<p>Here's the story. I used to be a HYPSM fanatic, until I realized that medical school costs a LOT.
Now, I'm trying to be practical and am targeting prestigious universities that offer full rides or full tuitions (which is just as competitive as the Ivy's :P). The most important factor I'm looking for is prestige and national accreditation. Honestly, this is the one thing that matters to me. I realize that "fit" is important, but I don't mind the weather or campus type. The only things that I need for "fit" are a huge library (Preferably 24/7) and a preferably large campus (I dislike small schools).</p>
<p>Would anybody be able to help me find and pick out the most prestigious/nationally recognized full-tuition/full-ride scholarships out of these lists? I need to make sure that they are feasible for me to apply to, so I'll post some of my stats.</p>
<p>Some of the ones I've looked at and liked (in order of prestige IMO):</p>
<p>Emory University Woodruff Scholars and Callaway Scholars (FR)
University of North Carolina Morehead-Cain, Robertson, and Pogue Scholarships (All are FR)
University of Virginia Jefferson Scholars (FR)
Davidson "Belk Scholarships" (FR)
University of Maryland Banneker Scholarships (FR)
Georgia Tech President's Scholarship (FR)
Duchossois Leadership Scholars at Illinois Tech (FR)
University Of Georgia Foundation Fellowships (FR)
Vanderbilt Cornelius Scholars, Chancellor's Scholars, and Ingram Scholars (Full Tuition only)
UKentucky Otis A. Singletary Scholarship (FR + Ipad) EEEK, I have no idea how prestigious this is :(
McDermott Scholars at the University of Texas at Dallas (FR)- I don't think this is very prestigious, but I'm in the Dallas/Richardson area so it would cut down on travel costs to home. And it looks pretty nice too :)
Southern Methodist University President's Scholars (FR)- Again, I don't think this is super prestigious, but I'm from TX.</p>
<p>all US MD schools are excellent. unless you are going for a MD/PhD for academic medicine, there is no reason to be focused on top-ranked med schools…since they all teach the SAME thing and the education is flat.</p>
<p>It is hard to get into on MD school…dont get side-tracked by worrying about prestige.<br>
btw…the rankings for undergrad are not the same for med schools…there are well-ranked impressive med schools that sit on campuses with rather unknown undergrads.</p>
<p>that said, med schools dont care which undergrad you went to…the ranked ones dont care either.</p>
<p>SAT: 2290 (M: 800 CR: 760 W: 730) on the third attempt.
GPA: 4.0/4.0 (School does not rank, from a prestigious school and will have already earned about 50-60 college credits by graduation)
ACT: 34 (35 E, 36 R, 36 M, 28 S)- I’m retaking this in a week in an effort for a 36
Ethnicity/Gender: Asian Male with no “hooks”</p>
<p>Activities:
Research of Gene Prediction using Markov Chain Mathematical Modeling and PERL script- UNT
Developing an app designed to promote ecological sustainability
Founder and President of “UNT International Sexual Assault Kits Organization”
National French Laureate Scholar
Over 500+ Volunteering hours at Vacation Bible Schools,
tutoring, hospitals, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks @mom2collegekids and @snarlatron. The thing is, I’m targeting Harvard/ Hopkins Med schools (Which about 4 million kids my age are, haha), and I’m pretty sure they would at least like to see a state school.</p>
<p>University of Rochester
Wake Forest
University of Miami</p>
<p>to your list to check out.</p>
<p>I’d also be checking out Pittsburgh - they might not be ranked as high as you’d like, but they do offer a bit of merit aid (competitive) for high stats and are considered quite good for pre-med - comparable or better than some on your list.</p>
<p>My husband found out…many years ago at least…, that prestige of undergraduate does matter a little bit for admission to the Ivy medical schools. He had perfect grades, very high MCAT scores, good research (even one summer at Harvard), good leadership positions on campus, and great recs. At one of his interviews with Columbia, the interviewer told him everything looked great, except that he went to a no name school in the midwest. He has always felt in this circumstance, he would have been better off going to the state university. In the end, it didn’t matter…he ended up doing an MD PHD program at the state university, and doing his residency at the location he wanted anyway. My son will be starting the process in a couple of years, and he has been told to go instate for medical school.Almost same education for lots less money, and you can end up with the same residency anyway if you do well. </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids I want to eventually become a neurologist (or pathologist) with only an M.D. degree. And like @iowapippa said, Ivy Medical Schools do care about one’s undergraduate education. And forgive me, but what exactly is an SOM?</p>
<p>@iowapippa I’ve always wanted to go to an Ivy for med school, but I’m also open to in-state schools too.</p>
<p>Thank you @Creekland, I will definitely check those out.</p>
<p>@BobWallace How would you rank these? I’m not very good at ranking schools and I had no idea where to put Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>I am ambivalent about the importance of med school rankings. Your career path/prestige will derive almost completely from where you do residency or fellowship training. And most residency classes at these same top SOM institutions are filled with folks from a wide range of medical schools (though mostly MD schools in the US, DO schools and foreign schools make matching more difficult). It is probably easier to match in the residency of your choice coming from one of the top schools, but you will still need the scores, class rank, letters etc. </p>
<p>If you decide it is important to you to go to a top medical school, as you prioritize your choices and strategy for getting in, I will say that the students at these schools often have extraordinary “hooks”. So my advice is that it will matter less where you go to college than what you do during or after college. Join the peace corp, take a year off and do serious research, etc.</p>
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