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<p>Cornell does not have grade deflation, and is in-line with most of its peer schools.</p>
<p>Grade deflation at Cornell is a myth:</p>
<p>[Median</a> Grades on the Rise at Cornell](<a href=“http://cornellsun.com/node/23297]Median”>http://cornellsun.com/node/23297) </p>
<p>[Grading</a> Trend at Cornell](<a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com/cornell.html]Grading”>http://www.gradeinflation.com/cornell.html)</p>
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<p>They are when you don’t know what goes into those stats.</p>
<p>Any school can come up with any number but I haven’t seen many schools that have been as transparent as Cornell with its data. Cornell gives you GPA/MCAT data going years back. Other schools make a vague, 1-liner like “Our students get into med school at a 85% rate” and you’re so ready to trust them? This 85% rate is from what year? What medical schools are they including? Only US allopathic schools? US DO schools? Polish med schools? What students? Only alumni? Only college seniors? Only screened students who meet certain criteria?</p>
<p>You need to understand that you don’t always have objective pieces that will guide you toward one school. You need to use something called your brain and your gut to make your decision. Think about things logically rather than rely on some random number. My patient had a troponin of 0.5. Am I automatically going to say she had a heart attack? No, she had cardiac sugery a few days ago. She might have elevated trops from us fiddling around with her heart. You need to look at things in context. being myopic won’t help you when you’re a med student or doctor.</p>
<p>I was accepted into Cornell’s college of engineering and looking at the median grades for many of the premed and engineering courses a lot of them are B- and Bs. The college of arts and science may be increasing in median GPA but so are the caliber of students. Every year cornell is getting more selective and smarter students get accepted. If I was to enroll in the College of Engineering and the median grades of many of the courses are B- and Bs some B+ and A-s and I was like an average cornell student I’d probably be looking at a low GPA. Cornell Engineering is a very difficult school in comparison to other engineering schools.</p>
<p><a href=“http://registrar.sas.cornell.edu/Stu...angradesA.html[/url]”>http://registrar.sas.cornell.edu/Stu...angradesA.html</a></p>
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<p>Ok this is exactly what I was looking for! I was hoping people could expand on what these numbers exactly mean and in what contexts they were formed. I just recently found out that Cornell’s data of 67% results because Cornell doesn’t screen students from applying. Now I wonder where Tufts or CMU who boast about 75% and 85% do? I was attributing Cornell’s low premed acceptance to medical schools based on its curriculum. </p>
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<p>Fair enough. In my defense I didn’t know how accurate the numbers were and of their context and I was hoping people on CC could clarify that for me, which they have.</p>
<p>D. has gone to her first “Second Look” visit to one of Med. Schools that she is considering. Lots of pre-meds from Ivy’s. Just another proof that if one works hard, he can achieve at any UG, Ivy or state. However, it is important to choose one that will make your 4 years there very valuable. Lots of people are making mistake by looking for strictly academics / channces at Med. School. This approach is incorrect. Consider yourself as a person with various un-related interests and try to match your personality and interests to UG. Med. Schools are also looking for whole package. While stats are the most important, your personal growth in UG is also important factor. Your stats will depend mostly on you, not your UG, your personal growth will depend on how well UG fits you.</p>
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<p>I just got your reply from Curm. Thanks for the help, BDM.</p>
<p>Have any of you been persuaded by schools when applying to undergraduate and/or medical schools? I’m choosing between a school that has given me a whole lot (cost difference ~10k, but 3k more in study abroad, and a couple of other perks) and another school that hasn’t given me anything (other than research right off the bat). I think the school that didn’t give me much would be a better experience, but (maybe the persuasion is getting to me) the other school has offered me so much and it <em>seems</em> like they want me to attend so badly. I’m not sure if this is just some great marketing/advertising that they do with other qualified students or if it’s something I should take to heart.</p>
<p>Looking for some input and I can be a little less vague if I need to be.</p>
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<p>Personally, I would choose Cornell bcos of my “interests” and fit. I prefer campuses with more political diversity than is found at Tufts and I’m not a fan of urban campuses. I also prefer colleges with more school spirit.</p>
<p>Anyone experience anything similar to what I described in post #46?</p>
<p>I don’t know if this is what you’re looking for, but I had a few schools offer me pretty substantial scholarships at each stage of the game. It’s very touching, but in the end the kind folks at the admissions office are going to be a very small part of your eventual college experience. Each time I had to regretfully turn them down.</p>
<p>Viggy, From what I have read in pm’s and on this forum, you would be better served at that god-forsaken burnt orange 40 acres 100 miles south of me. It will set you up well for eventual attendance at a Texas med school.</p>
<p>Viggy…what are the details of your choices? Schools? scholarships? Affordability at each school?</p>
<p>@bluedevilmike, yeah, that was what I was looking for…just if you had experienced something similar and which direction you took. I think I’ll take the same path as you as nice as the people are at the admissions office. I guess I should look at it rationally, in the sense that I shouldn’t feel obligated to attend a school for the scholarships.</p>
<p>hook em horns</p>
<p>^^^ more like gig’em.</p>
<p>Thank youuuuuuu !! =)</p>
<p>Wonderful advice BDM, you’re amazing as always.</p>
<p>Quick question though. From what I’ve read, does this mean that you frown on full-ride scholarship programs at large state universities that promise to be like a “school within a school”? These programs offer phenomenal advising, attention from professors, research opportunities, affordability, etc., but fall short when it comes to student body size and academic match for the overall school.</p>
<p>Well, I don’t think they’re a replacement for going to a school built on those things to begin with. It’s not so much that I frown on them per se. The academic climate of a school is determined by its overall student body, and there’s no way to isolate a small group and duplicate that. (Even if there were, would you want to have a “magnet” program that isolated you in the middle of a large campus like that?)</p>
<p>Plus, the most critical components of premedical advising are a single centralized bureau and a long track record of accuracy. Distributing your advisors throughout an isolated honors program completely undermines the point.</p>
<p>Merit scholarships has worked for my D. She thought of them as indication that school knew she would be a very good fit there. It has happened at private HS as well as state public UG. In both cases she did not choose schools because of Merit packages. There were other important factors. However, looking back, both happened to be the best financial packages out of her choices and both happened to be very good fit for her, better experiences than anticipated by us, more opportunities. Apparently, admissions knew about these opportunites, while we were underestimating them. She is very happy with outcomes of both.
However, choosing Med. School, one school gave her very small Merit award, and since this school was not at the top of D’s list to begin with, it is not enough $$ to consider going there. On the other hand, D’s decision could have been different in case of much larger award, since she liked the school. She withdrew from the ones she did not like after interview (one acceptance, one waitlist).</p>
<p>Just looking at the top ten list. Have to disagree with size of undergraduate school. I think this is very much an individual preference. Some students do well with the large lecture hall way of learning at larger Universities with multiple choice exams and some do better in small schools with small classes with tests which are heavy on essays. I know docs who loved UCB, Michigan UCLA etc and docs who loved Haverford, Bowdoin, Pomona etc. Advising is probably best at smaller schools with large per student endowments</p>
<p>Sorry if this was asked already but how much does prestige of undergraduate institution matter?</p>
<p>Also - since you go/went to Duke, would you say it was hard to do well? Or was it kind of like a “if you study and work hard, you’ll get the A” type of place…And yes, I am looking at Duke, but I’m afraid I would not do well there due to the general cutthroat nature of the school.</p>