EPTOn April 03 2006 18:40 fig_newbie wrote:
Just fyi, UCLA is in the top 10 in med schools (beh I'm waiting for my acceptance letter- *prays*). They're a smidge below Duke and above Yale (whoa it didn't look right to me either but I read it on US News). Like Radar said(edit: like what everyone said, I type too damn slow), you can't really go wrong with any of your options.
Radar, I have a couple questions for you regarding the engineering pathway you mentioned.
How is the average GPA lower than a "traditional" biochemistry/biology student? I would imagine that the averages are around the same score (2.8-3.2). Perhaps you mean its more competative/difficult to stand out? That would make more sense for me.
Also, my understanding is that it is not necessarily a bad thing approach the medical school process in a non-traditional manner. Humanities majors typically have the highest mean MCAT score, followed by math majors, engineers then -sadly- the science majors who studied so hard for that forsaken test for 3+ years. I would argue that if you happen to succeed in a non-traditional path, you have a much higher chance of getting into a prestigious medical school simply because your Liberal Women's Feminist Studies coupled with your awesome MCAT, would make your application stand out much more than the 40000 or so Biology majors applying for a slot.
Btw what's wrong with Irvine? I like the asian population T_T.
Just fyi, UCLA is in the top 10 in med schools (beh I'm waiting for my acceptance letter- *prays*). They're a smidge below Duke and above Yale (whoa it didn't look right to me either but I read it on US News). Like Radar said(edit: like what everyone said, I type too damn slow), you can't really go wrong with any of your options.
Radar, I have a couple questions for you regarding the engineering pathway you mentioned.
How is the average GPA lower than a "traditional" biochemistry/biology student? I would imagine that the averages are around the same score (2.8-3.2). Perhaps you mean its more competative/difficult to stand out? That would make more sense for me.
Also, my understanding is that it is not necessarily a bad thing approach the medical school process in a non-traditional manner. Humanities majors typically have the highest mean MCAT score, followed by math majors, engineers then -sadly- the science majors who studied so hard for that forsaken test for 3+ years. I would argue that if you happen to succeed in a non-traditional path, you have a much higher chance of getting into a prestigious medical school simply because your Liberal Women's Feminist Studies coupled with your awesome MCAT, would make your application stand out much more than the 40000 or so Biology majors applying for a slot.
Btw what's wrong with Irvine? I like the asian population T_T.
Engineering is undoubtedly harder than the easier sciences like psychobiology and biology. Engineering majors face stricter admissions requirements than any other major, so on average the students are more capable than the average science major student. Once again, it's doable, but you have to be extremely gifted to take all your engineering classes, premed classes, and still maintain a competitive GPA.
On a similar note, I think that any humanities or liberal arts major that apply to med school are extraordinary. These are extremely intelligent people that excel at two nearly opposite aspects of college coursework. It's also helpful for the MCAT because that test is ALL about reading comprehension. Yes, you need to learn scienctific material, but what will get you the great scores is being able to quickly read the passages and eliminate answers based on incomplete information. And liberal arts majors are great at that. Once again, it's harder to take this route. It's hard to find a group of students to study with for both your humanities and science classes...you tend to bond with people in your major. If you have the passion, by all means pursue "nontraditional routes" to med school.
Nothing wrong with Irvine as a school, and if you like Asians, that's certainly your place. But it's a huge commuter school (read: dead on weekends) and the college town atmosphere is practically nonexistent. I mean, it's in the suburbs. Unless you reallllly enjoy the Spectrum and...Wild Rivers...
Someone mentioned getting letters of rec from upper divison profs...well yes, that's definitely better if you can manage it. The problem is that med applicants need to apply third year, which is generally when you start taking upper division courses. So it can be a bit hectic since you don't have a whole lot of classes to choose from. I definitely agree that the smaller class size is great for a letter of rec.
I think I'm a little biased against Irvine because I live near there, but it's a great school for sure and it's true that LA is just a hop down the freeway. Are you going there soon? 
