Decision time for premed hopeful: Cornell vs upenn vs tufts --urgent,please help me!

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
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<p>Hello,
Please, I have been accepted as a sophomore transfer on full funding at : University of Pennsylvania; Cornell University;Tufts University and waitlisted at Brown University …My EFC was 0 so I don’t need to pay ANYTHING.. ,
At Cornell, I will be majoring in Human Biology, Health and Society; at UPenn—Biological Basis of Behavior (Neuroscience) and at Tufts—Cognitive and Brain Sciences.</p>

<p>Please feel free to comment and help me decide based on : 1.Best premed program, 2. Small class sizes(personalized attention students receive) 3. Level of difficulty of grading (easiness to get a strong GPA for Medical School application) and 4.location/weather ..Thanks in advance</p>

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<p>OP, the schools you mention are academic peers, but they are very different in “feel”. One is urban, one is suburban, and one is rural! Have you been to the campuses? No one else can tell you which environment is better for you. I could never live too far from a large city, others enjoy the wide open spaces. What do you prefer?</p>

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<p>Since B states that it has limited FA for transfers:</p>

<p>[Transfer</a> Applicants | Undergraduate Admission](<a href=“Undergraduate Admission | Brown University”>Undergraduate Admission | Brown University)</p>

<p>Are you certain that their FA initiative for low income families holds for transfers?</p>

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<p>cornelllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!!</p>

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<p>Entomom…maybe that’s why he’s on B’s WL…he needs too much aid.</p>

<p>Shadglore…have you gotten your FA pkgs from your accepted schools? If so, what’s in them. </p>

<p>Having an EFC of 0 doesn’t mean that all FA pkgs will be the same. Some may have loans, some may have work study, and some may have a “summer work contribution” from the student. What does each FA pkg have in it?</p>

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<p>Agree, as B is need-aware for transfers. I want to be sure the OP recognizes that Bs low income initiative may not hold for transfers if they get in off the WL.</p>

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<p>Thanks entomom and mom2collegekids…yes, I have received my aid packages… Tufts gave me a full funding …all in grants and my family has to pay $600 every year… Cornell gave me all in grants too …my family has to pay $1200 ever year…Upenn gave me all in grants too and my family has to pay $200 every year… NO LOANS as part of package…just grants and employment/ workstudy ranging from $1200(Upenn) to $2000(Cornell) ----made up my aid packages
Hope this is Okay…Need more advice… Thanks :)</p>

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<p>All will be competitive. Premed classes tend to be larger, lecture halls in every college.</p>

<p>As an international, you need prestige, which rules out Tufts IMO since it is not very well known outside of the NE. </p>

<p>as an international, you need to know that admissions into US med schools is rare. Most US med school funding is from the US government which precludes training most internationals.</p>

<p>As an international, Philly and Boston would be easiest to fly home. Ithaca is a 4+ hour drive to the closest international airport. Between Penn and Tufts, Penn probably gives you the best chance at a US med school (since Penn med does accept internationals), but that is just a guess. Philly is farthest south so it has less snow and is perhaps a few degrees warmer on a daily basis. But winter is winter in the NE.</p>

<p>btw: even picking up a job in the US is difficult for an international. The college can help you with that, however.</p>

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<p>@bluebayou… Thanks so much for your comments…Very helpful to me as an international student</p>

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<p>“All will be competitive. Premed classes tend to be larger, lecture halls in every college.”</p>

<p>The above statement runs counter to my experience.</p>

<p>Tufts culture is known for exhibiting less competition between students than most colleges. This book was written at Tufts:</p>

<p>[No</a> Contest: The Case Against Competition - Alfie Kohn - Google Books](<a href=“No Contest: The Case Against Competition - Alfie Kohn - Google Books”>No Contest: The Case Against Competition - Alfie Kohn - Google Books)</p>

<p>Premed classes will have more competition between students than other classes at Tufts, but typically less than other comparable schools.</p>

<p>In terms of class sizes, “large” lecture classes at Tufts tend to be associated with introductory classes in popular majors (International Relations, Econ) or required subject areas . Given the following data on populations and class sizes, I think it is safe to assume that Tufts will have much fewer large classes and more personal attention. </p>

<pre><code> Undergrad population Grad Population
</code></pre>

<p>Tufts 5,138 4,379
Penn 10,301 11,028
Cornell 13,975 7,000</p>

<p>% classes with more than 50 students</p>

<p>Tufts 5%
Penn 9%
Cornell 19%</p>

<p>“As an international, you need prestige, which rules out Tufts IMO since it is not very well known outside of the NE.”</p>

<p>Not sure what data was used to form this opinion, but given that Tufts is ranked #7 in the country in terms of impact of clinical research, one would think that within the medical community (i.e. the places that will matter to you) it has significant “prestige”. </p>

<p>[U.S&lt;/a&gt;. University Top Tens - Harvard, Stanford Still Tops](<a href=“http://archive.sciencewatch.com/nov-dec2006/sw_nov-dec2006_page1.htm]U.S”>http://archive.sciencewatch.com/nov-dec2006/sw_nov-dec2006_page1.htm)</p>

<p>At the worldwide level (Times Higher Education), in the clinical area, Upenn is ranked 13, Cornell 29 and Tufts is ranked 36. This is based on reputation (17,500 academics surveyed), volume of research and quality/impact of research. Tufts scores highest on quality/impact of research, but does lag in volume of research and reputation - which tend to correlate to size. So you will have to decide if the benefits of the smaller size of the school, less competition for grades and the smaller classes is worth a potential reduction in name recognition.</p>

<p>My advice is to focus on “prestige by accomplishment” rather than “prestige by association”. You should try to determine which school best matches your personality/strengths/interests and will therefore bring out the best in you. </p>

<p>That will have the biggest impact on your success, not a perception of relative “prestige” – especially at this level of differentiation.</p>

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<p>I do not know if Tufts admits internationals to the med school, but it might be worth a call given that Tufts has an early admission program for it’s own med school</p>

<p>[Office</a> of International Affairs | Tufts University School of Medicine](<a href=“http://medicine.tufts.edu/Who-We-Are/Administrative-Offices/Office-of-International-Affairs]Office”>http://medicine.tufts.edu/Who-We-Are/Administrative-Offices/Office-of-International-Affairs)</p>

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<p>Thanks so much Mastadon !</p>

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<p>That’s neither here nor there. Tufts could be ranked #1 in whatever, but that will not change its ranking on the international stage. ("Prestige is a MUCH bigger factor for internationals.)</p>

<p>The fact is that the vast majority of premeds don’t make it. An it is even more difficult for international premeds attempting to crack a US med school. Thus, the OP should consider attending a Uni which is highly thought of overseas, because when it is all said and done, the likelihood is that the OP will be left with a 4-year college degree and no US med acceptances.</p>

<p>Penn is #9 in one international ranking (QS), while Cornell is #15; Tufts is not even in the top 150. (While I’m not a fan of international rankings per se, it just gives one a good indication of the different reps of these two schools across of the pond.)</p>

<p>And fwiw, Tufts Med only interviews a few (<5) internationals each year, and they usually accept 0.</p>

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<p>You said in your opinion Tufts was not well known outside the NE. In the context of that comment what I said was relevant to prospects for US med schools. </p>

<p>I am not a fan of rankings period, but the international rankings I gave were for the supposedly “most respected” international ranking for clinical subjects -(not overall ranking).
That should be relevant to International med schools since they are the academics who were surveyed to come up with the ranking.</p>

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<p>Here is my source material. I read the methodologies behind the QS, the Times and the Shanghai rankings and the Times seemed more robust. It also subsetted into Pre-Clinical which seemed more relevant. </p>

<p>Pre clinical 2011</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/clinical-pre-clinical-health.html[/url]”>http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/clinical-pre-clinical-health.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Pre clinical 2012</p>

<p>[Top</a> Universities for Clinical, Pre-Clinical & Health 2011-2012](<a href=“http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011-2012/clinical-pre-clinical-health.html]Top”>Subject Ranking 2011-12: Clinical, Pre-clinical & Health | Times Higher Education (THE))</p>

<p>All subjects 2011</p>

<p>[Top</a> 200 - The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2010-2011](<a href=“http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/top-200.html]Top”>World University Rankings 2010-11 | Times Higher Education (THE))</p>

<p>All subjects 2012
[Top</a> 400 - The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2011-2012](<a href=“http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011-2012/top-400.html]Top”>World University Rankings 2011-12 | Times Higher Education (THE))</p>

<p>Methodology
[Change</a> for the better](<a href=“http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011-2012/analysis-rankings-methodology.html]Change”>World University Rankings 2010-11 methodology | Times Higher Education (THE))</p>