I am very interested in both of these schools. After recently attending Discovery Weekend, I determined that I absolutely loved Wash U, but felt extremely conflicted because I participated in MITES this summer and also had an amazing experience there. Some facts about me, and what I like about the schools:
-33 ACT, 3.99 GPA
-Interested in Pre-Med (as of right now)
-Hoping to be a recruited swimmer at both
-Not interested in greek life
-I Value academics above all
Pros MIT:
-Better reputation
-City of MIT is better for internships
-UROP is AMAZING!
-Dorm culture is fantastic
-Such a collaborative environment
-(not as important, but) better pool
-doesn’t seem like the stereotypical greek life
Pros Wash U:
-known for their pre-med programs
-more diverse curriculum/would be able to explore curriculum more
-more scholarship opportunities
-Black community seems stronger
-(not as important, but) better food, better dorms
-people are so outgoing and friendly
-greek life seems less massive
-still great research opportunities
Please give me your thoughts about where you think is better for me. I need all advice I can get!
Admissions to Med school is all about the GPA and the MCAT score. MIT will kill your GPA. Wash U would be better for you. However, WashU would not be a cake walk either. Go where you could get a great GPA and to a college that is affordable. Medical school is very expensive and you don’t want your parents to spend all your college fund on undergrad.
Among strong schools, you’d be hard put to find two more different. WashU is a supportive school where the staff go out of their way to make the school comfortable and home like for students. When it comes to amenities, no expense is spared. MIT is a place where students are free thinking, creative and independent. Students are largely responsible for making things happen and don’t react kindly to being reigned in and controlled. I don’t mean they play nice helper roles. No, they own it. When it comes to innovation, science and changing the world, no expense is spared.
If you are going pre med, i would recommend wash u. It is known for its amazing pre med program and medical school and 90% of its pre med students make it to med school (that is a HUGE percentage). MIT is stronger in engineering, but wash u is way more reputable as a pre med school
We have had MIT undergrads as interns and they were rather unremarkable to be honest. Bright sure, genius probably but not a whole lot of common sense.
Wash U for pre med is a no brainer, it appears some preference is given at the medical school.
@GloriaDoe 90% acceptance of qualified students is typical of top schools. Some LACs are as or more successful.
@m4xw3ll Notre Dame also is a school to look at. Top LACs will offer a personal pre-med experience. Holy Cross has the most alumni on a percentage basis in medical professions.
I am aware I was just saying that wash u has a high percentage of premeds that go to med school mainly because wash u is a huge premed school with very good support for its premeds . MIT is definitely more engineering focused.
Medical schools care very little where you do your undergrad and MIT’s reputation isn’t any better than Wash U for med school. And Boston isn’t significantly better than St. Louis for medically related internships. They both have an abundance and you can only do one at a time anyway. The weather in St. Louis is much better and the local culture is less ‘sharp-elbowed’ (hence the ‘friendlier’ feel.) But I agree with those posters who say to look at some of the top LACs - they do a great job of supporting their pre-meds, the cultures tend to be less competitive and it’s a lot easier to develop close personal relationships with the faculty, which you need for your committee letter.
Ignore the 90% acceptance rate to medical school. This is just lying with statistics. It’s been discussed ad nauseum on CC that the acceptance rate is just a function of how intensive the weeder classes are in org chem, inorg chem and bio 1. Schools that weed heavily can ensure that 90% of the survivors get into med school. At schools that don’t weed (forced curve, etc…), more students make it through the gauntlet and survive to apply (with a lower success rate). Your choice here, but don’t let the admit statistics get in the way.
