A Look into Vassar Science | Medical school viable option for science students

Jesse Small Staff Writer

This is Part Four of a four-part series. To see the previous three articles, visit misc.vassar.edu.

One of college students’ greatest concerns is what they will do after graduation. The daunting prospect of applying to a graduate school is enough to make some students take time off to acclimate themselves to the “real” world.

For some science and pre-med students, however, graduate programs and medical schools are the only options for advancement in their respective fields. And no one knows this better than Vassar alumnae/i, who have already traveled a considerable way along the path that many current pre-med and science students will follow.

Coming from a small college where the freedom of study is both a luxury and a curse, moving on to a graduate program can be difficult. According to Emily Whitesel ’04, who is currently in a Ph.D./M.D. program at Harvard University Medical School, “I think it’s difficult to compare the Vassar-style undergraduate education to any medical school. In medical school, there is no flexibility in course work…The focus of knowledge is different as well, as what we are learning now will be directly applicable for us in the future and our ability to care for patients, which makes it exciting, though occasionally frightening as well.”

On the other hand, graduate schools for scientific studies allow students an opportunity for deeper learning in a specific field. “In some ways, classes are more intense because you cover more material,” said Daria Van Tyne ’06, a first-year biochemistry graduate student at Harvard. “You’re expected to think on a deeper level, but at the same time, grades don’t matter nearly as much, so there’s less pressure to get everything perfect,” she added.

“The less one has to worry about grades, the more one can cope with the heightened intensity of the academics in graduate school.” said Van Tyne.

Many alumnae/i reported that the pre-med office’s advising can make applying and adjusting to a new environment feasible. “The pre-med advisors were great,” said Jeff Dan ’96, a graduate of Tulane Medical School who is currently an emergency room physician.

“They helped me to the extent that they could. I was prepared for the MCATs, but it is a difficult test.”

The fact is that even students who have excellent grades and test scores may not be admitted to a medical school immediately. Interviews and essays are also taken into account. According to Dan, however, students without excellent qualifications may still have hope of admission. “When I left Vassar, my GPA and MCATs were both subpar,” he said. “My science GPA was maybe 3.2. I worked for an ophthamologist for two years in Boston. I applied to over 20 schools. I got some interviews, but I was not accepted anywhere. I re-took the MCATs and studied three or four hours a day after work and eight hours on the weekend for maybe three months. It was pretty awful, actually.” Although it goes without saying that one has to be extremely motivated in order to be admitted to a graduate program, it is heartening to know that even a “subpar” candidate was able to gain access to an excellent school.

Having a Vassar background has other benefits. According to Lara Kunschner ’90, a University of Pittburgh Medical School alumna, “I was able to think critically and clearly, yet maintain a healthy perspective because I came out of a solid liberal arts school. I could write and imagine and empathize because I had learned about the world at Vassar. I had the tools to enjoy life outside of medicine because I had had exposure to so much outside of the narrow world of medicine.”

Kunschner advised those considering going to medical school or graduate school to pursue this goal with themselves and their own desires in mind. “Talk to people in the field, do preceptorships or internships in a variety of medical, academic or research settings to get a feel for what medicine or the lab setting is all about,” she said. “The actual job is not always what the romantic perception reflects, and certainly has absolutely nothing to do with the life portrayed on various syndicated television shows.”

According to the Office of Institutional Research, nearly 80 percent of Vassar students applying to medical school were accepted in 2006. Students should take advantage of the pre-med advising to further increase these odds.