<p>I have been fortunate enough to have a successful admissions cycle in my opinion. After eliminating many other schools, I am down to the following:
-UMich Honors
-BC honors
-Cornell
-USC
-Tufts
(Georgetown waitlist for school of international health)</p>
<p>Here is what I am looking for:</p>
<p>Academically:
I have an eye towards med school, so I will likely be a bio major, but I want to also have an international focus like the program at Georgetown. What I mean is opportunities abroad and actual learning about what it means to be a physician abroad, sort of an IR kind of deal mixed with bio.</p>
<p>Social:
I am very chill socially. I prefer people to come to me rather than vice versa. I am not into intense partying. I like small groups, intellectual discussion, etc. If an atmosphere is dominated by frat partying or something of that nature, I would not like it.</p>
<p>City:
I am from a small town, so I prefer to move to a big city, or at least a city that is vibrant and where there are things to do off campus. I dont know if Ithaca is this way.</p>
<p>I would like sunny weather but I'm not sure if USC is worth it just for the weather.</p>
<p>Reputation is also important for me, and if my medical aspirations don't work out, I want a school that will offer other options in economics or business.</p>
<p>First of all, nice list! You’re lucky to have so many opportunities. Being from MA, I hear that Tufts is particularly popular for premed. Also, if you decide to change majors there are a lot to choose from. I actually have a few friends in the chemical engineering program and are very successful. BC is also a strong choice, especially for the honors program (although science isn’t as well respected as Tufts). The only issue is the weather, if that is a major concern for you, but you’ll get used to it :). I think USC is at the same level as BC and Tufts, just different location and campus environment. Don’t know a lot about the other schools</p>
<p>I can probably visit most of them and i know that might clarify things. KGJG thanks for your help. What I am struggling with is the prestige of Cornell and the fact that it is an ivy. I don’t just want to throw such an honor away. Plus, I need financial aid, but my family is rather well off so I don’t know the best place to get it. Any other thoughts?</p>
<p>If you want a city experience, cross off UMich and USC off your list. One is in a town – though a great college town – but the nearest city is Detroit and, frankly, problematic. The other is in a tough part of LA, and LA isn’t a city. It’s a hundred square miles of mostly suburban sprawl. Yes, tons to do, but not near the campus and difficult to explore without a car. </p>
<p>Tufts and BC will nicely fit your bill - not right IN the city, but oh so close to Boston, one of the great college towns on earth as well as a wonderful city to explore. From Boston you have access to beaches, can take a train/bus to NYC, Philadelphia, go skiing in Vermont and chill in Maine. So much to do and see. Personally, I’d suggest you focus on Tufts because of everything I said above plus the added bonus of its medical school AND good IR program. Congrats on your acceptances, and good luck.</p>
<p>Cornell is a great option, but so are all the schools on your list. Consider it an acceptance, not an honor (don’t be silly). It’s selectivity is similar to Tufts. I’d look at each school academically first. At academic success in premed and each school’s acceptance rate, and at the academic culture.</p>
<p>Then I’d look at the other data, location, size and weather preferences. Make a little chart and see how they stack up on paper.</p>
<p>What do you mean if med school aspirations don’t work out? Won’t you know that only after applying to med schools and how would a business program at your undergrad help you then? you might be able to go into research and get into grad schools if you don’t get into med school (very low accept rate.) Or do you mean you might flunk out of orgo and have to switch majors while in school?</p>
<p>Cornell will only award need based aid, which you don’t qualify for. Check each school individually for that. If you wanted aid and don’t qualify for need-based, you should have applied to schools known for large merit awards, where you are in the top percentile of applicants.</p>
<p>I like this calculator from FinAid.org [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Advanced Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid) in addition to the financials, it also lets you enter information about some other factors that may be important to you. Even though not all of the factors that matter to you are included, I think it will help you start to clarify your process.</p>
<p>As a former Cornell grad student, I have to point out that there are great programs in the College of Human Ecology and the College of Ag. and Life Sciences for someone interested in seeing the world while studying a biological science and getting ready to apply to med school!</p>
<p>Cornell is a great school, and Ithaca is a great (and very lively) town, and clearly Cornell is the pick of the litter for prestige, if that matters to you. For pre-med, though, the prestige of your undergrad institution is almost meaningless; you need a great GPA and great MCAT scores, and that’s about it. As for GPA, Tufts has the highest grade inflation in this group (albeit by a small margin), which may be one reason it’s popular with pre-meds.</p>
<p>Sounds like you might prefer BC or Tufts for location. Note, though, that both are in the suburbs, not the city. And as a premed you’re going to spend almost all your time on-campus studying, so I’m not sure the suburban-near-a-city location is nearly as important as you think it is. My D thought proximity to Philadelphia was an attractive feature of her suburban LAC, but 3/4 of the way through her freshman year she’s been into the city exactly once (with a second trip coming up this week). I should think the social, recreational, and comestible opportunities on and immediately in the vicinity of campus would be more important, and on that score I’d say it’s Ann Arbor #1, Ithaca #2. </p>
<p>Basic sciences are going to be about the same anywhere, but once you get to advanced levels in the biological sciences, Cornell is the strongest in this group, followed closely by Michigan. USC and Tufts are in the moderately strong range but a distance behind Cornell and Michigan; BC a bit further back. This might be important if you get really engaged in Bio not merely from an instrumental point of view as an avenue to med school, but because you really want to engage in top-level research. </p>
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<p>I don’t think this is fair to either Ann Arbor or LA. First, Ann Arbor is a small city with a population of nearly 120,000, roughly 4 times the size of Ithaca. It is also the administrative seat and business and cultural center of an economically and culturally vibrant, highly urbanized, growing, affluent county with a population of 350,000, which in many ways makes it a moderate-sized city. And finally, it is also part of the Detroit-Ann Arbor-Flint Combined Statistical Area with a population of 5.3 million within roughly an hour’s radius (and more than that if you also include nearby Toledo and environs, which the Census Bureau counts separately). True, the cities of Detroit and Flint suffer from some well-known problems, but you’ll also find just about every urban amenity imaginable somewhere in this urban conglomeration. It’s not as if everything in Detroit proper is bad, and it’s not as if the City of Detroit is all there is. Consequently, it’s not nearly as bleak as katliamom would have you believe. Indeed, Ann Arbor itself is one of the most important cultural and entertainment focal points for this entire metropolitan region, which gives it an amped-up feel disproportionate to the population of the City of Ann Arbor.</p>
<p>As for LA, it most certainly is a city by any standard definition. LA’s sprawling character, especially coupled with USC’s location in a tough end of town, make USC a challenging place to experiment with urban living, especially without a car. But LA has no shortage of urban amenities and interesting neighborhoods that, if you have the time and means to explore them, are well worth exploring. I just don’t know that a diligent undergrad, especially in pre-med, has the luxury of that much time. </p>
<p>Bottom line, I’d say if you’re looking for a true urban experience, none of these schools is ideal. In Ann Arbor and Ithaca, there will be many amenities right nearby, and the big cultural opportunities will mostly come to you. At Tufts, BC, or USC, I suspect you’d more frequently need to go out into the city in search of them, though I’m sure they also have a lot going on on-campus (which to some extent renders this entire conversation moot). In my book, though, academics should come first. On that score these are all good schools, but I’d perhaps give a slight edge to Cornell and Michigan (especially since you’re Michigan Honors).</p>
<p>I agree with BrownParent’s advice in full, especially the part about not being silly with respect to your acceptance to Cornell.</p>
<p>I disagree with bclintonk’s assertion regarding grade inflation at Tufts. In fact, the school is generally known for having no grade inflation. In addition, I (and many other people) disagree that Cornell represents the “pick of the litter” with respect to prestige, although it is certainly an excellent school. </p>
<p>With all due respect, you can’t even imagine the workload, stress, pressure, and level of competition that you are going to face as a prospective premed student at any of these schools. In this regard, the location or proximity of the university to any particular type of community is likely to be largely irrelevant because you are going to be living in the library, laboratory, and study halls. If, on the other hand, you drop out of the premed track (as many, many students do) but continue as a biology major, you will do well after graduating from any of these schools as long as you demonstrate achievement in the higher-level biology courses and (<em>crucial</em>) obtain significant research experience. </p>
<p>Visit the schools (again) to determine vibe and fit, possibly consider the respective med school acceptance rates, see who gives you the most money (I don’t believe that Cornell, Tufts, or BC award merit aid), and make your pick.</p>
<p>You’re free to disagree of course, but if we’re basing this on facts rather than naked opinion, the latest evidence I’ve seen says Tufts has the highest average grades of the schools in question. Now it could be that grades at Tufts have always been higher and therefore there’s been no “inflation” per se, but that would have you winning on a technicality. Or it could be that the higher average grades are reflective of actual superior performance by Tufts students, but that would be difficult to demonstrate. If you have evidence to the contrary concerning grade distribution, I’d like to see it.</p>