<p>My D just learned that she was accepted to Holy Cross with full tuition, and also admitted to Brown's PLME program (with minimal financial aid). If anyone has any statistics or personal experience to help us with our choice, we would appreciate it.</p>
<p>Can you afford Brown?</p>
<p>If you can make Brown work (definitely send them the package from Holy Cross - they may work with you), PLME is an amazing program and has an incredibly low acceptance rate, so that’s impressive! However, I definitely understand, and as someone going into medicine, she needs to think about how she’s going to pay for med school - adding undergrad debt onto that isn’t fun at all.</p>
<p>Basically, the best thing that I can suggest is figuring out if you could actually make Brown work without getting her into too much debt, and talking to the Brown FA office to see if you can get some more help. Good luck!</p>
<p>How important is the cost difference to you?</p>
<p>Med school is extremely expensive (with little or no chance of financial aid). What matters most in med school admission is the GPA and MCAT numbers, followed by personal characteristics expressed in the interview. Where you go to college (all else being equal) seems to count for very little. However, Brown may give some boost to its own PLME students. Have you seen any numbers to indicate how big that boost might be (after controlling for GPA and MCAT)? Brown no doubt already is pre-filtering tip top students to admit into this program (so your D probably has a great shot at med school success regardless.)</p>
<p>You can major in virtually anything and still be pre-med at any college. From that perspective, I don’t see the advantage to PLME. Maybe it has some esprit de corps mojo working for it, or some extra advising love? A few extra pep talks empowering pre-med weenies to loosen up and major in anthropology? Marketing hype aside, I’m sure the whole Brown experience is great … but HC tuition-free is pretty good, too.</p>
<p>The HC scholarship is based only on merit. We <em>could</em> still afford Brown, but we’re wondering if the vast difference in price is really so justifiable, given the special attention and opportunities she’ll be given at HC. The HC bio major is a force to be reckoned with, and she would certainly be admitted to the program.</p>
<p>Just to clarify, Brown PLME means automatic admission to Brown’s medical school upon graduation (no MCATs or anything).</p>
<p>Brown and Holy Cross are very different schools with Brown being pretty liberal and Holy Cross being more conservative. Is one environment a better fit? </p>
<p>But all things being equal and if you can afford it (an important consideration), I would say that the PLME program at Brown would be the winner hands down. Having that automatic admission to a great med school is a fantastic option and takes a ton of pressure off (ex. having to perform very well on the MCATS, knowing where she will be for med school etc.).</p>
<p>She loves both pretty equally, but I think she is leaning towards HC at the moment. Just trying to find justification for turning down the PLME when it’s such an elite program. </p>
<p>Even if she did go to Brown, she would probably want to apply out to other med schools (Johns Hopkins, etc). 8 years in Providence is a long time. So that doesn’t necessarily eliminate the stress of applications and the MCAT. However, as far as the name brand might look to a prospective med school or employer, I think she is concerned about choosing HC over Brown.</p>
<p>No med school is going to turn her down because she “only” went to Holy Cross.</p>
<p>If she wants to go to med school stick with PLME. Even top students fail to get into med school so why not take a guaranted path? If she;s not settled on being a doc, then the HC looks better. I like Brown’s campus better than HC but full tuition is hard to pass by.</p>
<p>HC has fantastic pre-med program with great acceptance rates at med schools. Holy Cross has great alumni network anf its students love the school.</p>
<p>I’d recommend PLME without question. Our D is a high-achieving student at a great school. She’s a current junior and is juggling 1001 things right now…the stress is unreal. She’ll take her MCATS next month and knows how much rides on this test. An auto-admit to med school will make your daughter’s quality of life SO much better! She won’t be freaking out with anxiety like other pre-meds. This is an absolute no-brainier to me.</p>
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<p>According to the following site, HC is not all that conservative:
[CollegeGuide.org</a> - Rating America’s Colleges](<a href=“http://www.collegeguide.org/itemdetail.aspx?item=486fb85a-5d15-4d1f-a8f5-5ce2804c3129&page=16]CollegeGuide.org”>http://www.collegeguide.org/itemdetail.aspx?item=486fb85a-5d15-4d1f-a8f5-5ce2804c3129&page=16) </p>
<p>(The conservative site gives Brown its “yellow” traffic light.)</p>
<p>I love Brown but I don’t think I would be able to turn down full tuition at HC…unless I were wealthy. So you guys need to decide what you can afford.
Brown only got a yellow? It’s pretty hard to be more liberal than Brown.</p>
<p>Good FAQ on the premed program at HC: [Frequently</a> Asked Questions](<a href=“http://academics.holycross.edu/healthprofessions/questions#question%209]Frequently”>http://academics.holycross.edu/healthprofessions/questions#question%209)</p>
<p>“81% of Holy Cross applicants were accepted on average each year into at least one medical school”</p>
<ul>
<li>Not a sure thing and note the at least one caveat.</li>
</ul>
<p>Save the money and go to HC. Holy Cross has a very strong medical school alumi network(Nobel Prize winner, 1 of the top Docs at NIH, med school Presidents).</p>
<p>If I were you I wouldn’t turn down the full ride to HC. I went to HC and had an amazing experience. The alumni are all extremely fond of and loyal to the school. I have many friends who were on the pre-med track at HC and are now at wonderful schools. Also, many of you mentioned “guaranteed admission” to medical school if the OP’s daughter went to Brown, but HC also has partnerships with medical schools. The pre-med advisors at HC are excellent, and since HC is a small school, students are given a lot of personal attention from their teachers. The professors at HC all care a lot about their students’ well-being. It was such a wonderful experience being at HC.</p>