“Most to med schools worse than NU.”
You have to compare apples to apples. Since the minimum HPME GPA requirement is 3.7, you should compare Harvard undergraduates with a GPA 3.7 or greater. I would venture many are accepted to T20 medical schools comparable to Northwestern and more than a few to top 10 medical schools including Harvard Medical School.
Princeton had their stats published. No, most of them don’t get into top-20 although ~90% did get in somewhere. Can’t imagine Harvard somehow magically has a vastly different outcome. I remember seeing schools like Cornell and UChicago has their rate of around high 70s%. That’s just getting into somewhere, let alone top-20. There’s no reason to believe Harvard grads somehow would do way better.
Well, it’s not that simple. NU requirement is light in the sense that while overall requirement is 3.7, the science GPA is 3.5. With the grade inflation in schools outside of engineering, 3.7 is rather easy for anyone that is Harvard material (assuming it’s not a fluke). 3.5 in sciences is probably harder but that’s nothing compared to the 3.88 science GPA that people at NU med school had (class of 2022).
Also, getting into a top-20 med school isn’t just about grades. It’s also about extracurricular, MCAT, and recommendations. You won’t need to worry about those as a HPME. That means more time for interests and hobbies or just time available to make sure the grades are there.
For whatever it’s worth: I was a pre-vet at Brown in the mid 90s. I followed the pre-med curriculum and spent a lot of time with pre-meds. I struggled with a few of the physical science classes–as in, almost didn’t pass one of them and had to take a summer class. I felt like I was a typical type-A, stressed-out, hard-working student. I also had stressed (brilliant) PLME roommates and friends who worked most of the time, despite the security of their guaranteed acceptances into medical school.
However, once I got to vet school, the horror stories I heard from my classmates about competitiveness and backstabbing at other undergraduate schools were shocking to me. This dynamic was not a single part of my experience mingling with med students at Brown–perhaps due to the PLME program and open curriculum.
Looking back, I was extremely well-prepared for vet school. I also remember with fondness my classes at Brown in Egyptology and Arthurian legends–among others. 
But take all of this with a grain of salt. My information is old and I have little insider knowledge of Harvard or NU…except that Evanston is GORGEOUS in the summer.
Evanston is beautiful year round, but it does get a little chilly at times.
If health economics or health policy is your ultimate goal, then a Harvard degree will open far more doors for you.
The MD degree will just be icing on the cake. If you want to practice medicine then no one will care where you went to school. So the extra boost from top 20 vs top 40 medical school is meaningless. The thing that matters for residency placement is USMLE Step 1 scores. This is far and away the # 1 thing that residency directors look for. The prestige of the school is much much farther down the list. (Source: Bryan Carmody - see his tweets). Not allowed to link here, sorry.
Now the schools with the highest MCAT scores tend to also have the highest USMLE scores – because they enroll students who are good at taking tests. The first year of medical school is almost like learning an entirely different language. The reason why Organic chemistry is used as a weed out class is because it mimics the volume of material that is taught in med school. If you can memorize hundreds of orgo equations, then memorizing the names of each branch of the aorta should be easy. Med school is not difficult, but requires the ability to assimilate lots of material, and recognize patterns across massive amounts of data.
One piece of advice I have not seen here yet: Talk to at least four or five students who just went through the medical school admissions process during this last cycle. Ask them how the process was for them. Ask them if they, with 20/20 hindsight, would have taken guaranteed admission if it had been offered, or if the MCAT/application/interview process was no big deal.
^Unless you can find ten students like OP who were cross-admits at both H and BSMD, and five of them chose one option vs the other, you are not going to find a valid data set. And even if you can find them the survey results would be full of confirmation bias.
“If health economics or health policy is your ultimate goal, then a Harvard degree will open far more doors for you.“
Can those who make claims like the one above provide data to back that up or articulate how that works and why that’s the case? I am curious to know more how rigged our system is - that after you sit through 4 years at Harvard, you are then set for life. I think we got serious problems in health care and I wonder if I should hold bunch of Harvard alums accountable!!
Well, the most influential health economist of the past few decades, Victor Fuchs, went to NYU undergrad. I think high school students often don’t realize that in the real world, people look at your accomplishments, not your diploma. No one will open a door for you because you went to Harvard; in fact, they’ll often do the opposite.
I didn’t say he should talk to people who had the exact options that he has. I just said he should talk to people who DID apply and ask if they would have taken a BSMD option IF it had been available. Not a perfect survey suitable for publication. But neither is asking people on an anonymous message board.
Perhaps the OP can also ask the question on the pre-med forum section.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/
@refreshinggal:
“You have to compare apples to apples. Since the minimum HPME GPA requirement is 3.7, you should compare Harvard undergraduates with a GPA 3.7 or greater. I would venture many are accepted to T20 medical schools comparable to Northwestern and more than a few to top 10 medical schools including Harvard Medical School.”
But that’s not comparing apples to apples. For someone in HPME to get in to Feinberg, they only has to meet the GPA requirements (3.7 overall GPA; 3.55 science GPA). To get in as a Harvard undergrad, you need a high GPA, good MCAT score (lots of studying for that too), all the EC/volunteering stuff, and then you get to stress out about whether you’d get in anywhere.
To the extent that locations matter, NU med school is located at one of the best locations in Chicago and many NU med students stay there for their residency. That’s after 3-4 yrs of undergrad at the lovely Evanston campus. The two different locations for ug and med provide a nice change for the transition.
I don’t believe Harvard necessarily opens more door. My guess is none of the people who claim otherwise actually works in health policy. The whole premed journey could eat up so much of one’s time that he/she may not have much left to pursue his/her interests.
Pick the school you liked the best, not based on GPA, promises of MD programs, or other nonsense.
You really don’t know if you can go to medical school, until you spend more time with patients and
more time in a lab, if MD/PhD might be in your future. The MD programs will totally misdirect you,
and NOT in your favor. You are bright and need to explore.
If you are meant to get an MD, you will get there. why commit now? This is your time to explore.
Try clinical work before you commit to an MD. Try lab work. Try an internship in public policy in Washington DC.
From Harvard, you can get them all, but other two are fine too.
I would look carefully at PhD programs in health policy if you believe policy is a good direction for you.
Its OK to be a doctor for a while, but chances are, if you really want to work in policy, you may not like clinical medicine.
See these graduate programs. They fit your interests better than slicing up a cadaver I bet!
https://healthpolicy.fas.harvard.edu
https://www.brown.edu/academics/public-health/hspp/home
https://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/sites/health-policy/
As a HPME graduate, I know the quality of students that are accepted into the program and have no doubt you will succeed no matter which path you decide. Three of the most selective admissions committees obviously have the same faith in you. We will need physician experts who represent physician perspectives in making health policy decisions in the future. Follow your passions in Health Economics research, excel academically, enjoy your extra-curricular activities (and yes study for the MCAT exam if you choose Harvard)
There was also a top guy at Duke I believe (forgot his name).
But found this survey o be of interest: Brown is ranked one spot ahead of H. As others have pointed out, H is not the end-all be-all, unless you are speaking of Harvard Law for Supreme Court positions.
@Mwfan1921 I don’t have anything really to say beyond what I’ve already said:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/1284648-brown-is-the-best-place-to-be-a-pre-med-p1.html
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/2058785-confessions-of-a-med-school-app-reader-p1.html
You can easily take Harvard out as with your BS-MD options, you are getting top notch undergrad and medical schools.
You are not rejecting Harvard for an undergrad at an unknown state school in Shreveport or a low ranked med school in Lubbock.
You have nothing to loose, it’s all good and just a matter of finding less stress and better fit. Brown seems like an ideal option to me unless you prefer NU.
My son was going through a similar process - trying to decide between HYPS and Brown PLME. His direction was a little different from yours. He decided PLME. However, because we have had a few conversations about this decision, I thought that I would share my thoughts.
The Brown PLME program seems to “free you up” to actually pursue whatever you want in undergrad without having to deal with the stress of the “premed grind” and studying for MCATs. Sure, there are some requirements—but relatively easy to fulfill given the “open” curriculum.
For you, this can mean focusing on public policy:
https://bulletin.brown.edu/the-college/concentrations/plcy/
Also, as a PLME, you could take a year to get an advanced degree or take an internship: https://www.brown.edu/academics/medical/plme/current-students/enrichment-activities/advanced-scholarship
If are particularly interested in public policy type of work, you have an opportunity as a PLME to apply to a combined program:
Masters in Public Affairs.
https://www.brown.edu/academics/medical/education-programs/mdmpa-program/mdmpa-program-admissions
https://watson.brown.edu/mpa/apply/md-mpa
I am not as familiar with HPME. However, I did have a colleague who went through the program, and he was a faculty member with me at a top medical school. He was successfully (i.e. grant-funded) engaged in clinical and bench research. I also have a few friends who went to Harvard undergrad and got accepted to well respected medical schools and are all successful.
So ultimately, any of your current options are extremely viable. I suspect that you will do well regardless of the path that you take—just recognize that some of the paths may be much more challenging than others.