<p>I got into BU and WUWSTL's medical programs.
I would like some advice on deciding.
WashU's requirements are 3.8 gpa and 36 mcat.
BU's are 3.2 gpa and 28 mcat.
My thoughts are WashU's med school is amazing, but i don't know how hard it is to get a 3.8 and 36...
Thanks and I would appreciate any help!</p>
<p>The BU program is definitely more safe than WashU's program.</p>
<p>However, if you are confident in your abilities and you are aiming high (meaning you want to go to a med school of WashU's caliber), then WashU's program actually provides an enormous advantage. The thing limiting people from getting into top med schools is usually NOT academics. There are plenty of college kids with 3.8+ GPA's and 35+ MCAT scores who won't get into top med schools because the other facets of their application are not strong enough. WashU's BS/MD program would eliminate all those other factors and essentially boil your application down to two numbers: your GPA and your MCAT. Yes, those two numbers are high but nonetheless by eliminating the subjective factors out of your application, the admissions process becomes a lot easier.</p>
<p>BU MCAT is now 30 for the incoming class.</p>
<p>if it helps, the financial aid for me is about the same for both schools.</p>
<p>^^i thought grades were all that mattered (and interviews, i guess) in applying to med schools, more so than from high school to college?</p>
<p>^30 is still very doable, right?</p>
<p>also, i feel like i should know this, but is BU binding? in other words, can we apply out of BU's med school?</p>
<p>
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i thought grades were all that mattered (and interviews, i guess) in applying to med schools, more so than from high school to college?
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</p>
<p>No. Med school acceptance rates are in the 3-5% range for most top schools so med schools are looking for any reason to reject you. They simply cannot take everyone's qualified academically. You cannot get into any med school on the basis of stats alone. I had a 3.9 college GPA and a 37 MCAT but didn't even get an interview (muchless an acceptance) to mid and low tier med schools like BU, Drexel, Georgetown, etc. Obviously, it wasn't my MCAT or GPA but some other aspect of my application that they didn't like.</p>
<p>Note: This is not to imply that grades are not important. This is to say that there are many factors, not just grades, which need to be up to par to get you into med school.</p>
<p>anyone else?</p>
<p>i found the residency match list for bu, anyone know where i can find one for washu?</p>
<p>bump......</p>
<p>dude a lotta kids would die for a 3.8 and 36 mcat. those reqs are pretty high and will actually require you to 1) study your ass off for every test and 2) study months for the mcat.</p>
<p>it all depends on what you want with the program. if you want to have a carefree 4 years, then brown is your choice. if you want to work hard still and go to a better med school, then wustl is where to go.</p>
<p>personally, i would love to sit on my ass for 4 years, so i would take brown. 3.2 is a joke gpa requirement LOL. and you could probably score a 30 on your first PRACTICE test if youre decently smart and actually have some verbal skills.</p>
<p>^i think you mean Boston Univ...
if not, does that change anything?</p>
<p>ZZZ- FYI OP is talking about Boston University's Med Program not Brown's.</p>
<p>BU is obviously a lot easier to stay in. Look at the match lists & consider the undergrads and the location.</p>
<p>isn't washU's med school too ridiculously good to pass up, though?</p>
<p>plus, BU's undergrad isn't very top-tier...</p>
<p>ahh crap i always confuse those two. i would go to wustl then (its wustl, right?). the gap is too far if its boston u.</p>
<p>Take what NorCalGuy says with a HUGE grain of salt. He went to Cornell for undergrad and is at a top medical school now (certainly not mid or low tier). Although, I wonder sometimes as he has 5,666 posts and counting and is always on CC.</p>
<p>Sometimes places don't give you an interview as they think you probably have almost none to zero chance of accepting their offer i.e. public state schools. WashU is a top notch undergrad with great research opportunities.</p>
<p>BU has the benefit of being in Boston, near Harvard and it's affiliated hospitals to where you can get involved in research as well as Tufts.</p>
<p>Both are Pass/Fail the first 2 years.</p>
<p>I like how NorcalGuy pulls out these admissions numbers with no proof whatsoever.</p>
<p>The admissions stats are on US News (if you have a subscription to the grad school section) and the MSAR so things like acceptance rate or median GPA/MCAT are not exactly secrets.</p>
<p>I can't find WashU's matchlist online but I did get a copy when I interviewed there last year. If I remember correctly, it's pretty good as you would expect for a research-oriented school. The other great thing about WashU Med is the financial aid policy. They essentially split your financial need in half b/w loans and grants (after giving you an automatic $5000 in loans).</p>
<p>In other words, if WashU Med costs $65,000 and your EFC is $25,000, then you will have to pay $25,000 in upfront, take out $22500 in loans, and you will get $17500 in grants. This is pretty decent since most med schools give out very little in grants. </p>
<p>Obviously, all of this is dependent on your ability to maintain a 3.8/36 which is not easy. It's obviously a much bigger risk than maintaining the 3.2 needed for BU so everything will depend on your own abilities and your confidence in those abilities. But, I still say that the non-numerical aspects of your application are enormously important. If you don't believe me, you can repost this on the premed forum and get opinions from other med students.</p>
<p>activites are important, yes, but you make it seem like everyone has a 3.9+/37+ these days, which is just not true. if you have a strong clinical foundation + other decent activities with those stats, you are easily competitive anywhere.</p>
<p>i dont know why your admissions process went bad, but ive noticed a lot of people tend to do way too much research and not have enough clinical experience when they apply. if you look at mdapps, a lot of kids get rejected with a 3.9+ and 40+ even though they have great research experience, but most of them hardly did any clinical stuff.</p>
<p>
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activites are important, yes, but you make it seem like everyone has a 3.9+/37+ these days, which is just not true. if you have a strong clinical foundation + other decent activities with those stats, you are easily competitive anywhere.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The problem is that after you hit the 3.7/35 cut off, you really don't get much consideration in terms of your numbers. So, a 3.7/35 is almost the same as a 3.9/37. Med schools know you're smart and can do the job.</p>
<p>So, they then examine the other aspects of your application: EC's, essays, interviews, recs. This is where the subjectivity comes in. If you did everything you're supposed to (like I did) but did not do anything amazing, then you might get an interview but it'll be hard to secure an acceptance. Everyone interviewed by top med schools has great stats and at least okay EC's. Otherwise, the med school wouldn't waste your time and money by inviting you for an interview. However, top med schools still only accept 1/3-1/4 of everyone they interview. So, they still regard your EC's and such as very important. If you only do the minimum (hospital volunteering, research, a job or two, some volunteering, a few clubs, intramural frisbee, blah blah blah) it's going to be tough for you to secure the acceptance. Some of the amazing stuff that people I met on my interviews or my classmates right now did include: Rhodes Scholar, Fullbright Scholarship, gymnast, founded a biotech company, former investment banker, Teach for America, published a book, things like that. If you have high stats but no amazing EC's, then you might get into one top school. You may not. But, it's unlikely you'll get into more than 1. There were many high stat applicants on Student Doctor Network last year but very few of them got into more than 1 top school. One guy finally got into WashU Med off the waitlist but his next best acceptance was Suny Downstate. That's the margin of error you have. My own second best acceptance was a med school ranked in the 30's. The only people I saw getting 3 or more top 20 acceptances were underrepresented minorities who had high stats. The rest of us mere mortals (even mere mortals with 3.9 GPA's and 35+ MCAT scores) just hope and pray for the one acceptance to a top tier med school. The process is that tough.</p>