<p>BLUEDEVILMIKE:</p>
<p>what do you mean that Cal is a "notorious premed shredder"? I've never heard that before, and am interested in what you mean by that.</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>Berkeley just doesn't have the environment where premeds find it easy to get the EC's they need, and they have literally zero campus advising. Those two things are very important for premeds. As a general rule, public schools have a very hard time marshaling the resources premeds need. Berkeley is among the very worst in this regard. Fortunately, they have pretty talented students who sometimes do very well anyway.</p>
<p>To be honest, I don't get why people are downplaying LA. I live in Chicago and it's not everything it's hyped up to be. Yes, there are resources, but they are not "endless." LA and USC have just as great of resources if not better because Los Angeles is a more globally-oriented metropolis. Plus, I guarantee you you will get sick of Chicago and its weather after the three years of undergrad...sticking around for another four doesn't seem pleasant to me.</p>
<p>thanks for your replies</p>
<p>BDM, your line "If you like Rice better than Northwestern, pick Rice. If you like Northwestern better anyway, then by all means -- take HPME" makes sense. that's why i applied only to med programs where i would go to their undergrad already. but i think if i hadn't gotten into hpme, i would lean towards rice b/c there seems to be more opportunities for me (the research scholarship i got, baker institute for public policy). i love NU, no doubt, but i just hope hpme isn't the only reason i go there. plus, i feel like if i go to rice, i will capitalize upon the opportunities and become accomplished and well-rounded and if i go to HPME, i may become a bum once i lose motivation and realize my grades and EC's don't matter. i sincerely hope i don't do the latter, but i've never been in a situation when my grades and ECs didn't matter and so i've always been motivated if not for learning, then for getting into a good college. i just hope the assurance of med school will not cause me to lose my motivation.</p>
<p>Sounds like Rice is the program for you. Houston's a great place -- I really loved it. Almost went there for medical school and often wish I had.</p>
<p>bump</p>
<p>HPME vs. Brown vs. Rice</p>
<p>bluedevilmike,
The problem is HPMEs are not necessarily of higher caliber than average Harvard students or whatever. Even at NU, I recall a prof saying he can't really tell the difference between HPMEs and non-HPMEs. While HPMEs are better than NU average students, they don't find it easy to stay on top and a lot of times, they are not necessarily the top students either. One of my friends was a HPME and he got 2 straight B+ in orgo even though he's one of the most disciplined students (never slacked off or crammed in the last min). This year, one of the CC members actually got a HPME interview and he was shocked when he didn't even get into NU because the assumption was if you got HPME interview, you must be in the top-10% or whatever of the NU pool.</p>
<p>I do assume that, and in fact I will stand by that assertion, with the clarification that I am speaking of them as whole applicants, not just GPA machines. They might well get B's in several courses, and their GPA's might be about average for Harvard or Northwestern or whatever kids. They will almost certainly exceed the average on the MCAT, but that too isn't what I'm discussing.</p>
<p>What I really mean is that almost all Harvard students and NU students (and, therefore, all HPME students) will be numerically qualified for medical school. Where they mess up is generally in applications, interviews, extracurriculars, and strategy. HPME-admits have established that they're fully competent in all these four areas, and that's an advantage they're not about to cough up.</p>
<p>rice is amazing. </p>
<p>the undergrad experience is unrivaled, and as a premed, you should really appreciate the fact that rice is adjacent to the largest medical center in the world.</p>
<p>i think the whole med school admissions process is exaggerated anyways. Don't cut yourself short. Although Feinberg is a fantastic med school, don't do HPME bcz it's the easier way out. Do it bcz you love NW or Chicago. Otherwise, Rice, I think, offers the better undergraduate experience.</p>