My son did not take pre-med, he majored in Electrical Engineering and took pre-med courses as electives. He graduated from Purdue with a 4.0 GPA and got accepted into IU Medical School on the first round, did his residency at the University of Louisville, and is now a Board Certified Trauma Surgeon.
My point is not all med school openings are filled by pre-med students, a portion (15 to 25 percent) are from other disciplines where the competition is not nearly as intense.
Very interesting.
But I’d hardly call EE the easy route. Speaking as an engineer myself. At least it’s guaranteed work for “little” education/$ if the med doesn’t work out.
In High School I took the Kuder preference test and it identified three areas of study: MD, EE, and Teacher. I did not consider MD as my counselor and I did not understand the term they used (Physician REV). At any rate, I studied EE and have the degree. My SAT was 1400+ and college was still not a breeze. This test does not measure aptitude, instead it compares likes and dislikes with groups and helps you understand what group or groups you have a natural fit with.
My point in adding to this discussion is that there are links between Med careers and engineering careers. Both rely on a lot of memorization and problem solving. It turns out that I later learned that this was something I was good at.
However, in engineering, I found myself in a job that was currently boring and switched at that time to teaching. This turned out to not be as financially beneficial, but was a lot more enjoyable.