I’m trying to choose between Duke and Brown for pre-med. I know that both are great schools but would going to one give me an advantage in the pre-med process?
I read on another thread that Brown is good for pre-med because the grade inflation gives many students a high GPA which major in applying to med school.
I’m a Duke student. Going to Brown might make you stress less about an A- vs an A, but it will make you stress more about an B+ vs an A- because Brown doesn’t have a ± system (so B+ = 3.0), so I think the grade inflation effect at Brown will cancel out with itself. Duke has a higher-ranked med school, though tbh this shouldn’t matter for undergrad.
Duke has better research opportunities and a much better medical school on campus. Duke’s medical research program is absolutely world class. Two Duke professors have won Nobel prizes in the last four years, Duke receives more private research funding than any other university in the country, a former Duke administrator is the Director of the FDA, a former Duke dean is the Chairman of the Institute of Medicine.
Brown gives you a marginal advantage with grade inflation (but I’m sure that many admissions committees are aware of this policy). Duke gives you unparalleled research opportunities and a track record of excellence that Brown cannot match. Add to this the fact that Duke’s endowment is more than twice as large as Brown’s endowment (more money = more opportunities) and the choice is fairly straightforward in my opinion.
Some links about what is being done at Duke:
https://today.duke.edu/2016/02/bidenvisit
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/polio-cancer-treatment-duke-university-60-minutes-scott-pelley/
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/03/the-rare-super-antibodies-that-destroy-hiv/473154/
https://today.duke.edu/2015/10/modrichnobel
They are going to be pre-med and sometimes that is decoupled from the research environment (not everyone who is pre-med wants to attend a research intensive medical school), but regardless, from the stuff I’ve seen course work wise, both are quite challenging. I really doubt either would have any advantage over the other (unless one has far more pre-healths than the other in which case there is more competition). The two seem to be very different (socially/intellectually) to the point that I would not choose based on research strength or even academics. Someone having a Nobel Prize on campus is irrelevant unless you plan to work in that person’s lab and get published which I doubt most pre-healths think of when getting to campus (research is an enticing but abstract concept to many, and not everyone should do it. It should not, for example, be thought of as a resume filler or a method to become more competitive. You should actually be interested in how it can develop the mind or scientific discover in general).
I would choose based on social environment or curriculum structure (in whatever actual major the OP wants to pursue and not just the vague “pre-med” which is not a major). Any selective school will hopefully train you well for MCAT and medical school if you don’t try to carve out the easiest path possible (in which case, why go?). A balanced schedule that includes STEM (and other) instructors that teach you to think along with deep (deep not spread too thin) EC involvement at either of these places will set one up for success. No “pre-med program” should stand out from others unless the science courses associated with the path are abnormally hard (like at top STEM schools, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, or Chicago), curriculum structure differs dramatically (Harvard with the integrated Science thing it has going on), or the advising system has its quirks (like if a school refuses composite letters to a certain percentage of students. I don’t know if any school does it. People used to say Hopkins did it).
OP should simply go do research on both schools (hit up their websites) and find things they like and don’t like about the school culture and curriculum at each.
Go wherever you think you can get the highest grades. Med school admissions are highly dependent upon GPA (and MCAT scores).
On campus research indeed is better at Duke. Note that most Duke pre-meds take a gap year before applying to med school.
More research opportunities at Duke. Duke med is better than Alpert (Brown’s med school). Brown has slightly more grade inflation.
Hello NerdyChica,
Are you Duke officier? I see you have post hundreds pro-Duke messages here. No offense, Just curious.
^ Nope! Just an alum who really enjoyed my time at Duke 
None taken.
The school’s medical school has NOTHING to do with being an undergraduate pre-medical student (like what if a student wanted to go to Princeton or MIT where there is no medical school?..I wouldn’t have a problem with that if the student liked those places/think they can perform well in those environments) unless the bias is very strong toward undergrads at the school or unless the pre-med even wants to attend that school for undergraduate. They should pick the place they are more comfortable with to ensure that they are likely to perform optimally.
^ That’s not true at all. Students who attend universities that have top tier medical schools are much more likely to be able to do clinical research and volunteer in a medical setting. Not to mention the fact that medical schools tend to be “incestuous” (i.e. they favor undergraduates from the same university).
MIT students benefit from Harvard’s med school. A lot of people would argue that Princeton is not the best place for a pre-med specially if the student has other options like Stanford or Yale. If you compare Princeton to Harvard or even to Duke or Penn, I’m sure you’ll find that a much smaller percentage of Princeton’s class comes in pre-med.
Are you in 8 year Brown program? If yes then my suggestion is to go for that.