[eunhae]

what are some good medical schools for undergrads?
i wanted to go to johns hopkins but i heard it's better to start off somewhere else & then go there for graduate school
& if you're planning to becaome an orthopedic surgeon, approx. how many years of studying will that take?

[Draconian]

Is it okay to be a nursing major? Would I be able to get into med school with that? I want to use it as a backup for me and it'd save time, I suppose!

[sle3pyguii]

what are some good medical schools for undergrads?
i wanted to go to johns hopkins but i heard it's better to start off somewhere else & then go there for graduate school
& if you're planning to becaome an orthopedic surgeon, approx. how many years of studying will that take?

do you mean undergrad schools with medical schools? All the ivys have medical schools that are research-based. IMO, I dont think it matters where you go for undergrad. Granted, the name recognition during the admissions process may help you, but it won't weigh out a bad GPA that you got from going to a ivy that is very competitive (ie. Johns Hopkins). Just go to a school where you will be least in debt and happiest. I say the debt part because med school will leave you with well over $150,000 in debt.

I'm not sure about how long residency is for ortho, but I'm guessing : 4 years undergrad + 4 years med + 5 years surgery(?) = 13+ years if there is a fellowship involved for ortho.

Is it okay to be a nursing major? Would I be able to get into med school with that? I want to use it as a backup for me and it'd save time, I suppose!

Any major is ok as long as you do the pre-reqs for medical school. That's actually what most people do; they have some sort of backup, whether it be engineering, nursing, or just getting a masters.

[K_Holic]

Does anyone know the approximate % average that is required for med school?

[sle3pyguii]

Anyone that has an admissions data question should go purchase an MSAR (Medical School Admission Requirements). It gives you a breakdown of each school's stats on applicants, interviews, and matriculants. If you don't wanna cough up the money, just go to your pre-med advisors and ask to see it. Every school has one.

[UCLAkersfan]

Does anyone know the approximate % average that is required for med school?

Hmm. I don't exactly understand what you are trying to say but:

3.6 GPA and 30 MCAT is the average for most med schools

[UCLAkersfan]

Out of curiosity, for people who are already in Med School, is the MCAT hard?
not really. If you study very hard you can easily get over 30, which is above avg for med schools. If you could get into UCLA or Berkeley, you should be smart enough do well on it.


And what type of grades did you get in High School?

I had 4.3. I had a few B's but I took over 10 AP classes.


And if I wanted to go to the University of Cali, which "campus", is best for med school?
Like Berkeley, or University of California, Los Angles, or what?

UCLA all the way! UCLA is definitely the place to be, esp if you are Korean.

Yeah, because I'm a Freshmen in High School, doing Physics, and I have a B in it.
o.o Yeah, I probally have a B because I've been sleeping in class 2/3 of the time..

It is good thing you are taking physics now. When you study for it again in college and for the MCAT, you will have much easier time. And B isn't that bad. Some of my friends who had 4.5+ and 1400+ and ended up going to Berkeley, Chicago or Standford got B's in Physics C AP.

[KoreanDude]

hmmm. There is a website that might offer you more/better advice. Just go check out:

Studentdoctor.net

[joonage]

Hmmm ... is it okay to be in the college thread even though I'm still in high school ...

I'm going to be a junior in high school ... but I'm already set my goal on becoming a surgeon ...

Just wondering, would a major in health administration or business administration with pre-med be too "hard" or "awkward"?

Also, since I live in Seattle, the UW Medical School is close by as well as the Oregon Health and Science University. Knowing that, would it be better to do my undergraduate at UW and apply to UW med school or go to a smaller university nearby with smaller classes (and a better chance of being top of class )

(Side note: I heard UW only accepts 150 for the freshman class ... o man ... haha ...)

[jlchen1031]

hrms.. i just went to orientation a couple weeks ago and went over the general path of courses i'm going to take as a pre-med student for the next four yrs with my advisor. i'm not shocked that there were a lot of science classes, but there was only one semester of calc..? would taking more math look better to the medical school admission committees? or should i spend my time doing something else (e.g. job, research, internship)?

[goyoungha]

All the ivys have medical schools that are research-based. IMO, I dont think it matters where you go for undergrad. Granted, the name recognition during the admissions process may help you, but it won't weigh out a bad GPA that you got from going to a ivy that is very competitive (ie. Johns Hopkins).

Just for future reference, JHU isn't an Ivy. I'd say going to an Ivy isn't that bad of an idea if you want to be pre-med. I say this because you have many opportunities to get involved in research in top-notch facilities with some of the most renowned professors in the field. I go to an Ivy myself, and the school I go to has grade inflation so maintaining a high GPA is not as hard as you'd think. My opinion on name recognition is that it will only help to a small extent, so I agree with sle3pyguii that the best way to maximize med school success is to go to the school where you think you'll do best. This is the place that you think you can grow both intellectually and socially.

hrms.. i just went to orientation a couple weeks ago and went over the general path of courses i'm going to take as a pre-med student for the next four yrs with my advisor. i'm not shocked that there were a lot of science classes, but there was only one semester of calc..? would taking more math look better to the medical school admission committees? or should i spend my time doing something else (e.g. job, research, internship)?

Some schools require one full year of calculus, but you can get out of it using AP credit. In my honest opinion, it would be smart to take a Statistics course too but not because it would look better to med schools. You'd be best off doing both, but if you had to choose between the two, I'd say the research/internships are more important for med school admission.

[goyoungha]

Hmmm ... is it okay to be in the college thread even though I'm still in high school ... sweatingbullets.gif

I'm going to be a junior in high school ... but I'm already set my goal on becoming a surgeon ...

Just wondering, would a major in health administration or business administration with pre-med be too "hard" or "awkward"?

Also, since I live in Seattle, the UW Medical School is close by as well as the Oregon Health and Science University. Knowing that, would it be better to do my undergraduate at UW and apply to UW med school or go to a smaller university nearby with smaller classes (and a better chance of being top of class tongue.gif)

(Side note: I heard UW only accepts 150 for the freshman class ... o man ... haha ...)

Haha, a junior? Well, you can major in almost anything and still be considered "pre-med." On that note, I don't think there's any major that would be awkward for med school admission (well...maybe except for fashion designing or basket weaving). And people still get into med school with majors like Chemical Engineering (in my opinion, one of the hardest majors), so I would say major in what you are most interested in. With regards to UW and Oregon, tell us what happens next year and which schools you are accepted to. Then we can give you better advice

[janeberryblue]

holy shiz i HATE PHYSICS. i have NO idea why the freak they even require it for medical school and the MCAT. physics has NOTHING TO DO WITH MEDICINE. it's really pissing me off. and i'm not just saying that because i'm doing really bad in the class. the reason why i'm doing so horribly is because i know deep down inside that it is an absolute waste of time...


T__________T

[Christine]

Berkeley isn't in the top 50 for med schools but it's probably somewhere close.

Just to be clear, Berkeley doesn't have a med school.

[erure]

holy shiz i HATE PHYSICS. i have NO idea why the freak they even require it for medical school and the MCAT. physics has NOTHING TO DO WITH MEDICINE. it's really pissing me off. and i'm not just saying that because i'm doing really bad in the class. the reason why i'm doing so horribly is because i know deep down inside that it is an absolute waste of time...
T__________T

Physics has a lot to do with medicine than you might think. For example, the flow of blood through your body... I hate physics too but it's something we do need to know imo.

[jlchen1031]

Physics has a lot to do with medicine than you might think. For example, the flow of blood through your body... I hate physics too but it's something we do need to know imo.

maybe a little.. but my dad, who's a practicing physician, says that he's never really had to make use of physics. and i've heard more often than not that physics courses are just used as bases of comparison: those who fare better in them are considered smarter and more likely to do well in med school ><

[rOxanne]

does anyone know how competitive medical schools in new jersey are to get into (i.e. Robert Wood Johnson, UMDNJ)? Or would they all be the same? Does it help at all if you live in the same states as the school, like how they put priority into students living in the state, as with undergrad state universities, or does it not matter?

[chiluvskk]

i want to apply to medical school but i also have an interest in psychology. would it be okay for me to major in psych and just take the needed science classes for medical school? would it be a disadvantage for me against other people who are majoring in science?

thank you

[jjashik]

i'm a freshman in highschool. and all these classes and stuff
are confusing me.. i want to become a pharmacist. but
i have no clue what classes i need to be taking in college and
stuff. i know i have like 3 years untill i go to college but
i want to know what i should be learning and what classes
i need to take to become a pharmacist. i heard that i need
to go to medical school?
O.o
*scratches head*
T.T ah my head hurts.

[Ladyy]

I'm an upcoming Junior in high school and I'm heading towards the medical field.
I'm going to be taking AP Bio but I heard that Chem is really important?
My class schedule is already set and I can't change from AP Bio to AP Chem
so in my senior year, should I take Physiology or AP Chem?
And I read somewhere in this forum that Psychology was important too?
My goal college is UCLA so yeah...

Sorry for so many questions x__x