Columbia vs Cornell vs Upenn

College Search & Selection
1

<p>ok so i was wondering which school would be the wisest choice for a "pre med" student
for columbia, id probably only get into SEAS and would major in biomedical engineering
for cornell, i would go to the school of human ecology and major in human biology and human society.
for penn, id apply to SAS and major in BBB</p>

<p>but im am totally undecided for which school i should apply to early
could you give me sum reasons for choosing one school over another? pleasee :)</p>

2

<p>Why Human Ecology at Cornell? Why not A&S?</p>

<p>What is SAS BBB?</p>

3

<p>umm i heard human ecology was good for pre med? dunno if this is true. also human eco is much smaller than A&S
um sas i think is school of arts and science
and BBB is the major biological basis of behavior</p>

<p>i dunno if i should consider the grade inflation at all 3 schools for the med school process</p>

4

<p>Are you of Asian descent?
You might personally prefer UPenn the most out of the three, then.</p>

5

<p>yes asian
why do you say so?</p>

6

<p>one consideration, perhaps, is the location of available clinical medical research / physician shadowing opportunities</p>

<p>cornell’s med school is hours away from ithaca, in nyc; closest hospital is the county medical center
columbia’s medical center is 50 blocks up on west 168th (though st luke’s hospital is adjacent to campus)
penn’s med school and med center is right on campus; if you lived in the quad, you’d be right next door!</p>

<p>and biomedical engineering is a lot different from biology…</p>

7

<p>yea i think im eleimenating columbia</p>

<p>since i live in nyc, would this be feasible?
“2. Urban Semester: The Urban Semester is an opportunity for field-based learning in New York City. Students earn credit through placements in private, not-for-profit, or government funded programs and through special classes designed to take advantage of this urban environment.”</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nutrition.cornell.edu/che/DNS/academic/hbhsin.cfm[/url]”>http://www.nutrition.cornell.edu/che/DNS/academic/hbhsin.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>side q: are the dorms in upenn nice?</p>

8

<p>UPenn has the largest Asian population among the three schools you’ve named. UPenn is very pre-professional as well. You’d be among likeminded people.</p>

9

<p>Cornell is solid in the sciences and will prepare you for med school. There medical center is in NYC and they have another one in Qatar which is pretty sweet</p>

10

<p>can any1 tell me how hard it id to maintain a 3.5 gpa in upenn? in lets say the biological basis of behavior major. i cant seem to find median grades like at cornell :/</p>

11

<p>It isn’t a walk in the park maintaining a 3.5 GPA at any of these schools while premed. I can only speak about Penn specifically, but it is very doable to maintain a 3.5+ at Penn. You have to study and work hard, but its very manageable.</p>

12

<p>bump bump :)</p>

13

<p>Cornell University</p>

14

<p>you need to describe your needs beyond simply “pre-med.” i mean i could rave about penn, but that’d be just because i like it more than i did columbia/cornell. </p>

<p>also, if you’re looking at peer schools of the aforementioned that prepare students well for pre-med, i strongly suggest to look into duke.</p>

<p>here’s a post from bluedevilmike about pre-med that i always refer posters to. it COMPLETELY drew me to duke when i read it back when i was applying.</p>

<p>

</p>

15

<p>the reason why im leaving out duke is that it so far away from nyc.
and we cant afford trips back and forth.
upenn is 2 hrs away, cornell is 5-6 hrs away and columbia is 30 min away
the thing with columbia i dont like is that it seems that the core would interfere with my pre med studies… so im leaning more towards cornell and upenn.
but i cant decide between the two. (i visited both as well, but i didnt get to see many students)
can you compare dorms, grading difficulty, workload, competition, etc</p>

16

<p>If you are ultimately deciding between Cornell and Penn, one thing to keep in mind is whether you would be more comfortable in an urban environment or in a smaller environment. There is a big difference between Philly and Ithaca.</p>

<p>As a side note, what do you mean Columbia is 30 minutes away from New York? You mean from where you live in New York?</p>

17

<p>^^^ loll yea from where i live</p>

18

<p>any others arguements?</p>

19

<p>Go back in the Fall, when school is in session, talk to students.
Think about where you might be happier.
Look into the curricula, required courses in each case. what else you might want to study.
Think about what else you like to do outside of class, where you might best thrive beyond courses too.</p>

<p>There are plenty of Asian students at each of these schools.
Cornell grades are available on-line someplace, maybe search Cornell sub-forum, or ask there. Aslo there is a recent grad who posts there, norcalguy, who is in med school now, maybe he can answer some questions. As I recall, he said not having a med school right there was a non-issue. Clearly many students from each of these schools atend med school.</p>

<p>You also have to get in…</p>

20

<p>“You also have to get in…”
^^^
very truee LOL
im just thinking abt where i wanna apply ED</p>