schools often prepare better for the MCAT and the rigor of med school, which is like drinking out of a firehose. These schools also have a culture of hard work outside the classroom, such that all premeds are motivated to work very hard on all aspects of their application and often have much more research and more meaningful clinical hours. Research is a huge factor for getting into T20-30 med and up. It has become almost essential for these. There are too many 3.9/518+ with all the clinicals, and these top schools are all top academic medical centers that are centered on research. 
I have been directly involved in hiring at my multi-specialty adult med practice: The resumes of docs out of residency almost never listed papers from med school or undergrad 22 years ago when I started practice. I did research at an ivy back then as an undergrad and it was rare, under 15%, and it was a big tip-in to my T5 med school. Now almost all successful applicants to T20 have at least one semester of real research with a professor, you need a co-author or extensive 3 semester/multiple summer research for a T5.

Med admission consulting groups are all docs and many are former admin officers at their med schools, including myself. There are many around the DMV, and we often share data informally to discuss changes. When data from years shows that students at X and Y schools(popular SEC tupe schools) applying to med school often have 3.90+ GPA including BCPM(stem) GPA, in a science major, and almost none of them can get over a 508, yet the 3.5 (below average!)ivy+ kids easily get over 510, it tells you all you need to know about the rigor of the courses at the ivy+, as well as peer group they faced on the way! Med admissions 100% know it too, and track it! 
The 3.90+ ivy kids (top third at most ivies) never pay for consulting nor would any of us honorably take their money: almost all 3.90+ have 518+. They walk into the T25 and if they have the research and volunteering/altruism profile they often score a T10 or at least big merit at a T20-30 school.  Getting to go to a great or even good med school(T50) for half off or free is a huge golden ticket: attending ivy+ schools is the most likely path to get that ticket punched. Of course it does not make sense for a 1450, mix of 4s and 5s on stem AP to go to an ivy+ for med, but it is absolutely the best choice for the top 1% high schoolers.[/quote]
this is helpful info - thanks for posting. i graduated med school almost 30 years ago so a lot has definitely changed. i'm relearning the process as DC is interested in pursuing medicine and just finished freshman year at cornell with 4.0+. encouraging to hear that ivy kids getting 3.9+ tend to score well on mcat. i recently joined harvard med admissions so will see what criteria they use for applicants, but my initial sense is they're looking for "future leaders in the field".

not to derail the thread but wondering what you've seen students do for their clinical hours (paid vs unpaid) as she is starting to look into options over the next few years. [/quote]

Most consultants recommend EMT, CNA, or MA. Scribing is considered fake clinical or not even clinical. Some do street medicine volunteering, phlebotomy, other soft clinical but those are all considered worse than the top three. [/quote] For top schools, successful applicants often have two or more deep and longstanding clinical experiences and the "soft" ones that have an altruistic/public health angle are highly prioritized once the baseline clinical experience is checked. They are not "soft" when the profession is about showing you can care for others and mean it. 
The Cornell parent is correct Harvard and other T10 are looking for future leaders in the field. That means in addition to the requisite clinical experience all med schools demand, leadership experience plus science research has to be part of the package to have a shot. Clinical experience is table stakes. [/quote]

I'm not sure what your point is. The question was about getting clinical experience, which is what I answered. No one asked about leadership or research. Sure, you should have some soft altruistic volunteering also, but if that is all that you have for clinical then it is not going to cut it at top schools. You need real clinical work to show that you want to be a doctor and not a social worker. [/quote]

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