'13 PA ATH Alex Anzalone (Florida Early Enrollee)

[PraetorianND]

I thought that Anzalone wants to be pre-med? If so, Florida is a better academic choice than ND for that major, I believe.

Ya but you don't have to major in premed to go to med school. Premed is just a list of classes you have to take to go to med school. You can major in geography and take your bio, chem, anatomy, physics, chem requirements and go to med school.

At most colleges and universities, students do not have the option of pre-medical major. A student on a pre-med track is permitted to choose any undergraduate major in any field of study, so long as certain required courses are completed. Such courses are generally focused in the scientific fields of biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics, which are necessary for an individual to be prepared for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)[1] and satisfy most medical school prerequisites.[2] It is for this reason students on a pre-med track generally undertake a major associated with one of those fields; however, an increasing number of students with a background in humanities have been applying in recent years[3], a situation applauded by medical schools.[4] For example, Mount Sinai School of Medicine has created a program specifically for non-science majors. The Humanities and Medicine Program grants admission to undergraduates majoring in the humanities or social sciences without requiring the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) or science coursework.[5]

Via Wikipedia

 

[Emcee77]

I thought that Anzalone wants to be pre-med? If so, Florida is a better academic choice than ND for that major, I believe.

Yeah, this is something I'm unclear on. I know that in the spring he wanted business. Part of the reason that he committed to OSU was because he was excited about their joint BBA/MBA program, and he was interested in a similar program at PSU.

But I've read recently that Anzalone is interested in pre-med. Maybe Mendoza was a big part of the pull to ND, and now he isn't interested in business any more, so he figures he can just go to UF like Dad?

If that's the case (and it's half speculation), I don't know if it is sound reasoning. Can UF really be better for pre-med than ND? I feel like half my friends from ND are doctors. We get kids into top med schools all over the country. I'd be shocked if UF has a better record than we do on this. Anzalone may be underestimating how hard it is to get into med school. It's like 1% of applicants. He should go to the most prestigious school he can if medical school is his goal.

 

[PraetorianND]

Wouldn't you still want to go to the best medical school?

Yes, but medical school is after undergrad. So where you go to undergrad doesn't really matter. Getting into Harvard Medical with an ND undergrad or a Florida undergrad is probably the same difficulty.

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

Perfect solution, go to ND for undergrad and go to UF for med school. Now sign on the dotted line Alex.

 

[PraetorianND]

Yeah, this is something I'm unclear on. I know that in the spring he wanted business. Part of the reason that he committed to OSU was because he was excited about their joint BBA/MBA program, and he was interested in a similar program at PSU.

But I've read recently that Anzalone is interested in pre-med. Maybe Mendoza was a big part of the pull to ND, and now he isn't interested in business any more, so he figures he can just go to UF like Dad?

If that's the case (and it's half speculation), I don't know if it is sound reasoning. Can UF really be better for pre-med than ND? I feel like half my friends from ND are doctors. We get kids into top med schools all over the country. I'd be shocked if UF has a better record than we do on this. Anzalone may be underestimating how hard it is to get into med school. It's like 1% of applicants. He should go to the most prestigious school he can if medical school is his goal.

I agree with this.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I know ND has a very strong preprofessional program. I'd be shocked if UF gives Anzalone a better shot at medical school. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a credible ranking for preprofessional programs.

 

[Emcee77]

Perfect solution, go to ND for undergrad and go to UF for med school. Now sign on the dotted line Alex.

lol.

But seriously that is a perfect solution.

 

[tussin]

90% of med school application decisions are determined by two factors only: GPA and MCAT scores.

Undergrad institution has little to no impact, especially in this case because UF is a pretty good academic school as well. The fact that ND is a more rigorous school may actually work against him in this case if his GPA is lower.

The fact that he is playing high D1 football will likely help his application stand out, but he would obviously benefit from that at both schools.

 

[Ndaccountant]

Yeah, but if the best or better is on the table...why in the holy hell would you sell yourself short?

It also depends on what type of doctor you want to be. If you want to be in reasearch, you will most def need to go the more prestigous route. If you want to live in a typical suburb with a good local hospital, you can get there via Nd or Uf. Like others mentioned, MCATs matter way more.

 

[jimmymac]

90% of med school application decisions are determined by two factors only: GPA and MCAT scores.

Undergrad institution has little to no impact, especially in this case because UF is a pretty good academic school as well. The fact that ND is a more rigorous school may actually work against him in this case if his GPA is lower.

The fact that he is playing high D1 football will likely help his application stand out, but he would obviously benefit from that at both schools.

Undergrad institution plays a HUGE role. From people I have talked to a 3.5 at a place like ND is weighed higher than even a 3.9 at a big state school.

 

[PerthDomer]

I'm in med school and went to ND and I can tell you that is verifiably false. Med schools take the 3.9 at nowheresville state every time let alone a good school like UF. ND kids tend to ace the MCAT and be super involved. That explains ND kids' success

 

[NDdomer2]

Undergrad institution plays a HUGE role. From people I have talked to a 3.5 at a place like ND is weighed higher than even a 3.9 at a big state school.

When you can go to a State school for an undergrad at the cost of one year at ND I would hope this is the case.

 

[PerthDomer]

Also as long as he gets some clinical/research stuff in, D1 college football is better than anything else you could do EC wise. Adcoms would be salivating.

 

[PraetorianND]

I'm in med school and went to ND and I can tell you that is verifiably false. Med schools take the 3.9 at nowheresville state every time let alone a good school like UF. ND kids tend to ace the MCAT and be super involved. That explains ND kids' success

Same thing for law school. It's all about getting USNews rankings up.

Private schools have higher GPAs than public schools. Go to ND.

National Trends in Grade Inflation, American Colleges and Universities

 

[PerthDomer]

ND grade deflates like hell in the sciences. It has smarter/more motivated kids than publics. It's a great prep for med school but pure work wise harder to pull off.

 

[PraetorianND]

ND grade deflates like hell in the sciences. It has smarter/more motivated kids than publics. It's a great prep for med school but pure work wise harder to pull off.

It's like this at most schools though.

 

[PerthDomer]

We were given a presentation by our admissions committee at ND giving us advice for med school. We were told ND UVA Vandy and Northwestern get the most grade deflation adjustment by med schools (ND's admissions committee is great btw). They said arts and letters wise we're average nationally or grade inflate a bit. Basically they said at many places you could skate by below GPA mean by a bit.

 

[Emcee77]

It also depends on what type of doctor you want to be. If you want to be in reasearch, you will most def need to go the more prestigous route. If you want to live in a typical suburb with a good local hospital, you can get there via Nd or Uf. Like others mentioned, MCATs matter way more.

This depends on what residency you do, which is several steps removed from the decision to choose a college. Getting into residency depends in part on where you went to med school, which depends in part on where you went to college, but that's a lot of "in parts." More important will be how well you do in med school courses and what your USMLE scores are. Basically, by the time you apply to residency, no one really cares where you went to undergrad; your med school record is more important. And then, even if you don't get the residency you want, you can apply for a fellowship later that gets you back on track to do a sub-specialty or more research.

So where you go to college can only influence where you go to med school, but its not the most important factor there, and where you go to med school is not the most important factor in what kind of doctor you become. If you want to give yourself the best chance to do the most prestigious things, I suppose you always want to go to the most prestigious school, but I'd hesitate to advise someone to pick a college based on what kind of doctor you want to be.

I'd put it this way: Just ask yourself, am I giving myself the best chance to have the most options later on? Don't you want to give yourself every possible advantage? If so, ND is the answer.

 

[PerthDomer]

Myron Rolle parlayed a 3.8 at FSU for a Rhodes. The effort required to get that there is likely 3.4-3.5 at ND. In some cases playing the GPA game is the smart choice.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Undergrad institution plays a HUGE role. From people I have talked to a 3.5 at a place like ND is weighed higher than even a 3.9 at a big state school.

I attend Purdue, and I can say that state schools are not always easier. In fact, one of my good friends transferred into ND from Purdue, after his Frosh year. He said, "I was blown away by how much easier my calc class, in particular, was in comparison to Purdue's grading."

I obviously can't speak on behalf of other state schools, like UF, but not all state schools are "easier" than ND's curriculum.

Further sources.
Grade Inflation: Colleges With the Easiest and Hardest Grades - CBS News

 

[PraetorianND]

Myron Rolle parlayed a 3.8 at FSU for a Rhodes. The effort required to get that there is likely 3.4-3.5 at ND. In some cases playing the GPA game is the smart choice.

AA should go play at Harvard IMO.

 

[Emcee77]

Myron Rolle parlayed a 3.8 at FSU for a Rhodes. The effort required to get that there is likely 3.4-3.5 at ND. In some cases playing the GPA game is the smart choice.

WHOA let's pump the brakes there. It takes a lot more than GPA to get a Rhodes scholarship.

Not that the basic point is wrong ... I can't say for certain that playing the GPA game is the wrong choice in every case.

But I look at it this way ... what if you can't break out of the low 20s on the MCAT and you can't get into med school, no matter where you attended college or what your grades are? Your ND degree and the instant connections that come with it will be pretty valuable. As someone a few years out now, I've seen it happen. I've seen people bounce back from devastating med school rejections to have great success in business and other fields. Like I said, you choose a college to give yourself the most options down the road. UF is also a great school, but I think you have more options with that ND degree.

 

[Ndaccountant]

This depends on what residency you do, which is several steps removed from the decision to choose a college. Getting into residency depends in part on where you went to med school, which depends in part on where you went to college, but that's a lot of "in parts." More important will be how well you do in med school courses and what your USMLE scores are. Basically, by the time you apply to residency, no one really cares where you went to undergrad; your med school record is more important. And then, even if you don't get the residency you want, you can apply for a fellowship later that gets you back on track to do a sub-specialty or more research.

So where you go to college can only influence where you go to med school, but its not the most important factor there, and where you go to med school is not the most important factor in what kind of doctor you become. If you want to give yourself the best chance to do the most prestigious things, I suppose you always want to go to the most prestigious school, but I'd hesitate to advise someone to pick a college based on what kind of doctor you want to be.

I'd put it this way: Just ask yourself, am I giving myself the best chance to have the most options later on? Don't you want to give yourself every possible advantage? If so, ND is the answer.

While all of that is true, it also doesn't change the fact that you need to be comfortable where you go to school in order to produce. If you are more comfortable at UF, you could get a better academic experience because of it.

 

[Emcee77]

While all of that is true, it also doesn't change the fact that you need to be comfortable where you go to school in order to produce. If you are more comfortable at UF, you could get a better academic experience because of it.

Yeah, always true. If he feels he can't be comfortable at ND then we are sunk.

 

[Ndaccountant]

Yeah, always true. If he feels he can't be comfortable at ND then we are sunk.

Let me clear that up a little. I am not saying he is or is not more comfortable one place or the other. I am saying that decisions about college can be impaced by other things than a ranking or prestige.

 

[connor_in]

Let me clear that up a little. I am not saying he is or is not more comfortable one place or the other. I am saying that decisions about college can be impaced by other things than a ranking or prestige.

Wasn't one of the things he cited when verballing to ND the bond he seemed to have with fellow recruits?

 

[ab2cmiller]

JC Shurburtt was on Bill King's show this morning and said that he thinks Anzalone switches again and eventually becomes a Gator. Of course he probably doesn't know much more then the rest of us here, but that's his guess at this point.

 

[Irish#1]

Perfect solution, go to ND for undergrad and go to UF for med school. Now sign on the dotted line Alex.

I like this!

As far as his father, if AA is really leaning towards ND and his dad is rational at all I think he would allow AA to make his own choice. Since it looked like we lost him, but now he's coming for two days, I think this is what's happening.

 

[Buster Bluth]

As far as his father, if AA is really leaning towards ND and his dad is rational at all I think he would allow AA to make his own choice.

When the parent(s) oppose(s) going to Notre Dame, we demand that they allow their child to make their own choice.

When the parent(s) want(s) for their child to go to Notre Dame, we commend them for steering their child down a good path.

It's pretty amusing haha

 

[SouthernComfort]

I cant imagine anyone seriously considering a future outside of football ever choosing FL over ND. You want to party? You want hot women? ND is definately not the place for you. You want a 40 year decision? FL is definately not the place for you.