In Need of Some Advice Please :)

Parents Forum
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<p>Thanks in advance for reading this...may be long, but anyhow, I was accepted into many of my colleges, which was quite surprising and unexpected. Now, I am however, having a very difficult time deciding.<br>
I am deciding between MIT, Stanford, Duke (engineering school), and possibly Johns Hopkins (BME). </p>

<p>I suppose my trouble in deciding can be divided into 3 main parts:</p>

<p>by major
I definitely want to go into the biology field, though I am currently unsure whether I want to be a doctor or researcher.<br>
Duke: Throughout the whole process, I considered Duke as my realistic first choice. From what I've heard about Duke, I think that for bio, it may be the best for me to go b/c it has a strong program for all the different sorts of bio.<br>
MIT: I've heard that its bio research is excellent, though its premed may not be as good.<br>
Stanford: I haven't done very much research on its programs yet, so I'm not sure how its programs are. </p>

<p>by getting into grad school
I know that I will probably 99% chance be going onto grad school. Do grad schools have the same college application process (high GPAs, great test scores, etc) or do they also give more weight to the school that you attend?
(Ex. I know that if I decide to go to MIT, my GPA will definitely not be as great as it was in high school, since it's very hard to get As there.) </p>

<p>by prestige or what not
However, in terms of the "prestige" of the schools, my dad has been pushing me towards Stanford or MIT. I know that the prestige/how famous the school is shouldn't matter that much, but in the "real world" such as when people consider you for a job or what not, they may not look at your GPA but instead look at the schools you went to. One of my parent's friends, for example, described how the Duke graduate was placed in his department, while the MIT graduate was placed in a department far higher up. </p>

<p>Thanks very much for your time, and any bit of advice is very welcome :).</p>

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<p>quoting Clouseau, "beump"</p>

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<p>Janeyre:</p>

<p>First congratulations on great acceptances. They're all very impressive and sure to impress graduate school admission committees. A big difference in grad school admission is that they don't care about building well-wounded communities of students and they don't care about your ECs. They care about what you've done, where, your GPA, your GRE (or equivalent), your essay (not about why I like Podunk U but about what interests you and how much you have done toward fulfilling that interest), and your recs.
All of the schools are wonderful. I would just say that if you are interested in biotechnology as opposed to medicine, MIT may have the edge. A tidbit: last spring, my S attended the inauguration of the Chocolate club which was started by a bunch of chemistry majors. Their mission is to create the best tasting chocolate. Yummmm...</p>

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<p>It depends what you mean by grad school. If you mean a professional school like medicine, then GPA and test scores are EXTREMELY important. It's basically undergrad admissions all over again except for medicine.<br>
For PhD programs, they care more about your research experience and letters of rec and they look at the candidate holistically. </p>

<p>The prestige of a school will at the very least help you get your foot in the door in terms of employment opportunities. However, all of those schools you listed are very prestigious so you'll find the same top companies hiring at all of them.</p>

<p>Stanford and MIT have very different atmospheres. I personally couldn't imagine someone being excited over both schools. Do you plan on visiting any of these?</p>

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<p>Marite - I think you were trying to say that grad schools don't care about a "well rounded " class, not a "well-wounded" class :) I must say that by the time I was done with grad school, I felt like I had been "well-wounded" by all that they put me through !!!</p>

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<p>Mother of Two:</p>

<p>LOL! What a Freudian slip, oy vay.</p>

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<p>Shizz: I definitely plan on visitng both schools, to see which sort of atmosphere I like better. I think I'll probably like the MIT atmosphere better, but I still want to visit Stanford...just to see. </p>

<p>marite, motheroftwo, and shizz: thanks for your posts; they were quite helpful. </p>

<p>My problem, however, is that at this point, I know that I want to go into bio, but I don't know which area I specifically want to go into. I'm just afraid that when I'm applying to grad school, if I went to a more prestigious school or what not, my GPA would be slightly lower (such as MIT which seems difficult and challenging).</p>

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<p>Jane:</p>

<p>It makes a difference if you are going for a Ph.D. or med school. Med schools are more pure stats driven, so the GPA would be a prime consideration. Ph.D. programs consider the school you went to, the courses you took, who wrote your recs, and what do these say, as well as your statement. Doing a senior thesis or project would also be taken into account. Your GPA as such will be an important element, of course, but not to the same extent as for med school.</p>

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<p>Can't beat the combination of academics and social life at Duke.</p>

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<p>A zillion years ago I spent 4 years on the MIT campus and then 3 years on the Stanford campus. They are night and day and while any given student might be happy at either, probably there is a "gut feeling" answer to your question...since the 3 schools you are looking at will all feel so different.</p>

<p>The reputation angle is pretty much a wash for these 3 schools, as is the grad school admission issue. You will do best at a school which best suits you and you have fabulous choices...but probably one of these 3 is the "best you."</p>

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<p>my daughter is excited about both MIT and Stanford. she has grown up near stanford and visited there a few times over the years. she spent a couple of months at MIT last summer. she really likes them both! she is contemplating Columbia. they are all so different. she explains her gut feels one way, her heart another and then her head feels different than the first two. she's waiting until she visits all three during the admit days.</p>

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<p>Thanks marite, par72, robyrm, and 09Mom for the posts!</p>