I’m really struggling with this decision. I definitely want to pursue medicine, which makes Brown PLME very attractive, but on the other hand the UNC-CH Morehead-Cain (full ride, living stipend, $28k for summer opportunities, honors college, top-notch alumni network as the first merit scholarship in the US with several notable alumni) gives so many opportunities that it might make it possible for me to attend a better medical school in the long run (I intend to pursue a ROAD [radiology, orthopedic, anesthesiology, dermatology] specialty, so getting into a top medical school with great residency placement is essential). On the flip side, I would be able to have more “stress-free” undergrad years since I wouldn’t have to worry about grades or MCATs at Brown, and there are so many summer opportunities for Brown PLMEs that it almost balances out M-C summer experiences.
I have two days left to decide… What do you all think I should take? Any/all comments would be greatly appreciated!
Hi! I got into Brown PLME this year too (congratulations!!!) and congratulations on the Morehead. Personally I think that since you plan to pursue educations past undergrad you should save money in any way you can. Chapel Hill is one of the best public institutions in the country and so many people were dying for a shot at the Morehead (congrats on that too!). Considering you’ve been chosen for the Morehead, you are clearly bright enough to get into medical school as long as you apply yourself. PLME would definitely reduce the stress on yourself but you can’t beat free money. The biggest question though would be which school do you feel more at home at? Brown and chapel hill are EXTREMELY different socially and academically.
If $ was not an issue, would you still tell me to pick UNC over PLME? I know I want to pursue English and biology in college, and possibly learn some programming and a new language as well so that I can communicate with a wide variety of patients, which I’m not sure would be possible as a traditional pre-med (who knows, I’m still just a high school senior).
If your parents can afford it, turning down PLME for UNC seems pretty foolish to me. If you got into PLME, I don’t really doubt your ability to get into med school later on, but that’s the argument I use when someone is deciding between a combined program at a lesser school (or an accelerated program) vs UG only at a top school (or just a school they like better but with no MD guarantee). Unless you actually prefer UNC-CH over Brown for UG or you’re financially crippling yourself by going to Brown (“free money” isn’t really the issue here, the issue is what can you afford), it just seems weird to turn down arguably the best BA/MD program in the country to attend a state school honors college with no guarantee of med school.
@iwannabe_Brown Thank you so much for your response! I need to decide on the scholarship by Monday, not about Brown, because it needs to start helping its recipients plan their upcoming summer.
I’d personally choose UNC. While Brown has great undergrad, it’s med school is really nothing special. If you excelled at UNC and got a good MCAT score you could potentially get into a far superior med school. If your goal is to go to med school, choose PLME. If your goal is to attend a fantastic med school/get into the best residency program, choose UNC.
Lol, it’s not to help you plan your summer. It’s to try and steal you from other schools. As @arwarw is saying, if you do well on step 1 and your clinical clerkships you can easily get a top residency coming out of Alpert. Also should you decide not to pursue medicine, (and instead go literary arts or CS) you’ll be FAR better off coming from brown than UNC
@tlf123098 “If you excelled at UNC and got a good MCAT score you could potentially get into a far superior med school.” These are two big ifs and leaving much to chance.
@lax1997 I totally agree! If a student truly loves a school, however, and is going to be given extensive opportunities from a special program, it could be worth the risk. It all depends on how hard OP wants to work in college and how much they’re willing to risk to get into a top med school. Perosnally, I wouldn’t want to go to a “good” but not “great” med school and always wonder what if.
There really is no “what if” for med school, the way there might be for college. You end up with an MD or DO at the end either way, and whether or not you’re competitive for a certain residency program is based much more on your USMLE scores and other factors than where you attended med school. There is no way that going to a “good but not great” med school would actually negatively affect your career in the long run.