Eighty-nine percent of Bates College students who worked with the college’s Medical Studies Committee in applying to health care-related graduate programs for fall 2007 matriculation were accepted.

According to a report issued this week by the committee, 32 of 36 Bates applicants to medical (allopathic) or osteopathic schools, or 89 percent, were accepted. Nationally, about 45 percent of applicants to allopathic schools were accepted.

A national acceptance rate for osteopathic schools wasn’t available. However, in the 2007-08 academic year, 4,243 of 11,459 osteopathic school applicants, or 37 percent, were enrolled (as opposed to accepted; not all accepted applicants will enroll).

Fifteen out of 17 Bates applicants to other health-related programs, such as dental, nursing, nurse practitioner or veterinary medicine, were accepted, or 88 percent.

All told, 47 out of 53 Bates applicants who worked with the committee were accepted into graduate programs in the health professions.

Bates students are typically accepted into graduate programs in the health professions at a rate higher than the national average. This speaks to both the quality of Bates students and the way Bates prepares students for life after graduation.

During the 2006-07 academic year, the Bates Medical Studies Committee had more than 300 counseling appointments lasting at least 30 minutes with students and alumni interested in health careers. The college’s medical studies program helps students satisfy medical school requirements by, for instance, guiding students with their course selections and helping set up job-shadowing or internship opportunities.

Nearly 91 percent of Bates students who worked with the committee and applied to allopathic schools were accepted for fall 2007. Sixty-three percent of all Bates students who applied to allopathic programs were accepted, whether or not they worked with the committee.

Nationally, in 2007, 18,858 of 42,315 applicants (44.6 percent) to allopathic medical schools were accepted, according to information from the American Association of Medical Colleges.

Lee Abrahamsen, chair of the Medical Studies Committee and an associate professor of biology, notes that students at Bates and elsewhere show an increasing interest in graduate programs in public health. “That reflects the growing perception of health as a global issue that has to be understood from many perspectives,” she says.

In response, Bates has developed a four-course public health concentration as part of its new general education curriculum.

“Emerging infections, pollution, antibiotic resistance, who can or should be immunized — even laws that require car seats for children — are all public health issues,” Abrahamsen notes. “So public health is multidisciplinary, and including it in the curriculum allows our students to use what they learn from courses, travel, community engagement and other experiences to approach important issues that affect everybody.”

During the last two years, Bates applicants to allopathic and osteopathic programs have been 15 percent neuroscience majors, 24 percent biology majors, 29 percent biochemistry majors, 10 percent psychology and 22 percent other majors including art, philosophy, chemistry, English and religion.

Ninety-six percent of Bates College seniors and alumni applying to graduate programs in the health professions for fall 2005 matriculation were accepted.

Ninety-one percent of Bates applicants were accepted into medical or osteopathic schools, vs. a national average of around 49 percent, according to a report issued on Oct. 10 by the college’s Medical Studies Committee.

Bates students are typically accepted into graduate programs in law and the health professions at a rate higher than the national average. This speaks to both the quality of Bates students and the way Bates prepares students for life after graduation.

The college’s medical studies program helps students satisfy medical school requirements by, for instance, guiding students with their course selection and helping set up job-shadowing or internship opportunities.

Of the Bates seniors or alumni who applied to 2005 post-graduate programs at allopathic or osteopathic medical school, 20 of 22 applicants were accepted, or 90.9 percent. For applicants to other health-care programs, such as dentistry, nursing, pharmacology or veterinary medicine, all 23 of the Bates students who applied were accepted this year.

Nationally, in 2004, 17,662 of 35,735 applicants to allopathic medical schools were accepted, or just over 49 percent, according to information from the American Association of Medical Colleges.

Equivalent information for osteopathic schools wasn’t available. However, for the 2002-03 academic year, according to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, 3,079 of 6,324 applicants were enrolled in osteopathic schools, or nearly 49 percent. (Note that these applicants were actually enrolled, as opposed to accepted; not all accepted applicants will enroll.)

According to the Bates MSC report, the grade point average for students matriculating at medical and osteopathic schools this fall was 3.58.

Eighty-three percent of Bates College seniors and alumni applying to graduate programs in the health professions were accepted for matriculation in fall 2004.

Seventy-five percent of Bates applicants were accepted into medical or osteopathic schools, vs. a national average of around 49 percent.

Bates students are typically accepted into graduate programs in law and the health professions at a rate higher than the national average. This speaks to both the quality of Bates students and the preparation Bates offers for life after graduation.

The college’s medical studies program helps students satisfy medical school requirements by, for instance, guiding students with their course selection and helping set up job-shadowing or internship opportunities.

The quality of the Bates education is also key to students’ success in these graduate programs. “Bates absolutely prepared me,” says Jessica Walls, a 2003 Bates graduate who is now studying at Dartmouth Medical School and contemplating a career in pediatric oncology.

Likening her academic career to a marathon, Walls adds: “If Bates hadn’t pushed me to work hard, and develop strategies that work best for my learning needs, I don’t think I ever would have broken the 10-mile mark.”

Of the Bates seniors or alumni who applied to 2004 post-graduate programs at allopathic or osteopathic medical school, 15 of 20 applicants were accepted, or 75 percent. For applicants to other health-care programs, such as dentistry, nursing, pharmacology or veterinary medicine, 14 of the 15 Bates students who applied were accepted last year, or 93 percent.

Nationally, in 2004, 17,662 of 35,735 applicants to allopathic medical schools were accepted, or just over 49 percent, according to information from the American Association of Medical Colleges.

Equivalent information for osteopathic schools wasn’t available. However, for the 2002-03 academic year, according to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, 3,079 of 6,324 applicants were enrolled in osteopathic schools, or nearly 49 percent. (Note that these applicants were actually enrolled, as opposed to accepted; not all accepted applicants will enroll.)

In law, Bates applicants last year attained higher Law School Admission Test scores than their peers nationally, with an average score of 157.3 for Bates applicants vs. the national average of 152.5. Moreover, Bates students and alumni were accepted to the top tier of law schools including Harvard, the University of Chicago, New York University and the University of Michigan.

“The rigorous undergraduate curriculum at Bates helped prepare me for the intellectual demands of law school,” says Michelle Wong, a member of the Bates class of 1998 and a J.D. candidate at the Northwestern University School of Law. “I learned how to read text critically and defend my ideas — skills that are critical to success in law school.”