<p>You could always flip a coin to decide.......(Of course a double sided coin where both sides are heads and Cornell stands for heads...) :)</p>
<p>Graduate school is not just about GPA. Its mainly about research experience. Go to the best school for you interests. Cornell is a great place because of the research opportunities its gives undergraduates. Those opportunities will give you an order of magnitude improvment to your graduate application. Admissions officers are not stupid, they know the GPA difference between MSU and Cornell. Cornell will give you the best opportunity to perform you best at both classes and research. </p>
<p>I actually turned down more "prestiges" universities to attend Cornell because of the research opportunities in my field. That research has gotten my admit letters from the grad schools of my choice. </p>
<p>I would also mention (as you already know) Cornell has the #1 Vet School in the country. Going there for undergrad will allow you to spend some time doing reasearch there and getting to know professors. This would up your admit chances later.</p>
<p>Did you get accepted to MSU's honor's college?</p>
<p>Yes - I was accepted to MSU's Honors College (a 4 year program) as well as their professorial assistantship program - a paid research position my freshman and sophomore years in which I work one-on-one with a faculty member on a research project. Because I qualified for the assistantship, I get in-state tuition (saving me about $100,000 over Cornell). Also, they gave me a scholarship for study abroad, which is definitely something I want to do in college. Being a member of the Honors College gets me priority scheduling, dismisses me from most prerequisites for classes, allows me to deviate from the general education requirements, and I can take graduate courses for undergraduate credit.</p>
<p>You guys are giving me fantastic advice - so don't feel bad if I don't immediately change my mind. I guess another thing stands out in my mind, although it's not exactly the same situation. My cousin, who I consider to be a genius and a great guy, went to UCSD for undergrad, pulled a 3.55, and applied to med school. He was rejected his first try, without an interview, yet his friends at San Diego State, a fourth tier school, who had 3.8's and the same graduate exam scores, got interviews and were accepted to UCSD med school. After taking a year off, he applied to Tufts and was accepted to their med school, and is now at the top of his class - I believe #1. While I know it's not like my situation, it just goes to show how much GPA can make a difference when applying to graduate/medical/veterinary school. UCSD is ranked #32 on US News, and yet people from a FOURTH tier school beat him out because of GPA. I know there could be other factors, but still...</p>
<p>I do want an incredible undergrad experience, not just preparation for vet school; I want to be intellectually stimulated and challenged. However, even if I develop into an amazing person at Cornell (which I'm sure I would), if I'm not accepted to vet school, I really don't know what I would do at this point.</p>
<p>you mention the 3.5 gpa and med school.</p>
<p>how about this:</p>
<p>the acceptance rate for Cornell students with at least a 3.4 GPA into med school is 90%. Med schools and vet schools know that Cornell is damn hard. You also need to put standardized tests into mind, your friend at UCSD might have blown them.</p>
<p>The Rankings from US News and World Report are mainly used by high school students and current college students. Admissions officers know that those particular rankings mean absolutely nothing. They are simply opinion surveys. If rankings are at all considered, the most accurate ones use NRC data (<a href="http://www.phds.org/rankings)%5B/url%5D">www.phds.org/rankings)</a>. In this case programs are ranked based on publications, research allocations, and job placement.</p>
<p>First, your cousin could've been deficient in a number of any other categories that could've precluded him from getting into med school. Just because he had a slightly lower GPA than his SD State peers doesn't mean it was the GPA that held him back. </p>
<p>Secondly, as you noted, your cousin is now at the top of his med school class so obviously going to a tough undergrad school prepared him well for the rigors of med school. Here's what someone on the Premed board said to me along those same lines:</p>
<p>"And just wanted to mention to Norcalguy... I'm a Cornell alumnus, class of 1975, B.A. biology (neuro and behavior). That's obviously a long time ago, but I don't think the quality of the education has changed. Obviously I can't judge other schools, but I know Cornell premeds are very, very prepared for the challenge of med school. Keep up the good work! I think you will find med school easy once you get there compared to some of your Cornell undergrad classes!"</p>