Duke vs Dartmouth pre-med and chances please!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
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<p>Of the two, which would you say has a better overall pre-med program? (advising, grade inflation, MCAT prep, research/volunteer opportunities, etc)</p>

<p>And also could you please chance me for the two (ED)? sorry I've posted chance threads before but I have to apply by November and I'm still unsure of where to apply too</p>

<p>So, first off I'm from a very underrepresented state (MS - which I'm pretty sure is very underrepresented at most elite schools - which I think makes me a geographic minority? I'm from a rural area also haha) and I go to a small high school (<50 in my graduating class) that offers no APs or Honors classes at all. That being said:</p>

<p>***Standardized tests:
-ACT - 33; retaking, should have 34+ by application time
-PSAT - 225 (should definitely be a semifinalist/finalist, my state's cutoff range hovers around 202)
-Still have to take SAT IIs</p>

<p>***Grades and classes:
-Unweighted GPA - 4.0 (98.6 at the moment). My school doesn't offer any AP classes, but I've tried to make up for it by taking as many classes as possible. I've actually run out of science and math classes to take at my school, because this year I'm taking all of the math/science classes that seniors usually take. Next year I'm going to take some classes at a community college to fill my schedule.
-Class rank-1st </p>

<p>-Last semester I took two classes at a local college, A+ in both
-This semester I another class at local college, A+
-Just completed the Mississippi Rural Medical Scholars program and took two pre-med classes, A+ in both</p>

<p>***Honors, awards, etc:
-1st place, mississippi mathematics and science tournament (biology - also plan on majoring in some type of biology) sophomore and junior year
-Science Quest finalist - biology sophomore year and physics junior year
-since 9th grade I've had the highest average in every class I've taken
-star student, scholar athlete, other misc. awards</p>

<p>***ECs
-Student government: 9th grade class treasurer, 10th and 11th class president
-Beta Club president
-Math/Science team
-Academic team
-varsity cross country, competed in state championships twice
-about 100 hrs volunteering at a hospital
-50 hrs volunteering in Ecuador over spring break building a school
-last summer attended a leadership program at Johns Hopkins
-Just completed the Mississippi Rural Medical Scholars program (really selective, only 20 kids in the state get accepted, spent 5 weeks taking pre med classes and shadowing doctors)
-I'm going to spent the rest of the summer volunteering at a center for underprivileged children</p>

<p>**<em>Essay/recommendations:
essay - *should</em> be great
recommendations - my principal and counselor both really like me so I should have stellar letters of recommendation</p>

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<p>I know one friend at Dartmouth who is doing Premed and says its great. I was up there a few months ago and its in a lovely small town. I have another friend who is doing premed who just got accepted off the Duke wait list (like a day before it closed) so idk what he has to say about it yet. The big difference is Ivy vs Elite Non-Ivy. I hate the whole Ivy elitism, but if you want to say that you graduated from an Ivy League School, obv Dartmouth would be the better choice. Duke gives you a bit more of an athletic/school spirit environment (with Bbbal) and is in a warmer climate.</p>

<p>Chances, eh, I’m horrible at them haha, no APs won’t help, but your school doesn’t offer em.</p>

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<p>^^^Thanks</p>

<p>bummpp anybody?</p>

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<p>And patriotsfan1, I want to go to a really prestigious school, but the Ivy title makes no difference to me</p>

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<p>I say the Duke premed program is great, and that’s why a lot of kids come in premed. Over 80% of those who apply to med school get in. We don’t have much grade inflation compared to some of the Ivies, but I do think that med schools recognize this. Advising is alright, you just set up an appointment online and talk to your adviser. I think it gets better in your junior/senior year because there are less kids doing premed and the advisers know more. There’s plenty of opportunities to volunteer and stuff - the hospital at Duke is on campus, and like…10 minutes away on foot, so you’re good there. Duke’s pretty good with research opportunities too. A few of my friends who were freshmen at the time emailed profs and got jobs in their labs. </p>

<p>I say you stand a good chance to get into the school with those grades and your background and everything else. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. (:</p>

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<p>alright, some people care about that Ivy Title a lot, especially on CC</p>

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<p>I know this is late (saw this awhile ago), but I was just talking to my group of friends who went to my high school and they were talking about premed. One kid (he was really smart- people say he was the smartest kid at my HS ever haha) goes to Dartmouth and loves the program, and after a year already has an internship lined up. I also had two friends who went to duke (one for engineering/bio major -I know, that’s rough) and really liked the school and it’s programs. Ine had an internship in engineering and the other didn’t have one (I think he just wanted to chill). Either way you can’t go wrong. Dartmouth is probably slightly more respected (based off Ivy title) but duke still sends huge amounts of students to med school. If you apply, you’d have a good shot</p>

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<p>get in both and then decide. </p>

<p>they are very different communities and both have wonderful but different things to offer overall. </p>

<p>My son wanted to go to the Big Green, didn’t get in, got into Duke and says now that he was ever so much happier at Duke than he would have been at Dartmouth. He loves big big time sports (Duke has great sports in so many categories for males and females), loved the large and congenial Duke Symphony where he had a second home, Duke has an incredible special events and artists budget that brings in world class talent year round, Duke is very lively and part of a Triad of towns full of PhDs, with Chapel Hill just down the road for plenty of fun, and he loved wearing shorts and being outdoors all the time…and the Duke alum network has helped him land two good jobs in a recession…it is a bigger network than Dartmouth’s but bigger is not always better.
Dartmouth makes up for its brutal winters and isolated location by sending its students to a term of internships and to a mandatory summer session where they can actually be in New Hampshire in the summers.<br>
Duke has a very strong international flair and student body and incredible placements around the globe for premeds.
Dartmouth is also sporty, excessively fratty IMHO, (Duke’s frat scene is prominent but less % involved) and Dartmouth is more of an undergraduate focused tight community.
Dartmouth kids have a LOT of school spirit and impressed us greatly with their diversity and sense of fun. Access to faculty is more intimate more of the time at Dartmouth which is a truly warm, wonderful learning environment. </p>

<p>good luck and make sure not to put all your eggs in Reach schools</p>

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<p>sorry for the late reply and thanks! ^^^</p>