Harvard v. Stanford Pre-med

[badseniorquote]

So I was admitted to both Harvard and Stanford for the undergraduate class of 2020. I plan on being pre-med, maybe majoring in chemistry. I honestly can’t decide where to go, even after visiting both campuses. Some advice would be appreciated.
Background information:
I’m born and raised Californian (bay area)
Pretty dead set on medicine
I am interested in research, but not extremely important to me
I want to have a good chance of getting into a top medical school-probably the most important thing as far as long term
I’m not interested in tech start ups
So far I like Harvard’s housing way more than Stanford’s (both freshman and upperclassmen)
I feel like Stanford is too close and Harvard is too far
The financial aid is the same at both so that is not a factor in my decision

[i_wanna_be_Brown]

Going to put my points out of order since I think people get too distracted by point 5 when point 9 is the one that people need to hear more:

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.

5. 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.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1484178-if-you-are-in-high-school-please-read-this-before-posting-p1.html

[Fetch56]

@Brown Thanks for your refreshing perspective!

@badseniorquote Congrats! Both Stanford and Harvard are the best of the best. I think you should go wherever you think you’ll be happiest. (E.g., do you like the atmosphere better at one?) You will be spending 4 years there. Re: getting into med school, at places like HYPS, I believe what matters the most is how much you apply yourself and take advantage of all their resources. Maybe one might possibly offer you slightly better internship opportunities at X Institution, but the difference would most likely only be slight, and what would matter most to med schools is how you run with it, in my opinion. Best of luck!

[mom2collegekids]

Unless you’re the type who’ll get homesick or have anxiety issues, I think you should go to H. It’s a change of location and maybe your only chance to do so.