<p>Jabez, Actually... that was my med. school interviewer.. but I talked about Grey's with the med. Student. haha and yeah I'm in HPME.</p>
<p>Oh! Wow, how conincidental.. What year are you, if I may ask?</p>
<p>hmm... year? I'm not sure what you mean.. like.. i was born in 1988???</p>
<p>Ohh. My apologies. I thought you mean "I'm in HPME" as in, you were already attending HPMe as a current medical student; not as in "I got in." In that case, Congratulations! Have you decided whether or not you are going to go?</p>
<p>ohh sorry if I was misleading. yeah i'm not positive i'm attending yet.. but it's very very likely as of right now..</p>
<p>what about you, Jabez?</p>
<p>I'm deciding between Harvard and HPME. I have exactly a month one to decide. (This is not to boast, btw. Just being honest)</p>
<p>Hey Jabez: If it helps any, I know of someone who gave up MIT for HPME and another who gave up Harvard for UCSD Med Scholar's Program.</p>
<p>I gave up Harvard for HPME. It was a hard decision but I don't regret it at all! The more you get through college, the more you realize just how stressful med applications can be.</p>
<p>Do you know why he chose UCSD's current Medical Scholar program ? or Does anyone know much about his program ? My son got accepted to HPME and is waiting to see if he is selected for the interviews for the UCSD's Medical Scholar.</p>
<p>Hi magicCA,</p>
<p>UCSD's Medical Scholars Program is fairly new and is not as well established as Brown's PLME or NU's HPME. I know that only 12 students are selected into UCSD's med scholars program, as opposed to approx. 50-60 in HPME (not sure of the exact number, perhaps neom3x11 could help here). Unlike programs such as PLME and HPME, but very much like Rice/Baylor, the small number of students in the UCSD program makes it easy to blend into the normal student population. No one really knows whether a student is in the program, unless told. Students get special mentoring from medical students, research opportunities with a medical school faculty member, socializing chances with other med scholars, etc.</p>
<p>There are students in UCSD's program who have turned down combined programs like Rice/Baylor and Brown's PLME for UCSD's medical scholar program, mainly due to proximity to home and the far less tuition for both undergraduate and medical school. Given the excellence of UCSD's science and bioengineering departments, it was hard to give up. </p>
<p>If US News ratings are important to you, UCSD's medical school is ranked #14 for research.</p>
<p>Hi Doc2be,</p>
<p>Thanks for your insight. We are interested in understanding if the UCSD medical program is well integrated with the undergraduate studies as the HPME or is the UCSD medical program completely independent from the undergraduate studies. By the way, are you currently enrolled in the HPME program ?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>i got into hpme!! woooot</p>
<p>Now comes decision time...I also got into Yale, Princeton, MIT, duke, and got a full ride at NYU. To the current hpme students...how is NU undergrad? How are the research opportunities there for undergrads?</p>
<p>Yup I'm having decision problems too. Got into Northwestern HPME, which is by far my favorite undergrad/med school combination out of the ones I applied to. Now have to decide between that and Yale, my absolute dream school, and Stanford, my close favorite.</p>
<p>I'm sure any way I go I'll be plenty happy :)</p>
<p>Geez, CCmembers are amazing!</p>
<p>I have to decide between: HPME, Brown PLME, Harvard and Stanford.</p>
<p>JOYOUSLY TROUBLED!!??</p>
<p>do you get any special treatment for being an hpme student upon arriving at NU? Like preferred housing, etc? Also, what are the study abroad programs like?</p>
<p>
[quote]
To the current hpme students...how is NU undergrad? How are the research opportunities there for undergrads?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>NU undergrad is amazing! The more time you spend here, the more you realize how wonderful Northwestern is as an institution. People here are frighteningly smart, involved, active, and well-rounded. The facilities are great and NU's constantly seeking to improve its campus and curriculum. Our Searle Teaching Center ensures that our professors are well trained and know how to teach. Our music faculty is world-famous (I just came back from an amazing concert as part of a huge musical festival where we invited world-famous musicians in to perform), our science/engineering faculty have so much experience and wisdom, and most importantly, they all genuinely respect us as students. For example, in one class when we asked the teacher to post Powerpoint slides before class, she actually sat down and was genuinely interested in discussing the pros and cons of this with us. I was really impressed by her genuine interest in us. The student body is incredibly active in sports and activities, and with the quarter system, NU academics is NO joke. Expect to have a lot of fun, but expect to learn a lot!</p>
<p>Research opportunities are there if you take the time to look for them. For example, many people including myself just browse through websites and email professors whose research we're interested in, and ask them if they have positions open. Others ask for positions from professors whose classes they have taken (generally the more preferred way). I'm working in a neurobio lab during the school year and will be working in another lab at the med school this summer....just goes to show you that it's possible to find research opps. And you'll definitely get to do some good stuff that can result in presenting your research and/or publication (we just had CAURS today - the highly respected Chicago Area Undergraduate Research Symposium consisting of 6 Chicago universities sending their undergrads to present their research - and Northwestern was very well represented. CAURS, by the way, was founded by a NU student and is mainly student run - another piece of evidence that shows that NU students are amazing)</p>
<p>
[quote]
do you get any special treatment for being an hpme student upon arriving at NU? Like preferred housing, etc? Also, what are the study abroad programs like?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You do get some special treatment, which is nice. We have a quarterly dinner that brings our classes together where we normally get a talk from a med school professor or a forum of med students. Also, the order of registration for classes depends on class standing and HPME students are considered one class up (freshmen are really sophomores)...so we can register for classes earlier than our normal classmates. That definitely helps so you don't have to take a popular class that's offered at 9:00 am when it's also offered at a better time, say, 11:00 am. In addition, applying for housing for the following year is also dependent on class standing and HPME students are also considered one class up (which really helps when you want coveted spots in dorms).</p>
<p>HPME students are also generally regarded by normal NU undergrads as, well, smart. So you get some respect that way. But it's generally not very acceptable to go around telling ppl you're HPME, it's better to stay humble and keep it as a secret identity (it's also funny when people realize that they've known you for a long time and only recently found out you're HPME). Nonetheless, you'll probably hang out with a lot of HPME people (which is great because you form a tight knit group of friends that you'll be with for the next 7 years) or at least you'll probably sit with them in class (our HPME class all sits together, which creates a force to be reckoned with in class...and since we all know each other so well, we're also really noisy lol). Anyway, it's a great atmosphere where you're constantly surrounded by amazingly smart but friendly students.</p>
<p>Study abroad programs are very plentiful and you can go to a ton of places like Mexico, China, and France. They have a special study abroad office to help you with all this, and studying abroad is a very popular option for all Northwestern students. I'm not sure if I'll choose the HPME study abroad option but a lot of my classmates might study abroad. It's a great experience and all the programs are well established.</p>
<p>Hello magicCA,
UCSD's program is well integrated into the undergrad program. And no, I am not a HPME student. I am still in high school. I know a lot about UCSD because my sister is in the Medical Scholars Program. Good luck to your son!</p>
<p>neom.. i am deciding between U. penn, HPME and hopefully Rice/Baylor? What about this talk involving NU med school weeding out students along medical four years? no pass-fail but curved grading?</p>
<p>Also, does anyone know anything about U.Penn's scholar's program in molecular medicine? Apparntly only twelve are selected and I am one of the unlucky ones .. or the lucky one...? </p>
<p>Neon.. would you choose HPME over BU's med program... if ys please advise why?</p>
<p>By the way,,, i truly enyed your tips.. interesting!</p>
<p>hs2md12:</p>
<p>I have never heard of NU med school's plans to adopt a curved grading. So I would dispel that as a rumor - Feinberg's pass-fail program is great so you can concentrate on learning the material.</p>
<p>I would definitely choose HPME over BU. Northwestern is a much stronger institution academically and athletically, and at BU, you still have to take the MCAT and get a minimum of 28 (which probably isn't too hard, but I'd rather not take a 5 hour test if I didn't have to). HPME is an older, more established and more respected program. I've visited both campuses and Northwestern's campus is more beautiful and quiet, in my opinion.</p>