I feel it is always a combination of the school and student, with the latter being a bigger determinant. For those attending branded names, sure there are benefits, top caliber students who got picked from say the top 15% applicant pool, so one has to perform to survive, no slacking off. Also world renowned well reputed faculty, great facilities, wonderful ambiance etc. On the downside, if the student can’t cope up with the rigor and competition or can’t stay motivated he can fall off the tragectory (@upstream has provided so many examples from his personal acquaintances at his/her practice)
On the other hand even if one is attending these highly selective programs at not so branded schools, the company and competition with the student body, where general acceptance rate is say 85% (or something) can have a diluting effect by inducing complacency to the student who can easily excel in any course without putting his/her best efforts and being challenged to his/her potential. This will turn out to be bad when they go to latter part of the program and compete for residency etc.
However if student is matured enough (beyond their teen and low 20 years) and stay motivated and can make best use of the opportunities around, they can shine like anyone else or may be even better than those attending branded schools. Such as traditional route undergrad kids from NJIT and Rutgers making it to Johns Hopkins and Stanford medical schools (while kids doing undergrad at these latter schools dropping off or ending up in far lower programs, again refer to @upstream 's share few days ago)
@rk2017 - I completely agree with you. Kids need to go to schools that are best fit and should not get tempted/distracted by School name or rankings. My original post was in response to earlier post discussing simply the programs. Agree need to pick a school which is a better fit and where one can be more successful.
I tend to agree that in medicine, the student and med school matters more than anything else.
While I do compare rankings, in my case, I put more weight on what my doctor friends tell us. Neither my wife nor I are doctors and we do NOT understand the long drawn weird system to becoming a physician.
These again are inputs or data points as I call them. More data points give you more factors to ponder.
In the end, the choice will made by my daughter.
A number of "F"s will come into play - Fit, friends, fees, fame, farness, focus, faculty, fraternity and fun.
Personally, among the options she has, whatever choice she makes - it will be among the various good options she has.
Still has 10 days to decide!
I am glad to inform that my daughter got acceptance from 2 BS/MD programs. Union/Albany and W&J/Temple. I will appreciate if you can share your thoughts.
Union/Albany LIM - 8 years BS, MBA & MD
no MCAT
20k scholarship per year for 4 years
Undergrad cost 50k per year after scholarship
my older daughter is Sophomore in the same program
Union College and Albany Medical College are only 30 mins apart
W&J/Temple - 8 years BS & MD
requires MCAT
31k scholarship per year for 4 years
Undergrad cost 29k per year after scholarship
W&J is a small school 30-40 miles from Pittsburgh, while Temple Medical College is in Philadelphia
I am glad to inform that my daughter got acceptance from 2 BS/MD programs. Union/Albany and W&J/Temple. I will appreciate if you can share your thoughts.
Union/Albany LIM - 8 years BS, MBA & MD
no MCAT
20k scholarship per year for 4 years
Undergrad cost 50k per year after scholarship
my older daughter is Sophomore in the same program
Union College and Albany Medical College are only 30 mins apart
W&J/Temple - 8 years BS & MD
requires MCAT
31k scholarship per year for 4 years
Undergrad cost 29k per year after scholarship
W&J is a small school 30-40 miles from Pittsburgh, while Temple Medical College is in Philadelphia
@radheshyam . Both are excellent programs - you can’t go wrong with either one. It seems like W&J will be ~$80k cheaper, but having your daughter’s sister in the same program at Union/Albany is also a great asset. The MCAT requirement at W&J makes it a bit extra work, but the score required is very doable, so I would not be too worried about that aspect.
Both medical schools have similar reputations and similar residency match lists (perhaps Temple is marginally better).
I would recommend that you/your daughter pick the school that she’s more comfortable with/where she would rather be for 8 years given most other objective factors are so similar!
If finance is not an issue, I believe Union/AMC has extra value addition in the form of additional MBA/business exposure through the undergrad years. This may come handy if interested in pursuing private practice later on or taking up medical administration and leadership roles. And of course you already have an expert at home to opine on that. I believe AMC is a solid institution too (though ironically U.S. News rankings that so many folks are hell bent upon has no representation of that fact)
Some stats on AMC that some one shared here in the past along with a host of other med schools, just one of the many indicators though.
(to kind of collaborate my understanding and statement above, can’t vouch for the accuracy of the data though, you may want to do your own research if interested)
School Name Avg Old MCAT Avg UG GPA LizzyM Score New MCAT
@radheshyam My DD is in Temple/Temple BS/MD with a full-tuition scholarship. She is doing very well. I would prefer W&J/Temple over Union/AMC.Where do you reside? Is being close to home a factor? W&J is cheaper than Union. Please do your own due diligence and don’t rely on the opinion of strangers on these forums.
Also, I believe no need of generating spam on these forums by reminding people every other post to not rely and take the words of strangers for granted. I am sure readers of forums like these are smart enough to know that much.
@NoviceDad HPME got a new program director this year so our experience was that things were a bit more chaotic than what others told us who applied in previous years. It is one of the programs our dc was accepted to. We are very fortunate to have so many BS/MD options and trying to decide on the best option.
PS we were told applicants decline HPME and PLME every year just like other programs so go with what works best for your family and child not what the name of the school is necessarily.
@radheshyam
WashJeff is considered a tier2 undergraduate university. It is NOT in the same league as UPitt, PennState or Temple undergrad (to mention three state universities in PA).
It’s best program is probably Nursing.
It attracts a number of students by its athletics scholarships.
Also, WashJeff/Temple program indicates you are guaranteed only an interview if meet the program requirements. Seat at Temple is NOT guaranteed. May be it is a formality but there exists a possibility that a student may be rejected after the interview.
Better speak to current students and get a feel about the undergrad program, including percent of students dropping out of the program.