I was accepted into Cornell CALS as a biological sciences major and Northeastern Bouve as a Health Sciences major. I plan on applying to medical school. I will probably end up picking between these two schools. They will both cost about the same.
I am torn on which one to chose. Obviously, Cornell is more competitive and prestigious. I am just worried about how difficult it will be. Will it be extremely hard to maintain a high GPA? Is there grade deflation? I am assuming that at Northeastern, it would be easier. Would Cornell’s great reputation make up for a lower GPA? I am not looking for the easy way out, but I know how important GPA is when applying to medical school.
In terms of EC opportunities, is one better than the other? Northeastern’s co-op program seems very appealing, but I am sure a top university like Cornell has great opportunities as well.
Cornell is very tough. I’d try to find out what percent of those who declared premed as incoming freshmen actually made it through the program and then to med school.
If you got into Cornell, you’ll probably be top of your class at Northeastern. That’s a good thing.
OP: pre-med is tough everywhere, no exceptions, because all would-be applicants know they’ve got to have good grades. Pick the school at which you think you’ll be more comfortable, because generally students do better at schools where they want to be.
You’re not going to be able this data for any school anywhere. There’s simply no way for universities to track this. Pre-med is an intention, not a particular major. And colleges for not require pre-meds to register their intention to apply to medical school. Period.
A Cornell alum from several years ago who is now an MD previoulsy posted on CC to the effect of
if you can’t even get through Cornell with the required grades to get into medical school there is no way you would get through medical school. Medical school is much harder than Cornell.
His sentiments, not mine.
a quote from him:
" First week of med school we covered 2/3 of a semester of Cornell biochem in 4 days. It was the easiest week of med school I’ve had. "
Cornell is a known grade deflator. Have you visited the campus? It is pretty rural so the opportunity for things like research and volunteering are going to be less given the fewer facilities.
We toured the campus and spoke for about two hours with a premed student at Cornell- she said she and many of her friends do those types of med school application activities over the summer. She said honestly with their courseload they don’t have time for it during the semester. Now that is a sampling population of n=1, but these sentiments are frequently repeated in the BSMD thread.
I have to disagree about opportunities for research and volunteering at Cornell. Both are plentiful. I volunteered at the health center my entire four years, worked on NIMH research, researched with two profs, wrote an undergraduate thesis, etc… Cornell has a big student population with tons of opportunities.