<p>I’m struggling with something many might think of as a no-brainer but I don’t: Stanford vs Boston College.</p>
<p>I love both schools. I’ve visited both campuses. I know kids who go to each. BC is a beautiful campus with a student body and overall vibe I was immediately comfortable with. Stanford the same, although a little more intense - some of which may have been due to the hyper-intense parents on the tour. Going east to school (I’m from SoCal), especially a college town like Boston, is a really exciting prospect. But the chance to one of the “elite” universities like Stanford is pretty hard to pass up. I actually didn’t expect it. I was all set on BC and Stanford sort of threw me a curveball.</p>
<p>Cost won’t make the difference - the net is about the same either way.</p>
<p>Here’s the main thing I’m wondering about. I currently am planning to go pre-med. I hear that med school admissions is almost entirely numbers - GPA and MCAT. I may be wrong, but my guess is that Stanford is going to be a notch more competitive and intense and difficult than BC - whether it’s for grades, internships or research opportunities. I can see by the stats of BC admits that they are among the brightest and most accomplished around. But, assuming its a meaningful distinction, the Stanford admit stats are pretty impressive/intimidating. Would I be better off opting for a environment where I might find the competition a bit more manageable than one where I’m up against a hyper-qualified group like that I expect I’d find at Stanford?</p>
<p>Its possible that I’m thinking about this all wrong, but that’s what I’m struggling with. </p>
<p>you are thinking correctly, but unfortunately no one can really say for certain which would be "better’ for premed. Stanford is known for its grade inflation – mean senior gpa is 3.55. Thus, Stanford awards more A’s and few low grades. S is so wealthy, it has a gazillion opportunities for everyone to become involved with research and internships.</p>
<p>Yes, med school is mostly about the numbers. But a handful of schools – HYPS – can provide a small boost to your app, particularly into top med schools. </p>
<p>OTOH, with Stanford numbers, I’m sure you could do well at BC. Going across country for college is a real learning experience in itself. Boston is awesome, and hundreds of high tech companies dot the landscape, all offering internships. BC also has excellent on-campus research opportunities. Yet, despite being a few subway stops away, Harvard Med accepts a BC grad once every few years. In contrast, I would guess that Stanford has no problem placing its students into H-Med every year. (Of course, that is partly due to the higher average mcat scores of Stanford students.)</p>
<p>Stanford vs. BC–definitely a no-brainer. Stanford. It is an incredible place with incredible students and resources–BC really does not come close. One thing you may consider, however, is that premedical advising at Stanford is surprisingly limited–they do not provide comprehensive committee recommendations for their premedical students–but their students still do quite well in gaining admission to top medical schools–a much better track record than BC.</p>
<p>While perhaps true, the problem with that kind of analysis is the starting records of the students. HYPS selects for great test-takers; thus, on average, their students will do better on the mcat. Since the mcat is ~50% of the first cut, HYPS students will do better on average than any other college. But the question arises: is it HYPS, or the fact that the students can rock standardized tests to begin with? :)</p>
<p>^True, but I can tell you, Stanford carries MUCH more weight in medical school admissions–that is, the “same” student in terms of GPA, MCATs, research experience, community service, etc. coming from Stanford will always beat out the one coming from BC in a medical school admissions committee meeting…</p>
<p>Everybody seems to forget the liberal arts curriculum of a Jesuit Education… I know that a lot of medical schools will like seeing those. </p>
<p>However, here’s what I think. Don’t choose a school just because of “future prospects.” Stanford and BC are both obviously great schools, in the top 5% of all the schools in the country. If you have the smarts to get into either, you already have the tools to succeed in whatever field you choose - medical school or not. If you work hard at either, you will do well. Instead, choose whatever school you feel more at home with… whatever school you like more. I fell in love with BC’s architecture and atmosphere when I visited. So though I turned the opportunity to attend other schools that some might say are “better” (ND, W&M, CMU), I chose BC.</p>
<p>We live in So Cal and my D is a senior at BC, loves everything about the school, the student body, the burbs around Chestnut Hill, and the city of Boston. I would NOT pass up the opportunity to attend Stanford.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, that is not true. A “lot of medical schools” – actually most – are secular, so any religious education is not necessarily a favorable characteristic.</p>
<p>Sorry, I meant to emphasize the Liberal Arts part of the education, more than the Jesuit part. I’ve heard that med schools like to see well rounded individuals, no?</p>
<p>if well roundedness results in a higher gpa + mcat score, med schools are all for it. Otherwise, don’t bother. :D</p>
<p>One liberal arts major – which includes the physical and biological sciences – is just as good as another, as long as one earns A’s. No bonus points for taking Theology or Philosophy courses. What professional schools prefer not to see is what is considered ‘vocational’ majors.</p>
<p>@bluebayou: I seem to recall reading somewhere that in the late 1970’s one of the top 5 undergraduate majors of Med School students was Religion, but that the swing over the past few decades towards doctors as “technicians” has changed that. </p>
<p>@rdg2012 (OP): Regardless of what you choose to do, just make sure you consider that, at least based on your posting, you’re picking it because of your plan to apply to med school in 4 years. At most universities – Stanford and BC included – you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting someone who entered as a pre-med and realized by second semester freshman year that it wasn’t really what they wanted or were capable of, or wasn’t even their dream but really that of their parents (or all of the above) and changed to something else. Pick your school based on environment, and overall offerings, and match to your lifestyle, and on its academic rigor and reputation. In your case, Stanford may likely win and for all the right reasons, because it is an awesome school whose reputation is based on its current status and offerings that stand on their own merits, and not relying heavily on membership in a sports league that was formed in the 1930’s. Just make sure you don’t pick your school based solely on some narrow sliver of capability that assumes your 17-yr-old plans will be the plans of you at 22 yrs old. Pick it because its persona matches yours and who you want to become. Good luck whatever you choose, but even as a hard-core BC advocate, I’d say it is likely that Stanford wins on most counts.</p>
<p>^^ Perhaps what you recall Duke, was % admission by major. If so, music has been perennially number one; Philosophy majors have a high admit rate too. But think about the obvious self-selection involved. Few music or phil majors will even know how to spell organic chemistry, must less take it. Thus, the (extreme) few that do take it are only taking it bcos they are premed and likely already aced Gen Chem and Bio. Heck, it would be hard NOT to be impressed by a music major, who themselves have music labs, recitals, performances, and who also aces STEM labs. A whole lotta work!</p>
<p>The ‘stat’ is not that adcom prefers music or phil majors, it’s just that only the strong lit/hume/music even apply to med school. In contrast, there are plenty of 2.9 bio majors still dreaming the med dream.</p>
<p>Religion might be a nice-to-have, but only if it is accompanied by a 3.7+ in the prereq courses.</p>
<p>btw: the mcat is gonna encourage students to take a broader curriculum, including psych, soc and antro, but that is only a couple of extra social science courses which for most STEM majors, will fulfill Gen Ed requirements (so they could take them anyway).</p>