<p>So I'm a rising senior who fell in love with northwestern. I've known for quite some time exactly what I want to do with my life, be a doctor. My fear is the competitiveness of Northwestern. I am at a gifted high school that is pretty competitive, but I still think I will be a pretty average student for NW. Is it worth it to go to the school I love for a ton of money and get at best a 3.6 - 3.8 gpa. Or should I go to a state school that I feel luke-warm about where I can get a 3.9 - 4.0? I know med schools stress gpa a lot and right now I feel like if I pick NW then I will pretty much screw myself over for getting into med school. But I love the campus and city! And hillbilly illinois really isn't appealing to me... Any advice? Any stories about the pre-med track? How hard is it really? - Pref. from someone who survived it.</p>
<p>My strategy would be this: take organic chemistry somewhere else (even at Harvard!!), if you don't need it for your major (i.e. you are not chemE or chem majors). I think NU no longer grants credits for orgo taken anywhere else but those grades would still be valid for med school admission.</p>
<p>I don't sound want to sound elitist here. But when med-schools see that you've taken advantage of the opportunities that Northwestern offers you over being a number in a huge state school (such as Freshman year research opportunities, close knit, high budget extra - curriculars), they will be more impressed with a 3.6-3.7 than a full out 4.0.</p>
<p>Not attempting to hijack a thread here, but how would one take a quarter (?) of Orgo at Harvard? I am quite interested as its on my roster of classes to take for ChemE.</p>
<p>so if I were to be a biology major with a concentration in say, neurobiology... I wouldn't have to take orgo at NW? That makes me feel a little better. I have heard bad things about nw orgo. Could I take it at any major university or community college and still have it be legit? I didn't know you could do that.</p>
<p>NU only accepts credits for Organic Chemistry from a handful of institutions (think Harvard, Stanford), and only for those for whom it is not required by their major.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.questscholars.com/oldstuff/activities/professional/pre-med_letter/premed-letter-2001-2-pdf.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.questscholars.com/oldstuff/activities/professional/pre-med_letter/premed-letter-2001-2-pdf.pdf</a> read myths #10 and #11</p>
<p>you go to college only once. go to the school you love.</p>
<p>I don't know if you would consider this but if you are absolutely in love with Northwestern and you are absolutely determined to become a doctor, Northwestern has a BS/MD program called HPME that guarantees you admission to Feinberg right out of high school. </p>
<p>HPME is absurdly hard to get in though so only consider it if you are a serious candidate.</p>
<p>Aside from that, Northwestern has a good med school acceptance rate (80% i read somewhere) and id think a 3.6 to 3.8 GPA with pre-med requirements from Northwestern will look better than generic State U's 3.9 GPA and will probably get you into at least some medical schools.</p>
<p>Theres also PSP (premedical scholars program) for those who are rising juniors, i think gpa cutoff is 3.8 to apply (but look it up for more details)</p>
<p>There might be knowledgable insight on this question in the pre med forum over on studentdoctor.net</p>
<p>I would never suggest that anyone attend a top tier private rather than a very strong public (like UIUC) because of some idea that it would offer a leg up when applying to medical school. But the converse is certainly not true either. Professional schools and grad programs well understand what a given GPA at one undergrad school (and even within a given major) means relative to another and correct/re-center accordingly. Your decision about where to attend should be based on your sense of where you'd be happiest with cost considerations then weighing in heavily.</p>