Anonymous wrote:It doesn’t matter for vast majority of kids. Just echoing in its what they do in undergrad that will get them into med school, not where they went. And also to add, where you go to med school doesn’t matter either. It’s only if you want to be in academia or research that this would make a difference. If your kid’s goal is to be a practicing physician, it truly doesn’t matter. I’m married to a physician and we cumulatively have many physician friends in various states, in various surgical specialities. All make a great living and went to second and third tier med schools. One of the highest paid went to med school in the Caribbean. You do not need to go to a top 20 school in order to get into a med school and you do not need to go to a top medial school in order to be an extremely successful and well compensated physician.

Anonymous wrote:Someone posted a link that was pretty comprehensive, but I sadly erased it. If someone could repost it then you would be done.

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Anonymous wrote:My kid is a resident and within her cohorts, most have taken one or two gap years.

The average age of entering med students is over 24. Almost all take gap years.

What do they do in the gap year? They apply to med school during this time? Or they're already in?

They re-take classes that they don’t get a high enough grade in. They get volunteers hours at clinics and fire stations. They work in labs doing research and publishing papers.

This is before applying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a resident and within her cohorts, most have taken one or two gap years.

The average age of entering med students is over 24. Almost all take gap years.

What do they do in the gap year? They apply to med school during this time? Or they're already in?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a resident and within her cohorts, most have taken one or two gap years.

The average age of entering med students is over 24. Almost all take gap years.

Anonymous wrote:My kid is a resident and within her cohorts, most have taken one or two gap years.

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Anonymous wrote:This has been discussed a million times. Newsflash: there won't be any consensus.

This is rather juvenile. No one needs to use "Newsflash". Just use regular words to provide emphasis.

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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.

1530 one sitting, all 5s one 4 in stem means they are smart enough to go anywhere. So what do you mean by "good not a great student" exactly? I suspect grades not as good as could be? Unless they are at a super competitive private high school that has 30% of the class get into ivy+, Cornell and Duke will not be an option with subpar grades, they will not get in! If your kid is hooked and somehow gets in, they do have the smarts with those scores but would they have the discipline to compete with all of the students who had no trouble getting As in high school and have similar scores as yours, and use their free time to knock out research, clinical hours and volunteering? Pick wisely for premed.

Not good meaning still has to study a lot. Not getting the 7-8 hour daily sleep needed.

Do they study a lot and get all As, or some Bs in there? Are they top 5% of the public or top 15% of private? What AP sciences did they take? What stem courses does the high school offer that they skipped?
To be honest, I do not know how you can tell for sure how they will do. DC is a premed BME at an ivy with a med school, had much higher SAT one sitting and was the top kid in high school, did every hard stem AP, got 5s without tons of work and frankly found the courses easy compared to college They had plenty of time for sleep in high school. They still sleep but less, to keep their super high 3.94 GPA and do the other things, manage it all fairly well.
Freshman year there were many who had As from typical high schools, did not take all of the most challenging stem in HS but had 5s in calc BC and Bio, then struggled to get the average in calc, chem at the ivy, O-chem and physics got worse for them. Some are not ready for the competition and they were TOP students at their high school, thought high school was easy and got crushed. It depends on the high school. Most of the TJ, Stuy, rigorous private top kids felt quite well prepared. Maybe your student should ask other premed students who went to ivies or duke from their high school.

I'm comforted by the fact that my child is experiencing the rigor of TJ. I am curious if yours is planning a gap year as is so common with so many. I know someone who chose a gap year so that they could get into a better medical school than they could otherwise.

TJ students do very well at ivies.
About 40% do not gap year at DC's ivy. No plans to gap because the GPA, especially in engineering, is well within range to have many top interviews. MCAT will not be a problem, practice tests are already indicating 520+. Seniors with similar or lower GPAs and 519+ are already in to top places. One is sitting on five top-20 med acceptances and UVA as well. They are waiting on merit. Med schools give so much merit to top students these days there is no need for a gap year to try to save $, better to get in and get done. Some students are already committed to 4+1 masters and have in-school funding for the 5th year, that makes sense for a gap. Most gap-years at this ivy are done to make up for slightly weaker GPA, and yes a gap can help them boost top school odds.

This poster always posts the same old BS. Nauseating posts re. her Ivy kid.

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

1530 one sitting, all 5s one 4 in stem means they are smart enough to go anywhere. So what do you mean by "good not a great student" exactly? I suspect grades not as good as could be? Unless they are at a super competitive private high school that has 30% of the class get into ivy+, Cornell and Duke will not be an option with subpar grades, they will not get in! If your kid is hooked and somehow gets in, they do have the smarts with those scores but would they have the discipline to compete with all of the students who had no trouble getting As in high school and have similar scores as yours, and use their free time to knock out research, clinical hours and volunteering? Pick wisely for premed.

Not good meaning still has to study a lot. Not getting the 7-8 hour daily sleep needed.

Do they study a lot and get all As, or some Bs in there? Are they top 5% of the public or top 15% of private? What AP sciences did they take? What stem courses does the high school offer that they skipped?
To be honest, I do not know how you can tell for sure how they will do. DC is a premed BME at an ivy with a med school, had much higher SAT one sitting and was the top kid in high school, did every hard stem AP, got 5s without tons of work and frankly found the courses easy compared to college They had plenty of time for sleep in high school. They still sleep but less, to keep their super high 3.94 GPA and do the other things, manage it all fairly well.
Freshman year there were many who had As from typical high schools, did not take all of the most challenging stem in HS but had 5s in calc BC and Bio, then struggled to get the average in calc, chem at the ivy, O-chem and physics got worse for them. Some are not ready for the competition and they were TOP students at their high school, thought high school was easy and got crushed. It depends on the high school. Most of the TJ, Stuy, rigorous private top kids felt quite well prepared. Maybe your student should ask other premed students who went to ivies or duke from their high school.

I'm comforted by the fact that my child is experiencing the rigor of TJ. I am curious if yours is planning a gap year as is so common with so many. I know someone who chose a gap year so that they could get into a better medical school than they could otherwise.

TJ students do very well at ivies.
About 40% do not gap year at DC's ivy. No plans to gap because the GPA, especially in engineering, is well within range to have many top interviews. MCAT will not be a problem, practice tests are already indicating 520+. Seniors with similar or lower GPAs and 519+ are already in to top places. One is sitting on five top-20 med acceptances and UVA as well. They are waiting on merit. Med schools give so much merit to top students these days there is no need for a gap year to try to save $, better to get in and get done. Some students are already committed to 4+1 masters and have in-school funding for the 5th year, that makes sense for a gap. Most gap-years at this ivy are done to make up for slightly weaker GPA, and yes a gap can help them boost top school odds.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

1530 one sitting, all 5s one 4 in stem means they are smart enough to go anywhere. So what do you mean by "good not a great student" exactly? I suspect grades not as good as could be? Unless they are at a super competitive private high school that has 30% of the class get into ivy+, Cornell and Duke will not be an option with subpar grades, they will not get in! If your kid is hooked and somehow gets in, they do have the smarts with those scores but would they have the discipline to compete with all of the students who had no trouble getting As in high school and have similar scores as yours, and use their free time to knock out research, clinical hours and volunteering? Pick wisely for premed.

Not good meaning still has to study a lot. Not getting the 7-8 hour daily sleep needed.

Do they study a lot and get all As, or some Bs in there? Are they top 5% of the public or top 15% of private? What AP sciences did they take? What stem courses does the high school offer that they skipped?
To be honest, I do not know how you can tell for sure how they will do. DC is a premed BME at an ivy with a med school, had much higher SAT one sitting and was the top kid in high school, did every hard stem AP, got 5s without tons of work and frankly found the courses easy compared to college They had plenty of time for sleep in high school. They still sleep but less, to keep their super high 3.94 GPA and do the other things, manage it all fairly well.
Freshman year there were many who had As from typical high schools, did not take all of the most challenging stem in HS but had 5s in calc BC and Bio, then struggled to get the average in calc, chem at the ivy, O-chem and physics got worse for them. Some are not ready for the competition and they were TOP students at their high school, thought high school was easy and got crushed. It depends on the high school. Most of the TJ, Stuy, rigorous private top kids felt quite well prepared. Maybe your student should ask other premed students who went to ivies or duke from their high school.

I'm comforted by the fact that my child is experiencing the rigor of TJ. I am curious if yours is planning a gap year as is so common with so many. I know someone who chose a gap year so that they could get into a better medical school than they could otherwise.