<p>Hi guys, I've narrowed my list down to this. I was very lucky to be admitted to 8 out of 9 schools (I was waitlisted at one of them).</p>
<p>I've narrowed my choices down to Stanford, Brown PLME (the combined med 8 year program), and USC Bacc/M.D. (the combined med 8 year program).</p>
<p>Here are the pros and cons I've figured out so far.
I am from Southern California.</p>
<p>STANFORD
Pros:
-name
-higher caliber undergrad than both USC and Brown
-beautiful campus
-renowned faculty
-I feel very comfortable among the people
-small student body (~6,000)
-amazing housing systems
-great accomodations
-very laidback, awesome atmosphere
-perfect distance away from home (about 1 hour plane ride, 7 hours driving)
Cons:
-no guaranteed admission to medical school
-very competitive for premed students (only 68-75% of Stanford undergrads get accepted to medical school)
-expensive
-it's going to be a hard road
-guaranteed housing all 4 years</p>
<p>Brown PLME
Pros:
-name (Ivy League)
-open curriculum (no core requirements)
-guaranteed admission to Alpert (Brown) Medical School (as long as I do my premed requirements and get a B in Bio)
-no MCATs
-small (~6,000 students)
-great atmosphere
Cons:
-too liberal?
-too far away from home? (8 hours plane ride)
-expensive (remember to factor in plane tickets)
-guaranteed housing all 4 years
-Alpert doesn't have that many affiliated hospitals (only 7 hospitals affiliated with Alpert in Providence)
-cold weather
-doesn't allow you to apply out (if I apply out of Alpert Medical School, I get deferred admission to Alpert if I don't get into any other med schools... basically, my admission to Alpert could be deferred 2-3+ years)</p>
<p>USC Bacc/M.D.
Pros:
-guaranteed admission to Keck Medical School (as long as I maintain a 3.2 GPA and score at least a 27 on the MCAT)
-allows you to apply out while holding your spot (I could apply to better medical schools than Keck, while still having my guaranteed spot)
-I received the Presidential Scholarship (half tuition) and the Foulke Scholarship (an extra $3,000/year)
-Keck Medical School is in a better location for practicing opportunities (20 surrounding hospitals affiliated with Keck in L.A.)
Cons:
-too big (~16,000 undergraduates)
-not as good of an undergraduate school as Brown or Stanford
-Keck Medical School has a lower ranking than Alpert
-too close to home? (only 1 hour or less driving)</p>
<p>If you could give me your feedback (espeically if any of you were in one of these programs), that would be great. Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Wow! Incredible choices. I’d probably choose USC first (that kind of $ is hard to pass up + you don’t have to matriculate to their med school necessarily but have that cushion of automatic admit which would be REALLY nice). I realize it may not be quite as prestigious as the other two, but USC has an INCREDIBLE reputation, and as you know, undergrad isn’t as important as med school. I would have to pick Stanford next. I can’t help but think you’ll do well enough to get into a top tier med school. My last pick would be Brown. That actually would have been my first, by the way, until you told me about the forced attendance (more or less) to their med school. What happens if you get to Providence and hate it? Can you live there for the next 8-9 years? IDK…not having to take the MCAT is appealing, though, and at least having that guaranteed spot reserved would be nice. Still, wouldn’t it be more interesting to go one place for undergrad and another for med school? Yep…choose USC or Stanford.</p>
<p>Yeah, the deal with my parents also is that I have to pay for half my college tuition and half of my grad school tuition. If I choose USC, that half will be taken care of, but I’m just not sure about USC undergrad and if I would enjoy my 4 years there. I am 100% sure I would like Stanford undergrad, but the pressure and the competition is going to be fierce, and I won’t get the support from my parents for having turned down two med programs. LSKDJFLKJSdlfkjsdlkflskjdflaks! haaha</p>
<p>If it were a state school that had no rep whatsoever, I’d say yeah…bite it and pay; however, USC is really, really reputable. As reputable as Stanford or Brown? Maybe not (although somewhat close to Brown according to USNWR); however, you’d be able to achieve a high GPA, and IF you chose to go somewhere else for med school, you could with a good undergrad and great GPA under your belt. Furthermore, you wouldn’t be “in the hole”. Your going to incur enough debt trying to finance med school. BTW…did you consider HPME at all? Just curious.</p>
<p>I would pick USC. It would save you a TON of money, be easier to get a high GPA, you have an automatic (basically) spot in their med school AND you can apply somewhere else. USC is a pretty reputable school too.</p>
<p>I was rejected from HPME, though I was admitted to Northwestern (I made it to the interview round). I don’t know–STanford is my favorite place for undergrad by far…</p>
<p>Go with your heart. Stanford is incredible! It sounds like you simply want someone to tell you it’s okay to decline the auto med school admit. I probably would agree with your folks if it was any other school accept HYPSM. You’ll be fine! Go with your heart, and good luck! You have some fabulous choices. You must be thrilled.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure I’m going to turn down USC Bacc/M.D. Now it’s just between Stanford and Brown PLME. I’m going to talk to my parents tomorrow and figure things out. I’ve heard premed at Stanford is ridiculously difficult :/</p>
<p>I think you’d be crazy to turn down one of the med admits. It is possible you won’t be admitted to med school later, given the competition. I know kids who went to great and tough undergrads who did not get admits.</p>
<p>My daughter was extremely happy 4 years at Brown (and came from CA.) She never found it to be that cold. She also liked being there so much and wanted to be involved in summer research, so she stayed there every summer too, except for a vacation home. </p>
<p>I think the plus of no MCAT is huge. Plus the open cirriculum will give you incredible flexibility. I met one guy who did double major in premed and public policy and made the olympic trials last year. This is the kind of student you will be around. Too liberal, really, there are all types there.</p>
<p>Must be hard to kiss that USC $ goodbye, though. With these good choices, I think you are a little short sighted to over focus on Stanford, myself. You will save yourself mucho stress going into guaranteed program. You’ll have stress enough later.</p>
<p>I think I’m leaning towards Brown right now. I don’t know, I only get one shot at this in my life and the opportunity to say that I went to Stanford and lived there and loved it and enjoyed it with every fiber of my being is kind of crazy to pass up, but then again, so is the opportunity to really study whatever I want and not worry too much about my grades and have a guaranteed admittance to med school.</p>
<p>Apparently Brown has naked a cappella groups… haha</p>
<p>^i wouldn’t be so caught up in the prestige.
Brown, as an IVY, is prestigious enough, and it’s known to have one of the happiest students in the country. You’ll most likely have a great time and not regret it, whereas if you don’t get into a great med school from Stanford after working hard for four years, you’ll really hate your high-school self for making the choice.
you can always tell your kids you were accepted to Stanford, but turned it down! ;)</p>
<p>Go to Brown. If you’ve done the work to know you want to be a doctor (volunteer work in a medical setting, etc) then you’ve made the decision about your career direction and a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush. Who’s to say what will happen to med school admit rates 4 years from now?</p>
<p>Next, go to the library and get a copy of “Stumbling on Happiness”. One critical observation from the book is that our predictions of how happy (or unhappy) some future event will make us has systematic flaws. The point is your imagining of life at Stanford suffers from these same flaws and you’re seeing it as much happier than it will turn out to be. Stanford is a wonderful place, but its not nirvana.</p>
<p>My parents’ stipulations are that if I go to Brown I need to do work study, may not be allowed to go study abroad (as I am turning down a pretty sizeable amount from USC), and cannot take pass-fail classes. What do you guys think? (Btw Brown is offering me ~14,000+ a year for need-based financial aid vs. USC’s $23 K).</p>
<p>Stanford. Preferences change, most of my friends that came in “sure of pre-med” ended up doing different things. If you actually like Brown more than go for it, they’re not that different academically/prestige-wise but very different fit-wise. If you do decently well at Stanford you should have no problem getting into a Brown/USC calibre med school anyway.</p>
<p>I would personally take USC over Brown though, better weather, fun campus, and $$$</p>
<p>I chose Brown PLME. Thanks for all your help!
I knew I was 100% committed to medicine and a direct path to medical school was just too good to pass up, even for Stanford. :] I’ll be enjoying the next 8 years in Providence!</p>
<p>all three are amazing opportunities, but personally, i would definitely go for Brown PLME…could you also post your stats and any advice on how to get in to Brown PLME… im a sophomore and am very interested in brown plme</p>