Brown PLME v. USC Bacc/M.D. v. Stanford

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hi guys, I've narrowed my list down to this. I was very lucky to be admitted to 8 out of 9 schools (I was waitlisted at one of them).</p>

<p>I've narrowed my choices down to Stanford, Brown PLME (the combined med 8 year program), and USC Bacc/M.D. (the combined med 8 year program).</p>

<p>Here are the pros and cons I've figured out so far.
I am from Southern California.</p>

<p>STANFORD
Pros:
-name
-higher caliber undergrad than both USC and Brown
-beautiful campus
-renowned faculty
-I feel very comfortable among the people
-small student body (~6,000)
-amazing housing systems
-great accomodations
-very laidback, awesome atmosphere
-perfect distance away from home (about 1 hour plane ride, 7 hours driving)
Cons:
-no guaranteed admission to medical school
-very competitive for premed students (only 68-75% of Stanford undergrads get accepted to medical school)
-expensive
-it's going to be a hard road
-guaranteed housing all 4 years</p>

<p>Brown PLME
Pros:
-name (Ivy League)
-open curriculum (no core requirements)
-guaranteed admission to Alpert (Brown) Medical School (as long as I do my premed requirements and get a B in Bio)
-no MCATs
-small (~6,000 students)
-great atmosphere
Cons:
-too liberal?
-too far away from home? (8 hours plane ride)
-expensive (remember to factor in plane tickets)
-guaranteed housing all 4 years
-Alpert doesn't have that many affiliated hospitals (only 7 hospitals affiliated with Alpert in Providence)
-cold weather
-doesn't allow you to apply out (if I apply out of Alpert Medical School, I get deferred admission to Alpert if I don't get into any other med schools... basically, my admission to Alpert could be deferred 2-3+ years)</p>

<p>USC Bacc/M.D.
Pros:
-guaranteed admission to Keck Medical School (as long as I maintain a 3.2 GPA and score at least a 27 on the MCAT)
-allows you to apply out while holding your spot (I could apply to better medical schools than Keck, while still having my guaranteed spot)
-I received the Presidential Scholarship (half tuition) and the Foulke Scholarship (an extra $3,000/year)
-Keck Medical School is in a better location for practicing opportunities (20 surrounding hospitals affiliated with Keck in L.A.)
Cons:
-too big (~16,000 undergraduates)
-not as good of an undergraduate school as Brown or Stanford
-Keck Medical School has a lower ranking than Alpert
-too close to home? (only 1 hour or less driving)</p>

<p>If you could give me your feedback (espeically if any of you were in one of these programs), that would be great. Thanks so much!</p>

2

<p>Brown PLME.</p>

<p>You’re already in Med school. And you have huge freedoms in taking whatever pleases you (You’re at Brown)</p>

3

<p>how big of a factor is cost? if its a big deciding factor, i’d say go to USC. otherwise, i’d say go to Stanford. you’ll have good opportunities to get into med schools from there, and Stanford’s just as prestigious as Brown, in my opinion, especially for the sciences. it’s pretty different, atmosphere-wise too. have you visited both places?</p>

4

<p><a href=“only%2068-75%%20of%20Stanford%20undergrads%20get%20accepted%20to%20medical%20school”>quote</a>

[/quote]

Don’t use medical school acceptance rate as a metric for anything; it is meaningless. This has been discussed ad nauseum in a lot of other threads.

It’s going to be a hard road everywhere.</p>

<p>

How does this matter?</p>

<p>

Not sure what you mean by this.</p>

<p>

What makes you say that? Some US News ranking or something? Even then, there’s almost no difference between them. Don’t use some arcane “ranking system” to compare schools.</p>

<p>General consensus around here is that combined programs are unnecessary at best and harmful at worst; do a search and you’ll find a lot more detail.</p>

<p>Choose the school that is the best fit for you socially, financially, academically, and geographically.</p>

5

<p>Most people don’t train at all of the affilliates of a given medical school. 7 is plenty.</p>

6

<p>As much as I like Stanford and Brown better for undergrad, ~$23k/year in free money is foolish to pass up, particularly since 'SC will allow to you apply to med elsewhere.</p>

7

<p>again, I think PLME changed their policy back so you can apply out again. I don’t have the links right now, but apparently there was a huge outcry when they made it so you couldn’t apply out and it was changed back.</p>

8

<p>No, at the PLME reception, they said it’s deferred admission to Alpert.</p>

9

<p>I chose Brown PLME. Thanks for all your help!
I knew I was 100% committed to medicine and a direct path to medical school was just too good to pass up, even for Stanford. :] I’ll be enjoying the next 8 years in Providence!</p>