<p>Hi
I have been accepted into both programs and now have a tough choice in front of me. Any advice?</p>
<p>Congrats! As another HPME admit this year, I would say HPME, but that’s just for me. I don’t necessarily want to spend my undergrad years worrying if I will get into a good med school. I have heard numerous horror stories of kids going to top notch schools - yale, duke, penn, etc. - and then just not being good enough compared to their classmates, and had to wait a year before reapplying. Of course, this isn’t what always happens - usually, the people who go to these amazing schools will end up fine, but it’s just another major stress to factor in. Plus, you can make connections at Northwestern over the course of 7/8 years that will be invaluable in earning a residency and in getting research published. Clearly, places like Yale have their benefits - name recognition for one, and better ranks. I personally would sacrifice this to go to a school that still is top 20 for undergrad and med school.</p>
<p>^for a middle class family (100k-150k a year), Yale will be definitely cheaper. Even cornell is cheaper than NU for this income level.</p>
<p>hey! I’m also a prospective Yalie (go bulldogs!). I didn’t apply to HPME, but I did apply to Brown’s PLME - and that’s the only thing I’ll really consider picking over Yale. So, I’m in a slightly similar situation - except I haven’t been admitted yet and don’t know if I will be. I ended up discussing the PLME program in depth with my Yale interviewer, who’s a doctor, post getting in to Yale. He had a pretty interesting perspective: basically, he said that everyone from Yale who’s remotely qualified (read: tries a little) gets in to medical school. He said that he wasn’t a stellar student academically, and ended up at his state med school - which is still ranked pretty high; so, worst case scenario, you end up at state school. He said that all his friends who worked hard ended up at Top 10 schools, however. But basically, his message was “If you go to Yale and do some studying, you will get in to a medical school”. For me, this kind of takes some of the stress off; and I know that if I end up at Yale (which I probably will), I won’t be stressing so much about whether or not I will get in to medical school. Of course where is a different matter entirely - obviously Northwestern’s medical school is pretty highly ranked, and the guarantee of getting in to it seems pretty nice.</p>
<p>IMHO, the appeals of HPME are 1) that it lets you graduate college and med school in 7 years (which would be nice if you want to go into some super specialized field that requires a lot of training) and 2) that it lets you focus on the undergrad experience and is a little lax on the pre med requirements / doesn’t force you to take the MCAT. I don’t really think that NU /HPME would give you more / better connections or research experience than Yale, however. I would say that if you choose HPME, don’t choose it because you’re scared that you won’t get in to a medical school from Yale.</p>
<p>Few other things to consider. Most of us have lots of AP or IB credits to transfer. They are efficiently used for the BS/MD programs to graduate in seven years. But in Yale or Harvard, we may end up spending one year extra. I am not too keen about spending one extra year at college to gain ‘true’ college experience. If there is a way to wrap up the undergraduate degree in three years at any top IVY schools, then we have a true ‘apple to apple’ comparison with the BS/MD program versus the traditional IVY track to med school.</p>
<p>BTW, has any one graduated from Harvard or Yale or Rice in three years and have been accepted at any medical school?</p>
<p>Also, I have noticed that some of you have published papers etc. For example ‘Sevenyearman’ claims he has patents. If someone can be measured in ‘prodigy’ terms, I am not sure why would you be so concerned to go to HYPMS type school and get into top three medical schools. I am finding some serious disconnect here. I am one of the typical stereotyped person who is more afraid that I may or may not get into school and trying this route as a better alternate. If I have the true caliber, then I would rather go to one of the top IVY school and purse medicine the more traditional way at a very prestigious med school. That is my 2 cents.</p>
<p>Hi
Have to decide between Yale/HPME… Also applied to Brown/PLME. I haven’t been admitted yet. At the end of the day for the ivy path have to start all over again and ready for any possible outcome same rank,better rank or lower rank med school?</p>
<p>Hellorn,</p>
<p>Hear this. My Harvard alumni was with a doctor and he went to Harvard and finished his MD at U of Miami. He spent over 8 years getting the MD degree. Compare this with a Miami HPME student who does it in seven years with less GPA and less MCAT score requirements. One would say that Miami HPME is the way to go. In hindsight, there are lot of success stories out of Harvard premed camp as well. There may be few burnouts, but overall the UG experience at Harvard or Yale is unparallel. I would pick Harvard or Yale path over any BS/MD if I believe in myself.</p>
<p>I see. Sure. Thanks. I am sure overall the UG experience at Harvard or Yale is unparallel. but not sure how much one can enjoy that along with the additional burden of medical application process. Not sure what really matters at the big picture? Getting into top 10 medical schools or first choice residency?</p>
<p>First choice of residency depends on USMLE part 1 scores, class rank, Dean’s letter, research etc. It does not really matter whether you came from top 10 or top 30 or top 50.</p>
<p>Okay. In that case NW-HPME path should provide the same opportunity as ivy path. At that point ivy undergrad name might not help much - right?</p>
<p>Exactly. You got it my pal. Good luck.</p>
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<p>as an adult who’s been out of college for a long time, this statement is hard to understand … perhaps lost touch. So, if I may, what do you mean by “UG experience”? I have yet to detect the ‘real’ difference in UG experience other than your ‘feel good’ element in your inside when you meet your peers attending other lower ranked school. Perhaps it is your ‘smart’ classmates that give you a good UG experience? Weekly Party? What IS the UG experience you speak of? I know kids going to Harvard, Yale, Cornell, or simply the local State schools. They all seem to be busy with doing homeworks, projects, exams, and going home on breaks, and ah, the weekly parties on campus. SO, WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THE DIFFERENCE, WHILE STILL IN UG SCHOOL, IN THE EXPERIENCE BY HYP ETC.??? The names of UG schools do make difference in job search and grad school admission a bit, but only for a while. If you are once with a firm or any career path, those schools really do not matter (that is why I keep saying these schools are way overrated).</p>
<p>toughyear, you seem really passionate about how hyps, etc are not that special. I talked to my interviewer and he brought up really interesting and true points. Its not about the prestige, etc, its ALL about the students who go to these top schools. It is basically a self-fulfilling prophecy where top kids generally go to these schools-so the experience is unparalleled in that sense, and the alumni connections you make are incredible. However, this is attainable at other schools not in the top 5 as well-i just think that there is a difference and that its not overrated</p>
<p>Satacer: I kind of disagree w/ you. I think top med schools generally produce the best resiedncy matching-obviously the students here are among the best-but I think the connectiions you make and the opportunities might be greater. Then again, a school like Miami miller has good residency matching and its not a top 20 med school.</p>
<p>Hey kbbm24,</p>
<p>Residency matching is great for top notch med school. But if you are in the bottom pile of Harvard or Yale Med school with a weak USMLE score, you are not going to get into Ortho or Radiology. So school’s reputation has some influence, but not going to put you in a dream residency spot. The bottomline is, one has to work hard until the residency match is done. That is what it takes.</p>
<p>I promise you, the extent that NU-HPME students are enjoying their Undergraduate experience cannot be matched.</p>
<p>i’m a freshman in hpme and i have never regretted coming here. seriously. i have the best friends in the world here (the person who posted above me is actually one of my close friends… see? we all love each other), i don’t have to take the mcat, i’m pursuing a degree in an untraditionally pre-med subject, and i stress out a lot less than i would be doing elsewhere. and northwestern is SO MUCH FUN and we have a ridiculous amount of school spirit.</p>
<p>COME HERE. between the 20 of us from my year, we had admits every ivy league school and every selective bs/md program multiple times over, and not a single one of us regrets it.</p>
<p>come to wildcat days if you need further convincing, we’ll convince you :)</p>
<p>For those who are considering financial side, it makes much more sense to go on full Merit to UG, then having parents pay for Med. School. Otherwise, if money are in unlimited supply, any combined program is a big plus, and HPME is one of the best. Harvard to U of Miami Med. School seems to me a bit strange path, although I do not know detail of this deal. Path from free state UG to top Med. School seems to have more advantages.
Another comment is that some people are not mature enough to spend only 3 years in UG. Everybody should assess their own situation in this and not listen to others too much. It is not a bad idea to have regular college experience which is still possible with some combined programs (non-accelerated). Pursue your non-medical interests, have unrelated minor, get engaged in college life, experience leadership, get a job, volunteer, go abroad, get into Greek, intern at Research lab…whatever else… are all very valuable experiences, more so for Regular Route applicants to Med. School who will be going thru interviews. Still another suggestion, for those who got accepted to top programs like HPME or for that matter any combined program, taking MCAT should not be a problem. Yes, you will need to spend lots of time and maybe money preparing for it and exam is 5 hours. But there is a good chance that you score well if you continue to work hard in college.</p>
<p>Hi. I have a question regarding these accelerated medical programs: How much does medical research/experience count toward getting accepted? If you guys don’t mind, may you pm me examples of your medical activities? Thanks.</p>
<p>hideandseeek,
My S has to decide y/HPME… It is hard. Happy to know that many of you had to make that choice and enjoying your time… any thoughts on residency match? Also, do they house all HPME in the same dorms?</p>