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February 28, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR DESIREE BUTTER
IN PA
Adrianna,
There are a variety of different factors involved when deciding
which
college to attend if you are interested in going on to medical
school.
There are many, many schools which offer the pre-requisite
classes for
entrance into medical school. There are many other factors
to be considered
as well. Medical schools will often have certain criteria
that they are
weighting more heavily or that influences them, such as an
applicant who is
interested in rural or inner city medicine, an applicant who
has good
communication skills, an applicant who has a research interest
that fits
with ongoing medical school research, etc. However, academics,
grades and
test scores are still heavily weighted. I believe that US
News magazine
ranks colleges in terms of admission rates to graduate schools.
There is
also a helpful website for high school students interested
in medicine
http://www.bestpremed.com/hs.htm.
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February 26, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR JOAN LUSK IN
RI
You have a wide range of choices. Schools that interest you
should
be able to tell you their track records of getting graduates
into
medical schools. They should have a good advisor for pre-med
students, someone who helps students with course selection
and the
application process and general advice. Look for these things
when
you look at colleges and ask questions when you visit.
Most colleges offer biology, chemistry, and the other basic
pre-med
requirements. Some may have a formal pre-med major. But standing
out from the crowd of bio or biochem majors can help your
chances.
If you have other academic interests, it's quite possible
to major in
something else while also completing pre-med requirements.
Those
requirements consume only about 10 or 12 of the 32 or so courses
you
need for the bachelor's degree. Your major - if totally separate
-
might require 10 or so more. that still leaves room for electives
or
distribution requirements (and pre-med courses would typically
fulfill science distribution requirements). I'm probably wandering
off-topic for you - if you didn't like science you wouldn't
be in
GEM-SET
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A: FROM MENTOR DIANA DIONISIO
IN CA
Med school is tough! I'm a pre-med biology student and people
tell me to be happy to get in anywhere. If the school is certified,
you will be prepared well and become a great doctor. It's
up to you. When it comes to picking a school, reputation,
in my opinion, isn't everything. Think about money issues.
States schools, like the University of California system have
great medical schools and are much cheaper than private schools.
Also think about weather you want to go to a med school that
is lecture based (where u sit in class for the first couple
of years) or problem based (where you work in small groups
and learn that way). You can find that stuff out from specific
medical school. I honestly haven't looked yet .
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