<p>Harvard isn't the be all and end-all of the world.... Yale is.</p>
<p>haha, good joke. What makes it funny as that it's such a complete lie. Good sarcasm though.</p>
<p>"if i were accepted, harvard would be a full ride. so i guess that's killing 2 birds with one HUGE stone!"</p>
<p>Hear, hear! (Here, here?)</p>
<p>go to harvard.</p>
<p>You may want to check out <a href="http://www.safetyschool.org%5B/url%5D">www.safetyschool.org</a>, davidrune</p>
<p>"If you're good enough to get in, you've already got enough talent or work ethic to succeed."</p>
<p>But don't all the other kids at Harvard have this same work ethic and talent (if not more)?</p>
<p>you should probably wait until you GET INTO Harvard before asking this question because you could just be worrying over nothing (not very optimistic, but look at the chances....). Anyway, I would choose Harvard no matter what because, obviously, because you were chosen they 1) are already aware of your financial situation (or should be) and 2) "know" that you have the potential (hence, you were chosen).</p>
<p>
[quote]
It might be an interesting life lesson though to be a poor med school student with tons of debt and stressed out and then get out of there and make it all up ten fold in a couple of years.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You wouldn't want to be poor with tons of debt. It's not an interesting life lesson. If you could start at 10, why would you want to start at 0? Your parents succeeded to get rich after being poor, but maybe if you started out poor, you'd never get rich. A lot depends on fate (trust me), not on merits and hard work alone.</p>
<p>Pjv80287, to answer one of your questions specifically, for the purposes of med-school admissions, it is absolutely 100% without-a-doubt better to graduate from the very tippy-top of Pitt than to graduate at near the bottom of your class at Harvard. The fact is, med-school adcoms are extremely grade oriented, and if you don't have the grades, you lose, even if you graduated from Harvard. According to the latest numbers, about 10% of all Harvard premeds who applied to med-school got rejected from every single med-school they applied to. That's right - every one. And that obviously doesn't count those Harvard students who wanted to go to med-school but didn't bother to apply because they knew their grades weren't good enough to get them in. </p>
<p>Now, the real question is, of course, are you absolutely sure that you will be tippy-top of UPitt? The fact is, it's entirely possible that you won't, either because you happen to choose an unusually difficult major (hence your GPA will be lower), or something bad happens to you at Pitt (your significant other breaks up with you right before finals, or your apartment burns down right before finals - don't laugh, this happened to someone I know), or some other catastrophe that will stick you with bad grades. Harvard's grade inflation basically ensures that you are going to graduate. Maybe not with extremely high grades, but you're going to graduate. No such guarantee exists at places like Pitt or other public schools. If something bad happens to you, professors may choose not to care and they will stick you with bad grades. I know one guy who went to a public school whose long-term girlfriend admitted to cheating on him the night before his exam. The guy ended up with a D in the class. The prof didn't care about his personal problems - the prof basically said, if you do badly, I'm not going to care why you did badly, you're going to get a bad grade.</p>
<p>The only reason I'm asking now before I'm even admitted is because I still have a chance at RD, and if I decide pitts for me then i don't have to go waiting it out all the way to April too see.</p>
<p>"But don't all the other kids at Harvard have this same work ethic and talent (if not more)?"</p>
<p>Sure, but it seems a little counterintuitive to me to be telling yourself, "Gee, if I even get in to Harvard, there's no way I'll be at the top of my class." I think if you're qualified to be at Harvard, you've got the potential at least to be right up there. Grades are not entirely norm-referenced - if everyone gets every question on a test right - everyone gets an A. If you can consistently learn the material, analyze it, and communicate well, there is no reason you can't be at the top of your class. Perhaps that explains some of the grade inflation at schools where a lot of people are very talented. Of course it's going to be easier for some than others, but I think it's ridiculous to discount yourself if you're admitted.</p>
<p>Harvard rejects enough applicants who [they believe] can't handle the coursework. If they accept you, why set your expectations so low?</p>
<p>Abcdefghijklm, while I agree with you in principle, I think it is also true that a person can make an entirely reasonable estimate as to where he/she stands relative to the rest of the Harvard entering class and then from there determine the chances of graduating at the top. Harvard does indeed have significant grade inflation, but bear in mind that only a handful of people in history have ever graduated from Harvard College with perfect straight A's. </p>
<p>So I agree that one should not simply dismiss one's chances out-of-hand, but on the other hand, one can make a reasonable guess as to where the chips will probably fall. Or perhaps to rephrase: only if you believe you are clearly better than the average student at a particular school can you then believe you have a strong shot at graduating near the top. I think very few people will be able to walk into Harvard thinking that they are clearly better than the average student there.</p>
<p>Well-reasoned, sakky. I suppose I just think for any of us to think we would be in the BOTTOM of the class is just too pessimistic. If you're admitted EA because of merit and not athletics or legacy, don't discount yourself too much.</p>
<p>pjv, obviously, you're getting lots of good advice. My suggestion would be to go ahead and apply to one-three schools RD that you really think you might consider taking over Pitt, and make your decision in April. Of course, I'm an indecisive fool, so I'm always suggesting postponement, but in your case I think it's not a bad idea.</p>