what is the best college for someone who wants to be a pediatrician?

Question

i am a girl that wants to fulfill their dream of being a pediatrician but i dont know what college to go to. can you help?

Answer 1

Although I think SoCal Dude's answer is generally good, I disagree on a couple points.

The main thing is not the residency. If you graduate from a good medical school then you will be able to get a pediatrics residency. The tough part is getting into medi school.

Should you go to a tough undergrad school, or an easier school? At the easy school your grades will be higher, but you will be less well prepared for the MCAT tests which are VERY important in admission. And, everyone at your school will have high grades because it's an easy school. On the other hand, at the tough school only a few people will have high grades, but everyone will be well prepared for the MCATs.

I think the end result for this dilemma is shown in the records for admissions from different schools. If you went to a notoriously tough school like Univ of Chicago (currently 9th ranked in the USA), then everyone there gets low marks, even though they are very smart. And they ace the MCATs. The med schools realize that UCHi does not have grade inflation, so they respect the students there and nearly all of their premeds get into med school. On the other hand, at state u there may be some good students who get into med school, but a large percentage of all kids who start out as premeds do NOT get into med school. Most of them get washed out or just wind up not applying to med school because they know their chances of admission are poor.

Some people just cant afford to go to a top college, but if you can, then I think it is worth it because of the superior preparation you will get there.

It's a tough decision either way. Good luck!

Answer 2

To be honest with you, the most important thing is to get into a good pediatric residency program after you finish medical school. You will only learn a few basic things about pediatrics in medical school... most of what you need to learn will come during residency.

After you finish high school, you do a four year undergraduate program. You can major in anything you want, but you need to make sure you take the 4 or 5 required pre-med courses.

Your undergraduate grades are a big factor in determining whether (or where) you go to medical school. Rather than going to a top-notch undergraduate school, you may want to consider going to a smaller liberal arts college with a good reputation, or an honors program of a larger public college, where you are more likely to get better grades.

Keep in mind that not everyone in your undergraduate science courses can get "A's," and at a top-notch undergraduate school, it is much harder to earn good grades because all of your classmates are excellent students too.

In addition to getting good grades, you have to score well on the MCAT exam before you can get into medical school.

If you get into medical school, you are in school for four years before earning your M.D. After medical school is over, you begin a residency in a specific branch of medicine (like pediatrics). Residencies are usually 3-6 years, depending on what type of specialty. I think pediatrics is 3 or 4 years.

In any event, good luck!