Econ + CS + Pre-Med at Dartmouth/Cornell?

College Search & Selection
1

Hey everyone,

I am choosing between Dartmouth and Cornell and would like some advice on how to choose. I want to major in Econ, possibly minor in CS (this is subject to change), and do the pre-med track. The reason I intend on doing Econ is because I’ve always found the subject fascinating and an Econ degree will serve me better than a Bio degree should I not get into med school. I’m not opposed to a gap year, but I would like to avoid it if I can. Can someone tell me which school would be the better choice to do this? Where is it more possible to keep a high GPA (3.7+)? Whether it’s even possible to do major/minor/pre-med?

Thanks and any quick responses will be great (I have 10 days to decide!)

2

For each school:

  • Count courses needed for the economics major.
  • Count non-overlapping courses needed for general education requirements.
  • Count non-overlapping courses needed for pre-med.

If this total is less than the number of total courses, then the difference is what you have left for additional electives, such as computer science courses.

3

@ezbreezy8022 it is more possible to keep a high GPA at Dartmouth than Cornell. Also the environment is less competitive. Also Dartmouth is a smaller environment which provides more individual attention, access to professors, mentorship and resource. Also it is a much richer school on a per student basis than Cornell. For Econ strength there is not much difference. If you would like to break into Wall Street Dartmouth has a very slight edge but essentially they both have equal opportunities for that route.

Because of the undergrad focus and easier grading and less competitivenessI would go with Dartmouth for sure for pre-med.

4

Ok, so I had some free time.
At Cornell:
max of 5 classes/semester = 40 classes total
Assuming you have taken all AP classes you can use for credit (sufficient score on AP CS A, Econ macro and micro, Calculus, English, etc.):
GE requirements for CAS:

at least 1 English class (you can only skip 1 using AP)
1-3 foreign language classes (can’t use AP, but you can skip to the highest level through placement test)
4 courses in science and math (covered in premed)
5 courses in social sciences, humanities, and arts (can’t use AP)
2 courses for breadth requirements (can’t use AP)
total: at least 9
Econ major: 10 courses (12 if you didn’t take both micro and macro with score of 4 or 5)
CS minor: 6 courses
Premed: (some/most schools don’t accept AP credit)
1 more English class (1 year total required)
2 biology classes
2 chem classes
2 organic chem classes
2 physics classes
2 math/statistics classes
1 biochem class (required by some med schools)
1 psychology and 1 sociology class (recommended, covered in new MCAT)
additional upper division biology classes (anatomy, genetics, molecular biology, etc)
total: 12-14 classes plus upper division biology classes
cumulative total: at least 37 classes*
*probably more than 37 because
-you might not have taken all the APs
-premeds should take upper division biology classes (helps for MCAT and I think some med schools require 2)
-you may want to take more classes to prepare for MCAT, med school, ibanking, etc
-you may want to take more CS, econ, or other classes out of interest
-5 classes is a lot, especially for a hard school like Cornell
-not all required classes are offered every quarter
-some courses have prerequisites that you would also have to take
-I noticed you got into CALS, not CAS so you may have to take additional courses specific to CALS or courses needed to transfer
Granted, you can take classes over the summer. However, because you want to enter either medicine or ibanking, I would strongly advise using your summers to volunteer, research, and do internships.

In conclusion: it’s very hard and very unlikely that you will have enough time to do all that you want at Cornell.

At Dartmouth:
max of 5 classes/semester = 40 classes total
Assuming you have taken all AP classes you can use for credit (sufficient score on AP CS A, Econ macro and micro, Calculus, English, etc.):
Econ major: 9 courses (12 if you didn’t take AP calculus or AP econ micro or AP stats)
CS minor: 6-7 courses
GE requirements for CAS:

1-2 English classes
0-3 foreign language classes (AP or placement test)
3 World Culture Requirement classes
3 distribution requirements (10 total, 5 overlap with premed or other required classes)
Premed: (some/most schools don’t accept AP credit)
1 more English class (1 year total required)
2 biology classes
2 chem classes
2 organic chem classes
2 physics classes
2 math/statistics classes
1 biochem class (required by some med schools)
1 psychology and 1 sociology class (recommended, covered in new MCAT, part of dist req)
additional upper division biology classes (anatomy, genetics, molecular biology, etc)
total: 12 classes plus upper division biology classes

cumulative total: at least 34 classes

In conclusion, it will be much easier at Dartmouth to accomplish your goals (34 vs 37 is a big difference when the total is 40). I recommend Dartmouth. I also second @Penn95 's comments.
btw my dad went there and is now in ibanking!