<p>I am a graduating High School senior and I have been accepted to Dartmouth College and a combined BS/MD program-UIC College of Medicine GPPA program. I am having trouble deciding. Please share your thoughts on what you would do in my situation.</p>
<p>Dartmouth:
Pros:
I think I would enjoy the undergraduate experience much more than UIC. I may go into academic medicine, so the Ivy League brand may be helpful.
Cons:
No guarantee that I will get into any medical school. Will have to work hard to get high GPA, high MCAT and stand out ECs. UG will cost about $250k.</p>
<p>UIC GPPA:
Pros:
Guaranteed spot in UIC medical school, if I keep a GPA of 3.5 and get an MCAT of 31(three tries allowed). Can apply to other medical schools and keep UIC Med as a backup. Finish UG in three years using AP credit. Will probably get merit aid and UG cost will be much less than Dartmouth. - as little as $75k if I do it in three years.</p>
<p>Cons:
Probably will not enjoy UIC undergraduate experience as much as Dartmouth. This is an undergrad that I would never consider if it was not for the Medical School Guarantee.</p>
<p>Dartmouth is supposed to have 85% acceptance rate, but that includes people who spend time after graduation improving their applications. I have heard that 80% of Dartmouth applicants do not apply to medical school until the end of their fourth year, which means they take a GAP year.</p>
<p>P.S. I have also posted this on the Dartmouth forum, but I am hoping to get more opinions here.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>False. No college has an acceptance rate that high. None.</p>
<p>Before sharing my thoughts, how big of an impact would the COA be to your family? How wealthy is full pay? Would your parents notice that the money is gone, or it is a rounding error for their accountant?</p>
<p>What are your other options? UICC? Any money from downstate?</p>
<p>Parents are willing to pay, but would notice money gone. It would not be a rounding error LOL.</p>
<p>I have many other options, including multiple full rides at mid tier schools. The main issue for me is if giving up the UIC Medical School guarantee is worth the Dartmouth undergrad experience.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t give up the guarantee, especially since our year is the guinea pig for the new MCAT. If you know you want to be a doctor, go with the program. Going to an Ivy will not guarantee you get into medical, and if you truly want to be a doctor why chance it?</p>
<p>You will grow to love whatever school you go to, even if it’s not your top choice. If you don’t want to stay with the medical school, you can always apply out and have it as a backup (an opportunity many people would kill to have)</p>
<p>What are your other options? Where are the full rides at?</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Kat asks a really good question. </p>
<p>Why is this an either or question? Some of those mid-tiers may give you more of the UG experience you want and would allow your folks to help with med school. </p>
<p>Full disclosure (since you are new here lol). My kid took the full-ride at Rhodes College over big $ (but not full-pay) at Yale. She ended up fine at med school application time, but worked awfully hard to put herself in that position. </p>
<p>Time to bring out bdm’s “law”. Paraphrased poorly but I’m tired…Most kids who get these BS/MD offers at “not a top school” can do better going the traditional route at a better school. Something to think about since you have stated you have no interest in UG at UIC.</p>
<p>The medical school application process is so fraught with uncertainty that don’t agree with bdm’s law. If you really want to be a physician, take the BS/MD program. Two of my siblings did and they did just fine; both ultimately got Ivy League Master’s degrees(Harvard and Columbia); one has had a career in academia, the other in private practice. If it’s been a lifelong dream to go to Dartmouth, then that’s your choice, but make the choice knowing how tough it is to get into any US medical school. And if Dartmouth is peddling the canard that it gets 85% of its applicants into medical school-well, what exactly is that measuring? The number of freshment pre-meds? Or the handfull left junior year after a particularly brutal three years?</p>
<p>I think it would be helpful for you to think about why UIC is so unbearable and why Dartmouth is so attractive (if you haven’t already). If you’re convinced going to UIC would be miserable and going to Dartmouth would be amazing, then you probably already know the answers to why UIC’s terrible and why Dartmouth is great. </p>
<p>As you know, there’s a lot at stake here. What if you go to UIC, but decide you don’t want to go into medicine after all? Will you feel like you wasted your undergrad away at a school you didn’t like? Who knows–you may come to love UIC. What if you go to Dartmouth, know medicine’s certainly for you, but have a tough time crafting a great application and aren’t accepted anywhere? What if you go to UIC, fall in love with the place, and never want to leave? What if you go to Dartmouth but realize you don’t like NH as much as you’d hoped? What if you find that your friends are totally awesome–and actually, it’s them that make school so great, not the school itself?</p>
<p>The point I’m trying to make is that it’s nearly impossible to figure out exactly where to go because a lot of life happens during undergrad. It’s hard for you to predict, in high school, what you’ll be like when you’re done with undergrad (heck it’s hard to do that while you’re in undergrad too!). </p>
<p>If I were in your shoes, I think I’d play devil’s advocate a little bit (since you clearly already have opinions about your schools) and try to come up with a big list of things going for UIC and a big list of things tearing Dartmouth down. Then I’d add that to my initial thoughts about the schools and think about it again. Of course, the financial side of things would play a role too–and I’m inclined to think I’d go with the least expensive option as medical school is ridiculously pricey. But in the end, I think I’d just go with my gut feeling–do I just have to go to Dartmouth, or would I really like to have the certainty of a spot in med school? (I’m sure by now you’ve gotten some feeling for how stressful that application process is!)</p>
<p>The beauty of the situation is, you’re the one who gets to decide!</p>
<p>My concern would be “MCAT of 31”. It is relatively high for combined program. However, if you feel that you would be miserable at one, then I would think very hard about going there. My own D. was in combined program at state school, but she wanted to be at this particular UG and looking back she is very happy that she went there. You got to feel that you belong to the place, otherwise it is not worth going, it is 4 most important years of your life, you do not want to be miserable, you want to be happy.
I would also highly consider any full ride. D. was on full tuition Merit award and it is a huge plus when planning to go to Med. School.
This is from our experience, everybody has different one. BTW there is NO difference in Med. School where you are coming from, state school, Ivy, any Elite, no diff. whatsoever…again from D’s experience.</p>