<p>Alabama. NU’s science grade deflation’ll crush your med school ambitions. Remember there was a thread on here awhile back about a senior from UChi only able to look at TTT med schools due to a deflated GPA. (UChi’s grade deflation is worse than at NU, but NU’s science classes are brutal. Stick with the free education at Alabama.)</p>
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<p>NU produces scientists. Thus the science ought to be hard. It’s the same classes that the premeds take. </p>
<p>Medicine is not about science, it’s about people. </p>
<p>If you are positive that you want to be a physician, you should go to Bama and get the grades with greater certainty. </p>
<p>If you want to become a scientist, Northwestern is a great option. People do get the grades at Northwestern also, it’s just probably harder to do so. I think everything is 3.33 centered. </p>
<p>’"“What if OP went to NU, got like a 3.0, good MCAT and everything, would he get in to a US MD school?’’”</p>
<p>very probably not…for a few reasons…</p>
<p>1) unless a non-trad where the old grades were low, and the new grades were high, the student wouldn’t pass the first filters (gpa, mcat, race).</p>
<p>2) the grades suggest slacker.</p>
<p>3) in med school, info comes at you like water out of a firehose. you need to be a top performing student. </p>
<p>4) You dont get bonus points for a low GPA from a top school.</p>
<p><<<<
it sounds that what you’re interested in is more medical research</p>
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<p>OP…what is your goal? If it is MD/PhD, then you will need near-perfect grades and a super-star-MCAT.<br>
the MD/PhD students often have MCATs in the 38+ range. </p>
<p>Or do you want to practice medicine (surgery, primary care, whatever)</p>
<p>what state are you in??</p>
<p>what is your major?</p>
<p>Take the best financial route. Don’t go there and party like an idiot. If you want to go to grad/med school you better get damn good grades. Also grad schools know which schools inflate or deflate grades so if everyone gets an A- in some class and you get and A- you are considered average. Just so you understand the grad schools know all about this. </p>
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<p>very true, no matter where you go. </p>
<p>My son struck a good balance between social, job, and academics. sometimes, he could only go to half of a football game cuz he had to get back to the lab (engineering major). avoid 8 am classes…and get plenty of sleep!</p>
<p>do NOT get behind. </p>
<p>during the year that he took Orgo, he only worked 2 hours a week (on friday afternoon). </p>
<p>Geez, this blew up while I was away! You guys are super helpful. FYI, I’m a white girl from Tennessee. MD/Ph.D is my current dream, but with such a tiny acceptance rate I don’t want to get my hopes up. I’ll put it this way: I know I like science, but I don’t know for sure if I want to be a doctor because I haven’t had much experience in a clinical environment. I was thinking I’d go in as a pre-med, and if I change my mind then I change my mind. I’m most interested in biochemistry and neuroscience right now. What would getting into grad (not med) school look like from each school?</p>
<p>OP said " I really, really love being in the lab, so I’m looking at pre-med more from a biomedical research angle."
Hence the idea of a MD/PHD perhaps fitting her inclinations better.</p>
<p>@Collegemaze27 I do not know enough about Med School or NU to weigh in on that, but I can tell you my son just finished his first year at Bama and the school exceeded our expectations. DS had personal contact with professors (e-mail responses usually within an hours; one crazy prof would even answer DS’ 12 am e-mails instantly), research experience in far greater depth than what was expected, fantastic administrative support (red tape does not exist), challenging classes and for as A-type parents, frequent mass-mailing communication from the school. If you take Bama, a year from now you will not feel that you missed out academically vs NW.</p>
<p>“If you take Bama, a year from now you will not feel that you missed out academically vs NW.”</p>
<p>Now c’mon already. There are very legitimate reasons to attend Alabama over NU, but academics is not one of them. </p>
<p>If so, Bama should be rival Harvard… :)</p>
<p>@Longhaul My parents already love Bama for staying in touch with them, and my dealings with the Honors College have been positive. They seem really dedicated to helping their students succeed, so it’s good to hear that about the faculty as well.</p>
<p>In the bama vs Vandy thread, cc’er suggest Vandy over Bama, because that OP can afford. I think we should also suggest OP to take NU over Bama, if OP can afford. We cannot inconsistent in suggestions.</p>
<p>@rjkofnovi and @artloversplus Everyone has their own perspective. I just posted to share our experience. I specifically said I do not know enough about NU to voice a side by side.</p>
<p>I know, in our family I am not the STEM person. Others in the extended family are and we have many friends at “top” schools in STEM. I defer to them to give an honest review of DS courses. I just know my kid thought he would be giving up ground academically at Bama and after 1 year he feels confident he did not. I know our friends and family who saw his syllabi, discussed his research and compared to their alma maters and their kids schools agreed that he is getting a great education. </p>
<p>"“We cannot inconsistent in suggestions.”"</p>
<p>sure we can. every major or career goal is not the same, nor needs the same type of school. </p>
<p>and I was fine with the other student choosing vandy, until he mentioned that his parents are divorced and the much more affluent parent was insisting on a 50/50 split. Unless that dad will step up and pay if mom cant at some point, that choice may prove to be a mistake. </p>
<p>^Longhaul’s kid is in the Honors College. Very special group within the larger university (and not very representative of it as many come from out of state).</p>
<p>^^^
was that comment for me? I’m not sure of your point. both threads feature students in the honors college.</p>
<p>Some great advice here, but this is the pertinent information IMHO:</p>
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<p>Alabama does not have the prestige of Northwestern, but you can get a perfectly fine education there and with that NMF scholarship at a ridiculously low cost! Unless you have a trust fund or your parents are willing to foot the bill, save that money for the future–whatever it holds. That kid who chose Vandy has attended private schools all his life and his father is quite wealthy (according to the poster himself). (Nonetheless, each of his Duke-educated parents wanted him to stick with Bama!) He did not have to wait for a FA decision because he never even needed to apply. Your situation sounds VERY different.</p>
<p>Don’t let people trash-talk you away from Alabama either. They have plenty of successful graduates in medicine, including this woman: <a href=“http://www.idri.org/bio-gail-cassell.php”>http://www.idri.org/bio-gail-cassell.php</a></p>
<p>And good luck!</p>
<p>wowm said:
“sure we can.”</p>
<p>Actually the general consensus on CC have not changed that much. “Go to a highest ranking school which have your major that you love and affordable”</p>
<p>@artloversplus </p>
<p>General consensus . . . on CC? Surely you jest! 
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<p>And that quote defines exactly nothing, especially what exactly constitutes “affordable.” OP in this thread is premed with the long-term goal of going into academic research, and finances are enough of an issue that she applied for FA.</p>
<p>The Vandy kid wants to study international business and appears to be from a very well-heeled family. And yet his OWN PARENTS thought he should stick with Bama! </p>
<p>Completely different situations.</p>