Question 2: What should I look for in a University for Pre-Med

A shout out to all of you pre-pre-meds (high schoolers) out there, since its that time of the year where a lot of seniors are looking at universities. I'd just like to preface this with a big

SALT SHAKER ALERT!

What I am about to say is my thoughts on the topic. Some of what I mentioned is highly contested throughout the pre-med community, and plenty people go separate paths to end up in medical school.

I think the biggest things to get into medical school, aside from GPA and MCAT scores, are that you have had interesting and meaningful experiences in:
1) Community Service
2) Medically related volunteering/work
3) Research (most important for those wanting to go to a research heavy school)

Everything else that you do outside of these three areas is what makes you unique, interesting, and can only improve your chances. I personally feel that one of my strongest features when applying was my dancing experiences. These three things, especially 1 and 2, are critical to many schools, because it shows both a tendency towards compassion and charity, as well as provides you with a basis to prove why you want to go to medical school. Because of this, here are my personal recommendations on selecting a school.

1) Has a research program that is large enough to sustain undergraduate participation.
Look for schools that have undergraduate thesis projects, undergraduate fellowship positions, etc. A school with Research 1 designation is great, because that means there are tons of research projects going on. If you never publish or present a paper, that's fine. However, doing so can be a major boost, especially if you are author or co-author, or even 29th author of a paper that makes it into a major journal like Nature. It does not necessarily have to be medically related research, but I would recommend it if you are contemplating MD/PhD.

2) A moderately well known school.
I personally would recommend limiting your choices to one of the top 200 or so schools. You want a school that has had a decent number of pre-meds, because this increases the chances of an admissions committee knowing something about the opportunities available at your school. It also increases your chances of getting good advising from a pre-med office. I am a member of the faction that believes that prestige is not a significant factor in the admissions process. Having gone to a public school that isn't even ranked in the Top 100, I have interviewed at a number of the Top 20, 10, and 5 schools. I personally believe that your own merits outweigh the name of your school significantly. This is not to say that I believe a 3.5 is the same as one school than another. Admissions committees often have "experts" on a given school, or look at statistics like the average GPA and MCAT score of pre-meds in past years. Thus, a 3.5 at Princeton might be more impressive than a 3.5 at John Doe public school, simply because the average GPA and MCAT score at Princeton is a 3.5/33, and a 3.5/28 at John Doe. Clearly, it was harder to earn a 3.5 and 33 at Princeton than a 3.5 and 33 at John Doe (though, the equal MCAT scores would somewhat minimize this). Suffice it to say that a 3.5 and 28 at Harvard isn't going to beat out a 3.8 and 31 at John Doe, all other things being equal. This being said, I feel that opportunities at the more prestigious undergrad schools outside of academics are excellent. However, I feel that any big public school like OSU, ASU, etc will have similar opportunities by virtue of their sheer size. Any school that made it in the top 200 should have enough of everything for you to succeed if you are good enough. If you are good enough at one place, you are good enough anywhere, so long as you aren't handicapped.

3) A School with a medical school or that is near one.
The inside man always has an advantage. If you went to Harvard College, you will have a stronger shot at Harvard Med. This is because you have three years to build relationships with the medical school, do research under doctors affiliated (and thus get letters) with the school, and become an expert on that school. The opportunity to work with doctors at any medical school probably increases your chances everywhere. There is always the chance that they will be recognized, and its a great way to get insight in academic medicine.

4) Go to a school near a reasonably sized city.
Cities have a lot going for them by virtue of their huge populations. There are all sorts of activities available in research, community service, and just fun things that will make you a more well rounded and interesting person. Being near a city means you will also be near at least a few good hospitals or clinics. This saves you on travel time and ease of access, as it is likely students from your school have already built connections with nearby schools.

5)If you want to get into academic medicine, I strongly recommend some form of teaching or tutoring.
Showing that you have an interest in teaching and academia is best done through these sort of activities. They are also very likely to give you some excellent talking points about being a life long learner. Overall, teaching is just a great extra curricular, and it will probably help you relate to interviewers (many who are academic physicians).