Brown PLME vs. Columbia College Premed

Pre-Med & Medical School High School Student Topics
1

<p>So I'm going to be applying to either the Brown PLME or Columbia College (Premed) for the 2009-2010 year. I'll be doing one of them ED, but I can't decide which.</p>

<p>Could you guys give me some insights on the benefits/costs of going to either? Could you also chance me for both/one of them? I have previously posted stats before on a different account.</p>

<p>Here are my stats:</p>

<p>Scores:
SAT: 2260 (I'm going to retake it, but the breakdown currently is 790M, 730CR, 740W)
SAT Bio M - 800
SAT Chem - 800
SAT Math II - 800</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0/4.3 unweighted and 4.75/5.0 weighted. I'm somewhere from 5th to 8th in my class of 420 students.</p>

<p>AP Coursework (11 listed): AP Bio (10), AP Chem (10), AP Language and Compostion (11), AP American History (11), AP Calculus BC (11), AP Physics B (11), AP Statistics (12), AP Environmental Sci (12), AP Literature and Compostion (12), AP Psychology (12), AP Econ (12).</p>

<p>College Coursework:
UConn Spanish V (12) - An immersion course by University of Connecticut.
Fairfield University - "Human Biology: Form and Function" taught by Dr. Indrani Dutta. It's an undergraduate level Biology course. I ended up with a 99% in it.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Medical-Related Activities and Achievements:
- Qualified for and completed 30 hours in a medical internship under dermatologist Dr. William A. Notaro (11)
- Completed 42 hours as a volunteer at the Pathology Labs at Danbury Hospital (10)
- Completed 35 hours as a volunteer at the Dialysis Unit of Danbury Hospital under Dr. Winston Shih, Dr. Raymond Raut, and Dr. Howard Garfinkel (11)
- Completed 17 hours as a nursing-volunteer at the Ashlar Senior Home (9, 10)
- UPenn Biomedical Research (2009) - A research immersion program that I had to apply to for the summer based off of SAT scores, essay, and extracurriculars.</p>

<p>Science Related Activities and Achievements:
- Newtown Science Quiz Bowl Team (9, 10, 11)
- 3rd place and 7th seeded science quiz bowl team at 2008 U.S. High School Northeast Science Bowl (10)
- 4th place and 4th seeded science quiz bowl team at 2009 High School Northeast Science Bowl (11)
- 2008 Connecticut Chemistry Olympiad State Finalist (10)
- John’s Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth Program in the summer for sciences (2007 and 2008)
- Fast-Paced Chemistry Course and Laboratory under Dr. Art Frankel at JHU CTY (9)
- Fast-Paced Physics Course and Laboratory under Dr. William Kallfel at JHU CTY (10)</p>

<p>Mathematics Related Activities and Achievements:
- Founded the Math Team (9)
- President of the Math Team (9, 10, 11)
- 2nd Place Team for Western Connecticut Mathematics League Tournament (11)
- Completed 45.5 hours of volunteer work as a Math Tutor for high school students (9, 10, 11)
- AMC Recognition Award (10)</p>

<p>Debate Related Activities (9, 10, 11):
- Junior-Varsity Debate on the Lincoln-Douglas National Circuit (9)
- Varsity Debate on the Connecticut Extemporaneous Circuit (9)
- Varsity Debate on the Lincoln-Douglas National Circuit (10, 11)
- 8th Speaker at 3rd Connecticut Extemporaneous Tournament of 2008-2009 (11)
- Double-Octofinalist at the Princeton Classic in the Varsity Division (11)
- 2007-2008 Best Underclassman Debater Award with a season record of 15-8 (10)
- Captain-elect for the 2009-2010 [Senior] year (I have to take care of a roughly $20,000 budget).
- Summer of 2007 National Debate Forum Debater in the Varsity Locke Lab (10)</p>

<p>Athletics:
- Obtained varsity letter in golf (9)
- NHS Boys Varsity Golf (9, 10, 11)
- 2007 South-West Conference Academic Team Award (9)
- 2007 South-West Conference League Champions (9)
- 2008 South-West Conference Academic Team Award (10)
- 2008 South-West Conference League Runner-Up Team (10)
- Selected teaching assistant for PGA Professional John Hiteshew – completed 30 hours (10, 11)
- Probably placing at some Connecticut State Junior Golf Tournaments.</p>

<p>Religious Services:
- Drummer of the junior youth group praise team (9)
- Drummer of the primary youth group praise team (10,11)
- I ended up playing for the church's fundraising concert in order to make money for church repairs. Recently our church burned down due to a severe electrical problems.</p>

<p>Other Awards and Achievements:
- 2008 English Department Chair Book Award (10)
- Spanish Honors Society Award (10)
- 2008 CAPT Mastery Award (Perfect Mathematics Score, and highest level scores in all sections) (10)
- Probably National Honors Society
- More awards this year</p>

<p>Other/Misc:
- Asian-American
- $150,000+, so financial aid won't hinder me.</p>

2

<p>PLME is the better program, at least in my opinion. However, it’s crazy hard to get in to - the incoming class each year is what, 50 or 60? I’m no expert by any means, but someone even with stats as good as yours would have a tough time getting admitted.</p>

<p>My advice would be to apply to both. Do PLME if you get accepted, but remember that Columbia has a great program as well.</p>

3

<p>

I thought your high school didn’t rank?</p>

<p>Anyway, a student as strong as you will have no problem doing well in college and the MCAT; I really don’t see the point of being locked into an 8-year program. Pick the school you think you’ll be happiest at/have the most fun at.</p>

4

<p>as an aside:
would it be valuable medical experience wasted if i didnt do anything for the summer after i graduate high school?</p>

<p>and my high school doesnt rank, but theres a graph which tells me what “group” im in. i.e. if im in the top 10 students of my class (which i am). from there i just guessed a range where i stood. that might come off as conceited so i apologize in advanced.</p>

5

<p>wow you did a great job throughout high school. congrats - you should be really proud</p>

6

<p>I think that you’re an excellent candidate for both schools, and I congratulate you for having such a strong high school career. </p>

<p>Brown PLME is tough to get into, but a student in PLME told me that if you’re heart-set on Brown and love medicine, it’s the best program that you can hope for (he said do ED for this, and you’d be better served, interestingly enough). Think about it, at Brown, you’re locked into a solid medical school and you can take all classes pass/fail, greatly reducing stress (that is if you decide to not apply to other med schools).</p>

<p>I would choose Brown if I were in your shoes, but whatever school you get into will certainly help your decision! Good luck! :)</p>

7

<p>i would do brown because you’ll be at a great school and you’ll have alot of stress saved taking the direct route. especially if you know you want to be a doctor.</p>

8

<p>brown’s PLME is ridiculously hard to get into. The worst thing you can do for yourself as an applicant is be unrealistic. Obviously you have amazing stats, EC’s, etc. But there ARE others like you, and after you have all these stats, the chances are getting into PLME are still marginally low. I think you should apply ED to PLME anyways, and if you don’t get in, you’ll probably at least make it into Brown. If i were you, i wouldn’t waste the ED on Columbia (still an amazing school, don’t get me wrong), whose undergrad premed track doesn’t standout in any way. good luck</p>

9

<p>Brown PLME without a doubt</p>