I’ve narrowed my college options down to these four from the 13 I applied to. I am going in as a biology major and definitely want to go to Medical school after undergrad. My question is which would be best? I know Univeristy of Pittsburgh has a very highly ranked medical school, but my sights have always kind of been set on BU. I love the location and the overall city feel, there is just one thing holding me back; grade deflation. Can anyone tell me if the rumor of grade deflation at BU is true? Also, I have only been to the U Conn and BU campuses, I loved BU but not so much with U Conn. Should I go to the other two before deciding? Is one school more likely to get me in a better place for med school? Which one is best overall?
Remember whom you are asking for advice here: A bunch of strangers on the internet with no real experience or knowledge other than our own personal journeys (and certainly no knowledge about who you are as a person). I and the other students went to one college. I have no idea how the departments at two other schools are. The parents maybe got exposed to 2 or 3 schools but not as students, just hearing 2nd had from their children. You should be talking to your parents, teachers, recent alumni from your high school, college counselor, etc, not us.
point #9 - Don’t come on here asking for info about specific schools [go post on those school’s sections on CC: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/alphabetic-list-colleges/ ]
One of the most important skills you learn in college is how to learn on your own (and it’s a critical skill for medical school). Know that on the pre-med forum here, the odds that someone has intimate knowledge about any particular school is slim to none. The way to find out the pros/cons of various schools is to ask people who go/went to those individual schools and then compare your answers (there are specific forums on this site for many schools). Don’t ask them to compare and think for you, just ask them about their own and then using the info you collect, make your own assessment about what’s better.
I recommend trying to ask questions with “objective” answers as opposed to opinions because unless you know the person answering has the same perspective as you, you can’t trust their opinion. For example, don’t ask if a school prepares you well, ask for examples of things the school did to prepare them. What each student needs to feel prepared is different so a school that does little might be good enough prep for one person while not enough prep for someone else. Don’t just ask if there’s lots of advising or if there is plenty of research, ask for details about how advisors are determined, how often you get to meet with them, what sorts of things they talk about. For research ask them how they got the position, how long it took them to find one. Stuff like that. You want concrete answers that YOU can apply your opinion to, not just blindly follow someone else’s.
The approach I outline in this post is also good for picking med schools when you eventually apply to them too.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1484178-if-you-are-in-high-school-please-read-this-before-posting-p1.html