<p>This is my brother's stats and I'm concerned about his lack of interest in schools outside of California. Which schools do you think would be a good fit for this pre-med? </p>
<p>Ethnicity: Vietnamese
State: California
Sex: Male</p>
<p>GPA: ??? All A's except for a B in AP statistics in Jr year. (dunno about +/-)
SAT superscore: 2240: 730 math, 750 reading, 760 writing (two takes)
SATII: 800 Biology 780 Chemistry ??? Math IIC
AP Exams: 5 in Bio, 5 in Chem, 4 in Eng, 3 in Stats
Senior year: Plans to load up on AP classes.</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
-Eagle Scout
-Cardiology research at UCLA Medical Center with 1 research publication
-Shadowed an orthopedic surgeon
-600 hours community service
-Random high school club stuff</p>
<p>A good California state school might be the best choice. If he is at the top of his class he will likely get more research opportunities, more mentoring, more support than if he was a middle-ranking student at a prestige private. More critically, by the time he goes to medical school, it will set him back roughly $250,000, give or take. So unless your family has lots of dough, a great state school (especially if it has a good Honors college) is a fine way to go.</p>
<p>Well, the main thing is to keep an eye on costs and opportunities. Cost because there will be big bills for med school. Opportunities, because a top student at a fine state school is likely to have more of them than a middling student at a prestige private. (If he wasn't sure he was pre-med, then the prestige privates may have more to offer.)</p>
<p>If he is already doing cardiology research at UCLA Medical Center, why wouldn't he want to continue it?</p>
<p>With stats like that, he should apply to a lot of high-end private schools and compare financial aid offers. It may be MUCH cheaper to go to Princeton or Harvard, if he gets in, than UC Berkeley, but there's no way to know unless he applies.</p>
<p>"Opportunities, because a top student at a fine state school is likely to have more of them than a middling student at a prestige private."</p>
<p>I'm going to UCLA myself so I know it's hard to stay atop at a UC school because its public and there's no grade inflation. I'm hoping a school like Princeton/Harvard can carry him into med school.</p>
<p>^^Financial aid at Princeton or Harvard or wherever might be so much better than UCLA or Berkeley that he would be paying more to go to UCLA or Berkeley. But he'll never know if he doesn't apply broadly to those top-tier schools. So I think it is advisable to apply to top tier schools to see if he gets in, and if he gets in, to see what kind of financial offer they make.</p>
<p>"So you think he'd be a top student at Harvard or Princeton, but just a middling student at UCLA? (It's possible...I'm just asking.)"</p>
<p>I dunno. I think its possible. He prob wouldn't be top of the heap at Harvard or Princeton or anything but he *might *come out with a better GPA without having learned anything more nor less at H or P.</p>
<p>You can see that at just about every GPA grouping, the Cornell students performed better on the MCAT than the UMich students with similar GPA's.</p>
<p>Which is why, for medical school purposes, he might be better off at UCLA than Harvard, Princeton, or Cornell, especially since he already has a significant internship at the UCLA Medical Center.</p>
<p>I would not expect grade inflation to affect his entry into medical school as the schools have enough information to correct for that. He is almost certain to get into either Berkeley or UCLA instate, so his in state costs are relatively minor. Both schools will give him great pre-med. He might save some money going out of state to a private, but with the additional travel costs the real deciding point should be what he wants in a school. If he wants a largish school in a warm climate, and doesn't need individual attention then the UC schools are great for him. If he wants a small to medium large school, or wants to experience different parts of the country, then he should look out of state.</p>