<p>It seems like there are a lot fewer applicants with duke undergrad degrees apply right out of med school while Cornell the rate seems to be much higher. Not sure what this means though... thoughts?</p>
<p>Get into Cornell and Duke and then decide re the fine points would be my recommendation. </p>
<p>I know three members of my Duke son’s immediate circle finishing med school now. It is a magnificent place to do premed plus you get advantages like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which underwrites so many fab service trips for undergrads to say nothing of Science in general and the Med School at Duke re opportunities for learning. Premed is a tough road no matter where you begin.</p>
<p>I would have to see statistics that uniformly applied the same standards to determine how true your statement is and if Duke is the anomaly or Cornell is among peer schools. I do know a few people who waited a year to two after graduating before applying to med school, but it’s a personal choice. This was typically because they were doing a fixed timeframe service oriented program like Teach for America or Peace Corps. I know Duke is frequently among the top 5 schools in the nation for Teach for America participants - I recall my year, Duke had the most people of any school in the country. So, perhaps it has to do with the service-oriented student body…but that’s just a random guess.</p>
<p>Many med schools like it when students take a year or two off before starting med school, and many med schools will allow accepted students to take a year off with an admission guarantee for the following year. Happy, well-balanced students are more likely to be happy, well-balanced doctors. So, even if what you are describing is true, I wouldn’t read much into any demonstrated difference here. This certainly isn’t a reason to chose one of these schools over the other. My best advice is to go to the best undergraduate school that you like the most and can afford, and then do well once you get there. Whether you go to Cornell vs. Duke vs. any comparable school will have little overall impact in your admission to med school compared with all the other factors that are involved.</p>
<p>^ I do agree with the above. While I may have a skewed perception of the med school applicant pool due to my having been an MD/PhD applicant, I can say that at least among that (probably self-selected) subpopulation of applicant, probably half are not going from undergrad straight to med school.</p>